Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
Speaker 1: the Order Kerni 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.
Speaker 2: She's on the Money. Hello and welcome.
Speaker 4: She's on the Money, the podcast for millennials who want
Speaker 4: financial freedom. Welcome back to another one of our Shop
Speaker 4: Back Money diaries, where you're probably feeling a little bit
Speaker 4: confused because who you're hearing is Victoria Devine, not miss
Speaker 4: Jesse Rici. She's decided to go on an epic holiday
Speaker 4: to India and thus I am riding solo, which I'm
Speaker 4: really excited about because it means I can ask whatever
Speaker 4: I want without being told to move on. So this
Speaker 4: is a solid ten out of ten this week we
Speaker 4: have a goodie for you guys, so let's dive straight in.
Speaker 2: Our money.
Speaker 4: Diarist wrote in and said, growing up, my parents used
Speaker 4: to just spend, spend, spend. It was my grandmother who
Speaker 4: taught me the value of money and the importance of savings.
Speaker 4: She was living off the Center Link pension and always
Speaker 4: found a way to make her money stretch. When I
Speaker 4: was twenty three years old, my partner left me at
Speaker 4: seven and a half months pregnant. When my son was
Speaker 4: three months old, I began my bachelor's degree, and when
Speaker 4: he was four months old, we moved to an Aboriginal
Speaker 4: community so I could start work where a lot of
Speaker 4: the living expenses were subsidized. I was able to save
Speaker 4: two thirds of my income, and by the time I
Speaker 4: was twenty six years old, I finished my bachelor's degree and.
Speaker 2: Purchased our home all by myself.
Speaker 4: We are now back in a city where I am
Speaker 4: currently working in the profession that I studied for. Although
Speaker 4: I'm only at the beginning of my career, I can
Speaker 4: see the light at the end of the tunnel where
Speaker 4: I am earning more. I'm able to pay down our
Speaker 4: home and invest more, so hopefully one day I can purchase.
Speaker 4: The next important thing my financial freedom. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 4: money darist, what a story. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3: Thank you, very happy to be here.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, you sound like an absolute hustler.
Speaker 4: Imagine getting pregnant and being like, you know what, I'm
Speaker 4: gonna have this baby and I'm going to move on
Speaker 4: to a remote community so that i can work and
Speaker 4: it makes sense for us. I'm honestly in awe and
Speaker 4: have so many questions. Are we able to jump straight
Speaker 4: into the street ructural questions though?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, all right, can you tell us a
Speaker 4: little bit more about your money story.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So when I was left at seven and a half
Speaker 5: months pregnant, like obviously, I was devastated, but I knew
Speaker 5: one of the most important things for me and my
Speaker 5: son was security. So I looked at my options and
Speaker 5: actually it was to my dad who lived in a
Speaker 5: remote Aboriginal community, and he spent a just convincing me
Speaker 5: to come. And he was like, just come, just give
Speaker 5: it a go, like, you'll make good money here and
Speaker 5: it's a great lifestyle. And after a few months he
Speaker 5: eventually said, look, just come. If you don't like it,
Speaker 5: I will pay for you. To ship you back to
Speaker 5: wherever you want to go, and so I was like, oh, well,
Speaker 5: why not.
Speaker 2: That feels a little less risky.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I ended up going there and I found
Speaker 5: work straight away. They're desperate for workers in remote communities.
Speaker 5: Found work straight away, and yeah, work in remote Aboriginal
Speaker 5: communities comes with very soosidize accommodation. In my case, it's
Speaker 5: actually free oh money, win, free power. The only thing
Speaker 5: I had to pay for is like food and internet.
Speaker 5: And ended up loving the lifestyle, very outdoor orientated, so
Speaker 5: definitely like fishing, hiking, camping, those sorts of things. And
Speaker 5: I ended up staying for three years and giving myself
Speaker 5: a kickstart.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I love that, And I love that
Speaker 4: your bambino got to experience that with you too.
Speaker 2: Did he love it?
Speaker 3: He did, so.
Speaker 5: They did have a childcare center there as well, so
Speaker 5: he made lots of little friends and yeah, it was
Speaker 5: run by the local Aboriginal people and it was just
Speaker 5: so different to what you sort of see in the cities.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I love that you mentioned in your
Speaker 4: money story when riding in that your grandmother was the
Speaker 4: one who taught you the value of money. Can you
Speaker 4: tell me a little bit more about that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, So even when I was working my first job,
Speaker 5: when I was like eighteen years old, I would always say,
Speaker 5: even if it's just twenty dollars or ten dollars a week,
Speaker 5: because my grandmother would do that. She dealt mostly with cash,
Speaker 5: but she'd have a little money box where she'd put
Speaker 5: a little bit of a pension away all the time,
Speaker 5: and she did enjoy having a little bit of fun
Speaker 5: at the casino from time to time and going out
Speaker 5: for meals, so being on the pension, and she was
Speaker 5: able to do that because she would just save that
Speaker 5: little bit to go and enjoy her time doing what
Speaker 5: she wanted to do, even if it's ten dollars, five dollars,
Speaker 5: twenty bucks depending on the week of what bills she had.
Speaker 4: From little things big things grow. And you mentioned that
Speaker 4: that was kind of in stark contrast to your parents.
Speaker 4: Why do you think that you were impacted more by
Speaker 4: your grandmother instead of directly by your parents.
Speaker 5: My parents did end up splitting up, and I just
Speaker 5: remember my mother like always, she would still spend, spend, spend,
Speaker 5: and I remember her always saying like, oh, like, I
Speaker 5: don't have any money till next payday and things like that.
Speaker 5: So as I grew older, it made me not want
Speaker 5: to live that way, like have to live paycheck to
Speaker 5: paycheck and have some anxiety around money. So I think
Speaker 5: that's why I stemmed towards more what my grandmother was like.
Speaker 4: I love that grandmothers are the best. All right, Next
Speaker 4: question I've got for you is what do you do
Speaker 4: for work? And how much money do you now earn.
Speaker 2: I'm an accountant, yes, finance brand yeah.
Speaker 5: And I'm only at the very beginning of my career
Speaker 5: so I only finished my degree end of last year.
Speaker 5: I only take came about two thousand dollars a fortnight.
Speaker 5: I do have a pay rise coming in January which
Speaker 5: should take me to twenty one fifty per fortnite.
Speaker 4: That's exciting And is this what you always wanted to
Speaker 4: do or why did you pick that career?
Speaker 3: Actually?
Speaker 5: I originally, since I was young, I wanted to be
Speaker 5: a financial advisor.
Speaker 4: Great idea ten out of ten I can recommend them
Speaker 4: as solid individuals.
Speaker 5: I actually went to a career as counselor and worked
Speaker 5: out my options there, and it seemed like the best
Speaker 5: option was to get my accounting degree first and then
Speaker 5: go do my grad diploma, which I'm looking into maybe
Speaker 5: in the next year or two. But I do want
Speaker 5: to have some accounting experience. I do enjoy accounting as well,
Speaker 5: but I think my passion lies with well financial planning.
Speaker 3: I'm always trying to give family advice.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 4: I actually feel like that's such a constructive step as well,
Speaker 4: because accounting is going to give you that base understanding
Speaker 4: of budgets and proper cash flows and how they work
Speaker 4: and balance each and all of that, which is honestly
Speaker 4: one of those things that pays off so much in
Speaker 4: financial planning because you can just look at it and
Speaker 4: be like, all right, that makes so much sense. So
Speaker 4: I think you are on the right track and we'll
Speaker 4: make a great financial advisor. But with all your accounting
Speaker 4: experience and all of this stuff that you've learned from
Speaker 4: your grandmother, I want to know what's your big money goal.
Speaker 2: What are we working towards.
Speaker 5: At the moment, my biggest money go well is to
Speaker 5: have fifty grand and my mortgage offset. I did make
Speaker 5: the decision of not buying my home with twenty percent
Speaker 5: twenty percent deposit. I ended up with a I think
Speaker 5: it was about a thirteen percent deposit, and I did
Speaker 5: jump on the family scheme.
Speaker 2: Yeah, perfect.
Speaker 5: I did weigh out my options with that, and it
Speaker 5: was my value to provide security, especially in this current
Speaker 5: rental market, for me and my son to buy a
Speaker 5: house and do that. So now my next money goal
Speaker 5: is to make sure I do have that twenty percent
Speaker 5: equity plus emergency money. So I'm aiming for about fifty grand.
Speaker 2: That is, honestly so inspirational.
Speaker 4: You are a young mum, you were left on your own,
Speaker 4: and you're like, you know what, I'm just going to
Speaker 4: do this. I'm going to move to remote community. I'm
Speaker 4: going to buy my house.
Speaker 2: I'm going to get it done.
Speaker 4: Like I just feel like, Oh, got so many questions
Speaker 4: for you after the break. Next question I want to
Speaker 4: know is do you have any investments?
Speaker 2: If so, what are they? Yes, I do, Actually, of
Speaker 2: course you do. What can't you do?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: So I have about twelve grand in investments. My portfolio
Speaker 5: includes index funds, blue chip companies, and a couple of
Speaker 5: high risk penny stocks as well. I also do have
Speaker 5: a little bit of crypto, but I only put a
Speaker 5: small amount in. It hasn't worked out so far, but
Speaker 5: it is what it is.
Speaker 4: I feel like that was a bandwagon heaps of people
Speaker 4: got on. You said that you had some index funds
Speaker 4: and some blue chip stocks. How did you pick those?
Speaker 4: Like what stood out about those assets that you were like,
Speaker 4: you know what, that's what I'm going to start my
Speaker 4: investment journey with.
Speaker 5: So what started my investment journey was actually The Barefoot Investor. Yeah,
Speaker 5: And there was one part of the book where it's
Speaker 5: like find three grand and put it on AFIC and
Speaker 5: I was like, oh, okay, and I just did it,
Speaker 5: and then it didn't seem so scary, and I think
Speaker 5: it was more just reading up a about like the company.
Speaker 5: Like for the blue chips, just rereading up about the
Speaker 5: company and deciding whether they're going to be pretty stable,
Speaker 5: if they paid dividends. Those were the sort of things
Speaker 5: I looked at and saying that when I did buy
Speaker 5: the blue chip stocks, I was very early in doing
Speaker 5: investing as well, So it's not something I've continued to
Speaker 5: grow mainly focused on index funds and a couple of
Speaker 5: my high risk penny stocks as well.
Speaker 4: I feel like high risk penny stocks obviously that's not
Speaker 4: what's going to create the wealth. But obviously our listeners
Speaker 4: can't see your face. You like smile when you say that.
Speaker 4: Is that something you really enjoy?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 5: I think because one of my penny stocks has done
Speaker 5: really really well. So I've only done three, all small amounts.
Speaker 5: One of my penny stocks has done really really well,
Speaker 5: but then the other two have done really really badly.
Speaker 3: So it's just like, oh, am.
Speaker 5: I willing to lose you know, five hundred bucks on
Speaker 5: this because I believed in it and see if it
Speaker 5: would get there. And it was just that decision like, yeah, okay,
Speaker 5: I could list five hundred.
Speaker 2: Bucks and have a crack.
Speaker 4: I feel like sometimes it's okay to have fun in
Speaker 4: the investment world. We just need to make sure that
Speaker 4: our core portfolio, which it sounds like you're looking after,
Speaker 4: is safe and secure, because that's what creates the financial
Speaker 4: freedom that you're currently working towards. Next question I've got,
Speaker 4: and we know this is a yes, because you have
Speaker 4: a mortgage, But do you have any debt? If so,
Speaker 4: what is it and how much?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: So, my mortgage is sitting at about three hundred and
Speaker 5: seventy thousand M and my hextet is sitting at about
Speaker 5: forty eight thousand.
Speaker 2: And no consumer or personal debt out there.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 5: I remember getting a credit card when I was younger,
Speaker 5: and I remember purchasing one thing on it, paying it
Speaker 5: off the next pay freaking out and closing it. So
Speaker 5: I think I'm very anti debt, and I think I
Speaker 5: think that stems from my grandmother as well.
Speaker 4: That is not the worst thing to do with a
Speaker 4: credit card in all, honest. Next question I've got for
Speaker 4: you is do you currently shot back?
Speaker 3: No, I don't.
Speaker 5: That's something I need to get onto, but I just
Speaker 5: keep forgetting about it, to be honest.
Speaker 2: It's so easy.
Speaker 4: Well, when you're signing up, make sure you use the
Speaker 4: discount code SotM or not discount code. What is it
Speaker 4: like a bonus code? Do you get ten bucks in
Speaker 4: your account to start? And if that's not a money win,
Speaker 4: I don't know what is. But speaking of money wins,
Speaker 4: I want to know what is your best money habit.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's just probably going back to my saving Like
Speaker 5: I always even if I'm really really stretched in a
Speaker 5: certain week, I'll always make sure I'll put ten or
Speaker 5: twenty dollars away into my savings. I guess also with
Speaker 5: cooking and stuff, I try and like bulk things out
Speaker 5: like putting more veggies in and stuff to make it
Speaker 5: bulky and last longer and a bit cheaper as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 5: I always go for like fruits and veggies in season,
Speaker 5: always look out for sales stuff like that as well
Speaker 5: to save some.
Speaker 4: Money smart tips knowing that you have a little boy
Speaker 4: to feed, and you know, I've got a few nephews,
Speaker 4: use I feel like they can sometimes eat you out
Speaker 4: of house and home. How do you manage the grocery
Speaker 4: budget with a small growing human as well as trying
Speaker 4: to you know, do the right thing when it comes
Speaker 4: to budgeting for groceries.
Speaker 5: Well, I guess yeah, just definitely going after the sales.
Speaker 5: And my son definitely doesn't like his veggies very much.
Speaker 5: So if I make like spaghetti bold naise, I'm bulking
Speaker 5: it up with zucchini and carrot and all the.
Speaker 2: Veggies trying to hide them in there.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and because veggies is like cheaper than meat, it
Speaker 5: makes the meal overall cheaper.
Speaker 4: I think I feel like I've always done that anyway,
Speaker 4: Like I don't even notice as an adult, Like I
Speaker 4: am a stickler for putting a zucchini and a carrot
Speaker 4: in basically anything I cook I'm like, all right, we're
Speaker 4: making a sturf. I graded up put it in. I
Speaker 4: don't think it's even a budget thing at this point.
Speaker 4: I think I just like tricking adult Victoria into eating
Speaker 4: more greens. So its a ten out of ten idea
Speaker 4: from my perspective. Turning the tables to the other side,
Speaker 4: Know what is your worst money habit?
Speaker 5: Look, it's probably a very common one, but definitely pretty
Speaker 5: lazy about packing my lunch. So I tend to buy
Speaker 5: my lunch a lot. I don't think going out and
Speaker 5: buying your lunch is a waste if you're catching up
Speaker 5: with a friend and socializing, but I think it's a
Speaker 5: waste when you're eating by yourself anyway, and you're buying
Speaker 5: lunch like you may as well packed it. So that's
Speaker 5: definitely something I need to improve on.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I am quite literally the same. I
Speaker 4: feel like I've been so under the pump at the
Speaker 4: moment that by the time lunch time comes, I'm like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 4: I was meant to do that. I don't even think
Speaker 4: of it when I'm leaving the house anymore, and I'm
Speaker 4: not only making probably unhealthy choices, but I'm making choices
Speaker 4: that are just super convenient, and it's not even.
Speaker 2: Food that I love. I'm just like, oh, I've got
Speaker 2: to get some lunch.
Speaker 4: I will just pop out and grab whatever's closest, and
Speaker 4: it's not even that good. I need to get some
Speaker 4: really good take to work lunches in my repertoire because
Speaker 4: I am slipping. If anyone has any good work lunches,
Speaker 4: please slide into our DMS ten out of ten can recommend.
Speaker 3: All.
Speaker 4: Right, last question before we go to a quick break,
Speaker 4: I want to know what would you give your money
Speaker 4: habits if we forced you to give yourself a grade.
Speaker 5: I am pretty generous and will give myself.
Speaker 3: An a minus.
Speaker 2: Ooh, I love this.
Speaker 5: I think because I'm just so proud of what I've
Speaker 5: been able to achieve on my own and making good
Speaker 5: money and saving decisions. The reason why it's a minus
Speaker 5: and not a class is definitely about the lunches. And
Speaker 5: I do spoil my son a little too much. He
Speaker 5: should wait for his birthday of something for his little
Speaker 5: gifts all the time. But I cay very easily if
Speaker 5: I take him to the shops and he wants a
Speaker 5: new little car or something.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, no, it's all about balance.
Speaker 4: All right, let's go to a really quick break, and
Speaker 4: after that, I want to know more about your grammar.
Speaker 2: I want to know what life is like now, and I.
Speaker 4: Want to ask more about your little boy and how
Speaker 4: you did it all on your own. Don't go anywhere, guys,
Speaker 4: All right, money diarist, we are back, and I am
Speaker 4: in awe of everything you've achieved thus far. Like, honestly,
Speaker 4: I cannot believe that someone who was twenty three and
Speaker 4: seven and a half months pregnant, who got broken up
Speaker 4: with I'm assuming and left on her own, has managed
Speaker 4: to achieve so much, Like so many people in our
Speaker 4: community are still working towards buying their first homes, and
Speaker 4: you've done it with all of this adversity. Tell me about, honestly,
Speaker 4: what is it like being in that circumstance where you're like,
Speaker 4: do you know what this is?
Speaker 2: Kind of fight or flight? What am I going to do?
Speaker 2: I'm seven and a half months pregnant.
Speaker 5: So actually I was living in Melbourne at the time
Speaker 5: and I didn't really have any family there or anything.
Speaker 5: So the closest family that was around was my grandparents
Speaker 5: and country New South Wales. So I finished that work
Speaker 5: at like eight months pregnant, and I drove all away
Speaker 5: over to my grandparents. So it was a really really
Speaker 5: hard time. And then, yeah, I was over with my grandparents.
Speaker 5: It was sort of like an old people's town, so
Speaker 5: I didn't really want to stay, but I didn't really
Speaker 5: know where to go or who can help me. And
Speaker 5: that's when my dad convinced me too, come join me.
Speaker 3: Remote.
Speaker 2: How did you make that decision?
Speaker 4: Obviously having a three month old baby is really really
Speaker 4: hard at the best of times. How you're like, you
Speaker 4: know what, I'm going to pick my life up and
Speaker 4: go here, and you know, I'm going to study. I
Speaker 4: just feel like this is such a story of overcoming
Speaker 4: adversity because you know, I can't imagine being in that circumstance,
Speaker 4: and you know, having thought that maybe you had support
Speaker 4: and then all of a sudden you didn't. How did
Speaker 4: you do this? Like talk to me maybe more about
Speaker 4: the mental side of it and going through that, because
Speaker 4: I feel like so many people go through circumstances that
Speaker 4: aren't super similar, but you just feel like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 4: everyone is not on my tape here. How did you
Speaker 4: do that with such a positive attitude. I'm genuinely so impressed.
Speaker 5: I guess something that I think a lot of parents
Speaker 5: face is that they feel like they have to do
Speaker 5: everything alone. When my son was born, I realized that
Speaker 5: his biological father wasn't going to be in the picture,
Speaker 5: his choice.
Speaker 3: He's still not in the picture.
Speaker 5: Today, and I just knew I needed help and I
Speaker 5: couldn't do it on my own, and I couldn't achieve
Speaker 5: what I wanted to achieve without help. So I think
Speaker 5: I've always been close to my dad. I was actually
Speaker 5: raised by my dad after my parents split up, and
Speaker 5: I knew that I would have help from him, and
Speaker 5: so that's why I decided, Yep, okay, Dad, I'm going
Speaker 5: to come to you.
Speaker 3: And it was the best decision I.
Speaker 5: Made in terms of my mental health year. It took
Speaker 5: a long time to really work through it, and definitely,
Speaker 5: if you're going through things like this, go see a
Speaker 5: counselor or psychologist. Don't give up on the first one.
Speaker 5: I know some other single parents have had to went
Speaker 5: to one counselor it wasn't for them, and they just
Speaker 5: didn't try to find another one. It took me four
Speaker 5: goals to find the right one for me, and working
Speaker 5: through that with a counselor and just focusing on my goals.
Speaker 3: I guess.
Speaker 5: I just knew in my head that if I achieved
Speaker 5: what I wanted to achieve, like, it would just be
Speaker 5: the best revenge, to be honest, like, not that that
Speaker 5: was my main goal, Like I wanted to achieve, but
Speaker 5: it's like, look what I've done without you.
Speaker 2: I don't even need you. Yeah, I don't even need you.
Speaker 2: Good luck. I'm better than that. Oh my gosh. I
Speaker 2: love that.
Speaker 4: They always say success is the best revenge. Yeah, and
Speaker 4: you definitely have proven that. What is it like to
Speaker 4: study and have a baby and live in a remote community.
Speaker 4: I feel like that just sounds like a lot.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was hard. It definitely took lot of commitment.
Speaker 5: I did obviously had to study online, and I had
Speaker 5: to make sure like every night when I put my
Speaker 5: son to bed, I'd have to, you know, get back
Speaker 5: up out of bed and study for a couple of
Speaker 5: hours every night before I went to bed and get
Speaker 5: up and go to work the next day. So that
Speaker 5: seemed to have worked out well for me.
Speaker 2: How did you do that? Honestly?
Speaker 4: If I was looking after a baby and running life
Speaker 4: and working, how did you find the motivation to get
Speaker 4: buck up out of bed and do a few hours
Speaker 4: of study, because you best bet I would not have
Speaker 4: been in that circumstance. I would have stayed in that bed,
Speaker 4: I promise you.
Speaker 3: I guess.
Speaker 5: I was just so focused on my goal, like I
Speaker 5: wanted a degree, I want a career. I want to
Speaker 5: be able to financially provide for my son. I don't
Speaker 5: want to have to ask for help money wise, I guess.
Speaker 5: And I also so focused on getting my house deposit
Speaker 5: as well to have a home for me and my son.
Speaker 5: So it was just the ultimate motivator. And I think
Speaker 5: once I got halfway through my degree, that's where I
Speaker 5: was just like I could see the light out the
Speaker 5: end of the tunnel, like just keep pushing through and
Speaker 5: you're going to get there, And looking back, it was
Speaker 5: just ills worth it.
Speaker 4: You are a queen, talk to me about saving this
Speaker 4: house deposit. I just feel like so many people in
Speaker 4: our community will be listening to this, going how did
Speaker 4: she think that she was going to afford a house?
Speaker 2: Like how did you work all of that out?
Speaker 4: Because obviously, yes, you were earning an income, but given
Speaker 4: the housing market and how much properties are, was that
Speaker 4: not super overwhelming.
Speaker 5: It was because I did buy last year when the
Speaker 5: house prices were a bit up. I guess I was
Speaker 5: very lucky. When I bought my house up where I live,
Speaker 5: people tend to want to build, yes, So I decided, Nah,
Speaker 5: I'm going to buy existing. And there was this house,
Speaker 5: and I ended up looking up what the value of
Speaker 5: the house was about two years prior, which was during
Speaker 5: the low period here, and looking up at what I
Speaker 5: was offering, and I was only offering about I think
Speaker 5: it worked out to be only eight percent more yeaph
Speaker 5: than the price it was a couple of years back.
Speaker 5: So I felt like, okay, like that is an increase,
Speaker 5: but I'm willing to do that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think if I was offering like twenty percent thirty
Speaker 5: percent after the previous couple years prices, I might have
Speaker 5: been a bit more hesitant. So I think that's what
Speaker 5: solidified my decision there.
Speaker 4: And how did you save your home deposit? How much
Speaker 4: did you have to save? And how long did that take?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it took the whole three years. I was putting
Speaker 5: about fifty percent of my pay away into a house
Speaker 5: savings account as well as putting about twenty five percent
Speaker 5: on my pay into my shares as well.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that's what built up.
Speaker 3: My share propfolio.
Speaker 5: But I haven't been really adding as much since getting
Speaker 5: the mortgage.
Speaker 4: I was going to say, how's the mortgage treating you?
Speaker 4: What does that look like now when it comes to
Speaker 4: cash flow?
Speaker 5: Yeah, because I was living remote and there was like
Speaker 5: no bills, and then I moved here and I was like,
Speaker 5: oh my god, I have to pay a mortgage and
Speaker 5: I have to pay power.
Speaker 4: And the water and the electricity and everything else that
Speaker 4: comes along with that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And it was definitely an adjustment, a huge adjustment
Speaker 5: because even though I was saving quite a lot on
Speaker 5: my pay, even with the pay I had left over,
Speaker 5: I still had plenty of I guess fun money to
Speaker 5: play with. Like so if I went on a holiday,
Speaker 5: I didn't really budget because I didn't really need to.
Speaker 5: I could do whatever and seem to afford it. And
Speaker 5: now it's just like, oh, I have to budget everything
Speaker 5: to make sure my money stretches and still be out
Speaker 5: of and invest a little bit.
Speaker 4: It sounds like the remove to the remote community where
Speaker 4: you know you had subsidized housing and bills actually ended
Speaker 4: up really turbocharging your ability to create financial freedom. In
Speaker 4: the future, would you say that that's maybe a very
Speaker 4: good decision that you made.
Speaker 5: Definitely, definitely, And I know the desperate for workers out there,
Speaker 5: So that's sort of why I wanted to share my
Speaker 5: story and maybe it might be an option some people
Speaker 5: might consider, so not only give back to a community
Speaker 5: that's amazing and incredible, but also help kickstart their savings
Speaker 5: and their goals and investments as well.
Speaker 4: I love that it's such a different way of achieving
Speaker 4: something that we're all looking for. I wouldn't know that
Speaker 4: what kind of work were you doing while living in
Speaker 4: this remote community, because I think that a lot of
Speaker 4: us here things like, oh my gosh, they need so
Speaker 4: many workers, and you're just like, well, what does that mean?
Speaker 4: So can you give us a little bit more of
Speaker 4: an insight, like what kind of work can we get?
Speaker 5: Yes, I actually was doing like the accounts payable receivable
Speaker 5: like Grant's work for a non for profit organization, Aboriginal
Speaker 5: led organization, So that's what I was doing there, but
Speaker 5: anything to like nursing, policing, rangers, administration, just general like
Speaker 5: community service. They did have financial counselors out there too,
Speaker 5: to help the Aboriginal people manage their money as well,
Speaker 5: and they have like a small bank there, they have
Speaker 5: post office, they have retail, they have shops, management positions
Speaker 5: like they do have I guess on a smaller scale
Speaker 5: what you'd have in a city.
Speaker 2: So basically everything.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love it and it's such a beautiful way
Speaker 4: of giving back. Last question before we go, I want
Speaker 4: to know what does life look like today for you?
Speaker 4: What's your situation, how's your son doing? And what would
Speaker 4: you say to people who were in the circumstance you
Speaker 4: were in when you were twenty three?
Speaker 5: Well today I do have a partner now and currently pregnant.
Speaker 2: With my congratulations. That's so exciting.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So I know when I was firstly single, I thought, oh,
Speaker 5: like I'm going to be alone forever, and I was
Speaker 5: really sad for my son that unfortunately his father didn't
Speaker 5: want to be in the picture for whatever reason. But
Speaker 5: you know, one day you might meet someone that will
Speaker 5: love your child as their own and he really does,
Speaker 5: so ask for help. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
Speaker 5: Your family knows how to raise babies. Just don't be
Speaker 5: too proud, like you know, tell your family or friends
Speaker 5: that you know, these are the things you want to
Speaker 5: achieve and you can't do it without a bit of
Speaker 5: help and ask for it.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, Money Diarrist, I am so flipping proud
Speaker 4: of you. I feel like you have achieved so much,
Speaker 4: and I know that this story is going to be
Speaker 4: such a special one to share because not only is
Speaker 4: it inspirational, but I feel like there's been so many
Speaker 4: helpful tips and tricks ideas that a lot of people
Speaker 4: in our community might.
Speaker 2: Not have thought of. So thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4: Well, unfortunately that is all we have time for today.
Speaker 4: We will see you guys for another episode of Money
Speaker 4: Diaries next week. The advice shared on She's on the
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