FIVE STEPS TO HEAD OFF MORTGAGE STRESS

Two weeks after the RBA’s fourth consecutive rate rise with experts predicting a peak of 3.35 percent from its current 1.85 percent, and the reality of mortgage stress is starting to hit a little close to home for some. Here, Louisa Sanghera, founder of broking firm Zippy Financial and creator of the Mum CFOs Money Masterclass Course offers a quick checklist of ways to save money and minimise the mortgage dramas.

1. Talk to your bank or broker

As a rule of thumb, everyone should be able to afford their mortgage repayments. Even when the interest rate sat at 1.69 percent last year, borrowers were being assessed for their capacity to service their mortgages with rates as 5.25 percent and higher. Banks like to have a buffer in place to ensure borrowers can meet their debt servicing rates.

Look at your mortgage now and consider if you can afford to repay it at a rate of 5.5 percent in the near future. If you can’t, visit your broker or bank to make plan. It may mean restructuring your mortgage over a longer term or moving to interest only on part or all of your mortgage for a while. Your bank or lender will have financial hardship policies in place to support you – the earlier you reach out, the more options you’ll have.

2. Shop around

It only takes a few minutes to do a quick search online to compare prices. You’d be surprised by all the savings to be had from your everyday staples like petrol and groceries to big ticket items like fridges and appliances. Ask for a discount or at the very least price matching if you buy in store. Consumer advocacy groups like Choice and Canstar Blue are great for finding the best value for your money deals with hundreds of reviews to help you compare products.

3. Avoid the lazy tax

Reassess all your utilities – electricity, gas, phone, internet, and insurance and see where you can cut back. For example, if your phone usage is a lot lower than what your plan accommodates, consider downgrading to something more affordable. Phone companies like Amaysim and Boost have great cheap deals on and use the same lines as Optus and Telstra.

If you haven’t switched providers recently, you could be unwittingly paying hundreds on their standard energy contracts. Do some research to see what’s out there then jump on the phone to your utilities provider to ask for a better rate. Make use of utilities comparison sites and ask them for their cheapest deal. Chances are you’ll come away with a healthy discount to stay with the same provider but if you choose to move providers don’t forget to check for any fees you’d have to pay for leaving.

4. Consolidate your debt

Consolidate any debt you have to eliminate multiple loan fees and get rid of the high interest rates you’re paying on credit cards and loans. Rolling all your debts into one loan means you only need to make one regular repayment at the same interest rate. This means you could potentially pay off your loans and your mortgage faster.

You can add these debts onto your mortgage split in a separate short-term loan to repay at your current mortgage interest rates. Also known as a ‘top up’, a home loan increase allows you to access the equity in your home by either increasing the balance on your loan or creating a separate loan that’s linked to the same property. Consolidating debt has its advantages but you must weigh out its benefits over the long term as it’s likely to result in more interest charged over time. Take a good look at your overall financial position and total costs to work out if the lower interest rate offered by home loans will work out well for you in the long run.

5. Curb discretionary spending

Managing discretionary spending is like flexing a muscle. The more you do it, the more it becomes second nature to you. Australians spend a lot on takeaways and food deliveries spending an average of $40 a week on meal delivery services. Other expenses like taxi rides, entertainment, alcohol, and online shopping tend to add up as well. You can trim the fat by opting to meal plan and eat at home, substitute going out for a fun movie night in and deleting all those shopping apps.

Save yourself from impulse purchases by always making a list and sit on it for a few days. Then you’ll know if you really need it. Don’t browse on shopping sites mindlessly – find other ways to entertain yourself. Things like parks, museums and cultural events are often low or no cost. Not only will your wallet thank you in the end, you might end up being healthier too!

It’s go time for the highest-stakes mission at NASA in more than 50 years.

On April 1, the agency is set to launch four astronauts around the moon, the deepest human spaceflight since the final Apollo lunar landing in 1972.

The launch window for Artemis II , as the mission is called, opens at 6:24 p.m. ET.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration teams have been preparing the vehicles to depart from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on the planned roughly 10-day trip. Crew members have trained for years for this moment.

Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut serving as mission commander, said he doesn’t fear taking the voyage. A widower, he does worry at times about what he is putting his daughters through.

“I could have a very comfortable life for them,” Wiseman said in an interview last September.

“But I’m also a human, and I see the spirit in their eyes that is burning in my soul too. And so we’ve just got to never stop going.”

Wiseman’s crewmates on Artemis II are NASA’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Photo: NASA’s Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft being rolled out at night. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images

What are the goals for Artemis II?

The biggest one: Safely fly the crew on vehicles that have never carried astronauts before.

The towering Space Launch System rocket has the job of lofting a vehicle called Orion into space and on its way to the moon.

Orion is designed to carry the crew around the moon and back. Myriad systems on the ship—life support, communications, navigation—will be tested with the astronauts on board.

SLS and Orion don’t have much flight experience. The vehicles last flew in 2022, when the agency completed its uncrewed Artemis I mission .

How is the mission expected to unfold?

Artemis II will begin when SLS takes off from a launchpad in Florida with Orion stacked on top of it.

The so-called upper stage of SLS will later separate from the main part of the rocket with Orion attached, and use its engine to set up the latter vehicle for a push to the moon.

After Orion separates from the upper stage, it will conduct what is called a translunar injection—the engine firing that commits Orion to soaring out to the moon. It will fly to the moon over the course of a few days and travel around its far side.

Orion will face a tough return home after speeding through space. As it hits Earth’s atmosphere, Orion will be flying at 25,000 miles an hour and face temperatures of 5,000 degrees as it slows down. The capsule is designed to land under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean, not far from San Diego.

Water photo: NASA’s Orion capsule after its splash-down in the Pacific Ocean in 2022 for the Artemis I mission. Mario Tama/Press Pool

Is it possible Artemis II will be delayed?

Yes.

For safety reasons, the agency won’t launch if certain tough weather conditions roll through the Cape Canaveral, Fla., area. Delays caused by technical problems are possible, too. NASA has other dates identified for the mission if it doesn’t begin April 1.

Who are the astronauts flying on Artemis II?

The crew will be led by Wiseman, a retired Navy pilot who completed military deployments before joining NASA’s astronaut corps. He traveled to the International Space Station in 2014.

Two other astronauts will represent NASA during the mission: Glover, an experienced Navy pilot, and Koch, who began her career as an electrical engineer for the agency and once spent a year at a research station in the South Pole. Both have traveled to the space station before.

Hansen is a military pilot who joined Canada’s astronaut corps in 2009. He will be making his first trip to space.

Koch’s participation in Artemis II will mark the first time a woman has flown beyond orbits near Earth. Glover and Hansen will be the first African-American and non-American astronauts, respectively, to do the same.

What will the astronauts do during the flight?

The astronauts will evaluate how Orion flies, practice emergency procedures and capture images of the far side of the moon for scientific and exploration purposes (they may become the first humans to see parts of the far side of the lunar surface). Health-tracking projects of the astronauts are designed to inform future missions.

Those efforts will play out in Orion’s crew module, which has about two minivans worth of living area.

On board, the astronauts will spend about 30 minutes a day exercising, using a device that allows them to do dead lifts, rowing and more. Sleep will come in eight-hour stretches in hammocks.

There is a custom-made warmer for meals, with beef brisket and veggie quiche on the menu.

Each astronaut is permitted two flavored beverages a day, including coffee. The crew will hold one hourlong shared meal each day.

The Universal Waste Management System—that’s the toilet—uses air flow to pull fluid and solid waste away into containers.

What happens after Artemis II?

Assuming it goes well, NASA will march on to Artemis III, scheduled for next year. During that operation, NASA plans to launch Orion with crew members on board and have the ship practice docking with lunar-lander vehicles that Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been developing. The rendezvous operations will occur relatively close to Earth.

NASA hopes that its contractors and the agency itself are ready to attempt one or more lunar landing missions in 2028. Many current and former spaceflight officials are skeptical that timeline is feasible.