Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud Yr
Speaker 1: the Order Kerney 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.
Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome to She's on the the podcast for
Speaker 3: millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another one
Speaker 3: of our money diaries where we get to talk to
Speaker 3: one of our incredible She's on the Money community members
Speaker 3: all about their journey. Let's jump straight into it this
Speaker 3: week because we got a message and it went a
Speaker 3: little bit like this, Dear, She's on the Money. I
Speaker 3: was born in India and then moved to England before
Speaker 3: coming to Australia. Money has always been difficult in my family,
Speaker 3: but my mum is a model of hard work and
Speaker 3: the mad.
Speaker 2: Bread winner in the family working as a nurse.
Speaker 3: I'm nineteen years old, i earn six figures without a
Speaker 3: university degree, and I've just bought an apartment. I'd love
Speaker 3: to share my story with you. Ah, Money doarist, I'd
Speaker 3: love you to share your story with me too. Thank
Speaker 3: you for coming on the show, Thanks.
Speaker 4: For having me.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, I am so excited. How are you
Speaker 3: so young and bought an apartment and earning six I've
Speaker 3: just got questions. I've got so many questions. But let's
Speaker 3: start money Diries, as we always do. I want to know,
Speaker 3: if you were going to give yourself a grade, how
Speaker 3: would you rate your money habits from an A through
Speaker 3: to an F.
Speaker 4: I think I would give myself a minus.
Speaker 3: An A minus ooh, given your nineteen earned six figures
Speaker 3: and bought an apartment, I expected a plus. But we
Speaker 3: will get to understanding that a little bit later in
Speaker 3: the show Money Diaries. Let's jump into the most exciting
Speaker 3: question of the show. I want to know, can you
Speaker 3: tell us a little bit about your money story?
Speaker 4: Yep. So we didn't talk a whole heap about money
Speaker 4: when I was young, but I know we didn't struggle
Speaker 4: a whole heap because my mum sent me to private school,
Speaker 4: which I was very grateful about. And so my mom's
Speaker 4: always been a very good saver. She never buys herself
Speaker 4: clothes or any materialistic items really unless she really needs it.
Speaker 4: And so for her birthday, if I ask her what
Speaker 4: she wants or anything, she'll always say, don't buy me anything,
Speaker 4: save your money. I'd rather you not spend it on me,
Speaker 4: which I've always thought he's really sweet, and so on
Speaker 4: the other side, my dad's been more of a spender.
Speaker 4: He's more of the idea that you only have one
Speaker 4: life and you should sort of live it to the
Speaker 4: best life possible, and so it's been interesting seeing both sides,
Speaker 4: and so they both had their differences and a lot
Speaker 4: of arguments stemmed from this idea. Because my mum was
Speaker 4: more of a saver, my dad was more of a spender,
Speaker 4: and so growing up, Mom's always told me to work hard,
Speaker 4: save money, and get a good job, and so I've
Speaker 4: always been a pretty good saver luckily, but my parents
Speaker 4: have never really taught me anything about budgeting or investing,
Speaker 4: because I don't think they were taught by their parents,
Speaker 4: and so they don't really fully understand it either. So
Speaker 4: everything that I've learned, I've had to teach myself, either
Speaker 4: from this podcast, my millennial money, or through books or
Speaker 4: from researching. And so I've pretty much been working since
Speaker 4: I was six, and ever since I've gotten my first job,
Speaker 4: I've always bought everything myself, like clothes, electronics, anything else
Speaker 4: that I've wanted, and I haven't relied too much on
Speaker 4: my parents, as they've already done a lot for me already.
Speaker 4: And so straight out of school, I started working full
Speaker 4: time and I didn't pursue UNI, which was different compared
Speaker 4: to all of my friends as they were all going
Speaker 4: to UNI. So it was definitely a different adjustment and
Speaker 4: hard for me. So I did TAFE while working straight
Speaker 4: out of school, and honestly, I haven't looked back since.
Speaker 3: I love that Because there seems to be, especially at
Speaker 3: the moment, just so much pressure for you to come
Speaker 3: straight out of school and straight into a university degree.
Speaker 3: Where did this idea of no, I don't need a
Speaker 3: UNI degree come from?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 3: Why did you know that TAFE was the right decision
Speaker 3: for you, especially given you work in a relatively and
Speaker 3: we'll get to it, but you work in a relatively
Speaker 3: tech heavy industry that I would have assumed, and he says,
Speaker 3: maybe through my naivity, I would have assumed you needed
Speaker 3: a degree.
Speaker 4: In Yeah, So it definitely stemmed from being in school.
Speaker 4: My IT teacher pretty much helped me get a trainee
Speaker 4: ship straight after school, and I guess talking to people
Speaker 4: while I was working also made me realize that I
Speaker 4: didn't really need a UNI degree and if I wanted
Speaker 4: a UNI degree, I could always go back and get
Speaker 4: it afterwards, and I would have the organization I was
Speaker 4: working at to support for me to pay for it.
Speaker 4: And I guess money was also another factor. I was
Speaker 4: more looking to start working rather than having to pay
Speaker 4: off university, and so that really also persuaded me, And
Speaker 4: I was like, getting hands on experience also seems like
Speaker 4: a no brainer.
Speaker 3: I love that, and I love that you just knew
Speaker 3: that that's what would work for you personally. So can
Speaker 3: you tell us a little bit about what you actually
Speaker 3: do for work now and how much money you earn.
Speaker 4: I'm a cyber consultant and I currently earn one hundred
Speaker 4: and five K a year, not in super.
Speaker 3: Not including super Yeah, and you're nineteen. Yeah, I'm about
Speaker 3: to nah, nah, this is wild.
Speaker 2: That is wild. Can you tell me how you got there?
Speaker 3: Because you don't just come out of school and someone goes, hey, money, diarist,
Speaker 3: here's one hundred and five grand be a cyber consultant. Like,
Speaker 3: tell me a little bit about that career journey, because
Speaker 3: I know there's going to be one.
Speaker 4: Yeah. So, straight out of school, as I mentioned earlier,
Speaker 4: I was working full time. So I was doing a
Speaker 4: trainee ship where I did TAFE as well, and so
Speaker 4: I did a year of that and then I got
Speaker 4: promoted and then after that I was in the role
Speaker 4: and it was pretty stagnant, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 4: I want something else that challenges me. And so I
Speaker 4: started applying to all these jobs. And at the time,
Speaker 4: I honestly didn't think anything of it. I didn't think
Speaker 4: I had enough skills or anything like that. But my
Speaker 4: supervisor at the time was like, just apply for it,
Speaker 4: you never know, and she was really supportive, which I'm
Speaker 4: grateful for.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 4: And so I actually got this job through another interview
Speaker 4: that I was doing and the lady who was interviewing
Speaker 4: me recommended me to someone in my team. So it
Speaker 4: was through networking pretty much that I got this job.
Speaker 3: Well, that is so impressive as somebody who's not very
Speaker 3: good at cybersecurity and all of her passwords match.
Speaker 2: Could you please tell me a little.
Speaker 3: Bit about what that sector includes, like what is your
Speaker 3: actual job and if somebody in the she's on the
Speaker 3: money community was interested in getting into it, like what
Speaker 3: would your advice be.
Speaker 4: So there definitely is a lot to cyber and the
Speaker 4: pathway I've gone down, I would say, is more of
Speaker 4: the non technical one, which is exactly what I wanted.
Speaker 4: So it really depends sort of the work that you're
Speaker 4: doing at the moment, but day to day or more
Speaker 4: long term, it's more of reading documentation and writing reports
Speaker 4: and conducting interviews. That's pretty much the three main things.
Speaker 3: Yeah, wow, and do you like what you do? You
Speaker 3: said before, this is pretty much what I wanted? Is
Speaker 3: it what you wanted to do?
Speaker 4: Yes, it definitely is. The team I'm in is honestly amazing.
Speaker 4: It's just such a positive work culture there. And sometimes
Speaker 4: I do feel like an impost just because of how
Speaker 4: young I am, But I just have to remind myself
Speaker 4: that my age doesn't really determine my professional value.
Speaker 2: Yes, one hundred percent, I love that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but everyone's super supportive and whatnot. So that's always
Speaker 4: been really helpful.
Speaker 2: So good.
Speaker 3: All right, you said before that you've just bought an apartment.
Speaker 3: I want to know, though, what is your big money goal, Like,
Speaker 3: what are we working towards. You're nineteen and have a
Speaker 3: killer income. Surely you've got big plans.
Speaker 4: My main money goal at the moment is probably to
Speaker 4: pay off the mortgage and then by an investment property
Speaker 4: after that.
Speaker 3: Wow, And is that so that you can retire early
Speaker 3: or create financial freedom or like why is an investment
Speaker 3: property something that you're like, oh my gosh, this is
Speaker 3: what I want to do next.
Speaker 4: Honestly, I think it's for financial freedom. Like I never
Speaker 4: want to be in a position where I have to
Speaker 4: rely on someone, and I want to be able to
Speaker 4: be in a place where I can comfortably retire and
Speaker 4: not worry too much about money. And I feel like
Speaker 4: buying an investment property might be a good idea.
Speaker 2: Love, love, love.
Speaker 3: I want to know next, do you have any investments?
Speaker 3: If so, what are they?
Speaker 4: Yes, I do so. I have my super of course,
Speaker 4: and then I have a couple grand in spaceship, a
Speaker 4: little bit in crypto, and a few more grand in
Speaker 4: ETF So all together I have about fifteen grand, not
Speaker 4: including my super at the moment.
Speaker 3: Hey, how good is that? And what do your contributions
Speaker 3: to and that look like? Is that something that you're
Speaker 3: doing monthly or is it a little bit more sporadic
Speaker 3: or how are you planning that out?
Speaker 4: Honestly, I haven't done much contribution in a while, just
Speaker 4: because I really want to get the mortgage paid off.
Speaker 4: It is something that I just put a bunch of
Speaker 4: money into. I think it was maybe one or two
Speaker 4: years ago, and I've sort of just let it sit
Speaker 4: there and forget about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Oh my gosh, money diarist.
Speaker 3: In your letter you said money's always been really difficult
Speaker 3: in my family, but my mum has been a model
Speaker 3: of hard work, which I adore. Can you tell me
Speaker 3: a little bit more about I guess how supportive your
Speaker 3: parents are or what they think you do, because I
Speaker 3: feel like, especially when you mentioned I was born in
Speaker 3: India and then I moved to England and then to
Speaker 3: Australia and your mum having been a nurse, I feel
Speaker 3: like sometimes they don't particularly understand the industry that you
Speaker 3: might have gone into. What did they think that you
Speaker 3: get up to.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so you're actually right there. I don't understand a
Speaker 4: whole heap about what I do, and when I was
Speaker 4: looking at like job options, they didn't really have too
Speaker 4: much to say because they honestly just didn't understand the industry. However,
Speaker 4: I did explain to them that you don't always need
Speaker 4: a UNI degree, which I found was kind of hard
Speaker 4: for them to understand at the start, because they were
Speaker 4: under the idea that you go to school, you get
Speaker 4: a UNI degree, and then you work, and me going
Speaker 4: down this path where they were kind of a little
Speaker 4: bit confused. But they're both very supportive and they're very
Speaker 4: happy with where I am at the moment, which I'm
Speaker 4: extremely grateful for.
Speaker 2: Of course they are.
Speaker 3: I'd be insanely proud if you were my daughter, I asked,
Speaker 3: because I actually have a few girlfriends who are Indian
Speaker 3: and they feel like Indian parents in particular, they just
Speaker 3: really want that university level degree. They want you to
Speaker 3: go out and become a doctor or a lawyer or something.
Speaker 3: That just really makes a lot of sense because obviously
Speaker 3: they want the best for their kids growing up.
Speaker 2: Did you ever feel that pressure a little bit?
Speaker 4: I wouldn't say a whole heap. My parents were always
Speaker 4: quite open to different ideas, although my mom did try
Speaker 4: to convince me to become a nurse, although that didn't
Speaker 4: work out. I mean, she's got experience, it makes sense,
Speaker 4: it's a good career. Yeah, but during school they sort
Speaker 4: of knew that I was interested in it, and so
Speaker 4: I think they sort of understood that I would kind
Speaker 4: of go down that pathway.
Speaker 3: Yeah, air pic and moving forward, I want to know
Speaker 3: a little bit more about I guess life plans. Obviously
Speaker 3: you've got career plans, you have an air pick income.
Speaker 3: What did the next steps in your.
Speaker 2: Career look like?
Speaker 3: As well as I guess life because you said before,
Speaker 3: what my first apartment? I want to, you know, buy
Speaker 3: an investment property at some point, smash down the mortgage,
Speaker 3: but like, what does the lifestyle around that look like?
Speaker 3: Because I feel like you're in this position where the
Speaker 3: world is your oyster.
Speaker 2: I guess yeah.
Speaker 4: So I haven't actually put a whole heap of thought
Speaker 4: into this. I do know that I'm quite comfortable at
Speaker 4: the moment, and I'm sort of happy with where I
Speaker 4: am at the moment. So I haven't actually put a
Speaker 4: whole heap of thought into future and what I'm sort
Speaker 4: of expecting. So I guess I can't comment a whole
Speaker 4: heap about that.
Speaker 2: Actually, no, it's so fine.
Speaker 3: I just love asking those questions because from my perspective,
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh my gosh, this money direst is so
Speaker 3: driven and so motivated and clearly so intelligent.
Speaker 2: I bet she has it all worked out.
Speaker 3: And I had a sneaky suspicion that you would actually
Speaker 3: say that, because I was like, everyone has this underlying
Speaker 3: idea that you might just have everything figured out because
Speaker 3: you earn a lot of money, and that's not necessarily
Speaker 3: the case. All right, let's go to a really quick break,
Speaker 3: and after the break, I want to talk about debt.
Speaker 3: I want to talk about money habits, but I also
Speaker 3: want to talk about what it's like to earn more
Speaker 3: than one hundred grand when you're nineteen, and maybe your
Speaker 3: friends don't, So don't go anywhere, guys, right money darist,
Speaker 3: We are back, and I'm actually just going to jump
Speaker 3: straight into the juicy stuff. I'm assuming you've got friends
Speaker 3: right now who are at university, who are hustling hard,
Speaker 3: who are probably you know, working after hours while studying
Speaker 3: full time. What is it like being the friend that
Speaker 3: is earning six figures while all your other friends are
Speaker 3: probably still at university and haven't quite caught up yet.
Speaker 4: That is a very good question. I actually haven't really
Speaker 4: thought a whole heap about that. Obviously. My friends know
Speaker 4: what I do for work, and some of them I've
Speaker 4: told how much I earn. Most of the time they're
Speaker 4: just like, oh, I wish I didn't go to UNI
Speaker 4: and I did what you did.
Speaker 2: I'm thinking that right now too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And they're like, oh, I wish I, you know,
Speaker 4: didn't do this degree and I did sort of like
Speaker 4: an IT degree and stuff like that. But I do
Speaker 4: sort of paint a good picture about the industry that
Speaker 4: I'm in because I think there needs to be more
Speaker 4: women in this industry. I think that's sort of the
Speaker 4: main lacking factor, and so I'm always trying to convince
Speaker 4: my friends to like work with me and whatnot.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 3: Do you think your friends, in any way, shape or form,
Speaker 3: I guess compare themselves to you, because it must be so.
Speaker 3: I'm just reflecting on my experience. When I was nineteen,
Speaker 3: I was at university. I was looking at getting myself
Speaker 3: in even more personal debt than I currently was in
Speaker 3: I was working three part time jobs and studying full time.
Speaker 3: So if I had a friend like you, I know
Speaker 3: I would be looking at you going wow, how does
Speaker 3: she do it?
Speaker 2: Is she a wizard?
Speaker 3: Do you think that your friends look at you in
Speaker 3: a comparison way at all? And if so, like, how
Speaker 3: do you think you can combat that?
Speaker 2: I'm not too sure.
Speaker 4: Like, I'm sure they would at some point, but I
Speaker 4: always try and remind people that comparison is the thief
Speaker 4: of joy.
Speaker 2: Amen.
Speaker 4: Yes, which I actually always try and keep close to
Speaker 4: me and remind that to myself.
Speaker 3: Do you find yourself comparing yourself to other people on
Speaker 3: a regular basis?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I do, but I try and remind myself that
Speaker 4: I shouldn't. And I'm already in a very good position,
Speaker 4: which I'm extremely grateful for. But sometimes it is hard
Speaker 4: to not compare yourselves. But yeah, I guess you just
Speaker 4: have to remind yourself sort of how much you've achieved
Speaker 4: and how well you're sort of doing, although sometimes it
Speaker 4: is hard to remind yourself that.
Speaker 3: That totally makes sense. You mentioned earlier that you've just
Speaker 3: bought your first apartment. I want to know more about
Speaker 3: that and the process you went through. Because the next
Speaker 3: question I've got for you is do you have any debt?
Speaker 3: And you mentioned a mortgage, So tell me a little
Speaker 3: bit more about your home buying process.
Speaker 4: So the main thing I would say about it is
Speaker 4: that I wish I did a little bit more research.
Speaker 4: I feel like I kind of jumped in to buying
Speaker 4: an apartment because I found that it was a good time. Obviously,
Speaker 4: I wouldn't go back and do anything differently. I'm quite
Speaker 4: happy with the place I'm in at the moment, but
Speaker 4: I do wish I spoke to different people and whatnot.
Speaker 4: But it was pretty smooth, I would say. But I
Speaker 4: had a mortgage broker who was super nice, and he
Speaker 4: sort of stepped me through everything, So the process was
Speaker 4: essentially pretty much seamless.
Speaker 2: How good.
Speaker 3: That is exactly what you want when you have a
Speaker 3: good mortgage broker. So how much debt have you taken on?
Speaker 2: My friend?
Speaker 4: So, five hundred and sixty five is what the apartment
Speaker 4: we bought it at, and currently it's sitting at four
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty.
Speaker 3: What that is so good? Didn't you only purchase that recently?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been about six months now, but pretty much
Speaker 4: all my savings goes into it, so that's why.
Speaker 3: How good that sounds like an epic habit to have,
Speaker 3: especially so young. The next question I've got for you,
Speaker 3: I want to know what do you think your best
Speaker 3: money habit is?
Speaker 4: My best money it has to be that I'm very
Speaker 4: good at saving money and buying stuff on sale, whether
Speaker 4: it's clothes or groceries, to try and use half price
Speaker 4: app or use deepop a lot more. For my formal
Speaker 4: I bought my dress off deep Hop and then after
Speaker 4: formal I just resold it again because I knew I
Speaker 4: was never going to wear it, So that probably has
Speaker 4: to be my best money habit.
Speaker 2: And on the flip side of that, well, do you
Speaker 2: think your worst money habit is.
Speaker 4: My worst money Habit would be that I'm a little
Speaker 4: bit of an online shopper and I feel like I'm
Speaker 4: always doing online shopping and trying to find stuff to
Speaker 4: buy even though I don't need it. But I feel
Speaker 4: like you can never have too much clothes sometimes. But
Speaker 4: that's probably my worst habit.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 3: Earlier in our episode, you mentioned that you would give
Speaker 3: yourself an A minus. Can you talk me through what
Speaker 3: it would take to get you from an as to
Speaker 3: an A plus and do you still think you're an
Speaker 3: A minus after our chat?
Speaker 4: I do think I am still an A minus. And
Speaker 4: what would take me to an A would be putting
Speaker 4: more money into stocks or something on a regular basis,
Speaker 4: because that's just something that I've kind of forgotten about.
Speaker 3: That makes absolute sense. I feel like diversifying is something
Speaker 3: we need to prioritize. But my friend, you were in
Speaker 3: the first year of your mortgage. It is important to
Speaker 3: make sure that that is the priority and that you
Speaker 3: are really comfortable. And you're only nineteen, so you have
Speaker 3: heaps of time ahead of you. Money Diarist, I have
Speaker 3: had such a good time having a chat with you.
Speaker 2: I feel like.
Speaker 3: Knowing that you're nineteen and earning six figures don't have
Speaker 3: a university degree is actually really really inspiring. So before
Speaker 3: we go, I want to know if people are listening
Speaker 3: to this and they either aren't happy in their career
Speaker 3: and they've gone, oh my gosh, money Diarist sounds like
Speaker 3: she is having an epic time over in cybers security.
Speaker 3: What would you say about getting into the industry, Like,
Speaker 3: where would we start if we wanted to follow in
Speaker 3: your footsteps?
Speaker 4: I would definitely say start by looking at seek and indeed,
Speaker 4: I feel like there's people always hiring and even though
Speaker 4: you might think you're not suitable for it, apply for
Speaker 4: it anyways. You never know, and even if you don't
Speaker 4: get it, you've still been networking with someone and that
Speaker 4: always has benefits.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 3: I feel like that's such a smart place to be.
Speaker 3: I was talking on TikTok the other day, money diarists,
Speaker 3: just put your hat in the ring and.
Speaker 2: Give it a go, because what's the worst thing they
Speaker 2: could say. They just say no.
Speaker 3: And what do you get out of it a good
Speaker 3: experience and maybe a network. You are so right, agreed,
Speaker 3: money Diarist. It has been a pleasure. Thank you so
Speaker 3: much for sharing your money story with us. And I
Speaker 3: know the community is going to eat this one up,
Speaker 3: so thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for having me here.
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