Budgeting for a better lifestyle
Budgeting is the single most effective thing you can do to improve your lifestyle!
A household budget not only shows you where your money goes each fortnight, it also shows you areas where you can save money, which can then be put to better use!
How do I make a budget?
Making your budget is simple. Just list all the things you spend money on during the next fortnight, noting their cost. Your shopping docket will show how much is spent at the supermarket.
Here is a list of common budget items.
- Laundry
- Rent
- Water Rates
- Electricity / Gas
- Phone / Mobile
- Repairs / Maintenance
- Insurance
- Supermarket
- Butcher/deli
- fruit shop
- Vehicle Registration (divide the yearly cost by 26)
- Petrol
- repairs(again divide the yearly cost by 26)
- Public transport (including taxis)
- Cigarettes/tobacco
- Gambling/Alcohol
- Childcare / Christo etc
- Personal Spending
- School expenses
- Pet expenses
- Personal or family loan (to be repaid)
- Amex / Payday lenders
- credit card
- Pawn broker
- Centrelink advance or debt
- GE Money (buy now pay later)
- medical expenses
- clothing
There are many other things that you might be spending money on which you need to consider. For instance, do you pay someone to mow your lawn? Do you regularly give or lend money to members of your family? Do you give your kids money for the tuck shop at school? Do you have Pizza delivered or other takeaway? How often? Do you need to fix your car for rego each year or buy new tyres for rego?
All these things should go into your budget so you can realistically see what you spend your money on, or more importantly How much you should have left over that can be used to improve your lifestyle!
you will find your bank statement will help to complete your budget, and you may be asked to bring your latest bank statement along to the loan interview.
some tips to help you budget
Tip One: have a look at your Centrelink Statement, check the deductions and make sure you know exactly how much they are deducting from your benefit each fortnight and why!
Tip Two: Get a pen and your latest supermarket shopping docket, and mark the items you get EVERY fortnight and which ones are occasional purchases, which ones are impulse purchases.
Tip Three: find your registration papers and look at how much the RTA charged you for driving on the nation's roads, and how much was the green slip? add those together and divide by 26 (eg:$620 divided by 26 = $23.85 per fortnight)
Tip Four: grab your latest electricity bill, note the period (is it 90 days?) look for the amount due FOR THE PERIOD (the amount you owe them could be less or more) eg: a 3 month bill of $300 divided by 6 = $50 per fortnight
Why is a budget so important for a NILS loan?
the Loan Assessment Committee needs to see by your budget that you are able to pay your NILS loan within 18 months. They also need to have reasonable reassurance that you have been truthful about your budget and that you have an understanding of the costs associated with running your household. NILS loans are all about IMPROVING your lifestyle, and NOT about overloading you with debt and placing you under more stress!