When it comes to finances, not everyone wants to know the ins and outs of it all.
Scrimping and saving, doing every little thing to save money, isn’t everyone’s idea of fun either.
By implementing a few simple tips, you can set yourself up for success but it won’t happen immediately.
It is up to you how you manage your finances and what you do to improve where you can.
The cost of living has gone up significantly in recent years, making life incredibly stressful for many families.
These tips are designed to help reduce stress and make life a little easier.
Here are 5 tips to help you set everything up without having to know it all.
Disclosure, this post may contain affiliate links.
Get $75 for Free from ING
ING has their $75 Orange Everyday sign-up offer on. They share different rewards at different times and right now you can get $75.
If you are a new customer of ING you can get $75 for opening an everyday account with them. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open an everyday account, put the promo code CNW116 in the promo box (you must use the code to get the $75 bonus), and complete all the steps below in the first month.
- Deposit $1,000 into the account such as your income or Centrelink payments
- Make 5 settled transactions
- Open a Savings Maximiser (current interest rate is 5.5%)
- Make a deposit into the Savings Maximiser
Then you get your $75 the following month when the promotion is running. Promotion periods vary. The current promotion runs until 31 March 2024.
1. Create a Plan
Without knowing what you want and creating a plan, nothing will happen.
It might sound basic but taking the time to create a solid plan you know you can stick to is important.
Work out when you want to retire, how much you want to retire with, what sort of lifestyle you want now and look at your income vs expenses to see how realistic what you want is.
It can be a good idea to get help from a financial advisor or similar but be sure to do your research and choose the right one for you.
They are not all the same and there is so much information out there now on finances that you can probably do the basics without hiring someone to help.
One option many Aussies take is reading and implementing books such as The Barefoot Investor or Money With Jess.
They are both basic, general plan style books but excellent for helping you set things up easily.
They aren’t the sort of books to make you wealthy but they are a good start.
If you want more on investing and increasing wealth books such as Quit Like A Millionaire, The Simple Path to Wealth and We Should All Be Millionaires are better, once you have the basics sorted.
For setting up a budget, check out how to create and stick to a budget also how to create and stick to a budget as a single-income family.
Our Plan
I have a clear budget and know all income sources and expenses so I can plan accordingly.
Our lifestyle involves hiking, travel, diving, and outdoor activities, I have 4 kids and plan for car upgrades, sports, events etc.
My eldest has autism, does robotics and is the world championships for that in the USA. My second child does wresting and is the national champ for their age/weight so that involves travel and training etc.
We have family in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, including my stepdaughter, along with business and real estate.
This means I need to budget for those extra expenses including international travel.
To me, family is everything so I must be involved in my kids’ lives, create good memories and have fun while aiming for financial independence.
My mother died at 37 and I turn 39 this year, after already having had multiple surgeries, paralysis and health issues.
So keeping healthy and spending time with my kids is a priority.
This means, I found ways to make money as a family while travelling, we have frugal hobbies as well as some expensive ones such as diving but I get that free.
I found ways to make money from home and remotely plus how to do it so my kids don’t feel I am on the laptop or hustling all the time.
Check out 24 ways to make money on the side in 2024.
2. Automate What You Can and Review it Regularly
Once you know your budget and plan, a lot of it can be automated from investing and saving through to bill payments.
This gets easier the longer you are sticking to your budget and have time to build cash reserves.
Often when starting it is difficult to juggle it all and get up to date on payments.
You might feel as if you are chasing your tail and getting nowhere.
Start by automating one thing, even if it’s $10 a week to your savings account.
As you progress and adjust your budget, you can increase what you automate.
Up Bank makes this easy and you can have multiple accounts plus round up every time you spend to make your savings grow faster. They also have a $10 instant sign up bonus.
What We Automate
I am someone who loves knowing how much things are, where our money goes, what our investments are doing etc.
So while I do automate a lot, I review it regularly so it is not a set-and-forget process for me, although some things pretty much are.
Savings for specific things such as our travel I set up to go to a separate account to ensure the money is there when I need it.
Investing has been automated somewhat as have some of the expenses for my kids, monthly bills that do not change such as business expenses, the internet etc.
I review and pay my electricity and water as they come in though because they can be variable.
3. Patience and Compound Interest
Be patient with your progress. It takes time but the power of compound interest is huge.
Stick to your plan, knowing it will take time. In the beginning, it looks like nothing is happening then suddenly, in a few years, all that hard work starts to pay off big time and the results are visible.
Read Atomic Habits and The Compound Effect to learn more, get motivated and set things up.
How I Practice Patience
Patience has not always been one of my best traits.
In fact, I got into significant debt as an 18-year-old and over time, not always managed my money well.
By automating a lot of my money, it’s easier to be patient.
Visuals including what I am saving for, graphs with how much is saved and similar have helped me too.
Create a delayed gratification list.
Put anything you want to buy on it and 30 days later, if you still want it, then look at working it into your budget.
Check out 5 tips to reduce temptation and 10 tips from a shopaholic to help you.
4. Invest. Invest. Invest
Putting money in the bank isn’t effective if you want to build wealth. Investing is.
Shares, business, real estate, whatever you prefer and can get good returns on makes significantly more money than simply putting it in the bank to earn interest.
All investing has some risk, often the higher the risk, the higher the reward but if it doesn’t work out, it can be devastating.
Work out your risk tolerance level by playing around with smaller amounts first..
How I Invest
I have a variety of investments including businesses that I am outsourcing more, real estate and shares.
I love business although it can be stressful and it is not passive unless you outsource it all.
You can read how to set up a business for under $100 here and check out my eBook with 99 side hustles for Aussies to give you ideas.
With real estate, there are cultural stipulations around what we own and what can be done with it but it is something I will do more with.
Check out some ideas on how to make your mortgage pay for itself.
Shares etc are my favourite as they are so easy. Buy and hold. But not everyone likes the up and down of the market.
You don’t deal with tenants, maintenance of a property or have expenses such as insurance, rates etc with shares.
You can buy with small amounts then sell if necessary quickly compared to property or business.
Before investing, get professional advice or make sure you know what you are investing in and feel comfortable doing it.
As they all carry some risk, do not invest anything you cannot afford to lose.
5. Review Your Money and Plan
Finances need to be reviewed regularly, both your expenses and income.
While automating it and doing what I have suggested above makes it easier, you still need to review it all to ensure it is performing well and you are on track.
Simply setting it all up and leaving it forever can result in huge losses and financial difficulties.
Always review it, know what your money is doing and make changes as necessary.
Be smart about it though.
When it comes to your income, there are ways to increase it, read how to double your income for ideas.
How I Review My Finances
I do a full annual financial review of all my expenses and make changes where possible.
Then each week we have an abundance meeting too where I review all of it and track it on a spreadsheet.
You don’t need to do this but it does help to know where your finances are at.
I find it easy to check I am getting the best deal if I have it scheduled in e.g. with my annual financial review, I am checking all my bills from internet to insurance and will swap as needed.
The above is all aimed more at personal finances.
I strongly believe in having multiple streams of income, as do most millionaires.
In fact, they typically have 7 income streams and business is usually included as at least 1 of those 7.
Here are some of the things I’ve done to make money that are mostly passive or require very little effort.
Renting out my Garage
I did this in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, each time it was around $50 a week.
All I had to do was list it on Spacer or create and sign a contract with someone I knew, hand over a key or remote for the garage and get paid.
The money was paid directly into my account each month so there were no issues.
Check your insurance policy and if you aren’t using a site such as Spacer, then I strongly recommend having a solid contract.
If you own shares of a company, you get paid dividends when they make a profit.
I reinvest my dividends so am not living off income from shares or anything at this stage.
However, it is part of my retirement plan and I will be in a position to do it.
With a little research or using simple platforms, this can be easy but please do research before getting into any form of investing.
There is the risk that companies won’t make money or they will go bankrupt etc.
So start slow, and test your risk tolerance level and how you feel about it, learn everything you can and get professional advice before investing.
Some people can handle the ups and downs of the sharemarket, others find it extremely difficult.
Quit Like a Millionaire and The Simple Path to Wealth are two good books to explain this better.
Real Estate
When it’s good, it’s great but when it’s bad it’s a nightmare.
With a great property manager and tenants, real estate can be easy.
Rent money comes in, and expenses such as a mortgage, rates, insurance etc go out.
However, when tenants trash the property, don’t pay rent, the agent isn’t checking things or there is major damage, it can go south real quick.
I’ve experienced both, great tenants who took care of the property and I didn’t have to worry or do much.
Then terrible tenants which meant my Sydney house had to be gutted (this was over a decade ago).
I love real estate but am conscious it is not as passive as many people make out if you are focused on being a landlord.
Investing in property developments is another story.
They can be much easier and less stress with a good chance of capital gains from it.
With multiple ways to invest in property, it is up to you to do research, get professional advice and decide what works for you, if anything when it comes to real estate.
Note: We have properties in Vanuatu that are managed by the family and we leave the money there for them as it is a developing country.
Rarely have there been issues, overall we haven’t had to pay attention to it which is great.
Websites/Blogging
When done well and outsourced, this can become relatively passive.
In the beginning, there is a fair bit of set up though and you need a good team plus systems in place to ensure it runs smoothly.
Check out how to make money blogging for ideas on how to get set up and make money with it.
That said, if you do it all yourself it is NOT passive at all. Being a social media influencer isn’t passive either.
It’s a lot of photos, video, editing, trying products, writing, a good marketing plan etc.
It can be quite involved so don’t assume the 30 second video from someone with 1 million followers only took 30 seconds to create. It took much longer.
Business
Owning a business doesn’t mean you have to work in or on the business.
You can be a silent partner or investor and look at businesses to make good money without being hands-on.
Of course, going into business this way means you need money behind you and knowledge of business, which takes time to accrue.
Based on my life and that of extended family members, I am convinced business is one of the best ways to get ahead financially and retire well if done properly.
How will you get rich by being lazy?
Resources
Books: The Barefoot Investor, Atomic Habits, The Compound Effect, 99 side hustles for Aussies, Quit Like a Millionaire and The Simple Path to Wealth
How to create and stick to a budget
How to create and stick to a budget as a single income family
How to become a millionaire even as a single mum
Aspiring Millionaire
Ways to make money as a family while travelling
How to make money blogging
Get $75 for Free from ING
ING has their $75 Orange Everyday sign-up offer on. They share different rewards at different times and right now you can get $75.
If you are a new customer of ING you can get $75 for opening an everyday account with them. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open an everyday account, put the promo code CNW116 in the promo box (you must use the code to get the $75 bonus), and complete all the steps below in the first month.
- Deposit $1,000 into the account such as your income or Centrelink payments
- Make 5 settled transactions
- Open a Savings Maximiser (current interest rate is 5.5%)
- Make a deposit into the Savings Maximiser
Then you get your $75 the following month when the promotion is running. Promotion periods vary. The current promotion runs until 31 March 2024.
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