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 ...
Is 2016 the test for DIY investors?

Paying for tertiary education

Donna WillanMoney cents

My children are likely to want to go to university and that is going to bankrupt me, and seriously mess with my retirement plans – Help! Not being completely naive to this possibility I took out a small investment when both were born. My son started grade 1 this year, which means in 11 years ...

What am I teaching my children about money?

Web AdminMoney cents

How can we support children to have a healthy attitude towards money? Children watch what we do with money and they absorb our attitudes like sponges. So what am I teaching my children? There are three critical things I want my children to absorb when it comes to money: firstly, money is a finite resource; ...

I want to afford holidays

Donna WillanMoney cents

Holidays. I want them, I need them, I deserve them. But can I afford them? I am thinking about different types of holidays – perhaps a short, local, get away; or a big two week holiday; or simply time at home relaxing and doing fun things that we never have time to do. Yes I ...
listing boom

A personal finance column by Donna

Simon BrownUncategorized

I’m in my mid-40s, a professional with an average income, a single mother with two young kids, and I have a big bond hanging over my head – who doesn’t right? I’m trying to get better at managing and understanding my personal finance; by having less debt and more disposable income – which would be ...