As well as learning how to be a mum, there’s also significant financial pressure and considerations that come along with this stage of your life. For example, taking time off work and cutting back to one income or one-and-a-half incomes can be difficult to manage. So, how do you ensure that your family finances will stay on track whilst you can enjoy special quality time off with your baby without having to worry about rushing back to work before you feel ready?

I’m going to share with you five tips on how you can get financially ready for the arrival of your baby and how you can get through your maternity leave.

Tip #1
Set up a maternity leave fund as soon as possible. So, as soon as you start trying to fall pregnant, or as soon as you find out that you are pregnant, set up a separate bank account where you can start contributing some savings that will help cover your time off work. Preferably this account will be an offset account linked to your mortgage, if you do have a home loan, but the key here is consistency. Consistent regular payments into this account will help you to build up this savings fund quickly and efficiently in preparation for your maternity leave.

I suggest you decide on the percentage of your income that you’re going to put into this fund each pay, and if you know how much time off you want, it’s easy to then work backwards to calculate how much money you need to save to ensure you can still have a comfortable life during your maternity leave. Obviously, the more you can save, the less pressure you have on yourself to return to work before you feel ready. You know, one example could be if you can try and save 50% of your personal income for the nine months leading up to your maternity leave. This will allow you to live comfortably for at least a further nine months of being completely unpaid once your maternity leave pay stops.

You’re going to have to learn to live on less income when you’re on maternity leave so you might as well start learning how to do that before you leave work and before the extra costs of nappies comes into the equation.

Tip #2
Understand what you’re entitled to. It’s important to ask your employer if they offer any paid maternity leave because this can obviously contribute financially. But you also want to investigate what government benefits you might be entitled to.

Contact Centrelink and find out if you are entitled to any paid maternity leave and how much it will be. Also, ask them if you will be eligible for any family tax benefits, family tax A and B, or any parenting payments, or any other financial assistance following the birth of your child.

Tip #3
It’s a great idea to review your current spending and cut back on your big expenses. Obviously, this is a big change to your life, and it’s important to review what you’re doing now, what’s working well for you, and what’s not. Also, review your mortgages and other debts to see if you can refinance them to cheaper facilities to save you money. It’s going be a lot harder for you to refinance once you’re on maternity leave, so I just suggest any review of your mortgage and your debts happens before you start maternity leave as soon as possible.

Review all your other day-to-day expenses and identify where you can start making savings to make room for the new expenses that will inevitably come with having a child.

Tip #4
Steer your baby shower towards gifts that will be the long-term necessities. So, a gift registry at a baby shop is a really good idea to ensure that you get what you need rather than getting things that are not useful to you.

Suggest to your family and friends to combine their gift so they can get you the larger items that are more expensive like the cot or the pram that you need or maybe even a large supply of nappies rather than every one of them giving you smaller gifts that the baby will outgrow quickly.

Tip #5
Most importantly, enjoy and embrace every moment. Hopefully by the time your baby arrives, you have a nice, healthy balance in your maternity leave fund account so that you can sit back and relax and really enjoy the precious gift that is motherhood.

I hope these tips have helped you. If you have enjoyed them, please share with your family and friends, and I’d love to hear your comments on how you got yourself financially ready for maternity leave.

The post Getting financially ready for maternity leave appeared first on Rise High Property Investor.

Tip Number 1 – Make a list
List all your debt in order of the highest interest rates to the lowest interest rates. Choose the debt that has the highest interest rate and eliminate that one as soon as possible. This means that with all your other debts, you are going to pay the minimum repayments and transfer all your extra money onto the one that you’re focusing on.

Tip Number 2 – Consolidate all your bad debts
If you can, speak to your mortgage broker, look at your credit cards and your personal loans, and see if you’re able to consolidate them into one facility at a much cheaper interest rate. This is going to help you get on top of that debt faster, and make sure that you can get rid of it as soon as possible. In terms of looking at this, also call your creditors, and ask them if they are willing to accept a reduced pay-out, if you can pay them out quickly. Often, they’re willing to do this, and this can also help you get rid of your unwanted debt quicker.

Tip Number 3 – Implement the 50/50 rule
The 50/50 rule is where 50% of your income is going towards your living expenses, the other 50% of your income is going towards all your debt repayments, and making sure that you’re transferring most of that income to the debt that you’re trying to eliminate. Also, look for ways to increase your regular contributions to your debt. For example, you might have some lump sum bonuses through work that you can put into there, or tax refunds. Try and get it down as quickly as you can.

Tip Number 4 – Identify the cause
This is about reducing unnecessary spending. It’s important that if you’re going through this process of reducing and getting rid of unwanted debt, that you’re changing the habits that got you to this position in the first place. Once you actually start to see your debts reducing, and you start to see your money habits changing, you’ll be so excited and you’ll want to keep doing it, and keep improving your money habits, and it will definitely be worth it in the end.

Tip Number 5 – Celebrate your success
It can be a long journey when you start paying down your debt and getting rid of some of that unwanted debt. So, make sure you reward yourself, and know how you’re going to reward yourself. It’s a big deal and you should be proud of yourself. As you start to eliminate those unwanted debts one-by-one, start reallocating that money that you’ve been putting to that first unwanted debt on your list, to the second unwanted debt until eventually, they’re all gone.

Getting rid of unwanted debt can take time but it is worth it in the end and puts you on the path to achieving your financial dreams and goals. If you would like help to get rid of your debt contact us today.

The post Getting rid of unwanted debt appeared first on Rise High Property Investor.

Take control of your spending by planning where and how your money will be spent in the future.  Start here by downloading your free Money Saving Worksheet.

The post Marissa’s Top 6 Tips for achieving Financial Freedom appeared first on Rise High Property Investor.

So we’ve developed a highly personalized program that empowers our clients with education and ongoing support from a dedicated mentor, so that they can grow their confidence, their skills, and their knowledge, to make the right money decisions, not only day to day, but also long term for their future.

So, what are some of the things that we focus on in the program? Well first, we focus on helping to gain clarity on your financial goals and dreams. We feel this is important, because if you know where you want to go, it’s a lot easier to get you there. Second, we focus on helping you to develop and implement better money management habits that are going to serve you well today, and in the future. We also like to identify ways to help you save money, and keep more of your money, because this is a really important element of being financially free. We also want to help you to proactively and strategically reduce debt. And finally, we want to help you to plan and invest for the future that you dream of.

Ultimately what you can expect by being part of the program is that you’re keeping more of your money, and that more of your money is working more effectively for you, so that you can have a better life now, and in the future.

We also aim to help you feel empowered and confident to manage all your finances in a way that’s going to enhance your current life and enhance your future life. If you feel that this is for you, and you would like your own personal money coach and money mentor, then please click here to find out more. We’d love to work with you.

The post About the Money Mentor program appeared first on Rise High Property Investor.

The post Your Money – March 2019 – Interest Only Loans appeared first on Rise High Property Investor.