Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung, which means it’s time for the annual spring clean to begin. And I’m not talking about weeding the garden – September is the perfect time to do a financial spring clean!

Guru tip 1 – in this falling interest rate environment, there’s never been a better time to get a better home loan deal from your bank. Ask for a better rate or a discount, and maybe even suggest a valuer pays a visit to re-value your property, now that the market is on the up.

Beware however, interest rate shopping and switching banks has become difficult since the Banking Royal Commission, so to quote Cat Stevens, “it’s not time to make a change”.

Guru tip 2 – a clever way to get a discount on your home and contents insurance is to install a cheap but effective CCTV system. While you might need to outlay a few hundred dollars now, your insurance company will love it and you’ll recoup the outlay within a couple of years through insurance premium reductions.

Guru tip 3 – private health insurance premiums are going up 4-6% every year, which is making the expense increasingly prohibitive for many people. A smart way to keep costs down is to make sure you’re only paying for coverage that you need by selecting your extras carefully and making sure you’re not paying for things like pregnancy if they’re not required.

Guru tip 4 – spring is a great time to do a traditional clean-up and declutter your home a bit. Lots of us are rapidly realising we have too much stuff, so why not either donate some of your overflow to charity, or better yet, jump online via Gumtree, Ebay or other local sites and offload some of your stuff for cash?