Maximise Your Money

We have 2 months left of 2026 which feels so short yet there is a lot you can do. Most people achieve more in the final quarter of the year than they do in the first, so how can you end 2026 on a high? Or higher than you are now at least...

Choose A Goal

Pick a goal you want to focus on. Don't try to do everything or overhaul all your finances. Choose one goal you would be ecstatic to achieve such as:
- Pay $1,000 extra off my debt
- Get $2,000 in my emergency fund
- Create an income stream of $200 extra week
- Make $xxxx extra to go on a holiday/pay for school holiday activities/join that class I want to next year
- Get a payrise/promotion or switch careers (or at least start the process to progress - tips for that here)

Try to choose a goal that will make a difference long term AND feel great to achieve.

Create The System

Now you know your goal, what do you need to do to achieve it and how can you change your environment and habits to make it work?

For example: paying $1,000 extra off your debt or putting it in an emergency fund. We have 8 weeks (and 6 days so almost 9 weeks) left of this year. If you want to pay $1,000 extra off you need to find $125 if you base it on 8 weeks, $111.11 if you base it on 9.

• An automatic transfer if you can afford it.
• Round down every time you spend (this can be easily set up in some banking apps such as Up Bank)
• Cancel a few subscriptions and redirect that money.
• Try one of these 21 ways to make $100 or 20 ways to make $1,000​

Next, make some changes to your environment to make it harder to spend.

• Delete any apps that distract you/make you want to spend and set up a folder to send ALL those marketing emails to or unsubscribe from their lists. Ubereats, DoorDash, even the cashback apps could go for this time since you are avoiding shopping anyway. Delete social media and stop scrolling.
• Organise some frozen meals so you are less tempted to get takeaway e.g. butter chicken, bolognese, lasagne all freeze well. Or grab frozen chips and chicken nuggets. No it's not healthy but it is significantly cheaper than takeaway and can be cooked before the delivery would have arrived anyway.
• Make things easier to substitute e.g. if you are used to doomscrolling, set a book out somewhere (such as one of these we recommend) so it is easy to grab and read. Do online surveys to make money. Or get a water bottle and sneakers near the door so you can go for a quick walk, try doing yoga before bed.
• Look at what triggers you to spend more or waste time and how you can change that. What can you replace it with? How can you make it harder to do?

Track It

You can use an app such as WeMoney to track your money better. Doing this helps you see where you can make changes and watch your finances improve.

Other Tips

Read through these to help you with whatever your financial goal is:

​6 tips to help you clear debt​

​How to do a No Spend Challenge​

​How to live with champagne tastes on a beer budget​

Read the 21 habits of the wealthy and how you might implement some

What I Am Reading

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Do you ever have trouble finishing what you start? Do amazing ideas come to you all the time but after the initial excitement wanes you struggle to follow through?
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Discounts For You!

​Get $100 from ING​
​$21 instantly from UP​
​Up to $210 off meal kits ​

​Check out a huge list of freebies and discounts here.
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