Using ETFs for kids’ education fund

Donna WillanMoney cents

Regular readers may recall that I had to cash in my children’s university fund earlier this year, which I had with the government’s pilot scheme, Fundisa. I was advised not to go with a traditional university fund that many banks sell, but rather to buy ETFs – see my earlier blog on this. And yes, ...
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What am I worth?

Donna WillanMoney cents

I have just re-watched the 100 second tip on “My personal balance sheet” (see video below). I was curious, and slightly nervous, to see what I am actually worth and whether I am ‘poor’ or ‘rich’. We tend to measure this by how much cash we have by mid-month, or how much debt we have on ...

How indebted am I?

Donna WillanMoney cents

How indebted am I, why do we have debt and what should I do about it? I have just re-watched the 100 Second Tip on ‘Good Debt, Bad Debt’ (watch the video below), where the JustOneLap team make a clear distinction, reminding us that a home loan is cheap debt and therefore not all bad. ...

How to budget for time

Donna WillanMoney cents

Here’s an age-old question: how much is my time really worth? If I’m spending less money but a significant amount of time doing something I really don’t enjoy doing or find very difficult, am I really saving? Or am I wasting my time? I guess the question goes back to an earlier column where I ...
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Why do we want so much stuff?

Donna WillanMoney cents

Why do we want so much stuff? I reflected on this in my last column and we really, really don’t need so much stuff; yet many of us seem to be hooked into this culture of wanting more and spending more. But why? When I think about it we really only need a few things: ...

Wants vs needs

Donna WillanMoney cents

“What do we Want? What do we Need? Do we know the difference?” This was the topic of one of Simon’s ‘100 second tips’ a few months ago and it really hit home for me, so I thought I would re-visit the idea today. How often do I manage to convince myself that my wants ...

Outsourcing to save money

Donna WillanMoney cents

Last week I managed to wrestle my pool back from green to murky blue. But as I wrote in my last column, I had an epiphany – we cannot do it all, I cannot do it all! So once in a while, if you can afford it and if it’s a task that’s not in ...

Reviewing my financial goals

Donna WillanMoney cents

It’s May and we are already a third of the way through the year, time for some reflection on my financial goals – am I on track? First a confession, I didn’t really articulate my goals in January, so let me do so now! First I will try to keep them SMART (Simple, Measurable, Achievable, ...

Inexpensive pleasures

Donna WillanMoney cents

In my first blog post I was lamenting how much money we spend over holidays. I promised to try to do it differently and to let you know how this panned out over the Easter holidays. A four-day weekend and school holidays is a lethal combination that can certainly break the budget that I was ...