Here’s a life-changing mindset for your buying habits

“We don’t buy things with money, we buy them with hours from our life.” This is a quote from minimalist blogger Joshua Becker from Becoming Minimalist. When we begin to think of the things we buy in exchange of our time rather than our money, we start to realise the weight of our purchases and understand the true cost of the things we think we want and need.

Our ‘time’ as currency

According to the ABS average weekly earnings report, the average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults in Australia in May 2019 was $1634. For discussion purposes, let’s round it off to $1600 for a 40-hour workweek. Following the said life-changing mindset, a coffee ($4.00) would cost you 10 minutes of your work. A summer dress would cost you 2 hours of your work and a Louis Vuitton handbag would cost you 2-weeks worth of your work.

Of course it will always be up to you how ever you wish to spend your hard-earned money but it can be a helpful guide in being mindful how much of the hours in our lives go into the stuff we buy.

Calculating the ‘opportunity cost’

Opportunity cost refers to what you could have done with the money had you not spent it to buy new stuff. If you have the cash, perhaps you can consider making extra repayments for your mortgage. You can also opt to save up for a property you can invest on.

The takeaway

Once we start to apply this mindset, we realise how we can maximise our money—hours we spent working—and spend it into something more meaningful such as building your dream business, enrolling for a course, or even saving for your home deposit.

I hope you find this principle interesting and let me know how it resonated with you!

References:

https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6302.0main+features1May%202019

Disclaimer:

Credit Representative Number 486927 is authorised under Australian Credit Licence 389328.

This article provides general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. We recommend that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances and your full financial situation will need to be reviewed prior to acceptance of any offer or product. It does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice and you should always seek professional advice in relation to your individual circumstances. Subject to lenders terms and conditions, fees and charges and eligibility criteria apply.

The post Here’s A Life-Changing Mindset for Your Buying Habits appeared first on Soul Finance Group.

A basic guide to your Christmas checklist

The holidays are here! This time of the year is the most exciting, not to mention expensive and hectic! We’ve helped you manage your finance this season because it is important to plan out your budget to avoid overspending. We have also provided you tips on how to save money and time on gift giving and proposed some ways you can source out budget to fund your Christmas shopping. But with the holiday rush, we tend to always forget something. So to help you avoid that (and avoid unnecessary spending), we are giving you an easy guide for that ultimate Christmas checklist.

Grab your pen and paper and add these on your Christmas checklist to prevent you from forgetting important items until the last minute!

Home Decorations

The most notable transformation for Holidays is probably the moment when lights and various Christmas decorations go up. Nothing says Christmas like 20 Santas on your front porch! Of course, the Christmas tree is the star of the “show.” The trend now is buying artificial trees that can be stored for a year and can be used over and over again. For other decorations such as the ones you put on the staircase, to your doors, and/or cabinets, you can check out dollar stores for some cheap but quality items. Thrift stores are also a great place to shop for Christmas decorations that you can get at a much cheaper price.

Christmas Dinner

Whatever your tradition for Christmas eve or Christmas day is, you’ll want to include a Christmas meal for family or even friends in your checklist. Decide on what meals to prepare and then create a list of all the things to buy. Most people wait until a week or two to do their holiday meal shopping. But if you want to avoid the crowd and the traffic, schedule your shopping earlier. You might score discounts for some food items in your list. All you need to worry are the perishable items which you can purchase a week before Christmas.

Gifts

Gifts will probably get the biggest chunk on your list in terms of budgeting during the holidays. While I can advise you to start your gift shopping early to save you both time and stress, that may not possibly work since Christmas day is fast approaching (2 weeks!). Good news is some of the good deals happen during this time as people start to shop so stores drop their prices to clear out inventory and tempt people to buy more! Hint: purchase items that you either know aren’t likely to go on sale or are already specially packaged for the holidays. Don’t have much time or budget to complete your Christmas shopping? Check out our previous blog!

There you go! Some of the basics in your Christmas checklist which you can use as a guide especially if you are sticking on a set budget. So have at it, make your list and check it twice!

 Disclaimer:

Credit Representative (486927) is authorised under Australian Credit Licence 389328.

 This article provides general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. We recommend that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances and your full financial situation will need to be reviewed prior to acceptance of any offer or product. It does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice and you should always seek professional advice in relation to your individual circumstances. Subject to lenders terms and conditions, fees and charges and eligibility criteria apply.

The post A Basic Guide to Your Christmas Checklist appeared first on Soul Finance Group.

5-minute guide to efficiently managing your finance this Christmas

The Christmas season proves to be an expensive time for many of us. It seems to encourage us to embark on the usual Christmas practice of “shopping ‘til we drop.” The festive feeling makes us extra generous and gets us to spend way more than we usually do. However, we have to brace ourselves for the subsequent financial shock when the bills make their way in our mail.

So to help you soften the blow on your next bill by efficiently managing your finance, have a look at this quick 5-minute guide:

Set a budget.

Draw up a budget for your Holiday spending. This way, you will be able to create a limit of how much you are willing to spend. More than just setting a budget, it is important that you stick to it. Don’t deviate from your original set amount. The last thing you want is paying more than what you can actually afford.

Consider consolidating.

Okay, so you are feeling extra generous this Christmas. There’s nothing wrong with that. During this season, there are lenders and non-lenders who offer competitive deals which you can take advantage of. If you have a balance on your credit cards, you can opt to consolidate all your unsecured debts into one loan. This can potentially save you money on interest. Of course, there might be necessary fees and charges so make sure to ask your local broker about it. But this is something you can definitely consider.

 Make a list.

You have set your budget and you have your actual budget. Now it’s time to “marry” that into your list. Take note of all the things you need to purchase and the food you need to prepare. Write down the names of the people you’re going to give gifts to. Think of what to buy them and add that to your list of things to buy. To save time, it’s also smart to plan and strategise which stores you need to go to first.

 Research, research.

When it comes to looking for great things to buy, you can do so much with research and the good ol’ Mr. Google. Using the list that you made, search for some cheap but quality stores in your area where you can buy the items you wrote down. Make your money worth it by web searching for discount or coupon codes that you can use at the checkout. Sometimes, things are cheaper online than in store but be cautious when shopping online. You can use your research as a gauge when you actually go to the store and purchase these items.

Track your spending.

To avoid deviating from your budget, monitor your spending. There’s an app called TrackMySpend (http://apple.co/1s4DaYs) where it helps you set realistic spending limit and stick to it. It enables you track spending by categories and lets you separate ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ to help identify opportunities to save. The last thing you want is to go over budget so make sure to stay within your set budget by tracking your spending.

Happy shopping!

Disclaimer:

Credit Representative (486927) is authorised under Australian Credit Licence 389328.

 This article provides general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. We recommend that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances and your full financial situation will need to be reviewed prior to acceptance of any offer or product. It does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice and you should always seek professional advice in relation to your individual circumstances. Subject to lenders terms and conditions, fees and charges and eligibility criteria apply.

The post 5-Minute Guide to Efficiently Managing Your Finance This Christmas appeared first on Soul Finance Group.

It’s a different story, of course, when you are on a tight budget (well at least you know you are) and you need to buy something. Operative word is need—do you actually need it? Or are you justifying your purchase yet again? This is subjective of course because chances are, the biased side of yourself will say anything in its power to make that purchase a success. Before you know it, you are left with the other side of you—the side which regrets why you bought that 50% off lampshade in Ikea. It’s a good deal, right? Except you don’t know now where to place it along with your 8 other lampshades.

So to avoid any costly regrets, and to save for something that really matters, here’s an infographic to guide you in answering the dreaded question—should I buy this?

“Should I Buy This?” Infographic

Credit Representative (486927) is authorised under Australian Credit Licence 389328.

The post Should You Buy It? This Simple Chart Will Help You Decide appeared first on Soul Finance Group.