Hi,
I’m just wondering if anyone can advise me what sort of support a financial planner can offer. My husband and I need someone to look at our finances and offer advice on how we can save money. We struggle so badly with money and I’m tired of living pay to pay and having a o scrounge for things like car registration etc
I am going to start reading the Barefoot Investor again, I just need to get my husband on board with it (which was a struggle last time)
Thank you
8 Replies
You need a financial counsellor, not a financial planner.
I think the salvos, places like that have them.
Thank you 😊
Go with a financial counsellor, it’s usually free and they are less focused on investing etc, more focused on getting your spending under control and lowering debt.
Thank you 😊
I agree with the others. With barefoot investor would your husband listen to the audio book instead? That’s what my husband did. I also worked out how all of the ‘buckets’ would work so that he could then listen and then see how it worked for us which seemed to make more sense to him
Thank you
I’ll definitely give it another go lol
Maybe he’ll be more in to an audio book.
OP here.
My husband earns good money and I make up a budget every fortnight so we know what is meant to be paid but there is just so much random extra spending that adds up so quick. I over estimate things as well. Like I’ll allow $100 for fuel and it might only cost $70 so we have that little bit extra just in case. It’s things like take out because we don’t feel like cooking (that doesn't happen all that often), milk and bread because we run out quicker than I expected (I freeze bread as well), fresh fruit and yoghurt for my daughters Kindy. One week she will eat all the fruit and yoghurt in the house and the next she won’t even look at it, so hard to judge. And we live in a rural town, so it’s 30-40 mins to the nearest supermarket.
If I transfer money in to savings each fortnight but we end up dipping it to it most times due to the extra spending.
We got declined for a loan earlier in the year for medical expenses and renovations, I wasn’t surprised we got declined.
My husband and I regularly discuss things (sometimes it turns in to an argument) about how to fix things and he says he will take over the finances (which I’m fine with) but he needs my input so he knows what’s coming out and when but nothing ever happens, we just do the same thing and end up where we are.
Like I can be pretty bad for spending but I have really started limiting my spending.
I just need to find a way to get on top of it.
Just to add I do work as well.
I work in FP, if you have nothing, a financial planner may agree to put insurances in place for you, which they get commission for, but that’s about it. With the huge compliance burden per client and the way we charge (mostly % of funds under management), its just not worth our time unless you have at least 500k invested. There are some small operators that may take you on with nothing if they are desperate, but that’s why we’re recommending a counsellor. Financial planning these days is for people with money, that don’t know what to do with it.