There’s a new craze in town and it is called: “I want to retire early.” In fact, there’s even a whole movement around the idea called: “FIRE” (‘financially independent, retire early’). “Wait, what? I can retire early??” Retirement is a financial position, not an age. So, you have a measure of control over when you retire. It all comes down …
How I Saved $1,000 in 30 Days #1K30DAYS
A little while ago, I decided to set a savings challenge for myself: I was going to save an extra $1,000 in 30 days above and beyond my regular savings. Below I’ve detailed how I did it, and what I learned along the way. (If you’re keen to try the challenge yourself, we’re running the #1K30DAYS saving money challenge in January …
Using the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS) To Buy Property in Australia
The TL;DR version is this: the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS) was introduced in the 2017 Federal Budget to help Australians save for a home….by allowing them to access their super (kind of). Yaayy, millennials will finally be able to afford real estate…(or will they?!) So how does it work? Let me explain. How does the First Home Super …
Picking a Share Trading Platform (or ‘Online Broker’) in Australia
Getting started with investing in shares can be daunting (to say the least). One of the questions I get asked by our students a lot is “how do you actually get exposure to shares?” In Australia, there are a few different ways: you can give your money to a robo-adviser, you can increase your contribution to your super fund (which invests …
The Credit Card Game: Play, Or Get Played
I recently learned that Australians have over $32 billion in credit card debt. Yes…billion, not million. But wait, it gets worse. That’s just the debt. On average, Australians are paying more than $15 million per day in credit card interest. Ouch. Here’s the thing: credit cards are a bit like…the Matrix. They seem like they’re great, people have a grand old …
Popular* Investing Apps & Robo-Advisers in Australia
So you want to invest, but have no idea where to start? You and millions of other people! Thanks to modern technology though, there are now some pretty simple ways you can get started with investing. Today, we’re going to look at some of the popular ‘robo-advisers’ and investing apps in the market. Robo-Advisers? Say, what?! Traditionally, if you wanted …
The 5 Money Mistakes I Regret The Most
I was 18 when I got my first real job that paid me real money. And I had no idea what to do with it other than spend it. So, it disappeared…pretty quickly. If I could turn back time, here’s a few things I would change about how I managed money when I was at university: 1. Have a separate …
The Reason You’re Scared of Shares: Trading vs Investing
My family isn’t really into shares. When it comes to shares, their automatic response is: “Investing in shares is like gambling. Don’t do it. It’s a waste of time.” They’ve been burned before, so I can understand why they might be scared. When I ventured outside the family for perspective, I quickly discovered: it wasn’t just my family. A lot …
How To (Actually) Save Money on a Wedding in Australia
Depending on what culture you come from, weddings are either expensive or I-could-buy-a-house-in-Sydney-with-that-money expensive (trust me, I come from the latter). Since it’s such a big expense, trying to save money on your wedding is likely to save you more than trying to skip coffee once a week! Most advice on how to save money on your wedding is stuff …
Popular* Money Tracking & Budgeting Apps in Australia
I’m going to come clean: I am not a big fan of traditional ‘budgeting’ (*GASP*). You know, the thing where you have to write down everything you spend and then compare it to a pre-determined spending limit for each category of expenses (‘Did I spend more than $100 on clothes this month? Oh no, I spent $150!’ *insert guilt*). I’ve …