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. She's on the Money.
Speaker 3: She's on the Money.
Speaker 4: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money podcast that
Speaker 4: lets you be perby about other people's money habits for
Speaker 4: educational purposes. Of course, this is my favorite episode of
Speaker 4: the week, Welcome back to Money Diarries, where we get
Speaker 4: to talk with one of our incredible She's on the
Speaker 4: Money community members all about their journey. Let's jump straight
Speaker 4: into it because this week we got a message and
Speaker 4: it sounded exactly like this. Hi, She's on the Money.
Speaker 4: Did you know that sentlink doesn't classify twins as multiples.
Speaker 4: That means parents of twins like me don't qualify for
Speaker 4: the multiple birth allowance, even though we have to pay for.
Speaker 5: Literally two of everything.
Speaker 4: When our twins were born in twenty twenty, right in
Speaker 4: the middle of COVID, we were juggling double the costs formula, clothes, nappies,
Speaker 4: while also building our home and worrying about job security
Speaker 4: in the middle of a pandemic. Fast forward to now,
Speaker 4: and we've paid off our consumer debt, started investing for
Speaker 4: our future and our boys, who are now four years old,
Speaker 4: and built a budget we actually stick to. Automating our
Speaker 4: bills has been a game changer too. Thanks to She's
Speaker 4: on the Money, I've gained financial literacy, confidence, and the
Speaker 4: empowerment to invest in my future. Money Diarist, welcome to
Speaker 4: the show.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 5: I am so excited. Low key.
Speaker 4: This is going to sound crazy to anyone but probably you.
Speaker 4: I would love twins, Like I just think that would
Speaker 4: be so fun. Like I know that that's probably a handful,
Speaker 4: and I'm sure you're going to tell me about this,
Speaker 4: but like, oh, if there was a way to be like, oh,
Speaker 4: if you do this so I have this supplement.
Speaker 5: Victoria and you can have twins. I'd do it.
Speaker 4: I'd absolutely do it. And you're like, Victoria's crazy.
Speaker 2: It's definitely double the love and double with cuddle, that's
Speaker 2: for sure.
Speaker 5: See, I just exactly. I just think it would be
Speaker 5: so cool. Anyway, let's do a money diary.
Speaker 4: As always, we always start asking the question, what great
Speaker 4: would you give your money habits if I asked you
Speaker 4: to give them a grade from A through to F.
Speaker 2: I reckon, I give myself probably a B minus.
Speaker 5: I like this. I like this. Tell me a little
Speaker 5: bit more. Now about your money story.
Speaker 2: Okay, so, growing up, we certainly never went without, but
Speaker 2: money wasn't something that was openly discussed in our family.
Speaker 2: Our parents always bought my brother and I good quality footwear,
Speaker 2: good quality clothing, but we were taught the value of
Speaker 2: money and how to sort of make things last. We
Speaker 2: were never really threatened with being bought cheap and nasty things,
Speaker 2: but we were, I guess educated to look after our
Speaker 2: good school shares, look after our runners, look after our belongings,
Speaker 2: because things don't come for free.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's absolutely fair. And how has that translated to
Speaker 4: your money story as an adult?
Speaker 2: I think it's had a pretty good translation. I certainly
Speaker 2: never take anything for granted now, especially now that we're
Speaker 2: sort of on the other side of COVID and just
Speaker 2: how much anxiety there was in those couple of years.
Speaker 2: But I think nowadays my husband and I have definitely
Speaker 2: got a good concept of the value of money, not
Speaker 2: just because of how much things cost, but also making
Speaker 2: things last and not sort of succumbing to I guess
Speaker 2: trends and fast fashion and things like that.
Speaker 4: That is so fair, all right, I want to learn
Speaker 4: a little bit more. We were talking about your life
Speaker 4: and we're still, I guess talking about your money story.
Speaker 4: You mentioned at the very beginning of your email that
Speaker 4: you sent us, did you know that sendlink doesn't classify
Speaker 4: twins as multiples? What is a multiple to sent a
Speaker 4: link then, because like I would assume that multiple means
Speaker 4: multiple birth and that would be twins or triplets.
Speaker 5: So can you please educate me?
Speaker 4: Because when I read that, I was like, turns out
Speaker 4: I am not very intelligent.
Speaker 2: Well, I guess, yeah, as the name suggests, a multiple
Speaker 2: birth impliers birth in more than one child or adopting
Speaker 2: more than one child at a time. We didn't really
Speaker 2: know what to expect, obviously, finding out that we were
Speaker 2: having twins right at the beginning of COVID. But yeah,
Speaker 2: we thought we might have been able to get I
Speaker 2: guess a little additional support.
Speaker 5: I would have assumed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, so did I. But according to the websites,
Speaker 2: even though when I had to fill out the application
Speaker 2: for my twins birth certific because I had the tick
Speaker 2: that they were part of a multiple birth, but that
Speaker 2: doesn't really entitle us as twin parents to much more than.
Speaker 4: That, which literally makes no sense because it's literally double
Speaker 4: of everything.
Speaker 5: It's not like, oh, well, actually you are having.
Speaker 4: Two babies, but just buy one car seat because they
Speaker 4: can share, like they can't all of the big expensive
Speaker 4: things you need too of like a prem Great, now
Speaker 4: we need the double prem which is double expensive. Like what,
Speaker 4: so what does Centerlink think a multiple birth is triplets?
Speaker 2: Cause are higher?
Speaker 4: Oh okay, so because you only had two babies, that's
Speaker 4: not impressive enough.
Speaker 2: No, I guess growing and giving birth the two babies simultaneously,
Speaker 2: isn't it good enough?
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh. I want to ask about twins though.
Speaker 4: Was that a shock? Is that something that ran in
Speaker 4: your family?
Speaker 2: We do have twins in our family, A bit like you.
Speaker 2: I always thought it would be cool to have twins
Speaker 2: until I actually fell pregnant with twins, and it certainly
Speaker 2: was a shock. We found out very early on that
Speaker 2: we were having twins, so we had, I guess, plenty
Speaker 2: of time to prepare for that. I mean, I was
Speaker 2: very grateful to have fallen pregnant, but I also cried
Speaker 2: all the way home from the first ultrasound appointment.
Speaker 5: It would have been terrifying.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, my parents didn't believe me that we were
Speaker 2: having twins when I told them. I thought I was joking,
Speaker 2: So it took several weeks for it to sort of
Speaker 2: fully sink in and then accept the fact. And at
Speaker 2: the time, we were living in a little two bedroom unit.
Speaker 4: Oh no, and you were probably like, Oh, if we
Speaker 4: have a baby, we've got a two bedroom unit.
Speaker 5: We can pop them in there. It'll be so easy.
Speaker 5: And then all of a sudden, your life would have
Speaker 5: been in a spin.
Speaker 2: That was our plan to stay in our little two
Speaker 2: bedroom unit without one baby for a little while and
Speaker 2: then upsize when the time was ready. And then, yeah,
Speaker 2: two babies was a big shock. And I think within gosh,
Speaker 2: two weeks of finding out, we were off to the
Speaker 2: real estate agent to get an appraisals to sell our unit.
Speaker 2: But then trying to sell a unit in early twenty twenty,
Speaker 2: as I'm sure you can appreciate, it wasn't very easy
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 5: No, so what did you do it?
Speaker 2: Thankfully? It took months to sell.
Speaker 5: How stressful.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So I got to the point when I was
Speaker 2: thirty five weeks pregnant. Oh no, we had.
Speaker 4: Just on thirty five weeks with twins. That's impressive, I think.
Speaker 2: So I got to thirty six weeks in the end.
Speaker 5: What do you mean you think?
Speaker 2: So?
Speaker 5: I know, thirty six weeks with twins, you are golden.
Speaker 2: I was not very comfortable, I will say that much.
Speaker 2: I was horizontal for the last several weeks of the pregnancy.
Speaker 2: Oh no, Yeah, so we got to thirty five weeks
Speaker 2: and we just accepted an offer and we were ready
Speaker 2: to exchange contracts, and then the buyer pulled out.
Speaker 5: Excuse me, that is so rude.
Speaker 2: I know, a heavily pregnant woman doesn't want to buy
Speaker 2: to pull out of the sale of a home, so
Speaker 2: we're very upset about that. But then our agent was
Speaker 2: able to turn around and find another buyer on the
Speaker 2: same day who purchased the house site unseen? What?
Speaker 5: Yeah, the stars really aligned there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the best outcome for us.
Speaker 5: So you're saying the week before you had a baby,
Speaker 5: you sold.
Speaker 2: Your house two babies.
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, yep, sorry, But the week before you gave
Speaker 4: birth you were like, oh, I'm just going to sell
Speaker 4: the house.
Speaker 5: That's all good. No, I thrive under pressure.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was on the phone to the solicitor I
Speaker 2: think a couple of days after the birth, in the hospital,
Speaker 2: just confirming everything was good to go. So there's no
Speaker 2: rest for the wicked.
Speaker 5: Oh my gosh, no way.
Speaker 4: I kind of adore this, Like, tell me a bit
Speaker 4: more about having twins financially, So obviously when it starts
Speaker 4: or when you find out you're pregnant, is there any
Speaker 4: additional associated costs with having twins apart from all of
Speaker 4: the expected things like an additional car seat and two
Speaker 4: bacinets and all of that stuff, Like, is your pregnancy
Speaker 4: different financially.
Speaker 2: Yes, So, as you said, we had to buy two
Speaker 2: car seats at a double prem two bacinets, et cetera,
Speaker 2: et cetera. But because twins and multiples in general are
Speaker 2: considered a high risk pregnancy, there's a lot more appointments
Speaker 2: you need to have anti natally. So I was having
Speaker 2: appointments at the hospital with obstitrici every fortnight and then
Speaker 2: obviously that was covered by Medicare because that was through
Speaker 2: the hospital. But I also had to have four weekly ultrasounds.
Speaker 2: And because they're not just ultrasounding one baby, they're ultrasounding
Speaker 2: two babies. So I was charged for two babies. What.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's double the cost for an ultrasound for multiples.
Speaker 2: That was my experience. I don't know what that's the
Speaker 2: experience for everybody.
Speaker 4: I'm just they really said we'll take them for a ride,
Speaker 4: like really said, you know what, We're going to kick
Speaker 4: them while they're down.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And then when I reached thirty weeks, it was
Speaker 2: fortnightly ultrasounds after that because obviously the high risk of complications.
Speaker 2: So I eventually reached I think it's called the Medicare.
Speaker 5: Safety in net, which is an achievement.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I didn't have to pay any more for
Speaker 2: the ultrasounds, which was good.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, that is so stressful. So am I
Speaker 4: assuming that you went through the private system, then.
Speaker 2: No, I went through the public health system.
Speaker 4: Right, and it was still out of pocket for ultrasounds
Speaker 4: and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: My ultrasounds were they weren't done at the hospital, they
Speaker 2: were done privately.
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, And is that because it gave you more
Speaker 4: peace of mind or is that the way it goes
Speaker 4: with twins, because I literally don't know how that would work.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think I'm not entirely sure what the process was,
Speaker 2: but I know my GP was pretty adamant that I
Speaker 2: have my ultrasounds at this particular place because it was
Speaker 2: a women's health center with gynecologists and women's health sonographers there,
Speaker 2: and I was quite happy for that. Like, we were
Speaker 2: very luckily in a good financial position to be able
Speaker 2: to fund the ultrasounds ourselves. But they did add up
Speaker 2: at the same time.
Speaker 5: One hundred percent.
Speaker 4: So what are we paying on average for a twin ultrasound?
Speaker 4: From memory? I mean it was four years ago.
Speaker 2: But yeah, from memory, I mean I was only paying
Speaker 2: the gap, but the gap I think was still maybe
Speaker 2: one hundred dollars each ultrasound.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I feel like it adds up so quickly.
Speaker 4: And now therefore, which is so exciting. Is this still
Speaker 4: super super expensive or are there ways to cut costs
Speaker 4: with twins, like, I've got no idea, I've got nothing.
Speaker 2: To compare it to, so I don't know what a
Speaker 2: singleton would cost. So we're more less out of nappies now,
Speaker 2: which is great, but I've got boys and they eat
Speaker 2: so much food, so our grocery bill has certainly increased exponentially.
Speaker 2: We're obviously having to navigate childcare as well, which we're
Speaker 2: very lucky to receive the childcare subsidy, so that and
Speaker 2: the second child subsidy because we've got two children in childcare,
Speaker 2: which is wonderful, but that obviously is a cost. And
Speaker 2: then birthdays and Christmas, you're buying two lots of presents,
Speaker 2: so we don't try and spoil them rotten, but we
Speaker 2: do try, and I mean, they're so young. We are
Speaker 2: trying to educate them on the value of things, like
Speaker 2: they've got bikes for their birthday this year, and we're
Speaker 2: trying to teach them that this was a big present
Speaker 2: and that Santum might bring the smaller presents this year.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that's fair, that is very fair. I love
Speaker 4: that I can definitely resonate with boys eating a lot,
Speaker 4: like I only have an eight month old, but He's
Speaker 4: already thirteen kilos and I genuinely look novel holding him.
Speaker 5: People are like, oh, is he walking yet? I'm like, baby,
Speaker 5: he can't even crawl.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he will eat a lot of food.
Speaker 5: Yeah, please send help. How did my maybe just put
Speaker 5: away a whole risotto?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 5: I don't know?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 4: I want to ask some more money questions. Tell me
Speaker 4: what do you currently do for work? How much money
Speaker 4: do you earn?
Speaker 2: I'm a physiotherapist and I earn about one hundred and
Speaker 2: fifteen thousand dollars a year, which includes super.
Speaker 5: And can I be really pervy? What does your partner?
Speaker 2: He earns about ninety thousand dollars a year?
Speaker 5: Very cool?
Speaker 4: And tell me what are your current big money goals?
Speaker 4: What are you guys working towards.
Speaker 2: We're trying to pay down a mortgage like a lot
Speaker 2: of people are, and we're also hoping to save up
Speaker 2: for our first overseas family holiday in the next year
Speaker 2: or the year after.
Speaker 5: That's exciting. Where are you planning on going? What does
Speaker 5: that budget look like?
Speaker 2: I haven't got that far yet. We're looking at Fiji.
Speaker 2: We've been considering New Zealand, but our boys just love
Speaker 2: the beach and I like to sitting by a swimming pool,
Speaker 2: and so do they.
Speaker 4: I have seen lots of people online going to Fiji,
Speaker 4: and I feel like that looks super kid friendly as well.
Speaker 2: Yes, we just took them on our little holiday to
Speaker 2: the Gold Coast recently stated a lovely kid friendly resort
Speaker 2: which they just loved. So we're hoping to take a
Speaker 2: bit of a bigger leap and fly and I guess
Speaker 2: travel internationally as well.
Speaker 5: That's very exciting.
Speaker 4: Another cost though, because they fly free under two, but
Speaker 4: now you're paying two seats for two four year olds.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Plus you've got to get passports as well, so
Speaker 2: that's another cost that we're factor in.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, and they're so expensive now, passports are exorbitant. Yeah,
Speaker 4: all right, let's go to a really quick break on
Speaker 4: the flip side. I want to ask about you said
Speaker 4: that you were investing. We talked about your mortgage. I
Speaker 4: want to have a chat about that, and I want
Speaker 4: to know about your good and bad money habits, so
Speaker 4: guys don't go anywhere, all right, money direst We are back,
Speaker 4: and I need to know you said that I loved
Speaker 4: this part, so I'm going to read it out again.
Speaker 4: You said, Thanks to She's Other Money, I've gained financial literacy,
Speaker 4: confidence and the empowerment to.
Speaker 5: Invest in my future. Tell me about that investing journey.
Speaker 2: Well, we've recently, I guess, took the plunge and still
Speaker 2: dealing with a little bit of analysis paralysis in terms
Speaker 2: of investing. I've obviously been a long term listener of
Speaker 2: the podcast and I've read the investing book. Thank you.
Speaker 3: That's very fun.
Speaker 2: In the last couple of probably the last twelve months,
Speaker 2: we've started investing in ETFs through Vanguard.
Speaker 5: How good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, I know it's baby steps. You got to
Speaker 2: crawl before you walk, but we're happy that we finally
Speaker 2: got our foot in the door. And I guess I'm
Speaker 2: just trying to live by the saying it's not about
Speaker 2: time in the market, it's just time in the market.
Speaker 5: I love it, and I love that you're like, oh,
Speaker 5: they're baby steps.
Speaker 4: But then also I was a financial advisor and like
Speaker 4: most of my portfolio is ETFs, so like it's actually
Speaker 4: the same steps that someone established would be making. But
Speaker 4: you're like, oh, this maybe I need something bigger and better,
Speaker 4: And then you realize you're actually fully doing it.
Speaker 5: Properly. Yeah, I love that so much.
Speaker 4: All right, talk to me about this mortgage. When did
Speaker 4: you get it, what did it look like? And then
Speaker 4: after I'm going to touch on consumer debt.
Speaker 2: Okay, So we got our mortgage in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: We bought our land and built a house and at
Speaker 2: the time we got the home builders grant from the government,
Speaker 2: which was fantastic. So at the time of final draw down,
Speaker 2: we had a mortgage for I think six hundred and
Speaker 2: six thousand dollars and then we managed to pay that
Speaker 2: down over a couple of years down to five eighty
Speaker 2: five cool. Nice, Yeah, And then only in the last
Speaker 2: couple of months we finally took the plunge and bought
Speaker 2: ourselves in your family car. So we borrowed against the
Speaker 2: equity in our house.
Speaker 4: How smart, because the interest rate would be lower than
Speaker 4: a car loan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they lowered it down so weirdly enough, our interest
Speaker 2: rate I think at the time was six point five percent,
Speaker 2: and then when we borrowed went into the bank and
Speaker 2: we borrowed against the equity in our house and they
Speaker 2: lowered it down to six point two percent.
Speaker 5: Yeah, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4: It's because the car like obviously isn't a secure asset,
Speaker 4: but the house is, so you end up in a
Speaker 4: sweeter position, which is kind of nice.
Speaker 5: You probably weren't expecting that one.
Speaker 2: Not at all. So Imorga is currently sitting at six
Speaker 2: hundred and forty seven thousand.
Speaker 5: That's exciting, it's eyewatering.
Speaker 4: So yes, But at the same time, it sounds like
Speaker 4: you're very across what that looks like. And I'm assuming
Speaker 4: that with twins you probably needed a new family car.
Speaker 4: What did you buy? What was the thought process around that?
Speaker 4: You're like, we need a new family car, But like,
Speaker 4: do you buy the biggest suv on the market or
Speaker 4: do you just buy the smallest car that everyone can
Speaker 4: fit in? Like, where was the thought process and the
Speaker 4: budgeting when it came to purchasing that?
Speaker 2: Talking about cars, so I might just backtrack a little bit.
Speaker 2: When I was thirty weeks pregnant, I was involved in
Speaker 2: a car accident. No, my car was written off.
Speaker 5: And you were okay and the babies were okay.
Speaker 2: I was fine, babies were okay. Yeah. I had to
Speaker 2: spend a couple of days in hospital just being monitored.
Speaker 2: But then I had to start my maternity leave early
Speaker 2: because of the complications were just deemed too high risk.
Speaker 5: So it started way too high risk.
Speaker 2: Yeah, started my mat leave early. So we were then,
Speaker 2: unfortunately without a car. So luckily I had comprehensive car
Speaker 2: insurance and we got to pay out for that, but
Speaker 2: it wasn't enough to go and buy a brand new
Speaker 2: car because our little, my little car at the time
Speaker 2: was going to be our little family car. So we
Speaker 2: had to were use the insurance payout and sort of
Speaker 2: our savings to buy a which was a sort of
Speaker 2: a medium sized suv. But my husband has had a
Speaker 2: single cab ute for several years and we were practically
Speaker 2: operating as a one car family. So because we couldn't
Speaker 2: put any car seats in the single cab.
Speaker 5: You two kids with car seats.
Speaker 2: Like yeah, So essentially we bought him a new car.
Speaker 2: And it's a nice CD Dmax.
Speaker 5: Yeah okay, and then everyone fits in that, which is nice.
Speaker 2: Everyone fits in the car and then some so that's lovely.
Speaker 5: How good?
Speaker 4: And so tell me a bit more about your consumer
Speaker 4: debt journey. So you've got this mortgage and that makes sense.
Speaker 4: I think you're in a really good position and that
Speaker 4: type of debt is actually good debt because it's creating
Speaker 4: wealth into the future. But you said we've paid off
Speaker 4: our consumer debt. Where did that come from? What did
Speaker 4: that look like?
Speaker 2: So before I started listening to the podcast, and as
Speaker 2: our house was being built, we went into a furniture
Speaker 2: store and bought all new furniture for the house because
Speaker 2: I wanted nice new furniture, as you do when you
Speaker 2: get a new house, and we signed up for a
Speaker 2: Latitude Go card. At the time, I wasn't aware that
Speaker 2: that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.
Speaker 5: But that's okay. You were doing the best you could
Speaker 5: at the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And so we got the beautiful new furniture and
Speaker 2: then I sort of learned the difference between good debt
Speaker 2: and bad debt, and my husband and I said, look,
Speaker 2: me to pay this off as soon as we can.
Speaker 2: So we hustled and we paid it off two years
Speaker 2: and three months early. So we paid it off about
Speaker 2: five months ago.
Speaker 5: Hey, that's so good.
Speaker 4: And was that Tell me how much does a furniture
Speaker 4: like decking a house out with all new furniture, what
Speaker 4: does that cost?
Speaker 2: It was nine thousand dollars.
Speaker 5: Oh that feels like a lot.
Speaker 4: But at the same time, like I'm glad that you
Speaker 4: smashed it out and you probably have a really nice couch.
Speaker 2: Two new lounges. It was a dining room table, it
Speaker 2: was a new bed, it was TV, and it was
Speaker 2: the whole kitten kerboodle.
Speaker 5: So but I mean, the house looks beautiful, so it does.
Speaker 2: It's all about the us.
Speaker 5: There you go, there you go.
Speaker 4: How did that make you feel when you started listening
Speaker 4: to the podcast and you learned the difference between.
Speaker 5: Good and bad debt.
Speaker 4: Were you like, oh, no, I'm in this pickle or
Speaker 4: were you like, oh, it's not so bad, or like,
Speaker 4: what did that look like?
Speaker 5: Because I feel like I feel a bit.
Speaker 4: Rude sometimes when I'm like, oh, hey, I don't know
Speaker 4: if you know this, but that's actually really terrible.
Speaker 5: Yeah, sorry about that buye.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I was very conflicted, that's for sure, because
Speaker 2: we didn't need new furniture, but we wanted new furniture,
Speaker 2: and it was probably a bit of an impulse buy.
Speaker 2: But that's when we decided this has got to go.
Speaker 2: This is a liability in the bank size and mortgage
Speaker 2: brokeer's eyes. So any excess money we had left at
Speaker 2: the end of the month, we were just put towards
Speaker 2: like straight onto that debt, and when we paid it
Speaker 2: off back in July this year, we closed the account.
Speaker 5: So it's gone, Yeah, very cool.
Speaker 4: I love this. So next question I've got for you.
Speaker 4: You've paid off a heap of consumer debt. It sounds
Speaker 4: like you've been really smart with the way that you've
Speaker 4: gotten a car loan, You've got a healthy mortgage, you've
Speaker 4: got two kids that you're wrangling, you are working full time,
Speaker 4: earning really good money. What do you think is your
Speaker 4: best money habit.
Speaker 2: I would say that my best money habit is I'm
Speaker 2: pretty savvy shopper, particularly when it comes to grocery shopping.
Speaker 2: I shop with Woolworths, and I've got the everyday rewards,
Speaker 2: the subscription that they've got oh yeah yeah, and we've
Speaker 2: also got insurance with will worth so we get two
Speaker 2: ten percent off discounts per month. So I use that
Speaker 2: when we shop online, which is wonderful, always looking at
Speaker 2: what's on sale. And we also collect our reward dollars
Speaker 2: that we accumulate with points, and so the rewards dollars
Speaker 2: that we had collected up until earlier this year, we
Speaker 2: used to buy our kids' birthday presents and then we'll
Speaker 2: do the same again for Christmas, so we're not really
Speaker 2: out of pocket that much come Birthday and Christmas. You
Speaker 2: are so.
Speaker 4: Smart, Like I have done literal podcasts on points hacking
Speaker 4: and whatnot, and like I get it. I understand the concept,
Speaker 4: but it hasn't been until recently that I've been like, oh,
Speaker 4: I really need to like work out what's going to
Speaker 4: work for me. It's actually so fun, Like I haven't
Speaker 4: been collecting all I'm on the other program so like
Speaker 4: flybys and like collecting those and that I found this
Speaker 4: program where I can get five times the points if
Speaker 4: I sign up, and I'm just like, I feel like
Speaker 4: a hacker. This feels so fun, Like I feel like
Speaker 4: I'm gaming the system, but I'm like, okay.
Speaker 5: Cool, I'm gonna have enough points for this and it's
Speaker 5: like free money. I adore it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I'm pretty sappy with that, and I think
Speaker 2: Christmas is approaching and we've currently got about one hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty dollars in reward dollars sitting there, and that's
Speaker 2: after we'd spent about two hundred dollars on the kids,
Speaker 2: but their presence earlier in the see that's good.
Speaker 4: Tell me what does Christmas look like for the kids
Speaker 4: this year? Like, how are you budgeting? What are you
Speaker 4: going to purchase? What have you asked Santa to purchase?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 5: How are we dividing all of that up?
Speaker 2: We haven't put on Christmas is only a month away.
Speaker 2: We haven't put too much thought to Christmas. The kids
Speaker 2: are asking for an inground, swimming pool and a baby
Speaker 2: for Christmas, and they're unfortunately not going to get either.
Speaker 5: Oh both of those really reasonable? Yeah, easy, no worries.
Speaker 5: Let me just pop out the back. I think I
Speaker 5: have two spare Yeah, so.
Speaker 2: That's unfortunately not going to happen. But we've been taking
Speaker 2: them to the shops and just letting them look at
Speaker 2: things that they might be interested in. And I take
Speaker 2: a picture of them in.
Speaker 4: Ground swimming pool. Okay, I just kind to spare fifty
Speaker 4: grands laying around, no worries.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I've just been sending pictures of things that
Speaker 2: the kids are interested into our family and just said, look,
Speaker 2: this is something that they would like. If you're happy
Speaker 2: to buy them, that would be great. Please just let
Speaker 2: us know so that we don't buy it ourselves.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's fair. I feel like that's the smart thing
Speaker 4: to do. This is our first Christmas with a baby.
Speaker 4: And I said the other day to my mum, oh,
Speaker 4: I'm thinking about purchasing X y Z And then later
Speaker 4: she sends me a screenshot of her purchasing it, and
Speaker 4: I was like, I'm glad you told me. But also
Speaker 4: you just store a president idea.
Speaker 5: Rude.
Speaker 2: But something else we've started doing as well is because
Speaker 2: we've got an investment portfolio each for the boys, is
Speaker 2: we can get gift certificates for their investments, so people
Speaker 2: can give us like a gift that we can invest
Speaker 2: instead of giving them like a present as such, that's
Speaker 2: so smart.
Speaker 4: So tell me about this gift certificate idea. Are they
Speaker 4: transferring you cash and then we're making up a fake
Speaker 4: little certificate or like what does that look like? And
Speaker 4: how are you telling the kids therefore? Like do they
Speaker 4: understand what.
Speaker 2: We've been doing with family recently. Is they might get
Speaker 2: like a little book as their I guess, their materialistic president.
Speaker 2: And then the adults will just give us maybe twenty
Speaker 2: or thirty dollars which we can then put away and
Speaker 2: then we can invest that for the boys. Or I
Speaker 2: know Vanguard have a feature for children where you can
Speaker 2: upload the details of their account and they can someone
Speaker 2: can deposit the cash into their account for them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that is cool. Tell me how you're investing for
Speaker 4: your kids. I feel like this is such a hot
Speaker 4: topic in our community. Everyone's like, I don't know what
Speaker 4: I'm doing. I've got analysis paralysis. So we haven't done yet.
Speaker 4: How did you decide to start investing for your kids?
Speaker 2: We just want them to have the best I guess
Speaker 2: chance out a successful life when they turn eighteen or
Speaker 2: twenty five. We haven't quite determined what age they'll sort
Speaker 2: of receive the money yet. But we started investing for
Speaker 2: them at the same time that we started investing for us,
Speaker 2: which has been in the last twolve months, and currently
Speaker 2: we are auto investing fifty dollars a month each for
Speaker 2: them through Vanguard, and then we auto invest two hundred
Speaker 2: dollars a month for us as well.
Speaker 5: That's so cool.
Speaker 4: So you're doing it through Vanguard. And did you decide
Speaker 4: to purchase a particular ETF. Have they got matching portfolios
Speaker 4: or what does that look like?
Speaker 2: So my husband and I our ETFs are just with
Speaker 2: the Australian stock market, so I think it's the VASASX.
Speaker 2: That's a particular and then the boys we've just got
Speaker 2: set on I think a moderate growth. I'm not entirely
Speaker 2: sure of the specific details there, but I think in
Speaker 2: the last twelve months their portfolio has gained about thirty dollars,
Speaker 2: which has been pretty cool.
Speaker 5: How good. So you just replicated your portfolio for them,
Speaker 5: So everyone from us just I love that? How good?
Speaker 4: All right, now I need to know all of that.
Speaker 4: Those are brilliant money habits. But what's your worst money habit?
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm a bit impulsive. It's a real name.
Speaker 5: I don't hurry. Yeah, yeah, okay, So tell me more
Speaker 5: about that. How does it impact day to day money life?
Speaker 6: Oh?
Speaker 2: I struggle with a bit of a Yolow mindset. Sometimes
Speaker 2: I see something I want and I'm like, oh, I
Speaker 2: want that, and then I might just go and buy it.
Speaker 2: It's a really bad habit. That's why I try and
Speaker 2: do a lot of I guess shopping online because look
Speaker 2: at it and go mmm, I'll just close that tab
Speaker 2: and I'll left and begin tomorrow. But when I'm actually
Speaker 2: at the shops and I'm probably not going to come
Speaker 2: back for a few days or a few weeks, I
Speaker 2: might just buy it on the spot. So I'm trying
Speaker 2: to instill the putting twenty four hours between myself and
Speaker 2: the purchase methodology. But that doesn't always work, especially going
Speaker 2: into Christmas time.
Speaker 5: Oh no, no, no, it's so hard. I resonate with
Speaker 5: that so much.
Speaker 4: I more of a do as I say, not as
Speaker 4: I do, kind of finance expert, you know, like I'll
Speaker 4: give you all the tips and tricks, but I've also
Speaker 4: got to be really honest that sometimes I'm not that
Speaker 4: good at it, because it's not that exciting having a
Speaker 4: finance expert that's perfect at money. But at the same time,
Speaker 4: I'm like, but it's Christmas, it's coming up. I'm going
Speaker 4: to need to get it, and I don't want to
Speaker 4: have to get it in a week rush up to Christmas.
Speaker 5: Like that just feels stressful. Like, yeah, I think I.
Speaker 4: Also need to be a little bit more planned, but like,
Speaker 4: I feel like it's ingrained in us at the same time. So,
Speaker 4: now that we've had a chat, I want to know
Speaker 4: more about this B minus because it sounds like.
Speaker 5: You're pretty set. What would it take to get you
Speaker 5: to an A or an A plus?
Speaker 4: If I asked you what your money habits were in
Speaker 4: the future, like what steps are we taking to get there?
Speaker 2: I think I just need to cut the frivolous purchases,
Speaker 2: to be honest. One of my really bad habits is
Speaker 2: I'm an avid reader and I buy a lot of books,
Speaker 2: and then I keep buying books, but I don't read
Speaker 2: the books that I've already.
Speaker 5: Got, and I just keep adding you and I are
Speaker 5: the same.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a really toxic trade, unfortunately. Or I read
Speaker 2: on my kindle and then I go and buy the
Speaker 2: physical book from my bookshelf and like a trophy.
Speaker 5: Yeah, why do we like this?
Speaker 4: Literally the same If I really like the book, I'm like, well,
Speaker 4: I want it on my bookshelf.
Speaker 2: Yep. Yeah. So I need to cut the frivolo of spending,
Speaker 2: I think, just because I get I'm trying to unsubscribe
Speaker 2: from a lot of marketing emails at the moment, especially
Speaker 2: we've just come out of like a splat Friday sales,
Speaker 2: and I'm getting all the emails saying seventy percent off
Speaker 2: store wide, and I just go and look online and
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, I don't need that, but I might
Speaker 2: buy it anyway. So just really trying to be more
Speaker 2: intentional with my purposes. I think you'll probably get me
Speaker 2: up to do it.
Speaker 5: A I love that.
Speaker 4: I actually have a website recommendation for you that I
Speaker 4: have recently used. But I actually used it probably like
Speaker 4: five or six years ago and it worked really well.
Speaker 4: And this isn't sponsored, Just to be really clear, this
Speaker 4: is just me being.
Speaker 5: Like, hey, this worked.
Speaker 4: It's called unrolledt me and you like log into this
Speaker 4: website and you put in your email details, which does
Speaker 4: feel a little bit dodgy, but I have like looked
Speaker 4: into this platform and it is secure and then it
Speaker 4: categorizes all of your marketing and bulk unsubscribes.
Speaker 2: I need that.
Speaker 4: Like it literally goes, hey, here's all of this, do
Speaker 4: you want to unsubscribe from it? And I like tick
Speaker 4: the box and I'm like, that was truly like hundreds
Speaker 4: of different marketing emails and that worked really really well.
Speaker 4: So I don't know it might be for you, but
Speaker 4: that saved me a heap of time and also made
Speaker 4: me feel really accomplished.
Speaker 2: Excellent. No, I need to I think look into that
Speaker 2: one to save myself some money as well.
Speaker 4: Oh, I feel like the emails people are getting so
Speaker 4: good at email marketing that I see something and I'm like, oh,
Speaker 4: it's from my For example, recently, it's from my favorite
Speaker 4: pajama brand.
Speaker 5: I don't need that, no worries. But then I read
Speaker 5: the heading and I'm like, You've got me. I need
Speaker 5: to click it.
Speaker 2: I need to read it.
Speaker 5: You've got me, you win. It's a slippery slope. I
Speaker 5: just need it not landing in my inbox. Money Diarist.
Speaker 4: I have adored this. I feel like this has been
Speaker 4: really fun. I want to ask a little like a
Speaker 4: little bit of a finisher question, because when you found
Speaker 4: out you were pregnant with twins, you said you cried
Speaker 4: all the way home from that appointment, and I feel
Speaker 4: like that could be really disheartening, like it can feel.
Speaker 4: And I'm assuming you didn't have other friends who had
Speaker 4: twins and you were like, what is going on? If
Speaker 4: someone is listening to this and they have either just
Speaker 4: found out they were having twins or they are gonna
Speaker 4: have babies in.
Speaker 5: The future, what would be your advice? What would you say?
Speaker 4: Are you going to say, yeah, just strap in, or
Speaker 4: you gonna say this is like really good, or like
Speaker 4: what would your advice be to either current potential twin
Speaker 4: mums or future twin moms.
Speaker 2: I think, as you said, strap in, buckle up, it's
Speaker 2: a rollercoaster of a ride, but it's I think it's
Speaker 2: really showed me just how strong I can be. We've
Speaker 2: had some really tough times and also some really positive
Speaker 2: moments as well. As they get older and you're sort
Speaker 2: of coming out of the trenches, I suppose you could
Speaker 2: say things do get a little bit easier. I always
Speaker 2: found budgeting when you have to buy two of everything,
Speaker 2: is very helpful. And if you have people that you
Speaker 2: can lead on for support, whether it's just help with
Speaker 2: the children or help financially. And that's not everyone's cup
Speaker 2: of tea, but we're very lucky it was an option
Speaker 2: for us. Then find your village if you've.
Speaker 4: Got one good And is twins as fun as I
Speaker 4: seem to think it is as a singleton parent, I don't.
Speaker 2: Know it's cute dressing them in the same clothes, identical
Speaker 2: twin It would be, it really would be. Yeah, So
Speaker 2: dressing them in matching outfits is always fun, But then
Speaker 2: I can't tell my own children apart sometimes, So.
Speaker 4: Oh that is good to know, because I just assumed
Speaker 4: that you'd inherently be able to do that, Do they
Speaker 4: correct you? Are they at that age where they're like,
Speaker 4: I'm not Bob, I'm then yes.
Speaker 2: Regularly we often get stopped in the street as well.
Speaker 2: Just people are just curious about twins as well, so
Speaker 2: that's always fun. I've been asking really weird questions over
Speaker 2: the years about twins, so there's never a dull moment.
Speaker 5: I feel like people would have a lot of audacity.
Speaker 2: They do. Some of the questions I've been asked at
Speaker 2: being intensely personal and just you never ask a regular
Speaker 2: parent that.
Speaker 5: Absolutely not.
Speaker 4: Oh, I feel like I would be googling witty comebacks
Speaker 4: to be like, wait, you can see the second one?
Speaker 2: Yeah, some people say that. Or it was like a
Speaker 2: buy one, get one free promotion at the hospital, things
Speaker 2: like that. Yeah.
Speaker 5: Literally, I'd be like, bug off, I don't know you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, people are just I don't know, they just forget
Speaker 2: their filter when they see two or more babies. They
Speaker 2: just look the same. It's just like a like a
Speaker 2: really inherent curiosity in some people.
Speaker 4: Well, I am very proud of you. I think you've
Speaker 4: done an epic job, and it sounds like your kids
Speaker 4: are going to grow up knowing a lot about money
Speaker 4: and a lot about values, and I think that that's
Speaker 4: really really special. I have adored having this conversation with you,
Speaker 4: and I just know that our community is love listening
Speaker 4: and getting to go on the journey of like, oh,
Speaker 4: what's that like? Because I mean, as a new mum,
Speaker 4: the trenches are deep. I feel so much for you
Speaker 4: having done it two times over at the same time,
Speaker 4: like the relief I felt when I got to put
Speaker 4: my Singleton baby down asleep knowing that there was a
Speaker 4: second one. Oh my lord, your mental health might have
Speaker 4: been out the window.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're working on the mental health still. That's okay, Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's okay.
Speaker 5: It's an ongoing journey for all of us. Thank you
Speaker 5: so much. I have adored this.
Speaker 2: Thanks be.
Speaker 6: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
Speaker 6: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
Speaker 6: on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
Speaker 6: not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
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