Are you thinking of pursuing independent living in Hobart? It comes easily to some, a challenge for others. If you are an NDIS participant, you’ll most likely encounter some challenges with your funding, particularly with managing your budget.
It’s an important life skill for anyone and if this is something you want to improve or need extra guidance on, you could take part in a Supported Independent Living programme and learn how to better handle your money. If this sounds interesting to you, here are some tips on how to better budget your money.
1. Educate Yourself with Your Plan
If you’re trying to understand your NDIS plan, you might be overwhelmed with the information you’re reading, especially if this is your first time availing of a plan. After all, there are so many details to a plan that you need to take note of and you certainly want to learn more about how to get the most out of yours.
The trick is to partner up with an NDIS provider that can clarify everything for you so you know how to spend your budget – and finding the right provider means you’re spending your plan through the right organisation. They’ll help you on the road to supported independent living faster than you would if you decide to do it on your own.
2. Set Some Money Goals
Now that you have a clearer idea of your unique NDIS plan, it’s time to set some money goals. Even with a plan in place, it might still be hard for you to know if you’re over or underspending. So creating goals can help you focus on your expenses and use your budget wisely.
For example, you want to manage your bills and utilities on a monthly basis while being able to spend a bit on your favourite hobby or pastimes. You can tell yourself that if you pay your bills on time and meet your budget goals for the month, you could reward yourself with a new book, enroll in a music class or even get some cooking lessons. So your goal can be staying on top of your financial responsibilities while still investing in yourself.
3. Download a Budgeting App
Budgeting and taking note of your expenses can be a chore. Tracking your finances in a notebook is painstakingly slow and tiring.
But it’s super easy with your smartphone. There are dozens of budgeting apps available in the market. They do away with the nitty-gritty calculations – all you have to do is key in your daily expenses and the app does everything else. You can check your records anytime to cross-check and review.
4. Get a Support Coordinator
If trying to understand your NDIS plan, setting money goals or tracking your budget still feels daunting for you, don’t worry. You can get a Support Coordinator to act as your budgeting buddy and guide you through your budgeting activities.
In fact, staying in touch with your Support Coordinator will greatly benefit you. You’ll often sit down together and talk about your goals and how you can achieve them. This is particularly helpful if you’ve never really handled money yourself and have had primary carers do the accounting for you.
How else can a Support Coordinator help you? Here are some other advantages:
- Connect you to communities and other agencies that can help you improve your financial literacy.
- Provide advice and assistance to further build your skills.
- Assist you in negotiating with service providers and make sure to complete service agreements and bookings.
- Ensure that you can control and choose between providers and have access to your community.
OnTrack Tasmania provides the right supported independent living plans and coordinators to give you the opportunity to live your best life. Ready for independent living in Hobart? Call us up at 03 9007 0593 or visit our independent living services to learn more.