Budgeting & Cashflow

Balancing tomorrow’s dreams with living your best life today

Our Budgeting & Cashflow Services

Achieving financial goals starts with setting the goals and having a budgeting and cashflow plan. This is true whatever your income. 

At Guide Financial, budgeting and cashflow are about the levers we can apply to achieve big picture goals while having discretionary funds for what you truly value in life and what brings your joy. For many of our clients, budgeting and cashflow lead to high five celebratory milestones – think bucket list – as well as being able to enjoy those little things each week and month that they treasure.

Importantly, by getting budgeting and cashflow right you can have the confidence of knowing what you can spend and enjoy each year from this year though to retirement. Limiting your life too much in the here and now to find out you have more than you need in retirement is no fun and not the way to live your life. The opposite is equally true, a lean retirement can be extremely difficult. We are about getting the balance right.

In our experience, it’s not so much what you earn but your budgeting and discipline that can make the biggest impact on creating a solid financial footing. And with easy access to credit cards, after pay and PayPal, it can be harder than ever to stay on top of your money as you don’t process the handing over of cash in the same way. That is why we offer a Budgeting & Cashflow Management Service to help with budgeting and planning around discretionary income, which typically changes as you go through life.

Managing Your Cashflow in 3 Key Areas

A house is only as strong at its foundations, so we need to ensure our lives have strong financial foundations. At Guide Financial we can help by putting a system in place that harnesses and directs income, reinforce good habits, and provides support to impede bad habits taking hold.

  • Review your spending patterns
    Have you ever said about your money, ‘I don’t know where it all goes?’ Then you probably should find out. By reviewing your current spending patterns. we can start to see where it all goes (which can be scary).
    Most people’s two biggest expenses are taxes and interest, so we need to find the most appropriate strategies such as re-structuring your investments, taking full advantage of superannuation and maximising your deductions and rebates. Having an informed, independent perspective on your spending can help you identify areas that you may be able to save without impeding your lifestyle. By evaluating your purchases with what you truly value in life can help create a mindset that shapes future purchases that are more aligned to what’s really important to you.
  • Develop a cash flow plan that suits you and your lifestyle
    We never get ahead if we’re spending more than we earn. Guide Financial can help you develop a budget plan and show you how you can track your ongoing spending against your plan. This can include forced saving techniques and credit card and debt management. Whatever your current situation, Guide Financial works with you to create a workable plan that grows as your needs develop. Our budgeting services also extend to helping you understand what your weekly, monthly income will look like in retirement and if you need to save more and at what stage to meet your goals.

  • Help you identify the most sensible use of your cash surplus

    The right use for your extra cash depends on your bigger picture. Should you put it against your home loan, save it, invest it or a combination of all three? As your financial guide, we can help with what will work for you and take advantage of the opportunities available to you personally.

    We help you maintain strong financial foundations so when the storms come you can withstand them. As a client of Guide Financial you receive ongoing support and encouragement to revisit your objectives, budgeting and cash flow plans on a regular basis.

Managing Debt

At Guide Financial we provide advice and tools, so clients know how to work through their debt, how to set up bucket accounts with target allocations and what to pay off first.

Managing debts and financial issues can be very stressful at times. Having said this, we are not a debt management service that controls all your accounts and spending — this is a specialised service.. If you are struggling to meet mortgage or investment repayments, get in touch with us here, we may be able to help or give you advice on which properties to hold on to and which to sell.

If you are struggling with day to day finances and rising debts, this handy government tips and directory page might help.
Alternatively, working with a financial counsellor is often a good place to start. You can find free assistance here.

I found all the people at Guide Financial to be very easy and confident in their field of expertise, which is very assuring when it comes to your hard earned money. Marc and Bradley have come a long way in their business, and this is due to their good business ethic.

Neil

Read more of Brad’s ratings by clients.