Mortgage stress. So many Aussie homeowners are struggling under the weight of it. If you find yourself stressed out about your repayments, here are a few steps to get back in control.

Plan for the future

Most people experience mortgage stress because the future is unknown. Anything could be lurking around the corner – an unexpected illness, a retrenchment or a surprise baby!

While none of us have the benefit of a crystal ball, you can prepare for the unexpected in a few key ways such as:

1. Getting income protection

If you find yourself in an unexpected situation that affects your ability to earn, this insurance will pay the mortgage for you.

2. Meeting with a financial planner

These experts have many tools at their disposal to help you plan your financial future, often suggesting things you may not have ever considered.

Set a budget

Don’t spend time worrying about how much might be coming out of your pay packet each fortnight or month. Be proactive and actually ­know.

Write down all your incomings and outgoings over a certain period. This will help you to clearly see what you have left to play with. Knowing where your money is going at any given time will put you firmly back in the driver’s seat and help control your stress levels.

Cut back where you can

The oldest trick in the book to reduce your mortgage repayments is to reduce your spending, so why not take advantage of that?

After you’ve reviewed your income and expenses, work out where you can make some savings. A few small changes can make a big difference in the long term and our article ‘Top tips to help you manage your money’ might help on that front.

Rainy-day fund

After you’ve done your budget and made some savings, critically review the numbers. Figure out the absolute minimum amount of money you need to live on per month, factoring in all your commitments.

Then, from today, start putting a plan in place to save towards at least three times your minimum-monthly-living figure. This will be your emergency fund in case of an unexpected change in circumstances, be it job loss, new baby, illness or whatever else life throws at you!

While it sounds hard, cutting back for a few months now and building up your emergency fund will alleviate a huge amount of potential finance stress later.

We hope these tips will enable you to up your bank balance a little and in the process, help you feel more in control of your mortgage. If you’d like a few more great tips, get in touch. We have lots of nifty tools to assist with your mortgage repayments.