News archive for March 2022

How much does it cost to live in Australia? It’s not just a high school economics question. In fact, the cost of living has an enormous impact on your personal finances.

HECS-HELP loans have empowered many Australians to go to university and achieve higher-paying careers. But can taking on student debt hurt your chances when applying for a home loan?

Everyone’s looking for an angle into the ridiculously competitive property market. But for those hoping to avoid the emotional stress and risk of auctions, conducting ‘secret’ deals behind closed doors could be the way to go. In other words: buy off-market.

Tenants and landlords both have rights and responsibilities in the aftermath of disaster. Since floods don’t discriminate, everyone should have a plan in place to protect their valuables – especially the 61% of renters whose valuables are at risk due to climate changes.

Over the past three years, Australia has been embattled with the effects of climate change. Droughts, bushfires, and flooding in rapid succession have each endangered millions of lives and cost us billions of dollars, not to mention driven up insurance premiums.

The current climate of uncertainty in Europe is making international money a bit tricky. But how does the conflict affect us here in Australia?

We love it when our favourite movie stars floor it in epic high-speed chases. The last thing we’d want is reality to get in the way of all that jaw-dropping action. And absolutely nobody is wondering what kind of car insurance those heroes would need. Nu-uh. Nobody. Not us.

As the impact of climate change becomes more difficult to ignore, a number of Australian home loan providers have responded by introducing discounted home loans for borrowers with eco-friendly homes.

For three years in a row, Australians on the east and north coasts have been deluged with unprecedented rainfall – mostly due to La Niña weather patterns and worsening climate change. This is especially impactful for the nearly one in five Australians at risk of flood damage.

If you’re a NSW Resident over the age of 18, then you’re eligible for a $50 voucher which you can put towards booking accommodation. The vouchers are valid from February 21 2022, up until October 9 2022.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has released the latest federal budget ahead of a looming election. While renewables and real wages will receive little to no help, the budget outlines massive support measures for women and those struggling with mental ill-health.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg delivered the 2022/23 Commonwealth Budget last night. With a bit over a month before the next federal election, the government will look to cut down on national debt while also providing immediate support for the people that need it.

The recent spate of floods on Australia’s east coast have presented unique problems for many, with people around the country both directly and indirectly affected.

The 2022 Federal Budget will be delivered this week, and with a federal election not too far away, the government is hoping to recover some goodwill among Australians by tackling rising costs of living.

A study of 1,005 Australians commissioned by the online trader and conducted by research agency The Digital Edge found that 32% of millennials are better educated when it comes to finance.

Dude, 1991 was wild. NASA launched the Hubble space telescope, printed jumpers were king, and houses near Bronte Beach in Sydney only cost $307,729. Them’s were simpler times.

New Year seems like a lifetime ago. So it’s only natural that you may have forgotten about the resolutions you made at the beginning of the year. But now is a good time to reset and potentially reevaluate these resolutions.

HECK YES! As part of their latest attempt to supercharge the long-suffering tourism industry, the Victorian government launched a $200  travel voucher scheme this week.

After recently hitting the 250,000 customer milestone, Elon Musk has raised the prices on his satellite broadband service Starlink. In an email to customers, Starlink defended the decision to increase charges. Justifying the 10% increase to base costs, the company said: “The sole purpose of these adjustments is to keep pace with rising inflation.”While inflation is affecting the cost of living for many everyday needs, it's not limited to petrol and groceries. Starlink’s owner and founder recently took to twitter to announce that inflation pressures had affected the raw materials needed to produce Tesla’s cars, and SpaceX rocket launches.

You may have heard that the Chelsea Football Club is for sale. But if you're interested, you better get your bid in quickly as there's now a rather short shortlist of contenders.

If you are a credit cardholder stuck with a deal that isn’t working for you anymore or the card is costing you too much, and you’re just not satisfied, then it could be time to make a stress free switch to a more worthy and valuable piece of plastic.

Sometimes you’ve got everything in place: a pre-approved home loan, an agent, and a dream. But given Australia’s ridiculously competitive property prices, it’s easy to feel like young first home buyers have limited opportunities.

AMP Bank has announced new increases to its term deposit rates.

Whether your business is just finding its legs or already an established player in your industry, managing cash flow remains an ongoing challenge. This goes doubly so for businesses that invoice other businesses.

All in this week’s best banking news recap: editor’s pick.

New Data released by Commbank shows that Sydney and Melbourne residents are increasingly spending money on shopping in their CBD areas.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has officially confirmed what we all guessed in 2021: housing prices went kaboom.

While share trading remains a popular option, a growing number of investors are turning to Bitcon and other cryptocurrencies, and younger generations are leading the charge.

We’re back with our housing market crystal ball, deciphering the latest prophecies from Corelogic .

Digital lender OneTwo recently slashed rates on its variable home loan offer, putting it among the most competitive home loans in the Mozo database.

The 2022 NSW and Southeast Queensland floods have caused widespread damage and grief, with the Insurance Council of Australia reporting that 107,844 claims have been lodged in flood-stricken areas, totalling an estimated $1.62 billion from March-April alone.

Drivers around the country are letting out a collective groan, as the average price of petrol in Australia seems higher every day. The simple task of filling up your car has suddenly become a major expense as international tensions begin to hit home.The ACCC’s latest petrol monitoring report reveals that daily average retail petrol prices in all capital cities hit 182.4 cents per litre (cpl) in late-February 2022, which was the highest inflation-adjusted level since 2014. Prices have risen further in the first two weeks of March.Geopolitical manoeuvring over the supply of oil between the US and Russia has upset the global energy economy and the aftershocks are being felt here in Australia, even at the humble servo. At the pump, prices have regularly sat above $1.80/L, as the early-2020 slumps in oil seem like a thing of the distant past. Diesel, Ethanol based and Premium Unleaded petrol have all been feeling the pinch as the latest commodity to feel the pressure of global conflict.Since January 2022, the price of crude oil has remained steadily above $100 USD/barrel, even reaching historic highs of $120/barrel of crude oil. It usually takes about two weeks for major moves in the oil economy to translate to the buyer, so it's unlikely that prices will stabilise in the near future.

Throughout the pandemic period, Aussie borrowers have had access to some of the lowest fixed rates on record. But in the past few months lenders have been quietly removing those offers from the market.

Housing affordability in Australia continued to worsen over the December quarter, with recent research putting the proportion of income required to meet home loan repayments at 37 per cent.

All the single ladies (all the single ladies) are getting into the Australian property market.

NAB is the latest bank to make changes across its range of fixed rate home loans, lifting rates by as many as 50 basis points.

New research from online bank ING has found that Aussies can save money by buying their groceries online.

Today is International Women’s Day and the theme for this year is #BreakTheBias. The aim is to raise awareness to the current inequalities faced by women worldwide, and to strive towards achieving a gender equal world - a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.

According to Telstra, their mobile network already reaches 99.5 percent of Australia's population. Now they're setting their sights on the final frontier to go even further.

New figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that homeowners with mortgages still seem to be making the most of relatively competitive interest rates by switching their loans in considerable numbers.

A new report from online share trading researcher Investment Trends has found that online investor numbers continued to rise in the second half of 2021.

All in this week’s best banking news recap: editor’s pick.

Let’s be honest, when’s the last time anyone actually visited a bank? And it seems we’re unlikely to ever again, according to new research from Roy Morgan .

Summer’s over, and Autumn’s finally here – It’s March, folks! And boy, let me tell you, we are in for a busy month ahead. With that being said, I give you your March 2022 Financial Checklist!

The cost-of-living continues to rise and a new NAB research says that many people find saving challenging due to debt repayments, bills and everyday spending.

Last year was scarily lucrative for online scammers. According to Scamwatch , Australians lost a record-breaking $323 million in 2021 alone, with more than quarter-million reports filed describing different investment, romance, and shopping scams.

Westpac has become the latest in a string of mortgage lenders to hike interest rates on a number of its fixed home loans - the third time the major bank has lifted fixed rates in 2022.

For the first time in 17 months property values in the nation’s largest and most expensive capital city, Sydney, have fallen according to new figures from CoreLogic.

The dangers of climate change could soon overwhelm both humanity and nature, says a new scientific report released Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Indeed, the effects from climate change could be more severe than originally predicted.

As we start a new season and look back on how personal loan interest rates have performed over the past few months, we saw several rate cuts.

Well it's finally happened! The international borders are open, masks and working from home mandates have lifted, sports and outdoor activities are back on–but what does that mean for your finances?

Are you finally ditching your share-house and setting up your own unit? Or just bought yourself a nice place to upsize and thrive? Before you settle into domestic bliss, one of the final boxes to check is your broadband internet. The kind folks at NBN co want to make this process as smooth as possible, so they’ve put together 5 helpful tips to ensure your new situation is perfect from day 1. Nobody wants to get stranded without the internet, so follow these tips to make the transition as smooth as possible.

The Reserve Bank of Australia left the cash rate at 0.10% at its second policy meeting of the year, while admitting that ongoing developments in Eastern Europe are a new source of uncertainty.

How quickly things change.