Household Budgetting Overview

Budgeting Tips

Secret Budget™ understands that budgeting and saving money can be challenging. So we’re here to offer you some valuable money saving tips and share the resources that we’ve found.

Prepare a budget

Do you earn a decent salary but have nothing to show for it at the end of each year? This is likely to be the result of not having a plan for how you spend your money. Having a budget, and sticking to it, is one of our most powerful money saving tips.

A budget, and the process of preparing one, allows you to analyse your income versus your expenses.

You only receive a set amount of income each year so you need to plan for your expenses and, with discipline and the help of some other money saving tips, be able to make the most of what you earn.

The Australian Government has created the Understanding Money website full of money saving tips and ideas to help Australians use what they’ve got wisely.

If you’re thinking of implementing a budget, check out the budget planner to get you started.

Reduce your spending

Do you like to buy a coffee every day on your way to work? Did you realise that by changing that one little habit you can save yourself over $800 a year?

Sometimes we have to make little sacrifices to help us on our way to achieving a greater goal. Cutting out the non-essential expenses is one of the best money saving tips you’ll learn.

Secret Budget™ suggests you take a look at the Money Minded website , in particular the spending leaks calculator, to see what those little luxuries and treats are actually leaking out of your budget and savings.

Cut up your credit cards

How much do you currently owe on your credit cards? Can you comfortably pay off the amount you owe each month? If not, then one of the best money saving tips for you is to cut up your credit cards.

Credit cards are convenient…possibly a little too convenient, which makes it very easy for you to overspend.

Spending on credit is equivalent to spending money you don’t have. It’s all too easy to think, “I’ll just pay it off at the end of the month”, but unless you put that money aside then the end of the month comes and you still can’t pay it off. Then you’re lumped with interest charges on top. It’s a scenario that can quickly spiral out of control and ruin your credit rating for life.

One of our simple money saving tips is to pay off the credit card debt you already have then destroy the cards. If you must have a credit card “for emergencies”, reduce your credit limit to the bare minimum and hide the card.

To pay off your existing debt we recommend implementing a budget. Within it, allocate a certain amount each week, fortnight or month to put towards your debt and over time this will help you regain control.

Have you got any money saving tips that you’ve found helpful in your life? Go to our blog on the Members page and add your thoughts. Alternatively, contact us so we can include it on the website.