This segment was broadcast on 21 January 2016. Some information may be out of date.

Goal setting and the B word (budgeting)

Goals should be SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, (w)ritten, time-bound.

  • The goal habit: If you save before a trip, buying a car etc you can have many more trips and cars
  • Tips on goals

Budgeting: Firstly estimate spending in different categories, then keep track for a while

  • Tips on budgeting
  • Robert Frost poem
  • Emergency money
  • Help with budgeting: familybudgeting.org.nz

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Mary Holm is a freelance journalist, a director of Financial Services Complaints Ltd (FSCL), a seminar presenter and a bestselling author on personal finance. From 2011 to 2019 she was a founding director of the Financial Markets Authority. Her opinions are personal, and do not reflect the position of any organisation in which she holds office. Mary’s advice is of a general nature, and she is not responsible for any loss that any reader may suffer from following it.