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The Biggest Money Lessons We Learned From This Year’s Money Diaries · She's On The Money

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Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yor
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Speaker 1: the Order Kerni Whaltbury and a waddery woman. And before
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Speaker 1: we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
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Speaker 1: would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
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Speaker 1: of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
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Speaker 1: acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
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Speaker 1: through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
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Speaker 1: and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
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Speaker 1: today and lasting impactful tomorrow.
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Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
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Speaker 3: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
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Speaker 4: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money the podcas
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Speaker 4: But let's you get delightfully pervy on other people's finance
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Speaker 4: stories for educational purposes, of course. I am Victoria Devine,
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Speaker 4: a retired financial advisor breaking down money to boost one
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Speaker 4: juicy money diary at a time. Today is a very
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Speaker 4: special episode because we're doing something I absolutely adore. We're
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Speaker 4: going to be looking back at the lessons we have
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Speaker 4: learned from this year's money diaries. If you know me,
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Speaker 4: you know I am a massive believer in the power
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Speaker 4: of storytelling. Hearing everyone else's wins, their challenges, and even
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Speaker 4: their mistakes can inspire us. It can teach us, and
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Speaker 4: sometimes it can even give us that Ahart moment that
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Speaker 4: we've been waiting for. In this episode, together, you and
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Speaker 4: I are going to spotlight some of our biggest learnings
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Speaker 4: from twenty twenty four. They're those moments that remind us
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Speaker 4: that we're not alone in our struggles and that transformation.
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Speaker 5: Is always possible.
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Speaker 4: Whether it's turning debt into financial freedom, or negotiating like
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Speaker 4: a pro, or simply mastering the art of patience with
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Speaker 4: your money. These stories are packed with insights that help
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Speaker 4: you level up your finances, and I wanted to start
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Speaker 4: with this very relatable lesson. In twenty twenty four, we
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Speaker 4: are living in the age of instant gratification, whether it's
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Speaker 4: binge watching an entire season of your favorite show the
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Speaker 4: day it drops, having dinner delivered to your door in
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Speaker 4: under thirty minutes, or getting same day shipping on that
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Speaker 4: impulse by We're getting used to getting what we want
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Speaker 4: exactly when we want it, But when it comes to
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Speaker 4: our finances, that mindset can be well a bit dangerous.
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Speaker 4: Those spur of the movement purchases and those treat yourself
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Speaker 4: moments can really add up, and before you know it,
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Speaker 4: you're surrounded by unopened packages, empty oat lattes, and an
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Speaker 4: empty bank account. Our first diarist realized this firsthand. She
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Speaker 4: took a hard look at her spending habits. She saw
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Speaker 4: the impact of instant gratification, and she decided to flip
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Speaker 4: the script by mastering the art of delayed gratification. She
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Speaker 4: saved her self thousands and made her money work for
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Speaker 4: her instead of the other way around. Hear her story
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Speaker 4: and her strategy for making patience her finance superpower.
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Speaker 6: And I think the most important thing as well too
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Speaker 6: that I realized and I learned as well, is that
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Speaker 6: once you get out of debt, it doesn't mean that
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Speaker 6: you're fully fully out of debt, because if your mindset
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Speaker 6: is still the same as before when you were in debt,
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Speaker 6: you'll continue to go back to that cycle and it'll
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Speaker 6: be like a rotating door of getting out of debt,
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Speaker 6: going back into debt, getting out of debt, and going
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Speaker 6: back into debt. And I think the most important thing
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Speaker 6: to also, you know, keep yourself motivated to get out
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Speaker 6: of debt is to really think about your goal and
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Speaker 6: your why as to why you want to be out
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Speaker 6: of debt and why you're working so hard to you know,
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Speaker 6: be out of debt is because I finally paid off
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Speaker 6: my zip pay.
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Speaker 2: There was a time where I was sitting down on
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Speaker 2: the couch and.
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Speaker 6: I was so bored, just so easy, right, Yeah, I
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Speaker 6: was so bored, and I you know, I'm like, oh,
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Speaker 6: I want to I want to buy this pair of shoes.
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Speaker 6: But I only had like what twenty dollars in my
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Speaker 6: account after paying off all of my bills, And I
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Speaker 6: was like, do you know what, I'll just apply on Zippay.
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Speaker 6: I'll just spend one hundred dollars on zip pay and
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Speaker 6: then pay it off and then close it again. And
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Speaker 6: you know, I had to catch myself really quickly, like no,
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Speaker 6: because that's not where we are able to Yeah, that's
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Speaker 6: not who we are we are anymore. So it takes
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Speaker 6: a lot of discipline to not go back to that
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Speaker 6: after just coming out of that situation one hundred percent.
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Speaker 4: And because we are humans, humans inherently do not like change.
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Speaker 4: So going back to a cycle that you know, even
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Speaker 4: though you don't love it, you know it. You go,
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Speaker 4: that's predictable. I know exactly what will happen. I can
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Speaker 4: you know, work with that outcome.
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Speaker 7: It's hard to.
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Speaker 4: Go from there to a completely different mindset of going, well,
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Speaker 4: what do you mean? And this layer of instant gratification
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Speaker 4: versus delayed gratification comes to it. You've been an instant
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Speaker 4: gratification girly for your whole life. You're always used to
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Speaker 4: just getting it, and now you've got to wait, like
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Speaker 4: what do you mean?
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Speaker 7: Like I'm not used to that. Like that doesn't feel good.
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Speaker 4: I don't know why we're here. So it can be
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Speaker 4: so hard to slip back into the cycle. I know
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Speaker 4: that you've changed your money's story over the last few years,
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Speaker 4: gotten out of debt, But what do you reckon your
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Speaker 4: best money habit is?
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Speaker 6: I would say that my best money habit is I've
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Speaker 6: mastered the art of delayed gratification. Unless I absolutely need somethow.
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Speaker 4: Can you please teach me? Because I have not? Did
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Speaker 4: you just see me? For those of you playing along,
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Speaker 4: I had to have a brief intermission because someone offered
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Speaker 4: me a donut.
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Speaker 7: That's different because that's free. So yeah, it's true, it's true.
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Speaker 7: It was money.
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Speaker 2: Wean I'm not buying money.
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Speaker 7: We there you go.
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Speaker 4: Thank you for reframing that for me, But tell me
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Speaker 4: more about how to work into this delayed gratification.
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Speaker 7: I actually learned that from my partner.
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Speaker 6: Unless I absolutely need something, then I give you myself
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Speaker 6: a few days, if not a week, to really think
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Speaker 6: about if I want something or not, and more often
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Speaker 6: than not, I actually forget about it. So I like
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Speaker 6: to think that, you know, I'm saving myself so much
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Speaker 6: money from not going crazy berserk on shopping spree if
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Speaker 6: I don't really need it.
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Speaker 4: I love that, But what was the first step in
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Speaker 4: I guess actually practicing delayed gratification because I think that
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Speaker 4: so many of us would be like, oh my gosh,
6:14
Speaker 4: this money.
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Speaker 5: Dirist is so right.
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Speaker 4: I need to, you know, think about what I'm spending.
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Speaker 4: I'm going to put twenty four hours between me and
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Speaker 4: my spending. I'm going to listen to V like V
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Speaker 4: is very do as I say, not as I do,
6:26
Speaker 4: just for the record, But I think we need to
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Speaker 4: know what was the first time that that was really pressed.
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Speaker 4: Because I feel like we can make all the biggest
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Speaker 4: plans in the entire world, and I think we all do,
6:37
Speaker 4: but then you have to actually implement them.
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Speaker 6: I think For me, I guess when I realized that
6:43
Speaker 6: I didn't really need a lot of things was when
6:47
Speaker 6: I was decluttering my bedroom and my bathroom. I had
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Speaker 6: so many unopened skin care products, I had so many
6:55
Speaker 6: clothes that still had tags on them, and I thought,
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Speaker 6: I actually don't need any of these. Why did I
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Speaker 6: even buy them? And so I think that made me
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Speaker 6: realize that, like, I better start practicing delayed gratification, otherwise
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Speaker 6: I'm going to be stuck with all these you know
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Speaker 6: products close everything that I actually never needed in the
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Speaker 6: first place.
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Speaker 7: And it could have had some cash in my bank.
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Speaker 6: Exactly, could have had cash in my bank. And now
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Speaker 6: I can't even sell them because they're had a trend,
7:23
Speaker 6: but I'm still keeping them. Never know, because trends always
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Speaker 6: come back around.
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Speaker 7: That's true. That's true. Give it ten years back.
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Speaker 4: Give it's an investment, Give it ten years. This was
7:34
Speaker 4: an amazing story of growth and discipline. I think what
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Speaker 4: I love the most about this is how real it feels, because, honestly,
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Speaker 4: which one of us hasn't been tempted by the ease
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Speaker 4: of buy now, pay later or the thrill of an
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Speaker 4: impulse purchase.
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Speaker 5: Definitely me.
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Speaker 7: But the truth is Falling into those.
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Speaker 5: Habits over and over can keep us stuck in a
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Speaker 5: cycle that is so hard to break. This diarist is proof.
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Speaker 4: That getting out of debt isn't just about paying it
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Speaker 4: all off. It's about staying out of it, and that
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Speaker 4: takes real mindset shifts. She didn't just stop spending, She's
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Speaker 4: rewired how she thought about money and her decisions. If
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Speaker 4: you take one thing away from this episode, let it
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Speaker 4: be this. Your future self will thank you for every thoughtful,
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Speaker 4: intentional decision that you make today. Whether it's resisting the
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Speaker 4: urge to apply for another buy now, pay later account
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Speaker 4: or letting that cut sit unpurchased for a few days,
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Speaker 4: these little habits build up to create a much bigger
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Speaker 4: picture of financial freedom for yourself.
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Speaker 5: This next lesson.
8:36
Speaker 4: Comes from one of our most downloaded episodes of the year,
8:39
Speaker 4: and honestly, it's not hard to see why. I mean,
8:43
Speaker 4: who wouldn't click on an episode titled forty K Salary
8:46
Speaker 4: to four.
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Speaker 7: Hundred thousand dollars Side Hustle.
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Speaker 4: It's the kind of story that's not just wildly appealing,
8:52
Speaker 4: but also packed with practical insights and a big dose
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Speaker 4: of inspiration. In this episode, our Dira shared how a
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Speaker 4: necessary purchase, something they initially needed just to get their
9:03
Speaker 4: home sorted, ended up becoming the foundation for a booming
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Speaker 4: side hustle. Let's dive into how she turned something they
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Speaker 4: needed for themselves into a.
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Speaker 5: Booming business opportunity.
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Speaker 7: So tell me more.
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Speaker 4: About this business, because you mentioned we have a machine
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Speaker 4: and it has some debt on it. Obviously, when you
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Speaker 4: were building your home you realized that the machinery was necessary.
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Speaker 4: Why not purchase it? Why not then lease it out after?
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Speaker 4: Is this like, you know, a twenty dollars wheelbarrow from
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Speaker 4: Buddings Or is this like, you know, a whole digger?
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Speaker 7: Is this a crane? I don't know.
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Speaker 4: You've got to tell me more about how this works
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Speaker 4: and then how you worked out that you could lease
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Speaker 4: it out.
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Speaker 8: Yep.
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Speaker 9: So when we first started designing the house and obviously
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Speaker 9: a big block, we were like, well, there's a lot
9:47
Speaker 9: of landscaping that's going to need to be done, and we.
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Speaker 2: Were like, well, we'll do that ourselves.
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Speaker 9: At the time, his brother and his wife were also
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Speaker 9: building on a large block, and his parents were all
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Speaker 9: so building on a large block.
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Speaker 4: So god, so much construction you wouldn't be short for
10:05
Speaker 4: conversation at family dinner, would you.
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Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, we will be shortly.
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Speaker 9: We actually joke about what we're all going to talk
10:10
Speaker 9: about in six months time when everyone's done building.
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Speaker 7: Oh, you guys will find another project. I can almost
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Speaker 7: guarantee it, Yes, definitely.
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Speaker 9: So yeah, we looked at it and we thought, you know,
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Speaker 9: we're between just the three of us building and you know,
10:24
Speaker 9: needing to hire a digger to do some earthworks or
10:27
Speaker 9: a skid steer to do something else. We were like,
10:31
Speaker 9: hang on, this is really really expensive in town, and
10:35
Speaker 9: if we do that and say we need it. We
10:37
Speaker 9: worked it out over a certain number of weekends and
10:39
Speaker 9: what it would come to, and we were like, why
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Speaker 9: don't we just buy one? So again, there was some
10:46
Speaker 9: money from the sale of my partner's house, so we
10:50
Speaker 9: actually paid cash for our first machine.
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Speaker 7: How much does a machine cost?
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Speaker 9: So that was a mini excavator, so a brand new
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Speaker 9: Caterpillar excavator, and that at the time I believe was
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Speaker 9: forty thousand, and then it was about eleven thousand.
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Speaker 2: Then for the.
11:06
Speaker 4: Trailer, yeah, okay, and so you need the trailer of
11:10
Speaker 4: the UC to move the excavator.
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Speaker 9: Yes, so to move it around we did buy a
11:16
Speaker 9: more expensive trailer, because you could just buy a plant
11:18
Speaker 9: trailer where you can just drive your machine on and
11:21
Speaker 9: that's all its purpose is. However, we went for a
11:24
Speaker 9: different trailer that was, say, a tiper trailer, so that
11:28
Speaker 9: people can.
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Speaker 2: Also use it for soil, which you offer.
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Speaker 4: He's a smart cookie, so you can move the stuff
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Speaker 4: that you excavated.
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Speaker 9: Correct, And you can also hire that trailer out as
11:39
Speaker 9: its own asset, whereas no one really needs to just
11:43
Speaker 9: borrow a plant trailer on its own, but someone wanting
11:46
Speaker 9: to do some gardening can hire a trailer.
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Speaker 7: I see the vision. I get it.
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Speaker 4: So you've essentially invested fifty one thousand dollars in this
11:54
Speaker 4: trailer and this excavator, and I'm assuming you've used it
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Speaker 4: partner's parents of you, that other family members have used it,
12:02
Speaker 4: and now you're hiring it out. What does that look like?
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Speaker 4: Do you advertise it online or is this a word
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Speaker 4: of mouthing or like?
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Speaker 5: How does that work?
12:09
Speaker 4: How does it go from we bought this fancy thing
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Speaker 4: to other people are paying you for it?
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Speaker 8: Yeah?
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Speaker 2: So did you start out with social media advertising? Locally?
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Speaker 9: We've put some signage on the trailer and on the
12:19
Speaker 9: machine and it just kind of went from there. We've
12:23
Speaker 9: actually stopped advertising for it at the moment because the
12:27
Speaker 9: second part of the business is labor higher, which we've
12:32
Speaker 9: got my partner employed through, so he's out of town
12:36
Speaker 9: a lot with that. So we've actually stopped advertising the
12:40
Speaker 9: equipment higher because we're getting enough with it to cover
12:45
Speaker 9: the repayments on our second machine.
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Speaker 7: Okay, I love this.
12:50
Speaker 5: How incredible was that?
12:52
Speaker 4: This story is such a powerful reminder that sometimes the
12:56
Speaker 4: biggest opportunities come from the most practical decisions. What I
13:00
Speaker 4: love most about this episode was how intentional they were,
13:03
Speaker 4: not just about solving their immediate problem, but about thinking bigger.
13:07
Speaker 4: They didn't just buy a piece of machinery for personal use.
13:10
Speaker 4: They looked at how they could create value beyond their
13:13
Speaker 4: own household. By investing strategically and tapping into local demand,
13:18
Speaker 4: they turned what could have been just another expense into
13:21
Speaker 4: a thriving income stream. The takeaway here is this, ask yourself,
13:25
Speaker 4: if your next big purchase could be more than.
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Speaker 5: Just something you need.
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Speaker 4: Could it be an asset that starts working for you,
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Speaker 4: Whether it's renting out equipment, leveraging.
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Speaker 5: A skill, or spotting a gap in the market.
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Speaker 4: There's always an opportunity to turn every decision into a
13:39
Speaker 4: financial win. This diarist didn't just build their home, They've
13:43
Speaker 4: built a legacy.
13:44
Speaker 5: How good is that?
13:46
Speaker 8: Now?
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Speaker 4: Don't go anywhere, because after the break we're going to
13:49
Speaker 4: be diving into one of the most important lessons for
13:51
Speaker 4: women everywhere.
13:56
Speaker 5: Welcome back, my friends.
13:58
Speaker 4: If you're going through a breakup or you know someone
14:00
Speaker 4: who is, this is the episode to send them. It
14:03
Speaker 4: can feel like such an overwhelming and intimidating process, especially
14:07
Speaker 4: when emotions are high, but the stakes are even higher.
14:11
Speaker 4: But this direst story is a powerful example of how preparation,
14:15
Speaker 4: confidence and advocating for yourself can lead to outcomes that
14:18
Speaker 4: protect you and your family's future. This was a masterclass
14:23
Speaker 4: in standing up for yourself and walking away with a
14:26
Speaker 4: fair settlement.
14:27
Speaker 7: Let's hear how she did it.
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Speaker 8: I got a lawyer, which not cheap obviously, and got
14:33
Speaker 8: myself with as much info as I could. I actually
14:36
Speaker 8: spoke to a really amazing lawyer and she was like, look,
14:38
Speaker 8: there's all these different ways to do this. The best
14:41
Speaker 8: way to do it, if you guys are amicable enough,
14:43
Speaker 8: is to do it through mediation. So you're not having
14:45
Speaker 8: lawyers represent in so you're not like, waste that money.
14:47
Speaker 4: And I was so nice of you to say that, Yeah,
14:50
Speaker 4: thank you. Also an iconic queen.
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Speaker 8: Yeah, and she was just like, I'm the one who
14:53
Speaker 8: does these invoices of these clients, and I invoice them
14:56
Speaker 8: for like thirty grand and I just think to myself,
14:59
Speaker 8: that's money that could have gone towards the Pollard or
15:01
Speaker 8: the kids. And I'm like, you know, so we did that.
15:04
Speaker 8: A couple of weeks ago, we did the mediation, which
15:07
Speaker 8: is like a one day thing to deal with property
15:10
Speaker 8: and family. I'd also in the meantime had quite a
15:13
Speaker 8: few meetings with my financial advisor. He has been amazing
15:16
Speaker 8: helping me with negotiations and stuff, and so I came
15:18
Speaker 8: out of that pretty well. I went in probably over prepared,
15:22
Speaker 8: but I think that's a better way to be and
15:25
Speaker 8: he went in completely underprepared.
15:26
Speaker 4: And so that's a very media and committal age white
15:28
Speaker 4: man behavior exactly.
15:30
Speaker 8: So why should I prepare for this? You know the
15:33
Speaker 8: world will work for me, So.
15:34
Speaker 4: I want to know, let's get into some nitty gritty questions.
15:37
Speaker 4: So I'm sure it will come back up. But now
15:39
Speaker 4: that you are getting back into your career, what do
15:41
Speaker 4: you do for it? How much money do you earn?
15:43
Speaker 8: So I'm a communications manager, I am on one hundred
15:47
Speaker 8: and three per year plus super.
15:50
Speaker 7: Oh how good is that?
15:52
Speaker 4: I mean, at the moment, you're probably like, oh, everything's
15:55
Speaker 4: so expensive, but like that is a great career trajectory. Yeah,
15:59
Speaker 4: I feel like there's a lot of room for growth,
16:01
Speaker 4: which is awesome. Where Like, and this is probably not
16:04
Speaker 4: a question that's like a kind question to us, but like,
16:06
Speaker 4: where do you think you would have been had you not,
16:09
Speaker 4: you know, put the brakes on your career back when
16:12
Speaker 4: you were making sacrifices so that he could earn three
16:14
Speaker 4: times more than you.
16:15
Speaker 8: Well, I know exactly where I would be because this
16:17
Speaker 8: is part of the research I did with going into
16:20
Speaker 8: my mediation. So my best friend and I graduated from
16:24
Speaker 8: the same degree at the same time. She's just recently
16:26
Speaker 8: had her first child, which, by the way, having kids
16:29
Speaker 8: in your thirties is a way better idea for so
16:31
Speaker 8: many reasons.
16:31
Speaker 2: But anyway, when I'm.
16:33
Speaker 4: Still not getting sleep and I'm really tired, and you
16:35
Speaker 4: get to climb into your bed and no toddler is
16:38
Speaker 4: going to be in the middle, you'll be saying, ha,
16:41
Speaker 4: try having.
16:41
Speaker 8: An eight year old and a five year old in
16:43
Speaker 8: bed every night.
16:43
Speaker 7: It's that's right, you know what. I feel like you're
16:46
Speaker 7: living my dream.
16:48
Speaker 8: So she had an amazing stuff with her career. Not
16:52
Speaker 8: to take anything away from her, like she's brilliant what
16:54
Speaker 8: she does, but we had very similar you know, I
16:56
Speaker 8: would say, work ethics and all that kind of stuff.
16:59
Speaker 8: She is currently on two hundred and ten. Yeah, okay,
17:02
Speaker 8: you know, so that's the sacrifice I made in terms
17:05
Speaker 8: of being the one at home raising the children. And
17:09
Speaker 8: when I said that to him, he said, well, I
17:10
Speaker 8: didn't ask you to do that.
17:12
Speaker 7: I'm going to literally bunch you in the face. So weird.
17:15
Speaker 7: My hand just slipped and fell into your nose.
17:18
Speaker 8: Oh the milk coming out of your boobies wasn't that good?
17:21
Speaker 8: And your two days of paternity leave would not have
17:23
Speaker 8: gotten us very far.
17:24
Speaker 4: Oh, that's so weird that we had kids when it
17:26
Speaker 4: suited you and I was twenty seven and didn't think
17:29
Speaker 4: it was going to work, but we did. Yeah, so
17:33
Speaker 4: obviously that is actually a fantastic benchmark to have. And
17:36
Speaker 4: having these money conversations with your friend really empowered you
17:40
Speaker 4: to have a successful mediation. Right, So what were those
17:44
Speaker 4: conversations like did you sit down with your friend and go, hey, cool, like.
17:47
Speaker 7: You are basically like we split off.
17:50
Speaker 4: It's like the superanuation ad where they're going up the
17:53
Speaker 4: escalators and that's really powerful, But like, what was that
17:56
Speaker 4: conversation like with your friend? Were you like, can you
17:57
Speaker 4: just tell me what you earn? Wish you open to that?
18:00
Speaker 7: What did that look like?
18:01
Speaker 8: Yeah? So she's obviously been there for me during this
18:03
Speaker 8: whole massive life change, and she knew that I was
18:05
Speaker 8: going to mediation and I literally just raged her and
18:08
Speaker 8: I was like, hey, can you, like we all as
18:11
Speaker 8: women need to get better at talking about money and
18:13
Speaker 8: talking about this stuff. Can you tell me what you've
18:16
Speaker 8: earned in your last like three or four jobs? And
18:18
Speaker 8: she's like, Yep, when I was at this job, I
18:20
Speaker 8: owned this. When I was at this, iland at this,
18:21
Speaker 8: when I was at this, I owned this, And I
18:23
Speaker 8: love that. And she's very similarly minded to me in
18:26
Speaker 8: terms of like we need to change this narrative for women,
18:28
Speaker 8: especially like let's not be like weird about money or
18:31
Speaker 8: weird about sex whatever, like let's just normalize everything. And
18:36
Speaker 8: so she was fully just like, yep, anything else you
18:38
Speaker 8: need to know you let me know.
18:39
Speaker 7: I can send you a pay slip for an example.
18:41
Speaker 2: I love her.
18:42
Speaker 4: So tell me how that played into mediation, Like, what
18:45
Speaker 4: was that conversation? Like, I obviously thankfully haven't been through
18:49
Speaker 4: this process, but I know that it can be quite fick.
18:51
Speaker 4: Or is that something that you've said, well, actually i'd
18:54
Speaker 4: be here yep.
18:55
Speaker 8: So I said I would be there, and I said
18:58
Speaker 8: to make up for that, I believe I deserve x amount. Unfortunately,
19:04
Speaker 8: because we are both bad with money, we didn't really
19:07
Speaker 8: have much of a property pool to split. So I
19:10
Speaker 8: negotiated really hard for a good monthly payment because in Australia, unfortunately,
19:15
Speaker 8: this is another thing they don't teach you. They don't
19:18
Speaker 8: give you alimenty, so you have to do it as
19:19
Speaker 8: child support. So that's what I negotiated for. So I
19:22
Speaker 8: negotiated for four thousand dollars a month from him, which
19:26
Speaker 8: I think for me puts me in a much better
19:29
Speaker 8: position in terms of lending capabilities and things like that.
19:33
Speaker 8: So I went in really armed with all that information.
19:36
Speaker 8: I also went in armed with what he isn't over
19:39
Speaker 8: that time. What you know, when they break down those
19:42
Speaker 8: calculations of how much a woman like it's not just
19:46
Speaker 8: the amount of time that you spent out of the workforce,
19:47
Speaker 8: it's also the slower career progression because in the time
19:51
Speaker 8: that I was home with the kids, he progressed really
19:53
Speaker 8: rapidly in his career because he had the time and
19:55
Speaker 8: space to do that.
19:56
Speaker 4: When you're in mediation, did you talk about superannuation? Did
19:59
Speaker 4: you go she ate for any what did.
20:01
Speaker 7: That look like?
20:02
Speaker 2: Yes, we did.
20:03
Speaker 8: This was again where he came in very unprepared.
20:05
Speaker 4: Get it, queen, I love this so much. I'm like
20:08
Speaker 4: deserved deserved.
20:10
Speaker 8: Yeah, well, I mean yeah, if you understood how like
20:12
Speaker 8: Beta I had been in my relationship, you would be like,
20:15
Speaker 8: who is this person? Like, I'm just like, let's take
20:18
Speaker 8: control of our life now.
20:19
Speaker 4: Oh no, he was shocked too. Yeah, that's what we want.
20:22
Speaker 4: We want to blindside him.
20:24
Speaker 8: Yeah. So when the subject of super was brought up,
20:27
Speaker 8: he was kind of like, what why do you get
20:29
Speaker 8: my super? Ah?
20:30
Speaker 7: I love this so much, And you were like, well, actually,
20:32
Speaker 7: here is the research, here is the reason why.
20:34
Speaker 8: Well and I didn't even have to say it. The
20:36
Speaker 8: mediator said it, which was even better, And I was like,
20:38
Speaker 8: you know, I took nine years out of full time
20:40
Speaker 8: work my earning capacity, my earning potential, blah blah blah.
20:43
Speaker 8: And then he's like, yeah, but I'm eight years older,
20:45
Speaker 8: so I'm closer to retirement than you. And it was like, irrelevant.
20:48
Speaker 7: We had eight years more to think about this terrible decision,
20:51
Speaker 7: didn't you also, And as.
20:52
Speaker 8: The mediator pointed out, but you also still earn triple
20:55
Speaker 8: what she earned.
20:55
Speaker 4: I love this mediator, this mediator we know in the background.
20:59
Speaker 4: This mediator was like money darist, I'm on your team.
21:02
Speaker 8: Or he was recommended by my lawyer for that reason.
21:05
Speaker 7: Iconic.
21:06
Speaker 8: Yeah. And so in the end, part of my negotiating
21:09
Speaker 8: was I negotiated for a higher figure for the monthly
21:12
Speaker 8: payment and said I want fifty percent of your super
21:15
Speaker 8: and he was like, absolutely not to both. And I
21:17
Speaker 8: was like, okay, fine, what about an equalization of super.
21:20
Speaker 8: He was like, what does that even mean. I was like,
21:23
Speaker 8: silly boy, it means we joined them together and then
21:25
Speaker 8: we split them in half. And he was like, okay, fine,
21:28
Speaker 8: we'll do that. But then the mediator said, well, actually,
21:30
Speaker 8: I don't think the court will sign off on that
21:32
Speaker 8: because that's not a fair division. So in the end,
21:35
Speaker 8: I've gotten sixty percent of you Super.
21:38
Speaker 7: That's not a fair division.
21:39
Speaker 4: You asked for half and now you've got sixty percent
21:42
Speaker 4: of you SUPER.
21:44
Speaker 7: I'm so sorry.
21:44
Speaker 4: I shouldn't laugh at this because obviously, like you know,
21:48
Speaker 4: there's two sides, or there's actually three sides to every story.
21:51
Speaker 4: But like you know, he deserves to be financially secure
21:55
Speaker 4: as well, of course, but like not going in prepared
21:59
Speaker 4: saying that fifty percents not okay, continuing the conversation, ending
22:03
Speaker 4: up with forty percent.
22:04
Speaker 7: Oh, I love this. So you got sixty percent of
22:08
Speaker 7: your super.
22:09
Speaker 8: Yep, and now I need to work with my financial
22:11
Speaker 8: advisor about where we put that and how we put
22:13
Speaker 8: that in some super aggressive accounts to make sure that
22:16
Speaker 8: that's doing the most it can do.
22:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, oh my gosh, Like that is probably my favorite
22:20
Speaker 4: thing I've heard all day. So where does that put
22:24
Speaker 4: you in relation to the average superannuation balance for your age?
22:30
Speaker 8: What is the average balance? I don't know. I think
22:32
Speaker 8: it will end me with about one hundred and eighty
22:35
Speaker 8: five thousand in super.
22:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, so that puts you way above and beyond for
22:39
Speaker 4: your age because you're thirty five, So that means that
22:43
Speaker 4: you are doing really well. Ten out of ten, this
22:47
Speaker 4: was an incredible story of resilience, preparation, and self advocacy.
22:52
Speaker 4: This diarist didn't just walk into mediation. She walked in
22:55
Speaker 4: ready to fight for what she deserved, and she didn't
22:58
Speaker 4: settle for less. The big takeaway here preparation is power.
23:03
Speaker 4: By taking the time to understand her worth financially and personally,
23:07
Speaker 4: and backing it up with facts, she turned what could
23:10
Speaker 4: have been a stressful, one sided process into a win
23:14
Speaker 4: for herself and her kids. It's also a really good
23:17
Speaker 4: reminder of the importance of surrounding yourself with a solid
23:20
Speaker 4: support system, whether that's a financial advisor or a trusted friend.
23:24
Speaker 5: Or even both.
23:25
Speaker 4: Having people in your corner can help you build your
23:27
Speaker 4: case and boost your confidence, which makes all the difference.
23:31
Speaker 4: So if you're going through something similar, take a page
23:34
Speaker 4: from this Diarist's book. Know your worth, do your homework,
23:38
Speaker 4: and don't be afraid to advocate for yourself even when
23:41
Speaker 4: it is hard. You've got this and your future self
23:44
Speaker 4: is going to thank you for it. This next story
23:47
Speaker 4: is one that many of us need to hear, because,
23:49
Speaker 4: let's be honest, when it comes to financial planning, we
23:52
Speaker 4: don't always prepare for the unexpected. Our Dire shares the
23:57
Speaker 4: tough reality of losing her mum and the challenges that
24:00
Speaker 4: followed despite her parents having a will in place.
24:03
Speaker 5: So if you've ever said.
24:04
Speaker 4: Oh, my partner handles all the money stuff, or if
24:07
Speaker 4: you've avoided conversations about what happens when things might go wrong,
24:12
Speaker 4: this is the moment to lean in and listen.
24:16
Speaker 10: Mum kind of ran like all of our household finances,
24:19
Speaker 10: and my dad pretty much like wasn't really across any
24:22
Speaker 10: of it.
24:23
Speaker 2: He was just really focused.
24:24
Speaker 7: On making the money bringing it home.
24:26
Speaker 2: Mum will manage it.
24:28
Speaker 10: Yeah, exactly, Mum will look after it, and so he
24:30
Speaker 10: trusted her completely, And I feel like it's often the
24:33
Speaker 10: way around. Like I talked to friends who's like Dad's
24:36
Speaker 10: handled all the finances, but in my family, it was
24:39
Speaker 10: like my mum, which was kind of great.
24:41
Speaker 2: That she was across it all.
24:42
Speaker 10: But when she passed away suddenly last year, it meant
24:46
Speaker 10: that Dad had a bit of a rude awakening. He
24:49
Speaker 10: had access to some of their accounts, or Mum thought
24:52
Speaker 10: she'd see everything up in a joint account structure, but
24:56
Speaker 10: after she died, we realized that Dad had access to
24:59
Speaker 10: about three of the like ten accounts.
25:03
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, okay, and then that's a really big process
25:07
Speaker 4: of like applying for it to be released and like
25:10
Speaker 4: that's not what you need when you're buried in grief.
25:13
Speaker 10: No, it was quite a lot. And I think like
25:15
Speaker 10: because the amount of money and those accounts was substantially
25:19
Speaker 10: less than the other accounts. I mean, like we were
25:21
Speaker 10: fine because Dad was still earning, but it just put
25:25
Speaker 10: like unnecessary pressure on him, particularly around funeral expenses and
25:30
Speaker 10: everything else.
25:31
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, and especially being really unexpected. You don't get
25:36
Speaker 4: that grace period of going, let's get.
25:39
Speaker 2: Our ducks in a row.
25:40
Speaker 4: We know this, you know awful thing is coming. We
25:43
Speaker 4: can you know, line everything up, Like when it's really sudden,
25:47
Speaker 4: you go from being absolutely fine one day to being
25:50
Speaker 4: not around and you can't even ask questions like, oh, hey, Mum,
25:53
Speaker 4: is there anything like that we need to know, Like,
25:56
Speaker 4: you just don't get that grace.
25:58
Speaker 10: Probably not a good practice to She was quite good
26:01
Speaker 10: in the sense that she had this little read book
26:03
Speaker 10: of passwords.
26:04
Speaker 7: Oh my gosh, genius.
26:05
Speaker 2: Yes, don't recommend that.
26:07
Speaker 7: I feel like.
26:07
Speaker 4: That's the generation though I can almost guarantee my mum
26:10
Speaker 4: has one.
26:11
Speaker 10: Yes, Thank God for Mum's right, with little passover books.
26:15
Speaker 7: You're like safety first, Yeah, exactly.
26:18
Speaker 10: So that was definitely quite helpful because it meant temporarily
26:21
Speaker 10: we could kind of see what was going on, but
26:23
Speaker 10: then we went into probate, so all those extra accounts
26:27
Speaker 10: that Dad doesn't have, it's all been locked up. It's
26:29
Speaker 10: been a bit of a rollercoaster of like Dad having
26:32
Speaker 10: to learn how to internet bank and understanding how directivets work,
26:38
Speaker 10: and just like he kind of knew roughly what was
26:41
Speaker 10: coming in and going out, but he just felt like
26:43
Speaker 10: in a few months after mum died had been really
26:45
Speaker 10: like slammed with payments that he wasn't anticipating, so like, yeah,
26:50
Speaker 10: funeral costs and everything else, and then other big regular
26:53
Speaker 10: payments he didn't kind of know they were coming. So yeah,
26:56
Speaker 10: I think that's been like a massive learning curve for him,
26:59
Speaker 10: but also like a big eye opener for me.
27:02
Speaker 2: As like, yeah, his daughter just I don't know.
27:05
Speaker 10: I think it's so important that, I don't know, if
27:07
Speaker 10: you have a parent who doesn't know how to Internet bank,
27:09
Speaker 10: like make sure that they know what they're doing.
27:11
Speaker 2: It's so important not to.
27:12
Speaker 10: Have all the control with one party because you just
27:17
Speaker 10: don't know what life's going.
27:18
Speaker 8: To throw at you.
27:19
Speaker 4: That was such an eye opener. This story is a
27:22
Speaker 4: powerful reminder that financial preparedness isn't just about having a
27:26
Speaker 4: will or trusting one partner to handle the money. It's
27:29
Speaker 4: about making sure everyone involved knows how things work and
27:33
Speaker 4: where everything is. What's the big takeaway here. Preparation is
27:37
Speaker 4: about setting up your finances so that if the unexpected happens,
27:40
Speaker 4: your loved ones aren't left dealing with unnecessary stress or confusion.
27:45
Speaker 4: That means making sure your accounts are set out correctly,
27:47
Speaker 4: passwords are shared securely, and both partners are across the household,
27:52
Speaker 4: budget and finance systems. It's not an easy conversation to have,
27:56
Speaker 4: I promise, but it is worth it because when you're
27:59
Speaker 4: grieving or navigating a major life change, the last thing
28:03
Speaker 4: you want to do is figure out internet banking or
28:05
Speaker 4: dealing with probate red tape. So take this as a
28:09
Speaker 4: sign to sit down with your partner or your family
28:12
Speaker 4: and have those conversations.
28:14
Speaker 5: Make a plan. It's not about being morbid.
28:17
Speaker 4: It's about creating freedom and security for the people you love.
28:20
Speaker 5: My friends. That wraps us up to the end of
28:23
Speaker 5: our episode.
28:24
Speaker 4: What I love most about Money Diaries is how they
28:27
Speaker 4: show us that no matter where you're starting from, there
28:30
Speaker 4: is always, always always a way forward, whether it's overcoming
28:34
Speaker 4: a financial struggle, building some resilience, or simply learning to
28:38
Speaker 4: take the next step. These stories remind us that financial
28:41
Speaker 4: empowerment is never a one.
28:42
Speaker 5: Size fits all journey. It's yours to define.
28:46
Speaker 4: And if you are hungry for more money stories and
28:48
Speaker 4: looking for a holiday read I heard that Money Diaries
28:52
Speaker 4: with Shees on the Money is the perfect book for you.
28:55
Speaker 4: It's packed with even more inspiring, jaw dropping and relatable
28:59
Speaker 4: stories from people just like you. Whether you're lounging by
29:02
Speaker 4: the beach or you're curled up at home, it'll keep
29:05
Speaker 4: you entertained, inspired, and maybe even just a little bit
29:08
Speaker 4: nosy and my friends. With that, that is our last
29:12
Speaker 4: episode for twenty twenty four. Thank you so much for
29:15
Speaker 4: tuning in, for sharing the love and being part of
29:18
Speaker 4: this incredible community. I'm going to be back in the
29:21
Speaker 4: new year with even more stories, more tips, and more
29:24
Speaker 4: ways to help you take control of your money and
29:27
Speaker 4: live your best life.
29:28
Speaker 5: I'll see you then, my loves.
29:36
Speaker 4: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
29:38
Speaker 4: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
29:42
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29:46
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