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MONEY DIARIES: Working Remote & Kicking Goals · She's On The Money

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Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
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Speaker 1: the Order Kerni Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before
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Speaker 1: we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
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Speaker 1: would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
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Speaker 1: of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
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Speaker 1: acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
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Speaker 1: through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
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Speaker 1: and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
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Speaker 1: today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
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Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
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Speaker 3: She's on the Money.
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Speaker 2: She's on the Money. Hello and welcome. She's on the Money,
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Speaker 2: the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back
1:04
Speaker 2: to another one of our Shop Back Money diaries, where
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Speaker 2: you're probably feeling a little bit confused because who you're
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Speaker 2: hearing is Victoria Devine, not miss Jesse Rici. She's decided
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Speaker 2: to go on an epic holiday to India and thus
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Speaker 2: I am riding solo, which I'm really excited about because
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Speaker 2: it means I can ask whatever I want without being
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Speaker 2: told to move on. So this is a solid ten
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Speaker 2: out of ten this week we have a goodie for
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Speaker 2: you guys, so let's dive straight in. Our money. Diarist
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Speaker 2: wrote in and said, growing up, my parents used to
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Speaker 2: just spend, spend, spend. It was my grandmother who taught
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Speaker 2: me the value of money and the importance of savings.
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Speaker 2: She was living off the Center Link pension and always
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Speaker 2: found a way to make her money stretch. When I
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Speaker 2: was twenty three years old, my partner left me at
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Speaker 2: seven and a half months pregnant. When my son was
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Speaker 2: three months old, I began my bachelor's degree, and when
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Speaker 2: he was four months old, we moved to an Aboriginal
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Speaker 2: community so I could start work where a lot of
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Speaker 2: the living expenses were subsidized. I was able to save
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Speaker 2: two thirds of my income, and by the time I
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Speaker 2: was twenty six years old, I finished my bachelor's degree
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Speaker 2: and purchased our home all by myself. We are now
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Speaker 2: back in a city where I am currently working in
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Speaker 2: the profession that I studied for. Although I'm only at
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Speaker 2: the beginning of my career, I can see the light
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Speaker 2: at the end of the tunnel where I am earning more.
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Speaker 2: I'm able to pay down our home and invest more,
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Speaker 2: so hopefully one day I can purchase. The next important
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Speaker 2: thing my financial freedom. Oh my gosh, money darist, what
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Speaker 2: a story. Welcome to the show.
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Speaker 3: Thank you, very happy to be here.
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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, you sound like an absolute hustler. Imagine
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Speaker 2: getting pregnant and being like, you know what, I'm gonna
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Speaker 2: have this baby and I'm going to move on to
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Speaker 2: a remote community so that i can work and it
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Speaker 2: makes sense for us. I'm honestly in awe and have
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Speaker 2: so many questions. Are we able to jump straight into
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Speaker 2: the street ructural questions though?
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Speaker 3: Yeah?
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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, all right, can you tell us a
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Speaker 2: little bit more about your money story.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: So when I was left at seven and a half
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Speaker 4: months pregnant, like obviously, I was devastated, but I knew
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Speaker 4: one of the most important things for me and my
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Speaker 4: son was security. So I looked at my options and
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Speaker 4: actually it was my dad who lived in a remote
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Speaker 4: Aboriginal community, and he spent a just convincing me to come.
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Speaker 4: And he was like, just come, just give it a go, like,
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Speaker 4: you'll make good money here and it's a great lifestyle.
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Speaker 4: And after a few months he eventually said, look, just come.
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Speaker 4: If you don't like it, I will pay for you
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Speaker 4: to ship you back to wherever you want to go,
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Speaker 4: and so I was like, oh, well why not.
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Speaker 2: That feels a little less risky.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, and I ended up going there and I found
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Speaker 4: work straight away. They're desperate for workers in remote communities.
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Speaker 4: Found work straight away, and yeah, work in remote Aboriginal
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Speaker 4: communities comes with very soosidize accommodation. In my case, it's
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Speaker 4: actually free oh money, win, free power. The only thing
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Speaker 4: I had to pay for is like food and internet.
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Speaker 4: And ended up loving the lifestyle, very outdoor orientated, so
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Speaker 4: definitely like fishing, hiking, camping, those sorts of things. And
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Speaker 4: I ended up staying for three years and giving myself
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Speaker 4: a kickstart.
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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I love that, And I love that
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Speaker 2: your bambino got to experience that with you too. Did
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Speaker 2: he love it?
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Speaker 3: He did, so.
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Speaker 4: They did have a childcare center there as well, so
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Speaker 4: he made lots of little friends and yeah, it was
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Speaker 4: run by the local Aboriginal people and it was just
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Speaker 4: so different to what you sort of see in the cities.
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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I love that you mentioned in your
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Speaker 2: money story when riding in that your grandmother was the
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Speaker 2: one who taught you the value of money. Can you
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Speaker 2: tell me a little bit more about that.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, So even when I was working my first job,
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Speaker 4: when I was like eighteen years old, I would always say,
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Speaker 4: even if it's just twenty dollars or ten dollars a week,
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Speaker 4: because my grandmother would do that. She dealt mostly with cash,
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Speaker 4: but she'd have a little money box where she'd put
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Speaker 4: a little bit of a pension away all the time,
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Speaker 4: and she did enjoy having a little bit of fun
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Speaker 4: at the casino from time to time and going out
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Speaker 4: for meals, so being on the pension and she was
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Speaker 4: able to do that because she would just save that
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Speaker 4: little bit to go and enjoy her time doing what
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Speaker 4: she wanted to do, even if it's ten dollars, five dollars,
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Speaker 4: twenty bucks depending on the week of what bills she had.
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Speaker 2: From little things big things grow. And you mentioned that
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Speaker 2: that was kind of in stark contrast to your parents.
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Speaker 2: Why do you think that you were impacted more by
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Speaker 2: your grandmother instead of directly by your parents.
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Speaker 4: My parents did end up splitting up, and I just
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Speaker 4: remember my mother like always, she would still spend, spend, spend,
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Speaker 4: and I remember her always saying like, oh, like, I
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Speaker 4: don't have any money till next payday and things like that.
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Speaker 4: So as I grew older, it made me not want
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Speaker 4: to live that way, like have to live paycheck to
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Speaker 4: paycheck and have some anxiety around money. So I think
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Speaker 4: that's why I stemmed towards more what my grandmother was like.
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Speaker 2: I love that grandmothers are the best. All right, Next
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Speaker 2: question I've got for you is what do you do
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Speaker 2: for work and how much money do you now earn.
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Speaker 2: I'm an accountant, yes, finance brand yeah.
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Speaker 4: And I'm only at the very beginning of my career
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Speaker 4: so I only finished my degree end of last year.
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Speaker 4: I only take came about two thousand dollars a fortnight.
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Speaker 4: I do have a pay rise coming in January which
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Speaker 4: should take me to twenty one fifty per fortnite.
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Speaker 2: That's exciting And is this what you always wanted to
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Speaker 2: do or why did you pick that career?
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Speaker 3: Actually?
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Speaker 4: I originally, since I was young, I wanted to be
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Speaker 4: a financial advisor.
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Speaker 2: Great idea ten out of ten I can recommend them
6:57
Speaker 2: as solid individuals.
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Speaker 4: I actually went to a career as counselor and worked
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Speaker 4: out my options there, and it seemed like the best
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Speaker 4: option was to get my accounting degree first and then
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Speaker 4: go do my grad diploma, which I'm looking into maybe
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Speaker 4: in the next year or two. But I do want
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Speaker 4: to have some accounting experience. I do enjoy accounting as well,
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Speaker 4: but I think my passion lies with well financial planning.
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Speaker 3: I'm always trying to give family advice.
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Speaker 2: I love that. I actually feel like that's such a
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Speaker 2: constructive step as well, because accounting is going to give
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Speaker 2: you that base understanding of budgets and proper cash flows
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Speaker 2: and how they work and balance each and all of that,
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Speaker 2: which is honestly one of those things that pays off
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Speaker 2: so much in financial planning because you can just look
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Speaker 2: at it and be like, all right, that makes so
7:44
Speaker 2: much sense. So I think you are on the right
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Speaker 2: track and we'll make a great financial advisor. But with
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Speaker 2: all your accounting experience and all of this stuff that
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Speaker 2: you've learned from your grandmother, I want to know what's
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Speaker 2: your big money goal. What are we working towards.
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Speaker 4: At the moment, my biggest money go well is to
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Speaker 4: have fifty grand and my mortgage offset. I did make
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Speaker 4: the decision of not buying my home with twenty percent
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Speaker 4: twenty percent deposit. I ended up with a I think
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Speaker 4: it was about a thirteen percent deposit, and I did
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Speaker 4: jump on the family scheme.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, perfect.
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Speaker 4: I did weigh out my options with that, and it
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Speaker 4: was my value to provide security, especially in this current
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Speaker 4: rental market, for me and my son to buy a
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Speaker 4: house and do that. So now my next money goal
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Speaker 4: is to make sure I do have that twenty percent
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Speaker 4: equity plus emergency money. So I'm aiming for about fifty grand.
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Speaker 2: That is, honestly so inspirational. You are a young mum,
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Speaker 2: you were left on your own, and you're like, you
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Speaker 2: know what, I'm just going to do this. I'm going
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Speaker 2: to move to a remote community. I'm going to buy
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Speaker 2: my house. I'm going to get it done. Like I
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Speaker 2: just feel like, Oh, got so many questions for you
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Speaker 2: after the break. Next question I want to know is
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Speaker 2: do you have any investments? If what are they?
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Speaker 3: Yes?
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Speaker 2: I do, Actually, of course you do. What can't you do?
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Speaker 3: Yeah?
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Speaker 4: So I have about twelve grand in investments. My portfolio
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Speaker 4: includes index funds, blue chip companies, and a couple of
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Speaker 4: high risk penny stocks as well. I also do have
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Speaker 4: a little bit of crypto, but I only put a
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Speaker 4: small amount in. It hasn't worked out so far, but
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Speaker 4: it is what it is.
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Speaker 2: I feel like that was a bandwagon heaps of people
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Speaker 2: got on. You said that you had some index funds
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Speaker 2: and some blue chip stocks. How did you pick those?
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Speaker 2: Like what stood out about those assets that you were like,
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Speaker 2: you know what, that's what I'm going to start my
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Speaker 2: investment journey with.
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Speaker 4: So what started my investment journey was actually The Barefoot Investor. Yeah,
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Speaker 4: And there was one part of the book where it's
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Speaker 4: like find three grand and put it on AFIC and
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Speaker 4: I was like, oh, okay, and I just did it,
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Speaker 4: and then it didn't seem so scary, And I think
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Speaker 4: it was more just reading up a about like the company.
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Speaker 4: Like for the blue chips, just rereading up about the
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Speaker 4: company and deciding whether they're going to be pretty stable,
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Speaker 4: if they paid dividends. Those were the sort of things
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Speaker 4: I looked at and saying that when I did buy
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Speaker 4: the blue chip stocks, I was very early in doing
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Speaker 4: investing as well, So it's not something I've continued to grow,
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Speaker 4: mainly focused on index funds and a couple of my
10:24
Speaker 4: high risk penny stocks as well.
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Speaker 2: I feel like high risk penny stocks obviously that's not
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Speaker 2: what's going to create the wealth, but obviously our listeners
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Speaker 2: can't see your face. You like smile when you say that.
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Speaker 2: Is that something you really enjoy?
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Speaker 3: Well?
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Speaker 4: I think because one of my penny stocks has done
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Speaker 4: really really well.
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Speaker 3: So I've only done three, all small amounts.
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Speaker 4: One of my penny stocks has done really really well,
10:47
Speaker 4: but then the other two have done really really badly.
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Speaker 3: So it's just like, oh, am.
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Speaker 4: I willing to lose you know, five hundred bucks on
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Speaker 4: this because I believed in it and see if it
10:57
Speaker 4: would get there. And it was just that decision like, yeah, okay,
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Speaker 4: I could list five hundred.
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Speaker 2: Bucks and have a crack. I feel like sometimes it's
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Speaker 2: okay to have fun in the investment world. We just
11:07
Speaker 2: need to make sure that our core portfolio, which it
11:10
Speaker 2: sounds like you're looking after, is safe and secure, because
11:13
Speaker 2: that's what creates the financial freedom that you're currently working towards.
11:17
Speaker 2: Next question I've got, and we know this is a
11:19
Speaker 2: yes because you have a mortgage, But do you have
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Speaker 2: any debt? If so, what is it and how much?
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Speaker 3: Yeah?
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Speaker 4: So, my mortgage is sitting at about three hundred and
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Speaker 4: seventy thousand M and my hextet is sitting at about
11:32
Speaker 4: forty eight thousand.
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Speaker 2: And no consumer or personal debt out there.
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Speaker 3: No.
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Speaker 4: I remember getting a credit card when I was younger,
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Speaker 4: and I remember purchasing one thing on it, paying it
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Speaker 4: off the next pay freaking out and closing it. So
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Speaker 4: I think I'm very anti debt, and I think I
11:51
Speaker 4: think that stems from my grandmother as well.
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Speaker 2: That is not the worst thing to do with a
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Speaker 2: credit card in all, honest. Next question I've got for
11:58
Speaker 2: you is do you currently shot back?
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Speaker 3: No, I don't.
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Speaker 4: That's something I need to get onto, but I just
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Speaker 4: keep forgetting about it, to be honest.
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Speaker 2: It's so easy. Well, when you're signing up, make sure
12:09
Speaker 2: you use the discount code SotM or not discount code.
12:12
Speaker 2: What is it like a bonus code? Do you get
12:14
Speaker 2: ten bucks in your account to start? And if that's
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Speaker 2: not a money win, I don't know what is. But
12:19
Speaker 2: speaking of money wins, I want to know what is
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Speaker 2: your best money habit.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's just probably going back to my saving Like
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Speaker 4: I always even if I'm really really stretched in a
12:29
Speaker 4: certain week, I'll always make sure I'll put ten or
12:32
Speaker 4: twenty dollars away into my savings. I guess also with
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Speaker 4: cooking and stuff, I try and like bulk things out,
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Speaker 4: like putting more veggies in and stuff to make it
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Speaker 4: bulky and last longer and a bit cheaper as well.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair.
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Speaker 4: I always go for like fruits and veggies in season,
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Speaker 4: always look out for sales stuff like that as well
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Speaker 4: to save some.
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Speaker 2: Money smart tips knowing that you have a little boy
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Speaker 2: to feed, and you know, I've got a few nephews,
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Speaker 2: use I feel like they can sometimes eat you out
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Speaker 2: of house and home. How do you manage the grocery
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Speaker 2: budget with a small growing human as well as trying
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Speaker 2: to you know, do the right thing when it comes
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Speaker 2: to budgeting for groceries.
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Speaker 4: Well, I guess yeah, just definitely going after the sales.
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Speaker 4: And my son definitely doesn't like his veggies very much.
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Speaker 4: So if I make like spaghetti bold naise, I'm bulking
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Speaker 4: it up with zucchini and carrot and all the.
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Speaker 2: Veggies trying to hide them in there.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, and because veggies is like cheaper than meat, it
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Speaker 4: makes the meal overall cheaper.
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Speaker 2: I think I feel like I've always done that anyway,
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Speaker 2: Like I don't even notice as an adult, like I
13:41
Speaker 2: am a stickler for putting a zucchini and a carrot
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Speaker 2: in basically anything I cook I'm like, all right, we're
13:46
Speaker 2: making a sturf. I graded up put it in. I
13:48
Speaker 2: don't think it's even a budget thing at this point.
13:50
Speaker 2: I think I just like tricking adult Victoria into eating
13:53
Speaker 2: more greens. So its a ten out of ten idea
13:55
Speaker 2: from my perspective. Turning the tables to the other side,
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Speaker 2: Know what is your worst money habit?
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Speaker 4: Look, it's probably a very common one, but definitely pretty
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Speaker 4: lazy about packing my lunch. So I tend to buy
14:09
Speaker 4: my lunch a lot. I don't think going out and
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Speaker 4: buying your lunch is a waste if you're catching up
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Speaker 4: with a friend and socializing, but I think it's a
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Speaker 4: waste when you're eating by yourself anyway, and you're buying
14:21
Speaker 4: lunch like you may as well packed it. So that's
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Speaker 4: definitely something I need to improve on.
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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I am quite literally the same. I
14:30
Speaker 2: feel like I've been so under the pump at the
14:32
Speaker 2: moment that by the time lunch time comes, I'm like, oh, yeah,
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Speaker 2: I was meant to do that. I don't even think
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Speaker 2: of it when I'm leaving the house anymore, and I'm
14:38
Speaker 2: not only making probably unhealthy choices, but I'm making choices
14:43
Speaker 2: that are just super convenient, and it's not even food
14:46
Speaker 2: that I love. I'm just like, oh, I've got to
14:48
Speaker 2: get some lunch. I will just pop out and grab
14:49
Speaker 2: whatever's closest, and it's not even that good. I need
14:53
Speaker 2: to get some really good take to work lunches in
14:55
Speaker 2: my repertoire because I am slipping. If anyone has any
15:00
Speaker 2: good work lunches, please slide into our DMS ten out
15:02
Speaker 2: of ten can recommend.
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Speaker 3: All.
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Speaker 2: Right, last question before we go to a quick break,
15:07
Speaker 2: I want to know what would you give your money
15:08
Speaker 2: habits if we forced you to give yourself a grade.
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Speaker 4: I am pretty generous and will give myself an a minus.
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Speaker 2: Ooh, I love this.
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Speaker 4: I think because I'm just so proud of what I've
15:20
Speaker 4: been able to achieve on my own and making good
15:25
Speaker 4: money and saving decisions. The reason why it's a minus
15:29
Speaker 4: and not a class is definitely about the lunches. And
15:33
Speaker 4: I do spoil my son a little too much. He
15:36
Speaker 4: should wait for his birthday of something for his little
15:38
Speaker 4: gifts all the time. But I cay very easily if
15:41
Speaker 4: I take him to the shops and he wants a
15:44
Speaker 4: new little car or something.
15:46
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, no, it's all about balance. All right,
15:49
Speaker 2: let's go to a really quick break, and after that,
15:51
Speaker 2: I want to know more about your grammar. I want
15:53
Speaker 2: to know what life is like now, and I want
15:55
Speaker 2: to ask more about your little boy and how you
15:57
Speaker 2: did it all on your own. Don't go anywhere, guys,
16:04
Speaker 2: All right, money diarist, we are back, and I am
16:07
Speaker 2: in awe of everything you've achieved thus far. Like, honestly,
16:11
Speaker 2: I cannot believe that someone who was twenty three and
16:14
Speaker 2: seven and a half months pregnant, who got broken up
16:17
Speaker 2: with I'm assuming and left on her own, has managed
16:21
Speaker 2: to achieve so much, Like so many people in our
16:23
Speaker 2: community are still working towards buying their first homes, and
16:27
Speaker 2: you've done it with all of this adversity. Tell me about, honestly,
16:31
Speaker 2: what is it like being in that circumstance where you're like,
16:34
Speaker 2: do you know what this is? Kind of fight or flight?
16:36
Speaker 2: What am I going to do? I'm seven and a
16:38
Speaker 2: half months pregnant.
16:39
Speaker 4: So actually I was living in Melbourne at the time
16:42
Speaker 4: and I didn't really have any family there or anything.
16:48
Speaker 4: So the closest family that was around was my grandparents
16:52
Speaker 4: and country New South Wales. So I finished that work
16:55
Speaker 4: at like eight months pregnant, and I drove all away
17:00
Speaker 4: over to my grandparents. So it was a really really
17:03
Speaker 4: hard time. And then, yeah, I was over with my grandparents.
17:07
Speaker 4: It was sort of like an old people's town, so
17:09
Speaker 4: I didn't really want to stay, but I didn't really
17:11
Speaker 4: know where to go or who can help me. And
17:15
Speaker 4: that's when my dad convinced me to come join me.
17:19
Speaker 2: Remote How did you make that decision? Obviously having a
17:24
Speaker 2: three month old baby is really really hard at the
17:27
Speaker 2: best of times. How you're like, you know what, I'm
17:29
Speaker 2: going to pick my life up and go here, and
17:31
Speaker 2: you know, I'm going to study. I just feel like
17:35
Speaker 2: this is such a story of overcoming adversity because you know,
17:39
Speaker 2: I can't imagine being in that circumstance, and you know,
17:42
Speaker 2: having thought that maybe you had support and then all
17:44
Speaker 2: of a sudden you didn't. How did you do this?
17:47
Speaker 2: Like talk to me maybe more about the mental side
17:50
Speaker 2: of it and going through that, because I feel like
17:52
Speaker 2: so many people go through circumstances that aren't super similar,
17:56
Speaker 2: but you just feel like, oh my gosh, everyone is
17:59
Speaker 2: not on my tape here. How did you do that
18:02
Speaker 2: with such a positive attitude. I'm genuinely so impressed.
18:05
Speaker 4: I guess something that I think a lot of parents
18:08
Speaker 4: face is that they feel like they have to do
18:10
Speaker 4: everything alone. When my son was born, I realized that
18:14
Speaker 4: his biological father wasn't going to be in the picture,
18:18
Speaker 4: his choice.
18:19
Speaker 3: He's still not in the picture.
18:20
Speaker 4: Today, and I just knew I needed help and I
18:24
Speaker 4: couldn't do it on my own, and I couldn't achieve
18:27
Speaker 4: what I wanted to achieve without help. So I think
18:31
Speaker 4: I've always been close to my dad. I was actually
18:33
Speaker 4: raised by my dad after my parents split up, and
18:37
Speaker 4: I knew that I would have help from him, and
18:41
Speaker 4: so that's why I decided, Yep, okay, Dad, I'm going
18:44
Speaker 4: to come to you.
18:45
Speaker 3: And it was the best decision I.
18:47
Speaker 4: Made in terms of my mental health year. It took
18:51
Speaker 4: a long time to really work through it, and definitely,
18:55
Speaker 4: if you're going through things like this, go see a
18:59
Speaker 4: counselor or psychologist. Don't give up on the first one.
19:03
Speaker 4: I know some other single parents have had to went
19:06
Speaker 4: to one counselor it wasn't for them, and they just
19:10
Speaker 4: didn't try to find another one. It took me four
19:12
Speaker 4: goals to find the right one for me, and working
19:16
Speaker 4: through that with a counselor and just focusing on my goals.
19:19
Speaker 3: I guess.
19:21
Speaker 4: I just knew in my head that if I achieved
19:25
Speaker 4: what I wanted to achieve, like, it would just be
19:29
Speaker 4: the best revenge, to be honest, like, not that that
19:32
Speaker 4: was my main goal, Like I wanted to achieve, but
19:34
Speaker 4: it's like, look what I've done without you.
19:37
Speaker 2: I don't even need you. Yeah, I don't even need you.
19:40
Speaker 2: Good luck. I'm better than that. Oh my gosh. I
19:42
Speaker 2: love that. They always say success is the best revenge. Yeah,
19:46
Speaker 2: and you definitely have proven that. What is it like
19:49
Speaker 2: to study and have a baby and live in a
19:52
Speaker 2: remote community. I feel like that just sounds like a lot.
19:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was hard. It definitely took lot of commitment.
20:01
Speaker 4: I did obviously had to study online, and I had
20:05
Speaker 4: to make sure like every night when I put my
20:09
Speaker 4: son to bed, I'd have to, you know, get back
20:12
Speaker 4: up out of bed and study for a couple of
20:14
Speaker 4: hours every night before I went to bed and get
20:18
Speaker 4: up and go to work the next day. So that
20:22
Speaker 4: seemed to have worked out well for me.
20:24
Speaker 2: How did you do that? Honestly? If I was looking
20:28
Speaker 2: after a baby and running life and working, how did
20:32
Speaker 2: you find the motivation to get buck up out of
20:35
Speaker 2: bed and do a few hours of study, because you
20:37
Speaker 2: best bet I would not have been in that circumstance.
20:40
Speaker 2: I would have stayed in that bed, I promise you.
20:43
Speaker 3: I guess.
20:43
Speaker 4: I was just so focused on my goal, like I
20:46
Speaker 4: wanted a degree, I want a career. I want to
20:49
Speaker 4: be able to financially provide for my son. I don't
20:53
Speaker 4: want to have to ask for help money wise, I guess.
20:57
Speaker 4: And I also so focused on getting my house deposit
21:02
Speaker 4: as well to have a home for me and my son.
21:04
Speaker 4: So it was just the ultimate motivator. And I think
21:08
Speaker 4: once I got halfway through my degree, that's where I
21:11
Speaker 4: was just like I could see the light out the
21:12
Speaker 4: end of the tunnel, like just keep pushing through and
21:15
Speaker 4: you're going to get there, And looking back, it was
21:18
Speaker 4: just ills worth it.
21:19
Speaker 2: You are a queen, talk to me about saving this
21:23
Speaker 2: house deposit. I just feel like so many people in
21:26
Speaker 2: our community will be listening to this, going how did
21:29
Speaker 2: she think that she was going to afford a house?
21:31
Speaker 2: Like how did you work all of that out? Because obviously, yes,
21:34
Speaker 2: you were earning an income, but given the housing market
21:37
Speaker 2: and how much properties are, was that not super overwhelming.
21:42
Speaker 4: It was because I did buy last year when the
21:46
Speaker 4: house prices were a bit up. I guess I was
21:49
Speaker 4: very lucky. When I bought my house up where I live,
21:53
Speaker 4: people tend to want to build, yes, So I decided, Nah,
21:58
Speaker 4: I'm gonna buy existing. And there was this house, and
22:03
Speaker 4: I ended up looking up what the value of the
22:06
Speaker 4: house was about two years prior, which was during the
22:10
Speaker 4: low period here, and looking up at what I was offering,
22:15
Speaker 4: and I was only offering about I think it worked
22:18
Speaker 4: out to be only eight percent more yeaph than the
22:22
Speaker 4: price it was a couple of years back. So I
22:24
Speaker 4: felt like, okay, like that is an increase, but I'm
22:28
Speaker 4: willing to do that.
22:30
Speaker 2: Yeah.
22:30
Speaker 4: I think if I was offering like twenty percent thirty
22:33
Speaker 4: percent after the previous couple years prices, I might have
22:35
Speaker 4: been a bit more hesitant. So I think that's what
22:38
Speaker 4: solidified my decision there.
22:39
Speaker 2: And how did you save your home deposit? How much
22:42
Speaker 2: did you have to save? And how long did that take?
22:44
Speaker 4: Yeah, it took the whole three years. I was putting
22:47
Speaker 4: about fifty percent of my pay away into a house
22:50
Speaker 4: savings account as well as putting about twenty five percent
22:55
Speaker 4: on my pay into my shares as well.
22:59
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that's what built up.
23:00
Speaker 3: My share propfolio.
23:01
Speaker 4: But I haven't been really adding as much since getting
23:06
Speaker 4: the mortgage.
23:07
Speaker 2: I was going to say, how's the mortgage treating you?
23:10
Speaker 2: What does that look like now when it comes to
23:12
Speaker 2: cash flow?
23:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, because I was living remote and there was like
23:16
Speaker 4: no bills, and then I moved here and I was like,
23:18
Speaker 4: oh my god, I have to pay a mortgage and
23:21
Speaker 4: I have to pay power.
23:23
Speaker 2: And the water and the electricity and everything else that
23:26
Speaker 2: comes along with that.
23:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, And it was definitely an adjustment, a huge adjustment
23:33
Speaker 4: because even though I was saving quite a lot on
23:37
Speaker 4: my pay, even with the pay I had left over,
23:39
Speaker 4: I still had plenty of I guess fun money to
23:44
Speaker 4: play with. Like so if I went on a holiday,
23:46
Speaker 4: I didn't really budget because I didn't really need to.
23:51
Speaker 4: I could do whatever and seem to afford it. And
23:54
Speaker 4: now it's just like, oh, I have to budget everything
23:57
Speaker 4: to make sure my money stretches and still be out
23:59
Speaker 4: of and invest a little bit.
24:01
Speaker 2: It sounds like the remove to the remote community where
24:05
Speaker 2: you know you had subsidized housing and bills actually ended
24:09
Speaker 2: up really turbocharging your ability to create financial freedom. In
24:12
Speaker 2: the future, would you say that that's maybe a very
24:15
Speaker 2: good decision that you made.
24:17
Speaker 4: Definitely, definitely, And I know the desperate for workers out there,
24:21
Speaker 4: So that's sort of why I wanted to share my
24:23
Speaker 4: story and maybe it might be an option some people
24:27
Speaker 4: might consider, so not only give back to a community
24:30
Speaker 4: that's amazing and incredible, but also help kickstart their savings
24:37
Speaker 4: and their goals and investments as well.
24:39
Speaker 2: I love that it's such a different way of achieving
24:42
Speaker 2: something that we're all looking for. I wouldn't know that
24:45
Speaker 2: what kind of work were you doing while living in
24:48
Speaker 2: this remote community, because I think that a lot of
24:50
Speaker 2: us here things like, oh my gosh, they need so
24:53
Speaker 2: many workers, and you're just like, well, what does that mean?
24:55
Speaker 2: So can you give us a little bit more of
24:57
Speaker 2: an insight, like what kind of work can we get?
24:59
Speaker 4: Yes, I actually was doing like the accounts payable receivable
25:04
Speaker 4: like Grant's work for a non for profit organization, Aboriginal
25:07
Speaker 4: led organization, So that's what I was doing there, but
25:11
Speaker 4: anything to like nursing, policing, rangers, administration, just general like
25:17
Speaker 4: community service. They did have financial counselors out there too,
25:20
Speaker 4: to help the Aboriginal people manage their money as well,
25:23
Speaker 4: and they have like a small bank there, they have
25:27
Speaker 4: post office, they have retail, they have shops, management positions
25:31
Speaker 4: like they do have I guess on a smaller scale
25:34
Speaker 4: what you'd have in a city.
25:35
Speaker 2: So basically everything. Yeah, I love it and it's such
25:38
Speaker 2: a beautiful way of giving back. Last question before we go,
25:42
Speaker 2: I want to know what does life look like today
25:44
Speaker 2: for you? What's your situation, how's your son doing? And
25:48
Speaker 2: what would you say to people who were in the
25:50
Speaker 2: circumstance you were in when you were twenty three?
25:53
Speaker 4: Well today I do have a partner now and currently
25:58
Speaker 4: pregnant with my congratulations.
26:02
Speaker 2: That's so exciting.
26:03
Speaker 3: Yeah.
26:04
Speaker 4: So I know when I was firstly single, I thought, oh,
26:09
Speaker 4: like I'm going to be alone forever, and I was
26:11
Speaker 4: really sad for my son that unfortunately his father didn't
26:16
Speaker 4: want to be in the picture for whatever reason. But
26:19
Speaker 4: you know, one day you might meet someone that will
26:22
Speaker 4: love your child as their own and he really does,
26:26
Speaker 4: so ask for help. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
26:30
Speaker 4: Your family knows how to raise babies. Just don't be
26:34
Speaker 4: too proud, like you know, tell your family or friends
26:38
Speaker 4: that you know, these are the things you want to
26:40
Speaker 4: achieve and you can't do it without a bit of
26:42
Speaker 4: help and ask for it.
26:44
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, Money Diarrist, I am so flipping proud
26:48
Speaker 2: of you. I feel like you have achieved so much,
26:51
Speaker 2: and I know that this story is going to be
26:53
Speaker 2: such a special one to share because not only is
26:55
Speaker 2: it inspirational, but I feel like there's been so many
26:58
Speaker 2: helpful tips and tricks ideas that a lot of people
27:01
Speaker 2: in our community might not have thought of. So thank
27:03
Speaker 2: you for joining us today.
27:05
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
27:07
Speaker 2: Well, unfortunately that is all we have time for today.
27:10
Speaker 2: We will see you guys for another episode of Money
27:13
Speaker 2: Diaries next week. The advice shared on She's on the
27:21
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27:24
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27:28
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