Is your savings account looking drier than an El Niño summer? Did you also have to sit out of the girls Euro trip because cozzie livs is a cruel mentor? Well fortunately, NZ TikToker Hannah Koumakis has a cracker of a budgeting hack that’s sure to get you feeling more fiscally free.
In the 24-year-old TikTok series “No Longer Broke“, Hannah dropped a video outlining exactly what she does with her pay cheque as soon as it arrives, and honestly I’m glad I get to write about this story ‘cos I think I’m gonna start following her advice too.
Hannah advises she earns “a very average salary, I kid you not it’s below the New Zealand average,” and makes her ends meet by splitting her earnings into 16 separate bank accounts.
As well as earning an average salary, she also earns passive income as a landlord. Less applicable to us trying to save who don’t own a home, TBH, but go off.
Each account is for saving for a separate purpose, such as rent, petrol, food, entertainment, insurance, shopping, future holidays – and even an account where she is saving for a piano.
Of these multiple accounts Hannah advises anyone trying to use her saving method to either create a set amount, or accumulate savings each month.
@hannahkoumakis Its PAYDAY & here is what I do!!!! #payday #savings #howtosave #savingmoney #mysavings #mybankaccount #moneytransparency #budgeting #budgettips #howtobudget #budgetingnz #fypnz #nz #newzealand #australiabudgeting #aus #fypaus #howtosave #savingsmadeeasy ♬ Paper Birds (3 min) – Jordan Halpern Schwartz
For instance, Hannah allows herself $280 per month in petrol. When the month is up, she adds the difference to restore the remaining funds back up to $280.
However, the accounts dedicated to areas like entertainment and shopping are “accumulating”, which Hannah adds $50 and $150 to each month respectively.
She also advises savvy savers to create an account for short term savings, which Hannah describes as “anything I want to buy that is a depreciating asset,” which she adds $125 to each month.
“I still make it work and I still manage to save for so many different things!” Hannah exclaims despite her humble salary, showing the difference between each account before and after it gets its monthly top up.
On top of all of this, Hannah has an account that is for “other” expenses which can be used for safety funds or anything she hasn’t already got a set fund for. Plus she donates an incredible 10 per cent of her overall income as soon as she gets paid anyway!
Hannah’s saving advice is incredibly helpful to anyone trying to save and struggling with the cost of living crisis we find ourselves in.
Now let’s address the property-owner-shaped elephant in the room:
Hannah does also own a property in Waihi which she is the landlord of and collects a rental income for. So maybe considering just buying a house if you want to save money, as our ex-PM once wisley instructed.
However in a video offering advice as a young property owner she asserts that landlords should, “be kind to your tenants out there because remember you are not higher than them… you are just providing them with the basic necessity of housing. Treat them like people.” Sure hope my landlord hears her advice.
@hannahkoumakis 3 tips for young landlords! #propertyindustry #nzpropertymarket #propertymarket #nzhousing #landlordnz #rentinginnz #rentingnz #propertytips #budgeting #rentalhacks #tips #fypnz #fypaus ♬ Mindfulness – Calm Mu6
Despite however much she earns from property income and other businesses, the advice of creating individual accounts for individual uses feels highly effective, and also easy to do! Literally, who knew that saving money was as simple as just sectioning it off to separate spaces?
The amounts that savers should put into their accounts should be based on their own income, as well as their own expenses rather than using the exact same amounts from her TikTok which has now been viewed over 1.1 million times.
Honestly, the girl math really math-ed with this one. BRB, gonna create an extra 15 accounts. I’ll be in Greece living my Mamma Mia! dreams in no time.
