WEBVTT - Starting from scratch with money? Start here. 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:03.800 Welcome to How Do They Afford That? The podcast that 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:06.520 peeks into the financial lives of everyday Australian. So I'm 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:08.440 Michael Thompson. I'm an author and the co host of 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:11.520 the business news podcast Fear and Greed. As always, I'm 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:14.440 in the studio with Canna Campbell, financial planner and founder 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:20.120 of Sugar Mama TV, the financial literacy platform covering YouTube podcasts, books, 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:25.280 Instagram threads, TikTok and more. And Canna, you practically bounced 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:29.200 into the studio today with excitement about today's topic. You 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:34.400 call me yawning so late night, early morning, probably a 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:35.680 combination of both, was it. 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:39.640 I've been working very hard recently, so yes, I am 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:42.280 a little bit tired, and I have three kids that 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.200 do not sleep through the night. So yes, I'm tired 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:46.640 and starts now get a bit cranky. 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:49.880 Oh why do you have to bring the cranky side 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:51.720 into the studio with Really do? 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:53.360 I really do? 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:55.680 Yeah? But when you do it, you make it last. 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:58.200 It feels like it stays with me for months. 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:00.440 I thought I really was subtle in hiding that that 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.160 yawn in my may mouth. You were not. 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:09.880 Today's episode is basically for anyone who feels like they 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:14.160 are starting from zero, right, no savings. 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:14.959 Or even restarting. 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.840 Yeah, yeah, exactly, maybe some debt, maybe no investments, not 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:21.679 sure where to begin, not sure how to turn things around, 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:25.399 and not sure how to get going today if that 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.880 is you, today is about where to start, right, So 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.040 it is it is kind of back to basics. But yeah, 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:35.120 as you say, it's not necessarily just for say a 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.240 twenty year old kind of getting going. This is for 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:39.480 perhaps restarting. Yeah, you're fine. 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:41.399 I think there's a lot more people out there than 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:42.600 one would think. 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:44.399 All right, what does what does that look like? Then? 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:48.000 What does starting from scratch look like in real life? 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:50.520 Well, first of all, it's not about laziness or poor 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:55.000 choices sometimes, you know, it's just a matter of you know, 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.160 situational So you know where you've been, say, living to 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:02.400 paycheck to paycheck, or you didn't have emergency money, or 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:05.800 you had some consumer debt from some bad decisions that 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.800 you made that now come with regret, or you know 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.720 that anxiety over money or avoidance, which were spoken about 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.040 lots of times, you know, avoiding looking at your bank 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:19.680 balances or credit card statements, or you know, knowing deep 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:21.960 down that it's time for a change. 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.000 Okay. So in that case, we're not who'll be talking about. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.799 We're not talking about necessarily just young people, students, et cetera. 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:32.040 Starting out. It could put someone coming out of a relate. 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:36.160 Relationships, or people like parents, maybe re entering the workforce, 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:40.240 have had time out, or actually people who have moved 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.280 from another country, you know, particularly if they've had to leave, 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.840 you know, a toxic situation and they're literally coming here 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.560 to start afresh, and or anyone who's decided, okay, all right, 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:52.680 I need to do things differently. Yeah. 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:55.320 Or perhaps if you've had your head in the sand 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:57.800 for a long time and you pulled it out and 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:01.760 you got sand in your ears and your eye, sand everywhere, 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.280 shaking the sand off, and now you're going, all right, 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:07.440 now it's time to get stuck in and have a go. Yeah, okay, 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.600 all right, So now we know what this looks like. 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:14.120 Who we're talking about. Where do you start? Is it 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:16.800 about fixing the problems first, and we mentioned that maybe 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:19.960 you might have some debt there, or then trying to 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.880 build or is it changing the order up? I don't know. 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:26.520 So the first start to the first place to start 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:29.320 is very much internal and that's like, you know, compassion, 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.960 you know, whatever has happened in your past can't be 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.040 a race by this, but we can definitely build upon 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:39.080 the experience you've got. So you want to sort of 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:44.040 look at creating stability before you start looking at growing financially, 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:47.840 you know, creating that rock solid foundation for yourself, and 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.480 that from a practical point of view, that starts with 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.480 looking at your cash flow and stopping, you know, the 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.720 financial leaks in your life and addressing the habits that 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:02.440 are creating or leading you constantly back to say, you know, 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:06.440 toxic debt. And this is the empowering part is you 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.880 don't actually have to fix absolutely everything that's you know, 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:13.520 and I say wrong inverted commas before you start feeling, 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:17.160 you know, start rebuilding yourself. It's about focusing on one 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:21.840 area at a time before you move on to the next. 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.800 In that case, you're starting with compassion and you are 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:28.720 kind of accepting that that's. 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:30.760 Your passes your past. Build upon from that. 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:37.359 Okay, you can't change anything. Visibility awareness, budget, yes, is 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.680 that the next practical step. 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.200 Yes, but budgeting is not something you just do on 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.599 its own. And obviously the budget gives you that orientation 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.600 where it tells you where you stand right now financially 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.880 and what's happening with the money that you earn and 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:54.360 your responsibilities and your obligations. But that also can help 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.839 help reduce that sense of fear because you know where 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.320 you stand and you have that that clarity. But the goals, 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.279 when you can learn how to put a goal into 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.320 your budget, which is something I teach, it starts to 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.760 give a whole new depth and meaning to what budgeting 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:11.680 really means to your life and how your budget is 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.640 actually a very powerful tool because when you connect your 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:18.160 budget to the goals, it actually starts to light something 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:19.920 up within you. And this is where you go, all right, 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:23.040 what's the first area that I want to tackle in 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:27.680 rebuilding myself financially from restarting again. And this is where 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:30.040 you would look at, you know, what stresses you out 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.159 the most, and you then look at your budget and go, 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.599 all right, what stresses me out the most is the 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.400 credit card debt that I've got, And so you would 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.040 build some goals and you would build a debt repayment 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:44.640 plan into your budget, so you prioritize that happening. But 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.240 you also quickly start to see the progress in that 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:48.680 credit card debt coming down. 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:51.800 Okay, So it is a Step one is a period 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:54.400 of assessment. Actually this is step two because self care 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:59.800 was the first one compassion for compassion. Step two is 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:07.320 assessment of where the stresses are, where the pressure. 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:08.760 And where the biggest pressure is, Like what is and 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.360 even though it may not financially be the smartest thing 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.400 to tackle, it's what stresses you out the most, because 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:20.360 this is where we're looking at soothing yourself quickly rather 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.000 than thinking, well, okay, financially, we should technically be tackling 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:24.960 the debt first rather than emotion like they say the 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.680 emergency money. And there is an element obviously of common sense, 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.120 but we're talking about getting you out of survival mode 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:33.520 into a place where you're like, all right, I'm feeling 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:36.200 a lot more stable, resilient and empowered and then you 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:39.640 can come back to That makes mathematicals and financial. 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:44.280 Sense actually really interesting because I'm I'm a little surprised 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.479 by that that I would have thought that you would 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:50.680 have still had your kind of mathematical hat on there 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:52.040 and said, no, you need to go with the one 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:54.360 that's going to make the biggest difference, or that's the 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.200 highest interest rate. But in the end, if you are 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:00.480 coming out of a situation where you have known what 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.360 you're doing, or you might have might have been a 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:05.719 rough kind of period, that there is still an element 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.960 of needing to take care of yourself through this. So 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.040 you go for the thing that is causing you the 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.800 greatest amount of stress, even if it might not be 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.280 the debt with the highest interest rate, or it might 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:18.200 not be the thing that's going to make the biggest 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:20.960 impact long term, it will have a bigger impact on 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.200 the way you feel and the way you motivate yourself 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:25.880 then to achieve subsequent goals. 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:30.000 Exactly, it's about alleviating that stress and anxiety and as 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:31.440 I said, to get you out of that fight or 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.640 flight mode into a place where you can be calm 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:38.280 and rational and move forward. And you know, it's almost 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.360 like sort of medication to help you Know, you've got 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.960 a headache, Yes, you could put you know, push through 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:44.520 the headaches is not too bad, or you can take 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:47.400 some patatoll and Eurofine get rid of the headaches. You 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:49.080 can then focus on what you know, the rest of 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:50.520 the stuft that you need to get done for the day. 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.400 You know, it's a way of getting yourself into a 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.440 safe space so that you can move forward. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.440 Okay, I feel like it's a little bit premature then 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.480 to ask you about emergency money money and whether that 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:04.920 is now a good time to start thinking about that. 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.760 But surely if you're in this kind of situation, then 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.000 emergency money is probably going to be something that will 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:13.280 help alleviate stress and alleviate pressure. 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:14.960 It's interesting you say this because there's a lot of 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.920 sort of conflicting content I see online about whether you 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:19.760 should focus on paying off debt first or whether you should 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.640 build up emergency money first, and it seems to people 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:24.240 are suing to be in one party or the other, 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.960 and there isn't really any direct answer. It's whatever works 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.040 best for you and makes you feel safest, because often 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:33.760 if people are rebuilding, they are feeling about fragile, they 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.400 aughing vulnerable. You need to learn how to self soothe 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.920 in a financially wise way, so you know, some people 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:44.640 would say would prefer to actually see emergency money so 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:46.559 that they don't ever have to go back into credit 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.280 card debt, Versus some people would go, you know what, 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:51.000 I'd rather just deal with a credit card first. Or 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.160 some people will actually go. You know what I need both. 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.120 I've got to spare one hundred dollars per month. I'm 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.440 going to put fifty dollars into an emergency savings account. 0:08:57.440 --> 0:08:59.600 I'm going to put that fifty dollars as an extra 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.160 debt repay plan. You have to know what is going 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.640 to work best for you right now in order to 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.400 continue on seeing that progress and feel like you're actually 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:10.040 making a difference and changing your life and turning it around. 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:11.880 Okay, we're going to take a quick break. When we 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:13.360 come back, we're going to talk about some more of 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:16.199 these practical steps, because I feel like this is actually 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:20.160 a really helpful how to guide is to just get up, 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:29.720 get going, and get started. It's great. Back in a moment, Kenna. 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.000 We are putting together. It's quite an informal list. Really. 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.520 Normally I love a good list on this podcast, and 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.480 normally I'll say we're doing eight things or twenty steps 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:42.280 or something. Today was just about this is how to 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.120 get started if you're starting from scratch with money, start here. 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.760 But naturally that has progressed into a list of a sort. 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:55.000 So we've got the first plant, which is just taking 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.800 care of yourself and being gentle with yourself, and then 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.439 it is about awareness and assessing and then picking those 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.760 points that are causing you the most stress and focusing 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:08.200 on those end weighing up the value of emergency money 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.319 within that and providing yourself that buffer that is going 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:15.520 to protect you moving forward as well. What's next and 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:20.360 kind of thinking that in a lot of situations, if 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.720 you're in this case, money will probably be fairly tight 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:28.520 when you are starting off on a financial journey, how 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.120 then do you choose the next priority? 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.679 Well, this is where clarity actually matters more than the 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.520 speed of the progress. So you would focus purely on 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:42.760 the essentials, you know, things like you know, food, shelter, clothing, 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.080 you know, like I say, clothing materials. You could just 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.079 have clothes to wear every day. So just the absolute 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.760 essentials only, and then obviously trying to minimize as much 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:56.760 as you possibly can incurring any more high interest debt, 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.600 and that debt obviously from growing. So even you can 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.360 only put the minimum payment plans in place so that 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:05.400 the interest you're just paying the interest you're not paying 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.319 down the principle of the loan. That's what it is 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:11.720 for this point in time, So be it then going 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.400 back to that budget and building up buffers. You know, 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.880 you never do a budget where you budget to the dollar. 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:21.720 You should be rounding everything up to the nearest five, ten, fifty, one, 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.040 hundred dollars or even thousand dollars, so you've got a 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.280 safe buffer in place for the natural ebbs and flows 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:30.040 of expenses going up up and down, you know, depending 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.000 on the time of the year, depending on the month, 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.960 depending on inflation and the cost of living. And then 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.480 you would start as you start to build that resilience, 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:40.920 you then start looking at being able to add things 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:44.679 back into your budget when things are tight, as things 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.280 start to alleve it and you're able to see the 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:49.480 debts coming down, the emergency money coming up, feeling a 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:53.760 greater sense of control where you are directing your cash flow. 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.200 Yeah, it feels like it kind of feels like a 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:59.439 triage kind of thing in an emergency department, like of 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:01.720 figuring out out where the most urgent kind of thing is, 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:05.040 what's causing the biggest problem and dealing with with those. 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.520 A lot of this though, is it's not negative, but 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.760 it's repairing. Yeah, it feels like you are fixing the debt. 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.200 You are trying to get your budget sorted. You are 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.560 trying to build that emergency money as your buffer. When 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.240 the things turn to the positive, when do you start 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:23.920 looking to the future and looking to growth. When can 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.000 you set those financial goals that might be Hey, I'm 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.920 starting from scratch, I'm getting my debt under control, but 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:32.679 I want to start investing as well. 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.040 I think you can set these goals as early as 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.360 you like. It's not like yet you can't you're forbidden 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.360 for setting any investing goals until you've paid off your 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.000 credit card debt. I don't think it works like that. 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:44.640 If anything, I actually encourage people to start thinking about 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.680 those things early because they can act as the source 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:51.240 of motivation to see yourself all the way through. You 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:53.240 know you use that. Thank God, I can't wait to 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:54.920 pay off this credit card debt because at the moment 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.439 I've done, I can start working on my investing journey. 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.160 So that is perfectly fine, but obvious from coming back 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:04.440 unfortunately to that for what is the financially smartest Yes, 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:08.000 getting rid of the seeing the debt's gone. And I'm 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:09.960 not talking about waiting till you power your home loan 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.880 here to start misting. I'm talking, you know, really about 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:16.160 that toxic debt, where debt is something like buy now, 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:20.120 pay later, credit card debt, car loans, personal loans. Prioritizing 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.760 that because you know, particularly for someone who's gone through 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:29.600 a tough time or is literally restarting again scratch, particularly 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.920 later in life. It's like building a house. You want 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.319 to build a house that can survive all the elements, 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:42.200 when the rain, fire, you name it, the scorching heat. 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.440 So you build a house somewhere safe and stable, and 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.080 you build a really strong, rock solid foundation so that 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.280 when those storms happen, which are part of life, the 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.360 damage is minimal and you can quickly repair it and 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.440 continue on living on the house. It's the same principle 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.640 with money and not even just starting a generally in 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.240 building financial freedom, but it probably means more to someone 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:08.040 who's starting again because there has been some time that's passed. 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.800 They've got potentially some catching up to do, and they're 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:14.719 aware of the financial fragility of life how it impacts them. 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:18.360 So building that rock sort foundation is particularly important and 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:22.360 particularly valuable to avoid this situation ever happening again. 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:30.400 That's great advice. What about superannuation and can you use 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:32.800 that almost as a bit of a bit of a 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:36.560 cheat almost as to feel like you're starting to be 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.880 involved in investing, even if you're not setting up a 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.840 dedicated investment portfolio or anything just yet. That might be 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:44.960 a little bit further down the track, but at least 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.560 you can feel engaged with your financial future by just 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.080 paying a bit more attention to your superannuation, which might 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:52.520 be sitting there in the background. 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.400 Superannuation is not cheating superinnation. 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:58.160 As soon as I said that, I was like, ah, 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.080 she's gonna pick me up on that. 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.800 But absolutely, I mean, and look for a lot of people, 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.000 you know, particularly in the latest stages of life, that 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:12.440 are restarting from scratch, you know, for whatever reason, you know, 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:17.440 superannuation actually is is their foundation, and it is will 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.400 often be their central point of focus in rebuilding themselves 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:27.400 because it makes sense financially to utilize superannuation. And they're 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.200 even people who have actually got money, but it's actually 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.440 far more efficient for them to focus on their superinnuation. 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.520 So obviously, yes, you get professional personal advice around this, 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.440 but you know, engaging with your super is definitely part 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:42.760 of an important part of the equation, and it definitely 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.760 forms a huge percentage of that rock solid foundation that 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:47.120 I'm talking about. 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:52.000 Two part question, and I there's a high likelihood that 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:56.080 you will dodge the first part, how long does it 0:15:56.160 --> 0:16:00.360 usually take before people start to feel moment him and 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:01.680 I don't want you to just say how long's a 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:03.960 piece of string? Because I wasn't going to say that. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:06.680 Of course, I never doubted you for a moment. And 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:09.400 then the second part, part B of this two part 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:16.040 question is if things are slow at the beginning, it 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:17.040 probably will be. 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.360 Right, of course it will, but yeah. 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.000 How do you stay motivated? 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:26.880 Okay, So to answer the first question about which was, 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:30.000 oh my gosh, how long? 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.520 How long does it usually take before you start to 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:34.000 see a bit of progress here? 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:35.520 Why did you have to ask me to two questions 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:39.720 at the same time. Okay, it's so quick. The moment 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:41.840 you sit down and go all right, I'm going to 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:45.560 rebuild myself. I'm going to I'm going to have a resurrection, 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.240 I'm going to reinvent myself. The moment you make that decision, 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:52.160 instantly you feel better. Instantly, you've made a decision, You've 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:55.040 made a commitment to promise yourself. Okay, if you can 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:57.520 then up the ante on that and start writing down 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:00.440 on a piece of paper, pen to paper. All right, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:02.400 this is what I'm going to do. This is my goals, 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.119 these are my dreams, is my vision. Already you're feeling 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.080 better within minutes, so there's none of this I have 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:09.920 to wait, and I can only start feeling good. Wants 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.680 to see the debt paid off in full? No, that's ridiculous. 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:14.480 The moment you start to feel good is the moment 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:18.159 you make a decision and I promise yourself to improve 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:21.280 the situation, to be better, to do better, and to 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.679 learn and to grow, and to use this, you know, 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:28.720 as a it's almost like a foundation to make use 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.600 your life experience to help you make better decisions so 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:35.960 that further down the track you don't repeat history. So yeah, instantly, 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:37.560 is that my answer? 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:39.760 You might have been yawning when you walked in, but 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:42.640 lit a fire under you. Now here we go. 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:45.120 I'm about to fall flat on my face because I've 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:47.000 forgot the other question you have. 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.040 I was going to just feed it to you again, 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:53.320 just to save face for you. How do you stay 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:56.760 motivated then, because that would be a big burst when 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:00.760 you get started, you would feel this rush, right, But 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:03.200 it's kind of like any new Year's resolution or something. 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:06.480 You get this big burst of enthusiasm at the start, 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:10.320 but once the real kind of the work kicks in, 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.560 it is hard to keep that motivation. How do you 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:13.879 do it? 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.120 From a practical point, tracking your progress is really important, 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.880 So cape keep keeping a journal or keeping a note 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.840 in your phone, or keeping an Excel spreadsheet where you 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:25.440 can put this is the date, this is how much 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.080 I've got emergency savings, This is how much I've got 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.159 in this credit card debt, that credit card debt, that 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.880 credit card debt, And so you can go back and go, wow, 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.040 look at where I was this time last month. It 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.280 might only be a small shift, but it's a shift 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.560 in the right direction. Also, another thing I think is 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.400 really powerful is to think about the sort of keywords 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.480 when you think about your future. You know, you know, 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:49.679 you think, okay, well my future is now going to 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.280 be feel stable, it's going to feel secure, i am 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:54.919 going to feel independent, I'm going to feel proud. Just 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.320 those keywords to remind yourself as to what you're working 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.000 towards and the feelings that you are attracting into your life. Also, 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:04.440 I think is very motivating and inspiring. And then even 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:09.000 from like a manifestation point of view, visualizing yourself succeeding, 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:12.280 you know, to help keep you motivated. See yourself making 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:15.280 that final debt repayment. See yourself calling up your best 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:17.639 friend to say, guess what, I'm so proud of myself. 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:19.560 I've just paid off twenty thousand dollars with a credit 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.640 card dead and in you know, eighteen months. I can't 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:25.600 believe I did it. You know, it's not going to 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:27.439 be a walk in the park. You can't expect this 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:32.199 to be like a magical transition overnight, like you know 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:34.200 that saying you just like I just walked out of 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.760 a salon like looking like this. You know, it doesn't 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:38.919 happen like that. It is hard work, and there are 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:43.800 a lot of really confronting, uncomfortable lessons to be gained 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.200 from doing the hard work. And there is I really 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:50.000 genuinely believe in the gestation period in doing the work 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:53.040 to improve your situation, regardless whether you're starting from scratch 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:56.879 or whether you're just working on something really big. You know, 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:01.080 there's so much to be gained beyond the numbers and 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:01.680 the dollars. 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:06.840 All right, final word, someone's listening to this right now, 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:12.359 perhaps feeling a bit overwhelmed. The one step they should 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:14.520 take today to get started, I. 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:19.240 Think is to make a serious promise to yourself that 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:21.840 it stops here. You draw that line in the sand 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.280 and go from this very moment, in this defining moment 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.960 in my life listening to this podcast right now, my 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:30.880 life needs to change and I'm committed to doing things differently. 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:36.320 It starts today now, not tomorrow, today, in this very moment. 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:39.840 It's very strong finish from someone who is yawning twenty 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:45.120 minutes ago. I am awake now, and that's really positive. 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:49.000