Take a day off work and save yourself a stack of money

Working is what earns most of us money, but we can potentially save a whole lot more by taking a day of work and spending that time focusing on our finances.

Australian money, currency or cash flat on table

You could save thousands of dollars a year by taking one annual leave day. If you use it wisely.

Serina Bird, author of The Joyful Frugalista, believes the lifestyle many people live these days means too many of us simply don’t have the time to address issues that are costing us money.

“There’s more and more cases in families where both parents work long hours,” she said.

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Ms Bird said the severe lack of time meant people were putting off making the calls that were likely to save a lot of money.

She said one way to get around this was to take a leave day, providing a weekday (without kids around) to get through to the right people on the phone.

A little time off can pay off big-time. Picture: Istock

“Write a list before you take the day off so you can tick it off as you move through the day. Don’t be too ambitious with it. Realistically, things do take time.”

Ms Bird suggested people looking to see a financial planner or accountant could use this day, when their head was in the right place.

But the biggest immediate impact will come from picking up the phone and making some difficult calls.

“Many people will find that by making some of these calls you can probably pay for your Christmas holiday with the savings,” Ms Bird said.

“Make calls to your insurance company and get a better price, renegotiate your mortgage. Cancel subscriptions you don’t use. Know this will take time though — they don’t want to lose you, they make it hard.”

Wealth coach Lisa Barber says financial health days are critical.

Ms Bird said that before taking the day off you should have a look at your bills and know which companies you wanted to tackle, so you could be as productive as possible.

“Spend the mental energy to bring everything together,” she said.

Wealth coach Lisa Barber said taking a day off to look at finances was critical — she calls it a “financial health day”.

“The best thing about scheduling a day off is the compounding effect of how much you’ll save,” Ms Barber said.

“Trying to review your finances at work is a rush, an incomplete job.”

Ms Barber said that before taking the day off it was a good idea to “learn what you should be paying”.

“Ask your colleagues how much they’re paying for things like their mortgage, electricity, insurance, and the interest rates on any credit cards,” she said.

“You’ll never get on top of (renegotiating bills) if you’re trying to fit it into a work day. (Making these calls) might cost you a day in income but you’ll save so much more than that.”

Lisa Barber is working with Cense, a new platform designed to help you change your mind, so you can change your money. If you’re looking to get on top of your spending, and work towards a long term lifestyle goal, head to cense.app to find out more.

Originally published as Take a day off work and save yourself a stack of money