15 · The household year
Everything in this handbook, arranged as a calendar. Four dates and one afternoon a year is enough to keep a household in good order.
The reason financial admin fails is almost never that it is hard. It is that nothing triggers it. A budget reviewed when someone remembers is a budget reviewed twice and then never. So put these in the calendar as recurring appointments, with the app open.
| When | What | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Each pay period | Log spending, press Close period | Five minutes |
| Quarterly | Budget review with both adults, period set to Year. Compare against last quarter | Forty minutes |
| March, July, September | Check Services Australia rates if anyone is near or in retirement | Ten minutes |
| 1 June | HELP indexation applies. Any voluntary payment must land before this | — |
| Around 30 June | The annual afternoon — see below | Two hours |
| When income changes | Redirect the rise to an envelope before the first pay arrives at the new rate | Two minutes |
| When the household changes | A birth, death, marriage, separation, house or business — review the wills | A phone call |
The annual afternoon
One afternoon a year, ideally near 30 June so the comparison is consistent, do all of this in order:
- Update the balance sheet. Every asset, every debt, at honest values. Compare net worth with last year and ask why it moved.
- Rebuild the budget in Year view. Press the commonly forgotten bills list. Compare this year’s envelope total with last year’s, and both against what you were paid — that difference is the creep.
- Check the tax table on the Income & tax tab against the current ATO figures, and update if they have moved.
- Re-read the assumptions and run the What if you are wrong? stress test.
- Print the If something happened page and replace the copy kept with the will.
- Go through the Scams and fraud setup page. Extend the credit ban if it is running. Say the verification question out loud.
- Review one insurance policy properly, rather than all of them badly.
- Press Backup and put the file somewhere sensible. Then show the other adult where it is.