Most people are pulling the small levers, not the big ones
When NAB asked consumers what they’d actually changed in response to higher rates, the most common answer, by a wide margin, was cutting back on everyday spending (NAB Consumer Sentiment Survey, Q1 2026). Forty per cent said they’d trimmed unnecessary expenses and reviewed their spending habits. Elsewhere in the survey, households reported eating out less, cancelling subscriptions, even cutting back on coffees and small treats.
Meanwhile, the bigger structural costs went largely untouched. Only 6% of consumers had refinanced a loan, and just 5% had looked at consolidating debt. The survey put the low take-up down to the process feeling complex, or like too much hassle.
Put those two findings together and a pattern emerges. People are squeezing the small, visible costs, the daily flat white, the streaming service, while leaving a potentially uncompetitive loan running in the background. The trouble is that a few dollars saved on coffee won’t move the needle much if you’re carrying finance with uncompetitive terms. The reset that actually matters is the one most people skip.
So if you do one thing differently this financial year, make it this: look at the big levers before the small ones.
Treat the new year as a genuine review point
Most people set their finances up once and leave them running. Loans in particular tend to get arranged and then forgotten.
The simplest habit to build is an annual check-in. Pick a date you’ll remember, and the start of the financial year is as good as any, and use it to run through where things actually stand. A useful review covers a few specific things:
- The terms you’re currently paying, and roughly what’s available now for a similar loan
- How much time is left on the term
- Any balloon or residual payment due at the end, and whether you’ve got a plan for it
- Fees attached to the loan, including what it would cost to exit
- Whether your circumstances have changed since you signed, a new job, a different income picture, other debts paid down
You don’t need to act on everything you find. The point is to know where you stand rather than assume nothing’s changed. A deal that was competitive two years ago may not be anymore, and you can’t tell without looking.
Don’t procrastinate
People expect rates to rise, they’re concerned about it, and then they don’t review their finances because it feels like too much work. The decision to stay on a certain loan term gets made by inertia rather than by the numbers.
Refinancing or restructuring isn’t always the right call. Payout figures, remaining term length, and exit costs all factor in, and sometimes staying put is genuinely the right option. There may not be a better option out there, but it’s worth checking, procrastination can be an expensive hobby.
Get finance-ready before you need to be
A financial reset can go beyond just helping with your existing loan, it can also set yourself up for future finance should you need it.
If you know a purchase is likely in FY27, the new financial year is the time to get yourself finance-ready. In other words, if you’re looking to buy a new car, you’ll want finance sorted before you walk onto the dealership floor.
That means having a clear sense of what you can comfortably borrow, knowing your credit position, and understanding what a lender will want to see before you’re under pressure to sign something on the spot.
Buyers who sort their finance in advance tend to make calmer decisions. They’re comparing on the merits rather than taking whatever’s offered at the counter, and they’re far less likely to be talked into terms that suit the seller more than the buyer. Around 22% of consumers now shop around before taking out a loan, and there’s no downside to being in that group.
Where a broker actually earns their keep
A broker has access to a panel of lenders offering a multitude of products, not just the handful a single bank can offer, which means they can compare options you’d never see on your own. They can read where lender appetite has shifted, which lenders are keen on your type of purchase and which have quietly tightened, so you’re not wasting applications. They structure your finance around your actual circumstances, the term, the repayment shape, how a balloon is handled, rather than fitting you to an off-the-shelf product.
That’s the difference between chasing quotes yourself and having someone do the comparison properly.
The takeaway
A new financial year is a reset whether you use it or not. The households that come out ahead aren’t the ones cutting the hardest on coffees and subscriptions, they’re the ones who check the big costs, question whether their finance still stacks up, and plan their borrowing before they’re forced into a decision. None of that requires a dramatic overhaul. It just requires not letting another year run on autopilot.
Source: NAB Consumer Sentiment Survey, Q1 2026 (NAB Behavioural & Industry Economics).
This article is general information only and doesn’t take your personal circumstances into account. Speak to a qualified broker or adviser before making a finance decision.
