Final word

In 1849, Charles Dicken’s wrote on the relationship between money and happiness:

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness.

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.”

With costs from mortgage payments/rents, groceries, insurance, fuel, (you name it, and it costs more than last year) rising faster than Winstone Peter’s to an election, it’s really important to take stock of our personal budgets.

Are there subscriptions we don’t use, expensive habits that can be adjusted (e.g. repeat supermarket orders buying out of season produce or worse – golden kumara at $11.99 per kilo..., loans that can be restructured onto lower rates or better products? If we watch our pennies, the pounds look after themselves (reminder your editor he needs to get back on that treadmill and lose a few winter pounds!)

Malcolm Knight

Director, Financial Adviser