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MONEY DIARIES: Financially Free at 19 · She's On The Money

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Speaker 1: She's on the Money. She's on the Money.
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Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
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Speaker 2: for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Tony Lodge,
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Speaker 2: and joining me for another shot back Money Diary is.
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Speaker 3: Victoria to Fine. Hello, the surprise seeing you here.
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Speaker 2: I know we just happened to be on the exact
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Speaker 2: same zoom call the exact same time.
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Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, another Monday. Who would have thought a
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Speaker 3: Money Diary would drop? I bet no one saw that
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Speaker 3: one coming.
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Speaker 2: Well, we've got an amazing and very inspirational story for
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Speaker 2: you today.
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Speaker 3: I literally can't wait to hear it, So jump straight in,
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Speaker 3: Tony read out the email for me. All right, here
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Speaker 3: we go.
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Speaker 2: After leaving my toxic family at seventeen, I quickly became
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Speaker 2: homeless for the sake of my mental health. I was
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Speaker 2: just trying to survive, getting through my ATA and relying
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Speaker 2: on the small senti Link payments to keep me alive.
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Speaker 2: Fast forward to now, I'm nineteen, have a full time
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Speaker 2: job in government and full time study and able to
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Speaker 2: find secure housing, purchase a brand new car. Outright, we'll
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Speaker 2: you'll be terrified of my bank account and live the
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Speaker 2: financially free life. I thought I could only dream about what.
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Speaker 3: And you're only nineteen, that only two years ago.
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Speaker 2: I know we've got our money diarist on the line,
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Speaker 2: and I think that we've got a lot of questions
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Speaker 2: for you. Thank you for joining us.
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Speaker 4: That's okay, it's my pleasure. I'm happy to be here.
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Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, we are so happy you are here
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Speaker 3: as well. And it sounds like you have had an
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Speaker 3: ultimate money glow up. I love that. It's amazing what
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Speaker 3: getting rid of something toxic in your life does for
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Speaker 3: your life. So let's get straight into our questions. And
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Speaker 3: my first one I'm so interested to know from you
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Speaker 3: is what is your attitude towards money?
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Speaker 4: So I think my attitude towards money is kind of,
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Speaker 4: I think, really common in these money diaries, where it's
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Speaker 4: been shaped by my family. So it was like when
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Speaker 4: I was young, we didn't talk about money at all.
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Speaker 4: But as I got kind of older, I realized that
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Speaker 4: my family was kind of while they had good jobs,
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Speaker 4: eight we're in a lot of debt like car loans,
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Speaker 4: credit cards, mortgage and then so when my parents split up,
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Speaker 4: I think that really came to the front of my
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Speaker 4: mum's mind and we moved, and we really really struggled
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Speaker 4: with money because she was dealing with a lot of
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Speaker 4: mental health issues as a result of family violence, so
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Speaker 4: she could couldn't secure permanent work because of those issues.
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Speaker 4: And then so we really really struggled. So I think
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Speaker 4: that and I went to a private Catholic school, so
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Speaker 4: it was like at home we really struggled with money.
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Speaker 4: But I went to school and everyone had new things
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Speaker 4: and we're living this life style. So then I kind
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Speaker 4: of couldn't deal with that household anymore. It was got
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Speaker 4: to a point where I couldn't help her help herself anymore.
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Speaker 4: So I needed to kind of get out for myself.
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Speaker 4: And then so I was getting these CENTILENTK payments and
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Speaker 4: it really opened my mind up to I don't have
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Speaker 4: to live that life that my family did it, and
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Speaker 4: I can kind of divide up my money because it's mine,
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Speaker 4: it's not anyone else's, and I can do with it
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Speaker 4: as I please. And then so getting good job just
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Speaker 4: meant that my attitude towards money is really positive now,
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Speaker 4: and it meant that like money enables me to like
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Speaker 4: live this life that I want to, not just being
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Speaker 4: able to buy what I want to do what I want.
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Speaker 4: But just having that security, I think is something that
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Speaker 4: I will never take for granted ever.
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Speaker 3: Again, I'm so impressed that you are so young and
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Speaker 3: have that mindset that It's funny because a couple of
3:53
Speaker 3: weeks ago, you know, the internet's not the kindest place,
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Speaker 3: especially when you're talking about taboo topics, like so some
4:01
Speaker 3: people aren't as kind as they should be. But someone
4:04
Speaker 3: slid into my DMS and they're like, why are you
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Speaker 3: always talking about money stories? It's just fluff talk more
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Speaker 3: about budgeting, And it's so important to understand your money
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Speaker 3: story and where you've come from so we know where
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Speaker 3: we're going and we can actually be grateful for that
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Speaker 3: journey and see where maybe as you said, like there
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Speaker 3: weren't some positive things in your history and in your
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Speaker 3: money story, but you knew what to change. But if
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Speaker 3: we don't reflect on that, we can't grow from it
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Speaker 3: and we can't learn from it. It's just so important
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Speaker 3: to actually fully comprehend our money stories. To me, I'm
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Speaker 3: just like, that's arguably more important than me teaching about
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Speaker 3: budgeting or me teaching you what cash flow is. Like,
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Speaker 3: learn about where you've come from and where you want
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Speaker 3: to go first. Oh my gosh, so important, and it
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Speaker 3: sounds like at nineteen you already know this, so that
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Speaker 3: you don't even need us, my friend. But the next
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Speaker 3: question is how much do you earn and what do
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Speaker 3: you do for work? My friend?
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Speaker 4: So I work in for the federal government and I
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Speaker 4: earn just on sixty thousand dollars a year.
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Speaker 3: But I've applied teen that is so good.
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Speaker 4: And I've applied for a different job which I've made
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Speaker 4: it to the final stage of recruitment, so for corrolations,
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Speaker 4: and that's earning about seventy eight thousand dollars. So a player.
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Speaker 3: I can see on your face that you're so proud
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Speaker 3: of yourself too. You're such a glowy, happy human. Oh
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Speaker 3: my gosh.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's taken a while for me to
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Speaker 4: become proud of myself. But I think now watch like
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Speaker 4: watching myself grow and looking back two years ago. I
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Speaker 4: was having this conversation with my boyfriend yesterday that two
5:43
Speaker 4: years ago, I think I would like pass out looking
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Speaker 4: at how far I've come kind of financially and how
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Speaker 4: independent I am. That I never thought it would happen.
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Speaker 3: Oh, I'm so proud of you. I have no right
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Speaker 3: to be proud of you. Your journey is yours alone.
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Speaker 3: But just being able to and see that it's just
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Speaker 3: so inspirational. And I know that there are going to
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Speaker 3: be some people listening to this podcast today who are
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Speaker 3: in your past situation where they just can't see the
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Speaker 3: light at the end of the tunnel. And you know,
6:12
Speaker 3: you've gone through a situation where you literally said you
6:14
Speaker 3: were homeless because it was better than staying in that situation.
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Speaker 3: And that's a situation no one should have to go through.
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Speaker 3: But if you are going to go through it, look
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Speaker 3: at this light at the end of the tunnel. I
6:24
Speaker 3: wish you could see our money direspace. She's the glowiest,
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Speaker 3: happiest human despite what she's been through. So next question,
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Speaker 3: my friend, is what is your big money goal at
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Speaker 3: the moment.
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Speaker 4: I think my biggest money goal is to save up
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Speaker 4: money to go traveling. Because my family was kind of
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Speaker 4: in debt for most of my childhood, we didn't really
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Speaker 4: get that opportunity, like we went around Australia. But I
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Speaker 4: really want to go overseas and kind of see different cultures.
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Speaker 4: And I don't really know whether I want to settle
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Speaker 4: where I am right now, like in the city I
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Speaker 4: am now, so I don't want to, Like I am
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Speaker 4: putting aside money for a mortgage, but that's not my
7:05
Speaker 4: number one priority.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, oh my gosh. I love that you're going to
7:10
Speaker 3: get to do all these things that historically you just
7:13
Speaker 3: didn't have. And I think that that's okay. Like, you know,
7:16
Speaker 3: regardless of what family you grow up in, not every
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Speaker 3: single family can afford to take you on overseas holidays.
7:22
Speaker 3: That's kind of like a luxury of becoming an adult.
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Speaker 3: But I love that you're prioritizing that and that's something
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Speaker 3: that you're like Nope, Like, yep, mortgage is really important,
7:30
Speaker 3: but I also want to travel. I want to see
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Speaker 3: the world. I don't even know if I want to
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Speaker 3: settle down here. I'm just going to work out what's
7:35
Speaker 3: right for me. Like, oh, I love this story. I
7:38
Speaker 3: love what you're up to. Next question, you're nineteen, but
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Speaker 3: do you have any investments?
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Speaker 4: So a big priority for me when I entered the
7:48
Speaker 4: workforce was like making extra super contribution. So I my
7:52
Speaker 4: workplace contributes fifteen point nine percent, but I round that
7:56
Speaker 4: out so it's twenty.
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Speaker 3: Governments and twenty percent super Yeah, holy guock. A mole.
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Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, she go it nicest time I'm coming
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Speaker 3: to say at your place, like it will be fine.
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Speaker 3: You are going to be set, my friend. And making
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Speaker 3: these sacrifices early means that they're all going to add
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Speaker 3: up and have even longer to compound over time, Like,
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Speaker 3: oh my gosh, I'm literally so excited to see this
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Speaker 3: because the soon you start, obviously, the longer it has
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Speaker 3: to compound, Like you're nineteen, it's gonna have like forty
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Speaker 3: or fifty years before you even need it, like, oh
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Speaker 3: so good.
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Speaker 4: And I also have a spaceship investment just because I
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Speaker 4: like you.
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Speaker 3: To I've watched that to queen, And do you put
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Speaker 3: a regular contribution into that or just like some spare
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Speaker 3: change or how are you using a micro investing platform?
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Speaker 4: I do fifty bucks a Fortnite just to kind of
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Speaker 4: have it sitting there and watch.
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Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, I love this. You're a little all right.
9:01
Speaker 3: I feel like I know the answer to this question,
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Speaker 3: but we're gonna ask anyway. Do you currently have any debts?
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Speaker 4: So no, I don't have any bad debt. But the
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Speaker 4: only good debt I have is half of my hex
9:14
Speaker 4: because my workplace is paying for the other half of.
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Speaker 3: My So hold up, you get like fifteen percent super,
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Speaker 3: you're actually batting twenty percent super and half your degrees covered.
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Speaker 4: Yeah I'm lucky. Yeah, God, lucky.
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Speaker 3: You're there because you want to do and you deserve it.
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Speaker 3: But that is such a great deal. Lucky. Lucky is
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Speaker 3: finding five bucks on the ground when you're going to
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Speaker 3: get a coffee. What you are, my friend is a
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Speaker 3: hustler and someone who deserves it. That's not luck. That
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Speaker 3: is work, and I think that it's really important, and
9:47
Speaker 3: she's on the money and in that she's on the
9:48
Speaker 3: money team. We don't believe in luck. That's not a thing.
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Speaker 3: Everything you do you work for. And even I find
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Speaker 3: myself being a little bit guilty of this. Sometimes I'm like, oh, yeah,
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Speaker 3: I'm just so lucky that xyz. We need to replace
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Speaker 3: lucky with grateful, Like you're grateful for it. It's really good.
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Speaker 3: But you worked really hard to get to the position
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Speaker 3: that you're in, and you had to make some serious
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Speaker 3: sacrifices to get there. And I think that we all
10:12
Speaker 3: need to recognize luck didn't actually have anything to do
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Speaker 3: with it unless you found that five bucks on the ground,
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Speaker 3: or like you won Tat's lotto. That's luck as well. Yeah,
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Speaker 3: that's lucky.
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Speaker 4: That's lucky.
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Speaker 3: I would like you to be lucky, So I would
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Speaker 3: love to be lucky guys. All right. Next question on
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Speaker 3: our list is do you use shot back? No.
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Speaker 4: I saw when I was in high school, like during
10:38
Speaker 4: classes all my friends and they showed me how to
10:40
Speaker 4: would use it, and they showed me how to download
10:42
Speaker 4: it onto my browser. So I have it on my browser.
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Speaker 4: But one of my money things is that I try
10:47
Speaker 4: not to buy online because normally when I buy online,
10:50
Speaker 4: I just it's like a regret normally when it's online.
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Speaker 3: I feel like that is literally the best reason to
10:57
Speaker 3: not use shot back, like the only reason I'm going
10:59
Speaker 3: to be accepting moving forward. Yeah, yeah, all right. So
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Speaker 3: next question is what is your best money habit?
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Speaker 4: My best money habit, So I started this when I
11:10
Speaker 4: first started receiving sentilink payments that I had stuff to
11:13
Speaker 4: pay for like housing and food and all that stuff,
11:16
Speaker 4: as well as I had like formal and graduation and
11:20
Speaker 4: like a trip away at the end of school. So
11:22
Speaker 4: what I started is when I would get that money
11:24
Speaker 4: into my account, I set up automatic payments so it
11:27
Speaker 4: would be sent off to the appropriate kind of accounts
11:31
Speaker 4: within my bank, and then that's something that I still
11:33
Speaker 4: have today. So when I get my salary each fortnight,
11:38
Speaker 4: the money just disappears and I don't even really look
11:40
Speaker 4: at it. It just goes off into the appropriate kind
11:42
Speaker 4: of savings account, and then I know that what's actually
11:45
Speaker 4: in my account to spend is what I have to spend.
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Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, she's a genius. Do you have That's
11:52
Speaker 3: the next question. Do you have any bad money habits
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Speaker 3: that you're going to share with us? I feel like
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Speaker 3: she's a golden child, Tony.
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Speaker 4: No, I have that.
12:01
Speaker 3: They come on spill the tea.
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Speaker 4: I think I get like a bit too proud of myself,
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Speaker 4: and then I'll notice go online and buy all these
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Speaker 4: things because I'm like, imagine me two years ago, I
12:12
Speaker 4: would be so proud. I'm going to buy all these
12:14
Speaker 4: things to congratulate myself. But that happens like a bit
12:18
Speaker 4: too often. Then they're probably sure.
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Speaker 3: I'm going to get proud of myself. That's why I
12:23
Speaker 3: do so much online shopping, Tony. I'm just proud. That's it.
12:27
Speaker 3: I like the way you framed that. I'm going to
12:29
Speaker 3: be framing all of my bad money choices is like,
12:31
Speaker 3: it's just because I'm proud of myself. I'm just trying
12:33
Speaker 3: to congratulate myself. I deserve it. I love that. But
12:38
Speaker 3: how are you going to manage that? Is that something
12:40
Speaker 3: that you're like, oh, I'm trying to cut down on
12:42
Speaker 3: that or change it, or you're like, you know what,
12:44
Speaker 3: that's not that bad of a body habit.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, So I take on board what you said is
12:49
Speaker 4: putting twenty four hours between my purchases, and I'll like
12:53
Speaker 4: talk try and talk to my friends about it to
12:56
Speaker 4: see what they think, and like nine times out of
12:58
Speaker 4: ten they'll be like, you don't need it. And then
13:00
Speaker 4: so I kind of feel guilty if I were to
13:02
Speaker 4: buy and then kind of talk about like my new skincare,
13:05
Speaker 4: and then they would be like, why did you buy
13:07
Speaker 4: that that.
13:09
Speaker 3: You didn't need that? I literally always get new skincare
13:13
Speaker 3: as well. I'm glad that our spending habits are on
13:15
Speaker 3: the same page. My friend swink care is it's an essential,
13:20
Speaker 3: Like it's one of those things that just goes into
13:22
Speaker 3: the budget and you don't have to worry about. No,
13:24
Speaker 3: you absolutely do. It's a slippery slope. Skincare. First, you're
13:27
Speaker 3: at the ordinary, then you're lining up at Mecca, and
13:29
Speaker 3: then you just have an ongoing adoor beauty obsession. So
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Speaker 3: I'm sorry, not sorry if I've impacted that in any way,
13:36
Speaker 3: shape or form. So next question is if we forced
13:42
Speaker 3: you to give yourself a money grade, what would you
13:44
Speaker 3: grade yourself?
13:47
Speaker 4: I think on my own kind of timeline. So I
13:51
Speaker 4: was thinking about this in the car the other day,
13:52
Speaker 4: whether you grade yourself like compared to the previous money doors.
13:56
Speaker 4: But I think mine is like on me, yes, it
13:59
Speaker 4: is my friends, So I think I will give myself
14:03
Speaker 4: a B plus No, no, no, try again, maybe an
14:12
Speaker 4: A Yeah yeah, yeah.
14:14
Speaker 3: I'm so glad she came up without herself. Tony, that
14:17
Speaker 3: was really good. I have so many questions about that.
14:19
Speaker 3: Right after this short break, all right, straight back into
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Speaker 3: this A's money diary. First things First, you mentioned before
14:33
Speaker 3: our break that you were not sure what you compare
14:36
Speaker 3: your money grade. Two. To summarize, it's always to yourself.
14:40
Speaker 3: We do not compare ourselves to other people's money journeys
14:43
Speaker 3: or what they rate themselves like. It's something that I
14:46
Speaker 3: actually don't even ask my team what they would rate
14:48
Speaker 3: themselves because it's not important like to me, it's important
14:51
Speaker 3: to understand what you've done and where you're coming from.
14:54
Speaker 3: And it's actually a really deep question if you start
14:57
Speaker 3: thinking about it, because you could be a sea and
15:00
Speaker 3: you go, oh, I'm a sea, but like that's really
15:02
Speaker 3: good for me, Like that's you know, I'm on this
15:04
Speaker 3: journey where somebody else might go see or unacceptable, I've
15:08
Speaker 3: really slipped. Like we are in different places and we're
15:12
Speaker 3: on different journeys, and I think it's really important to
15:14
Speaker 3: never compare our journey to that of others, which is
15:17
Speaker 3: why we share so many different and diverse money stories
15:21
Speaker 3: so that you guys can learn from each other. But
15:23
Speaker 3: it's definitely not to compare our circumstances. Like I mean,
15:27
Speaker 3: it's nice to go, oh, that many diarists they did
15:29
Speaker 3: this thing that I could implement, like that's what this
15:32
Speaker 3: is for, or oh that money diarist they went through
15:35
Speaker 3: this situation and now I know not to do that,
15:38
Speaker 3: Like that's a good thing. But it's absolutely not to
15:41
Speaker 3: compare ourselves. So I hope that that clears up anything
15:44
Speaker 3: if anybody was thinking it. But money arrest, I feel
15:48
Speaker 3: like you've been through a fair bit. Can you step
15:51
Speaker 3: us back two years? Doesn't feel like that long ago
15:55
Speaker 3: you said you left a home situation that was really
15:58
Speaker 3: toxic and chose to be homeless over that. How did
16:02
Speaker 3: you make that decision? And I guess how did you
16:05
Speaker 3: prepare yourself to make that decision, because that's a massive one.
16:10
Speaker 4: Yeah. So it was a long time, like I think,
16:13
Speaker 4: from the age fourteen, when I was clinically diagnosed with
16:18
Speaker 4: some mental health issues with and then from there all
16:21
Speaker 4: the way to when I was seventeen, and then one
16:23
Speaker 4: day it just kind of blew up and I was like,
16:25
Speaker 4: I can't do this, I can't do this anymore. So
16:28
Speaker 4: I called one of my friends and I was really
16:30
Speaker 4: lucky enough that her family was able to kind of
16:33
Speaker 4: take me in and I could sleep on their lounge.
16:35
Speaker 4: But it was really really difficult, I think, because there
16:40
Speaker 4: was so many, like at school and some of my
16:42
Speaker 4: other family members and teachers and all these adults in
16:45
Speaker 4: my life telling me that I was making the wrong decision.
16:47
Speaker 4: But kind of in my heart, I knew that whatever else,
16:52
Speaker 4: whatever else bad that was going to happen to me,
16:54
Speaker 4: was not worse than the situation that I was in
16:57
Speaker 4: at home.
16:59
Speaker 3: And you were so young to make that decision, and
17:02
Speaker 3: I think, you know, I was about to say, and
17:04
Speaker 3: I love that. That's one of those things that I say.
17:06
Speaker 3: I don't love that, but I'm just so grateful that
17:09
Speaker 3: at such a young age you knew to trust your gut,
17:12
Speaker 3: like you knew that that was the right thing for you.
17:14
Speaker 3: And when we're young, we so often don't listen to
17:17
Speaker 3: our own gut. We always listen to what other people saying.
17:20
Speaker 3: Oh they're older and they're an adult, they would know best.
17:23
Speaker 3: How did you trust your gut when everybody in your life,
17:27
Speaker 3: I suppose, was telling you you were wrong.
17:30
Speaker 4: I think this big wave of relief kind of washed
17:35
Speaker 4: over me after I had left and after I had
17:38
Speaker 4: blocked phone numbers and stuff. It was just like, this life,
17:41
Speaker 4: whatever it is right now, is so much better. And
17:43
Speaker 4: that's why I knew that I had done the right thing,
17:46
Speaker 4: and whatever kind of was coming for me was the
17:49
Speaker 4: right thing that was meant for me, because it made
17:52
Speaker 4: it all kind of worth it. And I knew that
17:55
Speaker 4: whatever people were saying to me, what they were saying
17:57
Speaker 4: to me kind of wasn't worse than the guilt I
18:01
Speaker 4: was already feeling. So I just had to keep kind
18:04
Speaker 4: of pushing through in trust in my decision, and also
18:07
Speaker 4: because I like it would have been too stubborn to
18:10
Speaker 4: go back and kind of prove the people in my
18:13
Speaker 4: life right.
18:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're like, also, I'm just real stubborn. So even
18:17
Speaker 3: if I was wrong, I'm not going to be wrong.
18:19
Speaker 3: I like that, I feel that I feel like that
18:21
Speaker 3: would have been me.
18:22
Speaker 2: It's as good a reason as any I think to
18:24
Speaker 2: stick to your guns. But it's hard at any age
18:28
Speaker 2: to run your own race and kind of stick to
18:30
Speaker 2: your guns and go you know what. No, I know
18:32
Speaker 2: that this is the right decision for me. And obviously
18:35
Speaker 2: I know that you said that you receive some sentiling payments,
18:37
Speaker 2: but being so young, I'm guessing you didn't really have
18:40
Speaker 2: like a financial identity yet. How do you feel both
18:45
Speaker 2: good and bad that that has shaped how you behave
18:49
Speaker 2: around money now?
18:51
Speaker 4: I think the bad We'll start with the bad. I
18:55
Speaker 4: think the bad was that I was constantly kind of
18:58
Speaker 4: comparing myself to my peers because like it was formal
19:02
Speaker 4: time and everyone was buying six hundred dollars dresses and
19:04
Speaker 4: I had to like work an extra job to be
19:07
Speaker 4: able to purchase stuff. And then it was really difficult.
19:10
Speaker 4: I didn't have family attend my formal and so that
19:14
Speaker 4: was really hard. And then so yeah, it was constantly
19:16
Speaker 4: discomparison that I need the newest things to be able
19:18
Speaker 4: to compare myself and compete. But then that kind of
19:22
Speaker 4: I think if I didn't have that so young, I
19:24
Speaker 4: would still be in that mindset now having to compare
19:28
Speaker 4: myself and compete with the people around me. But now
19:30
Speaker 4: I know what you've said, Victoria. I think it's if
19:35
Speaker 4: you live fake rich now, you'll live real poor later.
19:39
Speaker 4: And that kind of place in the back of my
19:41
Speaker 4: mind when I go to kind of make purchases and
19:44
Speaker 4: feel like I'm not keeping up with people around me.
19:47
Speaker 3: I think that that is something that is so true.
19:50
Speaker 3: And you don't know until you actually comprehend what that
19:53
Speaker 3: means to you deeply. Like it seems like a flip
19:56
Speaker 3: and comment and like it's catchy, so it's cute, but
20:00
Speaker 3: like at the end of the day, it actually means
20:02
Speaker 3: something really deep and like real, Paul later is a
20:04
Speaker 3: real issue. And from what you've said, like you've seen
20:08
Speaker 3: what that could look like in motion, like you've seen
20:10
Speaker 3: it in your money story, You've seen it in as
20:13
Speaker 3: you were saying at the start of this episode, like
20:15
Speaker 3: in family who were in debt and had credit cards
20:18
Speaker 3: and car loans and stuff like that. You're like, okay,
20:20
Speaker 3: Like that's what real Paul means. It's not like, oh,
20:23
Speaker 3: you'll miss out later, It's oh, you might end up
20:26
Speaker 3: in a really big pickle later. So I think it's
20:29
Speaker 3: one of those things that we really need to comprehend
20:31
Speaker 3: properly and what that deeply means. Because I don't just
20:34
Speaker 3: say it because it's a fun quote. I say it
20:36
Speaker 3: because it's literally like you need to start caring about
20:39
Speaker 3: these things. But something I would love to ask is
20:43
Speaker 3: just about the plan that you made. You said you
20:45
Speaker 3: got sentling payments, and I know people in your circumstances
20:49
Speaker 3: or the circumstances that you were in, are often like,
20:52
Speaker 3: oh where do I start? What do I do? How
20:55
Speaker 3: did you know that you needed to go to get
20:57
Speaker 3: scentling payments? And how did you start that process as
21:00
Speaker 3: going all right, I need an income, this is what
21:02
Speaker 3: I'm going to do.
21:03
Speaker 4: Yeah. So it was a really stupidly extensive process because
21:08
Speaker 4: it was like, because I was under the age of
21:10
Speaker 4: twenty three, I think I had to declare independent, which
21:13
Speaker 4: means that you have to contact like your parental figure,
21:16
Speaker 4: which that's made really difficult after you've kind of left
21:19
Speaker 4: and there's cutoff communications. So I had some really supportive
21:23
Speaker 4: extended family that were willing to kind of write for
21:26
Speaker 4: me and say that I haven't been dependent on that
21:29
Speaker 4: person for x amount of time. And then the next
21:32
Speaker 4: step is the kind of engaging a case worker, which
21:35
Speaker 4: is even more difficult because they're obviously pretty thinly stretched.
21:39
Speaker 4: And then so and then you have to engage like
21:42
Speaker 4: all these different people like people at school, extended family,
21:45
Speaker 4: friends and stuff that, and you kind of then feel
21:48
Speaker 4: this guilt because these are the same people that are
21:51
Speaker 4: telling you that you made the wrong decision. But then
21:53
Speaker 4: you're having to reach out and ask for their help.
21:56
Speaker 4: And then so eventually, I think it was coming on
21:59
Speaker 4: six months after that I had left that I actually
22:01
Speaker 4: started receiving those payments, which those six months was so
22:05
Speaker 4: much time. Yeah, it was. It was a long time.
22:08
Speaker 4: And I was lucky enough that I had like a
22:11
Speaker 4: weekend casual job with like six hours, just two weeks
22:16
Speaker 4: that hashed together, yeah, just to be able to kind
22:19
Speaker 4: of have that little bit of income. And then once
22:22
Speaker 4: I received the payments, you realize that, like I think
22:25
Speaker 4: it was four hundred and eighteen dollars a fortnight. Like
22:28
Speaker 4: that goes so quick.
22:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, it really really money. Yeah, But like at the
22:34
Speaker 3: same time, that money meant that you didn't have to
22:37
Speaker 3: turn back to a situation you didn't want to be in.
22:39
Speaker 3: So it might not be heaps, but it's enough to
22:43
Speaker 3: get by sometimes.
22:45
Speaker 4: Yeah. I think it was definitely a bit of a
22:47
Speaker 4: wake up call to be like, Okay, well this is
22:50
Speaker 4: possible and me to live this life and feel better
22:53
Speaker 4: and more mentally stable and potentially have a more stable household.
22:58
Speaker 4: This is made possible by these payments it's coming in.
23:01
Speaker 4: And then once I reach got a full time job
23:05
Speaker 4: at the beginning of last year, it kind of struck
23:07
Speaker 4: me that I was like, oh my god, I can't
23:09
Speaker 4: believe that I was managing to kind of live off
23:11
Speaker 4: that amount.
23:14
Speaker 3: It's always impressive looking back at how you got through
23:17
Speaker 3: such a situation. You're like, how did I even do that?
23:20
Speaker 3: But you did it and that is so impressive. So
23:23
Speaker 3: if somebody is in a similar situation to what you
23:27
Speaker 3: were in, what would you tell them? What should they
23:29
Speaker 3: be preparing? What do they need to know from someone
23:32
Speaker 3: who's gone through it and come out very nicely.
23:35
Speaker 4: On the other side, I think it comes back to
23:39
Speaker 4: what we were speaking about before, about trusting your gut
23:41
Speaker 4: and kind of knowing what's because at the end of
23:44
Speaker 4: the day, you're the person that knows what's best for
23:46
Speaker 4: you more than anyone else in your life, so just
23:49
Speaker 4: knowing that. And I think it's all about seeking opportunities.
23:52
Speaker 4: Like I know that's normally what people say when they're
23:55
Speaker 4: they're the ones that are in high opportunities and higher roles.
23:58
Speaker 4: But I think it is like taking opportunities as they
24:02
Speaker 4: come and understanding that you won't be in that situation
24:05
Speaker 4: forever and that it's a stepping stone. So once you
24:08
Speaker 4: get a little bit of experience in one area, that
24:11
Speaker 4: translates nicely, not just into other career opportunities, but just
24:14
Speaker 4: into like networking skills and communications skills and building relationships,
24:19
Speaker 4: which I think has helped me so much over the
24:22
Speaker 4: past couple of years.
24:23
Speaker 3: You do not sound nineteen, my friend. You are wise
24:26
Speaker 3: beyond your years, and I'm sure I'm not the first
24:29
Speaker 3: person to have said that to you. But your head
24:32
Speaker 3: is screwed on in exactly the right direction, and I
24:35
Speaker 3: can see you going so far like I can't wait,
24:38
Speaker 3: I hope that we get to stay friends for a
24:40
Speaker 3: long time after this money Diary goes out, because I
24:43
Speaker 3: just feel like watching you is going to be such
24:46
Speaker 3: a joy.
24:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm also like, now it's the first time in
24:50
Speaker 4: my life I think that I'm excited for my own future,
24:53
Speaker 4: because before it was like, Okay, I'm gonna have to
24:56
Speaker 4: go to UNI for four years and then like I
24:58
Speaker 4: won't even get a job because I don't have that
25:00
Speaker 4: kind of like foundations that a lot of people I
25:03
Speaker 4: know do well. My family doesn't have those connections that
25:06
Speaker 4: other people do. And then so now I'm super excited
25:09
Speaker 4: to see what where I'll be in five years and
25:12
Speaker 4: kind of what life I'll have, Like I'm not scared
25:15
Speaker 4: about money anymore and having to make money to make
25:19
Speaker 4: myself feel good. I'm excited to do work that I
25:21
Speaker 4: enjoy and then have money be a bonus. And I think, Wow,
25:26
Speaker 4: becoming financially free is one of the best feelings I
25:30
Speaker 4: think I've ever experienced. Like I think people underestimate not
25:34
Speaker 4: that money equals happiness, but I just feel so comfortable
25:38
Speaker 4: and that I'm allowed to be excited for my future
25:40
Speaker 4: now because I've reached that one step that I can
25:44
Speaker 4: settle and think about things and consider things and then
25:47
Speaker 4: make the right steps for me that aren't exactly relying
25:50
Speaker 4: on money because I don't have to.
25:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, that is so special. Oh my gosh, I am
25:55
Speaker 3: so excited for you as well, And it's just so
25:58
Speaker 3: nice to hear you say I'm really excited for what
26:01
Speaker 3: I'm getting up to, and like I'm now in a
26:03
Speaker 3: position where I can enjoy this and not being financially stressed.
26:07
Speaker 3: I cannot stress enough how important it is to not
26:13
Speaker 3: have a massive income. That's not the thing that matters.
26:15
Speaker 3: It's about having that security, the consistent income. Like, as
26:20
Speaker 3: you said before, you're on sixty grand a year. That's
26:22
Speaker 3: epic money for a nineteen year old, but like that's
26:25
Speaker 3: more than enough to create happiness if you have the
26:28
Speaker 3: right structure. But if you don't have the right structure,
26:31
Speaker 3: you're going to be so stressed. Like you easily could
26:34
Speaker 3: be blowing all of that money and just online shopping
26:36
Speaker 3: and not really budgeting and not planning and not knowing
26:39
Speaker 3: anything about cash flow, and you could be in a
26:41
Speaker 3: really big pickle. Like people who earn more money than you,
26:45
Speaker 3: people who earn triple the amount of money than you
26:48
Speaker 3: often accrue even more debt. They end up on a
26:51
Speaker 3: really slippery slope. And the thing that I find really
26:54
Speaker 3: interesting about this is often people don't see that. They
26:57
Speaker 3: just see the fact that earning more money and I
27:00
Speaker 3: earn more money, I'll be more successful, or i'll start then,
27:02
Speaker 3: or I'll do this. But it's actually the difference between
27:05
Speaker 3: what you're earning and what you're spending that has the
27:08
Speaker 3: power in it, and that's where we should be focusing it.
27:11
Speaker 3: That's where we should be planning, not necessarily, Oh well
27:14
Speaker 3: I need to earn more money, Yeah, great if that
27:16
Speaker 3: makes that gap bigger. But if it's just to afford
27:19
Speaker 3: more things or do more things, or you know, have
27:22
Speaker 3: more stuff, like, that's not the point, my friends, Like,
27:24
Speaker 3: that's not going to help you feel financially secure. So,
27:27
Speaker 3: oh my gosh, Money direst I have adored hearing your
27:30
Speaker 3: money story, and I'm so grateful that you're in our community,
27:34
Speaker 3: and I'm also just so proud that you wanted to
27:37
Speaker 3: share that story with our community. You have come so far,
27:41
Speaker 3: and you've done so much, and you are so young,
27:43
Speaker 3: and we know you've got so much to achieve, So,
27:46
Speaker 3: oh my gosh, thank you. That was an absolute joy
27:49
Speaker 3: to hear. Thank you so much.
27:52
Speaker 4: That's all right. It was a pleasure being here. And
27:54
Speaker 4: hopefully other people that can kind of relate to my
27:57
Speaker 4: story can pick up on some bids.
28:00
Speaker 3: They absolutely will, my friend. But as always, that is
28:03
Speaker 3: all we have time for today. So just before we
28:06
Speaker 3: head off, we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to
28:09
Speaker 3: Australia's Aboriginal and torrest Right islander peoples. They're the traditional
28:14
Speaker 3: custodians of the lands, the waterways and the skies all
28:17
Speaker 3: across Australia. We thank you for sharing and for caring
28:21
Speaker 3: for the land on which we are able to learn.
28:23
Speaker 3: We pay our respects to elders past and present, and
28:26
Speaker 3: we share our friendship and our kindness.
28:29
Speaker 2: And as always, guys, the advice shared on She's on
28:31
Speaker 2: the Money is general in nature and does not consider
28:34
Speaker 2: your individual circumstances. Shes on the Money exist purely for
28:38
Speaker 2: educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make
28:41
Speaker 2: any investment or financial decision. And we promise that Victoria
28:45
Speaker 2: Divine is an authorized representative of Australia Pacific Funds Management
28:49
Speaker 2: for Prietary Limited ABN three four one three two four six,
28:52
Speaker 2: three two five seven, AFSL three three nine one five
28:56
Speaker 2: one See next.
28:57
Speaker 3: Week, guys, Bye.
29:01
Speaker 4: Did you back to pay