WEBVTT - Saving strategies: breaking down Dom's budget 0:00:07.210 --> 0:00:09.130 Hello and welcome to It All Adds up the podcast. 0:00:09.130 --> 0:00:10.869 So we chat about money, how to get it, how 0:00:10.869 --> 0:00:13.150 to spend it, and how to invest it. I'm money editor, 0:00:13.150 --> 0:00:13.750 dumb pal. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.790 And I'm senior economics writer Jess Vine, and I think 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:18.880 we need to add how to save it to our 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.880 opening spiel because that is the focus of our new 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.989 Budgeting advice series. We're looking in particular at all the 0:00:25.989 --> 0:00:29.260 ways that you can save and keep ahead of rising 0:00:29.260 --> 0:00:32.800 costs of living and also interest rates, which we learned 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:36.460 from Reserve Bank Governor Phil Lowe are going to continue 0:00:36.460 --> 0:00:40.990 to go up. So, Dom, you have graciously agreed to 0:00:40.990 --> 0:00:43.630 be our guinea pig and to kick off the season 0:00:43.630 --> 0:00:46.900 by letting us have a little look at your budget. Yeah, look, I'm. 0:00:46.900 --> 0:00:50.410 Feeling pretty scared about this, to be honest. You know, 0:00:50.409 --> 0:00:54.400 I've never had never had my finances so thoroughly displayed 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:57.400 or analyzed, But I think it's the you know, the 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:59.440 aim of this series is to sort of help you 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:03.190 out by showing how we and others sort of think 0:01:03.190 --> 0:01:05.680 about money, which can then help you sort of think 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.830 about it differently yourself. Our, you know, at the very least, 0:01:08.830 --> 0:01:11.080 even if it doesn't help you think differently, the total 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:13.420 chaos of my finances might make you feel a little 0:01:13.420 --> 0:01:14.470 bit better about yours. 0:01:14.980 --> 0:01:17.289 You don't have to be scared. I will be very 0:01:17.290 --> 0:01:19.480 gentle in my feedback on your figures. 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:23.200 Yeah. Otherwise it'll be, you know, highlighters at ten paces. I. 0:01:23.830 --> 0:01:27.310 I know because I am quite notoriously not backwards in 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:30.280 coming forwards with my own figures. I post them all 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.640 on my money with just Instagram accounts. So I think 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:35.740 people probably have a pretty good idea about where my 0:01:35.740 --> 0:01:38.410 money goes if they care to, to have a look. 0:01:38.410 --> 0:01:41.740 And I sort of felt kind of embarrassed or like 0:01:41.740 --> 0:01:45.370 a little bit hesitant sharing that at first, but then just, well, 0:01:45.370 --> 0:01:48.370 the feedback of how useful it is to actually see 0:01:48.670 --> 0:01:53.230 somebody else's budget and how much they're spending on Internet 0:01:53.230 --> 0:01:56.920 or whatever is so useful. I mean, comparison can be 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:58.930 the safe of joy and you can't you know, everyone's 0:01:58.930 --> 0:02:00.430 going to have a different set up. But I think 0:02:00.430 --> 0:02:04.090 it is genuinely very, very helpful to have these conversations 0:02:04.090 --> 0:02:06.160 about how much money was spent, how much stuff costs, 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:08.830 and people can go, That takes more than me or 0:02:08.830 --> 0:02:12.190 Dom's doing what don't. You should not be spending that money. 0:02:12.190 --> 0:02:14.709 So I'm very much I've had a little sneak peek 0:02:14.710 --> 0:02:17.500 at your figures that I'm I'm very excited to to 0:02:17.500 --> 0:02:19.480 run through them and to give you my feedback. 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:21.780 Yes, absolutely. And I think you're right. I think there's 0:02:21.790 --> 0:02:23.050 a sort of you know, we're sort of brought up 0:02:23.050 --> 0:02:24.700 in this culture of sort of not talking about money 0:02:24.700 --> 0:02:26.950 too much. And, you know, everyone's a bit secret, secretive 0:02:26.950 --> 0:02:29.680 about their pay and which obviously I totally understand a 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.109 lot of situations. But, you know, I think you're right, 0:02:32.110 --> 0:02:33.790 talking about this sort of stuff can really help you 0:02:33.790 --> 0:02:34.720 think about it differently. 0:02:35.050 --> 0:02:37.419 Yes. So when you sort of laid out your figures, 0:02:38.020 --> 0:02:40.480 what's the bottom line? Are you actually in surplus or 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.540 are you spending, you know, go to finance, spend less 0:02:43.540 --> 0:02:45.550 than you earn? Are you are you doing that? 0:02:46.030 --> 0:02:49.060 Well, in theory. So should we get into it? Yeah. 0:02:49.389 --> 0:02:52.630 All right, let's do it. So I've sort of broken 0:02:52.630 --> 0:02:55.630 into two categories. So we've got fixed monthly expenses and 0:02:55.630 --> 0:02:59.800 sort of variable monthly expenses. So just as the top line, 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:04.450 my monthly income is around 5500. And of that, I 0:03:04.450 --> 0:03:07.270 have sort of have these, these fixed expenses. So I 0:03:07.270 --> 0:03:10.840 spent about just under 1500 on my mortgage each month, 0:03:11.410 --> 0:03:13.690 which as we mentioned, is fixed at the moment, which 0:03:13.690 --> 0:03:17.230 I'm thanking my lucky stars for because it won't be 0:03:17.230 --> 0:03:19.010 fixed for much longer. And by the start of next year, 0:03:19.010 --> 0:03:20.530 I'll have to go to a variable loan which will 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:24.700 drastically increase my fixed expenses and then my body corporate 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:28.390 every month is about $150. So that collectively is about 0:03:28.389 --> 0:03:30.220 $470 every quarter. 0:03:30.550 --> 0:03:32.680 That's the one that floors me. And I'm so jealous 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:35.950 because my body corporate is about 8000, eight or $9,000 0:03:35.950 --> 0:03:38.710 a year. So yours is less than $2,000. 0:03:38.710 --> 0:03:41.530 Yeah. And I think it's insane that you also $8,000 0:03:41.530 --> 0:03:43.360 a year. But, you know, I think maybe this is 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.610 the difference, difference between living in Melbourne and Sydney and 0:03:45.610 --> 0:03:47.260 like the size of our apartments. So it's not. 0:03:47.270 --> 0:03:49.390 For me to decide much in the pool, but if 0:03:49.390 --> 0:03:51.280 I have my time again and I was doing the 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:53.380 property search, gosh, I would have paid a little bit 0:03:53.380 --> 0:03:55.570 closer attention to Strata face because I can be a 0:03:55.570 --> 0:03:57.040 major ongoing cost. 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:01.240 Yeah, absolutely. My rates are about $130 a month, so 0:04:01.510 --> 0:04:05.680 just under $400 a quarter. I pay my car insurance monthly, 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:09.250 which is about $100 or so, which I think is 0:04:09.250 --> 0:04:11.110 a bit expensive. But every time I've tried to get 0:04:11.110 --> 0:04:12.730 that down, I can't. So what type. 0:04:12.730 --> 0:04:14.560 Of car insurance do you have. 0:04:15.100 --> 0:04:15.250 So. 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:19.360 Comprehensive? Okay. Yeah, I think I'm only paying about $600 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.539 a year. Yeah, my comprehensive and yours is what, so 0:04:22.540 --> 0:04:25.029 12 over $1,000 there? Yeah. 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:29.890 My internet is $69 a month. I spend about $120 0:04:29.890 --> 0:04:33.070 on petrol a month for the car. Electricity is about 0:04:33.070 --> 0:04:35.320 $100 a month. Oh, and I should sort of preface 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:37.330 all this. I'm a single person. I live by myself. 0:04:37.330 --> 0:04:40.510 I have no dependents. So 100 bucks a month for 0:04:40.510 --> 0:04:42.430 electricity I think is probably about fine. 0:04:42.730 --> 0:04:45.760 That's about what I pay. So I'm a single mother, 0:04:46.330 --> 0:04:49.360 so me and a little kid for half of the week. 0:04:49.660 --> 0:04:51.460 So I think actually a lot of our expenses are 0:04:51.460 --> 0:04:53.710 about the same with the electricity. I think we're both 0:04:53.710 --> 0:04:57.010 living in sort of old style, two bedroom flat. So yeah. 0:04:57.310 --> 0:05:01.570 So absolutely. My water is about $70 a month, so 0:05:01.660 --> 0:05:03.670 but I pay it quarterly, which is about. $200 a 0:05:03.670 --> 0:05:10.540 quarter on various subscriptions like streaming services, Spotify. I pay 0:05:10.540 --> 0:05:12.820 a little bit of every month for like extra data 0:05:12.820 --> 0:05:16.210 on my Google account that totals about 50 bucks a month. 0:05:17.140 --> 0:05:20.500 And then I also have a pool membership. So my 0:05:20.500 --> 0:05:22.750 local gym, but I just pay for the pool. And 0:05:22.750 --> 0:05:25.180 that's $70 a month. So those are my sort of fixed, 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:27.870 fixed expenses. What do you what do you think, Jess? 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:28.960 How am I going so far? 0:05:29.290 --> 0:05:31.570 I think that's looking pretty good. I don't think I 0:05:31.570 --> 0:05:35.920 can't see any obvious areas where you're bleeding money unnecessarily. 0:05:36.770 --> 0:05:39.550 And so, so far, so good. All right. Do you 0:05:39.550 --> 0:05:40.600 use the pool membership? 0:05:41.230 --> 0:05:43.210 Well, I do. Yeah. I was. I was really good 0:05:43.210 --> 0:05:45.070 about it last year. I've been a bit slack this year, 0:05:45.070 --> 0:05:47.110 but I was going about three times a week, so 0:05:47.110 --> 0:05:48.490 I think I get pretty good value out of it. 0:05:48.770 --> 0:05:51.160 Yeah, I pay about that much per week for my 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.310 gym membership so that all the areas where I do 0:05:54.310 --> 0:05:56.830 spend quite a lot of money is on my CrossFit membership. 0:05:57.130 --> 0:05:58.670 But I get a lot of value out of it. 0:05:58.690 --> 0:06:01.000 So yeah, I think that's fair enough. I mean, if 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:02.589 you can justify if you going like four or five 0:06:02.589 --> 0:06:05.500 times a week, that's fine. Like, you know. Yeah. So, 0:06:05.500 --> 0:06:08.830 so far we've made it without any glaring, glaring issues. 0:06:09.430 --> 0:06:12.099 Perhaps some glaring omissions, but I'm going to save that 0:06:12.100 --> 0:06:12.400 till later. 0:06:12.430 --> 0:06:13.720 All right. Well, sorry. That's a bit. Okay. 0:06:14.260 --> 0:06:19.870 But you fix that. A monthly bills? Yeah, the regular things. Okay. Yeah. 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:22.210 And then on top of this is sort of the 0:06:22.210 --> 0:06:25.210 variable expenses like food. So I think I spend probably 0:06:25.210 --> 0:06:28.359 around 30 and $50 a month on food. Again, I'm 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.820 a single guy living by myself, so food is not 0:06:30.820 --> 0:06:34.960 a massive expense for me. And then sort of the 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:40.540 collective sort of eating out alcohol events, sort of, you know, 0:06:40.870 --> 0:06:44.529 fun activities, I probably spend about 400 ish a month, 0:06:44.529 --> 0:06:47.289 maybe a bit more on that. And then I spend 0:06:47.290 --> 0:06:51.430 about $200 on hobbies. I probably spend about 50 $200 0:06:51.430 --> 0:06:53.440 a month on clothes and things like that. 0:06:53.730 --> 0:06:57.820 So I for me, actually that was the really. Oh, dumb. Yeah. Well, 0:06:57.820 --> 0:07:00.549 you are you are always very nicely attired so I 0:07:00.550 --> 0:07:04.420 can't complain. But I went a whole year without spending 0:07:04.420 --> 0:07:08.170 any money on clothes which, you know, it is possible. 0:07:08.170 --> 0:07:10.239 Depends what the state of your wardrobe is like. But 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.220 you know, up to $100, you know, so that's a 0:07:12.220 --> 0:07:15.010 new sort of item every month or so. I mean, 0:07:15.010 --> 0:07:18.670 maybe that I know I go to the extreme and 0:07:18.670 --> 0:07:19.900 I probably do need some more clothes. 0:07:21.310 --> 0:07:24.220 And then like probably 90 bucks on like public transport. 0:07:24.940 --> 0:07:28.570 And that's my variable monthly expenses. So you've said that 0:07:28.570 --> 0:07:30.100 I miss I might be missing some stuff. What do 0:07:30.100 --> 0:07:30.790 you think I'm missing? 0:07:31.060 --> 0:07:33.250 Yeah. So what did you add that all up to 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.260 for your monthly expenses? 0:07:35.260 --> 0:07:41.140 Yes. So that's approximately $3,600 ish a month for my expenses. 0:07:41.230 --> 0:07:43.930 Yeah. So to me, that just seems like. Well, that is, 0:07:43.930 --> 0:07:46.600 you're doing pretty well if you're keeping it that low. 0:07:46.870 --> 0:07:50.170 And but from what you've said, you think maybe that 0:07:50.170 --> 0:07:52.750 might not be an accurate representation of how much you're 0:07:52.750 --> 0:07:53.860 actually saving? 0:07:54.130 --> 0:07:56.240 Absolutely not. Because according to this, I say I could 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:57.610 do that. If you look, if I don't take it 0:07:57.610 --> 0:08:00.040 on face value, I should be saving nearly $2,000 a month, 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:04.240 which I absolutely I'm not. No way. Not even close. 0:08:04.510 --> 0:08:07.200 So this is the thing, I think, which is it's 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:08.860 is good for us to talk about, which is clearly 0:08:08.860 --> 0:08:12.100 like despite the fact that I think that I'm moderately 0:08:12.100 --> 0:08:15.070 well regimented when it comes to budgeting, obviously, I'm leaking 0:08:15.430 --> 0:08:17.860 funds here like I'm spending and I know I do this. 0:08:17.860 --> 0:08:20.020 I spend money on little, little bits here, a little 0:08:20.020 --> 0:08:22.780 thing there, or, you know, like last week I spent 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:25.460 $200 on a little attachments that I wanted for my 0:08:25.460 --> 0:08:27.610 my speaker system. And that doesn't fall into any part 0:08:27.610 --> 0:08:29.650 of my budget. That's just something that I just spend 0:08:29.650 --> 0:08:31.900 money on sort of thing. So like, so it's sort 0:08:31.900 --> 0:08:33.829 of a it is a leaky it's not a it's 0:08:33.830 --> 0:08:35.560 not a water tight budget. Like, Yeah. 0:08:35.980 --> 0:08:38.470 And I love it because it's such a classic example 0:08:38.470 --> 0:08:40.690 of like, you know, we're all told you need a budget, 0:08:40.690 --> 0:08:44.470 write yourself a budget, stick to it. Done. And people 0:08:44.470 --> 0:08:46.960 do their very best and you try to rack your 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.510 brain and think of most of the things and you like, 0:08:49.510 --> 0:08:52.420 right them my expenses and then maybe track it for 0:08:52.420 --> 0:08:53.410 a month and you get to the end of the 0:08:53.410 --> 0:08:55.840 month and are they but not my expenses. I have 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.900 no idea what is happening. And that's sort of what 0:08:58.900 --> 0:09:01.510 inspired me when I did my sort of amazing exercise 0:09:01.510 --> 0:09:05.350 of going through the Bureau of Statistics Household Expenditure Survey, 0:09:05.350 --> 0:09:08.230 which has about 7000 things that you can spend money 0:09:08.230 --> 0:09:12.070 on grouped by category. And I rearranged them all just 0:09:12.070 --> 0:09:15.790 the myriad of things that can come up that, you know, 0:09:15.820 --> 0:09:18.340 if you're not expecting them, then you think you've failed 0:09:18.340 --> 0:09:20.980 because you set your budget. And it wasn't realistic. But 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:23.590 I mean, so some obvious sort of things that I 0:09:23.590 --> 0:09:26.980 wondered about is do you ever go on holidays? Because 0:09:26.980 --> 0:09:30.550 you probably will. And this is the thing at things 0:09:30.550 --> 0:09:33.250 that you don't go every month unless you live in 0:09:33.250 --> 0:09:36.969 a great life, but there's sort of these irregular sort 0:09:36.970 --> 0:09:39.400 of once a year or once every quarter sort of 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.620 expenses that you might need to sort of if you're 0:09:41.620 --> 0:09:44.140 looking at how much you're spending, maybe you need to 0:09:44.140 --> 0:09:48.160 save at least 100 or $200 a month to sort 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:52.690 of be putting aside into a holiday fund unless you're 0:09:52.690 --> 0:09:53.500 not taking holidays. 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.120 No, I mean, I know. No, I do. I do 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.239 take holidays. I had a lovely holiday last year to 0:09:58.390 --> 0:10:01.660 Vietnam for about three weeks, which was lovely. But the 0:10:01.660 --> 0:10:03.290 thing is that like when they know. I want to 0:10:03.290 --> 0:10:05.990 do that. I like I start saving for it. Like 0:10:05.990 --> 0:10:08.720 it's idea for me. It's like a very like a Oh, 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.480 I'm going on a holiday to X or Y this year. 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:13.460 I better start and like, you know, months ahead, I'll 0:10:13.460 --> 0:10:14.959 be like, well, I need to start saving for that. 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:16.910 So that's when I'll start putting money aside. I don't 0:10:16.910 --> 0:10:20.000 do it on like a regular basis, so that makes sense. 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.579 Yeah, but whereas I do, because I sit down at 0:10:22.580 --> 0:10:24.050 the start of each year and I go, Well, how 0:10:24.050 --> 0:10:26.929 much is my holiday budget? This is what I think 0:10:26.929 --> 0:10:28.940 is reasonable. And then I try to keep sort of 0:10:28.940 --> 0:10:31.760 within that envelope and I set aside a certain amount 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:34.339 each month to contribute to that, which is actually sort 0:10:34.340 --> 0:10:35.810 of a prompt for me to go. Just don't forget 0:10:35.809 --> 0:10:38.510 to book a holiday cause it's actually good for you to, to, 0:10:38.610 --> 0:10:41.030 to take the risks. Some other little areas. Do you 0:10:41.030 --> 0:10:42.320 have any home insurance? 0:10:42.770 --> 0:10:47.330 Oh, yes. So while home insurance falls underneath under my body, corporate. 0:10:47.330 --> 0:10:49.400 So all that contents insurance. 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:51.619 Yeah. So I should have mentioned a condo insurance for 0:10:51.620 --> 0:10:54.890 me costs $170 a year. So on a monthly basis, 0:10:54.890 --> 0:10:55.989 that's pretty negligible. 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.580 Yeah. And then I did wonder about your car expenses 0:10:58.580 --> 0:11:01.699 because we had the insurance there. But I mean, car 0:11:01.700 --> 0:11:04.720 is one thing that just catches everybody out because the 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.699 I presume you would have annual reg, so you would 0:11:07.700 --> 0:11:11.800 be servicing that car at least once a year and the. 0:11:12.110 --> 0:11:14.600 Car is currently due for a service. So I need 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.730 to that will cost me about 500 bucks. So that's 0:11:16.730 --> 0:11:19.760 something that I need to to prepare for. And yeah, 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.310 my Reg, I was like I think a pretty standard 0:11:22.309 --> 0:11:25.700 range of like eight 800 to $900 a year. 0:11:25.790 --> 0:11:28.550 Yeah. And then every so often every three years ago 0:11:28.580 --> 0:11:30.770 or so, your battery's going to go and that's a 0:11:30.770 --> 0:11:33.319 couple of hundred dollars and then your tires are going 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:37.880 to go. So I do set aside money each month 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:40.340 for my car Future Fund, and I think I added 0:11:40.340 --> 0:11:44.600 up the running. My car costs may something in the 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:47.870 region of $5,000 a year or something. It's when you 0:11:47.870 --> 0:11:50.240 add up all the insurance and the reg over and 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:54.079 that includes that petrol as well. So that might be 0:11:54.230 --> 0:11:58.010 that might be something that you need to consider. And then, 0:11:58.250 --> 0:12:01.040 you know, you look fit and healthy. But medical expenses, 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.410 do you go to the dentist maybe once or twice 0:12:03.410 --> 0:12:07.340 a year? I should you should know, maybe that's getting 0:12:07.340 --> 0:12:08.059 too personal. 0:12:08.150 --> 0:12:10.459 No, no, no. I like I definitely try to I 0:12:10.460 --> 0:12:12.079 think it's one of those things that I always forget about, 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:13.790 but like I have, I do try and go the 0:12:13.790 --> 0:12:15.650 nineties once a year. I'm definitely due for a checkup 0:12:16.370 --> 0:12:18.380 this year. I did go at the start of last year, 0:12:18.380 --> 0:12:20.540 so I'm probably about 12 months in. 0:12:21.050 --> 0:12:24.950 Some people completely forget to factor in on even like 0:12:25.190 --> 0:12:28.839 medicines if you need some antibiotics every so often I 0:12:28.850 --> 0:12:31.700 put suncream under medicine as well. Like if you need 0:12:31.700 --> 0:12:35.750 new contact lenses or glasses, you know, seeing the GP, 0:12:35.750 --> 0:12:38.630 seeing the dentist, that is something that can really derail 0:12:38.630 --> 0:12:42.020 people's budgets again. So I again I sit down and 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.949 I set aside about $1,000 for dental and GP and 0:12:45.950 --> 0:12:49.160 I and I put the little amounts aside each month 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.320 to cover things like that. So yeah, I mean the other, 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:54.740 the other, the other thing I thought is like gifts 0:12:54.740 --> 0:12:58.790 and you know, Christmas time or even just like when 0:12:58.790 --> 0:13:00.650 you're going to someone's house for dinner and you need 0:13:00.650 --> 0:13:02.540 to take a bottle of wine, that's one thing I've 0:13:02.540 --> 0:13:04.760 realised that I, I don't want to be the very 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:08.569 stingy friend, although I completely am. But like, it's nice 0:13:08.570 --> 0:13:11.209 to give people things, you know, on the rig, like 0:13:11.210 --> 0:13:13.370 just go to the house. So you buying something for 0:13:13.370 --> 0:13:16.340 all the people? So people sometimes get to factor in 0:13:16.340 --> 0:13:18.890 that as well. And I think once we add up 0:13:18.890 --> 0:13:22.280 all of that, maybe that might be where your money's going. Yeah. 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:23.809 And I think well, I think I think on the 0:13:23.809 --> 0:13:26.590 medical side of things, like I'm like, I don't want to, 0:13:26.690 --> 0:13:28.730 you know, I'm it's sort of quite a healthy person. Like, 0:13:28.730 --> 0:13:30.170 I don't go to the doctor very often. I don't 0:13:30.470 --> 0:13:33.650 have that many sort of things that go wrong with me. 0:13:33.650 --> 0:13:37.100 So I'm pretty I'm pretty. Okay from from that perspective 0:13:37.610 --> 0:13:39.440 when it comes to like, things like gifts and stuff, 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:41.209 like if I'm going to a friend's house, I'd be 0:13:41.330 --> 0:13:43.790 buying like a bring like a bottle of wine that 0:13:43.790 --> 0:13:46.580 sort of comes in to like the alcohol budget. For me, 0:13:46.580 --> 0:13:50.750 that makes sense because I'll probably drink some of that wine. 0:13:50.750 --> 0:13:52.940 So therefore, that's, you know, I mean, we could we 0:13:52.940 --> 0:13:55.069 can talk about like how I split up my, my 0:13:55.070 --> 0:13:57.260 funds by pay, if that helps in terms of the 0:13:57.260 --> 0:13:58.040 actual way I do. 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.230 But I wonder how you do cope. Sort of, yeah. 0:14:00.230 --> 0:14:03.230 When you have some of those bigger expenses, get rid 0:14:03.260 --> 0:14:05.689 of them. How do you how do you structure your 0:14:05.990 --> 0:14:08.990 sort of money to account for sure. 0:14:08.990 --> 0:14:11.359 So I have my phone in front of me right now, 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.059 which has my banking app, which has spoken about a 0:14:14.059 --> 0:14:16.940 few times and I love my banking app. But basically 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.120 what what happens every fortnight when I get my pay, 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:25.760 it is automatically split into ten different accounts and I'll 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:31.489 read through these accounts. So my first account is called beans. 0:14:32.060 --> 0:14:34.250 I don't know why I called it this like a long, 0:14:34.250 --> 0:14:37.430 long time ago, but basically it's just my generic savings account. 0:14:37.430 --> 0:14:39.890 I call it sort of my savings slush fund where 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.100 like a decent chunk of my of my salary goes 0:14:43.100 --> 0:14:45.650 into this account. And it's just money that I could 0:14:45.650 --> 0:14:48.140 spend for a one off, like, let's say, like a 0:14:48.140 --> 0:14:51.560 car service or something like that or a gift for 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:55.250 someone or something unexpected that I'm not budgeting for. That's 0:14:55.250 --> 0:14:58.850 where I typically take that money out of. And I 0:14:58.850 --> 0:15:02.360 have my play account, which is just sort of like alcohol. 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:05.580 That's what the one I mentioned before, like events going out, 0:15:05.670 --> 0:15:06.390 that sort of stuff. 0:15:06.570 --> 0:15:08.700 So you're putting aside the sort of two, was it 0:15:09.030 --> 0:15:10.290 400 or so a month. 0:15:10.380 --> 0:15:13.170 $200 a fortnight ish. Yeah. It go into and. 0:15:13.170 --> 0:15:15.359 Then if you reach the max of that do you 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.700 just stop going out or do you. 0:15:17.970 --> 0:15:20.400 Oh no. Absolutely not. Then. Then, then it comes out 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:21.750 of the, then it comes out of the slush fund 0:15:25.140 --> 0:15:26.880 and then I have a similar account for food, which 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.820 is again about $200 a fortnight. I have a account 0:15:29.820 --> 0:15:33.360 for bills which and all of these I've, I've calculated 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.400 to sort of match up to pretty much the exact 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.250 amount of money I spend on that thing each month. 0:15:38.260 --> 0:15:40.140 So the idea is that I shouldn't have like I 0:15:40.140 --> 0:15:42.300 should run it to zero every fortnight. 0:15:42.330 --> 0:15:43.800 For each of the accounts. 0:15:44.010 --> 0:15:46.200 For, well, for each of the accounts that aren't, that 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:49.650 are sort of on a fortnightly basis. So bills I 0:15:49.650 --> 0:15:51.900 have an account for that, I have an account for 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.410 hobbies as well. And then I have my mortgage account, 0:15:55.410 --> 0:15:57.150 which obviously that's the one where the most amount of 0:15:57.150 --> 0:16:01.860 money goes in each fortnight, which takes exactly half of 0:16:01.860 --> 0:16:04.170 every fortnight. Exactly half of my mortgage goes into that 0:16:04.170 --> 0:16:06.930 account to split into that account. And then I have 0:16:06.930 --> 0:16:09.060 a sort of body corporate bills which covers things like 0:16:09.060 --> 0:16:13.080 petty corporate fees and rates. And then I have sort 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.230 of my goal saver account, right? So this is something 0:16:16.230 --> 0:16:19.260 that I'm specifically saving towards currently, I'm saving towards a 0:16:19.830 --> 0:16:23.340 a ski pass for for the year. So I'm I've 0:16:23.340 --> 0:16:26.160 got a it's got a little emoji of someone skiing 0:16:26.190 --> 0:16:27.900 because that's what I'm sort of saving towards. 0:16:28.180 --> 0:16:31.680 Yeah, that can be a powerful motivator if you've got 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.470 a savings going. A little picture there and you're putting 0:16:34.470 --> 0:16:36.660 the money in, that must feel good to watch that. 0:16:36.990 --> 0:16:39.540 Exactly. And my app gives me like little notifications, like 0:16:39.540 --> 0:16:42.030 I've saved 25% towards this. I feel it's, you know, 0:16:42.030 --> 0:16:45.479 it's like a little little sort of serotonin hit. And 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:47.790 then I have my final sort of major savings account, 0:16:47.790 --> 0:16:51.090 which is like, you know, emergency things sort of really 0:16:51.090 --> 0:16:53.130 big long term things like any renovations I'd want to 0:16:53.130 --> 0:16:56.370 get done or anything like that, which is sort of 0:16:56.370 --> 0:16:58.920 where the bulk of my savings sits. 0:16:59.130 --> 0:17:01.650 Yeah. And I wonder is, is this a are these 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:04.830 offset accounts or are they just separate because you've got 0:17:04.830 --> 0:17:07.550 a fixed loan? That might not that means something that 0:17:07.630 --> 0:17:09.210 you don't have a mortgage offset. 0:17:09.510 --> 0:17:12.000 None of these offsets, these are just these are just 0:17:12.450 --> 0:17:16.050 sort of separate savers within my within my bank. And 0:17:16.050 --> 0:17:18.030 then anything else that doesn't go into that just gets 0:17:18.030 --> 0:17:20.090 put into my access account, which is just sort of the, 0:17:20.130 --> 0:17:23.550 you know, everyday spending sort of stuff. But the idea 0:17:23.550 --> 0:17:25.260 is that every time I spend on something that that 0:17:25.260 --> 0:17:28.229 is categorized into one of those accounts, I then move it, 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:29.970 move the money in and out sort of thing. 0:17:30.210 --> 0:17:33.300 Yes, that's okay. No, that's I mean, I think overall 0:17:33.300 --> 0:17:36.449 you're doing so well like you do. You have massive 0:17:36.450 --> 0:17:37.260 credit card debt. 0:17:37.260 --> 0:17:38.820 So I don't I don't have a credit card. 0:17:38.850 --> 0:17:41.550 No credit card. Yeah. I also don't have credit card debt. 0:17:41.550 --> 0:17:43.980 That's the one. I think that's sort of the canary 0:17:43.980 --> 0:17:45.419 in the coal mine for a lot of people. If 0:17:45.420 --> 0:17:47.940 you've got quite a large credit card debt that you 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.550 keep rolling over, I think you need a budget and 0:17:50.550 --> 0:17:52.260 I think you need a bit of a plan to 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:54.659 be paying off those debt. But I would love to 0:17:54.660 --> 0:17:56.970 say if you don't, because we bought shares together on 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:00.420 one of those. Oh, yeah. Have you been doing any 0:18:00.420 --> 0:18:02.189 regular investing since then? 0:18:02.430 --> 0:18:04.260 Not yet, but I plan to this year. That's, that's 0:18:04.260 --> 0:18:04.680 on the cards. 0:18:04.980 --> 0:18:07.950 Because, I mean, I get I love my budget and 0:18:07.950 --> 0:18:11.100 I love it precisely for the reason that at the 0:18:11.100 --> 0:18:13.230 end of each month, you know, I have a budget 0:18:13.230 --> 0:18:14.760 that I sort of my idea of what I'm going 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:16.530 to spend in the not track, what I actually spend. 0:18:16.859 --> 0:18:19.260 And then I do look at my expenses and my 0:18:19.260 --> 0:18:21.930 income and I invest the difference. And I feel just 0:18:21.930 --> 0:18:24.510 so empowered when I do that, when I go, oh, yes, 0:18:24.510 --> 0:18:27.480 you saved 600 bucks this month. Whatever it is, it 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:31.080 gets transferred straight into the share trading account because that 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:32.970 is my strategy at the moment. You could be investing 0:18:32.970 --> 0:18:36.810 it in extra super or paying off the mortgage faster. But, 0:18:36.810 --> 0:18:38.700 you know, I mean, I just want to spread that 0:18:38.700 --> 0:18:42.330 joy with everybody, you know, the joy of savings to 0:18:42.330 --> 0:18:44.790 feel that sense of accomplishment. So I don't know if 0:18:44.790 --> 0:18:47.340 we will get you to that budget ninja level where 0:18:47.340 --> 0:18:48.360 you want to actually. 0:18:48.570 --> 0:18:50.490 We'll say, I don't know. That's I don't know. That's 0:18:50.490 --> 0:18:53.160 like I think my my sort of I'm just I'm 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:54.690 just sort of fast and loose about it, you know, 0:18:54.690 --> 0:18:56.609 like I'm freestyle in and out here. 0:18:57.660 --> 0:18:59.240 And you seem to you seem to be doing. 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.140 Good. Yeah. Well, apart from the fact that there's like 0:19:01.140 --> 0:19:03.480 a you know, it is a just spend a sort 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:05.160 of money on things every month that I don't know 0:19:05.190 --> 0:19:06.540 where it goes. So I'd like to get on top 0:19:06.540 --> 0:19:08.280 of that. So that's my goal to sort of work 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.639 out these sort of extraneous expenses that I can't really track. 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:15.810 But I suppose, you know, what's the what's your overall thoughts, Jess? 0:19:15.900 --> 0:19:17.640 How do you how do you write my my budgeting 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:18.810 and finances out of ten? 0:19:19.109 --> 0:19:21.720 Don't I think you've done really well full points for 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:24.869 effort as we say. I did notice some things that 0:19:24.869 --> 0:19:27.750 maybe you have forgotten to pop in your budget. I 0:19:27.750 --> 0:19:30.900 would definitely be thinking about those car expenses that can 0:19:30.900 --> 0:19:33.720 really torpedo a lot of budgets when suddenly you've got 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.660 to put the car in the service and particularly parts 0:19:36.660 --> 0:19:39.750 and repairs can can derail you. I think I'd love 0:19:39.750 --> 0:19:41.830 to see you setting aside a little bit extra for 0:19:41.830 --> 0:19:45.090 your holidays funds so that she can look forward to that. 0:19:45.090 --> 0:19:48.450 And then maybe some of those medical expenses. It's it's 0:19:48.510 --> 0:19:51.330 always prudent to have that in mind when you're putting 0:19:51.330 --> 0:19:54.090 together your budget. But I think I mean, just full 0:19:54.090 --> 0:19:57.090 points for even having a stab at putting something on paper, 0:19:57.090 --> 0:19:59.430 I think that's the first step is just to really 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.350 have a stab at estimating what your expense. And then 0:20:03.350 --> 0:20:05.359 it's going to be something that's going to evolve over 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.379 time as as now things come up. You go, Oh, yeah, 0:20:08.390 --> 0:20:10.790 I didn't think about that when I first had the go. 0:20:11.090 --> 0:20:14.750 And you can begin to incorporate the reality of your life, 0:20:14.750 --> 0:20:17.960 and then eventually your budget starts to match your reality 0:20:18.230 --> 0:20:20.389 in a way that can be really empowering. And I 0:20:20.390 --> 0:20:22.820 think just knowing what your expenses are that can help you, 0:20:23.060 --> 0:20:26.690 it can help you apply for loans. They always ask 0:20:26.690 --> 0:20:29.090 you all these questions. You know, if if people need 0:20:29.090 --> 0:20:31.359 to apply for a first home loan or something, having 0:20:31.369 --> 0:20:34.159 some idea of your expenses helps. Having some idea of 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:36.200 how much you need to save for retirement. So what 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:39.139 your expenses are going to be at that end of 0:20:39.140 --> 0:20:41.630 life can be so helpful. And and I would love 0:20:41.630 --> 0:20:45.080 to see you working towards having an emergency savings fund. 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.150 You know, people talk about 3 to 6 months of 0:20:47.390 --> 0:20:50.030 living expenses. That may seem like a lot from now 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.940 from where you are now, but I think that's something 0:20:52.940 --> 0:20:55.310 that can provide a lot of peace of mind for people. 0:20:56.180 --> 0:20:58.730 So I think that gives people a really solid idea of, 0:20:58.730 --> 0:21:01.159 you know, if you were going to take a stab 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:03.350 at having a budget, you know, that's the sort of 0:21:03.350 --> 0:21:06.320 things you should think about. And if anyone does want 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:08.600 to follow me on Instagram, I've got a heap of 0:21:08.810 --> 0:21:11.840 worksheets and I've got an annual Excel spreadsheet where you 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:14.030 can sort of go through my categories and think of 0:21:14.030 --> 0:21:16.040 all the things that you might have missed. And I 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:18.889 think we're going to be encouraging anyone who is listening 0:21:18.890 --> 0:21:21.480 and who wants to to have that experience of us 0:21:21.500 --> 0:21:24.140 looking through the figures and seeing if there's any obvious 0:21:24.470 --> 0:21:27.350 leaks in the ship. We're still keen for people to 0:21:27.350 --> 0:21:28.340 get in touch with us. 0:21:28.910 --> 0:21:31.220 Yes, send us an email too. It all adds up 0:21:31.220 --> 0:21:33.889 at o'clock today. You you can just sort of say 0:21:33.890 --> 0:21:36.350 hi and then will be in touch to ask you 0:21:36.350 --> 0:21:39.530 some details, like your monthly expenses, just like I've I've 0:21:39.530 --> 0:21:42.320 revealed today. And tell us what sort of budgeting strategies 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:44.750 you use along with any long term goals or any 0:21:44.750 --> 0:21:47.390 things that you're struggling with sort of financial sticking points. 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:50.659 And then we'll get back in touch and find out 0:21:50.660 --> 0:21:52.790 a few details and then we can run through them 0:21:52.790 --> 0:21:54.410 on the pod and let you know what we think. 0:21:54.560 --> 0:21:58.160 I love looking through everyone's budget, so do do send 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:00.920 them in. Obviously, we can't give you with financial advice. 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.380 We're not licensed to do that. But I do just 0:22:03.380 --> 0:22:05.600 think that it can be helpful to share figures and 0:22:05.780 --> 0:22:08.150 we can point out some areas where you might just be, 0:22:08.150 --> 0:22:11.450 you know, obviously missing some things in your budget like 0:22:11.450 --> 0:22:14.480 you've forgotten to put in your holidays or whatever, or 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:17.870 if we do see an expenses that look particularly large, 0:22:17.869 --> 0:22:20.899 we might be able to delve into some common ways 0:22:20.900 --> 0:22:23.330 to save in that sort of area, which may be 0:22:23.330 --> 0:22:24.139 of help to you. 0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:27.440 Thanks for listening, as always, and we'll see you next week. 0:22:27.740 --> 0:22:29.900 And well done, Dom. I think that was very brave 0:22:29.900 --> 0:22:31.730 of you to share your figures and I think you've 0:22:31.730 --> 0:22:32.810 done a good job. Well, thank you. 0:22:32.810 --> 0:22:33.119 Just. 0:22:33.140 --> 0:22:34.040 Thank you. See? 0:22:39.910 --> 0:22:41.950 This episode of It All Adds Up was produced by 0:22:41.950 --> 0:22:45.340 Chee Wong. The information discussed is general in nature and 0:22:45.340 --> 0:22:48.430 does not take into account your personal financial situation, goals 0:22:48.430 --> 0:22:51.280 or objectives. You should always do your own research or 0:22:51.280 --> 0:22:55.300 get professional advice before making any major financial decisions. If 0:22:55.300 --> 0:22:58.090 you like today's episode, hit, follow your podcast app. Leave 0:22:58.090 --> 0:23:00.370 a review and recommend it to all your friends. You 0:23:00.369 --> 0:23:02.800 can also submit your listen to questions in text or 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:06.580 audio form at. It all adds up at 9:00 PM today. 0:23:07.420 --> 0:23:08.140 Thanks for listening.