Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud Order
Speaker 1: Order Kerni Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before we
Speaker 1: get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would
Speaker 1: like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of
Speaker 1: which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging
Speaker 1: the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through
Speaker 1: as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and
Speaker 1: the storytelling of you to make a difference for today
Speaker 1: 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: Pousi Millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another
Speaker 2: one of our money daries where I get the absolute
Speaker 2: pleasure of sitting down and talking to one of our
Speaker 2: incredible She's on the Money community members all about their
Speaker 2: money story. Let's jump straight into it, because this week
Speaker 2: I got an email and it sounded exactly like this,
Speaker 2: Dear She's on the Money. Back in twenty fourteen, I
Speaker 2: was making forty thousand dollars a year, living paycheck to
Speaker 2: paycheck and had little understanding of financial basics, but I
Speaker 2: did know that there was not much room for career
Speaker 2: progression in sports and community reck. So I did a
Speaker 2: complete one eighty and moved into project management in construction,
Speaker 2: and I am now on ninety thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2: My husband has always worked in machinery and he had
Speaker 2: noticed a gap in the market in our community. When
Speaker 2: we were building our home, we realized we needed the machinery,
Speaker 2: so why not just buy it ourselves and then hire
Speaker 2: it out as a side business. I'm putting working nights
Speaker 2: and weekends in, but it's worth it because this business
Speaker 2: is projected to turn over four hundred thousand dollars in
Speaker 2: its first year money Diarist, Does that give you a
Speaker 2: little bit of wicklash? Like from forty thousand dollars a
Speaker 2: year to our business turning over four hundred grand, Like,
Speaker 2: b for real, that's so much money.
Speaker 4: It's pretty cool. And that's part of why I wrote
Speaker 4: in because I was like, Oh, my gosh, this is
Speaker 4: actually really incredible, and I kind of it was actually
Speaker 4: really nice validating it for myself as well.
Speaker 2: Oh it's so cathartic, Like I think one of my
Speaker 2: favorite things about money diaries. Is that reflection that the
Speaker 2: diarists get and I can see it like and I
Speaker 2: feel like our listeners can hear it as well. You
Speaker 2: know when you go through a diary and at the
Speaker 2: start they're like, yep, I'm here, and then we reflect
Speaker 2: on their money story and what they're going through, and
Speaker 2: at the end they're like, hey, I'm pretty cool, aren't I?
Speaker 2: And I'm like, yes you are.
Speaker 4: Yeah. It's a nice moment of growth to actually think
Speaker 4: about and be like, yes, we've done.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's do that together. Now, money diarist, what grade
Speaker 2: would you give your money habits? If I asked you
Speaker 2: to give them a grade from A through to F,
Speaker 2: I would say A C, A C and she's turning
Speaker 2: over four hundred grand. Okay, no worries. Let's learn a
Speaker 2: little bit more. Money diarist, you started off making forty
Speaker 2: thousand dollars a year. We don't have a lot of context.
Speaker 2: Can you tell us a little bit more about your
Speaker 2: money story?
Speaker 4: Yes, so, as I said so twenty fourteen, ten years ago,
Speaker 4: I was out of UNI earning forty thousand a year,
Speaker 4: and that was on a contract sort of basis. So
Speaker 4: I went from job to job, living paycheck to paycheck.
Speaker 4: I wasn't bought up around business or anything like that,
Speaker 4: so didn't have a great understanding, I guess of how
Speaker 4: to spend my money, how to save my money. Saving
Speaker 4: money is also really hard on that amount as well.
Speaker 2: Yes, I say this all the time, and is it
Speaker 2: not wild just to like buddy in here a little bit,
Speaker 2: But isn't it wild that when you're earning forty thousand
Speaker 2: dollars you probably still put so much pressure on yourself.
Speaker 2: You're like, oh my god, I'm so bad with money.
Speaker 2: I can't save, I can't invest. But we didn't look
Speaker 2: at the bay of it, and that's that you don't
Speaker 2: have the cash flow to support those things. Like you're
Speaker 2: just doing the best that you can, but you're still
Speaker 2: thinking that it's just because you're not good at it.
Speaker 4: Like what Yeah, absolutely, And that was that was something
Speaker 4: that at the time, I, you know, it was like, oh,
Speaker 4: I can't save, I am still living paycheck to paycheck.
Speaker 4: My mom and dad, you know, gave me a loan
Speaker 4: for a new car, those sorts of things. And then
Speaker 4: now now sitting back and looking at it, I completely
Speaker 4: understand and realized that for what I had, I did
Speaker 4: well with that. But then when I made that sort
Speaker 4: of switch to actually start saving and learn more, that's
Speaker 4: what really changed for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it really upsets me when I speak to people
Speaker 2: and they're like the like, I'm earning forty five thousand
Speaker 2: dollars a year and I just I can't seem to
Speaker 2: save or invest, like it's all beyond me. And I'm like,
Speaker 2: I get that, but to be really blunt, with the
Speaker 2: income that you have, life is expensive. There's not going
Speaker 2: to be much wiggle room left. And as much as
Speaker 2: that's not nice to hear, sometimes it's quite validating to
Speaker 2: hear because you're like, oh, it's not me, Like, it's
Speaker 2: not that I'm bad, it's something and so that we
Speaker 2: just don't have that wiggle room, or we don't have
Speaker 2: that cash flow, or that's actually just not going to
Speaker 2: work for our current chapter of life, and that is
Speaker 2: actually okay. I don't want people walking around feeling like
Speaker 2: they're bad at something when the reality is you're doing
Speaker 2: pretty good. And it was only on reflection that even
Speaker 2: you said, actually I was doing pretty well for not
Speaker 2: earning all that much.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, And I was living in a metropolitan area at
Speaker 4: the time. I was still visiting friends and family in
Speaker 4: regional areas. So I still lived a really, really good life.
Speaker 4: I didn't go without what I needed to. It was
Speaker 4: just that I then had a moment where I turned
Speaker 4: from I guess, different priorities and wanting to purchase a
Speaker 4: house and wanting to get out of sharehousing. And that
Speaker 4: was kind of the switch for me that made me realize,
Speaker 4: you know, I had to make a few changes and
Speaker 4: had something to work towards.
Speaker 2: And something had to change. Like you might have absolutely
Speaker 2: loved working in you know, smorts and community wreck, but
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, sometimes there are caps
Speaker 2: on careers, and if money and finances are a really
Speaker 2: big priority to you, you do have to sometimes do
Speaker 2: a one ad. At what point did you come to
Speaker 2: that realization you were like, I actually need a whole
Speaker 2: new career, not just like to work harder at work.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Well, it was a couple of years ago now
Speaker 4: just nearly two years ago, and I was talking to
Speaker 4: my partner at the time, who's now my fiance state,
Speaker 4: which is super exciting.
Speaker 2: The congrats I did see the ring thank you. She's cute.
Speaker 4: So I was kind of thinking, you know, we're wanting
Speaker 4: to raise a family, we're wanting to start businesses, and
Speaker 4: I came to the realization with the job and career
Speaker 4: I had at the time, I wouldn't be able to
Speaker 4: do those things the way I wanted to. So that
Speaker 4: may work for other people and that's fantastic, but the
Speaker 4: way we wanted to live our lives it wasn't going
Speaker 4: to work. We then kind of that down and he
Speaker 4: was often like, you know, you're fantastic at organizing things.
Speaker 4: I've never seen someone with a checklist and a red
Speaker 4: pen strike through a list like you do.
Speaker 2: I love that. That's like the biggest compliment.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was. And I was like, actually, you know what,
Speaker 4: I am good at that. Thank you. And he was like, well,
Speaker 4: let's look at how you can make a career out
Speaker 4: of that. And so project management was a sort of
Speaker 4: a perfect fit. I guess I'd worked in management previously,
Speaker 4: so a lot of like transferable skills that I could
Speaker 4: bring across and then yet did a one eighty and
Speaker 4: here we are.
Speaker 2: So what kind of study did you have to do
Speaker 2: to get into project management? Because I feel like I
Speaker 2: sometimes hear that people have these roles, but I'm like,
Speaker 2: did you have to go to UNI? Did you have
Speaker 2: to do a certificate like or did you just apply
Speaker 2: for the job and be like, hey, did you see
Speaker 2: that I crossed things off in red pen like what's
Speaker 2: the career path there?
Speaker 4: So I was really lucky in that the company that
Speaker 4: I'm now working for, they had in their ad we're
Speaker 4: looking for project managers, but happy for people that are
Speaker 4: looking for a change, and we're willing to train you.
Speaker 2: Oh how good is that?
Speaker 4: Yes? I jumped on it and submitted my application, had
Speaker 4: a brief phone conversation which then actually ended up with
Speaker 4: them saying, look, we've actually just employed someone with thirty
Speaker 4: five years experience.
Speaker 2: Of course you have.
Speaker 4: And I was like, okay, that's understandable. I'll cop that.
Speaker 4: Compete with that, it's definitely not. And they said, however,
Speaker 4: we would like to offer you like an assistance sort
Speaker 4: of role so that we can have you on board
Speaker 4: and then train you up so that you can then
Speaker 4: move into a full project management role.
Speaker 2: Oh how good is that? And you know what, like,
Speaker 2: from my perspective looking at that, that maybe is even better. Oh.
Speaker 4: Absolutely so for me when I made the change, I
Speaker 4: didn't have to take a pay cut, I worked less hours,
Speaker 4: I didn't need to work weekends.
Speaker 2: How good is this? You're selling the dream.
Speaker 4: And I was then getting trained as well. So for me,
Speaker 4: I'm enrolled in a diploma of project management. But there's
Speaker 4: others here that have a certificate for in project management.
Speaker 4: So I think the thing is that there's varying levels
Speaker 4: of study. I think it's about finding the right company
Speaker 4: and organization to take you on and train you where
Speaker 4: you need it, because for me, the training on the
Speaker 4: job is far more I guess beneficial than anything on
Speaker 4: a piece of paper.
Speaker 2: I can attest to that, having been a chronic university gower,
Speaker 2: I know so much more just from doing the work.
Speaker 2: And like I know, he kind of feels like a
Speaker 2: rock and hard place because you're like, yes, Victoria, but
Speaker 2: I need the UNI degree to actually get in the door.
Speaker 2: And that's often the case. But then there are things
Speaker 2: like what you've just gone through, where they are willing
Speaker 2: to train you and they are willing to go through it,
Speaker 2: but you're not going to find it unless you're looking
Speaker 2: like it's not going to jump out at you unless
Speaker 2: you're like, hold on, like maybe this is something I
Speaker 2: should have a look into. Because how I asked you
Speaker 2: while you were still at your sports and community wrec job, Like, oh,
Speaker 2: you could probably just find a job in project management.
Speaker 2: They'll train you and you're like, not even have to
Speaker 2: take a pay cut. You'd be like sure, Victoria, Sure, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4: And I think that was a big thing in that
Speaker 4: we had those conversations realized, like I guess where our
Speaker 4: values were and what was important to us, and then
Speaker 4: we started looking.
Speaker 2: So yeah, how good. I love that so much. So
Speaker 2: now tell me how old are you? What's your official
Speaker 2: job title and how much money do you earn?
Speaker 4: So I am thirty two. Official job title is contract
Speaker 4: administrator and I'm on ninety thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2: Is that including or excluding superannuation?
Speaker 4: Excluding super?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: How good? So then it's like super on top. So girl,
Speaker 2: you're basically on one hundred grand a year.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Oh we love to see it. So tell me a
Speaker 2: bit more. So you've just gotten engaged. I peep are
Speaker 2: very cute. Ring are your big money goals at the moment?
Speaker 2: What are you currently working towards?
Speaker 4: So money goals at the moment for us, where the
Speaker 4: main aim is to have multiple passive income streams. That's
Speaker 4: that's the goal that will be broken down into a
Speaker 4: couple of smaller steps. But that's our end goal.
Speaker 2: How exciting and what do you like? Do you have
Speaker 2: specific goals for that or is that just like a
Speaker 2: holistic our entire life is working towards it. Or do
Speaker 2: we have like a list with some red pen that
Speaker 2: we can cross off goals?
Speaker 4: Yes, so we have a full I guess, sort of
Speaker 4: business plan that we're working towards.
Speaker 2: You've got a business plan for life as well. I
Speaker 2: love this, not for life.
Speaker 4: That one's actual business business plan for business, no real
Speaker 4: business plan for life. We're kind of it's just for us.
Speaker 4: It's a matter of like looking at where we are
Speaker 4: with work and then what we're wanting to get to
Speaker 4: with business, and then how that all fits together.
Speaker 2: Adore, I love this so much. Let's go to a
Speaker 2: really quick break on the flip side. I want to
Speaker 2: ask so many more questions about this business. How the
Speaker 2: heck you got it to be turning four hundred thousand
Speaker 2: dollars over in the first year. I want to know
Speaker 2: about investments, I want to know about debts, and I
Speaker 2: feel like someone like you has some really good money habits.
Speaker 2: So guys don't go anywhere, all right, We are back
Speaker 2: and our money. Darist has gone from being on forty
Speaker 2: thousand dollars a year to now being on ninety thousand
Speaker 2: dollars a year, and in her first year in business,
Speaker 2: is about to turn over four hundred thousand dollars money, Darist.
Speaker 2: Can we dive straight in to investments? So when you
Speaker 2: were earning forty thousand dollars was only two years ago.
Speaker 2: I'm assuming that investments felt pretty far off. But was
Speaker 2: that something that you spoke about or thought about or
Speaker 2: what did that look like? And now what does it
Speaker 2: look like today?
Speaker 4: Investment was always something that I thought was this, I
Speaker 4: guess grand dream that I could never afford. It was
Speaker 4: as simple as that. I just didn't think that that
Speaker 4: was possible. I then purchased my first house on my own,
Speaker 4: which was amazing.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, No, you did it, Yeah I did.
Speaker 4: Now you bought your first hold on what was your
Speaker 4: salary when you bought your first house? It would have
Speaker 4: been around sixty sixty five Holy moly.
Speaker 2: So you're just like, by the way, I'm duying my
Speaker 2: own house and I'm on sixty five grand. That is iconic.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I share house for a long time.
Speaker 2: Of course, sacrifice is what makes these things happen.
Speaker 4: Yes, so I made the most of it. I worked
Speaker 4: really hard to put everything aside that I could, and
Speaker 4: then happened to find the perfect little home just before
Speaker 4: the COVID chaos, which was fantastic. So I was able
Speaker 4: to get in there. Since then met my now partner,
Speaker 4: and that first home is now a beautiful investment. So
Speaker 4: that's my first actual investment, is my home.
Speaker 2: Okay, nice, what a little dream. I love that, So
Speaker 2: tell me a bit more. I've got to be a pervy,
Speaker 2: Like buying your first home is hard enough. You did
Speaker 2: it earning sixty five grand? Did you have a guaranteur?
Speaker 2: Did you you know, have somebody who taught you how
Speaker 2: to get into property? Did you have to save up
Speaker 2: a twenty percent deposit?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 2: I need to know the nitty gritty how'd you get in?
Speaker 4: So I went to my local bank and spoke them
Speaker 4: about first home buy scheme at the time, so I
Speaker 4: was able to get in with less than twenty percent deposit.
Speaker 4: I did have the full twenty percent deposit available.
Speaker 2: Of course you did. You're saying that, Oh No, when
Speaker 2: I earned last I didn't. I wasn't able to invest
Speaker 2: or safe girl, you were you were. You're deceiving us.
Speaker 2: You're really good at money, won't you?
Speaker 4: I wasn't. I wasn't, And then I became. I became
Speaker 4: more aware and I learned the tricks along the way.
Speaker 4: So I yeah, went to my bank and they were
Speaker 4: able to offer a first home buy scheme, which meant
Speaker 4: I didn't have to put in the twenty percent deposit,
Speaker 4: but still didn't have to pay lender's mortgage insurance. So
Speaker 4: the bank manager, she calls herself my local mum because
Speaker 4: my family lived ten hours away.
Speaker 2: That's so sweet, and.
Speaker 4: I remember the first meeting with her. She was like, no,
Speaker 4: we are not letting you pay lender's mortgage insurance. We
Speaker 4: will apply for the first home buy scheme. We will
Speaker 4: make sure you do this right. And that's how I
Speaker 4: did it. What an I can't the additional money that
Speaker 4: I had, which would have been the twenty percent deposit,
Speaker 4: I then, over two to three years, put some of
Speaker 4: that into renovations and increasing the value of the home,
Speaker 4: so icon it it's increased nearly two hundred thousand, nor
Speaker 4: what has ever three years?
Speaker 2: So tell me how much did you purchase your first
Speaker 2: home for? What's it worth?
Speaker 4: Now it was three hundred and fifty six thousand.
Speaker 2: Three fifty six and then it's now worth like five
Speaker 2: fifty six. Oh my gosh. And how much is left
Speaker 2: on your mortgage that one.
Speaker 4: I've got around two hundred and ninety left on that mortgage.
Speaker 2: Isn't that insane? You've got so much equity now.
Speaker 4: Yes, so so much. So it's just that.
Speaker 2: Equation that is so cool.
Speaker 4: Yeah, ready for even when we ever need it.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. I'm so excited for you because it
Speaker 2: just everything works out when you start to just care
Speaker 2: about your finances like this is really empowering because I
Speaker 2: think so many times when you're you know, you're just
Speaker 2: a girl, you're earning seventy grand which is a really
Speaker 2: normal income, and you just feel like nothing's possible, and
Speaker 2: then you hear stories like this coming out of our community.
Speaker 2: You did that on your own. You hadn't even met
Speaker 2: your partner yet, and you were like, Nope, I'm going
Speaker 2: to buy myrin home. I'm going to make sure I
Speaker 2: go through these situations. And I mean, as you know already,
Speaker 2: I own a mortgage broken company called Zella Money, and
Speaker 2: we do this every day. So, like I know, it's possible,
Speaker 2: but so many times we meet with people they're like, Oh,
Speaker 2: I just I don't know if it's going to work
Speaker 2: for me. Like this, Money Diarist has not only worked
Speaker 2: out how to get into her own home, she's unlocked
Speaker 2: a heap of equity. If she sold it over the
Speaker 2: last two years, she would have made more than two
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars, having started on a salary of sixty grand.
Speaker 2: Like that is wild and so so cool to me,
Speaker 2: Money Diarist, Let's get a little bit further into it.
Speaker 2: Do you invest in any other way or is it
Speaker 2: just property at this point? What are your thoughts on it?
Speaker 2: Is there a plan for the future or is it
Speaker 2: all about business at the moment?
Speaker 4: So no other investments at this stage. We have just
Speaker 4: built our first time together. So at the moment, yeah,
Speaker 4: first home is our investment. I have a whole lot
Speaker 4: of analysis paralysis with actual investing. I have to admit it.
Speaker 4: That is my next I guess personal goal is to
Speaker 4: look at that further.
Speaker 2: Our investing masterclass is about to drop on the thirtieth
Speaker 2: of September, so I'm going to give that to you
Speaker 2: and then there's no excuses like I'm going to teach
Speaker 2: you absolutely everything, because it sounds like you've got property down, Pat,
Speaker 2: but the investing side of things, Oh my gosh, I
Speaker 2: can't wait ten years from now you are going to
Speaker 2: be running rings around literally everybody.
Speaker 4: Thank you. That is yeah, that's my personal goal is
Speaker 4: just to get that part. I guess down, Pat. I
Speaker 4: just it's it's always been too much like I haven't
Speaker 4: known sort of, I guess where to start. I've you know,
Speaker 4: opened a tab and started reading and it's still open
Speaker 4: on my phone. So that's that's the next thing.
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 2: Analysis paralysis is the worst, right and then you think
Speaker 2: you're about to pull the trigger, and then someone meant
Speaker 2: something and you're like, oh, what does that mean? I
Speaker 2: need to start again? And as women, we just don't
Speaker 2: trust our intuition enough sometimes to just dive in and
Speaker 2: get started. I think you're gonna love it. I'm just
Speaker 2: I feel like our stars are aligned, like we're talking
Speaker 2: at the perfect time for you to then start the
Speaker 2: investing masterclass on the thirtieth with us, which is really exciting.
Speaker 2: But for everybody listening, obviously, I'll put a discount code
Speaker 2: in the show notes to make sure that you don't
Speaker 2: miss out. Either. I'm so excited about that. For you,
Speaker 2: tell me a bit more. Do you have any other debts?
Speaker 4: So for us, it's just first home, the home we've
Speaker 4: just built. And then my partner has a debt on
Speaker 4: his vehicle and that is it. Sorry, and one machine,
Speaker 4: one machine has a debt as well.
Speaker 2: Yes, sorry, all right, Well, tell me a little bit
Speaker 2: more about this home that you're building. What kind of
Speaker 2: block size is it? How much have you spent on it?
Speaker 2: Like what type of mortgages you got? Like, I'm just
Speaker 2: so pervy, and it is literally a privileged to be
Speaker 2: able to ask someone will the perfume money questions that
Speaker 2: you'd never ask them if you met them at the shops.
Speaker 4: No, I love it, and I'm all for it because
Speaker 4: it's actually really cool and I'm really like we're in
Speaker 4: a fantastic position that we've both worked really hard to
Speaker 4: be in. So where we've just built is a twenty
Speaker 4: seven hundred square meter.
Speaker 2: Block, Okay, how exciting.
Speaker 4: It is very exciting. However, there is a lot of
Speaker 4: mowing to be done on a block that size, and
Speaker 4: a lot of vacuuming to be done on a house
Speaker 4: that's three hundred and forty square meters.
Speaker 2: Do you know what's so funny? You just said that
Speaker 2: your house is three hundred and forty square meters and
Speaker 2: my entire block, like my house is on four hundred
Speaker 2: square meters. Like that's the that's the land size, babe.
Speaker 2: That's insane to me. How cool you're mowing my entire block?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Yes, so like my first home actually fits square
Speaker 4: meter wise, fits in the middle center of our house,
Speaker 4: of our new house.
Speaker 2: Isn't it so funny? So tell me more about this.
Speaker 2: So you've got this beautiful, big block of land and
Speaker 2: you're building your home, Like, how are you funding this?
Speaker 4: So my partner had amount of cash to put in,
Speaker 4: so we've done that, and then we have a five
Speaker 4: hundred thousand dollars mortgage for that property.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, why is it only five hundred thousand
Speaker 2: dollars for twenty seven Like you've got to give me
Speaker 2: more context here, Like.
Speaker 4: We were able to put so much in that that's
Speaker 4: all we needed.
Speaker 2: What what's it worth?
Speaker 4: So we're waiting for final valuation. We are living in there,
Speaker 4: which is amazing, but it's looking like it'll be valued
Speaker 4: at one point four.
Speaker 2: Sorry, there's a bit of context missing here. So when
Speaker 2: you say my partner had a little bit of cash, Like,
Speaker 2: what do you mean a little bit?
Speaker 4: So he sold his previous house and all of that
Speaker 4: went straight straight this new one. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, she's marrying rich guys.
Speaker 4: No, I'm just marrying a beautiful man.
Speaker 2: How good is that? I'm obviously joking, but it is
Speaker 2: so cool how this is all just working out for you.
Speaker 2: So tell me more about this business, because you mentioned
Speaker 2: we have a machine and it has some debt on it. Obviously,
Speaker 2: when you were building your home you realized that the
Speaker 2: machinery was necessary. Why not purchase it? Why not then
Speaker 2: lease it out after? Is this like, you know, a
Speaker 2: twenty dollar wheelbarrow from Buddings Or is this like, you know,
Speaker 2: a whole digger? Is this a crane? I don't know.
Speaker 2: You've got to tell me more about how this works
Speaker 2: and then how you worked out that you could lease
Speaker 2: it out.
Speaker 4: Yep. So when we first started designing the house and
Speaker 4: obviously a big block, we were like, well, there's a
Speaker 4: lot of landscaping that's going to need to be done,
Speaker 4: and we were like, well, we'll do that ourselves. At
Speaker 4: the time, his brother and his wife were also building
Speaker 4: on a large block and his parents were also building
Speaker 4: on a large block.
Speaker 2: Oh god, so much construction. And you wouldn't be short
Speaker 2: for conversation at family dinner, would you.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, we will be shortly. We actually joke about
Speaker 4: what we're all going to talk about in six months
Speaker 4: time when everyone's done building.
Speaker 2: Oh, you guys will find another projects guarantee it.
Speaker 4: Yes, definitely. So yeah, we looked at it and we thought,
Speaker 4: you know, were between just the three of us building
Speaker 4: and you know, needing to hire a digger to do
Speaker 4: some earthworks or a skid steer to do something else.
Speaker 4: We were like, hang on, this is really really expensive
Speaker 4: in town, and if we do that and say we
Speaker 4: need it. We worked it out over a certain number
Speaker 4: of weekends and what it would come to, and we
Speaker 4: were like, why don't we just buy one? So again,
Speaker 4: there was some money from the sale of my partner's house,
Speaker 4: so we actually paid cash for our first machine.
Speaker 2: How much does a machine cost?
Speaker 4: So that was a mini excavator, so a brand new
Speaker 4: Caterpillar excavator, and that one, at the time I believe
Speaker 4: was forty thousand, and then it was about eleven thousand.
Speaker 4: Then for the trailer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, and so you need the trailer of the
Speaker 2: UC to move the excavator, yes, so to.
Speaker 4: Move it around. We we did buy a more expensive
Speaker 4: trailer because you could just buy a plant trailer where
Speaker 4: you can just drive your machine on and that's all
Speaker 4: its purpose is. However, we went for a different trailer
Speaker 4: that was say, a tiper trailer, so that people can
Speaker 4: also use it for soil, which you offer.
Speaker 2: He's a smart cookie, so you can move the stuff
Speaker 2: that you excavated.
Speaker 4: Correct, And you can also hire that trailer out as
Speaker 4: its own asset, whereas no one really needs to just
Speaker 4: borrow a plant trailer on its own, but someone wanting
Speaker 4: to do some gardening can hire a trailer.
Speaker 2: I see the vision. I get it. So you've essentially
Speaker 2: invested fifty one thousand dollars in this trailer and this excavator,
Speaker 2: and I'm assuming you've used it. Partner's parents have used it,
Speaker 2: other family members have used it, and now you're hiring
Speaker 2: it out. What does that look like? Do you advertise
Speaker 2: it online or is this a word of mouthing or like?
Speaker 2: How does that work? How does it go from we
Speaker 2: bought this fancy thing to other people are paying you
Speaker 2: for it?
Speaker 4: Yeah? So it did just start out with social media
Speaker 4: advertising locally, we put some signage on the trailer and
Speaker 4: on the machine, and it just kind of went from there.
Speaker 4: We've actually stopped advertising for it at the moment because
Speaker 4: the second part of the business is labor Higher, which
Speaker 4: we've got my partner employed through so he's out of
Speaker 4: town a lot with that. So we've actually stopped advertising
Speaker 4: the equipment higher because we're getting enough with it to
Speaker 4: cover the repayments on our second machine.
Speaker 2: Okay, I love this. And what does it look like
Speaker 2: in the future. I know you said earlier on the
Speaker 2: other half of this episode, we have a business plan.
Speaker 2: What does that look like?
Speaker 4: So for us, I guess you know, more machinery, bigger
Speaker 4: machinery definitely is the plan to do that. We need
Speaker 4: a shed to store it all. So our first sort
Speaker 4: of goal at the moment is to open a second
Speaker 4: business with a workshop so we can do I guess
Speaker 4: heavy vehicle workshop, which also means that the machinery we
Speaker 4: have can be serviced.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, you guys are thinking smart. It's not like
Speaker 2: so I thought you would say. So we're building a
Speaker 2: shed on our twenty seven hundred square meter block and
Speaker 2: I would be like, okay, smart girl, but she's going
Speaker 2: further than that. You've really really thought about this?
Speaker 4: Yeah, we have thought about it, and we have a
Speaker 4: really clear vision of where we want to end up.
Speaker 4: So essentially we're looking at the moment at shared rentals
Speaker 4: in the town we're in so that we can have
Speaker 4: a start, and then pending those first twelve months, then
Speaker 4: we would either look to them build a shed or
Speaker 4: then start like a second stream.
Speaker 2: Again, how cool are you? I love this? And so
Speaker 2: over the last like twelve months, you've built this up
Speaker 2: and now it's projected to turn over four hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: Can it be real, pervy? How much of that is profit?
Speaker 2: So majority of that very nicey nice.
Speaker 4: I don't have the like percentages with me, which I should,
Speaker 4: and I definitely don't. So that is from so as
Speaker 4: I said, we've got the two streams with plant higher
Speaker 4: and then also labor higher. So the vast majority of
Speaker 4: that has come from labor higher. But we made the
Speaker 4: call and I guess the sacrifice to add that in
Speaker 4: rather than my partner being on a wage working for
Speaker 4: someone else, it's far easier when it's your own name
Speaker 4: on your shirt. To put in the hours, oh.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. And also sometimes you've got to do
Speaker 2: the dirty work yourself, like you've just got to start
Speaker 2: from scratch instead of hiring someone else and trying to
Speaker 2: manage it. Well, he's got a full time job. It's
Speaker 2: going to be so much easier at a scale, which
Speaker 2: is so exciting. So is the plan for that to scale?
Speaker 2: And maybe you not working your ninety thousand dollars project
Speaker 2: management job.
Speaker 4: This is and this is very very, very big picture
Speaker 4: and I don't normally put big picture out to the
Speaker 4: world until I know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2: So we're manifesting it. We're manifesting it.
Speaker 4: We are so big picture would be that we have
Speaker 4: enough machinery that we could potentially, you know, start a
Speaker 4: sort of a civil branch and having that would need
Speaker 4: a project manager.
Speaker 2: It would it would need your skills.
Speaker 4: Yes, so that's sort of I guess how we'd integrate
Speaker 4: my skills into them coming full time into the business.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. But I also know
Speaker 2: your skills are already being utilized in the business, Like
Speaker 2: you need someone who can organize everything, like even just
Speaker 2: down to when it's hired out when it's not hired out,
Speaker 2: the like the facilities, getting it organized to be serviced,
Speaker 2: like all of that stuff. I'm pretty sure you're in
Speaker 2: charge of that, aren't you.
Speaker 4: Yes, I am, so. I do all of that before
Speaker 4: and after my I guess nine.
Speaker 2: To five full time job, so she's working two jobs.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I, yeah, work full time. I do on
Speaker 4: and off hire of machinery before and after work, so
Speaker 4: you know, I might be doing it on hire at
Speaker 4: six point thirty or seven o'clock in the morning, getting
Speaker 4: that out and then coming to work the end of
Speaker 4: the day, then finishing work, going doing off high, getting
Speaker 4: it back, making sure it's clean field, et cetera. And
Speaker 4: then I go home and manage our finances and you know.
Speaker 2: Pay bills and uh dinner.
Speaker 4: Yeah that the last six months, I've learned about payroll.
Speaker 4: I've learned about superinnuation and how to pay that. So
Speaker 4: lots of little things within that I've learned how to do.
Speaker 2: My Baz, how good. I'm so proud of you, But
Speaker 2: also look at how hard you're working to create this
Speaker 2: like epic level of financial freedom that you guys will
Speaker 2: have in the future. Like I cannot wait, please, message
Speaker 2: me and be like, the my business is now turning
Speaker 2: over a million dollars, Like I know it's coming. It's
Speaker 2: just going to be a short period of time before
Speaker 2: that happens. So I'm waiting for the message years go yes,
Speaker 2: how good. I'm so excited for you. I feel like
Speaker 2: you've got all of your ducks in a row. Tell me,
Speaker 2: what do you think your best money habit is?
Speaker 4: I think, honestly, for me, it's being across what's coming
Speaker 4: in and what's going out. So I'm very old school
Speaker 4: in that I will actually sit down, I will look
Speaker 4: at everything. I have finally set up my direct debits
Speaker 4: to have bills just coming out automatically, so that is good.
Speaker 4: But I do still have a sit down and look
Speaker 4: at everything and where we're up to. I sort of
Speaker 4: sit my partner down and go, right, it's finance date night.
Speaker 4: This is where we're at, this is what's going on.
Speaker 4: He's like, perfect, We're good for another few weeks. We'll
Speaker 4: chat about it. Then.
Speaker 2: I love that. I love that so much. What's your
Speaker 2: bad money havebit? Then? Is there one that you're like?
Speaker 2: This one always gets me.
Speaker 4: I don't know if it's a bad habit. I think
Speaker 4: the investment part. For me, I really want to get
Speaker 4: on top of that. So for me, that's a bad
Speaker 4: habit in that I haven't started it to let it
Speaker 4: become a good habit.
Speaker 2: Oh that is so easy, and honestly, I've just fixed it.
Speaker 2: So like we are immediately in a plus because of that,
Speaker 2: thank you.
Speaker 4: But for me, I guess it's important for me to,
Speaker 4: you know, go and enjoy a coffee or brunch and
Speaker 4: take myself out and do those things. So I guess
Speaker 4: the worst habit would be that I do that once
Speaker 4: and then I'm like, oh, yeah, we should definitely do
Speaker 4: this more often. And then I'm like, wait a second,
Speaker 4: let's reule this back in and make it something to
Speaker 4: enjoy rather than just spending that money.
Speaker 2: But also, look at the life you're building that's going
Speaker 2: to afford more coffees out more often. Like your lifestyle
Speaker 2: can also scale. I mean, we always talk about lifestyle creep,
Speaker 2: and that's really important to get a hold of if
Speaker 2: it's not in line with your values and you're not
Speaker 2: happy with it. But like when you earn more money
Speaker 2: and you're working as hard as you do, I do
Speaker 2: think that we deserve to enjoy it. I think that
Speaker 2: we need to enjoy the journey, not just becoming rich
Speaker 2: or not just becoming you know, the destination, Like if
Speaker 2: you've got that free cash flow, like you don't work
Speaker 2: as hard as you do to not enjoy life.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that would probably be my worst habit. Actually, now
Speaker 4: i'm thinking about it, is that I probably don't enjoy
Speaker 4: it enough for what I could. I think you know,
Speaker 4: as you say, we both have worked really really hard.
Speaker 4: We're putting in the hours, and I think it's nice
Speaker 4: to actually like, I actually, you know what, No, we
Speaker 4: do deserve to spend that money on us.
Speaker 2: That's like a stereotypical small business owner journey. And it's
Speaker 2: taken me many years to be able to step back
Speaker 2: and go, look what we've done. That's really cool and
Speaker 2: celebrate it because I think that a lot of business
Speaker 2: owners we work so hard and we put so much
Speaker 2: pressure on ourselves that even though it's an achievement, it
Speaker 2: actually feels like a weightlifted. So like when something happens
Speaker 2: and you're like, oh, finally that happened or I achieved this,
Speaker 2: you just feel light and you're like, okay, cool, I've
Speaker 2: got to carry on though, because there's some more stuff
Speaker 2: to do, and we don't give ourselves credit. And I
Speaker 2: think that it is smart to integrate celebration into that
Speaker 2: and go all right, well, maybe we should go out
Speaker 2: for a fancy dinner, or maybe we should you know,
Speaker 2: treat ourselves or set something up that's a goal that
Speaker 2: we're looking forward to. That's not a business goal because
Speaker 2: we have something to work towards and give ourselves a
Speaker 2: little bit of a break, but toxic small business owner
Speaker 2: things which I can definitely relate to my friend.
Speaker 4: It's nice to hear that that is not just me,
Speaker 4: because it is all very, very very you to me.
Speaker 2: So oh no, for years I didn't celebrate it. And
Speaker 2: it's not because I wasn't grateful. I was really grateful,
Speaker 2: but you just feel so overwhelmed and you just feel
Speaker 2: like there's so much more to do, and like that's
Speaker 2: great because I'm so motivated, but I just feel like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, I'm glad that that's over. Or you know,
Speaker 2: I remember winning an award in the next morning being
Speaker 2: like okay, cool, Like I should go back to work
Speaker 2: and my team will like that's so cool, and I
Speaker 2: was like yep, yep, but I've got stuff to do,
Speaker 2: and then they're like, why don't you care? And I
Speaker 2: was like, it's not that I don't care, it's that
Speaker 2: I'm stressed because I feel like this adds more pressure,
Speaker 2: Like the bigger I get, the more that I grow,
Speaker 2: the more that I feel like I have to prove myself.
Speaker 2: And that's not the case, right. The more I grow,
Speaker 2: the more I should feel safe in what I've built.
Speaker 2: But I think especially as women, we just put more
Speaker 2: and more pressure on ourselves and we go, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: Now I set this expectation that I did win this,
Speaker 2: that people are going to expect more from me, or
Speaker 2: you know, now I have a turnover of four hundred
Speaker 2: thousand dollars, well next year. It would be really disappointing
Speaker 2: if it was less like we're just not good at
Speaker 2: celebrating ourselves and how if that can be?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that is me. So that is that's myt it together.
Speaker 2: I'll be I'll be your founder friend and we can
Speaker 2: we can celebrate our successes together.
Speaker 4: And I think I think it's important to It's the
Speaker 4: same as I guess reflecting on where we've been and
Speaker 4: where we are now in that you know, it is amazing.
Speaker 4: It is something to celebrate and be proud of as well.
Speaker 2: I feel like it can also be a sidetrack founder conversation,
Speaker 2: but it can also be really challenging if you're experiencing
Speaker 2: this in isolation. So I am assuming that this is
Speaker 2: you know, you said in your money story, I didn't
Speaker 2: grow up around business. This isn't something that my parents had,
Speaker 2: and I'm assuming that not many of your friends have
Speaker 2: started businesses. It is really inspiring, your friends are really
Speaker 2: happy for you, but it can be really challenging when
Speaker 2: you're like, oh, wow, like I've got a business that's
Speaker 2: turning over four hundred thousand dollars. I'm probably not going
Speaker 2: to mention that at brunch because it's unrelatable, and you know,
Speaker 2: there are these pain points that you'd love to chat
Speaker 2: about with somebody, but also you feel bad because you're
Speaker 2: friend has just said, oh my god, mortgage payments are
Speaker 2: really really overwhelming, and you're like, oh, I'm just trying
Speaker 2: to work out how to pay super or I'm trying
Speaker 2: to work out how to do my best or you know,
Speaker 2: I just I've finally worked out payroll, like these are
Speaker 2: things that I struggled with. Because you want to talk
Speaker 2: about how well you're doing but not in a gloating way.
Speaker 2: I want to talk about it because I've got stuff
Speaker 2: to do and maybe I'm not doing this as well
Speaker 2: as I could. But often in a friendship group that
Speaker 2: doesn't have similar experiences, you can feel really like, oh,
Speaker 2: they're going to think that I'm gloating when in the reality,
Speaker 2: like the reality of the situation is I just need help.
Speaker 2: I just want to vent. This is really stressful. But
Speaker 2: because there's so much money often involved, you're like, this
Speaker 2: is really stressful, but they're not going to appreciate that.
Speaker 2: I'm not, you know, grateful for that.
Speaker 4: It is. It's very, very, very difficult, and it is
Speaker 4: a challenge that I have found obviously the last sort
Speaker 4: of six months or so, and it is, you know,
Speaker 4: conversations that my friends might be having are around you know,
Speaker 4: what their toddlers are up to, and what sicknesses are
Speaker 4: coming home from daycare and how they're dating.
Speaker 2: Like, ah, this isn't relatable to me.
Speaker 4: Oh, I'm like, I don't have kids, but can you
Speaker 4: teach me how to pay someone?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 4: Please? I'm like, So it is very difficult and it
Speaker 4: is isolating, and I guess I'm not really sure, or
Speaker 4: I guess what's out there in terms of support around that.
Speaker 2: And the Business Bible community. My friend, I'm going to
Speaker 2: revive that at some point in the near future because
Speaker 2: we've just finished with our investing masterclass, but like, this
Speaker 2: is the support that should be coming out of the
Speaker 2: Business Bible community where you can be like, hey, is
Speaker 2: there anyone who kind of wants to be my accountability buddy?
Speaker 2: And you can text them and be like you got
Speaker 2: a payroll and they'll be like yes, are you got
Speaker 2: at super and you'll be like yes, be like cool,
Speaker 2: let's jump on zoom.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what we need, especially as women. I think
Speaker 4: we need that in whether it's metropolitan or regional areas,
Speaker 4: regardless of where we're located. I think that's something that
Speaker 4: we need and to be around, I guess, and just
Speaker 4: having conversations with other women that are out there absolutely
Speaker 4: smashing it in business that would be really really you're
Speaker 4: reviving I guess for me as well in that you
Speaker 4: know what, Yes, we're all tired, but we can sit
Speaker 4: and whine about it over a wine and that's okay
Speaker 4: one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: I feel like, sometimes, you know, I'll be like, oh,
Speaker 2: I'm so exhausted today, and then I'll be like, oh,
Speaker 2: probably shouldn't say that, because like, I'm grateful for where
Speaker 2: I am, but at the same time, like I am
Speaker 2: genuinely tiger, Like we all need a nap sometime. Yes, definitely,
Speaker 2: Money Diarist, You've just told us this epic story, Like
Speaker 2: it started with you making forty grand a year, realizing
Speaker 2: that that wasn't working. Then it got better and you
Speaker 2: were like, oh, I'm going to get this job earn
Speaker 2: ninety grand a year. Then I find out that's plus
Speaker 2: stuper and it's one hundred grand a year. Then I
Speaker 2: find out you're a genius and you've basically organized this business.
Speaker 2: You're turning over four hundred grand, your goal is to
Speaker 2: turn over a million next year. You're working everything out
Speaker 2: on your own. You do live regionally, which makes it
Speaker 2: even harder. You bought your first property earning sixty five grand.
Speaker 2: There's just so much about you that I'm so impressed by.
Speaker 3: You.
Speaker 2: Literally think that your worst money habit is that you
Speaker 2: don't know how to invest properly yet Yet you've built
Speaker 2: a business and you have more than two hundred thousand
Speaker 2: dollars equity in your first property. That you bought as
Speaker 2: a single female, Like you told me that you were
Speaker 2: a C I did. Are we gonna revisit that together
Speaker 2: or are we gonna sweep it under the rug?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 2: What are we doing about that C? Because now that
Speaker 2: people have listened to this, they're gonna be like that
Speaker 2: money darist full of shit.
Speaker 4: Okay, let's I would settle with a B, maybe a
Speaker 4: B plus?
Speaker 2: What would make you an A plus? Like, I'm happy
Speaker 2: for you to be whoever you want to be. I'm
Speaker 2: never gonna argue, but I'm also gonna question it, But like,
Speaker 2: what do you have to do to get to an
Speaker 2: A plus? Because from my perspective, you're killing it?
Speaker 4: Yeah. I think for me, like, obviously, if I can
Speaker 4: get investing down pat and have that happening, that for me,
Speaker 4: that would get me to an A. To have that
Speaker 4: part there and be on top of it, that would
Speaker 4: be my A. To get me to an AA plus
Speaker 4: would be having two businesses up and running.
Speaker 2: Oh no, biggie, yeah no, biggie, no pressure. I really
Speaker 2: like that. Just really small.
Speaker 4: Steps, small steps, baby steps.
Speaker 2: Yes, I love that, But I also love that to
Speaker 2: get to the A is really achievable and really easy
Speaker 2: and it's just about education and that's actually not going
Speaker 2: to cost anything. So that is very cool, and I'm
Speaker 2: very excited that I get to be on that journey
Speaker 2: with you, money Diarist. This has been honestly a pleasure.
Speaker 2: I'm so excited. It is one reinvigorated my excitement for
Speaker 2: you know, celebrating small business owners and helping them, and
Speaker 2: you know, it reminds me. I have a book coming
Speaker 2: out in November called The Business Bible, literally because I'm
Speaker 2: so wildly passionate about this, and I know that that
Speaker 2: is hopefully going to reinvigorate our community and like remind
Speaker 2: people why we're here. But I just have a lot
Speaker 2: to do in this space, and you have motivated me
Speaker 2: to like dive back in and go, all right, small
Speaker 2: business owners, what are we going to do? How can
Speaker 2: I support you? Because these are the conversations we need
Speaker 2: to be having. And you know what, our friends don't
Speaker 2: want to hear it sometimes, and that is actually fine,
Speaker 2: but sometimes we need to hear from a group of
Speaker 2: people who are like, all right, tell me about bass
Speaker 2: and I'd be like, oh my gosh, bane of my
Speaker 2: existence and this is why, and you go, oh, totally relatable.
Speaker 2: So Money host. It has been a pleasure. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much for joining me. I do hope that our
Speaker 2: paths cross at some point in the future. I know
Speaker 2: they will, and when you're turning over a million dollars,
Speaker 2: please message me. We need to know.
Speaker 4: It absolutely will and I look forward to doing.
Speaker 2: That, adore. Thank you so much. The advice shared on
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