How I have fun with friends without spending money
When I first moved back to Australia after years living in Spain, I brought home an unexpected skill: how to hang out with friends without spending money. Cash was tight while abroad, and most of my circle couldn’t afford regular fancy dinners or big nights out, so we learnt to get creative — and often […]
8 money mistakes that can ruin your retirement and how to avoid them
Most people associate retirement with a slow, relaxed pace of life, pursuing passions and spending time with family, bereft of anxieties, financial or otherwise. Yet, many retirees wake up to a rude reality, when they find their corpus too small to sustain them through retirement, or a bulk of their savings wiped out by a […]
How to build a financial fitness routine, just like exercising
How much time per week do you spend on your personal finances and investments? I’m asking for a reader who recently sent me a most original question. “Many health experts recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week for good health. My question is, What is the financial equivalent? What are your […]
How I use ‘sinking funds’ to better manage my budget and avoid bill shock
Earlier this year, I found myself between jobs. The news came out of the blue, and I had to reassess my spending while I looked for work. The situation would have been much more difficult had it not been for my sinking funds. If you haven’t heard the term before, a sinking fund simply means […]
How to protect your career after kids with ‘couple maths’ – Cooking the Books
Each week BusinessDesk and the NZ Herald’s Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it’s the longterm planning that can make a big difference to your finances. Hosted by Frances Cook. Having kids is a joy and delight, but often also a big hit to the finances, and even the career. It’s […]