Greater Bank Guide to Budgeting
We could all use a little help managing our money – see how we can help.
Save for emergencies
How ready would you be for a ‘rainy day?’ How about a downpour? Your emergency savings plan can be your parachute to protect you against the unexpected. Here’s how to set one up.
Setting goals
If you’re on a fixed income, or have a family, there’s no use making your savings targets unreasonably high. You should aim for a regular savings contribution that is sustainable more so than substantial. Even if it’s only $20-$50 per fortnight, you can still make your money grow.
Once you know how much you can contribute on a regular basis, you can project where you’ll be in 6 months, a year or two years’ time with our handy Savings Goal Calculator.
Find wriggle room
If you’re already stretched pretty thin financially and are wondering where you’re going to find an extra $20-$50 a fortnight, fear not. Everyone’s budget has some fat that can be trimmed.
1. Take advantage of online tools
Why not take stock of your current incomings and outgoings and see what non-essentials you could do without? Our Budget Calculator can help.
2. Start from scratch
If you hear the word ‘budget’ and break out in a cold sweat, you needn’t worry – you’re not alone. Keeping a closer watch on your finances is easier than you think, though – check out our guide to setting up a budget and take back control.
Make saving automatic
An easy way to make sure you’re able to make regular contributions to your emergency fund and stick to your savings plan is to automate the process.
Setting up an automatic account transfer through your bank’s branch or online banking will remove the temptation for you to skip a payment here and there, and will give you one less thing to worry about during your busy schedule.
Establishing these automatic transactions through Greater Bank's Online Banking is the work of mere moments:
Get Started
Logon to Online Banking and access the 'Transfer Money' section.
Select your payment
Enter which account you wish to transfer to & from and your transfer amount.
Select the recurrence
In terms of when you want your payment to take place, click 'Later'. Enter how frequently you want payments to take place, and you're done!
Get a helping hand
If you’re only able to make modest contributions to your emergency fund, then it makes sense to squeeze every penny out of your total balance as you can, right?
When considering which account to use for your emergency savings fund, make sure you pay close attention to the interest rate on offer, and any stipulations that must be met in order to earn the maximum possible rate.
It doesn’t make sense to be scrimping and saving only to find out that you weren’t eligible to earn interest due to a technicality.
Do your research, find the Savings Account best suited to your saving pattern and watch your little nest egg grow.
