Cats are wonderful little creatures; soft, warm, cuddly, and only occasionally vicious to their owners. Humanity has fallen in love with this little housebound beast, but did you know they might even be able to help you with your finances too?
Earning more, spending less
Male cat owners of Australia were far more likely to earn more per month than their non-owner counterparts.
Whether you’re saving for a deposit or want to increase your mortgage repayments, a cat could help you boost your income and reduce your outward costs. A Roy Morgan survey revealed that the male cat owners of Australia were far more likely to earn more per month than their non-owner counterparts – 61 per cent more likely to earn $250,000 and above, in fact.
When you’re trying to get a better home loan, one of the things your mortgage broker evaluates will be your income. And it looks like people with cats are earning bucketloads more than those without!
Furthermore, cat owners of both genders were more likely to spend their time at home rather than heading out to expensive social events, though they still enjoyed the occasional cinema trip or music concert.
Using Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found that Aussies were spending about $19 billion a year on recreational activities. Cat people, by being more inclined to spend a cozy night in (accompanied by their feline friend, of course), are likely cutting their expenditure a great deal.
We may be reading a little bit too much into this. It’s probably more of a case of cat correlation rather than cat causation, but we’ll take it if it means there will be more cash to put towards repaying your current mortgage!
Reducing stress
Mortgages can be stressful, it’s true. Loss of income, a sudden medical bill or some other terrible thing can make those repayments difficult to meet – it’s no wonder that the Australian Psychological Society found that personal finances topped the charts of most stressful topics in 2015.
If you’re having trouble meeting your repayments for whatever reason, you can always come and talk to us and we will work with your lender to try to sort out a scheme to take the load off. However, that stress might still not go away completely – which is where your cat could come in.
A study from the State University of New York found that patients suffering from extremely high levels of stress were able to reduce their blood pressure simply by interacting with their animal. In fact, owning a pet ended up being more conducive to relieving stress symptoms than taking medication!
So if you’re looking for an excuse to welcome a little furball into your household, there you have it: they could end up helping you with more than just keeping your lap warm!