Okay, some of you who have read my posts know that I have successfully bought a property overseas with very little money. That is no real quick and easy way and my last taxable income was about 37K. So how did I managed to save?
- Online high interest saving accounts are your friend. Most banks have them these days with no fees. Why I like savings not term deposits? well, You can put money in as often as you get paid, which leads me to my second point.
- Set and forget (Automatic Savings Plans) – Use scheduled transfers to automatically take out a set amount for you to save EVERY pay day. Don't even look at what money you can spend until the day after. FORGET that you have that savings account!!! unless things are really really dire, don't touch!!!
- Set yourself a float for your everyday transactions account, so that IF at the end of your pay week you have more…you can opt to transfer that extra into your online saver.
- TAX! no it is not a dirty word. I don't recommend paying more tax to get a payout at the end of the year. WHY? because the government is earning interest on it instead of you!!! Keep all your receipts, even medical, because if you have a spouse you can give it to them to claim the medical. There is plenty of information on the ATO website where you can legitimately claim deductions and Offsets are your friends. DID YOU KNOW? that if you work out side you can claim sunscreen? Sunglasses, hats, water bottles? if you need to wearing specific clothing, ie PPE or uniform you can claim laundry? Also any sort of books or mags which relate to your work, yes subscriptions, can be deducted… that is just the tip of the iceberg. SO FIND a GOOD ACCOUNTANT!!! ask them lots of questions, ask you co-workers, they maybe able to recommend someone. Believe me I had a friend earning almost 100K after deductions etc, he got back $11K – even if it is a few hundred dollars, it is worth it.
- Also there is now an option to be able to claim a set amount of tax refund of $1200. This only applies for the simple tax. IE, you are an employee, you don't have shares or any other investments and you believe that you may owe tax or get very little back. It requires getting one of the tax packs and sending your group certificates off and that's it …$1200 no questions asked. So take advantage. I also have my tax put straight into my online saver account.
- IF you know what you are doing you can plan the stock market with only a few thousand I would suggest min 5-6K. Commsec has prepackaged share portfolios that you can purchase with only one brokerage fee.
Using these I managed to save over $30K 3-4 years on less than 50K a year… averaging about 35-40K. I hope that this helps all of you who are in the same boat as i am and am looking to upgrade.
. Good luck with the savingThanks Rosa, I found your post helpful.
I'm on a 50K base and currently saving for my first investment property!!!
I found the following ATO benefit helpful for my circumstance and thought i would share it below for anyone in a similar situation..
The ATO has a HECS benefit scheme for graduates in maths, science, education and nursing. It can be claimed every year for a maximum of 260 weeks and the benefit is roughly $1,635.75 – $1,7000 per year towards reducing your HECS debt.
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?menuid=0&doc=/content/00236158.htm&page=2&H2
Patty
Nice!!!! Also this page may help some people.
http://www.ato.gov.au/content/86652.htm
and here is the address for the short tax return for individuals.
http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/ind00319718n84160612.pdf
Plou wrote:The ATO has a HECS benefit scheme for graduates in maths, science, education and nursing. It can be claimed every year for a maximum of 260 weeks and the benefit is roughly $1,635.75 – $1,7000 per year towards reducing your HECS debt.Patty
Wow, wish I had known about that when I completed my degree!
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
Hi All + Great thread Rosa,
Saving for a deposit is never easy and it’s not usually caused because someone is not earning enough $$$, There are plenty of people out there who are on the big bucks but they still can’t save because they simply don't know how too and they may also have bad spending habits.
Here are my tips:
1) Budgeting (Very Important) – Set up a fortnightly / Monthly budget, Have a list of all of your incomes Vs expenses, see if you can cut out any of your expenses, In your expenses Column add a mandatory “Savings Plan”, Rosa has provided every one with some great options
– Any spare cash left over – just save it – You will be surprised how much that little extra will help.
2) Money habits: What is your current spending habits? You need to be disciplined, focused, stingy & also you need to know what your goal is, 20K in one year, 30 K in one year "etc".
3) 2nd Job: Are you able to secure a 2nd Job? This was my favorite tool to build up my savings, I used 1 wage (Part time job) – 100% of this income was saved + my with my primary income, I saved most of it as well.
Jpcashflow | JP Financial Group
http://www.jpfinancialgroup.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeYour first port of call in finance :)
Jpcashflow wrote:Hi All + Great thread Rosa,Saving for a deposit is never easy and it’s not usually caused because someone is not earning enough $$$, There are plenty of people out there who are on the big bucks but they still can’t save because they simply don't know how too and they may also have bad spending habits.
I couldn't agree more Johann! And Rosa has proved it.
Working out in the mines I see soooo many people on huge incomes and as time goes on they just get further and further behind the 8 ball with accumulated bad debt! Is quite frustrating to know what they could be doing with their money and they just have no idea.
Personally I don't think the amount you make will ever change where you want to get to in life, just the time it takes to get there.
Low income is no excuse really as Rosa has proven.
Doing all your spending on a credit card with low/no annual fees gives your savings an extra 56 days to earn interest before you pay it off in full each month.
you get a lot more buyer protection and can get other perks like air miles etc too.
just need to be disciplined and make sure you always pay it off, and never draw cash out on a cc you get charged interest on that from day one..
Yes a definite must…plus it helps you track your spending all in one place. I rarely take cash out, maybe once a fortnight or month.
LOL…that doesn't mean that having a higher paid job won't help, ( I have applied for a job in the mines…many times… still hoping, but realistically my spending habits will be pretty much the same)
I have an easy budget. I basically split my income into 3 parts…
1. Saving (automated amount)
2. expenses – you can either move it to a separate account or automatically schedule it to go to your credit card. and use it when you need to.
3. play money (this is crucial if you don't want to go bonkers)
for a few years whilst paying off a debt i only allowed myself $50 a week to spend as I wanted… I withdrew it out as cash each week (I was being paid weekly). Then if i wanted something that cost more than $50 and i hadn't budgeted for it. I would just keep it and roll it over to the next week.
I have helped friends as well by buying clippers and cutting their hair, i groom my own dog. free games on my phone are awesome. the local charity food shop is good as well…also anything that you haven't used in the past few years you might be able to sell at a market for some extra cash if you want to splurge more.
I have a 5 year plan which will work regardless of having a higher paying mining job or not, just having a higher paid job usually means that peoples' expenses grow to fill the gap.
By setting and forgetting your savings you can change your perception of how much you have and use it to reign in excess spending…if you like you can rename your online savings accounts to something dire like… Hospital or something… me I have renamed it "Set me Free" anytime i check it I am even more determined.
If you can keep up the saving for 3-6 months you will find that it is really not that hard…Nathan (Mount isa, QLd) I may stalk you for a job
Yes the credit card points with no annual fee is a must. Also to help, try and use the points on things that you would normally have to buy anyway, like tyre vouchers or plane tickets for a flight you would be taking anyway. Then you free up some more cash that you would've already budgeted for elsewhere.
. Good luck with the saving
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
