We have all been there, buying something and then almost immediately (or somewhat down the line) regretting it. We’ve asked our advisers to share their biggest learning lessons and money mistakes. Most of them involve cars.
Isa
Financial Adviser
I purchased a mean as Subaru Legacy Wagon when I was younger. Spare of the moment purchase. First time I had received a lump sum of cash before. Mum tried to convince me otherwise. Mum told me to get a vehicle inspection. She said even for peace of mind. Mums always know best! But did I listen? Nope!! Result = A piece of sh** that sounded cool, but cost me an arm and a leg in maintenance over the course of a year. Such a waste of money!
Goran
Senior Financial Adviser
Got my first credit card (AMEX) at 20 years of age after an AMEX rep came through the workplace I worked at at the time so thought it was a great idea. $5,000 limit and I thought I was god. Straight to Real Groovy to max this out on CD and music merch. Carried this debt for 3 years after I couldn’t pay it off. In the end my mum paid this off for me without telling me after she had seen a letter come through the mail with a PAY NOW notice. Lesson? Change postal address when you move!!
Lisa
Senior Financial Adviser
Not paying my credit card in full each month.. extra interest was a killer. As soon as I got paid I would waste the money on silly purchases and then have next to nothing leftover until next pay day (fortnightly pays). Also, not saving LOL.
Rosy
Insurance Adviser
Not saving for a house from the day started working. Not getting into the property market sooner.
Neve
Loan Assistant
Taking advice from the wrong people and not buying a property at the beginning of 2020 because ‘the property market was going to crash”
Raj
Loan Writer
I purchased a Toyota Mark 2 1997 model with 1JZ engine black in colour when we moved to NZ. It was my first time owning a car under my name and I felt proud of it, good thing it was bought cash out as the owner was in a hurry to sell it, and no checks were done as the deal was so good that I didn’t want to miss out on it. Organised insurance also. Got the car home, parents were not happy but mentioned if something goes wrong it’s my responsibility. Unfortunately, never thought of mechanical insurance and YES transmission dies on it after 6 months and to get it fixed was a nightmare. So, it was in the garage for a couple of months before I sold it as it is. Lesson learned: always do due diligence checks and have Mechanical Warranty. Now whatever car we have at home all of them have mechanical warranty regardless which year it is. (and encourage all my friends and families to have mechanical warranty)
Lydia
Marketing Manager
I went through a phase of buying clothes that I thought I liked online, but never really sat right on me. Ended up missing out on vital returns times, so just gave them away. So sad, they looked so good on the model 🙁
Anita
Designer
Buying products that I don’t use or aren’t right, they just get thrown out or given away.
See? We’ve all been there, from the marketing team, the senior financial advisers, to our loan writers. No matter the age and stage of your journey we got you, because we’ve been there before.
Have you maybe made a booboo and not sure how to fix it? We know what to do. Reach out to us now!
