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Getting together a house deposit as a First Home Buyer

Being a first home buyer is an exciting process but I also know it can be overwhelming – there is so much jargon thrown around and it can be really hard to know where to start. My biggest advice to people is break it down into steps and follow these to get to where you want to be. The first thing that a bank will usually want to see for a first home buying journey is the deposit. This is how much you will be contributing towards the house and how much equity you will own. There are a range of ...

5 ways to sort your finances

We can all get caught in the trap of finding the “best” deal – and then never reviewing it. Companies like to entice new customers to join them by providing a deal or giving away merchandise, but once the promotional period ends it usually means you are back to paying full price. I like to call this the loyalty tax.  This can be one way to save a bit of cash in 2022, by doing your own review. Every year in January I make sure I review my power, internet, phone bill, insurances and eve...

Types of Mortgages

Getting a mortgage can be daunting, but choosing a mortgage product can be just as daunting!  There are so many to choose from and it can be hard to know which one suits your needs the best. Plus, the banks and other providers all have different names for their products which doesn’t help. I have done this guide as a quick explanation of the different mortgage products that are out there. There are more options than these but these 5 products are the most common....

Lets talk about Tax

The one question I get asked ALL the time is how do I pay for taxes on my side hustles. For some reason I think people are a bit scared of tax – and this prevents them from side hustling.DISCLAIMER: I am going to talk about my personal experience with tax. Please remember I am not an accountant so I can only go off my experience. If you need help then please reach out to a local accountant as they know all the ins and outs. This is a general overview of what I do for tax and does not include a...

Keeping the grocery spend down

Every Tuesday for the last couple of years I have posted my weekly grocery shop on my Instagram and Facebook accounts and it is the themed post that get the most requests every year.I also get a lot of people that will look at one post I do a week and wonder how I keep it so low. I thought it would be about time that I did a grocery blog to capture the big picture of how I keep my costs down. I do have to laugh because honestly, I was never a cook. My staple diet consisted o...

Types of budgets

Last week I wrote a newsletter which focused on budgeting. More specifically the zero-based budget, as this is the one, I find to be most effective for me. I had a few people contact me to ask what other budget methods are out there. So, this week I decided to write all about budgets.Budgeting isn’t a “one size fits all” and is very personal to each individual. I used to think I was terrible at budgeting because I could never seem to stick to it. Turns out I was just following a budget tha...

Should I save or pay off debt?

Should I save or pay off debt?  There really is no right or wrong answer to this question.It all comes down to your financial situation your goals and what you’re trying to achieve. For some they would argue that you shouldn’t save anything and just focus all your efforts on debt repayment. Others argue that you should save for everything first then pay off debt. Neither is right or wrong, it just all comes down to what YOU are aiming towards.During my debt free journey there were many ...

Sinking Funds

Let's talk about sinking funds!This is a financial tool I used the entire way through my Debt free journey, and something I will continue to use well into the future. For some reason this strategy completely resonated with me as it sort of “smoothed out” those annual payments that always felt like they were sneaking up on me. This is very different to an Oh Sh!t fund. It’s not for the big expenses (like the car breaking down) but rather for those expenses you know are coming up (like a car...

Surveys and Point Hacking

Surveys and points earn me about $1000/year. And I get asked all the time how I manage it because it can seem so frustrating (which it is). So here are my top tips. I just want to point out that these are what works for me, and if it doesn’t work for you then that’s fine. Just like everything personal finance related, it is personal. We all have very different goals and different priorities. I am writing this based on my experience, goals and priorities. I have also included some links to si...

Cooking the Kumara

Bulk buying and freezing is my top tip for reducing the food budget. It is something that I have learnt to do fairly well – mainly through trial and error.Recently I managed to score 10kgs of kumara for $20 (outrageous price, I know!). And it got me thinking that I wanted to share my bulk buying tips for kumara as this is such a good vegetable that can be found in bulk. I also like to use these methods for Potatoes (I buy 1 x 10kg bag of potatoes and that lasts me a year).My rule of thumb is t...

My Uber Eats experience

I started doing Uber eats in June 2019 and it has been one of my more favored side hustles both during the debt free journey and then the house saving journey.I understand there are a lot of opinions on Uber Eats so I decided to write this based on my personal experience on it – bearing in mind I am not employed by Uber Eats and in no way have been sponsored or paid to do this....

Not a Sprint

Last weekend I ran a half marathon in the beautiful city of Queenstown, New Zealand.Just some fun facts about me and running – I am not a runner at all. I smoked for 10 years of my life so my lung capacity was very low so the thought of running any more than 1km was just completely out of the question.I quit smoking in 2015 (this is a story for another day as it explains the expensive BMW I was driving at the start of my Debt Free journey) and that’s when I started my fitness journey. If you...

Financial Impossibility Doesn’t Exist

Very often we get told all the things we should be doing… how we should be feeling, what other people think our life should look like.Ummmm, no thanks.Trying to set a financial goal is hard enough without trying to live up to someone else’s idealistic views and expectations. We are all facing different challenges, we all have very different circumstances and we are all at different stages of our financial freedom.The best part about your financial goal is that it is YOUR goal. You can s...

Funds for when you say Oh Sh!t!

Let’s talk emergency funds! Seems like such an ambulance-at-the-bottom-of-the-cliff topic right now, doesn’t it? The emergency has happened and here we are now, so what will the emergency fund change? Well, simply put, everything!When I started my debt-free journey, I didn’t have an emergency fund. I thought exactly the same as what you might be thinking right now.I was already in the debt and had this mammoth task ahead of me. My emergency was happening already.Because let’s face it –...

My Business Failed, but I didn’t

Financial stress is a subject I know only too well. I have spent the best part of the past 5 or 6 years living under that cloud. My Debt Free journey started in 2016 but the road to that began a long time before that while I ran my business. And it was during that time that I had all the same thoughts that so many small to medium business owners are having right now… the fear, anxiety, the what ifs.Right now, it is breaking my heart to see so many people thrown into a marathon by Covid-19...

Testimonial - Seed Waikato

"Tracy is a facilitator of change and a truly inspirational human. I had the privilege of supporting the DebtFreeDiva to run a workshop for young adults in 2020 and it was nothing short of brilliant. In the workshop, Tracy vulnerably shared her story, and gave real and practical tips for the audience on how to make positive changes in their lives. Her confidence, self-belief and realness is inspiring, and Tracy is a true mover and shaker here to make the world a better place. I would highly reco...

Testimonial - Amity Financial Literacy Workshops

"We had Tracy over as a guest speaker at our Financial Literacy workshops for our wahine (women) from communities, to speak about the importance of financial literacy especially in the lives of women in Aotearoa. Through her compelling story of financial resiliency, she inspired all the attendees at the workshop to take charge of their financial wellbeing. Tracy brought such a vibrant energy and outlook to our workshops, and she was relatable to so many women in the room. Her advice was practica...

Testimonial - Waikato District Council

"I approached Tracy 'otherwise known as Debt Free Kiwi Girl' to be a guest speaker at an all Womens Inspiring Speaker event. Tracy's korero was truly motivating and her energy is captivating as she takes you on an amazing Debt Free journey.A wahine Courageous and Inspiring."SALLY CLARKWaikato District Council...

Testimonial - The VA Foundry

"Tracy was an upbeat inspiring speaker with a story that really resonated with our community of business owners. She is so willing to share and with her authenticity it felt like she was speaking directly to the audience. With a great attitude and a willingness to go with the flow, she was a pleasure to work with when plans had to change short notice. Thanks so much Tracy - your energy and positivity is contagious!"SAM FORD & JO JENSENThe VA Foundry...