Paying off a different kind of debt

Posted on May 14, 2013May 21, 2013 by must be thrifty

Last Tuesday, the RBA’s 25bp rate cut brought the official cash rate down to 2.75%, the lowest it has been in fifty-three years (via The Australian). I usually make a voluntary repayment into the fixed portion of my loan whenever RBA makes such a mortgagee-friendly announcement. But with 1st of June fast approaching, I thought I’d attend to another kind of debt, the student loan.

Prior to the economic blip of 2008 and the mortgage in 2009, a less mustbethrifty me decided to do a degree for the fun of it. A couple of years later, I ended up sixteen grand poorer; for the last oh so many years, I’ve been paying for it through my tax return*. Continue reading →

Money Matters

If it’s too good to be true, it usually is

Posted on April 23, 2012September 19, 2012 by must be thrifty

Despite having countless loyalty and ‘buy-10-get-1-free’ cards, Flybuys is one of the few programs that has actually given me something, so when I found out that NAB had released a new Flybuys Rewards credit card, I got pretty excited.

Currently, most of my Flybuys points comes from Coles or KMart. Each time I spend $1 at either, I earn 1 Flybys point. If I reach 2,000 points, Flybuys gives me $10 to spend at various stores. Not bad for a program with no join-up fee.

A NAB Flybuys rewards card allows me to earn 1 point for every dollar charged to the card, excluding bills. There’s an annual fee of $65 and only up to 44 interest-free days instead of the preferred 55, so how much do I need to spend in order to profit from this? Continue reading →

Footnote Frivolity***, Money Matters

And it’s a wrap

Posted on December 12, 2011December 13, 2011 by must be thrifty

Thanks to another RBA rate cut, Christmas has come early for mortgagers. All four major banks, CBA, ANZ, NAB, and Westpac, have passed on the full cut (via The Age), saving mortgagers with a $300, 000 loan a little over $50 in interest per month*.

$50 doesn’t seem like much. Two choc tops and two 3D movie tickets, perhaps? When directed towards the mortgage, however, that small sum can potentially turn into thousands of dollars saved. So while everyone else spends their windfall at <insert shopping centre monstrosity here>, I’ll be maintaining my repayments at their higher-than-required level as per Carolyn Boyd. I mean, why break a good habit?

Anyway, like schools, op shops, and the Reserve Bank, mustbethrifty.com will be shutting down for the December/January break. Weekly postings shall resume mid-January. Until then, have a safe, fun, and thrifty holiday.

Lots of love,

*Do the maths yourself to find out how much you can potentially save with a 0.25% rate cut: 0.25% p.a./12 months x loan amount = amount saved per month

Money Matters

Refinance friction

Posted on August 15, 2011August 22, 2011 by must be thrifty

Dear Mum,

The other day, you yelled at me when I brought up the ‘M’ word in our conversation. You told me that the global economy was flailing, that borrowing rates in America would drop to 0% interest, that I was stupid for wanting to fix rates for a portion of my loan in such a volatile market. You accused me of being a smartarse and not listening to you, before telling me to ‘do whatever I wanted’ in a tone that suggested that if I did choose to ignore your advice, I would not be welcome at your house; any progress we had made towards reconciliation since the day I left home unmarried would be made redundant. Continue reading →

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