Stop Worrying about Money E-Book

Jacqui Clarke

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 309

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

WINNER of the Chanticleer International Book Awards Harvey Chute Grand Prize for Business, Enterprise & Finance
1st Place for Instructional and Insightful Nonfiction, Chanticleer International Book Awards
Runner-up BEST BOOK at the Money Awareness & Inclusion Awards 2025

Take control of your money, avoid common financial pitfalls, and prepare for whatever life throws at you

In Stop Worrying about Money, Jacqui Clarke, Australia’s best-kept money secret, delivers smart and sure-fire guidance that will see you through life’s financial ups and downs. You’ll learn to clarify your values, set goals, and be upfront and honest about your money—both with yourself and with others.

Fact: Money comes in and goes out. The cost of living is ever increasing, big changes can come as big surprises and sometimes you’re stuck just trying to keep on top of everything. It’s time to hit pause on the distractions and get wise with your finances. With Stop Worrying about Money, you’ll re-assess what financial independence and freedom mean to you. This is the guide that will help you build a less stressful, more empowering relationship with money, starting today.

You’ll discover how to:

• Build financial security for yourself and your family
• Set meaningful (and within-your-means) money goals
• Combat expense creep and avoid other typical money traps
• Overcome setbacks and become a master planner

A practical and hands-on guide to dealing with life’s most common and challenging financial obstacles, Stop Worrying about Money is the energising, no-nonsense financial wake-up call that you’ve been waiting for.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

About the author

Introduction

An important note

Part I: getting your house in order

Chapter 1: Understand your money story

What's your money story?

We need baseline honesty here

Making sense of the numbers, regularly

Chapter 2: Set meaningful, within-your-means, goals

A case in point

Focus on your future, and be willing to trade

What are your money values?

Chapter 3: Get to grips with, and in control of, mistakes

Beware the money pit battle

The three biggest money mistakes

Own up and own it

What if you're stuck in the pit with no escape?

What have you got to lose?

Chapter 4: Build a trusted personal financevillage

When mixing family, friends and business goes bad

Who do you trust?

Picking the right people for your personal finance village

How to handle a new financial challenge

Fact-check your finance village

Fess up when things go wrong!

A final friendly piece of advice

Chapter 5: Aim to be financially free-er

Beware the ‘have more, want more’ trap

But rich people have enough, right?

When is enough money actually

enough

?

Financial freedom as a way of life (not a destination)

How to deal with a windfall

‘Get rich quick’: if it sounds too good to be true, it is

Don't wait until it's too late

Chapter 6: Plan for your death (seriously!)

Why you need a Will

Be upfront with others involved

How to hold a conversation about your Will

How to rest in peace

Part II: dealing with worry

Chapter 7: Attend to relationship dramas and divorce

Equal unhappiness

Starting from

scratch

experience

A final word …

Chapter 8: Watch for and address moneycheating

Are you heading for a shock?

Beware the warning stories and signs

Seven money sins to recognise

What if you spot a money cheater in your household?

What if your partner/parent/child is gambling?

How to avoid financial infidelity happening to you

Chapter 9: Know when it's money abuse

Beware of gaslighting

Sobering statistics

Recognise the signs of financial abuse

Plan an exit

A word on elder abuse

Part III: planning for the future

Chapter 10: Schedule a sabbaticalor break

Don't leave it till it's too late

Top 10 tips to start planning a break

Stop, start, continue

A note for business owners

Leave without pay (LWOP), with a twist

Leave the financial baggage at home

Chapter 11: Set up a side hustle or business successfully

Considering your options

Don't start with the sexy stuff, start with

why

Where to start?

Have you got hidden lazy money?

Join the gig economy

New business, new worries?

Setting you up for financial success

Choose your business structure early to reduce worry

Chapter 12: Consider a sea-change, tree-change or move

Is it time for a change?

City versus country

Before you up and move

Prepare a cost-of-living comparison

Be healthy, wealthy and wise

Chapter 13: Give and gift to causes bigger than yourself

Humpty Dumpty Foundation (HDF)

Will giving ease your money worries?

What are the options for giving?

Options for giving as a business owner

An easy option for employees

Chapter 14: Educate the next generation

Be a role model

When credit card purchases go bad

It's never too soon to start

The teen money journey and beyond

Activities to develop financial literacy

Red flags to watch for

What next?

Connect with me

Acknowledgements

Where to go for help

Gambling

Addiction

Financial abuse

Elder abuse

Sources

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

About the author

Introduction

An important note

Begin Reading

What next?

Connect with me

Acknowledgements

Where to go for help

Sources

Index

End User License Agreement

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First published in 2023 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, LtdLevel 4, 600 Bourke St, Melbourne Victoria 3000, Australia.

© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2023

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

ISBN: 978-1-394-17688-5

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Wiley

DisclaimerThe material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

About the author

Jacqui Clarke could very well be Australia's best-kept money secret.

Over her 30-year career, she has been a trusted advisor and accountant to some of Australia's most iconic and wealthy families. What she has learned is that we all worry about money — no matter how much we actually have!

For most of us, money is a complex world of relationships and expectations. This is why Jacqui takes the emotion out of finance for those ‘too close to it’, ‘too busy’ or simply ‘too confused’.

She is a truthsayer: a conscience and a confidant to clients, family and peers, helping them navigate their financial future with confidence.

To Jacqui, managing money comes pretty naturally. At the age of 10, she would take customer bookings for her family's building and plumbing business. It was very clear to her that someone had to be across the details in business and that, more importantly, everybody needed a trusted expert. This belief has carried Jacqui through her career and is an integral part of this book.

An accomplished executive and business professional, including more than 20 years with Deloitte, Jacqui has held executive roles across Australia, New Zealand and Asia in industries and sectors including retail, property, automotive, professional services, technology, financial services, agriculture, and oil and gas.

She spent two highly successful decades as a full services executive, including time as Head of Clients and Brand, and then went on to co-found Maxima Private, a boutique accounting and advisory firm. Through its virtual family office program, Maxima Private helps families manage, grow and protect their wealth. Jacqui's consulting business is where she focuses on her trusted advisor role for boards and families.

Jacqui is the chair of an iconic global family business, and non-executive director on two ASX-listed boards and a charity. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), a chartered tax advisor, a fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and a Justice of the Peace.

Her hope for you through this book is to see that money allows you to enjoy life, but it also comes with great responsibility. With careful planning and effort, you can manage your money so it doesn't manage you.

jacquiclarke.me

Introduction

Sarah is a busy professional with huge responsibilities at home and work. As a partner in a large professional services firm, she often multitasks at work. The demands seem tireless: putting out little fires here and there, and responding to a myriad emails and demands on her time.

It doesn't stop when Sarah leaves the office. In fact, prior to arriving at work each day, she has already been for a morning run, had breaky and sent the kids off to school. Rushing is the norm; the end of the day, not unlike the start, seems like madness. Groceries to grab on the way home, talking with the kids about their school day, working out who needs to be where and when. And then her brain is still on at 3 am, churning around thoughts and concerns about which bills need to be paid, or whether the family will have enough money for a holiday this year.

Sarah's husband Paul is also a busy executive in a Big 4 bank. His schedule is equally complex. That means there is a never-ending pile of life admin floating around the house or each of their inboxes. Tax. Permission slips. Doctors' appointments. Holiday planning. Diary coordinating. (Argh! Can you relate?)

The weekends are loaded up with sports for the kids, household chores, cooking. Maybe some entertaining. Little time or thought goes into planning the next day, let alone planning for their future.

Sarah and Paul are an example of your classic time-poor ‘wage slaves’. They have good incomes; they are well-qualified and in-demand people. They are smart. But this gets in the way of asking for help. Help with money. Help with wealth and living what they think is ‘financial freedom’.

They do minimal cash flow planning and bury their money worries. A bonus might come in and it gets spent on a new car, some jewellery, a special handbag, or they might even finally commit to a renovation. Or it might fund their 40th birthday party or a special event with their friends.

It's a cycle of money in, money out.

A treadmill of this kind is okay. Nothing to complain about, right?

But what happens when that treadmill breaks, or you simply want to get off?

Maybe one of you gets sick. Or there's a major corporate shake-up at work. There's a change in strategic direction at one of your firms and you can't stand the ‘pressure cooker’ any more and want to leave. You add a new family member. You get married. You get divorced. You start a business.

What's been set aside for one of these monumental life changes?

I'm not trying to scare you here, but these things creep up — and usually we're not prepared!

Over the past 10 years, your household income has possibly doubled or even trebled. Yet, coincidentally, there's been a shift — an ever-so-subtle incremental increase — in your expense base. Your lifestyle ‘needs’ have increased; you might have bought a bigger house, for example. This was a justified move: you needed the space, you had the income to support the bank's loan ratios. You also have some equity in your home now since selling your older place, but you've got a bigger mortgage too.

So, your balance sheet might look good but what income-producing assets do you have (apart from you!)?

The reality for most of us is that the more income we earn, the more frivolous we become. And we're not ready for when shit hits the fan. (Hello, pandemic.) And all this adds up to worry, which compounds over time.

The good news is that you can do something about this.

You can control your finances and build a plan to secure your financial future.

You can turn around your balance sheet. You can turn your relationship with money into a more practical, positive and useful tool to get what you really want from life. To plan strategically for you and your family's future. To protect and preserve it and share your money in a consistent and fulfilling way, without adding more stress and anxiety.

I know this because I've done it many times, for myself as well as others like you.

Over the past three decades I've worked with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, including some of Australia's and Asia's richest families. I've learned a few money tricks along the way and I've observed a lot of money traps: the windfall gains, the business sales, the promotions, the overseas moves.

I've been divorced; remarried; blended a family with five sons (step-parenting takes being a parent to a new level of complexity); left my ‘executive’ career; and established, bought and sold businesses and so much more.

No matter where you are at right now, you have the ability to worry less about money and plan a secure future.

Notwithstanding setbacks, you can build and re-build a more enduring positive relationship with money along the way.

Money matters plague too many relationships! Executive editor at Mamamia Leigh Campbell said on her Out Loud podcast that in her friendship circles ‘every single couple that are separated or divorced had separate finances’. It begs the question: do you run big-ticket spending items by your spouse? Should you? We'll unpack these common questions together in the chapters ahead.

This book is a culmination of my experience and insights gained from 50 years on this planet and more than 30 years advising and observing people like you.

At a time when our trust in financial services and scammers is at an all-time low, this book serves as a trusted sounding board for life's misadventures and adventures.

You'll find the tools and skills you need to:

take control of your money and avoid the typical money traps

master the art of planning with money and create personal accountability

make empowered money decisions

develop your own plan for financial wellbeing and security

build a secure financial future to see you through life's ups and downs.

Whether you're building a side-hustle, going through a breakup, blending a family or planning a significant party, you'll learn to work out how to move through your biggest life changes and events, and have fun along the way!

You'll build a wish list for where you're going — for cars, renovations and parties — and you'll see why money isn't bad. You just need to get good at using it.

Ready?

Jacqui

An important note

Money management is not a set-it-and-forget-it activity. In addition to reading this book you will need to get a little hands-on to ensure you apply the skills and lessons in it.

This book includes practical templates designed to be re-used at different stages on your journey to securing your financial future.

You’ll find free downloadable versions of these templates at:

jacquiclarke.me

Keep revisiting these templates and the exercises in this book as your circumstances change or whenever you update your goals.

part Igetting your house in order

The foundation for living a life free of money worries begins with part I.

You need to understand your money story and how events or milestones in your life have impacted your financial baggage.

This can be very challenging for some of us. We'll need to look openly and honestly at all the ugly bits, to dig around in the dirt (or at least dig around for a credit card statement or two). What hidden spending is there? How are our expenses creeping up?

Take comfort in knowing that doing these things right and following the activities included with this book will have you on track to set, or re-set, your financial goals so they are better aligned to what you value most.

We'll look at how to build a group of trusted advisors around you without falling prey to the Melissa Caddicks of this world. And then work out what being ‘financially free’ actually means for you and how you can plan to get there.

Last, but definitely not least, we will look at the uncomfortable but necessary matter of death.

Let's begin.

Chapter 1Understand your money story

I had what you'd consider a typical middle-class upbringing in the 1980s. I went to a nice school. My father built our house. My parents both had cars. And we enjoyed an annual trip driving somewhere within Australia in summer.

I grew up observing my grandparents and parents running their building and plumbing businesses from home. I saw tradesmen coming and going from the house (or garage) all the time. When I was young, the tradies used to come and pick up their wages, which had been prepared by my mother and placed in a yellow envelope, every Thursday afternoon from the ‘office’.

In many respects I had great money role models from the get-go, and that was a blessing. The ethos was simple: work hard; a strong work ethic followed by a ‘you can't get ahead without debt’ mindset. This has had a significant impact on my life and my money values as debt was considered the norm — to clarify, it was what I'd call ‘good debt’, such as debt for an investment property or your house, as opposed to credit card debt.

I knew my parents were doing okay, although I do vividly remember the signs of money stress when a long-term client of the business didn't pay their bills. At the time it would have represented more than one-third of their annual income. I'm pretty sure my father preferred working ‘in the business’ than ‘on the business’ — that is, he preferred to be hands on rather than doing the admin things like chasing money. So this particular client got away with not paying bills for quite a while. This didn't end well for my family. The client, who had also become a good friend, went bankrupt (turns out we weren't the only ones that hadn't been paid). Needless to say, we never saw a dollar from the work that my father and his team had done over the period of a year or more.

There was little escaping this situation as just about everything was discussed in our kitchen at home, either in person or on the telephone. I know my father felt like he had been conned (for example, the client would regularly tell him that the bills would be paid as soon as X and Y happened). I now reflect on it knowing that the client's business just grew too quickly, and he wasn't managing the outgoings at all. As the bills mounted, the ability to pay them became a test of his storytelling abilities and avoidance techniques. He strung everyone along for a while until the mounting debts were inescapable and he eventually succumbed to bankruptcy due to the inability to pay any of his debts.

This led to my first real money lesson in tightening our belts. It was the first time a conversation like this had landed at our kitchen table: we would all need to make some sacrifices. I recall not taking it too well as a young teen. It felt like a cloud of uncertainty had descended upon us.

My parents had received great advice up front from their accountant on how to fix this. My dad worked six days a week to help us recover from this money setback. The goal at the time was to ensure that the business continued and he could keep his team employed while rebuilding from the loss of income and this meant making some sacrifices on our lifestyle to recoup what had been lost. My mother took on the main role of managing what we spent. Fortunately, the sacrifices were small: my mum paid more attention to the price of items at the supermarket checkout, and a trip to the butcher was a bit more considered, you could say. Her main recollection was that we stopped going out for dinner and we only bought the essentials — nothing more.

This experience influenced and shaped the way I thought and worried about money. It's important to reflect on the stories that have impacted your personal money journey. Ever-so-subtle things like knowing who managed the money when you were growing up; whether your parents ever struggled to pay bills or argued over money; whether they had any debt; whether they discussed money at all. Any number of things (such as experiencing your parents going through divorce) could have impacted you and developed your thinking and understanding about money.

It's important to appreciate and unpack your influences so you can begin to rewrite and adapt your money story to stop worrying about money.

What's your money story?

If you were writing your life CV right now it would no doubt inform your money story. Beginning in your childhood, recording every TV show you watched, every book you've read, the neighbourhood you grew up in, your education and the jobs you've had to this point, will have impacted your money story. These influences, including cultural or generational (grandparents or parents), and the emotions (or lack of) are all intertwined in your money story and provide incredible insight into where you are at now (or how you really got here) and what needs to change to steer you forward to a secure financial future.

Take me, for example. My friends and family will tell you that I wanted to be an accountant from a very early age. It was plainly obvious to me from my experiences in life that everyone needed an accountant in their lives. I have no doubt that the experience of growing up in the business influenced my own desire to understand more and contribute (I decided pretty early on that I wasn't going to be a builder).

I was determined to create my own level of financial independence and wanted to get a job at the age of 14. Fortunately, a close family friend manufactured women's clothing and had a couple of retail outlets. I was chuffed to land my first job (for cash, of course) working in their retail store in the CBD on Thursday nights. I'm pretty sure the commute to and from the CBD took longer than the shift, but I loved every minute of it, and it gave me my first insight into earning an income and having the freedom to spend (or save) it on whatever I wanted. Did you have a similar experience?

Fast forward … I progressed through school, went to university, studied business and promptly got myself a graduate role in an accounting firm. Next I got married, starting working at one of what's now known as the Big 4 (consulting firms), became a partner in the firm and along the way had three amazing sons. Each step along this journey came with increased financial responsibility and financial pressure (aka money worry). I'm sure this sounds familiar.

Not surprisingly, I had created this pressure. I had kicked off my married life living relatively plainly. Our basic needs were all met: food, shelter, medical and of course entertainment. We started out in a two-bedroom flat, sold that to buy a federation house … I mean, a wreck … renovated that not once but twice, then sold it for a much bigger home in a better suburb with a bigger mortgage. I had gone from owning a typical Australian sedan to leasing a fancy European car. Our trips to the south coast of New South Wales were superseded by trips overseas. We drank nice wine. Each time I received a pay increase or promotion we would increase our cost of living, and experienced our very own expense creep.

More income, more debt, more expenses …

At each one of these life stages I was often faced with money decisions and choices, although I was always pretty focused on earning more and also wanting to build financial security. This all came to a grinding halt when I went through a very difficult divorce. I was pretty comfortable financially at the time (and I knew what money was coming in and going out). I was the one who managed our money, so I was across all the ins and outs (I don't think many people could say that). But divorce rocked my financial security like few things can.

Was there a moment in your life when your money story took a U-turn?

By the time we had finished in court, all the money I had saved and put into my home since my first job at 14 years of age was gone.

Any battle and any court interaction is expensive, especially one over a property settlement. As the sole breadwinner, I was expected to provide my soon-to-be ex-husband with the same standard of living to which he had been accustomed. I'm oversimplifying, of course. But you wouldn't wish this process on anyone. (Avoid court wherever possible — more on this in chapter 7). Basically, we landed on a split financially (of the remaining assets) well in my ex-husband's favour so that we could go our separate ways. Admittedly, the reason for the financial split did make sense: I had a job (he was a stay-at-home dad) and I was earning good money. It was tough to accept at the time though. I also made a very significant ‘call’ during the process and that was to end the process. I asked my lawyers to forgo a greater percentage of our remaining assets to avoid fighting an even longer battle in court, which would have shrunk what remained of our combined wealth.

So, on my journey to 40 I was starting over again. (Sigh …)

We need baseline honesty here

Owning your money story is critical, right here and now. Be honest about how you got here; be honest with yourself. What choices did you make or delegate to someone else? Get clear on the good choices: the ones you'd like to replicate over and over. Also get clear on the ones you would have done differently and wouldn't make again. Each layer you peel back defines part of the current shape of your money story and your bad money habits (which I'd like you to let go of once you've banked whatever lesson was embedded in it). Your honesty will inform and enforce what change is required to move ahead.

Honestly, starting again financially was overwhelming at first and I was worried about maintaining some semblance of the lifestyle I had been living. I was solely financially responsible for raising our three young children, which required a significant adjustment to all things money. I was focused on minimising change to the kids' lives wherever possible, and this meant keeping the kids in their school. I was renting for the first time in my life and had to buy all my furniture and belongings again — right down to the vegetable peeler. Foremost in my mind was making my kids feel loved, safe and secure when so much in their worlds had been torn apart.

My stress and anxiety levels were high because I was worried about financial security for my kids if something happened to me. I doubled down on life insurance, TPD (total permanent disablement), trauma and income protection to relieve some of the financial worries I was carrying. I really looked at where I was and where I was going, and that is exactly what I'd like to show you how to do in this chapter.

The only way to rewrite your money story is to be brutally honest about your income and all of your expenses.

I can't emphasise enough, how important it is to recognise the significance of income and expense creep and how we tend to incrementally purchase more expensive items simply because we can. It's important to get on top of this before you become a wage slave to it.

The problem with expense creep is that it happens gradually, almost without you knowing it. As your income rises, you spend a little more, then a little more.

Maybe you eat out rather than eating at home — you know, to celebrate that promotion. Then, with the higher income, you eat out more regularly, maybe once or twice a week. While you're out at dinner, you plan to purchase a new car, one you could never have afforded, but now you can with your higher salary. You buy bottled wine rather than a cask, you eat at even fancier restaurants, you trade up your gym membership for a personal trainer. Rather than flowers or chocolates for your partner you buy a new ‘branded’ gift — a handbag or a briefcase — and before you even realise, you are on Satan's treadmill of expense creep.

You eventually start to commit to costs in anticipation of the next pay rise — that is, you commit to spending before you even have the extra money. It's like a disease. When the pay rises stop coming you turn to ‘buy now, pay later’ so you can commit to the new TV. Surely next year there will be another pay rise, or you can do some overtime — right?

In my case, I had always been comfortable doing the household budget and needed to maintain this practice now more than ever. But there was no denying I had fallen into this common trap of income and expense creep. Our lifestyle cost had exploded as my income grew. So, starting again was a great big wake-up call! I needed to create headroom, to work out how to save again, to recognise there were new costs to consider — for example, a nanny (or house manager, as we called them). If I was to re-shape my financial future and eventually buy a house again, I could not ignore the expense creep — no blind eyes. My goal was to eventually find a home that I could buy for my sons and me. My initial goal was to keep them in the school they were at.

Before we turn this around to look closely at you and your unique situation and story, I want you to know that even to this day, I keep a running spreadsheet that adds up what it costs to run our house. This is a must-do. It's much easier to manage and get in control of what you know than to stay in a continual cycle of expense creep (more like expense oblivion).

Money worries will be perpetual if you don't own your expenses and recognise the outgoings from your house.

Understanding your income and expenses properly is a way of easing your anxiety, no matter what situation you find yourself in.

As time went on, I remarried. My partner, Michael, brought his two sons into our family. He had similarly arrived with no assets post an expensive divorce, so again all of our income, costs and expenses changed — and so too did our goals.

There we were, two adults, five sons (all in private schools) managing a very big mortgage as we basically had nothing to put down (we were fortunate the banks considered our joint incomes as enough security). We had a full-time ‘house manager’ because we were both working like crazy. We needed all the help we could get. Initially, we leased cars to drive. It was hardcore but at the same time we were backing ourselves and our financial future — and careers — to eventually create headroom, to get into a place where we could see a little bit of equity build up in our house. The only way we could do this was by analysing the costs of ‘opening our front door’.

‘Open your front door’

Now it's your turn. Taking stock of three critical money items in the steps that follow will have you well on track to developing a baseline towards cost understanding and management. This is just the initial stage; these three money items are the building blocks of the journey to financial security and towards a future with a whole lot less worry. They are:

understanding and recognising your expense creep (an honest challenge)

analysing your ‘open the front door’ costs

creating your

new

baseline.

Let's look at each in turn.

1. Understand and recognise your expense creep

Let's begin with a high-level evaluation of your money story using some questions. This will also help identify where you may have overstretched recently. Take a minute to consider these (using the last five years as a sample):

Are you a spendthrift (over spender)?

Do you purchase things now that require you to make payments in the future?

Have you battled to save money?

Have your family/parents helped you financially in any way?

Did you receive a pay rise and buy something new?

Have you ever received a tax refund and splurged it straight away on something?

Have you upsized your house and mortgage?

Have you bought or leased a new car?

Do you go to fancy restaurants more than the local pizza or fish and chips shop?

Do you select the more expensive grocery items, or buy from a local boutique grocer versus a big grocery chain?

Do you buy more than you need or use?

Have you got more than one or two streaming service subscriptions?

Do you ignore your own budget or not have one?

If you answered yes to a number of these, you might be in need of some assistance with taming your expense creep or at least getting your baseline sorted.

Consider how you can avoid the trap of earning more and spending more. It's easy to get bound up in the work treadmill (or hamster wheel) and not realise the impact of the ever-expanding choice associated with your increasing income.

It's fair to say that we all have expectations of our lifestyles, maybe like the one you had growing up that informed your money story, and how you responded. You can change it or match it, but you don't need to fall into the same patterns if your income doesn't permit it.

2. Analyse your monthly ‘open the front door’ costs

Next, let's look at easing your anxiety about common expense items. Dig out any bank account statements you have, and grab your last credit card statement and any bills, such as electricity. We're going to list them all out and add them up.

Some of the expenses listed in the table may be paid quarterly or annually. Locate them and add them to this list as the fraction representative for one month.

In the middle column, scribble down the number, and total it when you get to the end. (I'll explain the purpose of the final column further down.)

There are a few blank lines for you to enter any special or unique costs you have in your house.

Open your front door (tier 1)

Monthly ($)

To be reviewed

Rent or mortgage payment

Electricity

Gas

Water

Council rates

Strata levies

Mobile phone monthly fees

Home internet

Subscriptions

– Apple

– Amazon