Confessions of a Binge Budgeter

I’m Bianca, a 26 year old Gen Y – a generation of “I want it and I want it now”. Well at least that is how I used to be! I would fall under the category of a ‘Binge Budgeter’. I saved $15,000 for a trip to Europe and $30,000 for our wedding. I can do it but the times in between, I rarely have anything to show. I was never given the education about money and finance until it was too late. We began our married life $102,788.21 in personal debt, made up of 2 car loans totalling $80,000, 4 credits cards that were all maxed out totalling $19,000 and money owed to my Mum $5,400. It hit us when we had got our payslips one month, looked at the YTD column and said “Where has that money gone? We have nothing to show for it.” We compared our … read        more

Here’s how two bank accounts can save your life

Ok, ok, I’m being a little dramatic here, however If I told you that having two bank accounts, with different banks, would ultimately make you rich – would you believe me? If I said, all you need to do is spend 30 mins on something that will change the trajectory of the rest of your financial life – would you do it? It’s ironic how often we have the information in our hands, we understand it and know that implementing it will benefit us, yet we simply don’t do it. Many, many years ago, when I got my first job (a video store with real VHS tapes!) I had just one bank account. It was the same CBA dollarmites account I’d had my entire life and each week I’d receive my $40 pay cheque for the couple of shifts I would do. I honestly never saved a dollar of that … read        more