Speaker 1: Just before we get started, we'd like to acknowledge and
Speaker 1: pay respect to Australia's Aboriginal and torrest Rate islander people's.
Speaker 1: They're the traditional custodians of the lands, the waterways and
Speaker 1: the skies all across Australia. We thank you for sharing
Speaker 1: and for caring for the land on which we are
Speaker 1: able to learn. We pay respects to elders past and present,
Speaker 1: and we share our friendship and our kindness.
Speaker 2: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
Speaker 3: Millennials who want Financial Freedom. Welcome back to a Shop
Speaker 3: Back Money Diary Monday, where we chat to one of
Speaker 3: our gorgeous community members and learn about them and their
Speaker 3: story and what they're doing and where they've been and
Speaker 3: just ask a whole heap of questions. I feel like
Speaker 3: I need a new way to introduce these episodes, b
Speaker 3: because I was about to say I've got a good one,
Speaker 3: as if I don't always have a good.
Speaker 1: One, as if you don't always use that cat correct.
Speaker 1: Do you know what, Let's take this offline. You and
Speaker 1: I straight after this chat, we're going to sit down
Speaker 1: and write a very sassy very funny new intro, and
Speaker 1: it's going to apply absolutely no pressure to us in
Speaker 1: the future because we aren't going to be looking for it.
Speaker 3: I love it alrighty well, let me get into this
Speaker 3: low key good one our Diaris said. My summarized money
Speaker 3: diary is that I quit my nine to five job
Speaker 3: in Diversity and the Inclusion due to hating the office environment
Speaker 3: and mental health issues, and decided to try work for
Speaker 3: myself as both a gardener and a sex worker.
Speaker 1: Oh sick, I know.
Speaker 3: Then covid here and I couldn't really do either for
Speaker 3: most of the lockdowns. I decided to go back to study,
Speaker 3: and I'm always halfway through a counseling degree and I'm
Speaker 3: still working casually. I feel like when I had a salary,
Speaker 3: I was kicking all of my financial goals. I had
Speaker 3: sixty thousand dollars in savings, hoping to buy a house,
Speaker 3: investments and emergency fund, et cetera. I still have all
Speaker 3: of that those things. My savings have gone down a
Speaker 3: little bit, but now I just don't know how to
Speaker 3: make my weird, stunted cash flow work for me anymore.
Speaker 3: I also mainly get paid in cash from learning how
Speaker 3: to keep track of spending, do my taxes, etc. I
Speaker 3: would love to seek financial advice, but also just do
Speaker 3: not make the money. I feel like I would need
Speaker 3: to justify that.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, No, do you know how many sex
Speaker 1: worker clients I have money? Dirist, We've got you on
Speaker 1: the line. I want to talk to you after this.
Speaker 1: We've got a lot of conversation to have. Great welcome
Speaker 1: to the show. Thank you for wanting to share your
Speaker 1: story with us.
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, of course, I'm really excited about it.
Speaker 1: I feel like it sounds like you've got a bit
Speaker 1: of a kick in the guts having quit your job
Speaker 1: pre COVID and then gone straight into two roles that
Speaker 1: arguably need you to be present, and you aren't allowed
Speaker 1: to do that during COVID. I'm so sorry to hear that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, look, the timing wasn't ideal. Yeah, less than I
Speaker 4: don't regret my decision, like I don't regret leaving my
Speaker 4: office job. But yes, the timing wasn't so yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: what can you do?
Speaker 1: But there's always a light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 1: I would love to know more about you, though, So
Speaker 1: let's get into the structured questions because I feel like
Speaker 1: they give us a really good foundation to have a
Speaker 1: good conversation about your money story. So, money Diarist, can
Speaker 1: you tell us a little bit about your money story?
Speaker 4: Well? Yeah, like I said, I feel like maybe two
Speaker 4: years ago is in a really different place to where
Speaker 4: I am right now. I was feeling incredibly confident and
Speaker 4: sort of yeah, on my way to financial freedom and
Speaker 4: just you know, sort of had a system in place
Speaker 4: and felt really really good about it and that was wonderful.
Speaker 4: But yeah, as you just summarize, you know, there's a
Speaker 4: few big life changes in the way I work, and
Speaker 4: right now I just feel like I've lost all my confidence,
Speaker 4: like in financial stuff. I mean, I'm still really lucky
Speaker 4: in that I have a safety now, I still have
Speaker 4: an emergency fund, I still have some savings, but the
Speaker 4: idea of like buying a house not happening, not for
Speaker 4: like five years, I can now, and I just like
Speaker 4: don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1: Feeling a bit lost. Yeah, money, I feel like that's
Speaker 1: really common though, going from being somebody who was an
Speaker 1: employee where it feels incredibly structured and your tax is
Speaker 1: kind of done for you in a way, like there's
Speaker 1: a lot of things that are automated, so when you
Speaker 1: go out on your own, you kind of go, what
Speaker 1: this is much more. I feel like I've bitten off
Speaker 1: more than I can chew now, is that kind of
Speaker 1: how you're feeling.
Speaker 4: Totally, like doing my taxes for the first time as well?
Speaker 4: Was he such like a kick in the guts? Is
Speaker 4: like I have to pay how much?
Speaker 1: Very much money?
Speaker 4: Because I hadn't like set aside as I was long. Yeah, totally,
Speaker 4: you know, I just didn't know what.
Speaker 3: Yeah, as someone who freelances, my best tip is set
Speaker 3: aside more than you'll think you need, because then at
Speaker 3: tax time if you don't use it all, it's like
Speaker 3: a little bonus that comes back to you.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Good tip.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if you've listened to all of
Speaker 1: the Business Bible episodes, but you should go and do that,
Speaker 1: my friend, because I promise they're super helpful. Like I'm biased,
Speaker 1: it's my other podcast, but I genuinely know that they
Speaker 1: would help you in your situation.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll check them out.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. Let's move on to the next question.
Speaker 1: The next question is what do you do for work
Speaker 1: and how much money do you earn?
Speaker 4: Okay, So yeah, I mean it's been a weird time
Speaker 4: over the last two years. So in terms of how
Speaker 4: much I earn, I feel like I can'tently give you
Speaker 4: a solid number. To be honest, I do keep tracking
Speaker 4: a spreadsheet going back what I actually do, I should
Speaker 4: start with. So I'm a gardener part time casually. I
Speaker 4: do that sort of depending how busy I am with
Speaker 4: UNI one two days a week. I work with someone
Speaker 4: else half the time. Half the time. I have my
Speaker 4: own clients, and I just got into that through my friend.
Speaker 4: I'm not qualified as such. I have a science degree,
Speaker 4: but I'm not like a qualified horticultural So my friend
Speaker 4: was lucky enough to take me under her wingers kind
Speaker 4: of like an apprentice, and I just learned from her
Speaker 4: and then got on air tasker, got clients through that
Speaker 4: through What of mouth?
Speaker 1: Do you enjoy it? That sounds like I really fun,
Speaker 1: outdoorsy job.
Speaker 4: I love it. I'm a really like active, outdoorsy kind
Speaker 4: of nature person, so I love it. It's a really physical job,
Speaker 4: so it can be tough, but yeah, I love it,
Speaker 4: and I don't know, yeah, it's really therapeutic. It's really
Speaker 4: nice to be out in sunshine and working with your body,
Speaker 4: you know, like manual labor. It's like good honest or work.
Speaker 4: I guess, like I said, it's pretty hard work. Like
Speaker 4: I feel like I've definitely had to go to the
Speaker 4: physio a little more than I just because I'm thirty two.
Speaker 3: Alo you're still a baby.
Speaker 4: But my lower backsays otherwise, yeah, you know. So I
Speaker 4: did that part time, and then my other job is
Speaker 4: a sex worker, So I'm a full service sex worker.
Speaker 4: So I work once a week at like an establishment,
Speaker 4: and then I occasionally to the odd private client. But
Speaker 4: like it's usually just at the establishment. I prefer that
Speaker 4: to be honest, even though the money is not as good.
Speaker 4: You have a receptionist who does your bookings, you're you know,
Speaker 4: you have security. You know, it's all really structured in
Speaker 4: that sort of sense. Acual have like that safety in it.
Speaker 4: It's just much easier instead of doing your own admin
Speaker 4: and you get a lot of time wasted be private
Speaker 4: workers to be more frustrating. So I tend to just
Speaker 4: stick with that. So I do that once a week,
Speaker 4: and I love that. I've been doing that for three
Speaker 4: years on and off. COVID obviously couldn't work at all.
Speaker 4: I do have like a bit of an online thing going.
Speaker 4: But to be honest, I hate doing that. I don't
Speaker 4: tend really. Some people love it, and I think it's amazing,
Speaker 4: like the freedom that it offers. I think that's like,
Speaker 4: if you can do that, incredible. I just personally, I
Speaker 4: don't really like being on camera, Like that's not really
Speaker 4: my thing. I get really self conscious, and I I'm
Speaker 4: not very savvy with like angles and makeup and stuff
Speaker 4: like that. You think I would, I should be for
Speaker 4: the industry, but I'm.
Speaker 1: Just like, this ain't my thing. This is any we
Speaker 1: tried it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm very much like a one on one in person,
Speaker 4: you know. I feel like that's where I shine. And
Speaker 4: so yeah, I mean it brings in a bit of money,
Speaker 4: but yeah, like it's very much I neglect it. So
Speaker 4: but I love the in person work. I find that
Speaker 4: really enjoyable. Again, it's kind of you know, it's manual labor.
Speaker 4: It's very physical in that regard, but I really enjoy
Speaker 4: the human element of it. So I'm studying counseling. There's
Speaker 4: a lot of transferable skills there.
Speaker 1: Absolutely there's a lot of just holding space for people, talking,
Speaker 1: you know, seeing and being with someone vulnerable and you know, making.
Speaker 4: Them feel good and whatever. So that's I do really
Speaker 4: enjoy that as well.
Speaker 1: Oh cool, Yeah, perfect question. How did you get into that?
Speaker 4: It's something I'd never.
Speaker 1: Really heard of?
Speaker 4: And then I realized I had a couple of friends
Speaker 4: who were doing it. Because it's not really an industry
Speaker 4: here about like unless you know someone in it, I
Speaker 4: feel like you don't know much about it. I get,
Speaker 4: Well that was my sense anyway, my experience, And yeah,
Speaker 4: I just had a friend doing it and that kind
Speaker 4: of normalized it, I guess, and created like an inn
Speaker 4: and I asked her about it and then I was
Speaker 4: kind of like, I'm just gonna try it, and she
Speaker 4: gave me like a lot of like these are some
Speaker 4: good places that I've worked, recommend, you know, recommend these places,
Speaker 4: stay away from these places kind of things. So and yeah,
Speaker 4: I just went for like the job interview, had to
Speaker 4: look around.
Speaker 1: And decided it was the thing you wanted to give
Speaker 1: a crack.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I've only been at the one place because
Speaker 4: it's been amazing, Like management's amazing. It's a really friendly,
Speaker 4: warm place. You really looked after this. So I've just
Speaker 4: sort of stayed there and it's been awesome.
Speaker 3: Great, And I know it's really hard because it has
Speaker 3: a minute to be whyar for you and you're working
Speaker 3: two inconsistent jobs. But if we don't ask at least
Speaker 3: a ballpark salary, I will get so many deem Oh.
Speaker 1: My gosh, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you make
Speaker 1: from sex work? And then what do you make is
Speaker 1: the gardener?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Okay, so from gardening? Okay, if I work once
Speaker 4: a week, I'd probably earn one hundred and fifty to
Speaker 4: one hundred and eighty bucks from the day. Okay, like
Speaker 4: thereabouts from sex work. It's so variable. Yeah, say work
Speaker 4: once a week, So on a good week, thousand bucks,
Speaker 4: maybe just over twelve hundred, on a bad week three hundred.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And does it have ebbs and flows like as in obviously,
Speaker 1: like you're saying good week, bad week, Do not predict
Speaker 1: those weeks? Or is it just completely unpredictable. Sometimes you
Speaker 1: go in and it's really busy, and sometimes you go
Speaker 1: in and no one is coming to visit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's kind of the joke of like the back room,
Speaker 4: like will it be busy today? I'm manifesting clients. It's
Speaker 4: very like we always sort of say, oh, January is
Speaker 4: quite and that's because like everyone's on school holidays or
Speaker 4: like away. But like December is busy because like everyone's
Speaker 4: like really festive and people are having like lots of
Speaker 4: parties or whatever. And then in between, who knows. It's
Speaker 4: honestly so hard to predict. Honestly, it's so hard. It's
Speaker 4: so up and down interesting.
Speaker 1: I'm always so pervy because in the finance world, I
Speaker 1: know that I'm not going to be busy in July
Speaker 1: because you know, I've actually just had a really busy
Speaker 1: June as a wrap up for the financial year. So
Speaker 1: it's actually funny to be like, hey, like what do
Speaker 1: other industries do, Like what are your busy times? And
Speaker 1: for me, December ends up being like not so much work,
Speaker 1: a lot of party, So it kind of makes sense
Speaker 1: that your industry would pick up that slack. Yes, that's right,
Speaker 1: you're welcome.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I mean, I'm just thinking back to the
Speaker 4: question how much do you earn? And again for me,
Speaker 4: I'm just thinking about if I'm at the establishment, so
Speaker 4: if I'm working privately, it'll be more. Again, for example,
Speaker 4: so if I get a private client, everyone's different, but
Speaker 4: I personally charge five fifty for the hour. So if
Speaker 4: I just get one client for the week, that's an
Speaker 4: extra five fifty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay.
Speaker 4: I have previously done like a tour with a friend,
Speaker 4: so we've gone to New Zealand, very exotic.
Speaker 1: How fun.
Speaker 4: It actually was really fun, but we worked our little
Speaker 4: butts off and didn't get any sleep. But you know,
Speaker 4: I came back with like, I think it was five
Speaker 4: grand I came back and that was from like nice
Speaker 4: a few days of work. So you know, it's kind
Speaker 4: of like almost you're really at the whim of you
Speaker 4: neque clients obviously, but obviously if you put more in,
Speaker 4: you get more out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's kind of really dependent on how much
Speaker 1: time you allocate to doing the actual physical work. I suppose.
Speaker 1: It's not like you set it up and it just
Speaker 1: like plods along. It's such a job that relies on
Speaker 1: you and your body being present.
Speaker 4: Right, Yes, there's and exactly that's it. If you're sick,
Speaker 4: there's there's no leave, there's no paid leave. You know,
Speaker 4: you just that's it. You just have to sit this
Speaker 4: one out, all right.
Speaker 3: Money.
Speaker 1: Die's next question, because I know I've got so many
Speaker 1: pavvy questions I want to ask you at the end.
Speaker 1: But what's currently your big money goal.
Speaker 4: I think it's buying a house with my partner. We
Speaker 4: both really want to buy a house. Like I said earlier,
Speaker 4: I had sixty k and I want to get back
Speaker 4: to that.
Speaker 1: I think, all right, that's a great goal. That sounds
Speaker 1: like a really good goal. But money doist. You're going
Speaker 1: to have to be more specific. This is money diaries.
Speaker 1: People are pervy. That's your savings sitting at right now,
Speaker 1: right now.
Speaker 4: It's sitting at thirty k right now. It's not like shocking.
Speaker 1: Now, that's yeah, that makes you feel real safe.
Speaker 4: I've got a safety net like it's it's okay. But
Speaker 4: I want it to be back to sixty k plus
Speaker 4: because I feel like that's where I'm really actually realistickly
Speaker 4: getting a house deposit sordered combined with my partner's finances.
Speaker 4: But yeah, that's sort of where I want to be
Speaker 4: there and.
Speaker 1: Yeah, very cool.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: Next question, do you currently have any investments?
Speaker 4: Yes, I've got a bunch of stuff. So I have spaceship,
Speaker 4: i have rate setter. Oh, I've got bitcoin. Oh, my
Speaker 4: brother's really into it, so I've got some bitcoin, don't
Speaker 4: I don't really understand it. But I've got it fair
Speaker 4: and I've got some shares like I was like an
Speaker 4: early investor and I bought some shares and some.
Speaker 1: Companies exciting, And how much do you have of those things?
Speaker 1: Are we talking?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 1: You have an investment portfolio of twenty million dollars two
Speaker 1: hundred dollars like I'm on my friends.
Speaker 4: Okay, sorry, okay, I've got about three thousand in shares. Yeah,
Speaker 4: my spaceship's really gone in the back.
Speaker 3: The market right now.
Speaker 1: That's the market, my friend. Everybody's spaceship is down, everybody's
Speaker 1: investment folios down.
Speaker 4: But yeah, so I think I've got about eight thousand
Speaker 4: in my spaceship, and I've got in rate Setter, which
Speaker 4: is a peer to peer learning platform. I've got at
Speaker 4: the moment two and a half thousand. I think you're.
Speaker 3: Doing pretty well. It's like a nice little across all
Speaker 3: those platforms.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and bitweight the bitcoin in my bitcoin, I have
Speaker 4: five thousand. Maybe nice?
Speaker 1: All right, Next question money, Darius. You're obviously very good
Speaker 1: in investments, but do you have any debts?
Speaker 4: No, I have hextet, I have a lot of hextet,
Speaker 4: but I've never had a credit card. I'm too afraid
Speaker 4: of credit cards.
Speaker 3: That's fair, that's not the worst fear in the world
Speaker 3: to have.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I just feel like I would stuf it up.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I have no debts.
Speaker 1: Exciting, all right. Next question, obviously, if you have no debts,
Speaker 1: I think you make some pretty good money decisions. So
Speaker 1: do you use shop back?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 4: Yes, I heard about it here and I've got it,
Speaker 4: you know what. I think it's great. The only problem
Speaker 4: is I don't do that much online shopping.
Speaker 1: That's okay, But when you do, are you making sure
Speaker 1: that you're making the most of it.
Speaker 4: I forget sometimes, but I try.
Speaker 3: I try my hardest, that's all right. That's all you
Speaker 3: can do. Have the little notification thing up the top.
Speaker 3: That's what I do. So it always says, do you
Speaker 3: want to use this? And I'm like, yes, thank you
Speaker 3: so much, totally. Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1: Next question, giving you a good shot back user, I
Speaker 1: want to know about your other best money habits. So
Speaker 1: what do you think your best money habit is?
Speaker 4: I mean, I think old me set me up really
Speaker 4: well for now me. So, you know, like with all
Speaker 4: those investments, like I had those going ages ago, I
Speaker 4: had them all on auto debit like I had a
Speaker 4: system where everything was just auto debiting, in which I
Speaker 4: had to stop that, but I'm thankful for that. I
Speaker 4: put money into my super because again, you know, I
Speaker 4: stopped having a salary, so I still have that going.
Speaker 4: I put an ordo into my super, which future me
Speaker 4: will be very pleased about. So I know that I
Speaker 4: think long term, and I know that that, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm always trying to sort of set myself up for
Speaker 4: the future and think about that, even though I've had
Speaker 4: to pause some of those things with COVID and you know,
Speaker 4: like fluctuating income, but I think that's probably pretty good.
Speaker 4: And not having a credit card, I think that's that's
Speaker 4: probably pretty good because I am quite impulsive. When I
Speaker 4: do online shopping, it's quite impulsive. So I think not
Speaker 4: having that is a good barrier.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like recognizing, like knowing that you're the kind of
Speaker 3: person like, oh, I probably wouldn't trust myself with that.
Speaker 3: Like I feel like that's really good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, those probably my best habits. I'd say.
Speaker 1: Next question is the exact opposite, my friend, what is
Speaker 1: your worst money habit?
Speaker 4: I am impulsive, so like if I want something, I'll just.
Speaker 1: Like buit it straight away.
Speaker 4: I'll just be like I deserve this, Okay, so.
Speaker 3: You deserve that.
Speaker 1: But also, why do you think you are impulsive? Like
Speaker 1: do you have an impulsive type of personality or do
Speaker 1: you think that spending is just an area that you're impulsive?
Speaker 1: I want to know more.
Speaker 4: I'm an aries. So when we're going to blame.
Speaker 1: Our star signs, now are we?
Speaker 4: I mean yeah, I don't know. I just think when
Speaker 4: I get an idea, I get excited and I just
Speaker 4: want to go with it. So I think that's sort
Speaker 4: of part of it. Yeah, I just get excited like
Speaker 4: quickly and easily. I think that can translate into like
Speaker 4: poor spending sometimes. I think my other poor habits are Yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean like, you know, changing drastically my career and
Speaker 4: financial situation without really implementing any kind of new system
Speaker 4: and just letting it kind of trail off to the
Speaker 4: distance and not restrategizing, you know, not really taking the
Speaker 4: time to sit down and like, do a budget? Have
Speaker 4: a budget? Like I don't. I just haven't. I just
Speaker 4: can't face it. I'm just like it's too overwhelming. And
Speaker 4: it's been like that for two years, you know.
Speaker 3: Because your income is variable.
Speaker 4: Because it's variable because I didn't have an income for ages. Yeah,
Speaker 4: it's just like overwhelming and I just didn't want to
Speaker 4: deal with it, so just being like I'll deal with
Speaker 4: this later, but then like never dealing with it. So
Speaker 4: I think that's probably a pretty bad habit, like not
Speaker 4: facing reality.
Speaker 1: Hey, it's good to be self aware, and I mean,
Speaker 1: you're an aries, so.
Speaker 4: Don't hold it against me.
Speaker 1: I'm a cancer, so like, don't hold that against me.
Speaker 1: But I think that plays into a lot about my personality. Guys.
Speaker 1: We'll move on from there though. Last question before we
Speaker 1: get to go into a few more perfect questions after
Speaker 1: the break money doors. What grade would you give yourself
Speaker 1: if we forced you to give your money habits a
Speaker 1: grade right now? Six oh six? Yeah, six out of ten? Ten,
Speaker 1: six out of ten? Why are six out of ten?
Speaker 4: I think past me has set me up so I'm
Speaker 4: like above average, but now me is just not thinking
Speaker 4: things through and so that's the like why I'm not higher.
Speaker 4: I don't know, just like I just feel like I'm
Speaker 4: just coasting, you know, Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 3: What six out of ten is a d if you
Speaker 3: go for like sixty percent, does that feel low to you?
Speaker 3: When we change it? Over to the normal letter grate.
Speaker 4: It does, but that's how I feel like emotionally about it,
Speaker 4: Like I feel emotionally like low about my Like I feel.
Speaker 1: A little bit flat. We're talking about this before we
Speaker 1: started recording. You're like, yeah, I'm exhausted, I'm flat. I
Speaker 1: feel like I don't have a lot of direction at
Speaker 1: the moment, which is a really not great place to
Speaker 1: be in because direction is what kind of gives us
Speaker 1: a lot of motivation and makes us feel like we're
Speaker 1: achieving things. And I think you just need a little
Speaker 1: bit more clarity around what that means, and you might
Speaker 1: feel not like a d I reckon, you're doing pretty well.
Speaker 1: I mean to have that amount of savings, and like
Speaker 1: you're working for yourself, and it sounds like you're working
Speaker 1: a job that you thrive in, but probably need to
Speaker 1: do a little bit more self caring. I think you're
Speaker 1: doing pretty well, but I'm never going to tell someone
Speaker 1: to change their grade as long as they're like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's why and that's how, And I reckon I could
Speaker 1: do better. All right, So let's head to a break
Speaker 1: and straight after I've got a few PERVIY questions for you,
Speaker 1: all right, Money darist. I want to come back into
Speaker 1: this by asking about self care. So you have two
Speaker 1: very physically demanding jobs, or would I assume to be
Speaker 1: physically demanding jobs. You're a gardener and a sex worker.
Speaker 1: How are you looking after yourself mentally and physically and
Speaker 1: making sure that you can be and bring the best
Speaker 1: person to work every day when you turn up?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's hard sometimes, I mean physically speaking, I haven't
Speaker 4: done much of it lately, but I do love a
Speaker 4: bit of like yoga, going to the gym, that kind
Speaker 4: of thing, you know, I think, like stretching my body
Speaker 4: and releasing energy in that sort of gym way. I find, yeah,
Speaker 4: really therapeutic. I love like just getting sweaty, like out
Speaker 4: of breath at the gym and pumping on and that
Speaker 4: kind of thing makes me feel really good. I love
Speaker 4: going for long walks in nature. That is something I
Speaker 4: do every day and I find really therapeutic and relaxing.
Speaker 4: And I watch a lot of TV. To be honest,
Speaker 4: it's pretty bad actually, but it's it's something I do
Speaker 4: that I find very self soothing. I've just finished season
Speaker 4: four of Selling Sunset. I don't know if you've seen.
Speaker 1: I'm obsessed with that in the office.
Speaker 4: Oh my god. So just you know, trash TV, that
Speaker 4: kind of thing. I have a beautiful, incredible support network
Speaker 4: of friends. I'm so lucky. I adore my friends. I've
Speaker 4: yet really tiny group of friends that I you know, yeah,
Speaker 4: talk on the phone, see in person, you know whatever,
Speaker 4: all those social things. So that's yes, super important to me.
Speaker 4: I have an incredible supportive partner as well, so you know,
Speaker 4: I'll debrief if they're after work whatever, you know, all
Speaker 4: that sort of stuff. And I have an amazing physio.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, yes, really important. Physical care is just
Speaker 1: as important.
Speaker 4: I love my physio. He's a legend and he really
Speaker 4: has changed my life, like you know, physically speaking, because
Speaker 4: I get a lot of eggs and pains, and yeah,
Speaker 4: this really helped me. And I love having like a
Speaker 4: hot bath, you know, all your sort of cliche self
Speaker 4: care things. I suppose I love them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, fair, I think we all love that. So they
Speaker 1: sound exactly the same or very similar to any other
Speaker 1: job just making sure that you're not getting burnt out,
Speaker 1: do you find that, because you know, I'm very lucky
Speaker 1: in that the job I have been, I guess you
Speaker 1: could call it like Jess, would you say it's desk based,
Speaker 1: like I'm always out and about, but like if I'm
Speaker 1: having a bit of a flat day where I just
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know what, I don't really want to
Speaker 1: see clients or do anything. I would just plot along
Speaker 1: and get my emails done or do some admin. Do
Speaker 1: you get those days or is it always go, go go,
Speaker 1: really physical.
Speaker 4: I can't really be like go go every single day.
Speaker 4: It's the nature of the work is that I live
Speaker 4: really could not work five days a week like I
Speaker 4: mean some people do. I couldn't do it. It's not
Speaker 4: possible for me. And I'm studying as well, So I
Speaker 4: think I work two to three days a week and
Speaker 4: then the other days of studying, and that for me,
Speaker 4: that variety is really helpful and that helps me balance
Speaker 4: it all out because I do have a tendency, like
Speaker 4: I said before, to get excited and like I'm impulsive,
Speaker 4: and I think in the past I have sometimes worked
Speaker 4: like four days or five days a week and I
Speaker 4: have gotten burnt out, and so I know that it's
Speaker 4: actually just not I'm at this point where I'm like,
Speaker 4: it's just I can't do that. It's not worth it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, A thousand percent, and actually you saying it's not
Speaker 3: worth it reminds you of something that I read out
Speaker 3: in your intro, which was you were talking about, you know,
Speaker 3: being a little bit unsure of your financial position because
Speaker 3: it's changed so drastically in the last few years, and
Speaker 3: wanting to talk to an advisor, but not feeling like
Speaker 3: it was worth it. And I want to unpack this
Speaker 3: because this is something we all and this is such
Speaker 3: a good question. Yes, yeah, we talk about this in
Speaker 3: our office a lot. So I want to hear from
Speaker 3: you what you particularly feel like you need help with,
Speaker 3: and then why you feel like it's not worth it,
Speaker 3: because if I think is a great broader conversation to
Speaker 3: have with our community.
Speaker 4: I don't know. I think they're not worth It is
Speaker 4: like I don't earn enough money to be worthwhile of
Speaker 4: like a professional expertise. I don't know, Like I guess
Speaker 4: it's a self worth thing, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1: I was about to say that's such a self worth thing,
Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, I'm gonna ask
Speaker 1: a really perfect question, would you pay for the advice?
Speaker 4: Oh? It just seems like financial advisors are for the
Speaker 4: already really wealthy or you know, like that's the outlook,
Speaker 4: or like that's the no.
Speaker 1: No, there are different like there are financial advisors who
Speaker 1: work with people on Centerlink. Like it is not as
Speaker 1: though we are all ultra high net wealth, Like I
Speaker 1: do a fairvoit of that because I do specialize in inheritance,
Speaker 1: because that's what you know. My community has slowly over
Speaker 1: time grown into asking for from me, which I'm very
Speaker 1: grateful for. I also have a really big amount of
Speaker 1: sex worker clients, which I think will surprise a lot
Speaker 1: of people because I just I don't know. Some people
Speaker 1: are like, oh, Victoria, it's just a bit of a
Speaker 1: proud and I'm like, no, I'm not, let's get into it.
Speaker 1: But I just feel like it's such an underrepresented community
Speaker 1: of people who need the advice and can absolutely thrive.
Speaker 1: And I find that my clients, who you know, might
Speaker 1: not have had the clarity, which is where I think
Speaker 1: you're sitting right now, who don't have the clarity, once
Speaker 1: they have it, and I can be like, all right,
Speaker 1: I'm on your team. Let's do ABCD, E and F
Speaker 1: and you're going to feel much more passionate. They end
Speaker 1: up working more because they feel like they have that
Speaker 1: clarity around what they're working towards, Like they know that
Speaker 1: if they do another day, or they do another shift,
Speaker 1: or you know, they take on an extra client, they
Speaker 1: can really see how that benefits them instead of seeing
Speaker 1: it the way you were articulating it before, which was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: like if I do another client, it might be like
Speaker 1: five hundred and fifty dollars. Like that mindset, from my perspective,
Speaker 1: really needs to shift from five hundred and fifty dollars
Speaker 1: to step closer to my goal, and here are my goals,
Speaker 1: and I'm so clear on what I'm trying to achieve
Speaker 1: and what I'm trying to work towards, regardless of what
Speaker 1: it is. Like that goal might be getting that sixty
Speaker 1: thousand dollars back in your savings, or it might be
Speaker 1: an investment goal, or it might be a taxable income
Speaker 1: by the end of a financial year, Like it doesn't
Speaker 1: actually matter what it is, but you need to have
Speaker 1: some really clear goals so that you can work towards them.
Speaker 1: Because your job, as I was saying before, is so
Speaker 1: much more physically demanding than a lot of people's, and
Speaker 1: it's so much easier to get burnt out and feel like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm exhausted. But you kind of get
Speaker 1: a different lease on life in a way when you're like, no,
Speaker 1: this is for me. I'm seeing this client because I
Speaker 1: want to get closer to my goals, as opposed to
Speaker 1: seeing a client because you're like, oh I should it's
Speaker 1: cash Like, we don't want to have that mentality. Regardless
Speaker 1: of what your job is.
Speaker 3: Yes, if you were to talk to and adviser, what
Speaker 3: area specifically is it that you were looking for clarityon.
Speaker 3: Is it managing your variable inn come? Is it solidifying
Speaker 3: those goals? What is it that you really feel like
Speaker 3: you need help with.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think it's saw those things. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 4: having a system set up for variable income because in
Speaker 4: the past, I just had a set salary, so it
Speaker 4: was so easy to have everything automated because I knew
Speaker 4: exactly what was coming in so I could portion it all,
Speaker 4: you know, bit to this, bit to that. You know,
Speaker 4: I can't do that now, So having a system that
Speaker 4: makes fluctuating cash flow makes sense to me. And then also,
Speaker 4: just as you said, solidifying clarifying those goals because having
Speaker 4: those savings back is is probably the key one. But
Speaker 4: I don't think about that when I work anymore. It's
Speaker 4: just like yeah, and I think as well, because I'm
Speaker 4: halfway through studying, I'm like, oh, well, in two years,
Speaker 4: I'll probably be like a counselor and I'll have another
Speaker 4: job by then, So like maybe I just wait two
Speaker 4: year or two years, but I like, you know, that's
Speaker 4: actually a really long time away, and.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and you could achieve so much in two
Speaker 1: years is like look what some of our other money
Speaker 1: dirests have done in like twelve months or even eighteen months.
Speaker 1: Like if you can have that same power, like, you
Speaker 1: can achieve so much, and I think it's so exciting.
Speaker 1: But I definitely think you're someone who either should have
Speaker 1: like a money coach or a money like a financial
Speaker 1: advisor or something to like help you find that clarity.
Speaker 1: But I also think you need to look at your
Speaker 1: cash flow system. I'm a bit biased, obviously, but I
Speaker 1: am going to give you my budgeting cash flow masterclass
Speaker 1: because I genuinely think that that clarity of a banking
Speaker 1: system where everything comes in and you can deduct things
Speaker 1: and put tax to here and put a goal to here,
Speaker 1: and then like know what you're spending on your food,
Speaker 1: your fuel, and your fun like I genuinely think that
Speaker 1: having a good cash flow structure creates motivation. I know
Speaker 1: that it sounds silly and know that it can be like, oh,
Speaker 1: really admin heavy, but I promise you that level of
Speaker 1: clarity is going to give you a lot of motivation.
Speaker 1: I know it because it's happened a million times with
Speaker 1: everyone of my other.
Speaker 4: Guid ver And I think just to touch on, like
Speaker 4: because I feel like I have to, Like I think
Speaker 4: being in the sex work industry, like seeking financial advice,
Speaker 4: like there is so much stick my like in certain bubbles.
Speaker 4: It's you know, my friends all know what I do
Speaker 4: and I'm really open, but I still feel weird about
Speaker 4: contacting like an accountant also or you know, someone in
Speaker 4: the industry, because I don't know how they're going to
Speaker 4: react to me or what.
Speaker 1: Do you know what I mean, Like say that's the case.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's so terrible.
Speaker 4: Yeah it sucks, but like that's just you know, like
Speaker 4: it's still really heavily stigmatized and like you know, it's
Speaker 4: only just been deg criminalized, right, Like that's all yeally new.
Speaker 4: So it's just like, you know, general attitudes to sex
Speaker 4: work are still really archaic, and like you know, terrible,
Speaker 4: So it's like a tricky thing as well to manage.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry that's the case. But if anybody is
Speaker 1: listening to this and they are worried about seeking financial advice,
Speaker 1: please just go through our shehes on the money website.
Speaker 1: Like I have a matching form. I would never say,
Speaker 1: like clearly say hey, I'm a sex work and I'm
Speaker 1: looking for an advisor that is really good with that,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't work with people who aren't like sex work
Speaker 1: is a job. In fact, it is a job where
Speaker 1: I think we need to put a fair bit more
Speaker 1: emphasis on investing and saving and creating a financial future young,
Speaker 1: because it's kind of one of those jobs that you
Speaker 1: can grow out of. It's a job where a lot
Speaker 1: of sex workers, as they get a bit older and
Speaker 1: their life changes, they go, oh, look, I don't really
Speaker 1: want to do this once I have kids, Or you
Speaker 1: might go, oh, I don't want to do this once
Speaker 1: I finish union and I become a counselor, or I
Speaker 1: don't want to do this at this point. But you're
Speaker 1: also making a lot of money, so you need to
Speaker 1: kind of make hay while the sun is shining, and
Speaker 1: so it's kind of like being a social media or
Speaker 1: influencer in a way, like you don't know when you're
Speaker 1: going to stop or how long this is going on,
Speaker 1: because today you're like, yeah, I'm doing this. One day
Speaker 1: you might wake up and go, I can't be bothered
Speaker 1: with this anymore, Like it's way too physical for me
Speaker 1: to do. So I think it's an interesting space, but
Speaker 1: I'm honestly, I'm so sorry that you feel like somebody
Speaker 1: would judge you for the way that you're making an income.
Speaker 1: Like I think it's so cool that you're a little
Speaker 1: hustler and you're like, no, I make income like this
Speaker 1: and I'm completely in control of my situation, Like that's sick.
Speaker 1: And sex workers are some of the coolest people I've
Speaker 1: ever met, I think because they all usually have some
Speaker 1: kind of underlying worry that they'll be judged. That they're
Speaker 1: so open and honest and kind, like they're not the
Speaker 1: people to judge you. So no, some of my best
Speaker 1: friends are sex workers. Yes, you met one of them
Speaker 1: on the weekend my engagement party. But also some of
Speaker 1: my best clients are also sex workers.
Speaker 4: It's an incredible community. I won't dispute that. The other
Speaker 4: thing as well, like just to touch on I guess
Speaker 4: is that I feel like it does kind of wharp
Speaker 4: your perspective a little bit when you're given a chunk
Speaker 4: of cash instantly for the work that you've done and
Speaker 4: then going to say, like a job. Something about that.
Speaker 4: It's like part of me is like, oh, I should
Speaker 4: go get like an office job, or like I get
Speaker 4: a job, like part time office job. But then there's
Speaker 4: something very alluring about giving a chunk of cash and
Speaker 4: it's a weird thing, you know.
Speaker 1: No, I've totally heard that from a number of people before,
Speaker 1: where you know you're in a situation where you're essentially
Speaker 1: making or you can be making what anybody else might
Speaker 1: be in a week in a couple of hours. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you go the financial freedom and the life freedom
Speaker 1: associated with that. Why would I see it at a
Speaker 1: desk when I can just do that and I'm okay
Speaker 1: to do that, And that's obviously not a job for everybody,
Speaker 1: and not everybody is comfortable with it, and that is
Speaker 1: totally okay. We should still respect it. But I can
Speaker 1: see why if you've done that before, you're like, why
Speaker 1: would I go and spend forty hours of my week
Speaker 1: slaving away for somebody else when I can make that
Speaker 1: in three.
Speaker 4: Hours, totally, and especially like for me personally, like I mentioned,
Speaker 4: like I've struggled with mental health issues in the past,
Speaker 4: So if I can choose to work one or two
Speaker 4: days a week as opposed to five, then that's definitely
Speaker 4: an option that I, you know, I've taken and I
Speaker 4: love that that gives that flexibility and freedom. It's amazing.
Speaker 4: It affords that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, incredible, And if anyone is in a situation like
Speaker 3: you where they're dealing with variable income, we have actually
Speaker 3: done a full episode on budgeting for variable income. And
Speaker 3: just to go back to that financial advisor thing, it's
Speaker 3: absolutely worth you seeing an advisor if it's something that's
Speaker 3: worth it to you. And the thing that we talk
Speaker 3: about a lot is that there's a big investment when
Speaker 3: you see an advisor, Right, you're going to be up
Speaker 3: generally for a couple of thousand dollars because there's a
Speaker 3: lot involved in that, depending on obviously the nature of advice.
Speaker 1: That you need.
Speaker 3: But if you're in a position where you're prepared to
Speaker 3: pay that, you're worthy of their time. But for those
Speaker 3: people who aren't, and for people who maybe they're like, oh,
Speaker 3: I am just struggling a little bit with my budget.
Speaker 3: There are so many resources out there that allow you
Speaker 3: to get on top of that by yourself, and so
Speaker 3: don't feel like you have to go see somebody, because
Speaker 3: there's a good chance that you can get on top
Speaker 3: of it on your own with some of the things
Speaker 3: that are out there. So I'd highly recommend that episode
Speaker 3: to anyone who wants to hear it. And then my
Speaker 3: last question for you before we go, because I'm conscious
Speaker 3: of your time. We know that you're working towards your degree,
Speaker 3: and I just wanted to ask do you feel like
Speaker 3: your approach to things is going to change once you
Speaker 3: have that degree? Is your plan to step out of
Speaker 3: the work that you're doing currently into full time counseling.
Speaker 3: Are you planning on juggling at all? Do you feel
Speaker 3: like you're in a little bit of a holding pattern
Speaker 3: now because you said before you know you think that
Speaker 3: things might shift a little bit once that happens, and
Speaker 3: that you want to make the most on the time
Speaker 3: between now and then. So how do you see that
Speaker 3: change happening and what adjustments do you think you'll make.
Speaker 4: As a result. Yeah, I actually am not sure, and
Speaker 4: it's something that I think about all the time. Yeah,
Speaker 4: because I actually don't know if, even once I get
Speaker 4: my degree, if I do want to work five days
Speaker 4: a week in the exact same job every single day.
Speaker 4: And whilst I don't see myself being a gardener or
Speaker 4: sex worker forever, for now, it's it's good, you know.
Speaker 4: And so maybe I do work three days as a
Speaker 4: counselor one has sex or one as a gardener. Maybe
Speaker 4: I still keep doing that, you know, I'm not really
Speaker 4: sure at this point. I just I've realized over the
Speaker 4: last few years. Yeah, I love variety. I love mixing
Speaker 4: things up. I don't like sitting in a desk every day,
Speaker 4: and I don't like office environments generally speaking. I don't
Speaker 4: really like having a boss. I like being my own boss.
Speaker 4: So I'm not there yet. I don't know what working
Speaker 4: as a counselor like looks like day to day. I
Speaker 4: you know, I think my long term goal, my like,
Speaker 4: you know, five to ten year goal, is to set
Speaker 4: up my own practice, like that is kind of my
Speaker 4: dream long term. But again that's yeah, five to ten
Speaker 4: years down the track. But until then, I'm probably going
Speaker 4: to go for a variety.
Speaker 3: I think I love that like more people taking the
Speaker 3: non conventional road please, because you know what, You're here
Speaker 3: to live, not to work, in my opinion.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's it exactly.
Speaker 1: I love it. Well, thank you so much for spending
Speaker 1: the time time with us today. We are really grateful
Speaker 1: for it, and I hope that you didn't feel like
Speaker 1: we were hard to talk. Do I promise we're non
Speaker 1: judgment or finance people. No, but as always I do
Speaker 1: think that's all we have time for today, except Jess,
Speaker 1: you probably should wrap it and let everybody know that
Speaker 1: I am legitimate, so take it away.
Speaker 3: Yes, the advice shared on shees on the Money is
Speaker 3: general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances.
Speaker 3: Shees on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and
Speaker 3: should not be relied upon to make an investment or
Speaker 3: a financial decision.
Speaker 1: And we promise.
Speaker 3: Victoria Divine is an authorized representative of Infocused Securities Australia
Speaker 3: Proprietary Limited ABN four seven oh nine seven seven nine
Speaker 3: seven four nine AFSL two three six five two three