Budgeting tips

Budgeting can help you manage your money, juggle everyday expenses and boost your overall financial wellbeing. It doesn’t have to be time-consuming or hard – there are ways to quickly track your spending or find spare money to save for your goals like a car, house or holiday! Read on to get the tips and methods that you may want to try.

Topics

How to start

When it comes to money it’s not what you make, but how you use it that counts. And there’s one main way to master your money: spend less than you earn – easier said than done, we know.

Track your expenses

The best way to kick-off a budget is to start tracking your expenses, including debt. This way you know exactly where your money is going, which helps you find areas of spending that you might be able to pull back.

Work out your 'wants' vs 'needs'

No two budgets are the same. They’re shaped by our lifestyle, our goals and the little things that are truly important to us. So when it comes to reducing your spending, working out your wants vs needs is a great start.

Get a view on your debt

Aside from the life necessities, like housing and food, paying down debt is one of the most important categories of your budget. Missed debt payments can see your debt balance grow and your credit score decline – which can impact the amount you can borrow in the future.

Factor in your income streams

In today’s world of side hustles, odd jobs and investments, calculating your income isn’t always as simple as taking one number from your payslip and dropping it into your budget.

Include your savings goals

What's more powerful than setting a savings goal? It's putting that goal into your budget. Learn how to factor in your savings goals and achieve more within your budget.

Create your budget

Here you’re going to create a quick and easy budget to help you manage your money and everyday expenses. Our automated Budget Planner Tool will calculate the numbers for you – then you can save it as a handy PDF to check back into, to compare or rejig it in the next few months, as your circumstances or priorities change.

Other types of budgets

There are loads of ways to budget your life and start seeing a difference. We know that for some people, being totally granular about where their money is going makes them spin out, while others need to account for their spending to the last cent.

Take the quiz to find out your financial wellbeing score and get tips to master your money. It’s like a little health check for your finances! Get your score

Why is budgeting important?

The most important thing you can do for your financial wellbeing is to build an actionable budget. These budgeting tips will arm you with ANZ-approved strategies to reduce your everyday expenses and make sure you’re always on top of your bills. Not having a budget puts your goals at risk and places strain on your daily life. By implementing just a few of these budgeting tips you’ll already be taking steps to improve your financial wellbeing.

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TOOL

Use the budget planner tool

We’ve got a tool ready, so you don’t need to do the math (hooray!), you’ll just need to gather the numbers for your income, expenses, debts and savings goal and let the tool do the rest for you.

Important information

The information set out above is general in nature and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on the information, you should consider whether the information is appropriate for you having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. By providing this information ANZ does not intend to provide any financial advice or other advice or recommendations. You should seek independent financial, legal, tax and other relevant advice having regard to your particular circumstances.