Latest / She's On The Money / Debt That Got Out of Control… Can You Fix It?
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- 0:00Speaker 1: My name is Tatasha Bamblet. I'm a proud First Nations
- 0:03Speaker 1: woman and I'm here to acknowledge country. Te Glenn Young Ganya, Niana,
- 0:08Speaker 1: Kaka Yahi and beIN ah Waka Nia and our gay
- 0:11Speaker 1: in Inbini, yakarum Jar Dominyagumika, Umaga, ithawaknitle Waman damind Immlan,
- 0:16Speaker 1: Wumba bang gadaboma In and now in Waka Ghana on
- 0:19Speaker 1: yakarum Jar water Nada. Now Hello, beautiful friends. We gather
- 0:24Speaker 1: on the lands of the abridge and people we thank,
- 0:26Speaker 1: acknowledge and respect the aberigion people's land that we're gathering
- 0:29Speaker 1: on today. Take pleasure in all the land and respect
- 0:32Speaker 1: all that you see. She's on the Money podcast acknowledges culture, country,
- 0:38Speaker 1: community and connections, bringing you the tools, knowledge and resources
- 0:43Speaker 1: for you to thrive.
- 0:44Speaker 2: She's on the Money.
- 0:46Speaker 3: She's on the Money. Hello and welcome to She's on
- 0:52Speaker 3: the Money the podcast and makes personal finance fun is
- 0:55Speaker 3: especially on Fridays. It is our favorite day of the
- 0:58Speaker 3: week because we get the team together and we to
- 1:00Speaker 3: celebrate you the incredible She's on the Money community today,
- 1:03Speaker 3: it's just Beck and I, but don't worry. I will
- 1:05Speaker 3: still be sharing some of my favorite money wins. Beck
- 1:07Speaker 3: will be sharing her best Brook tips and will be
- 1:10Speaker 3: helping to answer that money dilemma from someone who's trying
- 1:12Speaker 3: to negotiate down a debt that has blown far beyond
- 1:15Speaker 3: the original amount and a DM that you slid into
- 1:18Speaker 3: an inbox about that asks question what is the best
- 1:21Speaker 3: way to set your kids up financially?
- 1:23Speaker 4: But before we get into it, we always like to
- 1:24Speaker 4: start the show with a five star review.
- 1:26Speaker 3: Have you got one today? Of course I do. This
- 1:28Speaker 3: one comes from the coordinator, Oh wonderful name, long time listener,
- 1:33Speaker 3: but finally coming to share. Since listening to the podcast,
- 1:36Speaker 3: I have bought my first home, bought an investment property,
- 1:39Speaker 3: created a share portfolio with the help of the investing masterclass,
- 1:42Speaker 3: and seen a financial advisor. I have learned so much
- 1:45Speaker 3: along the way from Victoria, Jess and Beck. For these
- 1:48Speaker 3: big goals that I had, there have been so many
- 1:51Speaker 3: other handy tips which have helped with super budgets and insurances.
- 1:55Speaker 3: I feel so content with where I am at and
- 1:57Speaker 3: I am so excited for the future. All Thanksanks to you,
- 2:00Speaker 3: and now I'm trying to educate others to do the same,
- 2:03Speaker 3: keep on doing what you're doing. Love you girls. That
- 2:06Speaker 3: is so nice. Sweet is that I'm good for you? Honestly,
- 2:10Speaker 3: that's incredible. Dream Queen, the Coordinator, The Coordinator. God, I
- 2:18Speaker 3: love it when you guys tell us what you've.
- 2:19Speaker 4: Done totally totally because you did that.
- 2:22Speaker 3: You know, like you took bits and.
- 2:24Speaker 4: Pieces from the world and you reign with it and
- 2:27Speaker 4: that's incredible.
- 2:28Speaker 3: Big snaps, Big snaps.
- 2:30Speaker 4: Okay, So it's that part of Friday Drinks where you
- 2:32Speaker 4: get to ask us one question you're dying to know.
- 2:34Speaker 4: It's my favorite part. It can be about literally anything.
- 2:37Speaker 4: This week's question comes from Katie, who wants to know
- 2:40Speaker 4: what was your first ever email address back in the day.
- 2:44Speaker 3: Oh, I remember this so vividly. I mean even my
- 2:47Speaker 3: first hotmail my MSN because I use that anymore. It
- 2:51Speaker 3: was major, underscore blonde or anything. I know. I feel
- 2:58Speaker 3: like I got a really good one correctly, like no numbers,
- 3:02Speaker 3: like nothing major blonde, and it like obviously we're because
- 3:04Speaker 3: I was very blonde when I was young. And I
- 3:06Speaker 3: also like was very like ditzy at the time. I
- 3:09Speaker 3: feel like, so it was just like very on brand
- 3:10Speaker 3: for me.
- 3:11Speaker 4: Yes, Oh my god, don't you hate when you have
- 3:12Speaker 4: a whole stereotype writing on the shoulders and you're like, well,
- 3:15Speaker 4: I can't be ditzy, but you were so mine was
- 3:21Speaker 4: I'm a big fan of NRL and I used to
- 3:24Speaker 4: go for the Warriors.
- 3:24Speaker 3: I mean I still do. I like, I love them all,
- 3:26Speaker 3: but my thing was.
- 3:28Speaker 4: Go Warriors Underscore spec NRL Spec was my nickname because
- 3:32Speaker 4: everyone called me beck All Spec. That's really cute and
- 3:34Speaker 4: as spec NRL is like, it's like, okay, we get it,
- 3:37Speaker 4: we get it with the Warriors part, and then I
- 3:38Speaker 4: put NRL at the end of the just in case
- 3:41Speaker 4: just in case at hotmail dot com.
- 3:42Speaker 3: That's brilliant, and so it's really.
- 3:44Speaker 4: Cringe and obviously, like obviously I was gay, you know,
- 3:48Speaker 4: it was like hot sexy chick. Course from there like that,
- 3:50Speaker 4: It's like I love hearing people, please leave yours?
- 3:54Speaker 3: Was you're a first email poppet in the comments on Spotify.
- 3:56Speaker 3: I had a really fun conversation with a friend of
- 3:58Speaker 3: mine recently. We've known each other in high school with
- 4:00Speaker 3: friends forever. She's living overseas at the moment, and I
- 4:02Speaker 3: was connecting her to somebody that I know, and I
- 4:04Speaker 3: said what's your email? And she said to me, I
- 4:06Speaker 3: had to make a new one because she has a doctorate.
- 4:09Speaker 3: She's just finished her doctorate. She's a thirty one year
- 4:12Speaker 3: old woman living overseas, like two time Olympian, achieving incredible things,
- 4:17Speaker 3: and she was still using her running nerd her life
- 4:24Speaker 3: she was. I was like, that doesn't fly. That's so funny.
- 4:29Speaker 3: That's so funny.
- 4:30Speaker 4: But I think someone like that can get away with it. Like,
- 4:32Speaker 4: if you are a doctor, is that the same thing
- 4:34Speaker 4: as a doctorate? No, yeah, she's now a doctor. That
- 4:37Speaker 4: is cool. Well, if you're a doctor, you can get
- 4:38Speaker 4: away with it. If you're anyone, you can get away
- 4:40Speaker 4: with it.
- 4:40Speaker 3: But just clean this stuff. It's like my favorite thing ever.
- 4:45Speaker 4: Okay, let's move on to the money wins in confessions,
- 4:48Speaker 4: if you.
- 4:48Speaker 3: Have, absolutely I do. First one that I have this
- 4:52Speaker 3: week comes from Miranda and she says a job I
- 4:55Speaker 3: wanted came up for application in the month before I
- 4:58Speaker 3: went on leave for my wedding and honeymoon. The team
- 5:01Speaker 3: rushed my interview for the day before I left, and
- 5:04Speaker 3: I was off at the role while I was away
- 5:05Speaker 3: on my honeymoon. Oh my god, that would be the
- 5:07Speaker 3: best feeling. And I feel like it's a really good
- 5:09Speaker 3: sign that the company were like happy to work with
- 5:12Speaker 3: you on that. I like they liked it as a candidate.
- 5:15Speaker 3: They're like, yes, like get it done, make it work,
- 5:17Speaker 3: whatever we've got to do. And what good news on
- 5:19Speaker 3: your honeymoon. How could it possibly get better getting a
- 5:21Speaker 3: new job? Congratulations? Next, I have money win from Kerry
- 5:24Speaker 3: who said money win. I bought my ex out of
- 5:26Speaker 3: the house and I am now a single homeowner. Wow,
- 5:30Speaker 3: that's gotta be a good feeling. Oh yeah. Next one
- 5:32Speaker 3: is from Anita, who said money win. I completed my
- 5:34Speaker 3: first juathlon yesterday and I won a gift card. Oh cool?
- 5:39Speaker 3: A jathlon? Jew athlon? I'm thinking like three legged race.
- 5:42Speaker 3: I don't know. Okay, let me look it up. I've
- 5:44Speaker 3: got to google it because I don't know. I know
- 5:45Speaker 3: a triathlon? Is it just one less of those?
- 5:48Speaker 4: Oh? Like a relay?
- 5:50Speaker 3: Like a triathlon is like the swim, the bike and
- 5:53Speaker 3: the Oh sorry, I understand, my god. Okay. A jewathlon
- 5:58Speaker 3: is a multi sport endurance event. Can sting of three? Okay,
- 6:01Speaker 3: so why they called douathlon If there's three legs, a run,
- 6:04Speaker 3: a bike ride, and a final run often referred to
- 6:06Speaker 3: as run bike run. Unlike triathlons, jaathlons replaced the swimming
- 6:10Speaker 3: leg with a second run, making them ideal for runers
- 6:12Speaker 3: and cyclists. Oh, I see, okay, that makes it. I
- 6:14Speaker 3: was like, YB three things, if called two things, okay
- 6:19Speaker 3: either way, I couldn't even do one of them. So
- 6:20Speaker 3: good on you, Anita. That's incredible. Next, I've wanted money
- 6:24Speaker 3: win from Angela, who said, I have been told we
- 6:26Speaker 3: can get a small bag of food from the community pantry.
- 6:29Speaker 3: I've been getting food every second day and it's really
- 6:31Speaker 3: been helping us out. Oh my god. I love the
- 6:34Speaker 3: idea of a community pantry. Y' same. I love those.
- 6:35Speaker 3: I think like such a good idea, whether it's one
- 6:38Speaker 3: that's run by a local council that you it sounds
- 6:40Speaker 3: like maybe you need to apply for, or whether it's
- 6:42Speaker 3: one where you can take as you need. I'm such
- 6:45Speaker 3: a big vat of that concept. I think it's incredible.
- 6:48Speaker 3: Me too, I love it. Next, I got a money
- 6:49Speaker 3: win from Gema, who said I went to see my
- 6:51Speaker 3: GP and she put me on a healthcare plane jewe
- 6:53Speaker 3: to my chronic illness. The appointment was then bulk build
- 6:56Speaker 3: and the other specialists I've been referred to will provide
- 6:59Speaker 3: a Medicare rebate when normally they wouldn't because I've been
- 7:01Speaker 3: put on this plan.
- 7:02Speaker 4: Right, Okay, that was a confusing one for me for
- 7:05Speaker 4: some reason. But I think I understand a lot of
- 7:07Speaker 4: specialist appointments can be out of pocket, Like it can
- 7:10Speaker 4: be very expensive when you're dealing with chronic health, even
- 7:12Speaker 4: like mental health stuff like you can often or neurodivergence, Like,
- 7:15Speaker 4: there's often a lot of out of pocket expenses for people.
- 7:18Speaker 4: But it sounds like Jemma's GP has put it on
- 7:21Speaker 4: a specific health care plan that they've like endorsed and
- 7:23Speaker 4: they're going to implement together. Yeah, so when you go
- 7:26Speaker 4: to see those specialists, it means that the appointments will
- 7:28Speaker 4: be covered by a rebate. Where if she just booked
- 7:31Speaker 4: herself in for those appointments herself, yeah, she would been
- 7:34Speaker 4: out of pocket. Got you got you, got you got
- 7:36Speaker 4: you got you go talk to your doctor's.
- 7:37Speaker 3: It's kind of done. See if you can get a plan.
- 7:39Speaker 3: Oh my god, that's so good, amazing and then lucky.
- 7:41Speaker 3: Last one I have this week is from Wanita who
- 7:43Speaker 3: said streamio I canceled my Netflix Prime and Disney subscriptions.
- 7:49Speaker 3: Moving Kia has been the best decision ever. I really
- 7:52Speaker 3: like streamo.
- 7:53Speaker 4: I've never used to you search for anything it's going
- 7:55Speaker 4: to be on there and something's like sure, maybe they're
- 7:57Speaker 4: not ready to be viewed yet. I mean those used
- 7:59Speaker 4: streamo stand that you check for how many people have
- 8:01Speaker 4: viewed it, and you know it's a good one. But
- 8:03Speaker 4: that's how I watch a lot of my.
- 8:05Speaker 3: Is this what we were talking about a few WEEKSGA When
- 8:06Speaker 3: you're like that, sometimes there's people like theater.
- 8:09Speaker 4: Yeah, sometimes I watched I tried to watch the roses
- 8:11Speaker 4: that were like filming in the theater, which is like
- 8:14Speaker 4: so funny.
- 8:14Speaker 3: I mean I did I you.
- 8:16Speaker 4: Know, bootlegging bad you know that stuff.
- 8:20Speaker 3: But I do understand.
- 8:21Speaker 4: But it's so funny when you're watching it and like
- 8:23Speaker 4: you can hear laughter in the background because you're someone
- 8:26Speaker 4: has been recording it live in it like a.
- 8:28Speaker 3: Built in laugh track.
- 8:29Speaker 4: Yeah exactly, and bringing back I say, so that's not
- 8:33Speaker 4: my breake tip.
- 8:34Speaker 3: Do you want to say it bled over? I did
- 8:36Speaker 3: tell me what you got? Okay.
- 8:38Speaker 4: So this person comes from Julia, who says, never ever
- 8:41Speaker 4: buy movie tickets full price if you are linked to
- 8:45Speaker 4: a bank, health insurance, or like RACV.
- 8:48Speaker 3: Just some examples.
- 8:49Speaker 4: They have movie tickets for most theaters for half the
- 8:51Speaker 4: price or even less. It's the only way I buy
- 8:53Speaker 4: them now.
- 8:54Speaker 3: Like, one of my favorite things to do is go
- 8:56Speaker 3: to the movies because it is it can be quite expensive.
- 8:59Speaker 4: It can be quite sens and it's just like it's
- 9:01Speaker 4: such a nice like mindful. If you watch it at home,
- 9:03Speaker 4: you gotta be checking your phone. Yeah, so I really
- 9:07Speaker 4: like that. That's great, think you, Julier. The next one
- 9:09Speaker 4: comes from Teresa, who says I always ask my library
- 9:12Speaker 4: to buy whatever books I want, and ninety nine percent
- 9:14Speaker 4: of the time they do. I've requested three books this
- 9:16Speaker 4: year for the kids, and they've all been bought. This
- 9:19Speaker 4: is also good for their funding because it shows a
- 9:20Speaker 4: utilized and requested resource for the community. That's such a
- 9:24Speaker 4: great idea, true, because like you can I mean not
- 9:27Speaker 4: that I like think it is not worth it, but
- 9:29Speaker 4: some books are really really expensive and you just don't
- 9:32Speaker 4: have the money for that. Then I think it's a
- 9:34Speaker 4: really great option you can at least ask, you.
- 9:36Speaker 3: Know what I mean. I'm the biggest fan of a library.
- 9:38Speaker 3: A lot of people told us when Victoria's books were
- 9:41Speaker 3: coming out when they were first being released, that they
- 9:42Speaker 3: had requested it their libraries.
- 9:44Speaker 4: Oh, pre order them or get them in, which is
- 9:46Speaker 4: really cool. The silent heroes of the world, they're like
- 9:49Speaker 4: the heart of the community.
- 9:50Speaker 3: Like true this day, like I grew up in libraries,
- 9:52Speaker 3: like I was such a library child, but like to
- 9:55Speaker 3: this day, like if my internet at home isn't working,
- 9:57Speaker 3: or if I'm just having a day where I'm like
- 9:59Speaker 3: I need to not be in the same spot. I
- 10:01Speaker 3: mean every day because I work from home, or there's
- 10:03Speaker 3: been like a few times where I've been driving home
- 10:05Speaker 3: from the studio and I need to do something quickly
- 10:07Speaker 3: before I got home. I will always shop at a library.
- 10:10Speaker 3: If it's on my local library. Like if I was
- 10:12Speaker 3: driving from here it's happened before and I needed to
- 10:14Speaker 3: urgently flick something to someone, I just search my nearest
- 10:17Speaker 3: library and when they're in dinner, they're the best. That
- 10:19Speaker 3: is so good. Yeah, I love a library.
- 10:22Speaker 4: My broke tip is called I have I know I've
- 10:27Speaker 4: mentioned before on the show, but it was a long
- 10:28Speaker 4: time ago, so I guess it's just like maybe a
- 10:30Speaker 4: reminder but also a check in because if you heard
- 10:33Speaker 4: this broke tip. Back in the day, you might think
- 10:35Speaker 4: did this work? Yes, So my broke tip is it's
- 10:38Speaker 4: an app called free Cash, which sounds really really dodgy
- 10:41Speaker 4: sound it's sounds so sketchy, but you download free Cash.
- 10:45Speaker 4: It's very similar to shot back Games. If anyone plays
- 10:47Speaker 4: shot back Games and you go on there, you'll see
- 10:50Speaker 4: all these these games on there.
- 10:51Speaker 3: That you can download.
- 10:52Speaker 4: Something like a lot of them say like win up
- 10:54Speaker 4: to one thousand dollars, and like, sure, it actually is possible.
- 10:57Speaker 4: But I just wanted to update everyone I have been playing.
- 11:00Speaker 4: I kind of stopped there for a while. They started
- 11:02Speaker 4: playing again, and I just won like seventy two bucks.
- 11:04Speaker 4: Oh I'm not working right now. If you have a lot,
- 11:07Speaker 4: a lot of time on your hands, then you really
- 11:11Speaker 4: can make some coin.
- 11:13Speaker 3: You know what kind of game, Like is it a
- 11:14Speaker 3: mindless game? Well, I'm playing Disney Solitaire right now, which
- 11:18Speaker 3: I actually really fun.
- 11:20Speaker 4: It's really fun and it's really it actually gets really
- 11:22Speaker 4: really hard, so it's very time consuming. But if you
- 11:25Speaker 4: have the time, you really can make some money.
- 11:28Speaker 3: Right now.
- 11:29Speaker 4: I've got there's a fifty five hour timer going and
- 11:32Speaker 4: I have to just get up to a certain level
- 11:34Speaker 4: and I'm gonna win one hundred and sixty seven dollars.
- 11:36Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 11:37Speaker 4: Sorry, I'm trying to figure out how they made money.
- 11:39Speaker 4: It's like Googles googling it today, like is it legit? Yes,
- 11:41Speaker 4: it's legit.
- 11:42Speaker 3: How do they make money? They if they're ads.
- 11:45Speaker 4: There are ads in some apps, some of the game apps,
- 11:48Speaker 4: but not on free Cash, And so I think making
- 11:51Speaker 4: money the games make money through ads, and I think
- 11:55Speaker 4: that they give money to free cash. We get a
- 11:59Speaker 4: percentage of that money that free cash get.
- 12:02Speaker 3: Why are they paying free cash?
- 12:03Speaker 4: I guess because it's like, well, because there are some
- 12:06Speaker 4: apps on here that I would never have thought to download.
- 12:08Speaker 3: Oh like boosts them up.
- 12:10Speaker 4: Yeah, and so like so many people downloading these apps,
- 12:13Speaker 4: probably so many more people are seeing these ads. Also,
- 12:16Speaker 4: there probably are a lot of people. Luckily I have
- 12:18Speaker 4: I'm playing this with a friend, not together in the
- 12:20Speaker 4: same account, but we just have a deal where we
- 12:22Speaker 4: aren't allowed to spend any money in these apps because
- 12:24Speaker 4: it is very tempting. So I imagine that's how probably
- 12:27Speaker 4: how they get some Oh you can spend money.
- 12:28Speaker 3: You spend money to like get ahead. Do not do that.
- 12:32Speaker 4: You live your own life, but you should try and
- 12:35Speaker 4: avoid those things because it's like you can get ahead,
- 12:38Speaker 4: don't buy.
- 12:38Speaker 3: Don't like the roadblocks of it. All I got like
- 12:40Speaker 3: young nieces like, yes, don't spend real money on fake things. Yes,
- 12:43Speaker 3: that's all I'm saying.
- 12:44Speaker 4: Exactly exactly, so don't do that. But I'm assuming that's
- 12:48Speaker 4: how they make their money from people buying and also ads.
- 12:51Speaker 4: You know, I mean, it sounds like you're doing pretty
- 12:52Speaker 4: well off it, so pretty well that's me. But I
- 12:56Speaker 4: think it's a really good time to go for a break.
- 12:58Speaker 4: I want to check my Disney celer Ti and when
- 13:01Speaker 4: we come back, we'll be helping to answer money dilemma
- 13:03Speaker 4: from someone trying to negotiate down a debt that has
- 13:05Speaker 4: blown out far beyond the original amount and a DM
- 13:08Speaker 4: that you slid into our inbox about asking what is
- 13:11Speaker 4: the best way to set your kids up financially?
- 13:13Speaker 3: You don't go anywhere. Welcome back, everybody. Let's take a
- 13:18Speaker 3: listen to this week's money dilemma.
- 13:22Speaker 5: Hi, there, have you got a money dilemma you just
- 13:25Speaker 5: can't solve the She's on the Money team is here
- 13:27Speaker 5: to help. Every week, we tackle your dilemmas, both big
- 13:31Speaker 5: and small, to answer your most burning money, career and
- 13:33Speaker 5: life questions. To get involved, simply head to our website
- 13:37Speaker 5: and leave us a short voice recording and you might
- 13:39Speaker 5: just find yourself on the show. Now, let's take a
- 13:41Speaker 5: listen to this week's money dilemma.
- 13:45Speaker 2: Hi Shees on the Money Love the Podcast. I have
- 13:49Speaker 2: a bit of a unique situation. Over time, I've accumulated
- 13:54Speaker 2: told debt, so driving on the road toll debt. My
- 13:57Speaker 2: actual debt is fourteen thousand dollars, which I know sounds astronomical. However,
- 14:02Speaker 2: the administration fees are currently forty thousand dollars. I'm trying
- 14:08Speaker 2: to negotiate to bring them down. However, I'm not having
- 14:11Speaker 2: much luck, so there's a chance that this might move
- 14:14Speaker 2: forward into litigation. Any feedback or thoughts or have you
- 14:18Speaker 2: heard of anybody else in this situation where it worked out?
- 14:21Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 14:22Speaker 3: I'm so sorry. This sounds extremely stressful. I can't really
- 14:26Speaker 3: fathom how you got to fourteen thousand dollars in road
- 14:29Speaker 3: toll debt, because even if you're paying twenty dollars a
- 14:32Speaker 3: day and told, which is kind of like the max
- 14:34Speaker 3: you would hit ish in Melbourne, I would say if
- 14:37Speaker 3: you went back and forth through a tunnal twice in
- 14:39Speaker 3: a day. Oh you know what, let's call it thirty
- 14:41Speaker 3: dollars a day, right, Yeah, thirty dollars a day by
- 14:44Speaker 3: like what is fourteen thousand divide away thirty? This is
- 14:47Speaker 3: the thing I'm thinking because I four hundred and sixty
- 14:50Speaker 3: six assuming thirty dollars a day in tolls, four hundred
- 14:52Speaker 3: and sixty six days if driving through a toll and
- 14:54Speaker 3: not paying for it. But I guess it's the late fees.
- 14:58Speaker 3: But then is that separate that's the forty thousand.
- 15:01Speaker 4: Well, so, I because I've been in the situation, I'm
- 15:04Speaker 4: currently in a situation. I'm always in the situation. When
- 15:06Speaker 4: I was in Sydney, Yes, there were administration fees, like
- 15:09Speaker 4: there were sometimes where like the toll was a dollar
- 15:11Speaker 4: twenty and then the administration fee was like eighteen dollars
- 15:14Speaker 4: and so and so that's not shocking. Like as we
- 15:17Speaker 4: were listening, I was really just like nodding, like that
- 15:19Speaker 4: does not shock me. And it is like criminal, it's criminal.
- 15:22Speaker 4: And I think that it depends on the toll in
- 15:25Speaker 4: the road, and I understand like administration fees and stuff
- 15:28Speaker 4: like that, but it just doesn't need to be that expensive.
- 15:30Speaker 4: So I can't give advice on how to negotiate, but
- 15:33Speaker 4: I can tell you that.
- 15:34Speaker 3: It worked for me.
- 15:35Speaker 4: And I kind of was just like, well, I'll be
- 15:37Speaker 4: paying it, not the whole mount, but I'll be paying
- 15:38Speaker 4: it slowly. I'll be paying it at least a chunk
- 15:41Speaker 4: right now if you just get rid of the administration fees,
- 15:43Speaker 4: because they really just want the money as soon as possible.
- 15:45Speaker 4: And I think that kind of going about it this way,
- 15:48Speaker 4: where it's like, yes, I can, I can pay in
- 15:50Speaker 4: this way, but there's do not pay the administration fees
- 15:52Speaker 4: like that is insane.
- 15:53Speaker 3: One way that it for me.
- 15:56Speaker 4: If I logged on, say like EastLink right now chased
- 16:00Speaker 4: me for a long time, and first it's an invoice
- 16:03Speaker 4: and then it goes to like finds Victoria. I think,
- 16:06Speaker 4: I know it's different in different states, and then it'll
- 16:08Speaker 4: turn to an actual fine, which is like one hundred
- 16:10Speaker 4: and sixty dollars or something like that. So that's when
- 16:12Speaker 4: I turn it into a payment plan. So I ignore
- 16:14Speaker 4: Slink until that point. But if you are logging on
- 16:17Speaker 4: and then sometimes and I think that maybe this is linked,
- 16:21Speaker 4: if you log on and you click there's some sort
- 16:24Speaker 4: of option where you can transfer to your linked account
- 16:27Speaker 4: and then all the administration fees go. And I assume
- 16:29Speaker 4: you're beyond that point, but that is an option if
- 16:34Speaker 4: anyone who's listening and that's something that you can use.
- 16:36Speaker 4: You can be like, well, if I have an account
- 16:39Speaker 4: and I just move all the tolls to that account,
- 16:41Speaker 4: then all my administration fees should be gone. I don't
- 16:44Speaker 4: know how you're negotiating or if you're talking to, but
- 16:47Speaker 4: there are several ways to remove the administration fee before
- 16:51Speaker 4: you pay anything. And I'm like, why are they now
- 16:53Speaker 4: all of a sudden being like there's nothing you can
- 16:55Speaker 4: do about it.
- 16:56Speaker 3: No, there absolutely should be, you know, I'm assuming they're
- 16:59Speaker 3: threatening litigate that it's gone to a debt collector. Would
- 17:02Speaker 3: be my best guess. Have you spoken to them about
- 17:05Speaker 3: a payment plan? Would be my first port of call.
- 17:07Speaker 3: Exactly as you were saying, Beck, I think that unless
- 17:10Speaker 3: you happen to have a spare fifty four thousand dollars
- 17:11Speaker 3: going around, I guessing you don't. You can also, if
- 17:14Speaker 3: you haven't tried this in your negotiation process, say okay,
- 17:17Speaker 3: well I have X amounting cash, will you take that today?
- 17:19Speaker 3: Because we've spoken on the show before about how sometimes
- 17:22Speaker 3: when you just offer them a cash some, they'll take it.
- 17:25Speaker 3: I think especially if your cash some covers whatever the
- 17:28Speaker 3: original costs of the tolls were, they might just cut
- 17:31Speaker 3: their losses and take that. I would also say definitely
- 17:34Speaker 3: get in touch with the National Debt Helpline. I think
- 17:37Speaker 3: they are resourced exactly for this kind of thing. They
- 17:40Speaker 3: are a free national service. We've spoken about them so
- 17:42Speaker 3: many times before. They have trained financial counselors who deal
- 17:46Speaker 3: with debt day in and day out, so they will
- 17:48Speaker 3: be able to tell you what your best process forward is.
- 17:51Speaker 3: They might even be able to assist you by connecting
- 17:53Speaker 3: you with someone who can negotiate on your behalf or
- 17:55Speaker 3: give you a script of things to discuss. There's also
- 17:58Speaker 3: hardship options usually as well, so most tole operators in
- 18:02Speaker 3: Australia have hardship programs designed for people who have fallen
- 18:05Speaker 3: behind on their toll payments. If you're struggling to pay,
- 18:08Speaker 3: I definitely would speak to them directly. I think you
- 18:10Speaker 3: might need to use a few keywords, so saying things
- 18:13Speaker 3: like I am experiencing financial hardship, what kind of programs
- 18:16Speaker 3: do you have to assist me? That kind of language
- 18:19Speaker 3: can often help. But again, if it's been referred to
- 18:22Speaker 3: a debt collector or you can call the toll company directly.
- 18:27Speaker 3: So I don't necessarily know that a debt collect would
- 18:29Speaker 3: be able to assist you with that, but if you
- 18:30Speaker 3: call them, they should have some kind of program or
- 18:33Speaker 3: something in place, Like, you're not the first person to
- 18:35Speaker 3: ever find themselves in this situation, and I'm imagining you're
- 18:39Speaker 3: beyond stress, feeling like this is just such a hole
- 18:42Speaker 3: of a pit. And I totally understand a little word
- 18:45Speaker 3: of advice for anybody in future, just using this as
- 18:49Speaker 3: a vehicle is like things can get bad if you
- 18:51Speaker 3: neglect them, And so if you are experiencing financial hardship,
- 18:55Speaker 3: I would really strongly recommend people don't bury their head
- 18:58Speaker 3: in their sand. You know, if you can get on
- 19:00Speaker 3: top of things a little bit earlier, it can help
- 19:02Speaker 3: stop them from smiraling in this way. Obviously, our listener
- 19:05Speaker 3: is in the position she's in and like, all we
- 19:08Speaker 3: want to do is now I help you out of that.
- 19:09Speaker 3: But if you're someone listening who's a little bit like Beck,
- 19:11Speaker 3: and you're like, oh, I just ignore it and deal
- 19:13Speaker 3: gates to wherever are there processes we can put into
- 19:16Speaker 3: place to avoid this. Are their options that mean you
- 19:18Speaker 3: don't have to take the toll Things like that, I
- 19:20Speaker 3: would just take a second to consider, because, like I
- 19:24Speaker 3: hope more than anything that we can find a solution
- 19:27Speaker 3: for you, and I think the National Debt Helpline is
- 19:29Speaker 3: probably your best port of call for that. But I
- 19:32Speaker 3: would be lying if I didn't say there is a
- 19:34Speaker 3: very real possibility that they dig their heels in and say, well,
- 19:37Speaker 3: you owe us fifty four thousand dollars, And that's not
- 19:39Speaker 3: a position that I would wish on anybody. So I
- 19:41Speaker 3: would be saying, get in touch with the National Debt Helpline.
- 19:44Speaker 3: We will put their contact information in the show notes.
- 19:46Speaker 3: They are absolutely beautiful, judgment free. They will run you
- 19:49Speaker 3: through any options that they know of. Otherwise, I think, yeah,
- 19:52Speaker 3: make sure that when you are talking to people using
- 19:54Speaker 3: those buzzwords, you know I'm experiencing financial hardship, do you
- 19:58Speaker 3: offer payment plans to do? Offer these things? And if
- 20:00Speaker 3: you have been referred to a debt collector, know that
- 20:02Speaker 3: you can still go to the original toll company to
- 20:05Speaker 3: have those negotiations. You know, I'm a big fan of
- 20:07Speaker 3: you can always escalate things. I think debt collectors are
- 20:11Speaker 3: paid a percentage of what they collect, and so if
- 20:14Speaker 3: you can then take that money back to the original
- 20:16Speaker 3: toll company, or if the person that you're dealing with
- 20:18Speaker 3: is quite aggressive, like you said, you're not getting anywhere,
- 20:21Speaker 3: can you ask to speak to a manager like not
- 20:23Speaker 3: to be a Karen, but sometimes taking things a step
- 20:27Speaker 3: further speaking to somebody different can work for you. So
- 20:31Speaker 3: I'm really sorry that you're experiencing this, but there are
- 20:34Speaker 3: options out there, and I'm keeping my fingers and my
- 20:36Speaker 3: toes cross, so please keep us posted. We can get
- 20:39Speaker 3: that paid down for you, hopefully at a much smaller sum.
- 20:42Speaker 4: Yes, hopefully. Should we get into the juicy dim absolutely so.
- 20:46Speaker 4: This week's one says this high shoes on the money.
- 20:49Speaker 4: I'm a single mum and I've never set aside savings
- 20:52Speaker 4: or investments for my kids for when they're adults. I've
- 20:55Speaker 4: been getting.
- 20:55Speaker 3: Mixed reactions about that. I didn't grow up with parents
- 20:58Speaker 3: who gave me financial help either. Instead, they taught me
- 21:01Speaker 3: about money, encouraged me to build my own life, and
- 21:04Speaker 3: supported me in practical ways like helping with childcare. My
- 21:07Speaker 3: plan has always been to do the same for my kids.
- 21:10Speaker 3: At the same time, I'm still working on getting myself
- 21:12Speaker 3: into a really strong financial position too. Is it actually
- 21:16Speaker 3: that common for parents to have savings set aside for
- 21:18Speaker 3: their kids when they become adults. I had never had.
- 21:22Speaker 4: My mom didn't do that, but I mean I have
- 21:25Speaker 4: heard of it, but I don't think.
- 21:26Speaker 3: It's that common, right. I Mean, we talk a lot
- 21:29Speaker 3: on the show about wanting to be able to set
- 21:31Speaker 3: your kids up financially, whether that's investing for them now
- 21:34Speaker 3: so they've got a lump some that they come into later.
- 21:36Speaker 3: I think it's probably a more and more popular conversations
- 21:38Speaker 3: coming around. I think it's also worth acknowledging that it
- 21:40Speaker 3: comes in different forms. Some people have their parents pay
- 21:43Speaker 3: their university fees, or some people have their parents purchase
- 21:46Speaker 3: their first car or contribute towards their first house deposit,
- 21:49Speaker 3: so that financial aid can come in lots of different variations,
- 21:52Speaker 3: not necessarily just cash or investments handed over as.
- 21:56Speaker 4: Are it's worth even for yourself, maybe having a little
- 22:01Speaker 4: bit put aside that you can like quote unquote be
- 22:04Speaker 4: saving for your children in case they are in a
- 22:07Speaker 4: situation where they're not working, they may be redundant like right now,
- 22:11Speaker 4: would be a really ideal time for them to be like, oh,
- 22:13Speaker 4: I actually save for you this whole time, and I
- 22:14Speaker 4: feel just tell you or like I've just been saving
- 22:16Speaker 4: it for a really really really bad time. And so
- 22:18Speaker 4: something like that where it's like you don't tell your children,
- 22:20Speaker 4: you can still teach them how to create their own
- 22:23Speaker 4: wealth and be independent and all these kind of things,
- 22:25Speaker 4: which I think is extremely valuable. And I think that's
- 22:27Speaker 4: amazing that you're doing that because you don't want them
- 22:30Speaker 4: to even have the I mean, it depends on the
- 22:32Speaker 4: person the knowledge like oh, there is a safety blanket here,
- 22:35Speaker 4: so I can kind of just like be a bit
- 22:36Speaker 4: reckless because then that will help them like problem solve
- 22:39Speaker 4: and all this kind of stuff. So I think it's
- 22:41Speaker 4: really cool we are doing but for your own sake.
- 22:44Speaker 4: If you did want to like help buy them a
- 22:46Speaker 4: car in the future, it could be your own savings
- 22:50Speaker 4: for when you want to chip in for them, and
- 22:53Speaker 4: it's not just coming directly out of your own savings,
- 22:56Speaker 4: you know. So it's just like I'm thinking, it's like
- 22:58Speaker 4: a separate saver, so you have one for like gift
- 23:01Speaker 4: giving or a holiday, and it just feels like even
- 23:04Speaker 4: though it's still your money, and you've put the money
- 23:06Speaker 4: in there. Using that money for what its intended purposes
- 23:10Speaker 4: feels a little bit better. So I feel like, this
- 23:11Speaker 4: is a savings account for the kids, but it's only
- 23:13Speaker 4: for when I need to chip in for something for
- 23:16Speaker 4: the kids.
- 23:17Speaker 3: You know what I mean.
- 23:18Speaker 4: And then if they are ever down on their luck
- 23:20Speaker 4: or they just really really need money for whatever reason,
- 23:22Speaker 4: and you're like, I'll loan you five thousand dollars. It's
- 23:25Speaker 4: from that account, you know. So I don't think it's
- 23:27Speaker 4: like necessary. Maybe it's good, it's good to have, but
- 23:32Speaker 4: I don't think it's super common, maybe especially for like
- 23:35Speaker 4: maybe our parents' generation.
- 23:37Speaker 3: Yeah, you shouldn't feel bad. No one should be making
- 23:39Speaker 3: you feel bad for not doing that. I feel like
- 23:41Speaker 3: there's a lot of conversation about it now that didn't
- 23:43Speaker 3: exist exactly as you said, in our parents' generation. I think, like,
- 23:46Speaker 3: if I think about my own family, financial literacy isn't
- 23:48Speaker 3: necessarily something that was very prolific, and so it's like
- 23:52Speaker 3: everybody's doing the best that they can with what they have.
- 23:55Speaker 3: I have not and have never operated on the assumption
- 23:58Speaker 3: it's similar to inheritance. Like I've always lived my life,
- 24:01Speaker 3: planned my life on the assumption though, if I was
- 24:03Speaker 3: to receive something, obviously that would be wonderful, lovely. But
- 24:07Speaker 3: I've always been very independent financially and otherwise, and so
- 24:10Speaker 3: that's never been a part of my journey. I think
- 24:13Speaker 3: that as financial literacy becomes a lot more common, it
- 24:16Speaker 3: is something that more and more people think about. If
- 24:19Speaker 3: I was to have kids, I would want to have
- 24:21Speaker 3: funds aside, you know. I mean I would love to
- 24:23Speaker 3: be able to contribute to education or a house or
- 24:27Speaker 3: something like that. I think, by the same breath, I
- 24:30Speaker 3: think like all the things that our listener is talking about,
- 24:32Speaker 3: providing financial literacy and education and making sure they understand
- 24:36Speaker 3: the value of a dollar are just as important of
- 24:39Speaker 3: things like yeah, you know, I think it would be
- 24:41Speaker 3: one thing if you said, oh, I've got the money
- 24:43Speaker 3: spare and I just don't really want to give it
- 24:45Speaker 3: to them. I mean, it is still your choice to make. Yeah,
- 24:48Speaker 3: I think, especially because they've said, well, I also am
- 24:52Speaker 3: still getting myself sorted on a financial quality. You can't
- 24:55Speaker 3: pour for an empty cup, you can't fund a lifestyle
- 24:58Speaker 3: if you don't have the funds to so. I think
- 25:01Speaker 3: getting your house sorted is the most important thing. If
- 25:04Speaker 3: you do get to a place where you can start
- 25:06Speaker 3: popping a little money. Even in investing, we talk about
- 25:09Speaker 3: investing a lot because you know, the projected return on
- 25:12Speaker 3: something like that is so fantastic if you invest twenty
- 25:15Speaker 3: dollars a month or fifty dollars a month or whatever
- 25:17Speaker 3: that looks. Even if you just invest, you know, for
- 25:19Speaker 3: birthdays and Christmases and family gives them money and you
- 25:22Speaker 3: invest that on their behalf because they can't do that,
- 25:24Speaker 3: Like a three year old doesn't understand saving or investing
- 25:27Speaker 3: or any of those concepts. So I think there is
- 25:29Speaker 3: something to be said for giving them advantage of time
- 25:33Speaker 3: that they can't take advantage of themselves. So true, we
- 25:36Speaker 3: all wish we'd invested sooner. Yeah, I wish I started
- 25:38Speaker 3: ten years ago. I wish my mum had started thirty
- 25:40Speaker 3: years ago. But like hindsight's twenty twenty, Like, if you
- 25:44Speaker 3: can take advantage of those things, fantastic, But if you're
- 25:47Speaker 3: not in the position to do so, or if it's
- 25:50Speaker 3: not a choice that you want to make, I don't
- 25:52Speaker 3: think that that's wrong. Yeah, I think it's a nice
- 25:55Speaker 3: to have. Like I don't you're in Like I look
- 25:57Speaker 3: at us, we've never received anything. We've birth come out
- 25:59Speaker 3: as pretty decently adjusted human beings. So I don't think
- 26:02Speaker 3: it's a bad thing. I don't think it's a negative.
- 26:04Speaker 3: I just think there probably is a lot more conversation.
- 26:06Speaker 3: That's probably where the surprise that they're receiving from, you know,
- 26:09Speaker 3: other people is coming from. So we took to Instagram,
- 26:11Speaker 3: and of course we asked you guys a couple of questions. Firstly,
- 26:13Speaker 3: we said, did your parents give you a large amount
- 26:16Speaker 3: of savings or investments when you reach adulthood? Eight percent
- 26:20Speaker 3: of people says yes, I got a lump sum. Forty
- 26:23Speaker 3: two percent of people said they helped here and there
- 26:25Speaker 3: when needed, and forty nine percent of people said no,
- 26:28Speaker 3: I didn't get any financial help. Wow, did you do it?
- 26:31Speaker 4: That's very like comforting for some reason, it's kind of like, Wow,
- 26:35Speaker 4: we are all trying to do the best we can.
- 26:37Speaker 3: We're all just tucking through truly. Next, we said, what
- 26:40Speaker 3: do you think is more important for a parent to
- 26:42Speaker 3: give their kids. Five percent of people said monetary help
- 26:45Speaker 3: and ninety five percent of people said financial literacy. Yes,
- 26:50Speaker 3: And then of course we said what is your two cents?
- 26:52Speaker 3: So one person said, of those that I know who've
- 26:55Speaker 3: got financial help, they seem to be the ones that
- 26:57Speaker 3: lack financial literacy. And it's actually something I didn't touch
- 27:00Speaker 3: on before. But I guess the concept of a leg
- 27:03Speaker 3: up financially stereotypically hails back to almost the idea of
- 27:07Speaker 3: a trust fund. Yeah, a trust fund kid, like you
- 27:10Speaker 3: were saying, has a safety in it, doesn't care dada da.
- 27:13Speaker 3: I do think if you were going to put money aside,
- 27:15Speaker 3: there is something in doing it quietly, maybe not letting
- 27:18Speaker 3: them know that that exists, yes, I agree, or making
- 27:21Speaker 3: sure that you are coupling it with financial literacy, because
- 27:24Speaker 3: you never want to raise a child that then becomes
- 27:26Speaker 3: an adult who can't be self sufficient or is always
- 27:29Speaker 3: going to be coming back to you for assistance. That's
- 27:31Speaker 3: so true. Somebody else said this is a two parter.
- 27:34Speaker 3: I got money help and wish I'd got an educational help.
- 27:37Speaker 3: To be honest, my parents raised me to be dependent.
- 27:41Speaker 3: I definitely would have preferred to have been financially literate. Yeah, okay.
- 27:45Speaker 3: Somebody on the other side, Yeah, somebody says everybody's situation
- 27:48Speaker 3: is different. It is okay to help in a way
- 27:50Speaker 3: that suits your lifestyle and your own position, which I
- 27:52Speaker 3: think is a great take. Somebody else said building your
- 27:55Speaker 3: own wealth gives you options later and models financial independence
- 28:00Speaker 3: completely agree with totally. Someone else said a lump sum
- 28:03Speaker 3: is only useful if they have the financial literacy to
- 28:05Speaker 3: use it wisely and spend it on learning instead. Yes,
- 28:10Speaker 3: so true. Someone else said, why are people judging you?
- 28:12Speaker 3: You're a single mum, probably doing the best you can.
- 28:14Speaker 3: You do you, yes, seriously, completely agree. Somebody else said,
- 28:18Speaker 3: I'm saving money to give to my little one because
- 28:20Speaker 3: I'm also afraid that they will be in a much
- 28:22Speaker 3: worse financial position than we are. Somebody else said setting
- 28:25Speaker 3: yourself up to be able to support your kids is
- 28:27Speaker 3: your top priority and you're doing great, which I completely
- 28:29Speaker 3: agree with. And lastly, somebody said, my parents' poor financial
- 28:33Speaker 3: position is more stress than any gift they ever could
- 28:37Speaker 3: have given me, which is a great point. Like, you've
- 28:40Speaker 3: got to get yourself sorted first, because if you do,
- 28:43Speaker 3: it means that you can look after yourself and you
- 28:44Speaker 3: won't need to rely on your children either.
- 28:47Speaker 4: Exactly. That is very true. But yes, exactly, as Jess said,
- 28:50Speaker 4: do the best with what you've got and if you
- 28:52Speaker 4: can do, if you can't, don't do and you should
- 28:55Speaker 4: never be shamed for that.
- 28:56Speaker 3: No, there's lots of mum shaming going on in the
- 28:58Speaker 3: world right now. I like it.
- 29:00Speaker 4: The other parent is out there somewhere. What are they
- 29:03Speaker 4: putting the way? Are they putting away money?
- 29:05Speaker 3: Maybe they are. You're doing great, Queen to leave it
- 29:08Speaker 3: for this week. Thank you so much for sending in
- 29:10Speaker 3: your thoughts. As always, we love to hear it. We
- 29:12Speaker 3: do these on Instagram every week, so if you're not
- 29:14Speaker 3: following us there, definitely check it out or so you
- 29:16Speaker 3: can subscribe now on Spotify. Leave us a comment or
- 29:19Speaker 3: a question so we can answered the winning of the
- 29:21Speaker 3: next episode. But thank you guys so much for listening,
- 29:24Speaker 3: and Victoria, we'll see you bright early on Monday. Somebody
- 29:26Speaker 3: dary by guys Fine.
- 29:32Speaker 5: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
- 29:34Speaker 5: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
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