Give yourself a rate cut!

If you were paying off this picket fence (well, the house that goes with it), you'd know your mortgage interest rate - and be sweating on every Reserve Bank announcement. Why not take your credit card debt that seriously?

All this hoo-ha about the banks not passing on interest rate cuts to home lenders! What about credit card holders? When was the last time your provider got in touch and said, you know what, we're going to REDUCE your interest - I'd imagine never, not even by the lousy 0.1 per cent some of the banks are planning to pass on from Tuesday's 0.25 per cent Reserve Bank cut.

Most mortgagees can tell you, down to the decimal point, how much interest they're paying on their home loans. They'll tell you when the last rate cut was and when the next one is expected.  Could you say the same about the interest rate on your credit card? Given that interest rates range from around nine per cent to around 20 per cent, it's an important question. 

The banks aren't going to pass on interest rate cuts to you. You need to make like the Reserve Bank and give yourself a rate cut. How? Research whether or not you've got the right card. Chances are that you could be paying less for your credit. Sure, different cards come with different features, but are you using them all, or are you just paying extra for the privilege of having them?

Start by taking a good look at your statements - the last six to 12 months worth - and working out exactly how you're using your card. Then get on to canstar.com.au to find the best possible card for your situation - at the lowest possible interest rate. Peter Arnold, a financial analyst with Canstar Cannex, was reported in today's Sun-Herald as saying that there are at least 13 cards right now offering rates below 12 per cent. If you're not paying off your card every month (and therefore paying no interest), you owe it to yourself to get one of those cards working for you. 

It won't take long and it could save you $1000s in interest.

pic: Old Malvern Pickets

Beating stress on a budget

I know that it goes against the Stress-ista ethos, but I'm stressed. Tired. Rundown. Overworked. Underpaid. All the classic symptoms. I'm also struggling with the notion that I need to take time out from work (eek! the world will surely end if I'm not slaving away at my desk) at a time when work is hard to come by.

What to do, what to do?

In frugal times, it's difficult to justify the lazy $60-$100 required for a massage or a facial (particularly in light of this NY Times story that questions their relevance at all), but the fact is that you need to recharge to stay on top of your game. Overstress leads to poor performance which leads to more stress which leads to... well, you get the idea.

If touch therapy is what you need, why not try a student massage? They're generally half the price, well-supervised, and, let's face it, a vast improvement over letting the kinks in your shoulders grow to gigantic proportions. In Sydney, you'll find one through NSW School of Massage or Nature Care College - find one near you by Googling 'student massage' (taking care to avoid the obvious porn sites).

If you're addicted to facials, beauty colleges often offer a student version, or you could throw yourself in a rose-scented bath, slather on a mask, and read a book for half an hour (far preferable to me than inane chatter about my weekend with a beauty therapist).

Other free stress-relieving options include taking a few deep breaths, walking around the block a few times, or getting someone you love (or would love to love) to give you a hug. Cuddling releases the hormone oxytocin into your nervous system, making you feel soothed and safe.

Once you're all calm and focussed again, it might be time to consider some Income Protection Insurance. There's nothing more stressful than discovering that you suddenly can't work for a while - due to illness or accident.

Take a load off your mind and consider your options at www.lifebroker.com.au

Pic: HelpGuide

Leftovers are the new takeaway

The GFC, in all its glory, has coincided for me with a move to a simpler life on the south coast of NSW. Not only does this bring forth previously suppressed desires to grow my own vegies (still in the planning stages) but it also brings a dearth of home delivery options. From a funky inner-west bastion of Thai, Vietnamese, Greek, Lebanese, Italian et al cheap eateries, I have been reduced to multinational pizza joints, multinational fast food joints, fish and chips, a whole lot of Chinese restaurants (sweet and sour anyone? and one lone Indian (pretty good, since you asked).

So I've hit the kitchen. Now if I want a night off from cooking for the family, I need to have planned (48 hours in advance) leftovers. Tasty leftovers. Leftovers that people will actually eat without turning their noses up and feigning sudden illness.

It's not easy. My new BFFs are recipe mags like Super Food Ideas and Good Taste, and you know what - they're great! Easy, tasty meals that don't require a list of gourmet ingredients as long as my arm. I'm in love. But not as much as I love taste.com.au, the online archive of these two mags and three more besides.

We're saving heaps of money, too. I fed four of us for $107 last week. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I know that there are people who can do it for less (possibly the same people who save their soap scraps to make new bars), but it used to cost me closer to $200 and we'd have takeaway two nights a week on top of that.

Need help with your budget? I reckon you could do worse than starting with a shopping list. Plan your meals like Nanna used to. Turns out that old-fashioned is the way forward.

Pic: taste.com.au

HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS: why bother?

In an age of credit cards, ATMs and redraw mortgages, the idea of creating a simple household budget has gone the way of the dinosaur – it seems as antiquated as an apron-wearing housewife stashing housekeeping money in the teapot for a rainy day.

Taking charge of the dollars and cents of everyday living expenses is the simplest path to financial security. One thing that will make you wealthy is spending LESS than you earn and the simplest way to do that is to budget.

“A lot of people are scared of budgets,” says Cath Armstrong, Cheapskates.com.au founder and author of Debt Free, Cashed Up and Laughing. “It’s just a piece of paper with some numbers written down. It can’t bite you, even if it does terrify you.”

Budgets are nothing more than a plan or guide to household spending. They are not a tool for punishment, deprivation or misery. “Budgets are about making sure what comes in is more than what goes out – once you’ve done that, it’s easy, people will wonder why they didn’t do it sooner,” Armstrong says.

The benefits of creating a household budget include:

· knowing exactly where your money is going;

· eliminating silly spending so there is more money for shopping, treats or even investments;

· less stress when the bills and credit card statements come in;

· creating a tool to help focus on long term financial goals.

Go on, it's not that hard is it? Do you use a budget or prefer to fly by the financial seat of your pants?

Pictures: KateSpade