I’m a Scaredy Cat

Hi Barefoot,

I am a financial scaredy cat with no idea! I am 34, my partner is 24, and we are awaiting her permanent residency to come through as she is English. We have almost $50k in an ING savings account and no assets but want a house and children (has to be IVF for lack of male parts in our relationship!). I also have a car loan that is costing me almost $600 a month. We earn $85k and $50k but my partner is only on a temp contract until she gets residency. What should we do?

Kim

Hi Kim,

There’s no need to be a scaredy cat -- we’ll make this really simple.Use some of that $50,000 to pay off the car loan immediately. Then promise me you’ll never borrow money to buy a car again.

Next, open another account and call it ‘our IVF account’. Instead of paying $600 every month towards a car, pay it towards the IVF. In eight months you’ll have nearly $5,000, which is enough for a single-cycle IVF treatment with a top-notch provider.

In the meantime, keep bashing away at your home deposit. With a combined income of $135,000, it won’t take many years to save a 20 percent deposit -- as long as you master the trick of living on one income and saving the the other.

In a few years’ time you should almost have the Triple Ms -- Mortgage, Midget -- and, depending on who wins the election, maybe even Marriage!

Scott