New Year, New money habits

We all start the year off with good intentions. Perhaps you want to eat better, exercise more regularly, or maybe help out at the school a little more.

Are any of these resolutions sound familiar to you, as another year rolls around?

But what about New Year resolutions for the family finances? Financial goals don’t seem to get as much air time. Is it because we don’t make them? Or it is because we don’t want to share them with others?

We all know that the state of the family finances impact everything else. It can affect your stress levels, relationship with your partner and the quality of the time you spend with your kids.

So, if you want to end 2017 financially stronger than how you begun, let’s start by asking a few questions about the biggest household expense – your mortgage.

Are you paying for features you don’t use?

Are you paying for things you don’t need? If there are loan features you don’t use and you pay annual or monthly fees, it’s the same as buying clothes you never wear (Anyone do that too?!). Just because your loan suited you 4 years ago, doesn’t mean it still does. A home loan is not for life. Your financial needs change as you move through different stages of your life –your mortgage should change to reflect this.

Are you losing money by not taking full advantage of the loan features available?

If you are making use of the features, are you taking advantage of them fully? For example, if you have a 100% offset account, are you putting last dollar into this account to offset your interest expenses? If not, you’re missing an opportunity and handing over more of your hard earned money than you need to.

How does your current interest rate compare to what others are offering?

The home loan market is fiercely competitive and if you established your mortgage a few years ago, there’s a strong chance your current lender is offering a better deal to new clients and hasn’t explicitly extended the same offer to you.

Reviewing your home loans gives you a chance to see what other lenders are offering. It doesn’t mean you have to refinance, sometimes it’s just a matter of going back to your lender and asking them for a discount. You just need to know what to say and who to talk to!

Once you’re confident you’re not handing over more of your hard earned money than you need to, you can start setting other goals – like saving a set amount per fortnight or reducing the times you go out for dinner for example (it’s just an example!)

Like any big goal, you’ll get there by taking a series of small steps. Carefully looking at your mortgage is the first thing to do, because a small tweak here and there can make a massive difference.

Have you managed to save money on your existing mortgage? Share with us below.

19 Comments

- - Ellen said
  - 28 Dec 2017
    7:25 am
It’s always good to review your finances and budget several times a year.

- - cherz said
  - 27 Dec 2017
    7:32 pm
Interesting and informative article …though I fine thanks.

- - mom94125 said
  - 28 Sep 2017
    11:25 pm
it is good to do a financial clean out or overhaul. re-evaluate everything that you spend money on and decide what is worth it to you

- - mom81879 said
  - 17 Apr 2017
    4:54 pm
I wonder how many people have this as one of their new year resolutions?

- - mom101628 said
  - 20 Feb 2017
    4:20 pm
Just keep trying to put a little extra aside to cover all the rate rises through the year. Only way to go.

- - june11 said
  - 18 Feb 2017
    8:41 pm
I keep a rough total of the year’s expenses and add 10% for increased costs/charges.
Don’t rely on mortgage rates staying at the same rate or dropping. If they drop keep paying the same amount as you were previously. Every little bit takes a small sum off your mortgage interest.
If you can pay a few dollars extra each payment. e.g. if your payment is supposed to be $295 per payment pay $300 Some banks have a…. Maxinum….amount you are allowed to pay above their required payment over the space of a year and you are penalised if you exceed that.

- - mom57619 said
  - 15 Feb 2017
    5:21 pm
That article was very interesting thank you.

- - nealsq said
  - 28 Jan 2017
    8:56 am
we have to pay off our car loan before we can even consider a home loan.

- - ella12 said
  - 10 Jan 2017
    4:01 pm
Thank you for the informative article, cheers.

- - mom81879 said
  - 10 Jan 2017
    8:31 am
I don’t have a mortgage. The thought of borrowing that much money always freaked me out too much

- - mom103111 said
  - 02 Jan 2017
    2:16 pm
I have a couple of things I want to differently this year – I want to set up a separate savings account for my Christmas Shopping, buy gifts throughout the year when they are on sale, try and save some funds as well for emergencies.

- - mom93821 said
  - 02 Jan 2017
    9:19 am
Finance has to always be managed and reviewed – it has to be done daily. There are so many sites that offer good information on all types of finance – plenty of advice out there.
- mom93821 replied
  
  12 Jan 2017 , 6:48 am
  We love to set and push forward with all of our $ goals.
- - mom160421 said
  - 01 Jan 2017
    7:29 pm
I always try and save wherever I can and I think it makes a big difference.

- - mom177164 said
  - 01 Jan 2017
    11:47 am
I never knew how much of a difference it would make shopping around for a mortgage, after switching to an independent bank we have managed to save thousands and I can definitely see our mortgage being paid off faster. The only thing we really need to do is look at adding extra into superannuation but it’s a scary initiative to do because you really can’t get that money back once it is in given you have to be 70 before you can touch it… money matters are really hard when you have kids!

- - Ellen said
  - 01 Jan 2017
    8:17 am
Always good to review your budget throughout the year. We don’t own a house, so no loans or morgages for us.

- - country chick said
  - 31 Dec 2016
    3:27 pm
Yup, the budget review is on my to do list for January…

- - mom112217 said
  - 31 Dec 2016
    11:38 am
Putting money aside each week in a savings is the way to go!

- - taynik46 said
  - 31 Dec 2016
    11:28 am
a great timely article to remind us to look at family budgets and all things finances for the 2017 year – great advice in this article – thank you for sharing.