Make Money Simple Again
Financial peace in less than 10 minutes a month
Are you looking for a way to make your money work harder for you? Whether you want to save for a home or investment deposit, pay off your mortgage faster or just build up a cash buffer to take away financial stress, a new book can help you set up a simple yet highly effective system to get you where you want to be.
In Make Money Simple Again, best-selling authors, Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley, draw upon almost two decades of experience helping thousands of Australians to provide a practical guide to help you achieve financial peace. By following their proven, 7-step money management system – Money SMARTS – readers learn how to get your finances on track to invest in your future, all in just 10 minutes a month. Bryce and Ben show you how to:
Know where your money goes
Take control of your spending
Trap your cash flow surplus each month
Pay off your debts sooner
Ensure you don't leave any 'money on the table'
Make every dollar work harder for you
Pay for holidays, kids' education, property and other big-ticket items
Achieve total control of your money and invest for your financial future
Whether you've just entered the workforce, saving for a home deposit or looking for the best personal finance tool to help you get ahead, Make Money Simple Again empowers you with the clarity, structure and motivation to help you on the road to financial freedom.
Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley are the authors of the best-selling book The Armchair Guide to Property Investing, presenters of the phenomenally successful 'The Property Couch' podcast (with over 4.3 million downloads) and partners of the wealth advisory practice Empower Wealth. Bryce is the co-host of The Lifestyle Channel's Location Location Location Australia and ABC TV's Escape from the City. They are both sought-after media commentators who regularly appear on national television, radio, print and online.
Make Money Simple Again
Major Street Publishing
Authors: Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley
ISBN: 9780648294191
RRP: $$29.95
Interview with Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley
Question: Who did you write Make Money Simple Again, for?
Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley: Anyone who's not happy with how they manage their money!
We wanted to make household money simple again because money management has become quite complex when it doesn't need to be. Our grandparents used 'flour jars', to very good effect, by allocating their money as soon as it was received and made sure they only spent money that they had. These foundational principles are still as relevant today as ever so we simply adapted them to the 21st century to cater for a digital transaction era.
Question: How easy is it for everyday Australians to make their money work harder?
Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley: It's both simple and hard.
Simple because the mechanics of making our money work harder for us is really, really straightforward but hard because… well… we get in our own way!
Money is simple. Behaviour is hard.
The most violated principle of money management is spending more than you earn! Statistically, we are not great at managing our money and we only have to look at the $40 billion plus credit card debt in this country to offer us a clue. It's not entirely our fault though because there's nowhere in the traditional education system that teaches us to manage our money correctly. We're not taught the basics early in our lives so the banks are more than happy to prey on our poor money skills and offer us easy access to credit – i.e. credit and store cards – at super expensive rates and, before we know it, we're embarrassed about how much consumer debt we have. We become ashamed and we keep it to ourselves and try and manage our way out of it with the same behaviour that got us there in the first place!
The good news is that there is a simple framework for you to take back control of your money, whether you're a university student on casual wages or a CEO on a salary or anything in between. It doesn't discriminate.
Question: Can you share your proven method for tracking where our money goes?
Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley: Yes, it's called Money SMARTS and it's for anyone who wants a household money management system that doesn't require them to micromanage every dollar they spend and follows a rules-based framework that helps them trap more surplus while taking less than 10 minutes a month to manage.
Basically, it's a top down approach that requires you to follow 7 Simple Steps: 1) Gather, 2) Sort, 3) Calculate, 4) Banking, 5) Check Up, 6) Tweak and 7) Rollover, which we go into more detail in the book.
Step 4 is the exciting step because it allows you to simplify your banking into three accounts only:
1. One Credit Card;
2. One Debit card; and a
3. Primary account – either a 100% offset account or a high interest, low fee savings account.
This simple structure, along with a credit card "auto sweep" feature and the other six steps, means that you'll never unconsciously overspend again, you'll avoid paying credit card interest forever and you'll put your household finances on auto pilot!
Question: How and when should we start teaching kids about money?
Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley: As early as possible. There are lessons you can teach your kids at all stages of life " and around the dinner table is a perfect place for the learning to crystalise. Here's some tips for you to consider:
Lead by Example " Get your own finances in order by implementing a money management system, so you have a clearer picture and spend within your means
Teach them 'stuff' costs money " let kids pay for things. If you've got physical cash, help them count out the total and hand it over to the cashier. Explain what's happening when you use your debit card
Explain opportunity cost " "If you buy that Lego kit, you won't have enough to buy the game console "the trade-off"
Stress the importance of delayed gratification " Get them to save up for what they really want so they appreciate it more
Introduce them to compound interest young " Teach your kids that money invested makes more money for you… and that the borrower is at the mercy of the lender.
Question: What advice do you have for Australians wanting to pay off their mortgage, faster?
Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley: If you have a partner, make sure you're both on the same page " if you've decided that getting rid of your mortgage as quickly as possible is a priority for you, it's important to make sure your partner is also feeling the same way. You want to be working towards the same goal here.
Use a "7 Day Float" " we won't go into great detail here (it's all in the book), but you want to set up a weekly allowance that's automatically transferred from your offset account into a debit account. This is your "spending money" for the entire week. Once it's gone, it gone. You'll need to wait for next week's "pay day".
Handy hint: Thursday " or the day you do the weekly grocery shop " is a good day to pay yourself your 7 Day Float… you'll have money for the upcoming weekend AND a fully stocked kitchen, so if you're running low on funds after a big weekend, you know that you won't go hungry that week!
Consolidate your debts " close out or combine your debts into a single, cost-effective loan to reduce your monthly expenses. This should result in a greater monthly surplus, which can go towards the mortgage in your offset account. But please speak to a mortgage broker first.
Take on a side hustle " if you're willing to get a second or third job, you can throw this extra money at your mortgage!
Interview by Brooke Hunter
Make Money Simple Again
Major Street Publishing
Authors: Bryce Holdaway and Ben Kingsley
ISBN: 9780648294191
RRP: $$29.95
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