Mr Home Budget In The Media

Take Some Tips From Mr Home Budget

The Bunyip Newspaper Gawler South Australia

Adam Goulding's friends and family branded him 'Mr Home Budget' when he first started saving his money, but he hardly thought the name would stick. In March 2005, Adam had found himself hitting rock bottom with no money to spend and heavily in debt.

Struggling to pay the rent and with massive credit card bills and car repayments building up, Adam's fiancee - now wife - Renee started showing him some KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) money saving tips. By the start of 2007, Adam had become a self-confessed saving monster and he and Renee started collecting receipts of all their purchases from January 1 ,2007.

From fuel and groceries to chocolate bars and chewing gum, the pair began saving all their receipts and piling them in a large suit case. At the end of each month, they would put all the purchases into a spreadsheet and see how much they spent and how they could cut back on their spending for the next month.

"Once you know where your money's going, you can cut it back really easily," Adam said. Over two years, Adam and Renee saved almost $85,000 and accumulated more than 2200 receipts in the suitcase.

"We are now credit card free, with no car debts and all we have is the mortgage we are paying off," he said.

No surprises Renee is happy Adam has changed his excessive spending ways, but Adam now admits he is a bit obsessive when it comes to collecting his receipts. "(Renee) really likes the idea. I've definitely become the monster of the family," he said.

The Craigmore couple has decided to share their money saving secrets with the world though their new book, which has had some interest from a publishing firm on the New York stock exchange. "They were interested, but we decided to release it ourselves through the website," he said.

"We thought we would take the risk and we ended up publishing it ourselves." "As far as the book is concerned, we are definitely keeping it simple."

Previously employed in sales, Adam is now looking for a more expressive outlet in the workforce. "Im hopeing something comes out of this with the book," he said. "I think I'm going to look for something a bit more creative". If confidence is the key to success, Adam is on a good thing.

Being so confident the ideas in his book will save people money, he is offering a two year money back guarantee if it dose not save the buyer 101 times the cost of the book. "You really can't lose," he said.

"I'm pretty confident it works for me and it will work for the readers." And surly enough , the name Mr. Home Budget has stuck, and Adam is using it for the name of his website.

For any more information on Adam's story or to order a copy of the book in hard copy, visit www.MrHomeBudget.com.au.

Kissing Goodbye To Your Debts

Adelaide Advertiser
FORGET the microscopic odds of winning Tuesday night's $90 million mega-draw. For a few bucks more than the cost of a lottery ticket, you can buy an unassuming little book that's guaranteed to boost your bank account.

Written by a young, enthusiastic Adelaide bloke, its called How to cut your debt to zero in five simple steps, the keep it simple stupid home budget. I know that's a fairly long-winded title. But the messages inside are super simple. And they're written from the heart. Adam Goulding, or Mr Home Budget, hit rock bottom four years ago. At just 25, he had no assets and debts of $25,000. "I had no idea where my money was going or how much I owed" he says. "Three credit cards were maxed out, plus I had personal loans and also owed cash to my family and girlfriend. It was a nightmare." But Adam was smart. He took advice from a good woman.

"My girlfriend at the time, who's thankfully now my wife, had no idea I was in so much debt. When I confessed, she sat me down and we worked out a plan to turn my finances around."

That's a bit of an understatement. Within a year he'd paid back $15,000. And within four years, Adam and Renee had wiped out all debts and were ploughing away at a new home loan. Adam had turned his finances around to the tune of $84,975.71. Now he's sharing the secrets of his new-found financial wisdom with others, offering five "Keep it Simple Stupid" steps.

Step one: Do nothing for three months except keep receipts and records of every payment. Yes, I found this a bit odd, too. But as Adam says, "To go forward, we have to know where we've come from." Now tally up every receipt into categories including normal living expenses (home loan, rent, supermarket bills); insurance bills; car costs; luxury items and unnecessary debt. "Go from category to category, strategising how you could save money," Adam says. "You will start to see huge savings. It can even get exciting."

Step two: Save $2500 in a standby fund to "insure yourself against small bad luck incidents". Naturally, monthly debts and bills should also be taken care of.

Step three: Write a comprehensive list of all debts (not including home loan) and pay off the smallest ones first. Close accounts when paid off.

Step four: Save another $7500 as further insurance against bad luck and unforeseen expenses.

Step five: Kill the home loan. Make it seem easier with shorter-term goals of, say, $10,000 a year.

Adam says one simple sentence changed his life: "Can I have a receipt with that?" Even though he's out of debt, he still keeps all receipts and tallies them up at the end of each month. This way, he's constantly unearthing new ways to save cash. As Adam admits, he's not a tax expert or a financial advisor. He's just a bloke with lots of ideas, a supportive wife and a passion for financial freedom. He turned down a book deal from a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange to sell the book online (www.mrhomebudget.com). And he guarantees that the $17.95 cost for the online version will be recouped 101-fold in two years, or he'll give your money back.

The book has advice on car buying, reducing your home loan, insurance and shopping bills, plus 51 easy tips to increase your bank balance overnight. With Australia's credit card debt sitting at around $45 billion (or an average $3149 for every cardholder in the country), we need to champion people like Adam and Renee. They not only had the gumption to get debt-free, they've also got the guts to turn their ideas into a business venture. More power (and pennies) to them.

5aa Interview With Mr Home Budget

5aa Radio
Here is a interview we did with Lainie Anderson on 5aa Radio about our new budgeting book. 

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