Money is one of the things people find hardest to talk about, even with the people closest to them. I've sat across from clients who were quietly carrying enormous financial stress long before they ever said a word about it. The mortgage that had become unmanageable. The business cash flow keeping them up at night. The fear of being judged for asking for help. [...]
The holidays are over — now it’s time to make things happen. With the new year well underway, it’s time to shift from switching off to getting serious about the goals that matter most. Will this be the year you buy your first home? Are you planning to upgrade, renovate, or unlock equity in your current property? Is 2026 the year you purchase your [...]
Just like everything else, the best place to start is determining what those milestones are. Do you want to get married? Will you have a big wedding? Destination wedding? Small intimate wedding? Will your parents contribute or will you need to fund it yourself? Where will you go for your honeymoon? What's your budget and timing? Do you want to buy a house? Where? [...]
How do you create your dream lifestyle? Firstly, you need to know what that looks like. Will it be living happily and contently in your dream home? Will it involve an annual trip somewhere? Will it be lots of trips everywhere? Will it include a plan for helping your kids with a financial boost? Does it include collecting anything special or leaving a legacy [...]
As a mum, this is something that is a constant challenge for me. Do I give them pocket money? Do they have to work for it? What if one kid wants to earn money and is eager to do every job possible, and the other is too busy trying to keep up with school work to do anything more than that? Where do I [...]
After all the excesses of December and January, we're often left with a less than healthy bank balance or a worryingly high credit card balance. Does this sound familiar? If it does, I'd love you to join a challenge with me of "No Spend Feb". It's not hard - you just need to only buy essentials. Nothing more, nothing less. You don't have to [...]
Before a bank will lend you any money they have a duty of care to make sure that you’re considered to be a “good risk” - especially if you’re trying to secure a mortgage. So what are the red flags that lenders look for? Given that we’re fresh from Melbourne Cup Day, gambling is a huge red flag. So if you like a bet [...]
We’re coming up to an expensive time of year so it’s a good time to review your spending plan, your shopping lists and your gift lists. There’s no doubt that it’s a great idea to take advantage of Black Friday sales and other deals that come up - but only if you need what you’re buying! I can’t tell you the number of outfits, [...]
I meet a lot of people who are having trouble saving money. My first question to them is "Where is your focus? Earning or spending?" One of the biggest misperceptions that we have is that the more we earn, the more we’ll have. Sadly, this isn’t always right and it ends up being “the more we earn, the more we spend”. It’s a little [...]
Want to get real with your finances in 30 days? Here’s how I did it. I knew something had to change if I was going to pay off my mortgage so we could have the freedom of being debt free. That change needed to start with me. So here’s what I did! For 30 days straight I wrote down every single dollar I spent. [...]
