Financial Independence Blog

Is running your car costing you more than you can afford?

Have you ever stopped to think about how much it costs you to own your car, run your car and secure your car and whether or not there might be a cheaper alternative for getting from A to B.

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Posted by Adrienne on: 6 November, 2009

Meet our little tama

Meet our little tama - he made us wait an extra week past our due date, but he arrived with speed into a water delivery and now is the whetu of the whanau.

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Posted by Kelly on: 26 October, 2009

The Last Pepi

Look at me! Four weeks out from our little potiki being born… hmm looking rather swell ne!

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Posted by Kelly on: 8 October, 2009

The Christmas Countdown is on...

With just over three months until Christmas its time to start putting a plan in place – that is if you haven't already! How many times have you made the promise that next year will be different - I'm going to plan for next Christmas so that it isn't so stressful… but the reality is other things always seem to get in the way. The funny thing is it falls on the same day every year – we know its coming and we know what it means.

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Posted by Kelly on: 30 September, 2009

Survive the crunch!

What Kiwi's need to know to survive the recession.

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Posted by Kelly on: 20 September, 2009

Five tips for Saving Electricity

Power prices are becoming increasingly crippling for many of us, especially over the cold winter months when we are trying to keep the whanau warm and dry. Here's some tips that may help you reduce your power costs.

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Posted by Kelly on: 14 September, 2009

Super Wa

It's hard admitting your no “super wa”. Most Māori wahine especially those I know, are either super wahine or aspire to be super wahine.

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Posted by Kelly on: 31 August, 2009

Why Have a Will?

Thinking about and having a will written up is something most people don't even want to think about but, the truth is, its one of the most important things you could possibly do for those you love.

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Posted by Kelly on: 28 July, 2009

Frugal

Frugal is such an ugly word – an ever popular, line on greeting cards and fridge magnets.

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Posted by Kelly on: 30 June, 2009

It Won't Happen Overnight But It Will Happen!

Changing the habits of a lifetime can be really scary – especially when it comes to changing how you spend money. Habits sneak up on us over time and once they are firmly part of our life it generally takes some time to "kick the habit".

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Posted by Kelly on: 18 May, 2009

Kelly's Money Matters

OMG (Oh my god!) is a popular acronym with rangatahi, but I must admit it sums up in three letters the way my friends and I responded when I announced, "I'm hapū with our fifth child!" My partner laughed when I told him, kind-of hysterically, but he managed to pull himself together when I started to frown at his over zealous response. Then he said, "We'd better do some planning". It's a bit late for family planning I thought and then realised he meant financial planning. He had moved quickly into the practical phase, while I was still feeling heavy with "morning sickness" which was 24/7.

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Posted by Kelly on: 20 April, 2009

Meeting Joan Baker

For the first time in my life I had a financial planner. Apart from sounding flash, I really had no idea what a financial planner did.

"Can you write up a budget and highlight all your expenses and your income, then tell me what you own and what you owe."

This was the first request from Joan before our initial meeting. I did my homework and wrote up a budget. This task was a little nerve wracking, especially seeing what you owe verses what you own – we have a house, but really the bank owns more of it than we do.

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Posted by Kelly on: 10 March, 2009

Money and Me

It's hard admitting your weaknesses to yourself, let alone to the rest of your iwi! I'm hopeless with money. It's not that I am a big spender. I am just not making the money I earn work for me, and my whānau.

It was while I was doing my cyclic mantra, which goes along the lines of "what am I doing with my life.... why are we always so broke?", that I came across an advertisement in TPR about Wealth Seminars for Kāi Tahu whānau. The timing was superb and the price unbeatable – free.

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Posted by Kelly on: 10 February, 2009

Nau Mai Haere Mai

Never has there been a more critical time for whānau to take control of their household finances. The current world economic crisis has seen the economies of some of the world's most prosperous countries come under attack. Banks are failing and credit is no longer widely available. Many large corporates are bankrupt or struggling and people are losing their jobs and their homes.

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Posted by Blade on: 10 March, 2009