While the recent cut in interest rates is a welcome relief to mortgage holders, that hasn't stopped a flurry of newspaper coverage on how we still like to spend too much, save too little and whine about our super. But are things really that bad?
Long-term surveys of Australians by Quantum Market Research suggests that despite the apparently inexorable rise of consumerism, most of us are quite confident that we've got it right. As analyst David Chalke put it at a recent conference I attended in Canberra while discussing the viewpoint of "average Australians":

They are not going to hell in a credit-fuelled handbasket as they stuff their McMansions with plasma screens in their increasingly unhappy lives. We've actually got a lot smarter at managing money.

In particular, Chalke noted that the majority of us have learnt to make intelligent use of credit cards, paying them off before any interest falls due.
Do you feel that you've get money management under control? Educate us with your experiences, good or bad, in the comments.

 

Tags: au | finance | organise | saving money