All too often the envious comments are heard over a nice lunch, how someone at work has just bought an investment property, and how lucky they are. Really, it has very little to do with luck, rather than choice, says Marion Mays, wealth creation mentor with the Thalia Stanley Group.
“By simply cutting out the lavish lunch here and there, and bringing home-prepared food to work, you can not only save considerably on weekly expenditure but eat healthier too,” Marion says.
What about those climbing ATM fees charged at non-bank machines, parking fees, and other small expenses? Even buying water, for example, adds up to more than one thinks, and are expenses mostly left unaccounted for. According to Mays, these small purchases and unconscious leakage can actually get you into an investment property, if managed efficiently.
“Considering that a well-researched and bought investment property may only cost as little as $70 per week to maintain, this equates to only a couple of lunches with friends or a few glasses of wine at a bar down the street, whereas an investment property is certainly a more rewarding and beneficial investment,” Marion argues.
Marion comes from a career background of over 20 years in finance, lending, asset recovery and property investing. She founded the Thalia Stanley Group three years ago, in order to support people (especially women) to manage their finances more wisely and look at wealth creation strategies that don’t cost the earth.
Taking a whole wealth approach, she not only mentors her clients to reduce unnecessary spending without restricting lifestyles, but she also incorporates mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and financial wealth principles by helping her clients to easily transition to more self-supportive habits.
“Often by introducing a more personally valuable reward like treating yourself to a massage rather than a 6-pack of beer, we can change the way we spend significantly. Such savings can easily add up to be sufficient to maintain the shortfall on an investment property,” Marion says.
Of course, buying a property takes a little more than just a few saved lunches, but with low interest rates and high rental demands, financing for an investment property is highly achievable
Looking at the most common points of leakage or where costs can be reduced are obvious but little thought of. Small things such as re-assessing insurance premiums for home and cars, reducing bank fees and credit card charges, re-evaluating subscriptions and memberships such as the gym you have not attended for months, can add up. Another great idea is to have a garage sale or put things on Gumtree where you can transform your unused goods stored away in garages and attics into cash. These can add up and could easily be put toward your deposit.
“It really is surprising to see how some of my clients have literally gotten their deposit together by reducing and de-cluttering, and are now affording their investment property by maintaining slightly different spending habits”.
It is usually more about our beliefs around money and property investing and the spending habits we have, than the actual income or savings we make, that stop us from buying an investment property.
