This Halloween, we’re all about the treats. Here are our top six financial tricks to earn you treats, rewards or other bonuses.
This Halloween, we’re all about the treats. Here are our top six financial tricks to earn you treats, rewards or other bonuses.
Whether it's air miles or other travel rewards, Hotpoints, supermarket rewards like Flybuys or Onecard points, petrol discounts, or bonus interest on your savings, these tips and tricks can help you save money and start living your best life.
- Start a savings buffer and look for bonus interest and other perks
Sorted recommends that everyone has a savings buffer of at least $1000, to keep for emergencies like a mechanical problem with your car or a broken washing machine.
This is a really sensible idea, especially if you think you can’t afford to save $1000.
If your budget is really tight, it’s even more likely that any unexpected event or accident will put you into problem debt (debt that just keeps growing because you can’t afford to pay even the minimum repayment).
Why not sell some stuff you don’t use any more and/or save a few dollars a week out of your pay or benefit, and your savings will build up more quickly than you think.
Ideally you should have a separate bank account for your emergency money. Some accounts have a nifty ‘save the change’ feature that rounds up every purchase you make to the nearest dollar and deposits the extra cents into a separate savings account. It’s an easy way to save some money - and you might not even notice it happening.
Look for an account that pays interest. There are some good deals out there with accounts that pay bonus interest if you make at least one deposit a month and don’t make any withdrawals in that month. - Look for discounts on petrol
We all know petrol is expensive in New Zealand - in fact, prices at the pump have never been as high as they are at the moment. You should always use apps like Price Watch or Gaspy to find the cheapest petrol in your area.
Also make the most of supermarket discount vouchers that you’re given at the till and AA discounts, available if you have an AA membership card. - Double dip your Air New Zealand AirpointsTM
If you have a credit card that earns Air New Zealand AirpointsTM, and an ordinary AirpointsTM membership card, Air New Zealand will let you ‘double dip’. In other words, you can earn AirpointsTM dollars on both cards when you shop by scanning both cards at the till.
When choosing an Airpoints credit card, use comparison websites like Canstar or finance.co.nz to look for the one that offers an AirpointsTM dollar for the lowest number of dollars spent on the card. For example, some may offer 1 AirpointsTM dollar for every $75 spent, while others might give you 1 AirpointsTM dollar for every $59 spent on the card.
It’s also important to consider the interest rate on your Airpoints credit card, and go for the one with the lowest interest rate - particularly if you’re not in the (very sensible) habit of paying off your credit card bill in full each month.
There are also cards that offer rewards with other airlines, and the same principle applies: look for the one that earns the most travel rewards for the smallest number of dollars spent on the card. - If your credit card gives rewards that you can use, use it for everyday spending and pay it off in full every month.
Be warned - this takes discipline. To make the most of the rewards, you must pay the card off in full every month.
Otherwise, the interest you pay on the card balance could outweigh the rewards you’ve earned.
This trick works best if the rewards are things that are really going to be useful to you, such as air miles, travel rewards or products you really need.
There’s no point buying things for the sake of it, especially if all the spending on your credit card is going to result in problem debt.
If you don’t trust yourself to keep your spending under control, or you doubt your ability to pay off your balance in full each month, you should keep your credit card for emergencies only. - Max out your Kiwisaver contributions to get the maximum tax credit from the Government.
If you contribute $1042.83 to your KiwiSaver account this year, the Government will pay $521 into your KiwiSaver as a tax credit. To put it simply, for every dollar you contribute up to the maximum $1042.83, the government will pay 50 cents into your KiwiSaver account.
The KiwiSaver year started on 1 July 2018 - but if you’re just starting to make contributions now, call or email your KiwiSaver provider and ask them how much you’re entitled to receive from the government this KiwiSaver year.A helpful place to find out more about this is Sorted’s guide to KiwiSaver. - Buy in bulk and look for bonus reward points (for example: Flybuys, Onecard points or AirpointsTM) at the supermarket
Your supermarket might offer bonus reward points for buying a massive box of dishwasher tablets.
If it’s also a good deal (a cheap price per tablet) these items can be well worth buying.
Make sure the purchase isn’t destroying your weekly budget though - if you’re on a tight budget you may not be able to stretch to buying in bulk. Buying in bulk also makes sense even without the bonus reward points. Look at items like rice and flour (and even Halloween candy!) which have a long shelf life and are available cheaply in big bags of 5kg or more. If you have somewhere to store the goods, you can save a heap over time.
So that’s our top financial tricks for this Halloween. The very best to all you savvy savers out there - have a happy, safe Halloween and a fab time trick or treating!
