Sorted Unveils Enhanced Budget Planner Tool And Revamped Website

Government-backed personal finance website sorted.org.nz has launched a new budget planner tool along with a refreshed website to help New Zealanders achieve their money goals in 2024.

Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, which runs Sorted, regularly gathers insights from more than 2000 New Zealanders to monitor how people are feeling about money and identify any changing trends. This data is used to shape the free tools and resources provided on Sorted.

Recent findings indicate a need for extra support managing money as financial pressures grew for New Zealanders. In the final quarter of 2023, results showed over half of people felt financially uncomfortable and more than a third were worried about their finances pay-to-pay.

These insights, along with in-depth research into money psychology, have also helped to define priority audiences for Sorted in recent years. Māori, Pacific Peoples, women and young people have been identified as key groups that benefit from Sorted’s financial tools and resources. The new-look website is designed to resonate with these groups and help grow the brand’s reach, ensuring Sorted is there in the moments that matter.

The improvements to Sorted include better accessibility, enhanced mobile design, clearer content navigation and a more visually engaging experience.

The new budget planner is designed to help users prioritise their money and drive it towards the things that matter most. It includes a new tailored insights experience, which highlights users’ non-essential spending to help guide them towards better money management. This encourages users to build a personal spending plan that works for their priorities based on their lifestyle, income, expenses and goals.

The tool is free to use and emphasises saving – setting aside money towards your goals – more than ever, keeping the point of a spending plan front of mind.

The budget planner is the result of extensive research and feedback from users on sorted.org.nz, which sees more than 1.2 million visitors each year. The most recently launched tool on Sorted, the Money Personality Quiz, drew in over 12,000 users in its first week.

Sorted Personal Finance Lead Tom Hartmann says the new budget planner could be a game-changer for those who have the best of intentions but have struggled to prioritise their goals in challenging financial times.

“We have designed the new tool and website to be intuitive for users and guide them towards the goals that matter most,” says Hartmann.

“The budget planner quickly identifies whether you have a surplus or shortfall and points to areas of opportunity where you can fine-tune your spending plan even more to get the results you’re after.

The new budget planner tool makes it easy to set up a new budget from scratch, quickly gathering the key things in your life, such as pets, homes, cars, and kids to set up your main categories.

It is also positioned to work with upcoming open banking functionality and transactional data, which is anticipated to arrive in New Zealand in mid-2024.

Emmy, 32, from Wellington is aiming to save more money in 2024. She says the tool has helped bring her attention to areas where her family could reduce spending without too much sacrifice.

“The tool is easy to use and I really like how for every cost you can select whether it was weekly/monthly etc. I think it makes it clear where money is being spent excessively.”

Sean, 39, tried out the budget planner to see how it could help him achieve his goals of saving money and eliminating his debts in 2024.

“The tool enabled me to visualise and itemise my expenses and so is very helpful with regards to financially planning my new year. It is very easy to use, quick and simple,” he says.

The tool is available free for use now at sorted.org.nz/budget-planner.

About Sorted

Sorted is a free service run by Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, the government-funded, independent agency dedicated to helping New Zealanders get ahead financially. As New Zealand’s trusted personal finance site, Sorted has the information needed to tackle debt, plan and budget, save and invest, dial up your KiwiSaver, plan for retirement, protect what's important, and manage a mortgage. Providing tools, guides and blogs, Sorted can help no matter where you are at when it comes to money.

About the Sorted budget planner

The budget planner works out the difference between the money you have coming in and the money going out. It tells you whether you have money left over (a surplus) to save, invest and flow towards your goals; or whether you are spending more than you are bringing in (a shortfall). Depending on whether an expense is marked as 'essential' or 'fixed', the planner adds these up and displays them so you can make adjustments more easily.

Visit the Sorted website for more on how the budget planner works.

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