Speaker 1: Welcome to How Do They Afford That, The podcast that
Speaker 1: peaks into the financial lives of everyday Australians. I'm Michael Thompson.
Speaker 1: I'm a writer and the co host of the podcast
Speaker 1: Fear and Greed business news. As always, I am with
Speaker 1: financial planner Canna Campbell, founder of Sugar Mama TV, the
Speaker 1: financial literacy platform that is just about everywhere that it
Speaker 1: is possible to be YouTube, podcast, books, Instagram, threads, TikTok, keynote,
Speaker 1: speeches and more. Hello, Canna, how are you? I am?
Speaker 1: Well though we are approaching back to school.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm fully a bit exhausted.
Speaker 1: And it is an expensive time of year. It really
Speaker 1: is that there there are a million things to buy.
Speaker 2: It's so overwhelming that you've.
Speaker 1: Got uniforms, shoes, and you got books, and you've got technology.
Speaker 1: So today we are going to look at how to
Speaker 1: save a little bit of money and send the kids
Speaker 1: back to school without sending yourself broke. Why is this
Speaker 1: time of year, the back to school season, so financially
Speaker 1: overwhelming for families?
Speaker 2: Well, it's the perfect storm, perfect storm expenses. You're coming
Speaker 2: off the back or we're all coming off the back
Speaker 2: of Christmas, you know, holiday season. There may even be
Speaker 2: a bit of a hangover from you know, the Black
Speaker 2: Friday sales and we're in being hit with this new
Speaker 2: list of purchases, and you know there's it's a long list,
Speaker 2: you know, uniforms, shoes, sneakers, sporting equipment, books, technology, It
Speaker 2: just goes on and on, and then you've got the
Speaker 2: pressure deadlines and you know, nothing like deciding you need
Speaker 2: to get some school shoes and going to your local
Speaker 2: school shoes shop and seeing the mass of parents all stressing,
Speaker 2: you know, on a hot, humid summer's day, you know,
Speaker 2: where the pressure to get it right, to make sure
Speaker 2: they turn up to school in their first day with
Speaker 2: absolutely everything they need in their school backpack. You know,
Speaker 2: it's a huge amount of pressure and throwing some unexpected costs,
Speaker 2: like you know, certain supplies that they need for an
Speaker 2: extracurricular activity, like a musical instrument.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I had not considered that those things are expensive.
Speaker 2: Really expensive. And then if you want to go and
Speaker 2: rent them and they or may not be available, you know,
Speaker 2: these can really throw you off guard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm assuming again making an assumption here that the
Speaker 1: best way, because we know that the return to school
Speaker 1: is coming, so you budget ahead of time, if that
Speaker 1: is possible. And I say that knowing that we have
Speaker 1: not done that ourselves, so I was saying you should
Speaker 1: do that. Don't listen to what I've done.
Speaker 2: You know. So look, the best thing is to start early,
Speaker 2: as you said, Easier said than done, you know, especially
Speaker 2: when you're so busy, you know, and you've got more
Speaker 2: than one child. You know, you've got to think of
Speaker 2: everyone's different needs. And you know, I know my son
Speaker 2: has a very different list to what my daughter has,
Speaker 2: who's starting her first year of school this year, so
Speaker 2: you know, and also think if we start early, we
Speaker 2: can also make the most of the sales, you know,
Speaker 2: the boxing day sales, and have a list, a checklists,
Speaker 2: write down everything you need, separating it from must haves
Speaker 2: versus would like to have. You know, my kids want,
Speaker 2: you know, brand new pens and pencil cases, even though
Speaker 2: we've got probably fifty of them already at home. So
Speaker 2: it isn't a good also opportunity to include the children
Speaker 2: as well, but it also gives you a sense of order, yeah,
Speaker 2: because you can just refer to the list, And.
Speaker 1: A lot of schools they provide a list, don't they.
Speaker 2: What you need.
Speaker 1: I mean, it is the standard kind of back to
Speaker 1: school list, and then you kind of almost need to
Speaker 1: sit down and cross check it with what you already have.
Speaker 2: Yes last year point which strong from me.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I just habit of yours. I have started
Speaker 1: doing this a lot, haven't I, Because now we've been
Speaker 1: doing this show for so long that I feel like,
Speaker 1: in some cases, oh no, this is dangerous, isn't it.
Speaker 1: I feel like in some cases that I almost know
Speaker 1: what you're about to say.
Speaker 2: I don't know what you're going to say.
Speaker 1: I was not going to say that just then. I was.
Speaker 1: I was about to say something else almost that I
Speaker 1: know this almost better than you do. And then I
Speaker 1: realized that that is actually an act. And you were
Speaker 1: displeased with me a few weeks back when I said
Speaker 1: that I was pretty much just a de facto financial planner. Now,
Speaker 1: having spent so much time in the studio with you,
Speaker 1: the eyebrow went up and the forehead was furrowed, and like,
Speaker 1: oh goodness me the displeasure. Yes, in the studio.
Speaker 2: We'll stop stealing, and we have that issue, all right,
Speaker 2: So please just go on. Talk of stealing. What can
Speaker 2: you steal it from? The office. Just kidding, I'm looking infestationary,
Speaker 2: just kidding. That was not Do not go and steal
Speaker 2: from the office too. If you get kids need pens
Speaker 2: and manciles, but obviously look at what you've already got
Speaker 2: at home. The arts and crafts often will have all
Speaker 2: the highlighters and rulers and you know, scissors and things
Speaker 2: that you need. And then obviously set a budget, you know,
Speaker 2: a realistic budget. You know how much you want to
Speaker 2: spend on uniforms, books, supplies, text sporting equipment, all those things.
Speaker 2: And then as you're buying those things, track go okay,
Speaker 2: all right, we've already spent one hundred and twenty dollars
Speaker 2: on two pairs of school shoes or you know, school
Speaker 2: shoes and gym shoes. So keep a running tab so
Speaker 2: that you know exactly what you're spending and this helps
Speaker 2: avoid over spending as well.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about uniforms, shall we, because uniforms like are
Speaker 1: the one thing that you really can't avoid generally, and
Speaker 1: they are really really expensive often if you buy them
Speaker 1: on mass.
Speaker 2: As well, well, not necessarily, so you know, buy wisely.
Speaker 2: So for example, my kids thrash their shoes, so I
Speaker 2: will actually spend a bit more on better quality shoes
Speaker 2: and they last so much longer. And then I'll know, okay,
Speaker 2: I will skimp on socks, and often I will say,
Speaker 2: you don't have to buy everything from the school. And
Speaker 2: this is actually a stip I'm stealing from you match
Speaker 2: where you can actually go to stores like Big w
Speaker 2: in Best and Less and Kmart and Target and buy
Speaker 2: the school socks there, and buy the school pants they're
Speaker 2: the school skirt there.
Speaker 1: Anything that doesn't have the school logo, yeah, you can
Speaker 1: get it elsewhere. Get it somewhere cheaper.
Speaker 2: Much cheaper. And then you know, there's obviously the second
Speaker 2: hand clothing shop, which I am a big fan of.
Speaker 2: You know, I will stock up there, and then obviously
Speaker 2: there's the sales. But also what I will do is
Speaker 2: with my children is I don't buy it all at once.
Speaker 2: You know, kids grow and then they have growth spurts,
Speaker 2: So don't go and buy a year's worth of clothes
Speaker 2: at the beginning of the year. You know, think about, okay,
Speaker 2: we'll hang on. Let me just get the summer stuff
Speaker 2: for whatever the temperature is at the time. It's appropriate now,
Speaker 2: and then later in the year we'll buy the winter
Speaker 2: stuff or when the temperature starts to change, because they
Speaker 2: may have had a growth spurt. As you go and
Speaker 2: be super organized and buy everything, it may not fit them,
Speaker 2: or do what I've done in the past is bought
Speaker 2: it too big and it still doesn't They haven't had
Speaker 2: that growth spurt enough to actually fit them. By the
Speaker 2: time it does fit them, it's warm again. So buy
Speaker 2: what you need for the short term to get you
Speaker 2: through for the next three months and to help stagger
Speaker 2: those expenses, and mix the old with the new. You know,
Speaker 2: hand me downs are great, and you mix up, for example,
Speaker 2: what can be reused throughout the year as well, so
Speaker 2: keeping things in good condition.
Speaker 1: I really like that idea of mixing it up so
Speaker 1: that you might buy one or two kind of new
Speaker 1: items from the uniform shop at school, and the others
Speaker 1: you might buy some secondhand ones and if it's school
Speaker 1: photo day, you send them in the new nice one
Speaker 1: and the rest of the time just go for the secondhand.
Speaker 2: And then label everything with their name because they will.
Speaker 2: Everything gets lost. The amount of lunchboxes, water bottles, hats, jumpers,
Speaker 2: oh my god, hats. Hats.
Speaker 1: Hats are just like they're just currency. At school let's
Speaker 1: get passed around. Aren't they just frisbee.
Speaker 2: Across the playground and then you never see it again?
Speaker 1: Extraordinary? What about though? I mean that all makes sense,
Speaker 1: particularly kind of when we are dealing with things like
Speaker 1: uniforms and stationary and books and things like. You can
Speaker 1: often get secondhand for a lot of those things, and
Speaker 1: relatively inexpensive compared to what I'm about to talk about,
Speaker 1: which is technology. And when you have requirements for school
Speaker 1: that might be say a laptop or a calculator. These things.
Speaker 1: I don't know whether they still require you to buy
Speaker 1: a calculator now. I remember in high school we had
Speaker 1: to buy the certain Cassio one on Yeah indeed, and
Speaker 1: everyone had the same one. Are there's strategies to save
Speaker 1: on tech purchases like these?
Speaker 2: Definitely, so shopping sales and then also shopping on those
Speaker 2: cash back websites like cash awards and shop backs, so
Speaker 2: you at least getting some money back. Your office works
Speaker 2: is brilliant. They'll match anywhere else and sometimes they'll even
Speaker 2: beat it as well. If your business, yes, oh wow,
Speaker 2: And then I think if you show you got an ABN,
Speaker 2: you might go to get it further discount. But then
Speaker 2: also buying refurbished or second hand tech, which you could
Speaker 2: actually do through Amazon as well. You know, you're buying
Speaker 2: a used iPad that's been fixed, looks almost brand new,
Speaker 2: and you're buying it for a significant discount. And that's
Speaker 2: also great for children that do tend to lose things,
Speaker 2: or things tend to get broken, or they're going to
Speaker 2: outgrow it. That's something I would highly recommend. It is
Speaker 2: what I've done with my key as well. And then
Speaker 2: obviously looking at other brands. You know, Stephen Finnick did
Speaker 2: a brilliant episode on what brands to potentially go for
Speaker 2: to get better value for money.
Speaker 1: I was going to mention this because this was last
Speaker 1: year that he spoke to us, and we split it
Speaker 1: into two episodes because there was so much to cover.
Speaker 1: And in the second of the two episodes, we talked
Speaker 1: about laptops and about this idea that you do not
Speaker 1: need to necessarily have a MacBook Pro, you don't necessarily
Speaker 1: need the top of the line computer, that there is
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of different brands out there that might
Speaker 1: cost half the price of say of a MacBook or
Speaker 1: less then and depending on what the requirements are, that
Speaker 1: you might be able to get away with something that
Speaker 1: is of good quality. This is still good quality technology
Speaker 1: and you are paying brand new half exactly well less. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so go and listen to that one. It's definitely if
Speaker 1: you search through our playlist, search through the back catalog
Speaker 1: of apos so it's with Stephen Fenneck is the ultimate
Speaker 1: Guide to affordable Technology. I believe part two as the tip.
Speaker 1: We'll take a quick break in a second, but I
Speaker 1: just wanted to ask first about multiple children. If you've
Speaker 1: got more than one kid in the household, it's just
Speaker 1: prohibitively expensive, isn't it. And yes, hand me down certainly help,
Speaker 1: but still it is just an expensive time of year.
Speaker 2: It is oh look hamd me town's Well, I've got
Speaker 2: a son and then two girls, and he's did it
Speaker 2: at a different public school my daughter's going to go to.
Speaker 2: So the hand me downs unfortunately doesn't work in a
Speaker 2: household this is this year. Maybe when my youngest goes
Speaker 2: it will obviously help. But hand me downs obviously are great.
Speaker 2: But you know, think of the community, like I've got
Speaker 2: friends whose kids go to the same school as my son,
Speaker 2: and I let them know when I've got a bunch
Speaker 2: of stuff the rocker's out grown, I'll put it up
Speaker 2: in a bag and put it on their front doorstep.
Speaker 2: And you know, when things do go missing or get
Speaker 2: swapped or lost or stolen, it's not the end of
Speaker 2: the world because you've got a bag of t shirts
Speaker 2: or shorts or skirts that you can quickly grab and go,
Speaker 2: and your child's not turning up to school missing items.
Speaker 2: And that takes off the stress and pressure for children
Speaker 2: going to school, which is filled with so many mixed
Speaker 2: emotions and things like buying in bulk, you know, with
Speaker 2: other families. Yeah, a great idea. You know, if there's
Speaker 2: something you need, speak to your friends. Ago, I found
Speaker 2: this resource, but we need to buy a minimum of
Speaker 2: ten or a minimum fifteen. Find the other parents that
Speaker 2: are in the same boat.
Speaker 1: That's a great idea. So you're forming a co op exactly.
Speaker 1: It's a cult, a school cult. Yeah, I love this.
Speaker 1: All right, quick break. We'll come back and want to
Speaker 1: talk then about kind of involving kids in the process,
Speaker 1: some of the long term habits, and also how to
Speaker 1: approach some of those big recurring costs like school fees,
Speaker 1: and how to kind of factor those into the family budget.
Speaker 1: We'll be back in a second, can we are talking
Speaker 1: about heading back to school and ways to make it
Speaker 1: a little bit more affordable, just to manage the cost
Speaker 1: because a lot of the costs are actually unavoidable, like
Speaker 1: school fees, for instance, there's really no way around it
Speaker 1: if you are sending your child to a school that
Speaker 1: a private school for instance, where there are private school
Speaker 1: fees to pay. But even to public schools, there are
Speaker 1: certain fees that you do need to pay throughout the
Speaker 1: year that are technically voluntary contributions. But I mean it's
Speaker 1: obviously better if you can pay those and do your
Speaker 1: bit to help out. How do you manage those in
Speaker 1: a budget friendly way?
Speaker 2: So if you're on type budget, what I recommend you
Speaker 2: do is open up a separate savings account and nickname
Speaker 2: it school expenses, so that you know what the purpose
Speaker 2: behind that account and to get distracted or attempted to
Speaker 2: go and blow it and put a little bit in
Speaker 2: that account each week or each day or whatever you
Speaker 2: can afford, so that you can help build up and
Speaker 2: take off the stress and pressure. Then I'd also recommend you, know,
Speaker 2: especially for those extra curricul activities, because they can be
Speaker 2: you know, the straw that breaks the camel's back. You know,
Speaker 2: it's amazing different places, different activities, and different costs. So
Speaker 2: for example, we were looking at some swimming lessons. When
Speaker 2: I shopped around for swiming lessons, I was blown away
Speaker 2: by how they range in prices from different age groups.
Speaker 2: And I saved a fortune. And I think I said
Speaker 2: about three hundred dollars by switching my children's swimming lessons
Speaker 2: or two of them to a different location.
Speaker 1: Oh wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was quite blown away by the difference in prices.
Speaker 2: But then my son's age group was actually very competitive
Speaker 2: where he was, so definitely shop around and also think
Speaker 2: about like logistics of your days because obviously you don't
Speaker 2: know if you've got to leave work the cost of
Speaker 2: that or transport or petrol driving kids around that also
Speaker 2: comes into it as well. And that's obviously again coming
Speaker 2: back to the community. Can you share the load, we'll
Speaker 2: do pickoff, you do drop off, you know, having the
Speaker 2: snacks in the car and things like ready to go.
Speaker 2: But then also thin things like payment plans. Some schools
Speaker 2: may offer an installment plan available to help ease the
Speaker 2: financial burden and instead of getting hit with a quarterly bill,
Speaker 2: they might allow you to pay monthly or fortnight if
Speaker 2: you don't ask, you don't know, and seeing what options
Speaker 2: are available to get on the phone, speak to the school,
Speaker 2: explain your situation, and see what do you have in place.
Speaker 1: I like those I mean, that's a great idea, but
Speaker 1: I really like those tips about the extra curricular activities
Speaker 1: like swimming and those that you can actually shop around.
Speaker 1: You're not just necessarily being funneled into one option for
Speaker 1: these things. Is that one of the mistakes then, because
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk to you about the mistakes that
Speaker 1: parents make in the back to school shopping, and I'm
Speaker 1: assuming one of them is assuming that there is no
Speaker 1: other option, that you can't shop around when you can.
Speaker 2: I'd say leaving it to last minute is the worst
Speaker 2: thing you can do. It's like the amount of parents
Speaker 2: that and I will admit I am a leave it
Speaker 2: last minute type of person, but the amount of parents
Speaker 2: you see, and I use that an example of buying
Speaker 2: school shoes. It is stressful. There are so many people
Speaker 2: around you, then there's shoes have sold out in that
Speaker 2: particular size. The drama it causes and the anxiety causes
Speaker 2: I think you want to go to my school shoes ready?
Speaker 2: You know, for my first day of school, it's you
Speaker 2: just don't do it yourself. So not being organized, leaving
Speaker 2: it to last minute, shopping without a list is just
Speaker 2: leads to those impulsles, purchases, over spending, definitely ignoring the sales.
Speaker 2: You know, boxing doest sells a great opportunity to buy
Speaker 2: the things that you know you're going to need, and
Speaker 2: especially those expensive things like shoes and having a good
Speaker 2: pair of shoes that are going to last all year,
Speaker 2: and then obviously prioritizing the wrong brands, like just going, well,
Speaker 2: we'll buy the most expensive top of the range, because
Speaker 2: that will then mean it's good quality, not necessarily the case.
Speaker 2: You do your research. So there are a lot of
Speaker 2: things you can do innocently that just make it so
Speaker 2: much harder and so much more expensive for yourself.
Speaker 1: And if you leave it to the last minute, you
Speaker 1: also lose your credibility. Then, when you are getting cranky
Speaker 1: at your kids for leaving their assignments and things to
Speaker 1: the last minute, I thought about that, and you want
Speaker 1: to be able to be kind of very judgmental and
Speaker 1: very kind of self righteous about this knowing that you
Speaker 1: were in fact not leaving their return to school to
Speaker 1: the last minute. It's all about credibility as a parent.
Speaker 1: Is the opportunity is here, isn't it to teach kids
Speaker 1: about money during the back to school process? How do
Speaker 1: you do that in a way that doesn't just make
Speaker 1: everyone cranky?
Speaker 2: So include your kids, like make it fun. You know,
Speaker 2: the opportunity to go to school is a blessing. You know,
Speaker 2: this is where you are going to be and need
Speaker 2: to learn so many obviously obvious skills, but life skills.
Speaker 2: Are going to make new friends, So get on board
Speaker 2: with it, getting excited for them, you know, not having
Speaker 2: to pay for daycare anymore. That's also a great thing
Speaker 2: part of the excitement of kids going to school. So
Speaker 2: you know, doing the budget with our kids with Apple
Speaker 2: and Rocco, will be doing a list together and we'll
Speaker 2: be going to office works with a set feet and
Speaker 2: we have to work out how to get the most
Speaker 2: amount of value. So they're not going to do it online.
Speaker 2: I'm actually going to take them with me because I
Speaker 2: need them to see and learn and understand the difference
Speaker 2: between yes, you want every single Posca pen under the sun,
Speaker 2: but okay, you need highlighters. Is all the list says.
Speaker 2: Maybe we can think about that as a part of
Speaker 2: your birthday present.
Speaker 1: So it's quite fun. Actually, I quite like a shripped
Speaker 1: off smoke.
Speaker 2: It's true. There's a bit of me and it's in
Speaker 2: this as well.
Speaker 1: And when you've got a like you said, all right, guys,
Speaker 1: it becomes a game like we've got x amount to
Speaker 1: spend here, we cannot spend anymore. We need to find
Speaker 1: a way to make this fit exactly.
Speaker 2: And it's fun and showing them. You know, you can
Speaker 2: buy a packet if you buy a Biro pen, it's
Speaker 2: like four dollars fifty, but you can buy packets of
Speaker 2: Biros for like eight dollars and there's like seven different
Speaker 2: Biros in there. Like so spending time showing the kids
Speaker 2: like don't leave your last minute, allowed the time to
Speaker 2: go through the store and letting them get excited. Like
Speaker 2: I remember as a child getting my new pencil case
Speaker 2: and the pens and getting it all neatly organized. I
Speaker 2: felt some inspired and motivated and empowered, like allow this moment.
Speaker 2: Don't be a mad rush, panic, hurry field, anxiety and
Speaker 2: stressed and embarrassment, regret, and you know it's it on
Speaker 2: a hot summer's day like this is exciting and office
Speaker 2: work is open to a very later might I add,
Speaker 2: so you can be an evening activity.
Speaker 1: There's a risk that families will be overwhelmed by this,
Speaker 1: are they? There is support out there for back to
Speaker 1: school and I'm about to do this again, aren't I?
Speaker 1: Where I accidentally steal something that you're probably about to
Speaker 1: talk about, But I'm going to do it anyway, because
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're going to say. But different
Speaker 1: states also have different things set up. Financial assistance that
Speaker 1: might help cover some costs of extracurricular activities like swimming lessons, sport,
Speaker 1: creative activities as well, and that if you just look
Speaker 1: on the state government website depending on where you are,
Speaker 1: and you will see the grants and the b assistance
Speaker 1: that is available. Were you about to say that, yes,
Speaker 1: I was all the.
Speaker 2: Words that you did a brilliant job of it, and
Speaker 2: active Kids vouchers, creative Kids vouchers, transport and travel to
Speaker 2: school assistance, like there's so many different things, and obviously
Speaker 2: it varies from state to state, but it is worth
Speaker 2: jumping online and seeing what you're entitled to. And of
Speaker 2: course then there's you know, going to the school and
Speaker 2: looking at things like scholarships or fee waivers, or discounts
Speaker 2: for families in need, or discounts for when you've got
Speaker 2: more than two children at the school.
Speaker 1: All right, let's bring it all the way back to
Speaker 1: where we started and we were talking about budgeting. Is
Speaker 1: that the best way if we are looking to the future,
Speaker 1: long term habits that we should be building a family
Speaker 1: can adopt to make the return to school perhaps a
Speaker 1: little bit less stressful, a little bit more affordable. Does
Speaker 1: it all come down to starting early, building your budget,
Speaker 1: putting it all together and making sure you're just setting
Speaker 1: aside a bit of money to make sure that when
Speaker 1: you get round to January there isn't a scramble financially
Speaker 1: and just physically trying to get to the shops.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say that, and you know, I also
Speaker 2: would suggest that, you know, you declutter your home and
Speaker 2: look at you can reuse. You know, you have to
Speaker 2: buy a lunch box. We'll hang on. They might be
Speaker 2: you know, some top ofware containers that will read just
Speaker 2: as sufficient, or you might actually have a packet of
Speaker 2: colored pens. You don't need to go and buy a
Speaker 2: whole new packet of colored pens. You know, look around
Speaker 2: and see what you've got, and you know, shop off
Speaker 2: the season, so you might find it's better to stock
Speaker 2: up on a winter uniform, you know, potentially in summertime
Speaker 2: when it's on sale, and you know, look at as
Speaker 2: I said, that separate savings fund for the kids. Sit
Speaker 2: it up with them, an online savings account, nickname it
Speaker 2: with them, and sit down and it doesn't need to
Speaker 2: be a financial headache. Is it actually can be a
Speaker 2: really fun, creative opportunity to also help your children feel organized.
Speaker 2: See what it's like to be organized, what it being
Speaker 2: organized actually involves, as well as teaching them a little
Speaker 2: bit about being sensible with money along the way.
Speaker 1: All right, So we are involving kids. We are planning ahead,
Speaker 1: we are budgeting, we are setting aside a bit of
Speaker 1: money throughout the year. We are kind of being smart
Speaker 1: about the way that we are shopping. We are looking
Speaker 1: at secondhand, looking at other brands that are perhaps more affordable,
Speaker 1: particularly when it comes to technology, when it comes to
Speaker 1: the extracurricular activities, we're shopping around seeing what else is available,
Speaker 1: and we are looking at the assistance that's available through
Speaker 1: state governments and also just talking directly to our schools
Speaker 1: and seeing what kind of payment plans are available or
Speaker 1: what's going to be required. Because the more you know
Speaker 1: in advance, the more you can plan ahead. It is
Speaker 1: still a stressful and expensive time, though, isn't it. I
Speaker 1: don't want to finish on a downer. Bit it is right.
Speaker 2: It can be overwhelming, but the it's like, sit down
Speaker 2: and make a list and that will immediately make you
Speaker 2: feel better.
Speaker 1: I love that image though, of little Canna kind of
Speaker 1: getting all of her pencils and everything and did you
Speaker 1: did you do contact contact on it?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Yes, and did you get to them put pictures and
Speaker 1: everything on as well?
Speaker 2: White cut out things and make my books so pretty?
Speaker 2: And I'm so motivated.
Speaker 1: And when you were labeling pencils and things, did you
Speaker 1: shape shape.
Speaker 2: The tip of the end my right name? All those
Speaker 2: daggy talk you things.
Speaker 1: It's so much fun and so the like last year,
Speaker 1: I remember at the start of the year, I'm like,
Speaker 1: that's it. I It's finally my turn to do that.
Speaker 1: And so I sat down and I was shaving the
Speaker 1: tips of the pencils off in order to write kind
Speaker 1: of Thompson on them. Was great fun. You are right,
Speaker 1: it's actually an exciting time of year.
Speaker 2: And this is a great opportunity to also show children
Speaker 2: how to be organized. As I said, you know, being organized,
Speaker 2: doing things in advance, thinking, planning mindfully. You're giving them
Speaker 2: life skills.
Speaker 1: How do we find you if we want more information?
Speaker 2: Best place was always Instagram at Trigga Mama TV.
Speaker 1: Did you forget for a second where you are?
Speaker 2: Well? I have Instagram accounts, I have couna Campbell official
Speaker 2: where you can see the hot mess of my life
Speaker 2: as me trying to be organized but actually quite often
Speaker 2: to being doing everything last minute.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, you can hear me every day, not
Speaker 1: as a hot mess, just as a normal podcaster with
Speaker 1: Sean Aylmer on Fear and great daily business news for
Speaker 1: people who make their own decisions. Thank you very much
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