Connect your bank with PocketSmith and import your transactions automatically.
Keep track of your spending your way with categories, labels, and notes.
Track accounts from different countries and currencies at daily exchange rates.
PocketSmith was recommended by Xero as the only alternative to Xero Personal.
Create cash projections to see your daily bank balances up to 30 years into the future.
Plan your money in a calendar and see what you’re meant to have each day.
Test your decisions to see future outcomes and take uncertainty out of your planning.
Budget according to periods that are meaningful to you: daily, weekly, monthly and more.
Summarize the financial facts that matter to you, and see them in one place.
Keep track of what you own and what you owe. Add property, mortgages, loans and more.
See a report on how much you’ve earned and spent for any chosen date range.
A monthly breakdown of your historical and future financial activity.
Many of us have been taught from an early age that we shouldn’t talk about money, but I think that the taboo does much more harm than good. We’re all thinking about money — every time we pay a bill, go to work, or decide whether to take that holiday.
And we’re stressed about it, too. The American Psychological Association’s Stress in America 2022 study found that money, inflation, and the economy are significant sources of stress for the majority of surveyed adults. The emotional strain of this is obvious, but the study also reports that stress is leading to all manner of health issues, including headaches, tiredness, feeling overwhelmed, and more physical complications. Even if we’re not talking about money, it’s affecting us much more than we realize. If the goal is to be happy, stress is going to make that difficult.
Talking openly about finances isn’t the silver bullet for money-related stress, but it helps remove the culture of fear and shame. It helps us to know we’re not alone, and we might even be able to find solutions to specific issues in the experiences of others. So many of us are struggling in similar ways — living pay cheque to pay cheque, using BNPL, or racking up credit card debt — and yet it can feel like we’re on our own.
Coming from the other direction, if we have enough to get by or we’re not struggling as much as others we know, it can also be easy to feel our problems aren’t big enough to talk about, too. But that doesn’t mean our financial stress isn’t real.
If you’ve always wanted to bring up a money-related topic but you just haven’t known how to kick things off, this is for you.
My suggestion is to start small.
Don’t jump straight into the deep end by talking about how much money you have in your investment accounts and what you get paid. Instead, opt for something lighter and simpler. Everyone loves to talk about their savings goals, whether it’s a new phone or a trip to Disneyland, and their best money-saving hacks.
Hold up — vulnerable conversation alert! If someone opens up to you about their financial situation, keep in mind that you might be the first person they’ve shared these details with. Your response matters, and it could have a huge impact on your relationship moving forward.
Please don’t let this list put you off being there for the hard conversations. It might be 30 minutes to you, but it could mean the world to the person opening up. You’ve got this!
Kate Campbell is the host of the Australian Finance Podcast and the author of Buying Happiness: Learn to invest your time and money better, available online through Amazon and Booktopia.