5 ways to face your financial fears this Halloween

People - gather ‘round, gather ‘round. Your money monsters are in town. No need to scream. Instead, let’s cheer! For it’s time to face your financial fears. 

You see, when money monsters rule our life - our pockets grow empty, and we fall into strife. Trick or treat - it’s Halloween! Leave your Nightmares on Elm Street and live out your financial dreams!

...reckon you’ve got what it takes to take on your money monsters? Good! Here are five steps to facing your financial fears this Halloween:

1. Perform an Exorcism on your current spending habits

Are your scary spending habits sucking your bank account dry? Then it’s time for an exorcism! Erm, we mean -- intervention!

It’s easy to overspend without a bit of guidance - so the first step towards better financial health is to set a budget. Before you run the other way, having a budget doesn’t mean depriving yourself of the things you love.

Rather, you’d include those things in your budget so you can treat yourself without guilt and without blowing all your savings! 

2. Eradicate any Paranormal Bank-tivity

Setting yourself a budget is great and all - but the most important part is sticking to it! A great way to become a more conscious spender is to track your spending with a budget and savings app. 

That way, you can stop blaming the ‘boogie man’ for all those online shopping and UberEats orders (“I swear it wasn’t me!”) and start taking responsibility for your actions around money.

3. Night of the Living Debt

Up to your ears in debt and don’t know what to do? One way to help eliminate any unwanted lingering debt is to move it onto a balance transfer card.

By moving multiple debts over to such a card, you’re able to gradually pay the total amount off while only being charged one interest fee for the lot instead of one for each debt. 

But be sure to pay it off before the balance transfer period ends or feel the wrath of even higher interest charges when the revert rate kicks in.

4. Beware of The Grudge (your credit score)

In the world of finance, there’s one thing that has the power to make or break you: your credit score. When you apply for credit (a home loan, car loan, credit card or even a postpaid phone plan), the lender generally runs a credit check to determine whether they’ll approve you or not. 

If your credit report is in good shape, then great! But if not, well, think of it as the one “grudge” that you don’t want to be held against you. 

Thankfully, there are lots of things you can do to help repair your credit score, like paying bills on time and clearing off any bad debt - so unless you want your poor credit score coming back to haunt you, best to start working on it now.

5. Save your Sixth cents

The secret to growing your savings stash is knowing where to look - (Clue: look everywhere!). You could be missing out on loads of potential savings by not shopping around for a better deal. 

Take a look at your current expenses and financial products (home loan, energy plan or internet plan, for example), then run a quick comparison check to see what’s out there.

Then, if you find a more competitive offer, don’t be afraid to switch so you can save some extra cash.

We hope you have a Happy Halloween, folks! For more spooky savings tips and freaky finance fun, you can head on over to our life and money hub.