Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yor
Speaker 1: the Order KERNI Whoaltbury 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 the Money podcast and
Speaker 2: millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another one
Speaker 2: of our money daries where we get to talk with
Speaker 2: one of our incredibles. She's on the Money community members
Speaker 2: all about their journey. Let's jump straight into it, because
Speaker 2: this week I got a message and it sounded exactly
Speaker 2: like this, Dear, She's on the Money. Growing up, I
Speaker 2: thought I was terrible with maths and money, but my
Speaker 2: financial journey has been one of growth and learning. Now
Speaker 2: as a proud single mum, by choice, having my eighteen
Speaker 2: month old son through IVF with a donor, as well
Speaker 2: as a beautiful fur baby cat. I'm navigating the challenges
Speaker 2: of solo parenting and the rising cost of living, and
Speaker 2: despite feeling financially vulnerable at times, I've built strong systems
Speaker 2: to keep us on track. It's not easy, but I'm
Speaker 2: proof that you can have kids on your own and
Speaker 2: make it work. Money does. This is the coolest story ever.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: This is so exciting. I just love the idea that
Speaker 2: you're like, no, no, no, I want to be a
Speaker 2: mum and it's gonna happen. I have so many questions,
Speaker 2: but before we get there, if I asked you to
Speaker 2: give your money habits a grade from A three to F,
Speaker 2: what would you grade them?
Speaker 4: You know, it's interesting. I've really thought about this because
Speaker 4: I often find myself disagreeing with the other money diers
Speaker 4: on the podcast, and I think women, we're so hard
Speaker 4: on ourselves. I know, much high expectations, and so I thought,
Speaker 4: you know what, there's actually a real clear difference to
Speaker 4: where I feel I sit and to where I think
Speaker 4: I sit if I take emotion out of it, so
Speaker 4: I feel like a c I feel like, I feel
Speaker 4: financially vulnerable right now, but when I look at the
Speaker 4: bigger picture and I look at things down on a
Speaker 4: piece of paper, I think I'm probably more like a bee.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's so nice that you're able to reflect on that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's one of those things. I think we feel
Speaker 4: so different. But if you can take that emotion out
Speaker 4: and actually look at what you're doing, there's just actually
Speaker 4: you know so much there.
Speaker 2: So we're going to give you the credit. You're a
Speaker 2: b I love that money diarist. My face question to
Speaker 2: ask people is about their money story. So let's dive in.
Speaker 2: Can you tell me a bit more about your money story?
Speaker 4: Sure? So, growing up, I always felt like we didn't
Speaker 4: have much money. My parents immigrated to Australia, and you know,
Speaker 4: I had these memories of growing grocery shopping with my
Speaker 4: mom and her checking the price tags and buying things
Speaker 4: when they're on special. And I feel like I came
Speaker 4: from a household where if you lost your jumper or
Speaker 4: your hat, you didn't get a new one, you just
Speaker 4: went without it. And so I think that's really impacted
Speaker 4: how I view my money now. I'm always someone who's
Speaker 4: trying to save money, even if it's just a little bit,
Speaker 4: and I'm quite conscious of looking out for a good
Speaker 4: bargain and trying hard not to buy anything on full price,
Speaker 4: although don't always succeed.
Speaker 2: I totally get that. In fact, that's triggered a memory
Speaker 2: for me. Actually when you said you lost your jumper
Speaker 2: or your heart, like you don't get a new one
Speaker 2: like that, I'm assuming for you it's maybe the same story,
Speaker 2: Like we're talking about school uniform. Yeah, yes, yeah, Like
Speaker 2: I remember my mum being like, right, well, you won't
Speaker 2: be able to go outside and play because I'm not
Speaker 2: buying a new hat for you. Did your mum do
Speaker 2: the thing where she'd be like, right, well, you're gonna
Speaker 2: have to find it, Yeah, like go to school check
Speaker 2: the lost property, ask you to. You're going to have
Speaker 2: to find your jump because I'm not buying you a
Speaker 2: new one, Like we can't afford that. That's not an option?
Speaker 2: And why are school uniform is so expensive?
Speaker 4: And you don't realize it at the time.
Speaker 2: Right, of course not, But now I look at it,
Speaker 2: I'm like, wait what And.
Speaker 4: I remember going to the secondhand uniform shop as well
Speaker 4: to buy all of our uniforms.
Speaker 2: Oh so did we and like genius from mum to
Speaker 2: be honest, because like it's the same thing, but that
Speaker 2: feeling of being like, oh it's not you like, oh
Speaker 2: I get.
Speaker 4: It, but it's good because it makes me feel I
Speaker 4: think I, because of that, quite conscious of money and
Speaker 4: you know, always looking for second hand items, like you know,
Speaker 4: your mum was a great role model in that respect,
Speaker 4: you know, learning from her. So it's been good. Obviously,
Speaker 4: once I started working and earning money, it's always great.
Speaker 4: You get your first time paycheck, it's exciting. But I've
Speaker 4: always worked in the not for profit sector and so
Speaker 4: I'm not earning massive amounts of money, and so I've
Speaker 4: always been conscious of money and trying to say where
Speaker 4: I can. And after university I saved. I worked so
Speaker 4: hard and saved about thirty k and went traveling for
Speaker 4: a year iconic, which I think everybody should do in
Speaker 4: their lifetime is absolutely amazing thing to do.
Speaker 2: The whole year would have been so special.
Speaker 4: It was unreal. I mean, it was backpacking, it.
Speaker 2: Was okay, but like that doesn't change it. It's still
Speaker 2: so special.
Speaker 4: One hundred percent. And it's interesting because sometimes I go, oh, god,
Speaker 4: thirty K, wouldn't that be a great start for a
Speaker 4: house deposit, but I wouldn't take that traveling year away
Speaker 4: at all, Like it was just so special.
Speaker 2: I love that. So now wary, you're at what does
Speaker 2: that look like?
Speaker 4: So after traveling and working, I kind of got into
Speaker 4: my mid thirties and on and off dating and not
Speaker 4: really having much success in that department, and I kind
Speaker 4: of thought to myself, when I get to thirty seven,
Speaker 4: it's time to start thinking about freezing your eggs. And
Speaker 4: so I started doing a person I like to do
Speaker 4: a lot of research before I actually make my decision.
Speaker 2: I think you and I are on the same page
Speaker 2: and picking up similar vibes. I like this, I love this.
Speaker 4: So I kind of got to thirty seven, I was like, oh,
Speaker 4: I'm not sure. Yeah, let's just do research. And so
Speaker 4: I kind of went, oh, I don't know, actually that
Speaker 4: freezing my eggs isn't the best option for me from
Speaker 4: my understanding. You know, it can be a great option
Speaker 4: to have, especially in your younger years, but the longer
Speaker 4: your eggs are frozen, they're less viable. They can become
Speaker 4: over time, the dethoring process can be hard on them,
Speaker 4: and unfertilized eggs are not necessarily as hardy as fertilized embryos.
Speaker 4: So I kind of thought, maybe that's not the best
Speaker 4: option for me right now, Let's just keep dating and
Speaker 4: seeing what happens. And then I got to thirty eight,
Speaker 4: and did.
Speaker 2: You feel a lot of dating pressure? Just like, oh,
Speaker 2: I'm trying to find the right person, and like this
Speaker 2: just isn't fitting.
Speaker 4: Like, and I see so many people making decisions that
Speaker 4: I think I don't feel comfortable with where I don't
Speaker 4: you know, if I marry someone, I want to be
Speaker 4: absolutely one hundred percent in love and I don't want
Speaker 4: to have that pressure of wanting to have kids so
Speaker 4: quickly hitting that pressure on it. Yeah. Yeah, So I
Speaker 4: got to thirty eight and I started looking at IVF
Speaker 4: with an anonymous doner, and again be come was like,
Speaker 4: oh god, this is such a big step.
Speaker 2: A massive step, so exciting but also so terrifying, like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, this could really happen.
Speaker 4: I'd never dreamt of doing it on my own. My
Speaker 4: dream was to do it with somebody else. Of course,
Speaker 4: you know, as a little kid, that's what you want,
Speaker 4: that's the dream. So it was quite a bit of
Speaker 4: a shift in my mindset to start thinking along this pathway.
Speaker 4: But I just thought, you know what, let's just make
Speaker 4: an appointment with a fertility specialist and go down that pathway.
Speaker 2: You can always say no, you can always say no later.
Speaker 4: One hundred I'm just gathering information. That's all I'm doing
Speaker 4: at this point, right. It's one step at a time.
Speaker 4: And I actually made appointments to fertility specialists based on recommendations,
Speaker 4: which I actually would recommend because the first person I
Speaker 4: saw I did not like, and it was someone that
Speaker 4: everyone had raved about.
Speaker 2: Isn't that frustrating when you're like, why does everybody like this?
Speaker 4: I know, but it's good because then it's like, you
Speaker 4: know what, it's such a personal thing. You want to
Speaker 4: be able to ask those silly and dumb questions and
Speaker 4: feel like the specialist has the time for.
Speaker 2: You to do that one hundred percent.
Speaker 4: And so after that then I just kind of started,
Speaker 4: you know, meeting with the specialist and she'd send me
Speaker 4: to do some tests, like a blood test, nothing too crazy,
Speaker 4: and it kind of just the more I was in
Speaker 4: it and thinking about it, the more it just felt
Speaker 4: more comfortable and more the right thing for me to do.
Speaker 2: And you were like, I'm on this path. I was
Speaker 2: just looking at the path, but I just woke up
Speaker 2: and I think I'm actually on the.
Speaker 4: Path way down it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I'm halfway down it and I actually don't
Speaker 2: want to turn around.
Speaker 4: It's good. And I went, yeah, I'm doing it.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's so exciting.
Speaker 4: I had been saving, right, so, like it wasn't and
Speaker 4: I knew IVF was expenses. So the whole time I'm
Speaker 4: meeting with the specialist, it's not like really quick. You know,
Speaker 4: there might be a month or two apart. So I'm
Speaker 4: like going, okay, I need to hit go into my
Speaker 4: hardcore savings goal and start really saving because it is expensive.
Speaker 4: So I was doing all of that knowing that you know,
Speaker 4: there's sure anyone who's gone through IVF nos, but there's
Speaker 4: a little bit of hidden costs. Sometimes you might get
Speaker 4: a cost, it might tell you how it is, but
Speaker 4: then there's all these other things. And if there's anything
Speaker 4: I unexpected that pops up, well then that's an additional cost.
Speaker 4: And medicine costs more, and you know, so there's all
Speaker 4: these extra little things you have to pay for. Yes,
Speaker 4: So then I started they sent me paperwork. I did
Speaker 4: all the work, and then they sent me profiles for
Speaker 4: anonymous bonus.
Speaker 2: Oh I was about to ask, Okay, so how do
Speaker 2: you pick an anonymous donor? Because I am so pervy,
Speaker 2: like girl, I need to know, like do you get
Speaker 2: to go like shopping for your baby daddy that look quiet?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Absolutely, So you can go down in Australia to well,
Speaker 4: I guess it's different. Maybe each state is as well different.
Speaker 4: I'm in New South Wales. But in Australia you've got
Speaker 4: two options. You can go an international route. So there's
Speaker 4: American donors and there are lots of them. So Americans
Speaker 4: get paid to donate, so there's often lots of options.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and are you allowed to use that in Australia.
Speaker 4: You can Yeah. Wow, Australian clinics have access to the
Speaker 4: database in America and so you can get all this
Speaker 4: information about the donors. You obviously no identifying information. It's
Speaker 4: all anonymous.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course I had no idea, Like I genuinely
Speaker 2: just thought, okay, like we're an island in the middle
Speaker 2: of nowhere. Surely we would only have access to Australian donors.
Speaker 2: And like you hear so much about like I don't know,
Speaker 2: I hear so much about like surrogacy journeys, because you
Speaker 2: obviously can't pay asarig in Australia. It can in America anyway.
Speaker 2: It's a very complex space, so I just assumed that
Speaker 2: maybe you couldn't access American donors. How interesting.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and there's a lot of choice if you go
Speaker 4: down that pathway. It's a little bit more expensive because
Speaker 4: obviously you have to pay for the transportation to Australia.
Speaker 2: What type of cost that to you know, I can't.
Speaker 4: Remember because I didn't go down this pathway. It would
Speaker 4: be a couple of hundred I think maybe, or even
Speaker 4: in the thousand. I can't quite remember it.
Speaker 2: But it's not like tens of thousands of dollars down
Speaker 2: that route.
Speaker 4: No, Yeah, so I went down the Australian donor route,
Speaker 4: which is far less options because in Australia to donate
Speaker 4: your eggs or sperm, it is all altruistic, so you
Speaker 4: don't get anything in return.
Speaker 2: There's something that I like about that though, and you
Speaker 2: mentioned before. We haven't gotten super into it, but like
Speaker 2: you mentioned before, I work for nonprofits. I'm happy to
Speaker 2: earn less money because I just feel like that fits
Speaker 2: your vibe more right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know, it just felt more comfortable for me.
Speaker 2: I like the idea that they wanted that for you,
Speaker 2: not for financial gain for them. That's so kind. Yeah
Speaker 2: I get it, I get it.
Speaker 4: Yeah absolutely so yeah, but I had like there was
Speaker 4: five options, so in America they'd be I think on
Speaker 4: their database they can be like one hundred or.
Speaker 2: So, which also I think can be overwhelming analysis paralysis.
Speaker 2: It's like investing, like how do you pick an ETF,
Speaker 2: how do you pick a sperm donor?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: Same right, So.
Speaker 4: I wanted my baby to look like me, so I
Speaker 4: went with the same ethnicity as a way of breaking
Speaker 4: me down totally. And then from there it was really
Speaker 4: the health information that you get that was important to me.
Speaker 4: You actually get the health of the person donating their
Speaker 4: immediate family as well.
Speaker 2: Oh that's so perfect.
Speaker 4: So any type of illnesses or conditions that they have
Speaker 4: is kind of listed, which is really interesting.
Speaker 2: So also so controlled, Like so many people don't even
Speaker 2: get that with the person that they literally have picked
Speaker 2: to have a child with. They like, oh, let's just
Speaker 2: have a baby, and then later they're like, oh, I
Speaker 2: didn't know you had health condition.
Speaker 4: I know, Well, I've got nothing else to go on,
Speaker 4: and so I was like, for me, that's the important thing.
Speaker 4: And then all the other information, like me can get
Speaker 4: basic information like hair color, eye color. There's some self
Speaker 4: reporting stuff like how would people describe you? But I
Speaker 4: was very conscious that with self reporting, you know, how
Speaker 4: you describe yourself might be very different to how other
Speaker 4: people describe you. So I was like, no, medical, let's
Speaker 4: go on the medical and let's then just see the
Speaker 4: vibe of the rest of them. And that just helped
Speaker 4: me narrow it down and I picked my donor.
Speaker 2: Oh that is so cool. I love this. What's the
Speaker 2: next step in the process. So you pick your donor,
Speaker 2: you have to go through an IVF process, Like, yeah.
Speaker 4: It actually all up took me a year to go
Speaker 4: through this whole process, but that was a lot just
Speaker 4: with me and me taking my time to go through
Speaker 4: everything and keep saving money. You can actually go through
Speaker 4: it much quicker if the donor is available now since COVID.
Speaker 4: It might be tricky because there's less donor recruitment since COVID.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, okay, And when you say the year,
Speaker 2: is that from you starting the journey to falling pregnant
Speaker 2: or is that you starting the journey to having a
Speaker 2: baby falling pregnant.
Speaker 4: My first appointment was in January, and then I decided
Speaker 4: to officially start the whole IVF process the following January.
Speaker 2: Yeah cool, Oh my god.
Speaker 4: So I had a whole year of like doing tests
Speaker 4: and seeing everything is and picking the donor and saving
Speaker 4: my money. And then also an important consideration which I'm
Speaker 4: sure anyone who has gone through IVF would know, but
Speaker 4: when you are looking at your funds, it's so expensive.
Speaker 4: And I had to really sit with myself and go, Okay,
Speaker 4: how many rounds can I do? Because you know, I'm
Speaker 4: going through IVF, not because I think I have fertility.
Speaker 2: Issues, but because that's how I'm going to get pregnant.
Speaker 4: Yeah, one hundred percent. And I can see how you
Speaker 4: go through this process and it's not successful. You go, Okay,
Speaker 4: well I'm going to try again. But it's good to
Speaker 4: have kind of a cap in mind of how much
Speaker 4: money you have available for this, because you could get
Speaker 4: yourself into debt so easily just keeping on going and
Speaker 4: going and going.
Speaker 2: It's one of those things that is quite interesting as well,
Speaker 2: because as women, we've spent a majority of our lives
Speaker 2: trying not to get pregnant, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: you're going down this route of IVF and it's not
Speaker 2: because you were struggling to fall pregnant. It was because
Speaker 2: that's the route that you've decided to take. And you're like, well,
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's going to be a one
Speaker 2: and done the situation, or if I'm going to go
Speaker 2: through this process and my body doesn't want to do
Speaker 2: this with me in the way that I want to
Speaker 2: do it with it. So it's just that would be
Speaker 2: really stressful when it comes to finances. So how much
Speaker 2: did it cost you?
Speaker 4: So I ended up having to do two egg collections,
Speaker 4: and I was very lucky. My first transfer worked.
Speaker 2: Oh I got a sticky baby from the stud No,
Speaker 2: that's so special.
Speaker 4: It's very good. So all up, it cost me about
Speaker 4: thirty five thousand dollars. I did get some back from Medicare,
Speaker 4: and I think I was out of pocket about twenty
Speaker 4: three thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: Hey, that's pretty good. That's a lot. And I won't
Speaker 2: say cheaper because it's still a lot of money. But
Speaker 2: it's not as bad as I thought it would be.
Speaker 2: I don't know why, but I just thought it would
Speaker 2: be way more expensive because like the egg collection rounds,
Speaker 2: like in Australia can be anywhere from six thousand to
Speaker 2: ten thousand dollars around, Like that's quite expensive.
Speaker 4: And then do you get some of that medicare rebate back?
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's important. So then once you've done your
Speaker 2: egg collections, then is it the fertility clinic that you
Speaker 2: did the egg collections that managed the donusperm and kind
Speaker 2: of made a little embryo.
Speaker 4: Absolutely. Yes, it's all in house, which makes it easier.
Speaker 2: Oh and then they made your little m baby and
Speaker 2: then you had a transferred day and got your little
Speaker 2: m baby and then they were sticky, and.
Speaker 4: Then you have an anxious two week wait while you're like,
Speaker 4: oh my gosh, analyzing everything in your body.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, and I'm sure that you were stressed out
Speaker 2: of your brain one, because that's a stressful process irrespective
Speaker 2: of the financials, right, Like that's so scary because the
Speaker 2: second you have it transferred, you're like, well, I'm pregnant
Speaker 2: until proven otherwise, aren't I.
Speaker 4: And then you're trying not to stress because you know
Speaker 4: what's stressed us to the body, but it's so hard
Speaker 4: not to.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm so glad that it worked the first round.
Speaker 4: For you know, I was very lucky that first transfer
Speaker 4: because you can hear it, you can take a while.
Speaker 4: And the other thing I was going to say, obviously,
Speaker 4: being doing this on my own, I have to go
Speaker 4: through a private clinic. But now if you are in
Speaker 4: a couple or you have a known donor, you can
Speaker 4: actually do it through the public system and it will
Speaker 4: only cost you one thousand dollars. What it's a massive,
Speaker 4: massive difference.
Speaker 2: Oh my god. I mean, I'm glad that you got
Speaker 2: the care and that you were able to kind of
Speaker 2: like shop around and get the fertility expert that you
Speaker 2: felt super comfortable, like, and I mean that's the cost
Speaker 2: of private healthcare, right, Like that's the benefit. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, like knowing that that's so much more
Speaker 2: financially viable. Oh, I love that.
Speaker 4: I know it's a little bit of a sting, but
Speaker 4: at the end of the day, I have a beautiful
Speaker 4: little baby, so I can't complain.
Speaker 2: Oh I'm so excited. I adore that for you. So
Speaker 2: I need to know more because this episode, I think
Speaker 2: is such a good lesson for a lot of people
Speaker 2: in our community that you can actually have kids on
Speaker 2: your own and make it work. So I need to
Speaker 2: know more about this situation, Like a lot of people
Speaker 2: might go, I need to earn millions to be able
Speaker 2: to do that on my own. But what do you
Speaker 2: do for work? How much money do you earn?
Speaker 4: So I work in a not for profit sector and
Speaker 4: I work with young people who live in residential care
Speaker 4: essentially if that just means that they don't live at
Speaker 4: home with their parents. And I work part time at
Speaker 4: the moment.
Speaker 2: Is that because you have a baby?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I was working full time. Yeah, so full time.
Speaker 4: I was earning about I think it was ninety eight
Speaker 4: thousand and part time. Now I'm earning sixty five.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, that's very nice. So you we've gone from
Speaker 2: ninety eight k to sixty five K. I have to
Speaker 2: ask all the pervy stuff. I'm so sorry. So sixty
Speaker 2: five k. How many days a week are you doing?
Speaker 4: Three days?
Speaker 2: So three days? And then you're singles. It's not like
Speaker 2: there's somebody at home looking after baby. What does care
Speaker 2: look like?
Speaker 4: So he goes into daycare three days a week?
Speaker 2: Yeah, very cool? And what type of cost does that
Speaker 2: mean for you?
Speaker 4: It is expensive. The daycare itself is about one hundred
Speaker 4: and eighty dollars a day.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it's insane, isn't it crazy?
Speaker 4: That obviously, Thank god, I get a subsidy and so
Speaker 4: I actually pay about I think it's forty five a day.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, so like forty five bucks a day. It
Speaker 2: comes out in the wash week. It's an episode recently
Speaker 2: on daycare and like what it costs, because I think
Speaker 2: one thing that people don't realize is that you pay
Speaker 2: out of pocket and then you get a rebate as
Speaker 2: opposed to you know, it just being forty five bucks
Speaker 2: a day, which a lot of people are like, oh,
Speaker 2: that's reasonable, but you actually have to have that one
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty dollars in your bank account to pay
Speaker 2: in advance, which is really ick to me.
Speaker 4: I know, I know.
Speaker 2: Has that changed how you've managed your cash flow?
Speaker 4: You know what? I think it probably hasn't. I think
Speaker 4: it's so I use credit cards to help me with
Speaker 4: my cash flow. And I'm a big pointscal so I
Speaker 4: like to maximize as many points as I can. The
Speaker 4: last couple of international trips I've done have all been
Speaker 4: on points, so it really works for me. I don't
Speaker 4: think I would be able to travel otherwise if I'm
Speaker 4: being honest, because it is tough now for the little one,
Speaker 4: and he's about to turn two and in a couple
Speaker 4: of months, so now I'm gonna have to start paying for
Speaker 4: him or.
Speaker 2: You're about to run out of free travel.
Speaker 4: For him, I know, So that's a big thing.
Speaker 2: Sorry to remind you. Under two, they travel for free.
Speaker 4: I just booked it like we're going away next year,
Speaker 4: and I booked us all on points. So I was like,
Speaker 4: thank God for points because that really does help me.
Speaker 4: I put all of my big stuff on credit cards.
Speaker 4: But I at the start of the year. It's the
Speaker 4: first time I heard credit cards for like, you know,
Speaker 4: ten fifteen years, and because I have gone from full
Speaker 4: time to part time work at the start of the year.
Speaker 4: It was just after I have a whole bunch of
Speaker 4: bills at the end of the year, like all my
Speaker 4: car REGI and insurances you think Christmas, and so normally
Speaker 4: I'm fine when I'm working full time. It this is
Speaker 4: the first year I'm working part time and I got
Speaker 4: The first four months of the year were really scary
Speaker 4: for me because I could not pay off my credit
Speaker 4: card balance in full, which is normally something that I
Speaker 4: can do, and so I was starting to go on.
Speaker 4: I got, okay, I'm not managing my cash for very well.
Speaker 4: Something is happening. I'm spending more than I'm earning, which
Speaker 4: I don't normally do. What's happening, And I kind of
Speaker 4: had to really relook at it because I think when
Speaker 4: I was saving up for IVF, I was so good.
Speaker 4: I had that money goal, so I knew what I
Speaker 4: was saving for as I was working through that year,
Speaker 4: and I already had some money saved away. But after IVF,
Speaker 4: I utilized a lot of my funds and I also
Speaker 4: bought a brand new car because a baby. My old
Speaker 4: car was very, very old and I didn't want to
Speaker 4: break down on the side of the road, and it
Speaker 4: was in COVID and all the secondhand cars were so
Speaker 4: stupidly expensive.
Speaker 2: Oh they were.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I bought a brand new car, which is
Speaker 4: not my intention, but I did it.
Speaker 2: But also at that time that made the most sense financially, genuinely.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and I paid it out in full because I
Speaker 4: had saved that much money.
Speaker 2: Iconic, Sorry, that's iconic.
Speaker 4: I was thinking about taking out a loan, but then
Speaker 4: I just looked at the interest I would eventually pay
Speaker 4: back on it, and I thought, ill, no, I got
Speaker 4: the money, I think I should do this. But then
Speaker 4: it's just left me feeling a bit more vulnerable because
Speaker 4: I decimated my savings and I don't have that fallback anymore.
Speaker 4: And I had an emergency fund. But when I start
Speaker 4: of the year, when I couldn't pay back my credit cards,
Speaker 4: I used all of my emergency fund and it wasn't
Speaker 4: enough because I was still building it up. And so
Speaker 4: I just put myself in a really funny place where
Speaker 4: I felt very, very scared and just a little bit
Speaker 4: anxious about my financial situation.
Speaker 2: I guess I'm really proud of the reflection you're doing
Speaker 2: on this though, Like you were so aware throughout all
Speaker 2: of that. That's really cool. Like a lot of people
Speaker 2: would have buried their head in the sand, but you're like, Nope,
Speaker 2: I'm going to make it work. This is what I'm
Speaker 2: going to do. This is how I'm going to do it.
Speaker 2: Like so many people get to that point and it's
Speaker 2: kind of like a fork in the road and they
Speaker 2: can either do what you did and like take charge
Speaker 2: of it and go because this is actually a really
Speaker 2: scary position to be in. And they don't really want
Speaker 2: to be here and I'm going to do something about it,
Speaker 2: Or people go down the other fork and they bury
Speaker 2: their heads in the sand and be like, all right, well,
Speaker 2: I'm just going to ignore the credit card for a
Speaker 2: couple of months, and I'm just going to keep building
Speaker 2: my emergence, your fund and keep on track. And that
Speaker 2: actually puts you further behind. And so I love the
Speaker 2: way you're talking about it as well, because it's just
Speaker 2: it feels so open.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like I do. For me, you know, there's obviously
Speaker 4: a lot of issues with credit cards, but I normally
Speaker 4: felt that, you know, I was able to keep on
Speaker 4: top of it as long as I could pay it
Speaker 4: off each month. And it's just that first instance where
Speaker 4: I couldn't do it for a couple of months really
Speaker 4: freaked me out. I can see how you can easily
Speaker 4: end up in debt.
Speaker 2: That way, spirally, right, Yeah, And it's so easy to do.
Speaker 2: And I mean, no one gets a credit card with
Speaker 2: the intention of getting into debt and staying in debt.
Speaker 2: Like you get a credit card to help with cash
Speaker 2: flow or to help you build something. And I think
Speaker 2: that it's just so important to just stay stay woke.
Speaker 2: I suppose stay aware of what's going on.
Speaker 4: It's because I go for the cards that have points.
Speaker 4: They're often the cards that also have a higher interest rate,
Speaker 4: which doesn't normally impact me because I pay my credit off.
Speaker 2: But when you don't, Yeah, you're like, oh no, so money,
Speaker 2: Do tell me a bit more. You obviously had the
Speaker 2: big money goal of saving up and paying for IVF,
Speaker 2: and then you got a car. What are your big
Speaker 2: money goals now? What are we currently working towards?
Speaker 4: You know what? I think this is probably one of
Speaker 4: my big issues now is I had such a big
Speaker 4: savings goal and then when my little boy came along,
Speaker 4: that just felt like such a big achievement for me.
Speaker 4: And I, you know, was working part time or I
Speaker 4: wasn't working for a while and then went back to
Speaker 4: working part time. And I don't think I've really replaced
Speaker 4: it with another goal. And I do think that has
Speaker 4: really impacted my savings. Like how on top of it,
Speaker 4: I am? Yeah, I just and then COVID, you know,
Speaker 4: all of these different things, all the cost of living stuff.
Speaker 4: I just feel like it's kind of just put me
Speaker 4: in a place where I felt like I was on
Speaker 4: such a high I'm on the roller coaster, you know,
Speaker 4: and I'm kind of you.
Speaker 2: Know, one hundred percent, but you're also not giving yourself credit.
Speaker 2: You've gone from earning ninety eight grand to sixty five thousand,
Speaker 2: and yes, there's like a beautiful trade off here where
Speaker 2: you're getting to work part time, but like there's less
Speaker 2: cash coming in the door, like there's less that you
Speaker 2: can actually do.
Speaker 4: It is, and everything's gone expensive. I think, yeah, you know,
Speaker 4: when I think about maybe what I was spending on
Speaker 4: groceries before, it is one hundred percent doubled, if not more.
Speaker 2: A two year old, it's a lot of berries.
Speaker 4: I think I need to really think about what goal
Speaker 4: I want to have, because that does make it a
Speaker 4: difference for when you have that in your mindset, and
Speaker 4: it can work towards it.
Speaker 2: To motivation one hundred percent, and you can easily compromise,
Speaker 2: Like if it comes to spending, you know, fifty dollars
Speaker 2: on something, you're like, no, it really, I'm gonna have
Speaker 2: a baby, Like I don't even need it. And now
Speaker 2: you're kind of like, what am I working towards? I
Speaker 2: don't it may as well spend the fifty Yeah, yeah, oh,
Speaker 2: I totally get it and if you've got a plan
Speaker 2: to get it back on track, like you're going to
Speaker 2: sit down and maybe visualize what's going on or is
Speaker 2: that something that you're like, oh it, do all come
Speaker 2: up when it comes up.
Speaker 4: B When I was saving before, I used to use pocketbook,
Speaker 4: you know, the ant pocketbook.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent, And that was.
Speaker 4: So helpful because I could categorize everything and I was
Speaker 4: tracking my spend because I had that goal in mind.
Speaker 4: So I was like, yeah, I'm on this. And then
Speaker 4: after I had my baby and Pocketbook ended, it stopped
Speaker 4: and so you can't use that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was really disappointed.
Speaker 4: It was such a good app I loved it, and
Speaker 4: I think since then, I haven't been as good at
Speaker 4: tracking my spend. I'm conscious about my money. I'm not
Speaker 4: spending it Willy Nelly, but I couldn't tell you exactly
Speaker 4: now how much money I'm spending on my groceries, on
Speaker 4: my petrol each month. And I think that's something I
Speaker 4: now need to go and revisit. Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, that makes absolute sense. And it's kind of good
Speaker 2: that you're in that limbo because I feel like that's
Speaker 2: really relatable. I want you to get out of it,
Speaker 2: but like lots of people be like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: I know me too, Like I just don't know what
Speaker 2: I want. Do I want to buy property? Do I
Speaker 2: want to go on a be collar, Like I just
Speaker 2: don't know.
Speaker 4: Property is of course a goal, but it just seems
Speaker 4: so out of reach for me.
Speaker 2: Life is currently a season, right, Like and having a
Speaker 2: small child it's a funny period of your life, right
Speaker 2: because it's such a privilege to have a small kid,
Speaker 2: but they're so bloody expensive and you're in that limbo
Speaker 2: of paying daycare and paying for everything, and life is
Speaker 2: going to get cheaper once they're at school, yeah, and
Speaker 2: then it's probably going to get more expensive when he
Speaker 2: decides to get some expensive teenage hobbies and then maybe
Speaker 2: he wants to do after school care like activities and
Speaker 2: like life ebbs and flows, right, But I think that
Speaker 2: sometimes we need to just remember that these things are seasonal,
Speaker 2: Like right now, daycare is actually not forever. It's probably
Speaker 2: for another couple of years, and then kinder is going
Speaker 2: to happen and things are going to get significantly cheaper.
Speaker 4: I think I'm going to go back to work full
Speaker 4: time next year anyway, so that will help too.
Speaker 2: So that's so exciting exactly, so ebbs and it flows,
Speaker 2: and like our money goals have to flex with that,
Speaker 2: because you can't go from earning basically one hundred thousand
Speaker 2: dollars down to sixty five and expect that you're able
Speaker 2: to allocate the same amounts to your savings goals. But
Speaker 2: if you then let that feel disenchanting or you let
Speaker 2: that make you go, oh, I used to be so
Speaker 2: good at this, Like, can we look at the bigger
Speaker 2: picture for a hot second, Because you had like another
Speaker 2: forty grand to play with during those years, my friend, Like,
Speaker 2: you had so much to play with, and also you
Speaker 2: didn't have the responsibility that you have now, Like there
Speaker 2: wasn't a tiny human demanding your attention. There wasn't a
Speaker 2: tiny human that needed you to spend double on your
Speaker 2: grocery bills. Like it was easier then, and there's a
Speaker 2: lot of reason for it.
Speaker 4: I need to keep there. He's in his fussy phase,
Speaker 4: so it's not like he's eating much anyway.
Speaker 2: Oh well, funny win, money win. I love that I'm
Speaker 2: currently in that golden season where I have a seven
Speaker 2: month old who's only discovering food, So we'll eat anything
Speaker 2: that I've put in front of him.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a nice phase. Enjoy that one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, And like I'm acutely aware that this
Speaker 2: is going to change, but i am live love laughing
Speaker 2: right now, my friend. I'm like, oh, mushrooms, you eat mushrooms.
Speaker 2: Sleigh goodness. All right, let's go to a really quick
Speaker 2: break on the flip side. I have a lot of questions,
Speaker 2: so guys, don't go anywhere money, Darius do. We are
Speaker 2: back and I'm learning so much about how you have
Speaker 2: proven that you can have kids on your own and
Speaker 2: make it work, which I think is just so special.
Speaker 2: But I want to know have you thought about investing,
Speaker 2: What does that look like? Do you invest? If so, how,
Speaker 2: if not, do you have a plan?
Speaker 4: I do thank you to this podcast because oh, really, absolutely.
Speaker 2: That's so special.
Speaker 4: I mean, of course I've got superannuation, so that was
Speaker 4: always there, but definitely, you know, from listening to this podcast,
Speaker 4: it just made the world of investing seem possible and
Speaker 4: doable and something that wasn't to be feared.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I started out small, and I got myself a
Speaker 4: raise and a spaceship portfolio, and I started playing around
Speaker 4: with those and then I think they started to introduce fees.
Speaker 2: Remember when it was free. Yeah, you've been around a while,
Speaker 2: my friend, you are proving yourself. I love this.
Speaker 4: And so when they did that, I thought, okay, I
Speaker 4: don't need both because they're doing the same purpose in
Speaker 4: my mind, and so I just kind of looked at them,
Speaker 4: thought which ones performing better, and Spaceship was performing better
Speaker 4: for me. So then I.
Speaker 2: Just went all in on one.
Speaker 4: Went fall in. Yes, So I just transferred the money
Speaker 4: from Raise into Well actually, so I kept Spaceship and
Speaker 4: then I had the Raise money and I thought, well,
Speaker 4: let's play around the different platform just to see, and
Speaker 4: so I got self Wealth because I figured that was
Speaker 4: a bit different. But I have to be honest, I
Speaker 4: don't love Self Wealth, so that's okay.
Speaker 2: It is a bit more of a complex platform, Like
Speaker 2: it definitely doesn't have like if you're looking at and
Speaker 2: this is just like pragmatically not advice, not anything. I
Speaker 2: always have to say that, but like if you look
Speaker 2: at the user interfaces of Rays and then Spaceship, they're
Speaker 2: just really easier to understand. They're on your phone, they
Speaker 2: are apps. They make things very simple, whereas Self Wealth
Speaker 2: one it has like in investing minimum, So you have
Speaker 2: to have a minimum of five hundred dollars to join
Speaker 2: that platform, which is fine because that's actually quite normal
Speaker 2: for people who want that. But it is, I would say,
Speaker 2: a bit more of a techy platform, like it has
Speaker 2: all of the research, it has all the information, but
Speaker 2: you can so see yourself making that big on the
Speaker 2: screen on your desktop and like a finance Bruce sitting
Speaker 2: in the front of it, trading on it. Like it's
Speaker 2: definitely like a more serious investing platform.
Speaker 4: It is. You know, I had to raise money and
Speaker 4: I just I think I had about maybe one thousand
Speaker 4: dollars or something, and so I'd put it in there.
Speaker 4: And then from playing around with that, I was like,
Speaker 4: I really don't like this platform. I find it tricky
Speaker 4: to understand. It's not user friendly, I don't think for
Speaker 4: me anyway. So I thought, oh, let's I'm hearing a
Speaker 4: lot about share zas. Let's try sharesy.
Speaker 2: Oh no you didn't, did you? Actually I do. Oh
Speaker 2: she's a convert. Yeah, I have to say.
Speaker 4: I love it so much better. So now I actually
Speaker 4: need to transfer my what I've got in self well
Speaker 4: over to share s EA's because I much prefer and
Speaker 4: it's easier to keep track of everything just see what
Speaker 4: my money's doing.
Speaker 2: But it's true, right, and like, there's nothing wrong with
Speaker 2: self wealth. There are going to be a lot of
Speaker 2: people listening to this and they're like, oh, I love
Speaker 2: that platform, and that's great, that's fantastic for you. But
Speaker 2: one of the things that is so important to remember
Speaker 2: when investing is that it has to be any experience
Speaker 2: that doesn't cause friction with the way that you work,
Speaker 2: Like it has to be an experience where you find
Speaker 2: it really easy and really easy to understand. And if
Speaker 2: that means having a platform that has a bit of
Speaker 2: a different interface or has a custom app, that's why
Speaker 2: it's so important to not just go with the platform
Speaker 2: that's the cheapest, but also the platform that makes the
Speaker 2: most sense for you, because I can almost guarantee that
Speaker 2: you're changed to sharesis not because they're a better platform.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm obsessed with them, but not because they're
Speaker 2: a better platform, but because you're having a better experience,
Speaker 2: you're going to invest more and you're going to create
Speaker 2: a more secure financial future. Whereas I'm assuming with a kid,
Speaker 2: with things getting tricky, you know, your income dropping to
Speaker 2: sixty five grand. For the short being, you would have
Speaker 2: been like, Oh, I can't be bothered with this whole
Speaker 2: investing thing. It's too complex, Because it's too overwhelming, I'm
Speaker 2: going to just put stop on that for now in
Speaker 2: my head in the sand. Whereas doing something that works
Speaker 2: for you is so important. So I think that's a
Speaker 2: good reminder if you're listening to this and going, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm finding my investing journey really frictiony. We need to
Speaker 2: find something that works for you as opposed to just
Speaker 2: picking what other people are using.
Speaker 4: Yeah, one hundred percent, I think that's exactly what I'm
Speaker 4: gonna do. I'm gonna transfer the funds from self wealth
Speaker 4: into Chasias because it's just makes no sense to me.
Speaker 2: Oh I love that. So you're an investing queen inside
Speaker 2: and outside of super Have you thought about investing for
Speaker 2: your baby?
Speaker 4: I have, And actually I really need to go back
Speaker 4: to the Investing for Kids podcast because I keep thinking
Speaker 4: about it since I was pregnant with him. I was
Speaker 4: thinking about this and I haven't done anything, so I
Speaker 4: really do need to.
Speaker 2: I was planning my investment plan for my kid way
Speaker 2: before he was even born, Way before he even existed
Speaker 2: way before I met his dad, like.
Speaker 4: Now knowing what it can do, like investing this early
Speaker 4: on for him. And I'm just conscious that I'm a
Speaker 4: single person if I don't ever meet someone and it's
Speaker 4: just me. I want him to be able to get
Speaker 4: to eighteen or twenty and have those funds available for
Speaker 4: university or whatever it might be.
Speaker 2: Ah, he's going to be so well set up. I
Speaker 2: love this so much for you.
Speaker 4: But yes, I just I need to look in because
Speaker 4: obviously there's the tax implications there and I just need
Speaker 4: to look again and decide which pathway I want to
Speaker 4: go down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, have you thought about I mean, he's
Speaker 2: true now, so he's not going to comprehend it just yet.
Speaker 2: But you have you thought about how you're going to
Speaker 2: teach him about money?
Speaker 4: Mm? Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know that
Speaker 4: I have fully considered it or kind of thought about
Speaker 4: how I'm going to do it, but I definitely do
Speaker 4: want to make sure that he is educated and knows
Speaker 4: how to budget for things, and it's conscious of what
Speaker 4: money costs. And I'm not quite sure. You know, there's
Speaker 4: so many different things out there. Were people that the
Speaker 4: kids do chores, and earn money, or or you know,
Speaker 4: people set up little systems at home where the kid
Speaker 4: has to pay a little bit of rent with their
Speaker 4: pocket money. There's so many ways to do it, and
Speaker 4: I haven't.
Speaker 2: Found the one that works for you. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: he's too You've got so much time. Your money story
Speaker 2: starts to form at seven. You've got time, You've got time.
Speaker 2: But I always find it interesting, right because I obviously
Speaker 2: think about it all the time. And you know, complete
Speaker 2: side note, I obviously write books, and I love writing books.
Speaker 2: My fifth one is about to come out, which is
Speaker 2: insane to me. But I've always said I want to
Speaker 2: write a book to teach people how to teach their
Speaker 2: kids about money. But I don't want to do that
Speaker 2: until I'm a mum and I can go through that myself,
Speaker 2: because nobody wants parenting advice from a non parent. Like,
Speaker 2: let's be honest, can you imagine some young pre I'm
Speaker 2: now in my thirties, but pre thirty year old, going
Speaker 2: this is how you should teach kids about money. I
Speaker 2: don't have any kids. I would have canceled it, so
Speaker 2: I will at some point pull that together.
Speaker 4: But it's interesting because you know, I obviously listen to
Speaker 4: your podcast, and I know you know you your father
Speaker 4: was in finance and gave you advice and you didn't listen.
Speaker 2: And so why would I listen? What would he know?
Speaker 2: What do parents know?
Speaker 4: How you do it so that it sticks in there?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 2: Yeah? And I think that that's where you know, it's
Speaker 2: those unconscious narratives that we learn about money that you know,
Speaker 2: even you were sharing with us at the start. You
Speaker 2: were like, you know, there was no particular story that
Speaker 2: you gave us about learning about money from your parents,
Speaker 2: but you were like, but if I lost my hat,
Speaker 2: it wasn't replaceable. But if I lost my jumper, I
Speaker 2: had to make do. And I think that those are
Speaker 2: the things where we have such an opportunity to look
Speaker 2: at the broader way that we refer to purchasing items,
Speaker 2: the bigger story around it, and how we want to
Speaker 2: craft that even the small things about the way we
Speaker 2: speak about money. Are we going to use conversational pieces
Speaker 2: like oh, honey, I'm sorry we can't afford that, or
Speaker 2: are we going to say, well, actually that's just not
Speaker 2: in our budget right now, honey, And like how do
Speaker 2: we frame things and what does that do to their
Speaker 2: internal monologue about money that helps us go oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, someone might come on my podcast and go,
Speaker 2: we grew up really poor, or they might come on
Speaker 2: my podcast and go, oh, my mum so savvy growing up.
Speaker 2: Like there's just like this narrative that we can actually
Speaker 2: craft ourselves, so irrespective of whether we can invest with
Speaker 2: our kids or not, like, we can actually form their
Speaker 2: money story and we can help them have a healthy
Speaker 2: relationship with it. And I think that there's such a
Speaker 2: misconception around well, if I'm having kids, I need to
Speaker 2: give them pocket money and I just don't have the
Speaker 2: budget for that. You don't need to give them money
Speaker 2: to teach them about it, which I think is so cool.
Speaker 2: But that's a side note because I'm just, as you know,
Speaker 2: wildly passionate about it.
Speaker 4: I'll be waiting for this book, Victoria.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm writing it for people like you. So, so
Speaker 2: you wait. My friend talk to me about debt. Do
Speaker 2: you have any debt? If so, what is it?
Speaker 4: No, so, no major debt.
Speaker 2: The credit card got paid out, Yes it did.
Speaker 4: It was a bit scary, but it did.
Speaker 2: Go.
Speaker 4: I do have money on it right now because I'm
Speaker 4: constantly using it. But I'd say I've probably got maybe
Speaker 4: one thousand dollars on it, so I can pay that
Speaker 4: off next time I get paid. And I pain off
Speaker 4: my heasteat about three years ago, which is a beautiful
Speaker 4: thing to do.
Speaker 2: Okay, Spinner, that's a bit of a flex. Okay, so
Speaker 2: I've got kids and no heck step nice.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so that's good and I major down.
Speaker 2: I love that. Tell me, what do you think your
Speaker 2: best money havebit is?
Speaker 4: I think overall, I'm just very conscious of my money.
Speaker 4: So I don't tend to spend things necessarily. And it's
Speaker 4: not to say that I won't buy a luxury item
Speaker 4: here or there or something that I really want, but
Speaker 4: I definitely think most of the times before buying things,
Speaker 4: I try not to buy things on full price if
Speaker 4: I can avoid. I feel like there's always a sale,
Speaker 4: or there's always a discount code, or there's always a marketplace.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent, And that's a very good mentality to have.
Speaker 2: Irrespective like that means you're always going to look for one, yeah, one.
Speaker 4: Hundred percent always, even if it's food, Like there's always, like,
Speaker 4: you know, some type of code out there for something.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. If it's not on sale, it coals.
Speaker 2: It's probably on sale at Wallies, Like, we need to
Speaker 2: be smart about this. And if it's not on sale,
Speaker 2: it either we are going to Audi.
Speaker 4: I mean I do shove an outing mostly anyway. There
Speaker 4: you go. So yeah, I think that's probably my best
Speaker 4: money Habit just been conscious. I am always on marketplace.
Speaker 4: I'm scouring. I'm a big believer in second hand. And
Speaker 4: before you mentioned, you know, things for babies are expensive.
Speaker 4: I've been so fortunate. So many of my friends you know,
Speaker 4: had children before me and had given me so so much.
Speaker 4: I have not had to buy pretty much anything for
Speaker 4: price or at all.
Speaker 2: I adore that. Now I'm in that sphere. It's actually wild.
Speaker 2: One how much baby stuff costs, but two just how
Speaker 2: little you use it. And I think you've got a
Speaker 2: nearly two year old. Harvey my son, he's seven months
Speaker 2: old now, and he is a tiny pudding. So my
Speaker 2: friend Harvey is like eleven kilos at seven months. He
Speaker 2: is massive. He's like on the ninety nine percent.
Speaker 4: I was gonna say, my two year old, isn't it, Well,
Speaker 4: he's not quite two, he's twelve and a half kilos.
Speaker 2: They go, he is massive. I actually look because I'm
Speaker 2: five two. I look comic cool carrying my child now,
Speaker 2: like he is just a tiny pudding. But the amount
Speaker 2: of stuff that was only used for two or three
Speaker 2: months at the very beginning, Like and seeing, I've got
Speaker 2: one of my girlfriends, so it's just let me know
Speaker 2: that she's pregnant. And I'm like, oh my god, so
Speaker 2: I've got a capsule for you. I've got this, I've
Speaker 2: got this, Otherwise it's just going to sit in storage.
Speaker 2: I was like, do you want the snow, I've got
Speaker 2: this snoo. I'm like, I'm just so excited that these
Speaker 2: things are going to get another use. And I was like,
Speaker 2: only thing I need you to do with it is
Speaker 2: make sure it comes back to me when I have
Speaker 2: another baby. Thank you all good. I feel like you
Speaker 2: want your friends to have the things that you've got
Speaker 2: because you just know it's so expensive and you would
Speaker 2: have spent heaps of cash anyway, like even just to
Speaker 2: get there, but then food and then nabbies, and then
Speaker 2: you know whether you breastfed or formula fed. I think
Speaker 2: there's this massive misconception that breastfeeding is somehow free, like
Speaker 2: absolutely not like pumping organizing the time, the energy, the effort,
Speaker 2: like there's just so many hidden costs, and I think
Speaker 2: it's just it's so nice when women rally around women
Speaker 2: and they're like, oh, babe, no worries, I've got a
Speaker 2: cop for you. Like, oh, the pressure that gets taken off.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so that's probably yeah, that's money habit. I think
Speaker 4: secondhand is best.
Speaker 2: Ah, Is it bad that I wake up in the
Speaker 2: morning and one of the first things I check is
Speaker 2: market Place just to see what's going on.
Speaker 4: I know, people give away so much stuff, it's amazing.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 2: I did it last weekend. Actually, I've been clearing out
Speaker 2: and you know when you just sometimes you're like, I
Speaker 2: know I could sell this for money, but at the moment,
Speaker 2: I just need to get rid of it, Like we're
Speaker 2: about to renovate. I just need to get rid of it.
Speaker 2: So I gave away a chair on Facebook and it
Speaker 2: was a She's on the money girl and she messaged
Speaker 2: me and she's like, yeah, I love it. And then
Speaker 2: she's like, hold on, hold on, hold on. You are
Speaker 2: actually like Victoria, right, And I was like yes, And
Speaker 2: I was like, and I'm glad we're meeting here because
Speaker 2: this is very authentic to both of us. I was
Speaker 2: like this is money win thread worthy, like this absolutely
Speaker 2: like you getting a free chair should go on the
Speaker 2: money win thread. But I adore it. Tell me we're
Speaker 2: talking good things. What's your worst money habit?
Speaker 4: Look? I think because I am so good, every now
Speaker 4: and then I do go a little crazy.
Speaker 2: We have to you have to let it out.
Speaker 4: I will find myself on sene or team or team.
Speaker 4: It was amazing but terrible slip presot because everything individually
Speaker 4: seems so cheap, and then you just keep adding and adding,
Speaker 4: and I hate paying for postage, so I will find
Speaker 4: that person. I will always keep adding until I get
Speaker 4: free postage.
Speaker 2: So but also you need to weigh it up. Is
Speaker 2: free postage worth the amount that you're now spending in crap?
Speaker 4: You don't need hundred percent? No, I just need to
Speaker 4: delete the APPSIDF my phone. But every now and then
Speaker 4: I just get sucked in because I've been so good,
Speaker 4: and then I end up with a whole bunch of
Speaker 4: stuff that I don't need. I don't need it. Maybe
Speaker 4: I want it, but I don't need it.
Speaker 2: Oh that's fair. I feel like that's relatable though, and especially.
Speaker 4: Now you can I can convince myself, well, it's for
Speaker 4: the baby and you.
Speaker 2: Know, yeah, one hundred percent. And I mean it must
Speaker 2: be semi liberating not having somebody else that you need
Speaker 2: to check with, like no, no, no, I'm the captain here.
Speaker 2: I make all the decisions. I don't even have to
Speaker 2: consult with somebody else.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but no, I do I need to be I
Speaker 4: think better at that. And going back to tracking my
Speaker 4: money and getting a clearer of the year, going okay,
Speaker 4: now a part time this is my income, How much
Speaker 4: am I spending a month of grocery, petrol? And all
Speaker 4: of those bits and pieces will give me that clarity
Speaker 4: to go, okay, you actually do have this much money
Speaker 4: to play with, you know, within your month, and.
Speaker 2: I can fix that for you. Actually, I'm going to
Speaker 2: give you the She's on the Money masterclass because I
Speaker 2: think you're going to love it because it is going
Speaker 2: to not only help you track that and split it
Speaker 2: up like it splits it up into like what banking
Speaker 2: system you should you? So it says, this is the
Speaker 2: bank account it goes into, and this is how much
Speaker 2: each month or each fortnite goes in here, and this
Speaker 2: is what you're spending on food, fuel, and fun, and
Speaker 2: this is what you're spending on your child, and this
Speaker 2: is your savings goal. I think it'll kick you into
Speaker 2: gear because it's also going to make you really think
Speaker 2: about those money goals, because I know you said at
Speaker 2: the start you're like, oh, v I've really got to
Speaker 2: sit down. I think this is going to be get
Speaker 2: your money goal together, get your cash flow together, and
Speaker 2: I think that you'll love it. So I'm going to
Speaker 2: give that to you.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, thank you. That is so sweet.
Speaker 2: Oh, don't be silly like it's a little thank you.
Speaker 2: I suppose we're doing a money story because I'm super
Speaker 2: grateful for it. But obviously you're listening to the show
Speaker 2: and you're like, I want that. I want a cheeky
Speaker 2: little discount in the show notes for you. But oh,
Speaker 2: I think that that will really help you. I think
Speaker 2: like you've touched all the points and I'm like, hold on,
Speaker 2: hold on, this actually would solve this. I can do
Speaker 2: that today. I love that. But this has been so good,
Speaker 2: Like I love that you've just been so smart, like
Speaker 2: not just with finance, but you're like, actually, this is
Speaker 2: a thing that I want in my life, and I'm
Speaker 2: just going to go for it. I don't need somebody
Speaker 2: else to validate that I don't need somebody else to
Speaker 2: wait for having a kid, Like it must have been
Speaker 2: a hard decision to make, but now that you're a mom,
Speaker 2: you're probably like best decision ever.
Speaker 4: It is absolutely And I will say, like, my boy's
Speaker 4: so beautiful and he's such a good kid. But the
Speaker 4: hard days are hard, you know, because you are on
Speaker 4: twenty four seven. There is no break, so it is
Speaker 4: really tricky. But the good days are amazing and most
Speaker 4: of the days are good.
Speaker 2: And the bad ones are fleeting. Like I know that
Speaker 2: it would be really tough, but again, it's a season
Speaker 2: of life. And when you zoom out, you're like, that
Speaker 2: is worth it, Like it is.
Speaker 4: It is. I don't look back at all, Like, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm just so grateful for him, and I think for
Speaker 4: anyone considering going down this pathway, you know, my biggest
Speaker 4: advice would just book an appointment and just get some
Speaker 4: information and cejas sit with it, because as women, we
Speaker 4: don't have sadly and endless time to be able to
Speaker 4: do it, so we do have to think about it
Speaker 4: while we're in our certain age range.
Speaker 2: I guess, isn't that that's so sucky? But like, it's
Speaker 2: so true, and I think that as much as we
Speaker 2: can like dance around it and be kind like, unfortunately,
Speaker 2: if you get to an age, there's going to be
Speaker 2: a no turnback, Like you can't go back and make
Speaker 2: that decision later. So I love this and I feel
Speaker 2: like it's probably in the grand scheme of things, taking
Speaker 2: a lot of pressure off you as well to find
Speaker 2: a partner so that now if you meet someone, you're like,
Speaker 2: it's not this pressure to have kids. I don't have that,
Speaker 2: Like I just want to find the right person for me,
Speaker 2: and like now they get a bonus.
Speaker 4: Friend exactly, anything's possible.
Speaker 2: I love that one hundred percent. Money does. I have
Speaker 2: adored this. I've learned so much and I feel like
Speaker 2: the community is going to love this episode honestly, probably
Speaker 2: more than I have, which is a lot. So it
Speaker 2: has been a pleasure. But sadly that is all we
Speaker 2: have time for today. So oh, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for sharing your story and your journey and being so open,
Speaker 2: because I feel like I've adored it. The ad buy
Speaker 2: shared on She's on the Money is general in nature
Speaker 2: and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the
Speaker 2: Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be
Speaker 2: relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If
Speaker 2: you do choose to buy a financial product, read the
Speaker 2: PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 2: Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
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