This is the most effective lesson I teach in my classes, please take the time to understand this as it is truly lifechanging.   Is this really a good deal?  How much will it really cost you?  What is the catch?  How much debt can you get into using these store cards. There are a lot of things that you need to consider.  Many are in the fine print and many more not in the fine print but you are expected to know.  You will know after you read today's blog that is for sure. Let's get straight to the point, surely its a great way to get something and not have to pay any interest or repayments, just have what you want?  WRONG!  so so so so so so so so WRONG! Let's imagine we go in and purchase a lounge suite and a TV, it costs us $10,000, I have told you before I like to work in round figures, it is much easier on my brain that is for sure.  The calculations that follow will show you why that is important.  I don't expect you to s...

  Compounding Interest can be crippling without you even knowing. When we purchase something, through hire purchase, interest free terms, even a mortgage, you need to understand the concept of compounding interest. If we purchase, for example, something worth $10,000.  I like round figures in my examples so you will see a lot of these going forward, they allow my brain to keep up with the calculations 😂😂 The purchase is $10,000 and the interest rate is 10% (round figures of course, unlikely to be that low or that easy to calculate, the highest I have seen is 49% ) We determine from that, every year we will be charged 10% of $10,000.  If you are not a maths person, I was always taught that if you replace the "of" with "multiply" you get the answer. 10% x $10,000 = $1,000 We often assume that means that we will pay $1,000 interest per year.   If we even think about it at all. That is not the case, what happens is this, let's assume for this example, this is a fi...

Many families, including mine, have spent years in credit card debt.   So much temptation out there, so many "things" that become needs really quickly.  Needs we cannot afford.  God knows I have struggled to bring up my family in a way where they didn't go without.  We all seem to have this belief that we need to provide a world for our children that is better than what we had.  Why?  My childhood was perfect, I don't think I went without, but if you ask my mum, she would tell you we always needed more, and things could have been better.  As mothers it seems to be embedded in us, we need to supply everything our children could possibly want.   This, almost always, results in us getting credit cards, and/or store cards.  Then we proceed to pay the minimum payment each month, in fact, some months we struggle to do that and suffer the penalty rather than go without anything for fear of someone finding out!  We always believe that ...