Money Matters Worker Quiz

1. Are you up to date with your mortgage or rent payments right now?    Yes   No

2. Do you have no more than one credit card for your household? Yes   No

3. Have your repaid any parking fines or speeding tickets so you have no outstanding debts for these? Yes   No

4. Do you know how much you pay each fortnight for groceries? Yes No

5. Do you have enough money to pay power and water bills by the due date? Yes   No

6. If you needed urgent car repairs or dental treatment to the value of $300, could you pay for these? Yes   No

7. Is your car registered and comprehensively insured? Yes   No

8. Are you comfortable with the amount you are spending on communications (ie internet connection, phone bills, cable television)
each month? Yes   No

9. Are you able to go through the mail each day without feeling anxious that you will receive bills or letters from creditors? Yes   No

10. If you receive Centrelink or Family Assistance Office payments, do these offices have up to date information about your income? Yes   No

11. Have you set and achieved a savings goal (eg a holiday, car, household item) in the last two years? Yes   No

12. If you have purchased items with an interest-free loan period in the last three years, have you been able to repay the loan fast enough to avoid paying interest? Yes   No

13. In the last three months have you kept the following ‘spending leaks’ to $15 or less? (video shop fines and foreign ATM fees)
Yes   No

14.  Do you use a shopping list to avoid buying more than you need? Yes   No

15. Do you shop at sales only to buy items you need, and would have to purchase within 2 months anyway? Yes   No

1-5: Congratulations on your honesty! If you want to look at managing your finances differently, being open about your strengths and limitations is a great place to start. You may find that some of the budgeting tools and information sheets listed on this site could be helpful to you personally as well as to your clients.

5-10: You are already using quite a few effective money management strategies. Depending on your household income it may be that some of the examples above weren’t relevant to you.  Doing this quiz may have given you a few ideas about strategies that may be relevant for you, or for families with whom you work.

The budgeting tools and information sheets listed on this site may be useful to you and your clients as well.

10 – 15: Well done, you are obviously using many effective management strategies. If you find it frustrating at times that your clients aren’t using them too, remember that their journey may not be the same as yours. Hopefully your knowledge will give you confidence that you can help families with money management goals to make positive changes.