Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud Yr
Speaker 1: the Order Kerney Whaltbury 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, the podcast
Speaker 2: for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another
Speaker 2: one of our money diaries where we get to talk
Speaker 2: with one of our incredible She's on the Money community
Speaker 2: members all about their money story. Let's jump straight into it,
Speaker 2: because this week I got a message and it sounded
Speaker 2: exactly like this. Hi, Victoria, I came to Australia from
Speaker 2: Brazil five years ago as a student with one thousand
Speaker 2: dollars and now I make one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: A year plus working in mining, from working on a
Speaker 2: cruise ship to doing air Tasker, I have sacrificed and saved,
Speaker 2: and I have finally made my way up the pay brackets.
Speaker 2: I love she's on the money and cannot wait to
Speaker 2: share my can do story with you. Ah money darrist
Speaker 2: I can't wait to hear your can do story either.
Speaker 2: Are you joking? From doing air tasker to earning one
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty grand a year? Are you kidding?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 5: Yes, looking back, I cannot even believe that I lived
Speaker 5: so many lives, I worked in so many things, and
Speaker 5: now I'm here having a leadership position in a very
Speaker 5: major dominated industry and like just thriving.
Speaker 2: Queen, absolute queen behavior. I love to see it. Let's
Speaker 2: get into it because I am very excited. It's a
Speaker 2: very inspirational story. Let's start the way I always start money.
Speaker 2: Dis tell me if I asked you to give yourself
Speaker 2: a money grade from A through to F, what would
Speaker 2: that grade be.
Speaker 5: I think I would be a grade B because I
Speaker 5: think I'm good at savings. But I also like I'm
Speaker 5: a Taurus, so I think I like to indulge myself.
Speaker 2: Into Yeah, that's going to get you, Yes.
Speaker 5: Especially traveling, so I travel a lot, so I could
Speaker 5: be better at savings, but I think I'm pretty good
Speaker 5: at Yeah.
Speaker 2: Look, i'm a Cancerian, so it's like my way or
Speaker 2: the highway. If I want a little treaty treat, I
Speaker 2: obviously deserve a little treaty treat for doing nothing. So like,
Speaker 2: that's absolutely fine, let's get into it. Though you moved
Speaker 2: here five years ago from Brazil, tell me more about
Speaker 2: your money story.
Speaker 5: Yes, so when I was living in Brazil, I'm a
Speaker 5: mechanical engineer, so I staid in mechanical engineering and from
Speaker 5: the beginning, my dad always said, you have to have
Speaker 5: a spreadsheet, have a spreadsheet for everything.
Speaker 2: He's a genius man after my own heart.
Speaker 5: He's like, I won't give you one cent if you
Speaker 5: don't show me that you were doing a spread cheet
Speaker 5: and everything. And then I was like, oh my god,
Speaker 5: this is so annoying. This was actually the worst. I
Speaker 5: was like, no, this can't be true. I can't do
Speaker 5: this for the rest of my life. But I eventually
Speaker 5: got into it. I never saved any money. I was
Speaker 5: not good with money. I absolutely didn't have any money.
Speaker 5: I graduated and with zero savings, but then I was
Speaker 5: an adult and in real life, and.
Speaker 4: I had to fight a job. And I couldn't fight
Speaker 4: a job.
Speaker 5: I had a mechanico engineering degree, I knew how to
Speaker 5: speak English, I had done internships, but I couldn't find
Speaker 5: a job.
Speaker 2: That's crazy, Yeah, especially because you were so talented and
Speaker 2: the fact that you speak honestly such clear English. I mean,
Speaker 2: you've been here for five years, but I'm sure that
Speaker 2: you've been able to speak English for longer than that.
Speaker 2: It's just like wow, Like that's such especially where you're from,
Speaker 2: Like that's so valuable.
Speaker 4: Yes, it should be.
Speaker 5: And I graduated from a good university and with an
Speaker 5: engineering degree, and I couldn't find a job.
Speaker 4: And then that got me.
Speaker 5: I spent like six months apply and because I live
Speaker 5: in a remote part of Brazil, I had to travel
Speaker 5: for job interviews.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4: And then it was very heartbreaking for me.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, was that really disheartening? Were you
Speaker 2: just really upset? Because I would have just been like
Speaker 2: I've tried so hard and i just feel like I'm
Speaker 2: getting nowhere.
Speaker 5: I got nowhere. I was so heartbroken. It was at
Speaker 5: a point of my life. I was like I just
Speaker 5: was lying in bed, and I was like, what's the point.
Speaker 5: What's the point.
Speaker 4: And then I just decided to get a job. I said,
Speaker 4: I'm going to get a job anywhere they want me
Speaker 4: to get a job, like they anywhere they accept me.
Speaker 4: And then I got a job in a cruise ship.
Speaker 2: Oh cool, I feel like I love this work ethic.
Speaker 2: You're like, no, I'm not gonna lie in bed. I
Speaker 2: don't care. I'm just going to take any job. You
Speaker 2: just applied for a job on a cruise ship one day, yes.
Speaker 4: Because my friend said that.
Speaker 5: I had a friend alongline friend and he said, I
Speaker 5: think that if you get a job in a cruise ship, it'll.
Speaker 4: Give you a resilience.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And then he said I think that'll be a very
Speaker 4: good grow opportunity for you. And then I applied for it.
Speaker 5: And then they were like, they literally take anyone that
Speaker 5: can speak English.
Speaker 2: So I mean, all right, well we've got a job
Speaker 2: ten out of ten.
Speaker 4: Yes. So I got a job. And then my parents
Speaker 4: were not very happy because or like you were an engineer.
Speaker 2: Because you can't get a job as an engineer, Mom,
Speaker 2: that's why.
Speaker 5: So I went to the cruise ship. And then this
Speaker 5: cruise ship I worked for six months, and let me
Speaker 5: tell you, they don't have any days off, like, no
Speaker 5: days off, No, not a single day off. You have
Speaker 5: to work every day for six months and you only
Speaker 5: get paid like five hundred US dollars.
Speaker 2: Wait, like a week or a month or a month? No,
Speaker 2: absolutely not.
Speaker 4: You're going to get paid a month and plus.
Speaker 5: Because I was a salesperson, I was getting commissioned, so
Speaker 5: if I seld things.
Speaker 2: I'd buy stuff from you. So did you make lots
Speaker 2: of commissions?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 5: In total I would get in between seven hundred US
Speaker 5: dollars and a thousand US dollars per month for six months.
Speaker 4: But it was working twelve hour days or more.
Speaker 2: My gosh, did you enjoy this experience or is that
Speaker 2: something you're like, I really want to be in the
Speaker 2: engineer now.
Speaker 5: I felt like it was a great experience because one
Speaker 5: day one lady told me, oh, I used to work
Speaker 5: like you did before. And the beadt thing about this
Speaker 5: is you're never going to have a worse job ever.
Speaker 2: The audacity. I love that. So you can only go
Speaker 2: out from here, babe, It can only go up from here.
Speaker 4: You can only go up. And then I thought it
Speaker 4: was very inspiring actually because no matter how bad like
Speaker 4: I'm feeling about my other jobs, I'm like, I've been
Speaker 4: through worse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, fair, fair, But I.
Speaker 4: Got to travel. It was very fun.
Speaker 5: It was a little bit tiring because you worked for
Speaker 5: eight hours and then you will have a chance to travel.
Speaker 5: You were in Barcelona, but you're like, oh my god,
Speaker 5: I'm so tired.
Speaker 3: They not.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yes, but I saved a lot. I saved like
Speaker 4: three thousand US dollars. I didn't spend any money shit.
Speaker 4: I like, I think it's just something changing in my brain.
Speaker 4: And I was really focused to come Australia because I
Speaker 4: thought that Australia would be a good place to restart.
Speaker 2: Have fresh split.
Speaker 4: Yeah, to have a fresh start.
Speaker 5: And I had saved those three thousand dollars. It caused
Speaker 5: me maybe like five thousand dollars to come to Australia.
Speaker 5: I know. My dad helped me with a little bit
Speaker 5: more money and then he said, okay, now I have
Speaker 5: to go. And then when I arrived here, I had
Speaker 5: very little.
Speaker 4: Money, like I was nothing. I told you, like one
Speaker 4: thousand dollars, two thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: Which in this economy doesn't stretch that far.
Speaker 4: Right, When I had to play for Bond. I was
Speaker 4: living in a room with two other girls, Like, yeah, wow,
Speaker 4: my house had I think, my.
Speaker 2: People what and you're all sharing rooms, all sharing rooms.
Speaker 4: That was a guy leaving the couch.
Speaker 5: It was crowded, but I think it's a lot of
Speaker 5: international students come here and they.
Speaker 4: Had experienced the same.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So I was here and then I had six months
Speaker 5: because I wasn't studying English.
Speaker 4: I already knew how to speak English. I was study
Speaker 4: a Certificate of in Project Management SMART and I started
Speaker 4: looking for jobs.
Speaker 5: And it was I thought. I was like, I'm going
Speaker 5: to get into the country. I know how to speak English.
Speaker 5: It'd be so easy.
Speaker 4: It wasn't easy.
Speaker 6: No, oh my gosh, it wasn't easy, like as easy
Speaker 6: as I thought now that I when I think about it,
Speaker 6: it was easier because I could speak English.
Speaker 4: But when you're leaving the moment, you're feeling like, oh
Speaker 4: my god, overwhelmed, overwhelmed.
Speaker 5: I'm in this new country, I don't know anyone. I'm
Speaker 5: leaving this room with these two other girls who I've
Speaker 5: never met before, and I don't have a lot of money.
Speaker 5: So I had to find money. So I signed up
Speaker 5: for air test because the other people that lived with me,
Speaker 5: they told me about it. And in this air tester,
Speaker 5: because I didn't have any experience, no one was and
Speaker 5: hiring me book to you.
Speaker 2: Oh no, I'm guilty of that. Honestly. Whenever I'm booking
Speaker 2: an air Taska, I'm always like, I really want this
Speaker 2: job done. But like, obviously it's people I've never met before,
Speaker 2: so I literally just go, oh, they've got some good reviews,
Speaker 2: or I'll book them. That makes me want to book
Speaker 2: people who don't have any reviews.
Speaker 4: It happened.
Speaker 2: Sorry, sorry that was me.
Speaker 4: It happens.
Speaker 5: But because I will do that to you, like I
Speaker 5: will hire someone who has experienced. But then I just
Speaker 5: decided I created a great profile. I put some pictures
Speaker 5: so everyone could see like I'm smiley, I'm happy.
Speaker 2: A nice lady. Yeah yeah, like if I met you,
Speaker 2: i'd book you immediately, that's okay, yes.
Speaker 5: And then I noticed that if I got into the
Speaker 5: app at like six am or seven am, some people
Speaker 5: were posting jobs and no one was there to apply.
Speaker 5: And then I was like getting them because I was
Speaker 5: a faster, like the fastest.
Speaker 2: Yes, smart woman, she's speedy's speedy.
Speaker 4: It was all about speed. And then I started growing
Speaker 4: and I did so many jobs, like cleaning jobs. I did,
Speaker 4: handing pamphlets on the streets.
Speaker 5: I got some flowers for a guy to propose to
Speaker 5: his partner.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's so wholesome.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 5: And I had like many, many, many opportunities. It was
Speaker 5: a jump start, and it gave me a boost of
Speaker 5: confidence that I was really needing at the moment.
Speaker 4: I just started to have.
Speaker 5: A goal to make like one thousand dollars per week,
Speaker 5: and I was like, this is so impossible.
Speaker 4: I will never make one thousand dollars per week.
Speaker 2: Did you do it?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, a thousand dollars a week on Air Taska.
Speaker 4: Yes. I was doing everything.
Speaker 5: And then because I was doing a lot of cleaning
Speaker 5: jobs and I didn't have vacuum cleaner, I used to
Speaker 5: get the vacuum cleaner behind my flatmates back because they
Speaker 5: couldn't see that I was taking the vacuum cleaner. And
Speaker 5: I was taking the vacuum cleaner on the public transport
Speaker 5: to clean other people's house.
Speaker 2: I love you, You're the best. Not the hustle is real.
Speaker 2: Get it clean, I No.
Speaker 4: I applied for and then I applied for another job.
Speaker 4: Who was promotions.
Speaker 5: It's they give you a stent and they make you
Speaker 5: go to supermarkets like you go to woolies. You go
Speaker 5: to calls and you have to do sampling. So you
Speaker 5: have to give some people. Do you want to cheese?
Speaker 5: Do you want to try this cheese? Do you want
Speaker 5: to try this yogurt? I told them that I had
Speaker 5: a car, but I didn't have a.
Speaker 2: Car, a ha ha ha.
Speaker 4: I remember, just for the money, and I was getting
Speaker 4: those standards.
Speaker 2: It's big, big, big set up, set.
Speaker 5: Up public transport, and I would go to so many places.
Speaker 4: It was insane.
Speaker 2: You're crazy, but I love it. And I also like
Speaker 2: mad respect for the hustle, like there seems to be
Speaker 2: I don't know this underlying, Like you know, people come
Speaker 2: in from international and they take our jobs. Like how
Speaker 2: many people actually have the resilience and the drive to
Speaker 2: do the jobs that you have done? Like I love it.
Speaker 2: You deserve everything that comes your way, like that is
Speaker 2: the best ever.
Speaker 5: That's how I was very focused on staying here because
Speaker 5: I love the country.
Speaker 4: I fell in love.
Speaker 5: It was so nice. I was like, I'm living here.
Speaker 5: I saved money to go to a migration lawyer. And
Speaker 5: then he said I was like, I'm an engineer. I
Speaker 5: can't stay here. My skill is in high demand. And
Speaker 5: he said, oh, I think. I don't think.
Speaker 4: Because you have no experience in engineering, it's not very
Speaker 4: likely that you migrate, so you have to get married.
Speaker 2: And I was like, what, No, let's get a new
Speaker 2: lawyer's let's not talk to him. He sounds like a
Speaker 2: bit of a fluff muppet.
Speaker 5: I was like, why, no, no way, and then I
Speaker 5: told I. Eventually I talked to someone else and they're like, no,
Speaker 5: we're going to have this plan for you, and you're
Speaker 5: going to study civil engineering a diploma. You're doing to
Speaker 5: do a diploma, you're gonna graduate, and then you're gonna
Speaker 5: have a graduate visa and it will be allowed to
Speaker 5: follow your path. And I was like, yes, this is
Speaker 5: the playtime going. And I arrived here in February two,
Speaker 5: twenty eighteen, and by June twenty eighteen, I had saved
Speaker 5: three thousand dollars four.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it's the costs. Yeah, good work.
Speaker 4: Uh huh.
Speaker 2: The hustle was real. I bet you didn't want to
Speaker 2: separate with that too quickly.
Speaker 5: No, But I was like, I can't do this. I'm
Speaker 5: saving so much money. This country is amazing. It would
Speaker 5: get better. And then I did.
Speaker 4: I study. I paid for my course because when you're
Speaker 4: international student, you have to pay as you go.
Speaker 5: You don't have like hats or you can get alone.
Speaker 5: And I paid for everything and I didn't go out.
Speaker 5: I was leaving in Brisbane.
Speaker 4: Yeah, people asked me, Oh, how about the restaurants in Brisbane.
Speaker 2: You're like, I don't know about restaurants in Brisbane. I'm saving.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I haven't bought clothes nothing. I was just saving, saving
Speaker 5: and studying, saving and study and saving and study. And
Speaker 5: then at the end of it, I have like four
Speaker 5: thousand layers and savings. And I decided to go to Japan.
Speaker 5: I was gonna thirt thirty, and then I was freaked out.
Speaker 2: You're like, I've got to do something big.
Speaker 5: I was having a crisis. I was like, I'm thirty,
Speaker 5: I have to do something. I've got to Japan. I
Speaker 5: was in Japan and I was living my best life.
Speaker 2: I love this. I love this.
Speaker 4: I thought, I'm going back to Australia and I'm working
Speaker 4: as I work and I'm saving this money back.
Speaker 2: It'll be funny exactly.
Speaker 4: It wasn't it was March twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Oh no, that's the worst. You got kicked twelve you
Speaker 2: were down.
Speaker 4: It was March twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: I mean, at least you squeazed a holiday in before
Speaker 2: the world locks it down. Strategic.
Speaker 4: I like it y and I had to come back
Speaker 4: because my boss was calling me and he was like,
Speaker 4: is that defent? Borders are gonna close. You have to
Speaker 4: come back.
Speaker 2: You need to come back, otherwise you're never coming back.
Speaker 4: I'm never comming. I I was never going coming back
Speaker 4: because the country stay closed for two years.
Speaker 2: Yes, crazy.
Speaker 5: I came back and I couldn't find a job because
Speaker 5: I worked with hospitality. I worked with international students, and
Speaker 5: that's how I paid my course too, because I got
Speaker 5: a job in this student agency and they had a discount,
Speaker 5: so it was much easier because I had like a
Speaker 5: thirty forty percent discount on my course, which was a
Speaker 5: very good money saving.
Speaker 2: Yeah money wain yeah money.
Speaker 5: Wait, Yes, twenty twenty happened, and then I just concentrated
Speaker 5: and finished my studies, studying a lot. I had some jobs,
Speaker 5: but it wasn't something like real, and then I de
Speaker 5: scided I only wanted to work as an engineer.
Speaker 4: It was very hard.
Speaker 5: I offered to do an internship for free, where I
Speaker 5: went from Brisbane to Go Coast on a train. I
Speaker 5: had no money, and I was having even less money
Speaker 5: because it costs like ten dollars the round trip from
Speaker 5: as a student, and I was like, is this the
Speaker 5: right choice?
Speaker 4: It wasn't really the right choice because I stayed there
Speaker 4: for one month and they told me I saw basically.
Speaker 5: I'm not really good at apparently at drafting. I tried again.
Speaker 5: I did everything.
Speaker 2: Seriously, I'm so proud of you. Are you proud of yourself?
Speaker 2: I bet you're proud of yourself. You have to begh
Speaker 2: after all this, I am.
Speaker 4: Because I paid for a company they span your regiment.
Speaker 5: That's how desperate I was. I don't recommend this to
Speaker 5: anyone because it is so bad and desperate, but I
Speaker 5: was desperate.
Speaker 4: I was desperate. I was like, I have to do something.
Speaker 2: You knew what you wanted.
Speaker 4: I had to try. I like I already had to know.
Speaker 5: So I spent my regiment and one company they called
Speaker 5: me and I worked there for one month. But the
Speaker 5: guy said, oh, you don't know how to do this,
Speaker 5: so I'm not paying you and I'm like, oh, fair, fair,
Speaker 5: I don't like you either.
Speaker 2: So oh no.
Speaker 5: Finally, in November twenty twenty, I had a friend and
Speaker 5: she said, oh, my friend has a vacancy in her
Speaker 5: company and you should apply. And she sent me the
Speaker 5: vacancy and it was for a civil engineer with five
Speaker 5: years of experience. And I was like, oh, but I'm
Speaker 5: a mechanic engineer with sero years of experience and she said, oh,
Speaker 5: that sounds different, but I applied anyway, give it a crack.
Speaker 5: It was COVID What's Crazy Times and then some guy
Speaker 5: called me and he was like, oh, are you interested
Speaker 5: to move to the outback Australia and leave in this
Speaker 5: mining town and we'll give you a job.
Speaker 4: And I was like absolutely, I'm going.
Speaker 2: Of course, I'm down for anything. At this point.
Speaker 4: I'm young for anything.
Speaker 5: And he said how long will it take you to
Speaker 5: come here? And I said one week.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. He would have been like that's crazy. Yes,
Speaker 2: fired immediately.
Speaker 4: U huh. In retrospect, when I'm thinking about it, I think, oh,
Speaker 4: I just said yes to this random guy I don't
Speaker 4: know to go to out back Australia. That's a little
Speaker 4: bit dangerous.
Speaker 2: That's a little bit questionable, but we're not gonna You're
Speaker 2: safe and fine now, so let's not talk too much
Speaker 2: about that.
Speaker 4: So it worked out fine.
Speaker 5: I went there and they had me on a salary
Speaker 5: of fifty four thousand a.
Speaker 4: Year, and for me, I was great. I was like,
Speaker 4: this is great. I loved it.
Speaker 5: I have an income now after a year of not
Speaker 5: tiving in an income. But I was working like sixty
Speaker 5: hours a week. And then I did the mess and
Speaker 5: I was like, oh, this is like a teenager working
Speaker 5: at McDonald's would make more money than I am.
Speaker 4: And then I was like, oh, this is not good.
Speaker 4: But like one month.
Speaker 5: Later they were like, oh we're making It was really good.
Speaker 5: So we're giving you a raise and you are making
Speaker 5: now seventy five thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2: What from fifty four thousand to seventy five is a
Speaker 2: massive jump.
Speaker 4: Yes, that's why I was like, oh, my god, my god,
Speaker 4: much money. I was so impressed.
Speaker 5: But I was leaving the desert and a city with
Speaker 5: six thousand people. They have two pubs, and I was
Speaker 5: there all by myself again in the city where I
Speaker 5: knew and I didn't know anyone, but I was making
Speaker 5: more money than I could ever imagine I was going
Speaker 5: to make. And then everything happened. I got invited to
Speaker 5: apply for my permanent residency, and I told them, no,
Speaker 5: I can't live here anymore. There's nothing to do in
Speaker 5: this town. I'm not a big drinker. That's the only
Speaker 5: thing that people doing here.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I can't. I'm going to leave.
Speaker 5: And then they said, oh, what if we labor hire
Speaker 5: you as an engineer to another company and give you
Speaker 5: fifty dollars an hour?
Speaker 2: And You're like, wait, well, why wasn't that an option
Speaker 2: at the start?
Speaker 5: I was like, okay, so I'm working for twelve hours
Speaker 5: and fifty dollars an hour.
Speaker 4: That's so much money. Of course I said yes.
Speaker 5: I said yes, And then I started working for this
Speaker 5: new company as a labor higher in August twenty twenty one.
Speaker 5: So in six months, I was like, I seex seven
Speaker 5: seven eight months, I went from being a student and
Speaker 5: making fifty four thousand dollars and to being a permanent
Speaker 5: resident and and making fifty dollars an hour.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. And you thought you'd picked there, didn't you.
Speaker 4: Yes. I was like, oh my god, this is so good,
Speaker 4: so good, so good. I was so happy.
Speaker 5: I was not so happy because it's a very demanding
Speaker 5: job too, very long hours. I started working at five am.
Speaker 5: But then I continue in this company and then they
Speaker 5: asked me to join the other company. I was being
Speaker 5: labor hirghed and they decide, oh, I'm gonna pay you
Speaker 5: sixty dollars an hour.
Speaker 4: And I was like yes, please, yes, please, yes, yes.
Speaker 4: It was great.
Speaker 5: I had like really good bosses who was They were
Speaker 5: always looking after me and they were like, oh, I'm
Speaker 5: gonna help you to negotiate your salary. He was the
Speaker 5: one who like, don't take less than sixty dollars an hour.
Speaker 5: As for sixty X for sixty, you're gonna get it.
Speaker 5: And that's worth really good for me because I was
Speaker 5: like fully, really proud of myself because I had people
Speaker 5: behind like who are helping me and eventually these balls
Speaker 5: of mine. He retired and I started working there in August.
Speaker 5: In December, he wrote a letter to his boss and
Speaker 5: said I'm going to retire and I want to be
Speaker 5: in my place.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, what uh huh?
Speaker 4: And I was like, are you sure because you have
Speaker 4: been doing this for like thirty five years and I'm
Speaker 4: not thirty five years of age.
Speaker 2: No, you don't even look thirty. So that's the money
Speaker 2: win for everybody involved.
Speaker 4: Yes, And I was like, are you sure, and he's like, no,
Speaker 4: I'm sure.
Speaker 5: You are really good. You're really good. You need more.
Speaker 5: Of course, I'll guide you through it because you need experience,
Speaker 5: but you won't only get experienced by doing it, and
Speaker 5: I want to give you this opportunity. And he retired
Speaker 5: in April twenty twenty two and I start working in
Speaker 5: his position.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, and that's how you got to earn
Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
Speaker 5: Yes, because and then now I worked there, they didn't
Speaker 5: give me any raises, and then I asked them. I
Speaker 5: was like, oh, I'd been working in this role for
Speaker 5: like five months and I didn't get a raise or
Speaker 5: a letter saying I'm in this role.
Speaker 4: I'm just getting pushed into meetings and asked for.
Speaker 2: Saying, oh, yeah, that's not cool.
Speaker 5: No, no, and I asked for it, and then I said, oh,
Speaker 5: I'm going to see what I'm going to do. And
Speaker 5: then he offered me seventy five dollars an hour.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. And now she's rolling in it. I
Speaker 2: cannot believe it. Yes, I'm so proud of you. So
Speaker 2: tell me now, what's your job description and your salary package?
Speaker 5: So I'm a quality manager. Yeah, and I get a
Speaker 5: flat rate which is seventy five an hour. I do
Speaker 5: twelve hour days, so it adds up and yeah plus
Speaker 5: super supernovasion and that's what made.
Speaker 2: Yeah money when and that comes out at one eighty
Speaker 2: grand plus a year depending on how many hours you.
Speaker 4: Do, uh huh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So tell me you are a hustle at heart
Speaker 2: like you are a very good saver. What are you
Speaker 2: now saving for? What's your big money goal?
Speaker 4: I'm saving to buy a house.
Speaker 2: Yes, are you going to live here forever?
Speaker 5: I will live here forever. I'm a seatter now and
Speaker 5: then I'm going to live here forever. So I'm trying
Speaker 5: to buy a house right now. I have everything saved.
Speaker 5: But money wise, I'm very I never made any big purchases.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say, you need a good mortgage broker.
Speaker 2: I've heard Zella money are fantastic if anybody needs the
Speaker 2: best mortgage brokers in the business. But it's scary, isn't it,
Speaker 2: Especially when you go from not having a lot and
Speaker 2: having to work so hard for every single dollar to them.
Speaker 2: Being in a position where you're earning a lot more,
Speaker 2: do you feel like it can be kind of ripped
Speaker 2: away from you? Because I feel like a lot of
Speaker 2: people in your position that I talk too often like ah,
Speaker 2: what if it doesn't last?
Speaker 5: Yes, I feel that a lot. I don't do big purchases.
Speaker 5: I never bought a car because I I think that's
Speaker 5: a lot of money I don't need that I can
Speaker 5: leave without it. And because it's everything is so recent
Speaker 5: and it changes so much and so fast, I often
Speaker 5: feel some conscious like, oh is this gonna last?
Speaker 2: We know it is. You're a hustler, You're not going anywhere.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's when I was thinking about this and how
Speaker 5: far I came and how I had to restart again
Speaker 5: so many times, like COVID and I made it. I
Speaker 5: feel like I'll I'll be I think I'll be all right.
Speaker 2: I'll be all right, you will be absolutely fine. I'm
Speaker 2: so proud of you. Does it sometimes make you remember
Speaker 2: back to that time when you were in Brazil laying
Speaker 2: in your bed, going is this even worth it? Like
Speaker 2: I feel like so many of us have been in
Speaker 2: that position where we're like, this isn't worth it, nothing's
Speaker 2: working out, and then like a few years down the track,
Speaker 2: look at you killing it.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 5: And I also I wanted to share my story because
Speaker 5: some people are like, oh, I see a lot in
Speaker 5: the group.
Speaker 4: What people like, Oh, I'm twenty five and I don't
Speaker 4: have a house. Oh I'm gonna die. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I know it's dramatic, isn't it. And you're like that
Speaker 2: doesn't matter.
Speaker 4: That doesn't matter. You can start again and try.
Speaker 5: I never thought about this as being oh, I'm so
Speaker 5: brave until everyone was pointed out though, oh you're so brave.
Speaker 5: You're so brave, and I was like, okay, actually maybe
Speaker 5: it is, and yeah, just everyone, you can do it too.
Speaker 2: I feel like it's interesting when people use the word
Speaker 2: brave right, like, please, don't get me wrong, I would
Speaker 2: love to be labeled brave, Like being brave is very,
Speaker 2: very impressive. However, I feel like sometimes you get labeled
Speaker 2: brave when you're just doing what you feel like you
Speaker 2: have to do in the moment. You're like, I'm not
Speaker 2: being brave. I just need to live life, and I
Speaker 2: just need money, and I need to put food on
Speaker 2: the table, and arguably that's not that brave. But I
Speaker 2: think it's it's more about being honest with ourselves, like
Speaker 2: so many people give up and to get up every
Speaker 2: single day and just do what you need to do
Speaker 2: and carry you know, whole sampling setups on trams and
Speaker 2: trains and you know, not having a car, like that's brave.
Speaker 2: That is brave. Like lots of people wouldn't do what
Speaker 2: you did, and I think that's why we default to
Speaker 2: this idea of, oh my gosh, that's so brave, and
Speaker 2: that's actually them saying I would never do what you did.
Speaker 2: I don't have that tenacity, and so you kind of go, yeah,
Speaker 2: I do, though, yes I do.
Speaker 4: I did.
Speaker 5: And I feel like, especially in this immigrant community, there
Speaker 5: are a lot of people here who are by themselves,
Speaker 5: but they only see people who have partners driving because
Speaker 5: it's easier when you have someone to be your financial
Speaker 5: and emotional support. And I think it's good to spread
Speaker 5: this message that you can do it on your own too.
Speaker 5: I was not alone, like people are like, you're doing all.
Speaker 4: By yourself, and I'm like no, I had friends and
Speaker 4: my friends and then the family and.
Speaker 5: My friends help me so much. They were like always
Speaker 5: sporting me and saying you can do all this. You
Speaker 5: are amazing. They gave me a lot of support, so yeah,
Speaker 5: everyone can.
Speaker 4: Do it, I think so.
Speaker 2: No, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Let's go to a really
Speaker 2: quick break on the flip side. I have a few
Speaker 2: more questions for you, so guys don't go anywhere. All right,
Speaker 2: money diarist, We are back and your story is incredible.
Speaker 2: But I want to know do you have any investments?
Speaker 2: If so, what are they? If not, do you have plans?
Speaker 4: I do have investments, of course you do. I went
Speaker 4: to a financial advisor. Oh you queen, Yes, because I'm
Speaker 4: a planner. You are right.
Speaker 2: I mean your dad instilled in you that you had
Speaker 2: to have a spreadsheet, so I'm not surprised.
Speaker 4: I have ten thousand dollars in shares.
Speaker 2: No you don't. Yeah, oh my gosh, I love this
Speaker 2: for you.
Speaker 4: Uh huh. So I saved seventy thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: No you didn't, So no you didn't. Yes, so you
Speaker 2: you came to Australia, you with like one thousand dollars
Speaker 2: and did air task of tasks and now you are
Speaker 2: earning one to eighty plus plus super You have ten
Speaker 2: grand in shares and you've saved seventy grand. Yes, you're
Speaker 2: a queen.
Speaker 4: Sometimes I think, oh, for the amount of money I make,
Speaker 4: I could be saving more. But I think I did
Speaker 4: really well with my savings because I travel a lot
Speaker 4: this year. I went to Europe, I went to Bali,
Speaker 4: I went to Thailand.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, you've still got seventy grand in savings.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. All right, well, we need to take
Speaker 2: all of our tips and tricks from you. I love
Speaker 2: this so much. Do you have any debt? No, no, debt.
Speaker 2: I've never been in debt. You've always just been a hustler.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 5: I had like a credit card to buy my MacBook
Speaker 5: and it was like two thousand dollars and that was it.
Speaker 5: I don't have any credit card debt, loans or car repayments,
Speaker 5: and I don't have a mortgage yet so yet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that would be good debt when that happens.
Speaker 4: Yes, when when it happens, it will be good. But
Speaker 4: at the moment, I don't have anything, just my investment.
Speaker 2: So tell me. I feel like we have so much
Speaker 2: to learn from you. What is your best money habit?
Speaker 5: My best money habit at the moment is the thing
Speaker 5: that at the beginning of the year, I didn't have
Speaker 5: a lot of savings.
Speaker 2: Wait, so you've done most of these seventy thousand dollars
Speaker 2: in the last twelve months. Yes, you're crazy. I love it.
Speaker 5: It's because after I got my job and I was
Speaker 5: just went crazy.
Speaker 4: I was like, oh my god.
Speaker 5: You know when you were on a diet and then
Speaker 5: you stop dieting and they were over eating.
Speaker 2: And you're like, I can go out to a restaurant now.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 5: The thing that helped me a lot was getting paid
Speaker 5: in a different account. So I opened this account. I
Speaker 5: started getting paid p in that account that I don't see,
Speaker 5: and then from the account, I get my expenses that
Speaker 5: I planned, and I pay myself weekly and I have
Speaker 5: to use only that money. And that helped me a lot,
Speaker 5: not too just seeing money in my bank account, like oh,
Speaker 5: I can't afford another T shirt.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I am guilty if that. That's why I
Speaker 2: had to like create my budget and cash flow like
Speaker 2: spending plan, because if I didn't do that, I would
Speaker 2: have just spent whatever was in my account. I'd be like, well,
Speaker 2: it's there for me. I told you before. I'm a kancian.
Speaker 2: I deserve a little treaty treat I have to have
Speaker 2: all my stuff taken off me.
Speaker 4: Yes, And you're like, oh, what is it? Hundred dollars,
Speaker 4: It won't matter. I had so much.
Speaker 2: Yes, it matters, It matters. It matters so much.
Speaker 4: It mattered so much.
Speaker 5: And another thing that I think it really helped me
Speaker 5: is I had a lady who does a consulting for
Speaker 5: your word group, so she would see your clothes and
Speaker 5: she she's a personal shopper, and she I was buying
Speaker 5: a lot of because I grew so much. I was
Speaker 5: not seeing myself in my clothes, and I was buying
Speaker 5: random clothes that didn't suit me, were not my style
Speaker 5: just because they were cheap or and she helped me
Speaker 5: into only buy what I really need, and that helped
Speaker 5: me not buying a lot.
Speaker 2: I love this. So you've gone from being like a
Speaker 2: broke Brazilian student with one thousand dollars to being a
Speaker 2: baller who owns one eighty, who's very very well dressed.
Speaker 2: I love this. Look at you go. Now you're just
Speaker 2: like a fashion queen.
Speaker 4: Uh huh. And now I also I make more.
Speaker 5: I'm more conscious about what I buy, so sometimes I
Speaker 5: have I see something on TikTok, like, oh, I have
Speaker 5: to buy this foundation because it makes.
Speaker 4: Your ski glow.
Speaker 5: And then I'm like, I have to buy this. There's
Speaker 5: only sixty dollars. It won't affect me too much. And
Speaker 5: then I wait, I save this in my interest wish list. Yes,
Speaker 5: And I think about it for a while and I.
Speaker 4: Don't forget about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know that's me. I forget about it. If
Speaker 2: I don't buy it in the moment, I've already forgotten
Speaker 2: about it. And sometimes I do buy it in the moment,
Speaker 2: and then I forget about it and then it arrives
Speaker 2: my house and I'm like, why did I buy that.
Speaker 4: Free gifts?
Speaker 2: Why did I do that? I should have thought about
Speaker 2: this more. I meant to be the person that runs
Speaker 2: ches on the money, like I should be better at money. Yes,
Speaker 2: So would that lean into your worst money habit? What
Speaker 2: is your worst money habit?
Speaker 4: My love my worst money habit? There are two, which
Speaker 4: is traveling. I do like my trouble.
Speaker 2: That's not a bad money habit. No, I love that.
Speaker 2: That's a good money habit. I'm not letting that be
Speaker 2: a bad money habit. That's life experiences.
Speaker 4: I'm not very stingy with my money.
Speaker 5: So I try to help my friends and I give
Speaker 5: them money, which is it's a bad thing for my finances,
Speaker 5: but it's a good thing for them.
Speaker 2: But it's also a good thing. You sound like such
Speaker 2: a wholesome human being, Like you are so generous and kind,
Speaker 2: Like is that not nice?
Speaker 4: Yes, it's nice.
Speaker 5: It's bad for my money, but I'll have some friends
Speaker 5: because I can't count on all my parents to give
Speaker 5: me this money support. Like if I'm struggling, I know
Speaker 5: if I with they will help me. And I know
Speaker 5: that a lot of people don't have this, And.
Speaker 2: I feel I'm not letting that be a bad money habit.
Speaker 2: I know, absolutely not. It's too kind. Yeah, I feel
Speaker 2: like it could be a bad money habit, but like,
Speaker 2: let's reframe it. Does that make you feel good? Like
Speaker 2: does it make you feel like you're supporting your friends
Speaker 2: and like your community, and like I feel like that's
Speaker 2: a good money habit, Like I feel like more people
Speaker 2: should give and if it's supporting those that you already
Speaker 2: know and love, like, is that not great?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I think it is. It's just if I can help.
Speaker 2: Just because lots of other people don't do it. Doesn't
Speaker 2: make it a bad money habit for you to do it.
Speaker 5: Yes, it's these two were the the two things that
Speaker 5: I spend most of my money in things that I
Speaker 5: shouldn't suppose to. Yeah, and sometimes you know the occasional
Speaker 5: shopping and you're like, uh, yeah, it's a lipstick.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 2: I'm so obsessed with like lip tints at the moment
Speaker 2: because of TikTok. Like I'm seeing all these girls on
Speaker 2: TikTok with beautiful lip tints and I don't own one
Speaker 2: lip tint yet, but I know I need to. And
Speaker 2: I have this like list in my phone of all
Speaker 2: these like lip tint companies and usually they are like
Speaker 2: Korean brands. So now I've got to find a way
Speaker 2: to buy them, but I want to try them first. Anyway,
Speaker 2: It's very very complex, but I totally.
Speaker 4: Get it, Yes it is. It is complex.
Speaker 2: I can't agree with you though, that that's a bad
Speaker 2: money habit.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Like that's the amount of bad money habit. And
Speaker 5: I think I do I should invest more. But because
Speaker 5: of the country I came from, the economic situation is
Speaker 5: not as good as in Australian. There's not as tables
Speaker 5: in here. When they ask me oh we have to
Speaker 5: do see your investor profile. And I'm like, I'm very conservative.
Speaker 2: Conservative. Yeah, I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised.
Speaker 5: They're like, you cannot be conservative. I'm like, this is
Speaker 5: the only part of my life.
Speaker 2: I'm conservative, But this is my money story. This is
Speaker 2: how I've grown up.
Speaker 4: Uh yeah, I think it's because of where I came from.
Speaker 2: But those are goals for the future. Yeah, those are goals.
Speaker 2: Like investing more is a goal. It's not a letdown, right,
Speaker 2: Like that's something that we can do, not something that
Speaker 2: we crucify ourselves for not doing already.
Speaker 4: Right, I bought the book that she's on the Money Investment.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, thank you. That is so kind. All Right,
Speaker 2: so your money still is crazy. You arrived from Brazil
Speaker 2: five years ago, hustled your way up to one hundred
Speaker 2: and eighty thousand dollars. You've got some good money habits.
Speaker 2: You have saved seventy thousand dollars despite traveling, and you
Speaker 2: have ten grand in shares because you were smart enough
Speaker 2: to see a financial advisor and get those ducks in
Speaker 2: a row. You're planning on buying a house. Literally, hustled
Speaker 2: more than anyone I have met in the recent times.
Speaker 2: You think that your worst money habits is being too
Speaker 2: nice to your friends. And at the start of this
Speaker 2: episode you said, my money grade I think is a bee. Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna argue with you, but what would it
Speaker 2: take to get to an A or an A plus.
Speaker 4: I think if I went back to what my dad
Speaker 4: said about spreadsheets.
Speaker 2: I can help you there. I can help you there.
Speaker 2: I have a very good one. I'll gift you our
Speaker 2: money master class, and then you can go through all
Speaker 2: of that and it will sort you out and then automatically,
Speaker 2: I think that makes you an A plus.
Speaker 4: Yes, that'd be great. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Of course I am so proud of
Speaker 2: you already, and I do genuinely think if you're feeling
Speaker 2: a bit, what I'm getting from this story is that
Speaker 2: you're just feeling a bit like I'm doing what I
Speaker 2: think I need to do, but you don't actually have
Speaker 2: like a solid plan or you didn't listen to your
Speaker 2: data in spreadsheet enough. But I feel like you don't
Speaker 2: have enough of a like solid like No, this is
Speaker 2: my cash flow, this is where this goes, this is
Speaker 2: what this goal is working towards like I think we
Speaker 2: need that like money system to make us, I guess,
Speaker 2: feel really empowered. So it's not necessarily about going, oh, well,
Speaker 2: I have money coming in and I put it in
Speaker 2: my savings full stop. It's kind of like, well, actually,
Speaker 2: my cash flow system takes into consideration that I have
Speaker 2: these savings goals for travel, this savings goal for the
Speaker 2: future house I want to buy, this savings goal for
Speaker 2: maybe a car or something that you want to achieve
Speaker 2: in the future, And every single time you look at it,
Speaker 2: you go, no, I'm working towards my goals. I'm saving,
Speaker 2: I'm investing like it just makes you It's a lot
Speaker 2: more visible, right and it means that you feel like
Speaker 2: you're on track, because right now, I'm sure if you
Speaker 2: talk to your financial advisor, they'd be like money darist,
Speaker 2: You're fine. But that's not how you feel if you
Speaker 2: don't have a plan, right.
Speaker 5: No, it's when you go to see a financial advisor.
Speaker 5: I think it's very broad to what they present to you,
Speaker 5: and it's just like seeing a mortgage broker. They're like, oh,
Speaker 5: you have to choose a suburb you like, and I'm like,
Speaker 5: are you kidding me? There are how many twenty thousand
Speaker 5: suburbs in Australia hops you to laer it.
Speaker 4: Down to five.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair, Sam, Yeah, I think you need to
Speaker 2: just create a plan. So I'm going to set you
Speaker 2: up with that, which I'm really excited about. If anyone's
Speaker 2: listening and actually wants to set themselves up with that,
Speaker 2: use the discount code pod five zero so pod fifty
Speaker 2: and it'll give you fifty bucks off. We'll make sure
Speaker 2: that the link to that is in the show notes
Speaker 2: as well. But Money Diarist, I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 2: I just want to be your best friend. So next
Speaker 2: time you're in Melbourne, we're going to go out for
Speaker 2: a drink. But thank you so much for sharing this
Speaker 2: story with our community. I know they're going to love it.
Speaker 2: I know they're going to be as obsessed with you
Speaker 2: as I am. But it's really special that you wanted
Speaker 2: to share this.
Speaker 4: Hi. Thank you. I love the show and I'm so
Speaker 4: happy to share. And I like one of my goals
Speaker 4: is to empower other women.
Speaker 2: You're doing that, you're winning, so.
Speaker 4: I want them. If anyone wants to talk to me
Speaker 4: about being your money and developing your career, there I'm
Speaker 4: always up to it and I'm in the group.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I love that. All right. Well, if
Speaker 2: anyone wants to talk to our money Direst, shoot me
Speaker 2: a message and alah hook the two of you up.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 3: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
Speaker 3: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
Speaker 3: on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
Speaker 3: not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
Speaker 3: If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
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