Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
Speaker 1: the Order Kerni Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before
Speaker 1: we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
Speaker 1: would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
Speaker 1: of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
Speaker 1: acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
Speaker 1: through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
Speaker 1: and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
Speaker 1: today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Let's get into it. She's on the Money. She's on
Speaker 2: the Money. Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money,
Speaker 2: the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back
Speaker 2: to another one of our money diaries where I get
Speaker 2: the absolute privilege of talking to one of our incredible
Speaker 2: She's on the Money community members all about their journey.
Speaker 2: Let's jump straight into it, because this week I got
Speaker 2: a message and it sounded like this, Hi V. I
Speaker 2: have a weird relationship and concept of money that is
Speaker 2: rooted in my religious upbringing and beliefs growing up in
Speaker 2: the Philippines. We didn't have to worry about money, and
Speaker 2: since moving here four years ago, I'm struggling to adapt
Speaker 2: to the culture and attitude around money in Australia. Even
Speaker 2: though I earn a living wage and I'm trying to adjust,
Speaker 2: I can't make the mental switch money, darist, Welcome to
Speaker 2: the show. I feel like this will be a really
Speaker 2: interesting diary to share. Oh I hope, so I know
Speaker 2: it will be. Let's start where I always do. What
Speaker 2: grade would you give your money habits if I asked
Speaker 2: you to give them a grade? I, she liked, I
Speaker 2: stare somewhere in C minus oh minus. Let's learn more
Speaker 2: about that. My favorite question is money, dires. Let's jump
Speaker 2: straight in. Tell me a bit more about your money story.
Speaker 3: My attitude towards money is very peculiar in a sense
Speaker 3: that it stems from religious beliefs. But at the same time,
Speaker 3: I'm trying to adapt in the current society where it's
Speaker 3: at the peak of its contramerism and capitalism. So like,
Speaker 3: growing up, my parents never discussed money, so they've basically
Speaker 3: taken on the full responsibility of meeting the needs for
Speaker 3: the family. However, in the same vein because they never
Speaker 3: discussed money with us, we also never saw them struggle
Speaker 3: for money.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so.
Speaker 3: We always go back to our religious beliefs. Basically everything
Speaker 3: will be provided for. We don't have to worry anything
Speaker 3: because that's already been answered for, Like it's already there,
Speaker 3: but we just don't see it. We just have to
Speaker 3: wait for it. So it's a peculiar situation for someone
Speaker 3: like me as a millennial, where everyone sort of knows
Speaker 3: where they stand with money, Like it's either they struggle
Speaker 3: because of their current financial situation. But in my case,
Speaker 3: I'm not really struggling, Like I have a good wage,
Speaker 3: like I have a good income and I know what
Speaker 3: my income is able to purchase. But also it's like
Speaker 3: I don't want to be obsessed with money as well,
Speaker 3: but I know that I have to look after for
Speaker 3: my future rather than just work work and not really
Speaker 3: putting that money into work itself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would like to know more about this religious
Speaker 2: side of things. But I've met a lot of people
Speaker 2: when I was working as a financial advisor who were
Speaker 2: tackling I guess wealth creation for the first time because historically,
Speaker 2: like their parents didn't really talk about that or do
Speaker 2: any of that, kind of like they weren't investing because
Speaker 2: if they were, you know, had a roof over their
Speaker 2: head and food on the table and were grateful for
Speaker 2: what they had, like that was exactly what you lived
Speaker 2: life for, right, So tell me more about this. I
Speaker 2: guess religious side of things one because I'm hervy, but
Speaker 2: I think that a lot of people will resonate with this.
Speaker 2: Let's be honest, but like, what type of religion was this?
Speaker 2: Was this something that you still adhere to or is
Speaker 2: this like your parents and you have differing values, Like
Speaker 2: I'd love to know as much as you're comfortable sharing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, my family was, or actually still is Christian, So
Speaker 3: they're more of like Baptists in a sense, like Southern
Speaker 3: American type of Baptists were very traditional in our way
Speaker 3: of beliefs. So I grew up. I went to primary school,
Speaker 3: and we can't wear nail polishes because apparently that makes
Speaker 3: you like a prostitute or something.
Speaker 2: Oh, very dramatic, but yes, I get it.
Speaker 3: Yes, So and then we were taught like we can't
Speaker 3: go to the cinemas because bad people go to the
Speaker 3: cinemas or things like that. Like there's a bit of
Speaker 3: a confusion or like radicalism in some of the teachings
Speaker 3: but eventually we were able to sort of reconcile and
Speaker 3: decide for ourselves what we think is acceptable in terms
Speaker 3: of our religion and basically just sort of separated from
Speaker 3: that type of thinking in terms of the financial side.
Speaker 3: The religious aspect of it is that, first of all,
Speaker 3: we believe that God provides for everything, right, so even
Speaker 3: before you ask for it, it's already there, so it's
Speaker 3: already answered for. And second of all, getting obsessed with
Speaker 3: money is evil. So if you are so hung up
Speaker 3: with money, like you're so money hungry, that it becomes
Speaker 3: now sort of a worship to money itself, which is
Speaker 3: very frowned upon.
Speaker 2: Which is very toxic in that culture.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not seen as being a good thing. It's
Speaker 2: seen as being very negative.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So that is why I never saw my parents struggle.
Speaker 3: They're always like, we can do that, we'll just have
Speaker 3: to wait. Look, my parents were not like just waiting
Speaker 3: for dollouts or something. My parents had good jobs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just the thought pattern behind it.
Speaker 3: And then we also had to I don't know if
Speaker 3: you've heard of this, but some of us give ten
Speaker 3: percent of our gross yeah, the tithe, Yeah, the tithe.
Speaker 3: So I practiced that even when I was just receiving
Speaker 3: school allowance. Wow, which didn't really amount to anything, but
Speaker 3: it was the practice. Yeah. I wasn't pressured into it,
Speaker 3: but you feel that certain guilt. Well actually you would
Speaker 3: say that it's pressure, but because you have that guilt
Speaker 3: to comply, but you sort of have this thinking that, oh,
Speaker 3: I want to give because God loveth a cheerful giver,
Speaker 3: something like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, is this something that now you're obviously an adult
Speaker 2: you live in Australia, do you still see it that way?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 2: Are you still paying a tithe that you like? Looking
Speaker 2: your parents going Wow, it looks like we didn't have
Speaker 2: to worry about money growing up, and now in hindsight,
Speaker 2: maybe we did. Like I guess, have you had your
Speaker 2: blinkers taken off now that you're an adult?
Speaker 3: I would say so, It's just that my parents were
Speaker 3: really really good at hiding it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I remember there was a time that I had to
Speaker 3: pay for something at school and my dad basically had
Speaker 3: to He is a lawyer, so what he did was
Speaker 3: he actually had to produce a physical output so he
Speaker 3: can build a client, and that earning is allocated for
Speaker 3: that school need or school activity. So now that I'm
Speaker 3: basically an adult, I think I hope you are. Now
Speaker 3: I sort of know in a different sense, like pay
Speaker 3: the mortgage, pay electricity, pay water. And back then I
Speaker 3: was just like, Oh, let's have the air conditioner on
Speaker 3: for a whole day and nobody cares.
Speaker 2: You didn't understand that that meant money, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had to pay electricity, But I didn't know
Speaker 3: the implications of turning on the air conditioner for like
Speaker 3: six hours straight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which now as an adult, I'm away is like,
Speaker 2: is the air cone on. It's fine in here, let's
Speaker 2: turn it off.
Speaker 3: Now it's just like, okay, maybe I can turn it
Speaker 3: on for like thirty minutes just to get rid of
Speaker 3: the heat inside this apartment and that's it. And now
Speaker 3: as an adult, I still do tithes, but that tithes
Speaker 3: goes into a savings account.
Speaker 2: It's for you, and it earns.
Speaker 3: So I don't know how to feel about that, Like,
Speaker 3: do I also like when the time comes that I
Speaker 3: actually need to give the money to the trish, Do
Speaker 3: I also include the interest accrued on that saving.
Speaker 2: No, I feel like that's your money working for you.
Speaker 3: So now I'm like, there's nothing in the Bible talking
Speaker 3: about interest, you know, like do I also have to
Speaker 3: pay interest?
Speaker 2: It's an interesting because I think that up until you know,
Speaker 2: not now, but up until more recently, I eat the
Speaker 2: last couple of hundred of years, we are now talking
Speaker 2: about investing and putting ourselves forward, and a lot of
Speaker 2: those things they really conflict with the teachings that are
Speaker 2: in the Bible. And are you know what hold down
Speaker 2: a lot of religious beliefs right, Like it's always about
Speaker 2: giving back, and it's always about community. And I know
Speaker 2: lots of churches they tythe I'm not the biggest fan
Speaker 2: of tything purely because I know how much money the
Speaker 2: churches have and they don't need it in this economy.
Speaker 2: I would prefer the members of a church to have
Speaker 2: access to more income to you know, put themselves in
Speaker 2: the better position, because in my mind, a rising tied
Speaker 2: lifts ulships and like, if you're doing well, you're going
Speaker 2: to be way happier in that church. And this isn't
Speaker 2: like me saying anything about my religious beliefs or what
Speaker 2: you should and shouldn't believe. It's not the case at all.
Speaker 2: It's more I just think that's such a historic practice
Speaker 2: that now you go, life's tough. Things are expensive, like
Speaker 2: the idea that you would give ten percent of your income.
Speaker 2: Where you're a female, you're probably already being underpaid. Most
Speaker 2: people are. Do you know what I mean? Like, you
Speaker 2: just look at it and go, is that the best
Speaker 2: use of funds? Is that the best use of a
Speaker 2: resource for this community? And if not, then what does
Speaker 2: it look like? Fairly? Because I'm pretty sure like regardless
Speaker 2: of what you believe in, people should be in a
Speaker 2: position where they aren't financially compromised. So I just go
Speaker 2: what does that look like? And it would be very
Speaker 2: very hard to navigate. I want to know, though, now
Speaker 2: we're talking about money. How much do you earn and
Speaker 2: what do you do for work?
Speaker 3: So I'm a case manager for a non for profit
Speaker 3: organization and I earn around eighty six thousand before deductions?
Speaker 2: Is that before or after super?
Speaker 3: Before? Super?
Speaker 2: Very nice? Tell me more about I guess your big
Speaker 2: money goals and also how do you feel about big
Speaker 2: money goals?
Speaker 3: I think big money goals are good because it sort
Speaker 3: of like puts you into perspective, like what do you
Speaker 3: want to see in terms of financial standing or in
Speaker 3: terms of financial freedom? So I think one of my
Speaker 3: big money goals for this year is to do the
Speaker 3: ten thousand savings money hack.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you can download those free on our website.
Speaker 3: That's one, and then the second one is paying off
Speaker 3: my car also this year. M So I have a
Speaker 3: little under ten thousand dollars left on that. So that's
Speaker 3: sort of like now twenty thousand in terms of big
Speaker 3: money goals. But for the long term, my big money
Speaker 3: goal is help out my husband to pay off the
Speaker 3: mortgage and you know, see if we can sell it
Speaker 3: in the future and by a house. So that's something
Speaker 3: that I wanted to do, but we have to discuss
Speaker 3: the nitty gritty details before we get started on that.
Speaker 3: I suppose I love that.
Speaker 2: Did you move over from the Philippines with your husband
Speaker 2: four years ago or did you meet him here? Tell
Speaker 2: me about that. We love a little love story.
Speaker 3: So no, I didn't meet him back home. I met
Speaker 3: him here in Sydney and we met online.
Speaker 2: Oh cute.
Speaker 3: We didn't have a meet cute, but we did have
Speaker 3: like a nice start to our conversation and relationship. I
Speaker 3: suppose I moved in like with him two years ago. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and then we got married last year.
Speaker 2: Congrat so exciting.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Yeah it is, but there's not really much
Speaker 3: difference to than when we were just dating because I
Speaker 3: was still living with him already.
Speaker 2: Oh that's a little bit spicy. Actually, if your family
Speaker 2: are super religious, how did they feel about you moving
Speaker 2: in with your partner before you were married?
Speaker 3: They didn't know.
Speaker 2: I knew that was coming. I was like, did you
Speaker 2: tell them?
Speaker 4: You didn't?
Speaker 2: Did you?
Speaker 3: But I feel like my parents had an idea.
Speaker 2: We don't have to tell them your housemates, like there's
Speaker 2: two bedrooms.
Speaker 3: We actually concocted a story like I am hissed renter
Speaker 3: and he's just like a random landlord.
Speaker 2: Oh nice.
Speaker 3: Yeah. If ever my parents did us, where are you
Speaker 3: living now? And I'm like, oh, here in this little suburb.
Speaker 3: Oh so where did you rent? I'm just like, oh,
Speaker 3: I rented from this gay man.
Speaker 2: Oh you told them he was gay.
Speaker 3: We were planning to give a similar story like that,
Speaker 3: just so that I'll have an excuse why I'm no
Speaker 3: longer living with my sister because I used to live
Speaker 3: with my sister.
Speaker 2: Did your sister know?
Speaker 3: No? She did.
Speaker 2: Oh you're so shaky. How did that work?
Speaker 3: Because I used to live like it's a live in nanny,
Speaker 3: so I sort of like extended the period that I
Speaker 3: was living with the family, but at that time I
Speaker 3: was already living with him.
Speaker 2: I love this.
Speaker 3: So they're just like thinking, how's the kid that you're
Speaker 3: looking after, and I'm like, yeah, she's fine.
Speaker 2: He's a lot older than you think he is.
Speaker 3: So yeah, they didn't have an idea, but I think
Speaker 3: they have a bit of a hint.
Speaker 2: We don't need to talk about it with them though
Speaker 2: they will never know. I like it. Let's leave it
Speaker 2: that way. And then you guys decided to get married.
Speaker 2: That's very exciting. Was that something that you guys had
Speaker 2: to save up for for ages or you did something
Speaker 2: small or what did that look like.
Speaker 3: We didn't spend a lot of money on the wedding
Speaker 3: because I just couldn't bear the idea of spending like
Speaker 3: tens of thousands of dollars on a single day.
Speaker 2: That's so fair.
Speaker 3: Luckily, my parents and paid for my wedding tress and
Speaker 3: the only item I had to fork out on was
Speaker 3: my shoes. Yeah, and for him his suit and his
Speaker 3: shoes and the dinner after and we got married at
Speaker 3: the Civil Registry.
Speaker 2: And like, oh cute, I love that.
Speaker 3: That was very easy to accomplish.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that so much. All Right, let's go
Speaker 2: to a really quick break because I have a lot
Speaker 2: of questions. I want to know about investments and debts
Speaker 2: and your best and worst money habits. So don't go anywhere.
Speaker 2: All right, money Diarist, We are back, and I am
Speaker 2: loving this chat. I feel like it's really pervy. Also,
Speaker 2: you are a lot cheekier than I thought you might
Speaker 2: be going into this because I was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: you grew up in a religious family, and then you're like,
Speaker 2: I didn't tell them. I moved in with my partner
Speaker 2: when it comes to religion. I know you said before
Speaker 2: you're still allocating money to a savings account for a
Speaker 2: tythe tythe for people who are like, what are you
Speaker 2: guys talking about? It's basically a commitment that you have
Speaker 2: with the church to pay ten percent of your income
Speaker 2: to them, and it's about community and it's about you know,
Speaker 2: giving back to the church, and it's usually closely tied
Speaker 2: to being morally good in a way. Right, So you're
Speaker 2: currently putting your type in a savings account because I
Speaker 2: feel like you're questioning whether this is a good idea
Speaker 2: or not. How does your partner feel about this? And
Speaker 2: I guess the religious side of things, is he on
Speaker 2: the same page as you? Are you completely different? Like
Speaker 2: what does that look like?
Speaker 3: We're definitely different in terms of religion. He's now sort
Speaker 3: of like backing away from the whole religion thing because
Speaker 3: he used to be part of a cult.
Speaker 2: A cult. This is not what I expected bombshell after
Speaker 2: bombshell with you.
Speaker 3: So it's not really a cult where you know, they
Speaker 3: burn people alive or whatever, but it's just very dodgy
Speaker 3: where you can't join unless you are personally invited and
Speaker 3: vetted by someone who's already a member.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, a proper cult.
Speaker 3: In Australia, yes, such to say it's in Melbourne, so no, yeah,
Speaker 3: he used to be living in Melbourne. Yeah, and that's
Speaker 3: where it started.
Speaker 2: I'm going to ask you what it is offline so
Speaker 2: I can do some research, but we don't need to
Speaker 2: put that on the podcast. We don't need a cult
Speaker 2: coming for us. How interesting, And so he's completely backing
Speaker 2: away from that. And obviously you've grown up with really
Speaker 2: religious family members and I'm assuming that because you lived
Speaker 2: with your sister and like you were being a bit
Speaker 2: cheeky with your parents. You're probably still close with them, right,
Speaker 2: so like, yeah, how's this working out for you?
Speaker 3: So now a days, my parents are just very blass
Speaker 3: now in terms of religion.
Speaker 2: Really.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So back then I could and get out of
Speaker 3: going into church every Sunday. Yeah, It's like they don't
Speaker 3: care if you're tired or if you want to go
Speaker 3: hang out with your friends. You're coming to church with
Speaker 3: us and you can see your friends after.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But nowadays they're just like, oh, okay.
Speaker 2: They don't mind so much. They're not as strict anymore.
Speaker 3: They don't mind so much anymore because it's probably sunking
Speaker 3: to them that we're all adults now and we have
Speaker 3: our own choices to make.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3: But back then I never missed the church unless I
Speaker 3: was really sick. Yeah. Wow, And that was until I
Speaker 3: was maybe twenty years old.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. And then what made you go, all right,
Speaker 2: I want to move to Australia Because that's a big change.
Speaker 2: And I mean you've mentioned before that like the thing
Speaker 2: you're struggling with is capitalism and consumerism, Like what made
Speaker 2: you want to move to Australia?
Speaker 3: So I lived in a very small town back home,
Speaker 3: and I felt like the life there is just so
Speaker 3: slow that I feel like I'm rotting away. And I thought, oh,
Speaker 3: might as well go to Australia and you know, lives
Speaker 3: with my sister because she's already here. Yeah. I never
Speaker 3: really internalized, yeah, that the lifestyle and how people here
Speaker 3: sort of tackle money is very different than how it
Speaker 3: is back home.
Speaker 2: I love that. So now I guess when you mentioned,
Speaker 2: you know, it's much harder because it's obviously a more
Speaker 2: capitalist and consumerist society, right, Like it's everywhere. It's social media,
Speaker 2: it's the billboards that you see on the train on
Speaker 2: the way to work. It's in your face here, and
Speaker 2: it's obviously very different in the Philippines. Is that something
Speaker 2: that you know you're finding you're spending a lot more
Speaker 2: or being you know, sucked into consumerism or like what
Speaker 2: does that actually mean for you?
Speaker 3: I try so hard not to get hung up on
Speaker 3: the things that are being presented in front of me,
Speaker 3: especially like I'm a big sucker for like facials and
Speaker 3: you know, things to make me feel better like massage
Speaker 3: and many petties. But I really really try so hard
Speaker 3: to say, Nope, you don't need to spend two hundred
Speaker 3: and fifty dollars on a facial.
Speaker 2: It's a lot of money, hey.
Speaker 3: It is. And that really shocked me to my core,
Speaker 3: like my whole being could not comprehend how something that
Speaker 3: I used to take for granted, that I used to
Speaker 3: be able to get back home for like maybe so
Speaker 3: and so amount of dollars equivalent in Australia costs this
Speaker 3: much in reality here in this society, in this type
Speaker 3: of economy. So that was very hard for me to
Speaker 3: not comprehend but sort of wrap my head around.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And now I've gone on for maybe like four years
Speaker 3: without a proper facial from an esthetition, because I just
Speaker 3: do it myself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a lot of money. I can't comprehend it.
Speaker 2: Don't worry, I totally get it. Facial as an investment,
Speaker 2: So tell me a bit more. Do you have any investments?
Speaker 2: If so, what are they?
Speaker 3: So I did go on to share these last December.
Speaker 2: Oh check you out. What a good choice.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I did only make a small investment because
Speaker 3: I'm still trying to suss out what I would like
Speaker 3: to invest on. I have my super. Yeah, so I
Speaker 3: also changed my super into a high growth option. I think.
Speaker 3: I listened to one of the podcasts and I was like,
Speaker 3: hang on, I didn't know about that.
Speaker 2: You hadn't checked it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, fair enough, I could change it, and then I
Speaker 3: think it's looking better, especially the last month that I've
Speaker 3: changed it since then.
Speaker 2: Very good. And in addition to investments, do you have
Speaker 2: any debts? If so, what are they?
Speaker 3: I still have nine seven hundred dollars owing on my
Speaker 3: car because I had to purchase a car last year
Speaker 3: for work, and I'm sololy paying that off. So I'm
Speaker 3: on track to pay that off by end of this year.
Speaker 3: Very good, which is a year earlier that the long term.
Speaker 2: That's very good.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so too, any other debts.
Speaker 2: When you get out of debt the second you paid
Speaker 2: off it is the most exciting thing ever to just
Speaker 2: feel that weight off your shoulders. And no, you don't
Speaker 2: owe anybody anything.
Speaker 3: I feel like I'd be really really happy once I
Speaker 3: see that money go down to zero.
Speaker 2: You'll have to message me when it happens, because I'll
Speaker 2: celebrate too. I feel like you've learned a lot like
Speaker 2: you've had obviously a very different upbringing to what a
Speaker 2: lot of our listeners are going to have had, But
Speaker 2: I do think it's relatively relatable having you know, religious
Speaker 2: parents that have their beliefs that overshadow money, and then,
Speaker 2: you know, make it quite complex for you to learn
Speaker 2: about money because it's like not just the concept of money,
Speaker 2: but this idea of greed and guilt I think plays
Speaker 2: into a lot of you know, what you do and
Speaker 2: the decisions that you make, and feeling like, oh, I'm
Speaker 2: making the right decision. Is this greedy of me? Because
Speaker 2: you don't want to feel that way. But also I
Speaker 2: think it's important to put you first. What do you
Speaker 2: think now is your best money habit?
Speaker 3: I think my best money habit because of the whole
Speaker 3: typing thing, I am able to like segregate my money
Speaker 3: into small baskets. M okay, So I'm going to pay
Speaker 3: a type first, and then I'll separate the money for
Speaker 3: my car repayment, and then some money into a savings
Speaker 3: account for a holiday next year, things like that, and
Speaker 3: then the rest is my disposable income. Sometimes it doesn't
Speaker 3: even get disposed, so sometimes I add more to my
Speaker 3: savings and pay more into my car repayment. But I
Speaker 3: have one money habit that I feel like is also
Speaker 3: my worst money habit?
Speaker 2: What is it?
Speaker 3: So I can pretty much convince myself that I don't
Speaker 3: have money for things, Like I can go on to
Speaker 3: the Iconic and put things in the cord and then
Speaker 3: just say you don't have money for that, and then
Speaker 3: just remove everything from the cord and close the app
Speaker 3: and forget about it.
Speaker 2: That's a good money habit, not a bad money habit.
Speaker 2: I wish that every time I logged into the Iconic,
Speaker 2: I could fill up my card and then get rid
Speaker 2: of it instead of pressing checkout, because all I do
Speaker 2: is press check app.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but that money habit, I think puts me in
Speaker 3: a psycho a of the privation and binging.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's fair.
Speaker 3: For years I was broke in Australia and I'm always like, no,
Speaker 3: you don't have money to buy clothes. But also at
Speaker 3: the same time, I think it allows me to live
Speaker 3: within my means, like way better than I would expect.
Speaker 3: So it really allows me to put things into perspective
Speaker 3: and really figure out which things are the ones that
Speaker 3: I really need and the ones that will give me
Speaker 3: more value for money.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's fair.
Speaker 3: So sometimes I don't really purchase things like just because
Speaker 3: they're cheap or oh I like it and it's only
Speaker 3: like fifty bucks, But then how long is that going
Speaker 3: to last? You? You know, it could be a pair
Speaker 3: of shoes and then get broken by the time I
Speaker 3: wear it the fifth time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So it's all about like thinking about where you're
Speaker 2: at now, not what you were, Like, do you think
Speaker 2: with your tie thing? Obviously I know you're still putting
Speaker 2: that aside, but do you think that you will continue
Speaker 2: to type or do you think that the times are
Speaker 2: changing and you're like, actually, this could be a little
Speaker 2: bit more powerful over here.
Speaker 3: Like I said before, I put it in a savings account,
Speaker 3: but I don't give it to the Sydney church. I
Speaker 3: don't plan on giving it to an Australian church because I.
Speaker 2: Feel right they have enough.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I feel like I would be better off
Speaker 3: if I send it back home, and it would really
Speaker 3: really help the community's back home where they can spend
Speaker 3: the money into possibly building a church and you know,
Speaker 3: helping the people in need, rather than here where it's
Speaker 3: people who earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in a year.
Speaker 2: And it just doesn't make sense, doesn't Yeah, it doesn't.
Speaker 3: Like that's why the types are sitting in a savings account.
Speaker 2: But I agree with that fully and I feel like
Speaker 2: in economy's life the Philippines, when it comes to tything
Speaker 2: and giving to a church, it does get used more
Speaker 2: often on the local community, whereas I don't see the
Speaker 2: same thing happening in Australia. And I mean a lot
Speaker 2: of people will probably argue with me, I'm honestly not
Speaker 2: interested in the conversation with being brutal, but like they'll
Speaker 2: say no, no, no, it goes back into the community, and
Speaker 2: I'll be like, yes, but not in the same way.
Speaker 2: Like people in the Philippines genuinely are struggling a lot
Speaker 2: more than they are in Australia when it comes to
Speaker 2: basic needs. And I know that a lot of the
Speaker 2: church is over there. They're building shelters, they're building churches,
Speaker 2: they're building you know, access to clean water, they're building
Speaker 2: sewage systems, And I just think that that makes to
Speaker 2: me a lot more sense than tithing to you know,
Speaker 2: big church in Sydney, who will you know, give back
Speaker 2: to the community, But they've got a barbecue on a
Speaker 2: Sunday after church, and I just go that's probably not
Speaker 2: you know, where I would want my money working hard, right, like,
Speaker 2: if I'm still going to do this. Yeah, so we've spoken, Abe,
Speaker 2: this has been very eye opening. I have loved our conversation.
Speaker 2: But at the start of the conversation you said, I
Speaker 2: think I'm a C minus with money, but it turns
Speaker 2: out you're actually pretty good at money. Like you're, you know,
Speaker 2: good at making sure that you have your little baskets
Speaker 2: of money and where things go and what they look like.
Speaker 2: I think you're very aware of your spending and you
Speaker 2: earn really good money. But what would it take to
Speaker 2: get you from a C minus to an A? What
Speaker 2: changes would you need to be making.
Speaker 3: I feel like I really need to up my investment game,
Speaker 3: like really teach myself how to be patient in terms
Speaker 3: of seeing that growth, make sure that I don't touch
Speaker 3: that money for the years to come, and really make
Speaker 3: smart decisions on what types of investments, the ones that
Speaker 3: will give me, so to speak, more bang for my buck.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I think that's what would really get me to
Speaker 3: A because I feel like that's the only thing missing
Speaker 3: in this whole puzzle piece.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like that's a pretty achievable thing to
Speaker 2: do though. Yeah, it's not like, oh, I'm a CS
Speaker 2: and I'm gonna have to look on my budget and
Speaker 2: cash flow. I need to earn more, I need to
Speaker 2: get out heaps of consumer debt. Like that's a very
Speaker 2: easy change with education. So that makes me really excited
Speaker 2: that you're able to achieve that pretty quickly.
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, I hope so too, because you know,
Speaker 3: it's good to have the things that you're one achieve.
Speaker 2: I agree so much. I wish we had more time
Speaker 2: to talk and more time to go through this. I
Speaker 2: have many a question about cults and religious upbringings. I
Speaker 2: feel like that topic is always really spicy, but money
Speaker 2: direct it has been a pleasure getting to know you.
Speaker 2: Thank you for being so open and honest. I feel
Speaker 2: like lots of people are gonna listen to this and
Speaker 2: be like, wow, that's so interesting. That's so different to
Speaker 2: the way that I've grown up. And I think my
Speaker 2: favorite thing about money diaries is that you get to
Speaker 2: learn through other people's experiences, and for me, that's the
Speaker 2: best way to learn. Like, I don't want to just
Speaker 2: sit down and read books about finance. I want to
Speaker 2: know how you know. A money direst from Sydney who
Speaker 2: moved from the Philippines managers money and you know, changes
Speaker 2: her life, and I think that is just so cool
Speaker 2: that we get to share those stories every day. So
Speaker 2: Money Dost, I'm really grateful. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
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