It’s often so easy to have your plan railroaded by other people, events and activities. Then, all of a sudden you wonder what happened. Does this sound familiar? I hear it often with people who are still waiting to buy a house. They were waiting to see what the fall out would be after Covid - thinking it would just be an event that [...]
If your home needs a revamp whether it’s to make you fall in love with it again or in preparation to sell, here are our top 8 tips to breath some new life into your home: 1. Repaint - inside or out, or both. There’s nothing quite like a fresh coat of paint to make a tired home look a whole lot better. You [...]
Funding our retirement is a topic that is close to a lot of our hearts. Will our super be enough? Will we have made good investment decisions that will allow us to enjoy our years in retirement to the fullest? What else can we do to really capitalise on what we have? One option is to use the equity you have built in your [...]
If you want to stay ahead of the current increasing cost of living, now is the perfect time to revisit your budget! It’s an even better time to plug any holes in that budget! When things are just plodding along nicely, I find that I tend to become a bit complacent about my spending. If I overspend a little this month, I’ll rein it [...]
There's so much talk at the moment about interest rates rising, property values dropping, speculation of crashes, doom and gloom and uncertainty. Well I'm here to say 'stay calm.' Interest rates do go up. They've gone up again yesterday. Hopefully that will be the last for a few months but it might not be. They've been so low for so long that we're no [...]
When we think of boundaries, we often think of the boundaries we set for our kids rather than for ourselves. They're the rules and restrictions we give them to move within to keep them safe, secure and happy. But boundaries are also important in areas of our own lives and work to keep us safe and on track to achieve our goals. Boundaries can [...]
Throughout my life, I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from some great mentors - personally and professionally, formally and informally. When you take the time to look at what others do, how they do it and even why they do it, there is just so much to learn. Whether it’s about problem solving, leading, managing or setting and achieving goals, I’ve learnt so much [...]
It can be hard work to find the right home loan for your circumstances. So where do you start? 1. Firstly, decide what “right” means for you. Do you want flexibility to make additional repayments or security of the same repayment every month? Do you want an offset account or just the bare minimum features at the cheapest rate? 2. Consider your long term [...]
Yesterday, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced the third cash rate rise in as many months. Whilst this seems a lot, this is the first of any rate rises we've seen since October 2011 when the rate started dropping from 4.75%. The cash rate is currently sitting at 1.35% and while the actual interest rate charged by lenders is higher, the interest we're paying [...]
Six things that tell you it’s the right time to buy your first home: Buying a home occupies most of your thoughts: You’re ready and you’ve decided it’s what you want to do – 100%. Buying a property is your focus. It’s at the top of your goals list. You’re realistic about your budget: So no water views, no outdoor kitchen or spa. You’re [...]
