Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
Speaker 1: the Order Kerney Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before
Speaker 1: we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
Speaker 1: would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
Speaker 1: of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
Speaker 1: acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
Speaker 1: through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
Speaker 1: and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
Speaker 1: today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
Speaker 3: She's on the Money. She's on the Money.
Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to She's on Them, the podcast for
Speaker 2: millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to my favorite
Speaker 2: episode of the week, Money Diaries, where I get the
Speaker 2: chance to talk to one of out amazing She's on
Speaker 2: the Money community members all about their story and about
Speaker 2: their money journey, and it is my favorite part of
Speaker 2: every week. I kid you not. Let's jump straight into
Speaker 2: it because this week I got a message and it
Speaker 2: sounded a lot like this, because I'm going to read
Speaker 2: it to you, hi V. I traveled a lot in
Speaker 2: my twenties and moved overseas in twenty nineteen, sadly to
Speaker 2: an emotionally abusive relationship right before COVID hit. Then I
Speaker 2: lost my job. I took my souper out to get
Speaker 2: out of that situation and had to start again multiple
Speaker 2: times while overseas. I moved back to Australia in April
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, and one year later, my partner and
Speaker 2: I have just bought a house. Money diarist, I'm so
Speaker 2: excited to have you here. Are you ready to do
Speaker 2: a money diary?
Speaker 3: Definitely? Yeah? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: Well, let's jump straight into it. As always, I want
Speaker 2: to know upfront, what would you rate your money habits
Speaker 2: if I asked you to rate your habits on a
Speaker 2: scale of A through to F.
Speaker 3: Probably a B. I think a B.
Speaker 2: I like that. Let's learn a little bit more. My
Speaker 2: favorite favorite question money deres. Can you tell me a
Speaker 2: little bit more about your money story?
Speaker 3: Yeah? So, growing up we didn't really talk too much
Speaker 3: about money. When I got a job when I was fifteen,
Speaker 3: my mum made sure that we knew, you know, to save,
Speaker 3: but it wasn't like we didn't have like budgets or
Speaker 3: anything like that. It was just you have to save,
Speaker 3: you have to save, you have to save, and me,
Speaker 3: being a teenager, I kind of ignored that and I
Speaker 3: spent most of my money.
Speaker 2: Like any good teenager does. I don't know anything when
Speaker 2: you're a teenager.
Speaker 3: I know, shocking. Yeah, And I mean skip forward fifteen
Speaker 3: years and she's gone guarantee for us, which is amazing.
Speaker 2: So she trusts you now, Yeah, yes, she mum, what
Speaker 2: you worried about? Honestly, So tell me a little bit
Speaker 2: more about growing up. What was my Obviously you didn't listen,
Speaker 2: but what did that end up looking like?
Speaker 3: Yeah? So, I mean, as far as sort of I
Speaker 3: was aware, we never really struggled. Like I knew that
Speaker 3: when we sold our family home, like where mum sold
Speaker 3: it after my parents got divorced. It was probably a
Speaker 3: good seven to eight years after that. She sold the
Speaker 3: house because if she were to keep paying that mortgage,
Speaker 3: she wouldn't have a life. So she made the decision
Speaker 3: to sell the bigger house and build a new house
Speaker 3: not too far away.
Speaker 2: I like that. I feel like that's the type of
Speaker 2: compromise that sometimes a lot of people don't want to
Speaker 2: make because that would have been a hard decision, right,
Speaker 2: Like that's something that a lot of pride would have
Speaker 2: ridden on that decision, but she's obviously made the right
Speaker 2: one for her. What does life look like now? Is
Speaker 2: she happier and healthier and thriving?
Speaker 3: Oh definitely, Yeah, she is thriving. And all my friends
Speaker 3: think she's the coolest.
Speaker 2: Oh we love that.
Speaker 3: Now that I'm twenty seven, I think she's the coolest too.
Speaker 2: So it just takes a little bit of can in
Speaker 2: the scene, right.
Speaker 3: Exactly, Yeah, asked me ten years ago. And that's not the.
Speaker 2: Case, absolutely not. Mums can't be cool when you're a
Speaker 2: seventeen year old, absolutely not.
Speaker 3: H Yeah, and now she's doing quite well and she's
Speaker 3: got not much mortgage left obviously in the position to
Speaker 3: go garanteur from myself and my partner. Yeah, so, yeah,
Speaker 3: she's doing well and she's thriving, and yeah, she lives
Speaker 3: on her own and she always says I'll never live
Speaker 3: with anyone else.
Speaker 2: I love that. I feel like that's a vibe, get it, mum?
Speaker 3: Yep? Exactly?
Speaker 2: All right. I need to know what do you do
Speaker 2: for work and how much money do you earn.
Speaker 3: I am a sales support assistant for a custom clothing
Speaker 3: company and I make sixty three K a year plus
Speaker 3: super and plus five K commission a year.
Speaker 2: What does that mean? What's a sales support assistant? Can
Speaker 2: you tell me a little bit more about your day
Speaker 2: to day. I'm super interested. It's a lot of customer service.
Speaker 3: So we have our sales team who will get the
Speaker 3: sale and then set up an order, and we do
Speaker 3: a lot of custom clothes for year twelves and like
Speaker 3: groups like that, So.
Speaker 2: It's like a bulk, like a bigger order. Someone's not
Speaker 2: just buying one thing, They're buying multiple Yeah. Yes, okay,
Speaker 2: that makes more sense. I was like, what does our
Speaker 2: support officer do in this back in this world?
Speaker 3: Once the sales locked in and the order is open,
Speaker 3: then we provide that support to the customer, so then
Speaker 3: the sales team can continue getting more sales. Yeah cool.
Speaker 2: Do you enjoy it? How did you get into this
Speaker 2: line of work?
Speaker 3: Yeah? So, I really, I really enjoy it. I was
Speaker 3: just looking on seek one day and I applied for
Speaker 3: some jobs. I was about to go back to the
Speaker 3: UK for a month, and while I was sitting in
Speaker 3: the airport on my way there, I got a phone
Speaker 3: call from the recruitment person. Yeah, I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: I'm sitting in the airport at the moment, but I'm
Speaker 3: happy to do you know, virtual interviews. And she was like, yes,
Speaker 3: that's not a problem, Like we can do virtual interviews
Speaker 3: because so many of us are based from home. So
Speaker 3: the time that I was in the UK for a month,
Speaker 3: I was interviewing for this position.
Speaker 2: Oh how good.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then by the time I got back, I
Speaker 3: had a blind up for when I got back, which was.
Speaker 2: Great money win.
Speaker 3: I love that. Yeah, absolutely, so.
Speaker 2: I want to know next, what's your big money goal.
Speaker 2: What are we currently working towards.
Speaker 3: Currently, we're working towards trying to take Mum off our
Speaker 3: mortgage as guarantee. Up until sort of sort of March April,
Speaker 3: we were aiming to buy a house and then we
Speaker 3: achieved that, which is great, and yeah, our next next
Speaker 3: big goal is to increase that equity in our house
Speaker 3: to then be able to get Mum off alone.
Speaker 2: I'm so pervy. I'm going to ask about all of
Speaker 2: your house questions. Right after this, let's go to a
Speaker 2: really quick break. Don't go anywhere all right, guys, we
Speaker 2: are back and let's dive right back in. You have
Speaker 2: just purchased your first home with your partner, and I
Speaker 2: am so pervy. I want to know how you've done that.
Speaker 2: I feel like I know because you mentioned that one
Speaker 2: of your big money goals was to get your mum
Speaker 2: off as a guaranteur. But can you talk me through
Speaker 2: a little bit more of that process and what that
Speaker 2: looks like and how it works, because I'm just so
Speaker 2: interested to know how somebody in your salary bracket who
Speaker 2: has just returned from overseas has managed to either save
Speaker 2: a deposit or like swindle their way into a property.
Speaker 2: I feel like this is going to be a very
Speaker 2: exciting story to learn from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so pretty much from when my partner and I met.
Speaker 3: Both of our goals was once I settled back down
Speaker 3: into Australia was to buy a house. So it just
Speaker 3: made sense to start saving for that straight away. I
Speaker 3: gave Kate a call from Zella.
Speaker 2: Great decision, honestly, one of your best.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I agree. Yeah, So I gave Kate a
Speaker 3: call and she was telling me about how we only
Speaker 3: need a five percent deposit, and then she was sort
Speaker 3: of helping us work out roughly what we can borrow
Speaker 3: and what sort of deposit plus purchasing costs we would
Speaker 3: need for that, so we started saving like crazy, and
Speaker 3: we were living with his mum at the time, so
Speaker 3: paying rent, saving, we didn't have a lot leftover, but
Speaker 3: we still lived pretty comfortably for ourselves. We got to
Speaker 3: do the things that we wanted to do. We've been
Speaker 3: to a lot of events in the last year as well,
Speaker 3: like concerts and like a festival and stuff like that,
Speaker 3: which has been really nice. We've still sort of allowed
Speaker 3: ourselves to live a bit whilst being a little bit restrictive,
Speaker 3: just to try and save as much as we could.
Speaker 3: And then it turned out the mum was in a
Speaker 3: position to go guaranteur for us. I had that discussion
Speaker 3: with her back in March. Money win, yeah, absolutely, because
Speaker 3: then we were able to borrow one hundred percent of
Speaker 3: our purchase price, which meant all of our savings was
Speaker 3: able to go to furnishing the house, to renovating the
Speaker 3: house because we bought a thirty year old house. So
Speaker 3: we painted, We've got the floors replaced. We still want
Speaker 3: to get the kitchen and bathroom done, but it's a
Speaker 3: whole new house. Everyone who sees it now they're just like, wow,
Speaker 3: this is oh that.
Speaker 2: So much And I feel like, obviously we have to
Speaker 2: acknowledge that borrowing one hundred percent of the purchase price
Speaker 2: can be a little bit risky, and Kate would have
Speaker 2: taken you through that, but it can also be relative liberating.
Speaker 2: If you're like, no, I know, I'm going to be
Speaker 2: here for the long term and this is going to
Speaker 2: work really well for me, it actually can free you
Speaker 2: up a fair bit financially. Did you, when you, I
Speaker 2: guess started the conversation with Kate, know where that was
Speaker 2: going or did you think that that was a big
Speaker 2: possibility for you in the near future, or did you
Speaker 2: think it was going to take way longer or what
Speaker 2: did that look like?
Speaker 3: I thought it was probably going to take a bit longer, obviously,
Speaker 3: because we planned on saving for a five percent deposit
Speaker 3: when it turned out that we didn't need to necessarily,
Speaker 3: it took about probably a year or two less than
Speaker 3: what I thought it would. But yeah, so talking through
Speaker 3: it with Kate, I just sort of had an idea
Speaker 3: of what number we had to sort of get up to,
Speaker 3: and yeah, we had a plan to get up to
Speaker 3: that number while also living our lives. So it was,
Speaker 3: you know, a rough idea of a year or two, but
Speaker 3: The end goal was obviously to get into a house
Speaker 3: as soon as possible and one that also met our needs.
Speaker 3: So because we were living with my partner's mum, we
Speaker 3: were quite comfortable, so we were happy to wait for
Speaker 3: something that our needs. But we actually got very lucky,
Speaker 3: and it was the second house that we viewed, but
Speaker 3: the first house that we viewed together. So the first
Speaker 3: house I just went by myself because my partner works
Speaker 3: at a place that's not home. I work at home,
Speaker 3: so I have a lot more flexibility. So yeah, but
Speaker 3: it was the first place that we saw together.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I love that. That's such a good
Speaker 2: journey and such a good story. I'm going to ask
Speaker 2: about it in a hot second. I want to know, now,
Speaker 2: do you have any investments. If so, what are they?
Speaker 2: If not, do you want to invest?
Speaker 3: I have a Chasia's account, and I have a Rai's
Speaker 3: account as well. I haven't really looked too far into them.
Speaker 3: It's been a very busy few months.
Speaker 2: Understandably, so.
Speaker 3: I do plan to sort of get more into those
Speaker 3: and sort of start with the micro investing roundups with
Speaker 3: Rays and then maybe get sort of more in depth
Speaker 3: with Chasis in their future as well.
Speaker 2: How fun? All right, we're back on the house content
Speaker 2: because I just can't leave it alone. I want to
Speaker 2: know about your debts. So do you have any debts?
Speaker 2: If so, what are they? So, the only debt we
Speaker 2: have is the mortgage, and what is that sitting at.
Speaker 3: That's currently sitting at five hundred and seventy thousand, which
Speaker 3: was the purchase prece we settled about three weeks ago.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that's so soon. How good have you
Speaker 2: moved in? You've moved in and you're like living in
Speaker 2: there and renovating it. What has been your favorite part?
Speaker 3: Probably walking in after it was painted and the floors
Speaker 3: were done. That was great.
Speaker 2: Crisp, right, crisp and fresh and feels like yours. Finally, absolutely,
Speaker 2: But we currently don't have doors. Oh you don't need doors? Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 2: So we don't need doors at the moment. I don't
Speaker 2: even have running water in my house that I'm meant
Speaker 2: to be living in. Oh, so, like, we don't even
Speaker 2: need that, and I'm still planning on moving in very soon.
Speaker 2: So it's fine. It's fine. You can just be in
Speaker 2: love with a house. It's absolutely okay. Exactly have you
Speaker 2: had your first mortgage payment not.
Speaker 3: Yet, that comes out at the start of next month.
Speaker 2: Oh scary. What is that going to set you back?
Speaker 2: Do you think? Each and every single month?
Speaker 3: So at the moment it's sitting at three thousand, two
Speaker 3: hundred and fifty month, but I believe after the increase
Speaker 3: this month, that's going to go up again.
Speaker 2: Yes, probably, And how do you feel about that? How
Speaker 2: does that slot into your budget?
Speaker 3: It slots in Okay, we did allow when we were
Speaker 3: talking to Kate, we allowed, you know, for an extra
Speaker 3: couple of increases. We were talking to Kate, and we
Speaker 3: ended up going to sort of the max of our
Speaker 3: budget because of the increasing house prices again, so they
Speaker 3: started to sort of drop and then they started to
Speaker 3: go up again. So we're still able to stick within
Speaker 3: our budget and not have to postpone purchasing because we
Speaker 3: did have to go to that maximum amount. But yeah,
Speaker 3: we also did budget for that. And obviously the house
Speaker 3: comes first for us, you know, if things do get
Speaker 3: a little bit too much, then we will need to
Speaker 3: compromise in other spaces.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I like that you've already thought about that.
Speaker 2: I feel like it's not that common to go through
Speaker 2: that home buying process. And hear people say, oh, well,
Speaker 2: actually we've factor it in for the next few rate
Speaker 2: rises and should be okay, and these are our priorities
Speaker 2: and this is what it's going to look like. Does
Speaker 2: that make you feel a little bit more calm, Like
Speaker 2: I feel like you're a relatively calm homeowner given a
Speaker 2: lot of people at the moment are completely freaking out
Speaker 2: about the interest rate rises.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it does make me feel a bit
Speaker 3: more calm, just because we've planned for these things, and
Speaker 3: my partner and I are on the same page as well,
Speaker 3: so you know, if things go up too much, then
Speaker 3: it's like, okay, we're going to have to he might
Speaker 3: have to sell one of his three.
Speaker 2: Cars or three cars. All right, Well you've opened that
Speaker 2: can of Williams. What does he do for him?
Speaker 3: He's a mechanic.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, this story checks out very seriously.
Speaker 3: Yep. So yeah, we do have plans in place for
Speaker 3: you if it becomes too much, and you know, obviously
Speaker 3: the very last case is to sell the house if
Speaker 3: it was to come to that, but that's worst case scenario,
Speaker 3: like that would be the very last thing that we
Speaker 3: would ever want to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, Well it's nice to know that you've
Speaker 2: gone in I guess with your eyes open and you
Speaker 2: understand the process, because I think sometimes a mortgage can
Speaker 2: be all consuming and people often don't think about what
Speaker 2: life looks like. After you've got that mortgage, you just go, oh,
Speaker 2: my gosh, like this is the most exciting thing ever.
Speaker 2: And then you realize that maybe you did buit it
Speaker 2: off more than you can chew, and that you're not
Speaker 2: in the best possible position. But it sounds like you
Speaker 2: guys have it covered, and that makes me so excited.
Speaker 2: I'm assuming you're pretty good at money, like you, at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, have just bought a house,
Speaker 2: like I feel like your money story leans towards you
Speaker 2: making some savvy decisions. Tell me a little bit more
Speaker 2: about what you think your best money habit is.
Speaker 3: My best money habit is probably using the ses on
Speaker 3: the money budget template because it just helps me see
Speaker 3: exactly where my money is. And I know exactly where
Speaker 3: my money is all the time, and I have automated
Speaker 3: all my payments. I don't even have to every week
Speaker 3: transfer money. It just automatically comes out, which is great.
Speaker 3: Every payday it's gone, and then hey, I have this
Speaker 3: much left over, which is awesome.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I wanted to just roll all the
Speaker 2: way back to the letter that you wrote me, which
Speaker 2: was very, very nice. But in it you mentioned that
Speaker 2: you moved overseas sadly to an emotionally abusive relationship right
Speaker 2: before COVID hit. So I feel like this is a
Speaker 2: glow up, like this is from one thing to another.
Speaker 2: What was your experience going through that. Is this a
Speaker 2: reality that you saw happening for you? Is this something
Speaker 2: where you were like, oh my gosh. No, of course, Victoria,
Speaker 2: I was always super positive through this because if it
Speaker 2: was an emotionally abusive relationship, I'm assuming it kind of
Speaker 2: got you down a fair bit. So how my friend,
Speaker 2: did you get through this? Because your story is relatively inspirational,
Speaker 2: and I look at it and go, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: how did she do this and then come out the
Speaker 2: end looking super shiny, super amazing and like absolutely living
Speaker 2: her best life.
Speaker 3: Yes, So I always sort of wanted to move to
Speaker 3: the UK to experience living overseas, and and I'm a
Speaker 3: dual citizen, so it was nice and easy for me
Speaker 3: to do, which was nice. But when I went to
Speaker 3: visit my friend who lives in the UK. I met
Speaker 3: her brother, and then that's when we sort of started talking,
Speaker 3: got into a relationship, and I ended up moving over
Speaker 3: there to their hometown. So I had no family and
Speaker 3: friends around me in person except for his two sisters.
Speaker 3: And pretty quickly it was obviously it was very stressful
Speaker 3: moving over there with no support around me in person,
Speaker 3: but I had a lot of support around me, you know,
Speaker 3: over the phone and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So very quickly he started picking fights with me.
Speaker 3: It seemed that, you know, he wasn't very empathetic to
Speaker 3: my stress, and it was very easy to upset me
Speaker 3: and trigger me into like fights and that sort of thing.
Speaker 3: So he would start arguments and then he would go
Speaker 3: and complain to his family about how awful I was
Speaker 3: and saying that I'm just picking fights and being angry
Speaker 3: at him for no reason. And one time it was
Speaker 3: very lucky for me that he actually did it right
Speaker 3: in front of his older sister. And then I ended
Speaker 3: up leaving this is at her house. So I ended
Speaker 3: up leaving her house. I was like, I'm not doing
Speaker 3: this right.
Speaker 2: Now, not here, not right now.
Speaker 3: I'm leaving. See when you get home. Sort of thing,
Speaker 3: and then I messaged her later on, I'm like, I'm
Speaker 3: so sorry, Like, obviously I didn't want to up and
Speaker 3: leave like that, spending time with you was obviously our
Speaker 3: priority for that time, and like that happened, and she's like, no,
Speaker 3: I can actually see what's going on now, and.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's awful that you have to do that, but
Speaker 2: like it's kind of good that they got to see
Speaker 2: it from your perspective.
Speaker 3: Exactly.
Speaker 2: I thought you were going to tell me that his
Speaker 2: whole family were going to be against you, because you know,
Speaker 2: anyone messes with my sister, oh you've got another thing coming.
Speaker 2: I'm the only one that's allowed to mess with her, exactly.
Speaker 2: So I genuinely assumed that you were going to tell me.
Speaker 2: They didn't see it, and I was all alone. So
Speaker 2: what happened next?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so next to COVID hit. So I had got
Speaker 3: a job in the February and I was I started
Speaker 3: that job in March at the very start of March.
Speaker 3: That was the day that Italy went into lockdown. A
Speaker 3: week later, we lost our jobs. So it was in
Speaker 3: the travel industry.
Speaker 2: Gosh, oh my gosh, like the first to go, yes,
Speaker 2: kick you while you're down.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, one hundred percent. Yeah. So I worked for
Speaker 3: flight Center for four years before I moved to the UK,
Speaker 3: so going back into the travel industry was suitable and easy. Yeah. So,
Speaker 3: and then obviously COVID happened and we went into lockdown
Speaker 3: after I lost my job, and he was very unsympathetic
Speaker 3: about me losing my job as well, So two days
Speaker 3: after it, I was still quite upset, and his words were,
Speaker 3: I thought you'd be over it by now.
Speaker 2: I lost my job, and you're a piece of trash,
Speaker 2: so why would I be over there exactly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And getting that job it was like, okay, great,
Speaker 3: now I can make a plan to leave. Now I
Speaker 3: can look at my own plan.
Speaker 2: Now you're not tied because you don't feel bad quitting
Speaker 2: a job that you'd started so soon.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I was able to. I was thinking I
Speaker 3: was going to be able to move out into my
Speaker 3: own flat, leave him and all that, and then when
Speaker 3: I lost that job, it was like, oh, I'm stuck again.
Speaker 3: That was your freedom, Yeah, it was my freedom. And
Speaker 3: then I was stuck in the flat with him for
Speaker 3: all of the first lockdown. Luckily, he worked in like
Speaker 3: a freight distribution warehouse, so he didn't lose work at all,
Speaker 3: which was great because it meant I got some time
Speaker 3: without him in lockdown.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he wasn't home twenty four seven exactly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so that was definitely a bit of a relief.
Speaker 3: But yeah, and then during lockdown he would do like
Speaker 3: little things that were just built up, like, for example,
Speaker 3: in the kitchen, he wouldn't we had one of those
Speaker 3: bins that you like pressed down and it clicks in.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, So he would never close that bin,
Speaker 3: and it stunk out the whole one bedroom apartment because
Speaker 3: it's such a small apartment and it's a kitchen bin.
Speaker 3: They smell. And then when I said something, he would
Speaker 3: just try and convince me that the bin was broken,
Speaker 3: which obviously it wasn't because I was having no problems
Speaker 3: closing it.
Speaker 2: Sir, you are trying to gaslight me and you're not
Speaker 2: even doing a good job exactly.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So he that was just one of the examples
Speaker 3: of him gaslighting me. And then one time I saw
Speaker 3: him not close the bin, like he opened it, put
Speaker 3: something in it and then walked away, and I was like.
Speaker 2: Ah, And it's always the small things that break the
Speaker 2: camel's back, exactly, Like there's obviously way bigger issues in
Speaker 2: your relationship, because I promise you, if it was just
Speaker 2: the bin, then we've got a big problem. But you
Speaker 2: just know it's not the bin. Like this is manifesting
Speaker 2: and coming out in the frustration, and like it's all
Speaker 2: small things that they know they could fix, or that
Speaker 2: anybody could fix, but they're just choosing not to. Exactly,
Speaker 2: you're watching he one hundred percent exactly.
Speaker 3: And yeah, he swore black and blue that he could
Speaker 3: have sworn on someone's life that he closed that bin.
Speaker 3: And I saw it with my own eyes that he did.
Speaker 2: Not so well, So sit down.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the gas lighting was just next level.
Speaker 2: He needs some training and gas lighting like do it
Speaker 2: probably if you're going to do it at all, sir.
Speaker 3: I know exactly.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry you went through that
Speaker 2: because it would have been emotionally and mentally draining. It
Speaker 2: would have just beat you while that you were down,
Speaker 2: like you'd already felt a bit trashy because you've lost
Speaker 2: your job in COVID and you were away from your
Speaker 2: family and friends, and like it's just not it's kind
Speaker 2: of like a storm right in a teacup where it's
Speaker 2: just like my entire world doesn't make sense exactly.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So I was stuck in that cycle until about
Speaker 3: June July when we were allowed out. And luckily my
Speaker 3: dad lives in the UK as well, so.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, how good.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, so he lived a couple of hours away
Speaker 3: from where I lived. But once the first down ended,
Speaker 3: we were able to rent cars again and vans, so
Speaker 3: I got him to rent a van to come pick
Speaker 3: me up. And then that was the second time in
Speaker 3: six months that I started all over again, and I
Speaker 3: went and lived in London.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, So what happened when you moved in
Speaker 2: with your dad? Was it all up from there?
Speaker 3: Pretty much? Yeah? So, I mean, there was definitely rocky
Speaker 3: when I was in London, but it was it was
Speaker 3: two years of living in a different country. I lived
Speaker 3: with my dad for six weeks and then I moved
Speaker 3: into the city by myself, and I moved I think
Speaker 3: three or four times within a year or two London life, yep, exactly.
Speaker 3: So that was a bit painful, but you know, it
Speaker 3: was good. I had some steady work. I was working
Speaker 3: in schools as a teaching assistant and a mentor, so
Speaker 3: that was really nice. I really liked that and yeah,
Speaker 3: and then I ended up moving home.
Speaker 2: Oh how good? And can I be real sneaky and cheeky.
Speaker 2: I want to know how'd you meet your current partner? Like,
Speaker 2: when does he come into the mix?
Speaker 3: Yeah? So he comes into the mix. In February of
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two, So, while I was in the UK,
Speaker 3: unfortunately I lost my cousin to suicide.
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry you went through that.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I decided to fly home for her funeral
Speaker 3: and to be with my family, obviously, because I needed
Speaker 3: that support. I didn't want to sort of be by myself.
Speaker 3: I obviously had friends and family over there, but it
Speaker 3: wasn't the right side of the family. And it was,
Speaker 3: you know, being there and being able to lean on
Speaker 3: all my family and have them lean on me, and
Speaker 3: everything was good. And then while I was in Australia
Speaker 3: on that trip, I went to visit one of my
Speaker 3: auntie and uncles and he used to be their neighbor,
Speaker 3: so they were friends, and he was there for my
Speaker 3: auntie's birthday, and then my mum and my auntie were
Speaker 3: plotting how to set us up.
Speaker 2: They knew oh yeah.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, yeah, but I thought I'd just beat them to it.
Speaker 3: So I added him on Socials and then we started
Speaker 3: talking a few days later.
Speaker 2: I'll do this myself, Mum. I don't need you.
Speaker 3: Exactly, because I know how embarrassing these two are just
Speaker 3: by themselves, let alone together.
Speaker 2: He knows he lived next door.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'm like, oh, you know what, I'm not
Speaker 3: letting this happen. I'll do it myself.
Speaker 2: I love that so much. That's a really wholesome story.
Speaker 2: And now you've bought a house together and you're renovating it. Oh,
Speaker 2: that makes me so happy to know that you're in
Speaker 2: such a better place.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely. I ended up extending my trip for an
Speaker 3: extra week than I planned, so we spent sort of
Speaker 3: the next two three weeks together before I went back
Speaker 3: to the UK, and straight away it was I was
Speaker 3: supposed to be in the UK for another six months,
Speaker 3: but straight away he was like, yeah, it's fine, we'll
Speaker 3: do long distance. I'll be waiting here for you when
Speaker 3: you get back.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, what a honey.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So, and I lasted one week until I booked
Speaker 3: a flight for a month later.
Speaker 2: I love that so much. You're like, I am a
Speaker 2: strong independent woman unless I'm in love.
Speaker 3: Exactly and don't listen to me. I love that so much.
Speaker 2: It makes my heart so happy hearing people's love stories.
Speaker 2: So I was like, tell me about that part because
Speaker 2: I feel like that part will be really cute. Oh
Speaker 2: my gosh. And now you're building a little life together.
Speaker 2: What's next?
Speaker 3: What's next is continuing the renovations, Yeah, and sort of
Speaker 3: getting the property up to what we need it to be.
Speaker 3: He wants to put a big shed on the property.
Speaker 3: So it's got a decent backyard and frontyard.
Speaker 2: Now good, Oh my gosh. I love that so much.
Speaker 2: That was essentially your answer to what is your best
Speaker 2: money habit? So I guess I now should ask you
Speaker 2: what's your worst money habit? And I promise everybody it's
Speaker 2: not going to be as long wind dead. So what
Speaker 2: do you reckon your worst money?
Speaker 1: How?
Speaker 3: That is my worst money habit is? Probably I can
Speaker 3: be quite impulsive. So if I want something, oh, generally
Speaker 3: hyper fixate on it, and I won't like weigh up
Speaker 3: the pros and cons necessarily, I will just hyper fixate
Speaker 3: on it until I press to kat and check out.
Speaker 2: That's actually quite funny. Are you putting twenty four hours
Speaker 2: between you and your spending.
Speaker 3: It might be an hour, it might be a week.
Speaker 2: Oh, but it's still hyper fixated and we're still going
Speaker 2: to do this regardless exactly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just I figure out ways to justify it.
Speaker 3: Regardless of how long it takes.
Speaker 2: You'll just spend a week justifying it and do it anyway.
Speaker 3: Exactly. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: I'm going to say I love that, but I don't
Speaker 2: because it's obviously not great. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: I love that you're self aware about that and it
Speaker 2: clearly makes you happy, exactly exactly. All right, Well, unfortunately
Speaker 2: that is all we have time for today. It has
Speaker 2: been beautiful Money Diarist learning about your story and sharing
Speaker 2: some really important tips in tricks. And I think that,
Speaker 2: apart from the fact that it's so cool to know
Speaker 2: that you got into your first home using Zella money,
Speaker 2: obviously I'm very biased, I also think it's just such
Speaker 2: a nice story to share because there are going to
Speaker 2: be people listening to this that are in not so
Speaker 2: great relationships or situations that they want to get out of,
Speaker 2: and knowing that not only have you gotten out of it,
Speaker 2: you have had an absolute glow up in you are
Speaker 2: living your best life. It makes me so happy knowing
Speaker 2: you have a job that you love, and you've moved
Speaker 2: into your house and you're renovating it, and you have
Speaker 2: this partner that you're in love with, and it's just
Speaker 2: it's such a nice story to share because I think
Speaker 2: that being able to see that puts a light at
Speaker 2: the end of the tunnel for a lot of people.
Speaker 2: So I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I'm really glad that I could share my
Speaker 3: story and hopefully inspire someone to leave that situation if
Speaker 3: they're in it. There's a lot of support, especially around
Speaker 3: on social media. So many of these groups that I'm
Speaker 3: in as well, they really helped sort of put things
Speaker 3: into perspectives. So yeah, really nice just communities around in
Speaker 3: girls groups and they've been really really helpful as well.
Speaker 2: My gosh, I love that so much. Thank you so
Speaker 2: much for sharing so much time with me. I really
Speaker 2: appreciate it, wells.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me.
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