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Managing your money is a skill you develop, and most people need some help at some time in their lives. When you live with FASD, managing money is often a lot more challenging. Here are two online places you can go to learn more about money:
– Everyday Money (take the stress out of managing your money)
– Kiwisaver (how to save for retirement or your first home)
– Debt (when you owe money to other people and struggle to pay it back)
– Savings (not spending my money all at once)
– Budget planner (just a money plan to help stay in control)
– Goal planner
– Money personality quiz (this is interesting!).
A programme called 'Money Talks' can connect you with a mentor who can talk you through any problems you may have for free. The mentors are all around Aotearoa. Click here to go to ‘Money Talks’.
Your parents or caregivers may have already started a bank account for you. Choosing a bank that has an office near you is useful for when you have banking questions and want someone to show you things you might struggle with. People are generally using cash less and less – you can still withdraw cash but it’s not always the safest way to carry money around. It’s probably better for you to have a bank card.
EFTPOS cards
This is the most common type of card. You can withdraw cash at an ATM (automated teller machine) and buy things without cash. You will need a PIN (personal identification number) before you can withdraw money or make a purchase. Having your bank’s app on your smart phone makes tracking your ‘account balance’ (how much money you have in your account) easier so your purchases don’t get ‘declined’ (you can’t buy things because there’s not enough money in your account).
Debit cards
A debit card works like a credit card - but it’s using your own money. It allows you to carry less cash and buy things over the phone or online with your own money. You can make payments with a card, without the extra hassle and costs of a credit card.
Credit Cards
Credit cards let you ‘borrow’ money up to an agreed amount (the ‘card limit’), and they can sometimes be useful to help manage bigger expenses, when you can’t cover the cost with your own cash. Unless you have a good, regular job, it may be unlikely that your bank will give you a credit card because they will want to be sure you can pay them back!
You must be careful with credit cards: the money you use must be paid back, with ‘interest’ (a payment to the bank for using their money) and other fees - these can quickly add up and become difficult to repay, so ask for advice and start with a low card limit while you learn how to manage this service.
Lost cards cost money to replace!
Look after cards carefully – or even better, find out how to store them in the ‘digital wallet’ on your phone where your fingerprint is required to confirm every transaction. Then you can leave your cards at home!
Beware of PayWave!
PayWave was introduced to save time when making a payment in stores. You don’t always need to use a PIN to confirm your transaction – you can pay up to $120 like this. However, if you do happen to lose your card (it happens to all of us) then other people can use your card and take your money out of your bank account.
