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Calendar dates
From our #lifehack file: Did you know you can change your billing dates?

Change your billing dates, change your life. OK, that might be a bit of a stretch, but getting all your financial ducks in a row can help you budget better. This one is an easy hack but one many Kiwis simply don’t know about. Did you know that many companies will allow you to change your billing dates? Companies such as Powershop, Vodafone and Mercury are just a few that will happily let you move your payment date (within reason).…

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hand holding burning money
Are your finances on FIRE? (That’s Financially Independent, Retiring Early)

If you’re anything like the average Kiwi, you see retirement as something that happens after you turn 65 (or, *cough*, 67). You stop working, live off the pension, and you’re Officially Retired. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and there are people all over the world challenging ideas about post-65 life. Here’s five things you should know about the New Retirement. Your finances can be on FIRE One of the ‘new ways’ is called FIRE  –  Financially Independent…

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Rental arithmetic: Turn your stuff into money without selling it

It’s about this time of year, usually just after the last of the Christmas ham has been scoffed and the cherries are a distant sticky memory, that our thoughts turn to money. As in: how can we have more? And how will that work without grovelling for a pay rise from Bossy McBossface? One solution is to have a good fossick around the house, spy some unwanted stuff and sell it on Trade Me. Which is great, but once you’ve…

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Top tips to avoid a Christmas spending hangover and stay on Santa’s nice list

As we approach the silly season and our bank accounts begin to bear the brunt of it, Kiwis should aim to be careful shoppers and only spend what they can afford. We commissioned research which reveals nearly one in three New Zealanders put their Christmas and holiday spending on their credit card and are potentially facing a New Year hangover, saying they won’t pay the full bill before the due date (29%). CreditSimple.co.nz spokesperson Hazel Phillips said the holiday season was…

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You say you want a resolution?

For most of us, the New Year is a popular time to set personal goals and look back on the what we’ve achieved in the last 12 months. But with all the goodwill in the world, it can be hard to turn resolutions into results. People who study behaviour for a living reckon that for a resolution to actually work, it needs to tick five boxes. Happily, the five boxes spell “SMART,” making them not just easy to remember but…

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How we grew our savings while shrinking our liquor cabinet

This year we paid someone to stalk us for our own financial good. Pippa is our enableMe financial personal trainer and we know she’s always watching what we spend. We also know that we’re going to have justify any shenanigans if we go too far over budget because when we met Pippa in April we agreed to: set savings targets set budgets for everything, including the pub set up joint bank accounts write wills use a programme to track our…

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Kayak in the ocean
Job, schmob: Local man explains how he never has to go to work again

No, I haven’t won Lotto (free, related personal finance tip: don’t buy Lotto tickets). But barring some very unforeseen event (or wonderfully attractive offer) I don’t plan to spend another day employed for the rest of my life. That’s not to say I don’t work. In fact, there’s not really a day of the year when I don’t do at least something that earns me money. But, like a heap of New Zealanders now, and a heap more in the…

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Donkeys in a field
How your credit score affects the interest rates you pay (and welcome to the brave new world of risk-based pricing)

Watch out! Your credit score could soon affect the interest rate you pay. That’s good if you’re a “unicorn” with a credit score from 801 to 1,000, and not bad if you’re a “thoroughbred” with a score of 601 to 800. If, however, you’re a credit “donkey” at the very bottom of the credit score pile, a credit pony at 201 to 400, or a farm horse from 401 to 600 you could well pay more. Why donkeys pay more…

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Students looking horrified at screen
Two thirds of uni students are being haunted by the ghost of their student overdrafts, research shows

Interest-free overdrafts while you’re a student might be tempting, but new research we commissioned shows 66 per cent of tertiary students aren’t paying back their interest-free overdrafts before leaving university, and an alarming nine per cent took more than two years to pay their overdraft back now.  Students are going into university knowing they will likely be faced with a large ‘interest-free’ IRD bill at the end of it. However, the research suggests this ‘interest-free’ appeal is making student finance…

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Holiday theft
Wham bam thank you scam: Holiday scams and how to avoid them

If you like your money, don’t fall victim to a holiday scam. All too many Kiwis do. One ordinary Kiwi was charged US$9,700 for one day in hospital, a price their insurer Southern Cross said was “unreasonable”. Belinda Gelston told Newshub that the Mexican hotel appeared to be in on the scam.  An unnamed Kiwi father was scammed out of $2,000 in a card game in Bali. A local man struck up a conversation with the victim claiming that his…

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