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Sparking joy: It's time to Marie Kondo your finances · She's On The Money

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: She's on the Money.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: She's on the Money.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is georg King.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: I'm a copywriter and journalism student with lots left alone
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: when it comes to finance. Luckily, as always, I'm joined
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  Speaker 1: by my very own money guru and mate, Melbourne based
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  Speaker 1: financial advisor are Victoria define Hell.
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  Speaker 3: Hello Georgia King.
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  Speaker 1: Now today on the show, we are going to be
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  Speaker 1: walking through the approach to money that many people swear by,
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  Speaker 1: that is making like Marie Kondo and decluttering our finances
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  Speaker 1: by adopting a money minimalist method. Now, money minimalism is
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  Speaker 1: all about taking the confusion out of finance and simplifying
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  Speaker 1: our processes so that we can more easily achieve financial freedom,
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  Speaker 1: which you guys would know is the purpose of this podcast. Now,
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  Speaker 1: there are a few different techniques to becoming a money minimalist.
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  Speaker 1: So on today's show, we are going to explain exactly
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: see what Mari condoing your finances actually looks like, and
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  Speaker 1: we'll be talking through exactly how we can start applying
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  Speaker 1: it to our own lives. But Victoria, let's stick to
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  Speaker 1: tradition and chat through our own money wins or confessions
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: from the week. How'd you go?
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  Speaker 3: I have a money win, unlike my confessions of previous weeks.
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  Speaker 3: I'm very proud of this one, Georgia King. This week
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  Speaker 3: we are in a situation where we now have mandatory
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  Speaker 3: masks for everybody in Melbourne and now that is extending
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  Speaker 3: to the state soon, I believe. So I have gone
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  Speaker 3: ahead and instead of buying a very expensive mask online
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  Speaker 3: like I was going to, I went to Cama and
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  Speaker 3: I purchased a children's T shirt in a pattern that
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  Speaker 3: I liked for a whole hot three dollars and I
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  Speaker 3: made my own mask and it is triple layer. I
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  Speaker 3: used a pattern that I found online that is government
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  Speaker 3: approved and that is my money win of the week.
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  Speaker 1: Very crafty there from you.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, and you know what, Georgia King. I got
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  Speaker 3: more than one mask out of it as well. I
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  Speaker 3: got a fair few. So it's not just me rocking
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: this homemade mask. It's myself and my friends.
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  Speaker 1: Am I not your friends?
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  Speaker 3: I mean I'll make you one as well, but given up,
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  Speaker 3: I don't have a sewing machine. Yeah, and it's kind
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  Speaker 3: of a bit of a sad process. But that is
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  Speaker 3: not the point.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm still rocking the classic surgical look.
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  Speaker 3: It's gorgeous. I saw it this morning before you're recorded,
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  Speaker 3: because obviously you can't record with her masks on. But
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  Speaker 3: George King, have you got a money win or a
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  Speaker 3: confession to share with us?
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  Speaker 1: I have a money win as well. It's obscure, mine
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: always are. There's not much going on.
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  Speaker 3: It's really creative.
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  Speaker 1: I like, yeah, outside of the square. I was in
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  Speaker 1: my boyfriend's car. I love him dearly, my boy Harper.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: If you're listening, shout out to her. I mean his car.
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  Speaker 1: It's a little bit dirty, but that's okay. It's a
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  Speaker 1: boy's Yeah, he's a boy. He's young. There's stuff everywhere anyway.
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  Speaker 1: I was looking for his wallet because he misplaced it,
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  Speaker 1: as he does so often. So I'm looking under the
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  Speaker 1: car seat and what should I find? A banana pill? Yep,
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  Speaker 1: his wallet?
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  Speaker 4: His wallet?
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  Speaker 1: No, but my sunglasses that I lost, My ray Bans,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: so are the.
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  Speaker 3: Expensive ones that you complain about not having.
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  Speaker 1: So I was looking to replace them, and now I
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  Speaker 1: don't have to because I have them again. So it's obscure.
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  Speaker 3: That's an act. No, that's an actual money we because
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  Speaker 3: I think we can all relate to losing something and
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: then finally just conceding that it is actually lost as
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: opposed to misplaced and going okay, well I actually have
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  Speaker 3: to replace that, and that feeling is the worst. But
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  Speaker 3: then finding something that you had deemed officially lost money.
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  Speaker 1: Week exactly a tiny joy in this horrendous time that
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  Speaker 1: we're all living in.
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  Speaker 3: Let's be I love it.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Now, let's move across to the Facebook community. They're
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  Speaker 1: active as always. Have any posts about you this week?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, they have, Georgia King. I have one from Leah,
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  Speaker 3: who is actually a friend of mine. We went to
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  Speaker 3: school Togetherliah and Leah posted in the group this week
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  Speaker 3: and said where are my bargain Slash reduced shoppers at?
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  Speaker 3: She purchased some vegetarian mints that is usually eighteen dollars
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  Speaker 3: a packet, and for those of us who actually eat this,
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  Speaker 3: veg and mints beyond meat delicious, actually a really good
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: substitute that irate highly. But it's eighteen dollars a packet.
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  Speaker 3: She found it on sale Georgia for two dollars seventy
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  Speaker 3: and I feel like I'd be bragging about that as well. Honestly,
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  Speaker 3: I'd be jumping up and down and sharing it with
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  Speaker 3: everybody if I only spent two dollars seventy on a
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  Speaker 3: eighteen dollar packet of mints. I know that sounds really
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  Speaker 3: weird to articulate, but that's a saving of fifteen dollars
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  Speaker 3: thirty on one meal.
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  Speaker 1: You're not wrong just to point out the mince does
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: look quite disgusting a little future, but I.
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  Speaker 3: Guess George dies. Yeah. Okay, well it's made of like
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: lentils and sowetteen I think so. I promise you it's
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  Speaker 3: not actual mins.
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  Speaker 1: It tastes.
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  Speaker 3: Let's move on. I don't think this part of my
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  Speaker 3: conversation doesn't need to continue.
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  Speaker 1: So mine is from Stella, who is a longtime stalker,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: first time poster. Basically, she is a kombucher addict. So
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  Speaker 1: komb butcher is that gorgeous?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah?
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  Speaker 1: I am, so it's that gorgeous. It's like soft drink,
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  Speaker 1: but it's not.
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  Speaker 3: There's it's fermented tea.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, you're across it, thank you, so old mates. Stella
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  Speaker 1: was drinking leaders of this day. I'm exaggerating. She's not.
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  Speaker 1: She's drinking bottles. Yeah, okay, well it's adding up anyway,
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  Speaker 1: it's expensive. So instead of continuing this habit of buying
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  Speaker 1: the gorgeous kombucher, she's bought a scobie for five dollars
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  Speaker 1: on Facebook marketplace, which I guess is how you make Yes,
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  Speaker 1: it's like the church. Yeah yeah, So she's making her
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  Speaker 1: own kom butcher at home and is saving fifty dollars
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  Speaker 1: a fortnight, which equates to thirteen hundred dollars a year.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's actually wild and really's mamart, Like, I
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  Speaker 3: actually love that, because kombucha can be so expensive, like
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  Speaker 3: six dollars a bottle sometimes if you're buying at the
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  Speaker 3: convenience stall like I sometimes do. But how cool is that?
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  Speaker 3: I don't even know how to make it? But I
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  Speaker 3: do know that a scobie, which is for those listening
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  Speaker 3: at home and they've never heard of what a scobie
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  Speaker 3: is a systematic culture of bacteria and yeast. I knew
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: that off the top of my head. Please don't why no,
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  Speaker 3: I didn't.
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  Speaker 1: I just knew that.
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  Speaker 3: Honestly, there are things that I do google for this podcast.
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  Speaker 3: That is not one of them. That is just some
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  Speaker 3: knowledge that I had sitting there are' welcare.
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  Speaker 1: That's enough, com butcher Chat. Let's move across to the
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  Speaker 1: main topic of today's show, money minimalism. Now, when we
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: talk about minimalism, generally we're chatting about it within the
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  Speaker 1: context of the home. The idea is that the less
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: stuff that surrounds us, the more serenence then our lives
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: will be. Now, obviously we aren't here to talk about interiors,
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  Speaker 1: although Victoria, I think you'd agree that that would be
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  Speaker 1: a good time, It would be a really great topic Today. Instead,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: we want to discuss the benefits of adopting this Maricondo
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: approach to help us declutter our finances and make our
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: journey to wealth creation atadia more organized and less stressful.
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  Speaker 3: One. Yes, it does turn out we're a finance podcast,
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  Speaker 3: not an interior design one.
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  Speaker 1: Seem that way. Now, it's important to note too that
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: this is an a specially relevant conversation to be having
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: in today's climate. It's important to note too that this
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  Speaker 1: is an especially relevant conversation to be having in today's climate.
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  Speaker 1: We know a huge number of Australians have had their
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: incomes impacted by COVID, be that in job loss or
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: reduction of ours or salary whatever it may be. So
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  Speaker 1: we're hoping that this chart will all make us feel
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  Speaker 1: a little bit better about our finances, making them easier
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  Speaker 1: to understand, so that we can really feel like we're
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  Speaker 1: on top of our money, relieving some of that money
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  Speaker 1: anxiety that I know a lot of us are feeling
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  Speaker 1: at the moment. So Victoria, can you please start us
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  Speaker 1: off today by chatting me through exactly what money minimalism
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  Speaker 1: means to you as a financial advisor.
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  Speaker 3: Georgia, I think this is a really great place to start,
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  Speaker 3: and it can probably be tackled in so many different
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  Speaker 3: ways by so many different people, Like this is going
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: to mean something different to me than it means to you,
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  Speaker 3: so let's just tackle it as a really broad type
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  Speaker 3: of topic. But at the end of the day, the
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  Speaker 3: goal of money minimalism, in my mind, is to simplify
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  Speaker 3: your finances so that you can get on top of
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  Speaker 3: them and not have any of that nagging stress hanging
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  Speaker 3: over your head from not quite understanding your money situation,
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: or as I always say, bearing your head in the
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  Speaker 3: sand about your debt instead of creating a strategy to
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: pay it off. So this is just more about empowering
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  Speaker 3: you to be on top of your finances, really cut
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  Speaker 3: out the things that aren't quote sparking joy. And as
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  Speaker 3: much as I love Marie Kondo, I feel like this
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  Speaker 3: really does extend to finances so that we can start
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  Speaker 3: talking about, you know, actually adopting those principles into our
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  Speaker 3: financial health. I think it gives us a really clean
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  Speaker 3: understanding of one what we're spending and what we're able
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  Speaker 3: to save or invest or even just allocate to things
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  Speaker 3: that are important to us right now. But it also
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  Speaker 3: helps us just cut things out without feeling like we're
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  Speaker 3: missing out, and that's a massive thing. We've got a
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  Speaker 3: podcast coming up on Fomo, and I think that, you know,
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  Speaker 3: this is actually a really good segue into fear of
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  Speaker 3: missing out, because if it's not making you happy, why
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  Speaker 3: are you spending your money on it? And as I
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  Speaker 3: always say to you, Georgia, I'm not sure if I've
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: mentioned on the podcast. Maybe I have, because I'm honestly
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: a broken record, but I see money as energy and
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: like it can be channeled into different ways, and if
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: you're channeling your money into an area that is not
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: of value to you, you're essentially helping something grow that
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: you don't really like. So I think that if we're
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: in a situation where you're faced with too many banking counts, bills, debts,
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: all of that, etc. It follows that you may lose
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: track of how you're faring financially, which means that things
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: can actually fall through the cracks and you might miss
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: good opportunities to save money or just be a little
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: bit more savvy, especially right now when we're in a
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: situation where you know, a lot of us are actually
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: suffering pretty significantly financially. Let's just talk about the things
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: that we can cut out until life goes back to
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: being a bit normal. So the benefit, Georgia, to approaching
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: your finances this way is just that it makes it
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: simple by design. I know that money can be a
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: very difficult, daunting, and convoluted thing to so many people,
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: which is exactly why we have this podcast, so that
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: we can tease out the complex financial ideas and make
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: them accessible for even more people. So, George, all money
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  Speaker 3: minimalism is, though, is making our money work for us
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  Speaker 3: by essentially getting organized and getting rid of the clutter.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: So that's all today is a few tips and tricks
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: from me as to how we can really maricondo our
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: finances and create some action plans to start taking offer
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: goals and Georgia, I really couldn't say no to the
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: opportunity of talking about Marie Conto.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: You are a big fan of condo.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: Yes I am. Have you seen my drawers? You wouldn't
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: have seen the drawers in my house. But like I
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: can fold leggings like nobody's business, I'm telling you right
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: now really sparks so much joy.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: How do you go with the fitted sheet?
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: Just out of intro, I'm really good at a fitted sheet.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: My mother taught me how to fold a fitted sheep perfectly.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: My little sister Alex, I'm sure is exactly the same.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: So money minimalism, we know a little bit about what
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: it is, but how can we actually be applying it
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: in our own lives.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: So I think that there are a few steps, and
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: no one who's going to be surprised that I tell
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: you all that we want to start with reflecting on
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: your money story and identifying your values. So by starting
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: with your money story, we can really gain an understanding
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: of your past behaviors with money, what has informed or
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: influenced your decisions, and where maybe you'd like to make
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: some changes. This is obviously where I start with all
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: of my clients as well, because I say it time
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: and time again, because if we don't understand the why
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: behind our spend, we probably won't be able to make
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: the changes we'd like to. And I talk about Money
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: Stories a lot, and we have a couple of episodes
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: on it. So go back literally to the very start
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: of the podcast if you're not across them yet, so
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: that you can wrap your head around it. But I
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: think that that is probably the best place to start.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: And Georgia, a twenty eighteen study found that eighty six
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: percent of Australians don't know how much they spend each month,
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: which is, by the way, that's like a really high
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: stat So we need to be taking a look at
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: our behavior and really take responsibility for our spending. I
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: feel like it's something that feels really daunting, really overwhelming,
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: but actually puts us in a position where we are
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: really empowered. And Georgia, when I say really empowered, I
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: think it's important to point out that I'm not just saying, Okay,
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: you're empowered to now save heaps of money, Like I
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: know that lots of us is struggling, and to me,
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: empowered is just knowing what's coming in, what power we
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: have to change, how we can allocate these funds so
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: that we can actually put ourselves in a better or
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: the best position we can possibly be. It's definitely not
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: about saying, Okay, well you'll be able to save millions
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: of dollars. That is not the case at all. It
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: is more about saying, what's coming in, How can I
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: feel on top of my situation when not a lot
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: is actually in our control at the moment. From here,
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: it is a good idea to map out your values
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: so that you can budget appropriately and realistically. And Georgia King,
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: we have another episode coming up very soon on budgeting
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: and cash flow, and Georgia, I cannot tell you how
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: excited I am about that topic, because, as you know,
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: budgeting and cashlow is my favorite thing to talk about.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: But by identifying those things that we really evalue spending
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: our money on, be that your gym, your nails, your Netflix,
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: expensive cat food cough me, it makes it easier to
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: then rank these things that perhaps aren't as important to
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: you so that you can knock them off and get
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: rid of them from your budget without as much pain
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: and without feeling like you're missing out on anything. As
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: a part of this process, it's a really good idea
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: to take a step back and have a look at
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: the last twelve months of our spending, for example, and
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: see where our money went. Does what we have spent
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: our money on actually a line twelve values, and George
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: is something that I will be talking about in our
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: budgeting and cash flow episodes soon, so won't harp on
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: about it. Is actually doing what I call a bank
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: account audit, and a bank account audit is where you
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: print off the last I usually do three months, but
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: you can do twelve. I print it off and I
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: know it's really important to save paper, but honestly, this
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: is so much more powerful when you print it off
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: and have a hard copy in front of you. Print
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: off your last three months of bank statements or twelve months,
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: get two different colors of highlighters and highlight your discretionary
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: and you're not discretionary spending. So your essentials and your
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: non essentials, and just see what that divide is. And
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: then of your non essentials, have a look at what
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: you are spending your money on the most. And I'm
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: telling you right now that is what you value the
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: most at the moment. And I know a lot of
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: people are going to love hearing that because this is
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: something I do with clients, and for example, I will
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: sit down with you, go through it, and then I'll
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: talk to a client and say, okay, well, obviously you
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: really value smoking. They're like, no, victory, I don't at all.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: I don't like it. Like, okay, well that's where a
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: lot of your money each week is going. They're like, no, no, no, no,
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: that's not a value to meet all. I'll say, okay,
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: but it is because that's where your money is. That's
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: where you're channeling your energy, that's where you're channeling your
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: money power. And I think that once we can work
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: out what that actually looks like and kind of just
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: have it sitting there right in front of our faces,
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: we are able to see what we want to change.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing. There's no hiding from that, right yeah.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: And it's smoking is just an example. It's not to
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: say that that's, you know, the thing that's going to
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: pop out for you, but for me, that's obviously a
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: very expensive habit that you know, once it's put in
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: front of you, like, hey, cool, so you value this?
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: People like no, yeah, well actually you quite clearly do
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: because that's where you're allocating.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Your money, and that would be similar with like coffee,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: where you're spending the photos. You done that every day
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: and then you look at that over a year, it's like,
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: well I've sent thousands of bucks.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, And like, as you know, I don't mind where
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: your money goes. As long as you are actually really
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: confident with where your money is going, you feel comfortable
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: with it. But it's all about education, and it's all
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: about just knowing. I spend lots on coffee because genuinely
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: it is a value to me. I love it. It
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: is a very beautiful part of my day. I'm really
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: lucky to be able to do that. But I consciously
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: make that decision. And I want everyone to be in
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: a position exactly like that, where they are consciously making
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: decisions around their discretionary spending, as opposed to it just
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: being frivolous and not happening.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Okay, So we start with our money story, and we
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: identify our values, see where we're spending our money, and
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: if we want to make any changes, I'm assuming then
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: simplification is going to come into the MINX. I feel
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: like simplification and Maricondo are kind of intrinsically linked.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, in the most beautiful way. I wish I was
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: Marie Kondo. Honestly, she is so cool. But you're correct.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: Simplification is definitely the next step, and this can actually
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: manifest in a few different ways. So, George, simplification is
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: definitely the next step, and this can manifest in a
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: few different ways, and we can go through a few
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: different things that you can do to actually start simplifying
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: your money journey or your money story or whatever you
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: would like to call it. First things first, get rid
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: of bank accounts. You don't need for me, having bank
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: accounts that are sitting dormant to the side, they just
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: create a lack of clarity. So it's more about keeping
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: a really consistent amount of bank accounts that you actually use.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: So I'm not saying closed bank accounts so you're using.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: But if you have an old card that you're not using,
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: just get rid of it. You might have fees on it,
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: it might be something that you are not actually you know,
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: going to ever use. Again. The fewer accounts, the fewer
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: statements you need to keep on top of the fewer
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: things you need to check on etcetera, etc. So just
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: simplify that, make that really clean. Second step is and
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: these will go really hand in hand with a really
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: solid budget Georgia when it comes to organizing your processes
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: and making the most out of twenty twenty, because let's
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: be honest, like, there's not a lot that has gone
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: great this year, so hopefully we can get on our
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: money stories together this year. Instead, make sure you're automating
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: as much as you can so that your bills are
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: direct debited without you having to think about it. So
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: it's not necessarily an option for absolutely everybody. Some people
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: want to manage it manually. I have lots of clients
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: and lots of friends who are like, you know what, Victoria,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: I see that you direct debit things, but I just
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: want to go in and transfer it myself every month.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: That is fine. Some people just don't have the money
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: in their account yet, so they want to wait until
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: it is. But I think automate those payments so that
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: you know they're coming up and you can actually allocate
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: for them. And if you're in a situation where you
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: might have the money in your account yet, don't stick
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: your head in the sand. It is totally fine. To
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: be in that situation, but do something about it. So
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: if you know you've got an energy bill coming up
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: but you can't afford it, you genuinely don't have the
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: money in your account, call them, let them know, either
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: establish a payment plan with them, or ask to defer
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: the payment. Don't just stick your head in the sand
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: and let it get some penalty fees and become something
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: that stops you from sleeping well at night. I think
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: we actually need to be on top of this and
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: making sure that we're not sticking our heads in the sand.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: And I know that that's a really hard thing for
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: a lot of us, especially if we're struggling financially, But like,
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: you've totally got this and you're in a position where
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: you can just take charge. There is not one thing
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: that is embarrassing about being in a situation where you
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: can't afford something, especially right now. I think it's actually
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: really empowering to pick up the phone and say, hey, sorry,
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: that's just not going to happen for me this month.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: What can we do to work together to get out
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: of this situation? So you're not feeling like you're overwhelmed.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: But the most important thing for you is actually your
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: mental health and being able to sleep well at night.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: And I know that that is going to sound really
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: lame to some people, but I genuinely think it's going
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: to be really, really helpful for you if you can
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: actually just get on top of your mental health via finance.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: So give us some more simplification tips.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: So, debt consolidation is something that a lot of people
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: don't make use of if they are in debt that
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: I think is really helpful. So for every loan in
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: your life, you receive statements and you need to pay
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: payments and factor those payments into your finance, and essentially,
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: the fewer debts you have, the fewer payments you need
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: to make each month. Obviously, ideal situation is to have
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: less debts full stop, but for a lot of us
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: that is not an option, especially right now. So I
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: think working out how you can consolidate those options if
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: it is available to you if you are in a
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: significant amount of personal debts. Sometimes it is not available
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: to you until you can prove that you can get
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: out of some of it first. But this way, you
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: have one larger expense each month instead of a number
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: of them broken up across the month, and to me
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: that simplification actually is far more empowering and makes you
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: feel like you're on top of it, and it's one
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: less bill payment to schedule each and every single month.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: Just by combining things, I'm making sure that you are
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: on top of it. But also, Georgia, when you do
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: debt consolidation, more often than not, if you're consolidating things
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: like credit cards and personal loans, you'll end up usually
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: and or not promising anything, but you'll usually end up
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: with a lower interest rate, so you'll end up saving
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: money over the long term as well.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: This could be dumb question, so feel free to just
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: ignore me and move on. You don't know what you
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Georgic them, how do we actually consolidate our debt? Can
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: we do that ourselves? Do we need an in buzza?
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: What do we doing? So?
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: You can go to your bank and have a chat
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: to them about that, But I would actually recommend going
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: to a broker, and most finance brokers are able to
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: help you out here. If not, I guarantee they'll have
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: a referral for someone who deals in personal finances. Have
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: a chat to them because they will have access to
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: not just one bank and one consolidation product. They'll be
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: able to find the right consolidation product, and I think
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: that that's a massive thing as well. I'm in a
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: situation where, you know, I don't do personal debt refinances myself,
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: but I have a really good partner that I refer
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: work to that I know he kills it. So if
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: you're in that situation, I'm really happy to help out
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: shoot an email through too. She's on the money and
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: we can, you know, cook you up with the right
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: broker who can actually put you in a really good situation.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, might not actually
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: be accessible for everybody, but honestly, if you're in a
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: situation where it might, it's definitely worth looking into.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: Okay, so we've had a debt consolidation, what about super consolidation.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: I feel like that follows that that's going to be
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: the next step.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: You're a smart lady. I didn't have it. I didn't
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: have it written down, but you're right. I think that
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: debt consolidation and super consolidation are both really great things
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: to talk about. And you guys know that I am
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: a massive fan of getting your superannuation in order, so
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: I think it's really important to put yourself in a
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: situation where you are consolidating the multiple super accounts that
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: I know lots of us still have, because I did
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: up until a few years ago. Because as a financial adviser,
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: it's always do as I say, not as I do,
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: quite obviously Georgia. But I worked in retail, and I
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: worked in hospitality, and then I worked a little bit
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: in office, I'd mean, and I was in this situation
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: where I had lots of super in lots of places.
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: So I think obviously consolidating your super is a really
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: good idea if you are looking at all of the
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: right factors. Make sure that you look at the Australian
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: Tax Officers super secret told to see if there is
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: any loss super as well, so that you can pop
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: that in it can start contributing to your retirement and asap.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: But then also I think it's really important to take
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: into consideration insurances and not many people talk about how
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: important that is. But I cannot tell you how many
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: people I've met that you know, really proud that they've
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: consolidated their superann and go, oh no, you got rid
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: of you know that insurance that would have actually really
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: served you. So I won't harp on, Georgia.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: What do you want to talk about next? Okay? So
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: I feel like this is actually what you're going to
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: be the most excited to talk about today. Organization and systems.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: I do love some organization.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: I can see lighting up over there. Stop that, So
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: talk me through how we can maricondo our systems to
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: make them work better for us, our finance, our finances. Yes, okay,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: I would be very happy to spend the next twenty
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: minutes talking about my pantry, albeit not productive. Have a
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: folder where you keep all your seats, Georgia.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: I don't care if it's a folder or a shoe
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: box or whatever you want it to be, but keep
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: track of everything. So one for bills, one for a CEA,
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: everything that you know you need to claim at tax time,
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: because I know that when tax time creeps up on us,
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: it can be in a shambles remembering how much you
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: spend it office works in between the workday for some
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: pens or whatever it is that you should be claiming.
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: So for me, it's keeping a folder. I really like
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: physical things, but more recently I've actually moved to keeping
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: track of it via the Ato app, where you can
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: just take a photo of your receipt and upload it
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: and make sure it's there for future reference. I also
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: with bills and just important documents things that I know
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: I need to keep. I have a folder on my
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: phone under albums. I don't know if everybody is as
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: organized as Siam with albums in their phone, but I am.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: I have this folder on my phone of all of
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: the important documents that I need to keep for tax time,
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: so that when tax time comes, I actually just save
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: them all and email them straight to my accountant so
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: that they have them on the file. So for me,
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: just make sure that you keep your bills, your work,
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: your pay slips, etc. So that everything is in one place.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: I've also recently read I think it was in our
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: Facebook group Georgia. I can't even remember where I read
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: it now, but somebody created an email purely for keeping
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: track of business expenses and would always forward information to
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: that email, so it was all in one place, and
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: I thought that was pretty smart.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: So I guess to wrap the main benefit of implementing
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: a money minimalism is that it helps eradicate that stress
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: many of us feel when it comes to finance, So
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: it gets sort of the clatter and the anxiety that
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: builds up within us. Victoria, would you say that speaking
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: to a financial advisor, if you're ready for that step,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: is a good way to get you on this journey
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: or do you think we could just do it on
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: our own, Georgia.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: You know, I love a grip financial advisor, but I
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: do not think that it is essential for you to
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: talk to a financial advisor to get these things together.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: I think that you have the power to do this
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: on your own. And actually by doing this when you
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: finally do see a financial advisor, if you need to
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: see one, it's going to put you in a position
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: where you are really clear on your goals, really clear
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: on your financial situation, and your financial advisor is absolutely
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: going to love that. You know how much power you've got. So,
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: for example, if you go to a financial advisor and
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: you haven't got your budget and cash flow sorted and
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: you don't really know what's going on, you also don't
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: know what you value, it's really hard to work that out.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: Whereas if you've spent a while reflecting on this and
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: having a chat about it, and you know, doing a
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: budgeting tool and you know, working out what that actually
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: looks like for you, you are going to get far
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: more value out of your financial advisor because instead of
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: them helping with your budget, they can actually help with
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: bigger things and you know, talking about investment or debt
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: consolidation or whatever that is. So for me, no, I
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: don't think you need to see a financial advisor to
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: you know, maricondo your finances. If you're really struggling, obviously
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: reach out and you could do something like a budgeting
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: and cash flow session with a financial advisor, which I
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: know is a really powerful way of actually you know,
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: turbocharging that they can go through it and actually be like, Okay,
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: this is what you do, this is how you do it,
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: this is how it perfectly aligns to your financial situation,
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: which is something I do in my business. But then
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: also joja not to plug my own product, but I've
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: recently organized an online course because I feel like I
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: can reach more people by doing that and that will
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: be coming out soon, so that will be a really
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: good tool as well to actually get on top of
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: this and just really clarify your situation. Talk about money stories,
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: talk about budget, create a cash flow, and feel really
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: in control of your money story. So no, you don't
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: need to sell you a financial advisor, but sometimes you
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: do need a little bit of help along the way.
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: Hi.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: There, you've breached the Shoes on the Money mailbox. Do
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: you have a money problem you want help solving. Do
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: you have a money to Lenna you just want to
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: chat about? Victoria is here to help. Every week we'll
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: be playing your questions to help make sense of a
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: money mess you may have found yourself in. Make a
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: quick recording on your phone and send it through to
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: podcasts at Shoes Onthemoney dot com dot au and you
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: might even find yourself on the show. But for now,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: here's today's listener question.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: Hey, guys, money is something I've struggled with forever. Slowly
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: but surely, I'm starting to get my head around things.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: As a twenty seven year old with ten personal debt
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: and average income of fifty five K, I'm wondering what
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: you think the fastest way to getting your head financially
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: would be. Thanks?
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: Alrighty, Victoria, where does she start? Okay?
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: First things first, congrats on getting your head around things.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: Ten thousand dollars worth of debt you can get out
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: of very speedily, but for me that is the priority.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: So with an average income of fifty five thousand dollars,
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: she can probably get out of that debt I'd say
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: two years comfortably while still maintaining a lifestyle. But the
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: fastest way she can get her head around things would
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: be to focus on smashing down that debt and doing
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: a budget and cash flow for herself. So creating a
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: budget so you know where everything is and how much
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: you need to spend each and every single year, month, week,
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: literally on everything, and then working out what cash flow is.
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: So cash flow to me is what comes into your
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: bank account, what goes out of your bank account, and
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: what surplus or shortfall you have left to actually play
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: with or work out if you're going further into debt.
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: Is going to be the fastest way she can get
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: her head around things. This is going to be a
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: really clean and clear way of actually working out what
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: that means so that she can smash down that debt.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: But also what I want to mention is if you're
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: in debt, you have so much power. I know that
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: sounds really lame, but if you have ten thousand dollars
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: worth of debt and you say, look, Victoria, ten thousand
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: dollars worth of debt, I really need to get out
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: of it. It's making me feel really down, feel really
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: depressed about it, makes me feel really awful. Okay, I
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: can understand that. Draw a line in the sand, stop
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: bullying yourself about this ten thousand dollars worth of debt,
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: and see it differently. See that debt as a tool
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: to get yourself into a really great financial position, because
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: the second you're out of debt, you have them proven
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: to yourself your savings capability. If you were putting two
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: hundred dollars a month towards your debt, that's now two
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: hundred dollars a month that you have to create wealth
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: or savings or allocate to one of your values. So
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: for me, this ten thousand dollars worth of debt is
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: kind of like the training wheels of proving that you
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: can save and you can invest and you can actually
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: get yourself out out of this position. So the second
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: that you are debt free, you're actually creating your wealth.
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: And I think that if we can reframe the way
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: that we look at debt and see it as you
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: know what, it's not a great position to be in.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: Obviously it's not going to be constructive long term, but
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: if I use this as a tool to actually put
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: myself in a better position, because I'm teaching myself really
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: good values, really good behaviors, and I'm going to keep
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: those behaviors after I get out of debt, You're going
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: to be in a great position long term, and I
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: think that it will teach you a lot. So I
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: think people need to stop beating themselves up about being
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: in debt. Obviously, don't try and go into more debt,
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: but stop beating yourself up, because this is something that
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: you can use as a tool to feel really empowered
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: about your financial situation moving forward.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: I think also just owning it is a really good step.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: And you're the financial advisor here, I'm not, but I
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: can imagine owning that debt rather than, as you've said
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: multiple times on this podcast, keeping your head buried in
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: the sand. Will mean that you've got ten K of
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: personal debt, but then that's going to get worse and
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: worse and worse if you're not, like I've got ten K,
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: like own it, and then you can start getting rid
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: of that debt and doing your snowball thing that you're
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: always talking.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely, and I think that if you've got ten
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: thousand dollars out of debt. You know, you work out
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: your cash flow and you say, look, Victoria, in the
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: next twelve months, if I put my head down, I
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: can get out of it. Fantastic. Imagine the year after that,
• 30:21
  Speaker 3: if you put your head down again, you will have
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: ten thousand dollars in your savings account. That is so
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: cool and I think the power of seeing people going
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: from being in debt to having savings in their account.
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: It makes me so happy. I could I'm so excited.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: We also see this a lot on the Facebook group
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: So Sweet Listener. If you're not already there, definitely add
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: yourself to that one to get some inslo because we
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: do see a lot of posts like this and it's
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: so incredible to.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: Say exactly and once you're out of debt as well,
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: post it. I want to celebrate with you. I want
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: to talk about this stuff. Our community are so supportive
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: and it's one of my favorite things seeing someone posts
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: and say, look, i've been in debt for two years,
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: I'm finally out of it. Or I've been in debt
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: for twelve years, I'm finally out of it. Like we
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: are here with you to celebrate your successes. And help
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: you be the person you want to be. Hi.
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: I'm doing well, but earning less than my partner. This
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: is my money diary.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Okay, now for the fun stuff. What good would a
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: money podcast be without the perfy bits. It's time for
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: money diary. Let's get into it.
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: When I was a bit younger at UNI, I was
• 31:23
  Speaker 5: way more stripped with how I spent money. And that's
• 31:26
  Speaker 5: obviously because I was I had a casual job. Now
• 31:29
  Speaker 5: I'm in full time work. I let myself.
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: Breathe a little bit more with money.
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: So I think my attitude's fairly standard, not too relaxed,
• 31:39
  Speaker 5: but not too type either.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: With money, what does she do to earn money? How
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: much does she earn and how much is sitting in
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: her bank account right now?
• 31:47
  Speaker 5: My job is a primary school teacher, and my annual
• 31:50
  Speaker 5: salary is around eighty thousand dollars and in my account
• 31:54
  Speaker 5: at the moment, I have roughly forty five thousand dollars.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: And what exactly happens to that money after it's deposited
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: into her account?
• 32:02
  Speaker 5: It honestly depends each week what I'm doing. I have
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: no set plan with savings. I really like to save more,
• 32:10
  Speaker 5: but when my pay goes in seven hundred dollars goes
• 32:13
  Speaker 5: to bills and rent and food, and then thirteen roughly
• 32:16
  Speaker 5: thirteen hundred dollars. Half from there probably goes to long
• 32:19
  Speaker 5: term savings and the other half just goes to splurge.
• 32:22
  Speaker 5: But honestly, each week, each fortnite is really different depending
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: on what I'm doing.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: How does she feel about investing? Does she invest? And
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: if so?
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: I know a little bit about investing, but honestly not heaves.
• 32:34
  Speaker 5: I do have five thousand dollars invested, not in the
• 32:38
  Speaker 5: share market, but in gold. I don't know if that's
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: in the share marker or not. My boyfriend actually runs it,
• 32:44
  Speaker 5: so that's probably something I need to look at myself.
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: I just gave him the money and he invested it
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: for me.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: What about debts like credit cards or personal loans?
• 32:54
  Speaker 4: I don't I'm really lucky. I don't have any debt.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: And does she have any good money habits that she's
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: especially proud of?
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: Do?
• 32:59
  Speaker 4: My best money would be if I have something I
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: want to buy. So, for example, I want to buy
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: a new laptop in the next two to three weeks.
• 33:07
  Speaker 5: I don't just buy it straight out if it's over
• 33:09
  Speaker 5: fifty dollars, I really think about whether I need it
• 33:12
  Speaker 5: or not, and I'm happy to wait one to three
• 33:16
  Speaker 5: months over not however long I need in order to
• 33:19
  Speaker 5: get it.
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, anything over fifty dollars, I'm really careful.
• 33:22
  Speaker 5: About thinking do I need it or can I hold
• 33:24
  Speaker 5: off a little bit longer?
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: And what about her worst money habit?
• 33:28
  Speaker 5: My worst money habit is if something's under fifty dollars,
• 33:32
  Speaker 5: I don't think about whether I'm going to buy it,
• 33:35
  Speaker 5: I just buy it. So what ends up happening throughout
• 33:38
  Speaker 5: the week is I just have little purchases all the
• 33:41
  Speaker 5: time that obviously add up to much more than I realized,
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: but I just honestly don't think about it.
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: My worst money habit.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: So what's today's money diarist? Actually saving for? What's her
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: big money goal?
• 33:51
  Speaker 5: My biggest money goal for this year would be to
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: get to fifty thousand dollars. I'm on track to get there.
• 33:59
  Speaker 5: I really love to buy a house with my savings,
• 34:02
  Speaker 5: but that's more of a long term goal. I did
• 34:05
  Speaker 5: have a question for Victoria because I'm really I've described
• 34:09
  Speaker 5: myself as haphazard in saving, so I have no set
• 34:13
  Speaker 5: plan and I'm really not stringent with the amount I
• 34:16
  Speaker 5: save each fortnite because I want to buy a house.
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: Is it worth while going to.
• 34:20
  Speaker 5: A financial advisor to get sort of more of a
• 34:24
  Speaker 5: plan to enhance my savings and perhaps save a little
• 34:28
  Speaker 5: bit quicker Because at the moment, I'm just sort of
• 34:31
  Speaker 5: doing whatever I feel like, which I feel is okay.
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: But perhaps I could be better and save quicker.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: So how would today's money diarist rate her own relationship
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: with money?
• 34:40
  Speaker 5: I would give myself a B in order to get
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: it to an A. Probably tighten up the way I
• 34:47
  Speaker 5: save each fortnite and have an actual plan, not just
• 34:50
  Speaker 5: oh I feel like putting this much in or I
• 34:52
  Speaker 5: don't feel like putting any in.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: And finally, what does she want to learn a little
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: more about?
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: I'd like to learn more from Victoria. My partner earns
• 35:02
  Speaker 5: significantly more than me, and I want to know is
• 35:05
  Speaker 5: it worth while us putting our money together we've been
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: together for seven years, or could I still keep it
• 35:11
  Speaker 5: in my bank account and keep my finances separate to him?
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Alrighty V, what did you think of today's money darist?
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: This is so common Georgia. I feel like everyone going
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: from a casual job to full time work ends up
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: losing track of their money somehow, although I think that
• 35:27
  Speaker 3: she was doing a lot better than she thought that
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: she was having eighty thousand dollars as a salary and
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: then forty five thousand dollars saved, and I think she
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: said off the top of my head, sorry I can't
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: remember exactly. I think she said it was like thirteen
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: hundred dollars a week in savings, which honestly is massive.
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: If she's in a position to be able to do that,
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: that is absolutely not something that a lot of us
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: can do. She's clearly going to meet that goal of
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: fifty thousand dollars saved very soon if she keeps continuing
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: that way, which is awesome for her. In relation to
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: her investment, I think it was interesting that she'd chosen gold.
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: Gold is not something that I specialize in. It's a
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: very conservative asset. GOT absolutely no issue with her doing
• 36:09
  Speaker 3: that if that's in line with her goals. I think
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: my concern came from when she said that she gave
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: her money to her partner and he just invested it
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: for her. I really want you guys to be empowered
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: about the decisions that you're making and the investment choices
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: that you're making and really be on top of these
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: assets because this is your future wealth, Like, you need
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: to actually take ownership of this and not let somebody
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: else manage it for you. I know that a financial
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: advisor would manage it for you, but a good financial
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: advisor would make sure that you are absolutely on top
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: of every single asset that you own, why you own it,
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: how you own it, and what it actually means for you.
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: So for me, I would love for her to be
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: a little bit more on top of the assets she
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: already owns. In terms of her goals and the question
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: that she had around whether it was worth going to
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: see a financial advisor. Obviously, I think a financial advisor
• 37:01
  Speaker 3: has heaps of value to share. But I also think
• 37:04
  Speaker 3: that if you are in this situation where the thing
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: that you want help with is saving, you actually need
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: to sit yourself down and have a chat about the
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: goals that you actually want to achieve. So she said
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: that she wanted to buy a house in the long term,
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: I think she really needs to think about, well, what
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: does that timeframe mean? Am I purchasing with a partner
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: or is it just going to be me? What does
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: that actually mean for me and my life and having
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: a goal to work towards. So she wants to purchase
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: a home in twelve months, really breaking that goal down
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: and working out how much she needs to save each
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: month to reach that. One of the money habits that
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: I really liked that she had was that she really
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: thinks about any purchase that she makes over fifty dollars.
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: I think all of us can have a think about
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: that as well and maybe try and implement it. But
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: I could totally relate with her saying that she doesn't
• 37:54
  Speaker 3: think about purchases under fifty dollars so common and these
• 37:59
  Speaker 3: are the ones that we actually really need to keep
• 38:01
  Speaker 3: an eye on because they add up so quickly. And
• 38:04
  Speaker 3: this is often what lifestyle creep contributes to. It's always
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: about just the small things that add up that kind
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: of get away from us over the long term that
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: mean that we aren't in as great a financial position
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: as we ultimately could be. In relation to her last
• 38:19
  Speaker 3: question that she asked about, is it worth putting money
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: together with my partner? Well, that's absolutely up to you.
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: Nobody can make that decision except for you. I know
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: that there are couples who have their money together that
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: are absolutely killing it. I know couples who are managing
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: their money separately and killing it as well. I don't
• 38:37
  Speaker 3: think that there is a right or a wrong way.
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: It's just how you want to manage your relationship with
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: money with your partner and how autonomous you want to
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: be if you're going to put your money together with
• 38:48
  Speaker 3: your partner. Though, I think it's really important to have
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: some really great discussions with your partner around that and
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: what the expectation is, and you know your spending habits
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: versus your partners, because I know that it can create
• 39:00
  Speaker 3: a lot of tension as well if you go down
• 39:02
  Speaker 3: that path.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: And what did you think about the grade that she
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: gave herself?
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: Look, I thought that her rating of herself was actually
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: pretty spot on with a B. She said that she
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: wasn't too bad and definitely could be better. I think
• 39:14
  Speaker 3: she could absolutely improve really quickly though, because all of
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: the things that she needed to amend she was really
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: aware of, like how she doesn't think too much about
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: the purchases she makes under fifty dollars and that they
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: add up. She was clear that she had a goal
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: of fifty thousand dollars to save, but she didn't actually
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: have a long term goal of when her house was
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: going to be purchased, so I think that there was
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: obviously a little bit of room for improvement. But as
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: you know, I always think that people are too harsh
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: on themselves because we're all just doing the best that
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: we can.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: Great points from me, Victoria, but that is sadly all
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: we have time for today. Before we do head off,
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: let's quickly wrap the boring but important stuff. The advice
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: shed on she is on the money is general in
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: the money if it's purely for educational purposes and should
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: not be reallyied upon to make an investment or financial
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: decision and stressless, we promise. Victoria Divine is an authorized
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: representative of Australia Super Funds Management Proprietary Limited ABN three
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: four one three two four six three two five seven
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: AFSL three three nine one five one and as always
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: a big old shout out to our audio wizard Ryan
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: John for putting together today's podcast.
• 40:21
  Speaker 3: We would love it if you joined our Facebook group
• 40:23
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• 40:27
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• 40:31
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• 40:33
  Speaker 3: are at She's on the Money a US.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: We will see you next week.
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: Next week, friend,