BUDGETING

Grow a surplus of your own

Nina Hendy The only way to get off the treadmill of living from one pay packet to the next is to commit to a household budget.

INSIGHT

Rising debt weighs heavily on any future boom

Clancy Yeates When confidence is building in the property market, as it has been lately, it can be easy to get swept up in the hype.

SAVING

Savers notice option beside term deposits

John Kavanagh A new type of savings account starting to appear in the banking market will give people more options when it comes to organising their savings.

Creative ways to reach your first million

David Wilson The average savings accounts now only offer moderate to measly interest. The going rate hovers at about 3 per cent – unimpressive bang for buck.

Credit Ratings

Clock is ticking on new background checks

Penny Pryor Changes to privacy laws to be introduced in March 2014 mean paying your bills late could seriously damage your credit rating. And because the changes will allow institutions to look at two years of your payment history, your tardiness now could affect any loan applications after March.

Keeping out of the red

Penny Pryor Five key additional data fields will be collected from March 2014:

Insight

Publicised savings rates can be deceptive

CLANCY YEATES Which type of savings accounts pay the best returns? Until recently, term deposits tended to offer the best deal for savers. Banks were scrambling to lock in this secure source of funds and were paying over the odds in doing so.

Mobile Phones

Make the call to save cash

Christine Long If you are free of a contract and happy with your handset, there are plenty of SIM-only options to help keep a lid on your mobile phone outlay.

Insight

The cards that are running out of pals

CLANCY YEATES Until recently, Australians seemed determined to spend more on credit cards, despite the well-known disadvantages of doing so.

Soar on the upsurge of a windfall

Mark Bouris I'm used to hearing ''I don't have enough money'', but what about the people who do?

PLANNING

Get the most out of the age pension

MAX NEWNHAM Understanding how the tests applied by Centrelink work can result in the age pension received being maximised.

Pocket Money

Balancing home, work and homework

Sylvia Pennington Teens need their own money but how can they earn it, and how can parents help them make the right decision?

PLANNING

Dear Tony and Julia, please sort out our super

Richard Livingston A letter from the average saver to our likely next prime minister and the current one, just in case.

SAVING

Prince Charming won't help you

Nina Hendy Women need to rid themselves of the 'Cinderella complex' and take control of their financial future.

Mice-chewed cash must be reassembled, Chinese saver told

A bank in Shanghai has told a migrant worker he must "reassemble" hundreds of dollars worth of savings after mice chewed his cash "into thousands of tiny pieces".

SAVING

Seven rules for financial success

Nathan Bell Nathan Bell has some tips to help build a strong financial fortress.

Home ownership less pie in the sky for Gen Ys

Chris Tolhurst A forced savings plan might be the answer for 20-somethings wanting to get an early toehold on the property ladder.

How to lock away your hard-earned

John Collett With interest rates down, those with money to invest might need to look harder for a good term deal, but the search can pay off.

Insight: Savings interest rates

CLANCY YEATES Hundreds of billions of dollars have poured into high-interest deposit accounts since the global financial crisis, as savers exploited the relatively strong interest rates.

Renovation high on home owners’ agenda

Home owners are more likely to be saving for household renovations over any other major household item, particularly those in the Generation Y age group, a new survey has found.

Listen up: it's all gold

Barbara Drury Prudence, foresight, coolness and a reality check are what you need to set you on your way to wealth creation.

ANZ bids to capture capital

Madeleine Heffernan The bank that has lagged behind other institutions in attracting investors to its financial products is getting busy.

Households struggle to save cash

Chris Zappone More than half of households are cash-strapped at the end of the month despite the higher pace of savings in Australia.