The ANZ Bank asks “Are you MoneyMinded”?

A corporate responsibility program

In December 2005 the ANZ set down ‘Customer, People, Community & Environment goals.

Chief Economic Officer, John McFarlane, says that the ANZ is determined to be a role model for how successful, modern corporations work with, and behave towards, their customers, people and the communities in which they operate. “We have been managing and monitoring these indicators for a number of years now and view them as integral to the long-term success of our company.”

The www.moneyminded.com.au project is part of this approach.
It is a community service style website, that gives us all the opportunity to improve our financial literacy, and provides a free program to help achieve this. www.moneyminded.com.au

The project compliments the work of the Australian Financial Literacy Foundation (AFLF) and their recently launched national campaign. It was designed by financial counsellors in conjunction with the ANZ and meets the ‘Essential Elements’ eligibility and assessment requirements set down by the AFLF.

It was initially delivered (in a workshop format) by not-for-profit organisations including The Benevolent Society, The Smith Family, Berry St Victoria and The Brotherhood of St Laurence. Despite needing to deliver the program, the community organisations simply do not have the resources to deliver the program so ANZ helped out.

The reason for the program:

Many of us could be saving for our children’s education or family holidays sooner simply by getting more ‘MoneyMinded’. The program has been designed for everyday Australians and can help people learn how to plan and save for the future by learning:

• how to budget
• set goals
• avoid spending traps.

The program also gives good basic info about everyday finances, loans and credit, superannuation and investment basics.

Read on to see how your approach to money stacks up!

Ten tips to get Money Minded

1. Know your finances: Know how much money is in your account, what fees you pay, what debt you have, and what bills you must pay.
Set SMART goals: Write down your financial goals, ensure they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed.
2. Separate needs from wants: This will ensure you prioritise your purchases, save money, avoid impulse buying and get value for money.
3. Create a realistic budget: A budget can help you identify areas where you can cut back you spending and allocate money to savings.
4. Minimise spending leaks: Spending leaks are generally small expenses (e.g. take-away coffee) that you easily forget to include in a budget, but that can add up to a lot of money over time.
5. Pay yourself first: Put away a specific amount of money towards your savings goal from each pay rather than saving only what remains at the end of your pay period.
6. Keep savings separate: Keep your savings separate to money used for day to day expenses.
7. Look for the best interest: The type of interest you want will vary depending on whether you are saving or borrowing.
8. Know what you are paying when you use credit: Before making a purchase on credit ask yourself if you really need the item right now, are there any other alternatives and is it the most effective use of your income.
9. Shop smart: always write a shopping list, never shop when you are hungry, and find the best prices.

Common Spending Leaks (Results based on a 5 day working week)

• A daily take-away coffee -$2.80 per day = $722.40 per year.
• Buying your lunch at work – $8.00 per day = $2064.00 per year.
• A daily can of soft drink from the machine – $1.40 per day = $361.20 per year.
• Incurring avoidable bank fees overdrawn account fees, or fees for using “other bank” ATMs – $1.50 twice a week = $154.80 per year.
• Cut back on text messages – five messages per day at 25 cents each = $322.56 per year.
• Daily Train Ticket – Buy a weekly ticket instead of a daily ticket.
• Impulse buying – avoid unnecessary purchases at the supermarket, petrol station or cafeteria register.
• Avoidable utilities expenses – caused by leaving lights on in unused rooms at home, or not fixing dripping taps.

Let’s know what you think?