Buying your next home?
See our home loan tools, articles and resources to help you explore your home loan options. We'll help you get to a good place.
'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, you can’t only rely on the advice of experts. You need to make the hard decisions for yourself about where you want your money to go.
If you’re wondering how to make those tough decisions, get a list of ALL of your expenses (the more detailed the better) then divvy them up into ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ so you can start assessing and prioritising them.
Remember, just because something is a 'want' doesn’t mean it always has to be cut out – the key to creating a budget that works is being realistic about the things that you are going to spend money on. Factoring some of your wants into your monthly budget can be the difference between reaching your financial goals and constantly overspending.
Brain hack
Watch out for the 'herd mentality'. Just because everyone else is doing something doesn’t mean you have to join them. Whether it’s your friends pushing for everyone to join expensive yoga classes three times a week, or the thought of giving up your weekly fro-yo makes you want to cry, how you spend your money is your call. Focus on what is important and what makes your life and financial wellbeing better and say 'see ya' to the things that are wasting space.
With your wants and needs sorted, next we’ll help you work out any debt that needs to be built into your budget.
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.