Home  | Napier Family Centre Budget Adviser 2007

As a Budget Adviser trained and certificated by the New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Services I have been concerned at the increased case loads of clients with outstanding debts.

 

We are seeing an increase of clients with a very high debt loading in relation to their income earnings. Some of our clients get into debt through silly financial decisions on non-essential spending i.e. expensive cars, electronic goods and other hire purchases.

 

However an increasing number of clients who work very hard to earn a living are also having problems making their money stretch to cover the necessities of every day living e.g. the inflated price of renting homes and flats and increasing power and food prices.

 

That's without getting into other financial commitments of insurances, medical needs and basic clothing and schooling needs for children.

 

Add to these unforeseen financial disasters such as vehicle repairs, time off work through sickness and things can quickly deteriorate before clients are prepared to seek help from our organisation.

 

I believe the ‘working for families' package has raised the living standards and helped many lower-income working families keep off the Benefit.

 

People usually don't come to see us until they have no other options. It is better for people to see us before things deteriorate.

 

I have seen the effect on families that financial stresses cause.

 

In some extreme cases the family is split up, the women are physically abused and the children are physically abused which can happen when people come under financial pressures that some people are unable to cope with.

 

Health is the first sacrifice clients make when there is not enough money in their Budget. This comes about through lack of a healthy diet which culminates in a lack of medical care. The elderly are especially prone to these conditions.

 

We try hard to find solutions to keep our clients healthy both financially and physically.

 

Another area of concern is a lack of understanding our clients have for finance contracts, terms and condition. Sometimes the clients listen to a sales person’s words without reading in-depth the contents of the contracts they are signing.

 

It is most important that people educate themselves on what the conditions of the contract means to them in real terms, so that they can understand fully what obligations they are signing up for.

 

An example of this is if you are told an interest on a loan is 14 percent, you may not realise that you have to pay a booking fee that is almost as much as the interest that you pay that will be built into your loan repayments. Then there are also penalty interests to deal with that you may not know and that are even higher. So that is a case of “Buyer Beware”.

 

Being a Budget Adviser is one of the most rewarding occupations one can have. Even with the stress of other people's problems you have joy in your heart when you can help a family help themselves out of despair.