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).

What’s the benefit? Well, it can help you in a few ways:

• Pay your bills as soon as you get your pay packet, so you know there’s definitely money there to make it through.
• Sticking to a budget – you’ll pay the essentials first, before you do anything else, so you can avoid spending on the wrong things (um, hello, fancy brunch out).
• Better money management. Knowing you’ve taking care of the basics in life will help reduce the stress of wondering if you can make it through the month.  
• Keep your credit score healthy. With comprehensive credit reporting, your regular bill payments are now showing up on your credit history, so it’s important to make sure they’re sorted on time, in full, every time.

Changing your billing dates is great for almost everyone, whether you’re an Organised Ollie or a Hopeless Harry. It’s worth checking on the company’s website (and/or calling up to request a change of billing date) to get this particular duck in your row.

Love this life hack? Got one of your own to share? Let us know on our Facebook page and you could be in to win a gift card. 

The post From our #lifehack file: Did you know you can change your billing dates? appeared first on Credit Simple NZ.

It’s October when I write this, which means it’s been Christmas in retail land for about six months now. While a couple of weeks off in summer in honour of Baby Jesus’s birthday is an attractive proposition for most of us, it can also be a financial time bomb, set to go off when the bills arrive in January or February.

So how can you make it through the silly season without spending silly amounts of money? Short of converting to a religion that considers the whole Christmas malarkey a bit ridic (or inventing one whose entire Christmas ritual consists of giving each family member a single boiled egg) here are a few ways you can have a great Christmas and summer break, without sending your bank balance into meltdown.

Gift rules rule

This one is especially handy if you have a big family. Instead of everyone buying everyone else gifts, consider making it a one-to-one thing. Some families put everyone’s names in a hat, then take turns drawing the one person each of them will buy a gift for. For extra points, set a sensible cash limit and stick to it. Bonus: choosing a gift for just one person means you’re more likely to choose something they’ll actually like.

Skip the lines by shopping online

Shopping malls at Christmastime are a happy wonderland of laughter, snowflakes and magic – as if the Tom Hanks movie The Polar Express took retail form for six magical weeks. Kidding! From carpark awfulness to the sad fatty smell of thronged food halls, real-world Christmas shopping can be hell. Luckily, smart scientists in the 1970s invented the internet. So if you’re clever, and get onto it now, you can shop around and find gifts that suit your family and your budget. Once you’re chosen, try New Zealand websites PriceSpy and PriceMe to see who’s got that must-have gadget for the best price.

Bake it till you make it

This one’s a school holiday activity and a gift solution rolled into one. Biscuits, fudge, shortbread… they’re all way easier to make than MasterChef would have you believe, and the ingredients to whip up a batch cost peanuts (or walnuts, if your recipient is allergic to peanuts). The best take we’ve seen on this is a batch of biscuits wrapped up with a vintage Edmond’s Cookbook ($5-10 or so at your nearest second hand bookshop or Trade Me). You can get the recipes online too at the Edmonds site.

Go sale-ing

The Warehouse might have put a bit of a dampener on this classic Kiwi money saving tactic with its new policy of having no more sales, but convincing the family that they’ll get twice the present bang for your buck by shopping on Boxing Day can be a winner. See our note above about shopping mall Hell though…

Staycation and save

Out of town or overseas summer holidays can cost a bundle. Don’t forget though, you already live in one of the world’s favourite tourist destinations! (Unless you’re reading this in Lower Hutt, obviously.) People from all over the world dream of coming to New Zealand for their holidays, so spending a week or two as a tourist in your own town makes a lot of sense. Do what the tourists do: check out this page on TripAdvisor to see what’s worth flying 20,000km for (and you can just take a bus to get to).

The post Ho-ho-ho without the o-o-overdraft appeared first on Credit Simple NZ.