Articles & Questions
Every week I publish a fun new article on a money topic I think you’ll find interesting. I also answer a handful of reader questions. Subscribers to my newsletter get to see everything first — but you can browse some of my past articles & questions on this page.
My Best Articles
Not sure where to start? Below I’ve handpicked a few of my favourites. And if you like what you see, don’t forget to subscribe to my free newsletter to get new issues before anyone else!
Search Articles
There's a fake Barefoot Investor. And he's everywhere.
My kid's teacher pulled me up at school drop-off this week
"What's he done now?" I asked, bracing myself.
Turns out I was the one in trouble.
"I saw you on the internet advising people to sell everything because of the budget," she said.
You’ll hate this
After reading this column, my editor, Wally, said:
“I’m confident this piece will generate the greatest amount of hate mail you’ve ever received.”
Let’s see if he’s right …
Do you know what the easiest thing I could have done this week was?
Barefoot’s Take on the Budget
A spinner from the Housing Minister’s office called me a couple of weeks ago:
“The Minister would like to invite you to Canberra to attend the Budget. There are a few changes we’re going to announce that, let’s just say … we think you’ll be very interested in”, he purred.
“Yeah, yeah. You blokes always say that. What’s the date again?” I asked, turning off my tractor.
Cup of Coffee Tax Cut?
I’m a mum of two toddlers and watched the Budget hoping for something meaningful. The tax cuts are fine, but $5 a week won’t stretch far with the way groceries and rent are going.
The one thing I won’t tell my son
My 11-year-old son was in his jim jams reading Harry Potter.
“Get out of bed – I want you to watch the Budget with me”, I urged.
“What’s the Budget?” he said with a yawn.
The anti-budget
Today, for the first time in over 20 years … I’m breaking with tradition. I’ve decided I’m not going to next Tuesday’s Budget lockup in Canberra.
Jim Chalmers goes Barefoot for a day
Today I’m doing something that I’ve never done before in nearly 20 years of writing this column …
I’m letting someone else answer my readers’ questions:
And that someone else is Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Budget Warning
I’ve just watched the Budget, and I reckon people need to be warned about these 5% deposit government schemes. I am old enough to remember the 1960s and early 70s when I was working in conveyancing.
Barefoot Budget Will Send Us Broke?
I was reading about this week’s budget and there was an article saying that you thought the Treasurer was going to send us all broke. I assume it was referring to all the spending and government debt, but thought I’d go straight to the horse’s mouth and check.