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How to Recover After a Financial Mess · She's On The Money

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
0:04
Speaker 1: the Order Kerney Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before
0:08
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
0:14
Speaker 1: of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
0:18
Speaker 1: acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
0:22
Speaker 1: through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
0:27
Speaker 1: and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
0:30
Speaker 1: today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
0:33
Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
0:34
Speaker 3: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
0:57
Speaker 4: We will face many stresses in our lives and findancel
1:00
Speaker 4: stress is the most common. Yet when we're in the
1:02
Speaker 4: thick of it, there can be tremendous shame, loneliness and
1:05
Speaker 4: a feeling like we'll never get out of the hole.
1:07
Speaker 4: So today on the show, we're going to discuss how
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Speaker 4: to recover after a financial mess in joining you today
1:12
Speaker 4: on the Cheese on the Money are two women who
1:14
Speaker 4: have been in financial messes and gotten themselves out. My
1:18
Speaker 4: name is Beckside and joining me is Victoria Divine.
1:20
Speaker 2: Hello, my friend, my financially messy friend. Is that where
1:24
Speaker 2: we're going with that intro? Yes, I feel like it
1:27
Speaker 2: is so true, and that is exactly why She's on
1:28
Speaker 2: the Money community exists. I have been in a financial
1:32
Speaker 2: pickle or two in my lifetime, and so have you, Beck.
1:35
Speaker 2: So I feel like we created Cheese on the Money.
1:37
Speaker 2: I mean, you didn't create Cheese on the Money. I did.
1:39
Speaker 2: But then the second I met you, I was like,
1:41
Speaker 2: you're gonna come with us. I'm very grateful. It's kind
1:43
Speaker 2: of like a little cult one that I want to
1:45
Speaker 2: be part of. Yeah, Like, I mean, it's all positive,
1:48
Speaker 2: but I'm sure every cult leader says that. I guess
1:51
Speaker 2: that's why She's on the Money exists. And I really
1:53
Speaker 2: created it honestly to create a space to discuss and
1:56
Speaker 2: support people during their financial journey, because, honestly, before I
2:00
Speaker 2: started She's on the Money, there wasn't a place online
2:03
Speaker 2: that I felt like I could ask money questions, or
2:06
Speaker 2: seek tips and tricks, or feel comfortable being like, Hey,
2:09
Speaker 2: how do I X Y Z. And while I was
2:12
Speaker 2: out of that financial pickle when I started She's on
2:15
Speaker 2: the Money, I just knew that there were so many
2:16
Speaker 2: people in the same situations. As me and I kind
2:18
Speaker 2: of just I have that is it like a savior complex?
2:22
Speaker 2: Feel like that's what I've got where I see what
2:24
Speaker 2: you're saying, pick you up and help and hug you
2:27
Speaker 2: and put you in a better position, and like that's
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Speaker 2: my way of doing that. So, yeah, I gave you culty.
2:32
Speaker 2: Maybe not. And obviously finance is a massive journey, and
2:35
Speaker 2: I feel like it takes lots of different twists and turns,
2:37
Speaker 2: and we go through so many different seasons in our life.
2:40
Speaker 2: So I think it's so important that we kind of
2:42
Speaker 2: embrace that and talk about it and how much richer
2:45
Speaker 2: are we having known I guess other people's journeys and
2:48
Speaker 2: what they're going through, and just this idea that you're
2:51
Speaker 2: not alone, because, as you say in the intro, it
2:54
Speaker 2: can be lonely. You can feel shame, you can feel
2:57
Speaker 2: like you're never going to get out of this position,
2:59
Speaker 2: you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
3:00
Speaker 2: And then you've been through it. Now you're out the
3:02
Speaker 2: other side. How much better is it?
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Speaker 4: It's so much better and it totally know what you mean.
3:06
Speaker 4: It's kind of like you're also doing this for the
3:08
Speaker 4: younger version of yourself. The one that was lonely, and
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Speaker 4: the one that did feel shame and the one that
3:12
Speaker 4: was embarrassed.
3:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, she didn't deserve that.
3:14
Speaker 4: She didn't deserve that, And there's no place for people
3:17
Speaker 4: who have something really really not embarrassing, but when you're
3:21
Speaker 4: in the moment, you feel like it's embarrassed, you know,
3:23
Speaker 4: like I was too embarrassed to say I have so
3:25
Speaker 4: much debt that I've accumulated on my own.
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Speaker 2: You just worry about that kind of thing exactly. This
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Speaker 2: is a really good place. No judgment ever, no judgment
3:32
Speaker 2: ever outa babes. But there is a new NAB survey
3:36
Speaker 2: that has recently come out and I found it really interesting.
3:38
Speaker 2: It's surveyed two thousand Aussies and I found that forty
3:41
Speaker 2: percent of people were experiencing some form of financial difficulty.
3:46
Speaker 2: Where are those forty percent? Because I feel like all
3:48
Speaker 2: I'm saying on my feet at the moment is Europe
3:50
Speaker 2: trips yeap, So like that's not reflective with my experience
3:54
Speaker 2: and social media. But that's very true.
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Speaker 4: But it's also comforting to know, but like sad in
3:59
Speaker 4: a way, but also come to be like, hey, there
4:00
Speaker 4: are people out there that are just like you and.
4:02
Speaker 2: The fact, oh my gosh, did this one had me
4:05
Speaker 2: riled up. Someone from the RBA, not to name names,
4:09
Speaker 2: came out and said, oh, did you see all of
4:12
Speaker 2: the spending that happened on Taylor Swift tickets? Obviously Australia
4:16
Speaker 2: is not under so much financial pressure as we once
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Speaker 2: had anticipated. Beck, do you believe that because we all
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Speaker 2: bought Taylor Swift tickets we are financially stable?
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Speaker 1: No?
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Speaker 2: But also really, there's like how many people in Australia
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Speaker 2: twenty three million or something, and what like maybe one
4:31
Speaker 2: million people bought tickets, not even not even a million tickets. No,
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Speaker 2: I need the math, so the MCG. I've done the
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Speaker 2: maths because I wanted to know my probability of getting tickets,
4:39
Speaker 2: which I will have you know. I did get tickets
4:41
Speaker 2: because I am a hustler, if anything.
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Speaker 1: M hmm.
4:44
Speaker 2: I didn't get them because I work in media, Because Beck,
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Speaker 2: you and I both know Taylor Swift tickets weren't actually
4:50
Speaker 2: available to anybody working in media. And we you and
4:54
Speaker 2: I we work for radio station. Yes, a radio station.
4:57
Speaker 2: Who not to throw them under your buse, I love
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Speaker 2: you dearly, but we thought that we might get early
5:02
Speaker 2: access because one of the benefits of working in radio,
5:04
Speaker 2: right is that often you get like the pre sale
5:08
Speaker 2: industry peeps, Ye shouldn't do that, So I did the
5:11
Speaker 2: maths mcg it holds one hundred thousand people. She's now
5:15
Speaker 2: having three shows. That's three hundred thousand tickets. On the
5:19
Speaker 2: day there were more than eight million people trying to
5:21
Speaker 2: get tickets. Obviously, we just love Taylor Swift. Like, it's
5:26
Speaker 2: not actually about whether we can afford it or not.
5:28
Speaker 2: I feel like there were so many people who probably
5:31
Speaker 2: went into debt to get Kaylor Swift tickets exactly. But
5:35
Speaker 2: she's an icon.
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Speaker 4: It's like when you're sick at home and your mum
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Speaker 4: sees you laughing, and what you mustn't be that what
5:41
Speaker 4: do you want me to do is sit here and
5:42
Speaker 4: just cry all night?
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Speaker 2: No, you've got to laugh where you can. Like, it's
5:47
Speaker 2: exactly the same, truly the same thing. How rude, so annoying.
5:51
Speaker 2: One out of ten for that comment. I'm sure that
5:54
Speaker 2: they've won a lot of friends making comments like that.
5:56
Speaker 2: I'm not one of them. Also, that tells us that
6:01
Speaker 2: the number of Australians that are under financial stress is
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Speaker 2: currently at a three year high as households struggle with
6:08
Speaker 2: the rising cost of living and all of our interest
6:10
Speaker 2: rate hikes. Feel like that makes a lot of sense.
6:14
Speaker 2: And then it has been said that this is quote
6:17
Speaker 2: the highest number since the start of the pandemic, and
6:21
Speaker 2: it includes those struggling with paying bills, covering rent or
6:24
Speaker 2: mortgage payments, paying for food and basic necessities, and having
6:28
Speaker 2: any money for emergencies. I feel like that all makes sense. RBA.
6:33
Speaker 2: I support you guys. You're trying to bring down inflation
6:36
Speaker 2: and look after the economy, but you don't need to
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Speaker 2: say daft things that make everybody angry.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, and make us feel like you really don't get it.
6:44
Speaker 4: You're just outing yourself.
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Speaker 2: As not being in touch with the common man.
6:47
Speaker 4: Doesn't get it at all, So that's very annoying. But
6:50
Speaker 4: you know what, the figures you just read out, it
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Speaker 4: doesn't surprise me at all. Like I have been bankrupt before,
6:54
Speaker 4: as you know, and I understand that it's a common experience, but.
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Speaker 2: It honestly is such commony experience. According to the Australian
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Speaker 2: Financial Security Agency, there were two thy four hundred and
7:05
Speaker 2: ninety four personal insolvencies in the March quarter twenty twenty three.
7:10
Speaker 5: Alone.
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Speaker 2: Wow, So that's not like per year. That was in
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Speaker 2: a quarter. And I feel like those things are only
7:16
Speaker 2: going to increase as financial pressures, I guess increase over time.
7:20
Speaker 2: And it just really sucks because obviously this is my space,
7:24
Speaker 2: Like I spent a lot of time reading about it
7:27
Speaker 2: and learning about it, and I mean, I now have
7:29
Speaker 2: my own column, so I write about it, and I'm
7:31
Speaker 2: just obsessed with this space. But I also know that
7:34
Speaker 2: the worst has not come, and I don't want to
7:37
Speaker 2: be that doomsday predictor, but there's absolutely no way that
7:41
Speaker 2: the RBA can't raise prices again, Like they're going to
7:45
Speaker 2: raise the cash rate. It's going to have to happen
7:47
Speaker 2: because inflation has not been chipped away enough. And ultimately
7:52
Speaker 2: the reason they're doing that is actually to put us
7:54
Speaker 2: in the best possible position. But it doesn't feel that way,
7:56
Speaker 2: does it. It feels like they're just kicking us, well
7:58
Speaker 2: we're down, when that's not the case at all. So
8:01
Speaker 2: I think it's like we need to have this balanced
8:03
Speaker 2: view of they're doing the right thing for the economy.
8:05
Speaker 2: This is just a bad time. We're in a little
8:07
Speaker 2: bit of a pickle, and I guess that's what this
8:10
Speaker 2: episode is about right, yeah, scary though all kill Oh
8:14
Speaker 2: my goodness. But we go through many stresses in life.
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Speaker 4: But it won't surprise you to know that financial stress
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Speaker 4: is one of the leading contributors to separation in Australia.
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Speaker 2: Really, yeah, I had no idea. No, I definitely knew that.
8:28
Speaker 2: Relationships Australia actually says that financial stress is one of
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Speaker 2: the main contributors to relationship breakdowns and also stated that
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Speaker 2: seven out of ten couples find money causes tension in
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Speaker 2: their relationships. I feel like money causes tension in every
8:44
Speaker 2: I think part of everybody's life. Yeah, I think so sad,
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Speaker 2: isn't it. It's not nice, like's not nice. It's one
8:51
Speaker 2: of those things that I wish I could just take
8:53
Speaker 2: away because it's also the mix of money stories, like
8:58
Speaker 2: we spoke to a money today actually to record an
9:02
Speaker 2: episode for the future, and the episode was I don't
9:06
Speaker 2: know if it's come out or not yet, but it
9:08
Speaker 2: was with a diarist who was in her fifties and
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Speaker 2: she's recently separated, and it was because of financial stress.
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Speaker 2: He and her were on such different pages. She was
9:19
Speaker 2: a saver, he was a spender. There was you know,
9:22
Speaker 2: obviously a lot more going on the covers, I think,
9:25
Speaker 2: but this idea of having not just like financial stress, right, yeah,
9:29
Speaker 2: because if you're on exactly the same page, like you know, Beck,
9:32
Speaker 2: if we're in a relationship and you and I we're
9:34
Speaker 2: working towards buying our first home, but we both just
9:38
Speaker 2: as committed, and I go, Beck, it's noodles for dinner tonight.
9:40
Speaker 2: You go, yeah, no worries, like you don't care because
9:42
Speaker 2: we're like working towards the same goal exactly. But if
9:45
Speaker 2: you were salty that, oh well, why can't we have steak? Yeah,
9:49
Speaker 2: and be like oh, we're trying to say even do
9:51
Speaker 2: this and do that, like it would be honestly exhausting.
9:54
Speaker 2: So it's not just oh, Beck, we're going through our
9:56
Speaker 2: financially tough time. Because sometimes those couples that are on
10:00
Speaker 2: exactly the same page during tough times, they just become
10:04
Speaker 2: a bit tougher. They go, oh, this is real trash,
10:06
Speaker 2: but we're in it together, and you know, we have
10:08
Speaker 2: to do beans and noodles for weeks on end, And
10:11
Speaker 2: maybe they both get it. But I think when you
10:14
Speaker 2: have different money stories, and maybe one person is a
10:17
Speaker 2: spender and one is a saver, it just becomes even
10:20
Speaker 2: more exasperated, Like it just gets worse and worse. Like
10:23
Speaker 2: if you had a partner who was a spender and
10:25
Speaker 2: you're trying to save and everything just feels expensive and
10:27
Speaker 2: you feel like they're being really frivolous. That's going to
10:30
Speaker 2: cause so much friction, Like that's going to cause like
10:33
Speaker 2: disrupt in a relationship to a point where it might
10:36
Speaker 2: not be able to be resolved. So I think it's
10:39
Speaker 2: important to point out that it's not just necessarily, you know,
10:42
Speaker 2: not having enough money. Sometimes it can be not being
10:46
Speaker 2: on the same page about money, or maybe you've been
10:49
Speaker 2: in a relationship I can't relate to this, and I
10:51
Speaker 2: don't think you can either. Well, money's never been a problem, right,
10:54
Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden something happens and it
10:57
Speaker 2: is and you realize that, oh wow, we're definitely very
11:00
Speaker 2: different people. I didn't think this would happen. Money's fickle.
11:03
Speaker 2: Money's fickle.
11:04
Speaker 4: It's hell, it ebbs and flows, it does. This might
11:09
Speaker 4: be different for different people, but other different phases in
11:11
Speaker 4: our lives where financial stress is more common.
11:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, I talk about this all the time, as in
11:15
Speaker 2: the different seasons you go through in life. And sometimes
11:19
Speaker 2: you're going through a season where money's hard, Like maybe
11:23
Speaker 2: and this is the most stereotypical example, but like maybe
11:26
Speaker 2: you're newly married and have a young kid and you've
11:29
Speaker 2: got a mortgage and the interest rate has gone up
11:31
Speaker 2: and everything is just stressful because it's not panning out
11:34
Speaker 2: the way that you thought it was. Sure. And I
11:36
Speaker 2: think that those seasons of life we need to remember
11:39
Speaker 2: that they're not forever, Like you're not always going to
11:42
Speaker 2: have a newborn, be stuck at home or maternity leave,
11:44
Speaker 2: and you know, only be living off one income, like
11:47
Speaker 2: your time is going to come around. But I think
11:49
Speaker 2: during these periods of time we put unnecessary pressure on
11:52
Speaker 2: ourselves because I used to be so good at saving. Yeah,
11:55
Speaker 2: but things are different now, Beck, Like your whole entire
11:58
Speaker 2: life is different. Like maybe you you've just come back
12:00
Speaker 2: from overseas and you don't have as much savings as
12:03
Speaker 2: your friends or your family. Like there's gonna be different
12:06
Speaker 2: seasons and as you said before, money ebbs and flows.
12:09
Speaker 2: But what the research tells us is and there was
12:12
Speaker 2: a US study by Bank Create and this is recent,
12:15
Speaker 2: so it's from April twenty twenty three. It said that
12:18
Speaker 2: middle generations are more stressed about money over younger and
12:22
Speaker 2: older generations, with sixty percent of Gen X, so those
12:26
Speaker 2: people between the ages of forty three and fifty eight
12:30
Speaker 2: and fifty five percent of millennials, which I fall into.
12:33
Speaker 2: So that's people between the age of twenty seven to
12:36
Speaker 2: forty two reporting that money is a large source of stress. Yeah, okay, okay,
12:42
Speaker 2: So it's not just in the US. I feel like
12:44
Speaker 2: money stress is universal. It's kind of comforting to know
12:48
Speaker 2: that other people are stressed. Who it is, you know,
12:50
Speaker 2: allowed to be comforted by the fact that it's not
12:53
Speaker 2: just you. Yeah. I feel like you said it at
12:56
Speaker 2: the start, like money can be isolating, it can feel
12:58
Speaker 2: lonely and like you've been through it before. I used
13:01
Speaker 2: to literally lie about how much debt I was in,
13:05
Speaker 2: like I didn't want to talk about it. People would
13:07
Speaker 2: be like, oh, do you have debt? I don't know
13:09
Speaker 2: what you're talking about, absolutely not, Like what do you mean?
13:12
Speaker 2: Of course me? No, Never you look back on it,
13:15
Speaker 2: and I'm like, do you know how much additional pressure
13:17
Speaker 2: that put on me? Like I'm not lying to make
13:20
Speaker 2: it easier for myself. In fact, if my friends had known,
13:23
Speaker 2: they might have suggested different activities or different things that
13:28
Speaker 2: we could have done or put less pressure on me to,
13:31
Speaker 2: you know, save as aggressively for thinks like it's so
13:35
Speaker 2: silly to be hiding these parts of our money story
13:38
Speaker 2: because we think that there's shame associated Beck. If you
13:41
Speaker 2: told me that you're in debt now, I'd be like, yeah, okay,
13:43
Speaker 2: what are we going to do about it? Is anything
13:45
Speaker 2: you need from me? Like, it's not a issue, I
13:48
Speaker 2: don't think. I think it's something that How powerful is
13:51
Speaker 2: it when you go oh no, I am like, I'm
13:54
Speaker 2: just trying to work it out. Yes, let's get it.
13:57
Speaker 2: How good, let's do it? Absolutely, I really really like that.
14:00
Speaker 2: It's just so important and I think that we need
14:03
Speaker 2: to give ourselves a bit more compassion.
14:05
Speaker 5: Yeah.
14:06
Speaker 2: Absolutely, let's be kinder to ourselves. I agree.
14:09
Speaker 4: I think let's take a quick break and after the
14:10
Speaker 4: break we'll go into like the practical tips and what
14:13
Speaker 4: to do.
14:13
Speaker 2: To recover after a financial mess. Before we deserve a treat.
14:16
Speaker 2: So let's go to a break. Let's go to a
14:18
Speaker 2: quick break. Let's get back into a bit. I'm really excited.
14:25
Speaker 2: So V you and I made a list. We did
14:27
Speaker 2: make a list. We didn't check it twice. We didn't
14:29
Speaker 2: check it twice, so this could be a little bit rogue.
14:32
Speaker 2: But it was on Christmas time, so no one reminded
14:34
Speaker 2: us to check our list twce.
14:35
Speaker 4: But we did make a list of people who were
14:37
Speaker 4: naughty and nice just for the sake of it, just
14:39
Speaker 4: for the hell of it. But we also made a
14:40
Speaker 4: list to kind of figure out what we can do,
14:43
Speaker 4: like kind of take steps toward recovery.
14:45
Speaker 2: I think about patch. Yeah, so what was first on
14:48
Speaker 2: our list? We have eight points that we have come
14:50
Speaker 2: up with. Yes, do you mind if you take it away?
14:53
Speaker 2: My love? Okay, well, I'll.
14:54
Speaker 4: Just go with the first point everyone, so note assess
14:57
Speaker 4: your financial situation. Start by taking a close look at
15:00
Speaker 4: your income, expenses, debts, and assets if any. I always
15:05
Speaker 4: put zero dollars for my assets because unfortunately that's some
15:08
Speaker 4: pretty cool glasses on and probably plus twenty dollars. Yea,
15:11
Speaker 4: all right, big dog energy? Thank you also have a
15:14
Speaker 4: broken fitbit I.
15:15
Speaker 2: Do I know if I got a more big dog
15:17
Speaker 2: energy because about three dollars to spend. Oh, very nice.
15:21
Speaker 4: Straight after that, you're going to create a comprehensive list
15:23
Speaker 4: of your financial obligations, including any outstanding bills.
15:27
Speaker 2: Loans or credit card debts. This is the stuff that
15:29
Speaker 2: makes me feel overwhelmed. Yes, so I feel like this
15:32
Speaker 2: step is the hardest step. It is so when you're
15:35
Speaker 2: in debt, Beck, how much persuading would it have taken
15:39
Speaker 2: for me to sit you down and be like, Beck,
15:41
Speaker 2: let's look at how much you earn, how much you spend,
15:45
Speaker 2: what you owe, and what you own realistically? And I
15:49
Speaker 2: know this for sure. I would never have done it,
15:51
Speaker 2: and I just would have been like, nah, thanks, Yeah.
15:54
Speaker 4: I would have probably to make the situation less awkward. Yes,
15:57
Speaker 4: I'm going to do this, but I would never make it.
16:00
Speaker 2: Less awkward for both of us. I'm just going to
16:02
Speaker 2: lie to you through my teeth.
16:04
Speaker 4: But I just really I was not in any place
16:06
Speaker 4: to be doing anything like this is very scary and
16:09
Speaker 4: very I don't know. It just kind of like puts
16:11
Speaker 4: it into perspective.
16:12
Speaker 2: What was the like tipping point for you to actually
16:15
Speaker 2: sit down and go, I need to get my stuff together. Well,
16:19
Speaker 2: it's when I moved to Melbourne and I had like,
16:21
Speaker 2: I hope no payday loan companies listening to this, but
16:23
Speaker 2: I had just I hope they are. They need to
16:24
Speaker 2: learn a few things. Maybe they do, but I just
16:26
Speaker 2: got a few. Don't come into our games about sponsoring us,
16:29
Speaker 2: because I'll say no no. I also hope no real
16:31
Speaker 2: estate agents are listening to this. You know, we like
16:32
Speaker 2: real estate agents.
16:33
Speaker 1: We do.
16:34
Speaker 4: But I had just been approved for a unit by myself,
16:36
Speaker 4: a one bedroom, but I didn't have any money. I
16:38
Speaker 4: had no money. I don't know why I even did this.
16:40
Speaker 4: I don't know why I applied for this.
16:41
Speaker 2: Place, but I done it. I had to get like
16:43
Speaker 2: literally three or four pay day loans. Is that what
16:45
Speaker 2: they called?
16:45
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:46
Speaker 2: I don't know why I keep forgetting the name after
16:48
Speaker 2: I've said it.
16:48
Speaker 4: It's good to forget that. This is a good idea
16:51
Speaker 4: to forget about them. As soon as I mentioned them,
16:53
Speaker 4: and then I was so snowed under. I had so
16:56
Speaker 4: many different debts from different places, and I had no
16:59
Speaker 4: way to consolidate everything. And so that's kind of what
17:02
Speaker 4: made me think I need to do.
17:03
Speaker 2: So maybe I need to do something about it. It's true, though,
17:06
Speaker 2: I feel like these are the conversations we need to have,
17:09
Speaker 2: because how many times can I sit down and be like, Okay,
17:12
Speaker 2: you need to look at your financespec we need to
17:14
Speaker 2: look at what you earn spend owner No, and you're
17:16
Speaker 2: gonna be like, yep, okay, that's a good idea. You're
17:18
Speaker 2: going to pull this podcast out of your ears, and
17:20
Speaker 2: then you're gonna go and probably tap on your credit
17:23
Speaker 2: card to get another coffee. Yeah, we're not crucifying the coffee.
17:26
Speaker 2: But I think it's so important to just go. You
17:29
Speaker 2: know what, We know it's hard, We've actually been there.
17:31
Speaker 2: I tried to get out of debt because I got
17:33
Speaker 2: in a relationship and I didn't want to tell my
17:35
Speaker 2: now husband that I was in personal debt. I was mortified.
17:40
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, this is so embarrassing because when
17:42
Speaker 2: we got in a relationship, I had a really good job.
17:44
Speaker 2: I just started my business like I was bopping along
17:47
Speaker 2: like on paper. If I didn't tell you all the
17:49
Speaker 2: bad things, I looked really good, right, But I didn't
17:52
Speaker 2: want to tell him that I had this massive debt.
17:54
Speaker 2: That's embarrassing, Like I just feel like it's embracing. No,
17:59
Speaker 2: absolutely not, and like I only had the remnants of debt,
18:02
Speaker 2: like I'd paid most of it off, but I was
18:04
Speaker 2: still mortified by it. And you know what, if I
18:08
Speaker 2: just told him, do you know how much less stress
18:11
Speaker 2: I would have been carrying.
18:12
Speaker 3: I know.
18:13
Speaker 2: Do you know what? He didn't even care. When I
18:14
Speaker 2: finally did tell him, he was like, okay, and and
18:16
Speaker 2: I was like, is that it? That's your response, that's
18:19
Speaker 2: your response. And I've been working this up in my Headho, okay,
18:22
Speaker 2: no worries. Yes, all right, yes, exactly my favorite tip.
18:27
Speaker 2: So we're moving on to number two. Yep. So we've
18:29
Speaker 2: decided to look at our financial situation. Number two is
18:32
Speaker 2: creating a budget. You still haven't done this? No, no,
18:37
Speaker 2: but that's okay. I'll sit down with you later and
18:38
Speaker 2: we can absolutely do this. I think that developing a
18:42
Speaker 2: realistic budget is really really important because at the end
18:46
Speaker 2: of the day, a budget it's not about restriction. It's
18:49
Speaker 2: about understanding how many dollars come in, how many dollars
18:51
Speaker 2: go out, and where they're flowing and what they're flowing
18:53
Speaker 2: to and from. And that to me is really really important. Beck,
18:58
Speaker 2: Why haven't you got a budget yet?
19:00
Speaker 4: Living in denial for me is comfortable right now. It's
19:02
Speaker 4: not getting anywhere, big river, but I should be really
19:07
Speaker 4: doing it.
19:07
Speaker 2: I'll do it for you. How about that? I would
19:10
Speaker 2: love that? Is it a deal? It's a deal with
19:12
Speaker 2: shaking hands. It's a deal. I don't know if anyone
19:15
Speaker 2: on the podcast shaking hands, but just know that we're
19:18
Speaker 2: shaking hand. We can high five Reddy. Okay, ready, that
19:22
Speaker 2: was a terrible hard true. Oh we recorded the video
19:25
Speaker 2: of it.
19:25
Speaker 4: Was a good sound of high five though, true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right,
19:28
Speaker 4: Oh my god, I'm scared. So Beck is now going
19:30
Speaker 4: to create a budget. You're not in a financial pickle anymore,
19:34
Speaker 4: but that would turbo charge you to move forward and
19:36
Speaker 4: smash some goals.
19:37
Speaker 2: I reckon kind of like, I don't have any savings still,
19:39
Speaker 2: and I haven't told anyone this, but I have ten
19:41
Speaker 2: thousand dollars worth of Victoria fines that I need to
19:43
Speaker 2: pay off. There, what's number three?
19:46
Speaker 4: Okay, so let's go to number three. Seek professional advice.
19:50
Speaker 4: Consider consulting a financial advisor or credit counselor who specializes
19:54
Speaker 4: in helping people recover from financial difficulty. Yes, they can
19:57
Speaker 4: provide personalized advice based on yours and help you create
20:01
Speaker 4: a plan to get back on track.
20:02
Speaker 2: They absolutely can. I have ranted and raved about the
20:06
Speaker 2: National Debt Helpline six hundred million times. The National Debt
20:10
Speaker 2: help Line are your friends? I promise they are not scary.
20:13
Speaker 2: I feel like picking up the phone can be the
20:15
Speaker 2: hardest part of that though. Yeah, So pick up the phone,
20:18
Speaker 2: go have a chat to them. They're all nice because
20:21
Speaker 2: I don't know if this makes you feel better or worse.
20:23
Speaker 2: Guarantee there's a worse story that they've dealt with. If
20:26
Speaker 2: that makes you feel any better? True, true, true. I
20:29
Speaker 2: guess it kind of does and doesn't because I feel
20:31
Speaker 2: bad for whoever that worst story is.
20:32
Speaker 5: I know.
20:33
Speaker 2: But I think at this point in time, if you're
20:36
Speaker 2: just trying to take the first step, you're probably feeling like,
20:39
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, they're going to judge me. They're going
20:41
Speaker 2: to think this is the worst step up, babe. They're
20:43
Speaker 2: not no like they've seen it or whether they've heard
20:46
Speaker 2: about it, Like, there are going to be people out
20:48
Speaker 2: there literally in your shoes. And to be honest, I guarantee,
20:52
Speaker 2: the second you pick up the phone and have a chat,
20:54
Speaker 2: you're gonna be like, oh, they were really nice, and
20:56
Speaker 2: then they're gonna go, oh, I've done this before, getting
21:00
Speaker 2: back in a better position, so easy, let's do it, yeap?
21:03
Speaker 2: How good is that? That's so? True? Ten out of ten.
21:06
Speaker 2: Number four prioritize debt repayments, So this one can be
21:11
Speaker 2: really hard and there's lots of different methods we could implement.
21:14
Speaker 2: But if you have lots of different debts, I would
21:17
Speaker 2: look at focusing on paying off high interest step first
21:20
Speaker 2: or making minimum repayments on other debts. So consider your
21:24
Speaker 2: debt consolidation options as well. So if you have multiple
21:27
Speaker 2: debts like you did Beck, maybe we need to talk
21:29
Speaker 2: to someone to consolidate them all together.
21:31
Speaker 1: Yep.
21:31
Speaker 2: I do think that balance transfers on credit cards can
21:35
Speaker 2: be helpful, but they can also just end you up
21:37
Speaker 2: in a bigger pickle at the end of the day.
21:40
Speaker 2: So definitely go back to point number three and seek
21:43
Speaker 2: some professional advice because they'll be able to send you
21:45
Speaker 2: in the right direction. Because as much as that can
21:48
Speaker 2: be a good option, I don't want to be a
21:50
Speaker 2: debbie downer. But sometimes debt consolidations not possible. So if
21:55
Speaker 2: you've got a really low credit score or you don't
21:58
Speaker 2: have a lot of income a lot of debt, like
22:01
Speaker 2: you might not be in a position for that to
22:03
Speaker 2: be an option, but I think we should look into
22:06
Speaker 2: it regardless. Yes, very good point. It is not always possible,
22:09
Speaker 2: but you know, have a look see what you can do.
22:11
Speaker 2: I agree now.
22:12
Speaker 4: Number five, negotiate with creditors. So if you're struggling to
22:16
Speaker 4: meet your debt obligations, reach out to your creditors and
22:18
Speaker 4: explain your situation and they may be willing to negotiate
22:22
Speaker 4: newer payment terms, lower interest rates, or even accept a
22:25
Speaker 4: partial payment to settle the debt.
22:27
Speaker 2: I feel like everyone should do this regardless. So yeah,
22:31
Speaker 2: first question, have you reached out to find Victoria? I haven't.
22:35
Speaker 2: All right, Well, what are you doing? You're not walking
22:37
Speaker 2: the walk, are you?
22:38
Speaker 1: Yeah?
22:38
Speaker 2: I didn't even know that was I do it. I
22:40
Speaker 2: love fights, Like, maybe I could let me add it.
22:42
Speaker 2: We will write a banging letter. So this is going
22:45
Speaker 2: to be a good example. You've got what teen grand worth?
22:48
Speaker 2: Are fine? I think it's like eight thousand or nine
22:50
Speaker 2: thousand norties? Wease? I know. Are we allowed to know
22:53
Speaker 2: what you did? Is it real? Noughty? No, you're allowed
22:54
Speaker 2: to know.
22:55
Speaker 4: It's just a bunch of like speeding fines and stuff
22:56
Speaker 4: that just accumulated avertar yeah, and paying seventy a month
23:00
Speaker 4: over ten years, and I don't really want to be
23:02
Speaker 4: doing that.
23:03
Speaker 2: No, let's try and renegotiate that. That's a very good idea.
23:06
Speaker 2: I think it's a good idea. Okay, let's work it out.
23:08
Speaker 2: Let's work it out. I think it's quite smart. Can
23:10
Speaker 2: I add on to that? Sure? So not just creditors
23:13
Speaker 2: your bills, try and renegotiating. Yes, so, as you guys know,
23:17
Speaker 2: I love a good deal. A few of the girls
23:20
Speaker 2: in our team have been jumping online to their bill
23:23
Speaker 2: suppliers's bill suppliers. Who is it like your utility? So
23:27
Speaker 2: they've been jumping online and they're looking at their phone bills,
23:30
Speaker 2: They're looking at their water and their electricity. It's honestly,
23:33
Speaker 2: beck become like a game inside group chat, like we
23:37
Speaker 2: have slack for work, and I swear that she's on
23:39
Speaker 2: the money. Group chat is just people in my team
23:42
Speaker 2: bragging about how they got a better deal. So a
23:46
Speaker 2: lot of them are with the same phone company, the
23:48
Speaker 2: one I'm not with, which is obviously not as good
23:50
Speaker 2: as a Masim. But that's fine if you guys want
23:52
Speaker 2: to waste your money, no worries. But they've been negotiating
23:55
Speaker 2: to get like a different deal. So one of them
23:58
Speaker 2: was like, oh, I'm paying sixty bucks a month for
24:00
Speaker 2: my plan. I'm getting sixty gig and another was like, ah,
24:03
Speaker 2: that's a bad deal. You should be getting one hundred
24:05
Speaker 2: gig for x amount, And then they're trying to negotiate
24:08
Speaker 2: it with the people online. But the coolest thing I
24:11
Speaker 2: didn't realize is lots of utility companies have online chat.
24:14
Speaker 2: You don't even have to call them beck, you don't
24:17
Speaker 2: have to assertive vocally, you can just type out then no,
24:21
Speaker 2: I would like to see if there's a better deal.
24:23
Speaker 2: That's a little bit comfier. It's so much more comfy.
24:26
Speaker 2: It's to the downfall of our utility companies though, because
24:28
Speaker 2: all these millennials gen z we can type, we can type,
24:33
Speaker 2: we can type of big keyboard warriors. Who do you
24:36
Speaker 2: think invented the troll? Exactly exactly. We're gonna get a
24:40
Speaker 2: good deal, but no wheries if not, no worries. If not,
24:43
Speaker 2: thanks for looking anyway. So definitely try and negotiate with
24:46
Speaker 2: your creditors. But also what bills can you bring down
24:50
Speaker 2: in the introm without a lot of confrontation. We all
24:53
Speaker 2: love that. Let's have a little look. See what's next.
24:56
Speaker 2: Number Numero six, Numero six, it sounds very classy. Yes,
25:01
Speaker 2: look to see if you qualify for any government support
25:04
Speaker 2: programs you genius eligible for things like income support payments,
25:08
Speaker 2: housing benefits, healthcare subsidies. Check with the relevant agencies to
25:12
Speaker 2: determine if you qualify for any support. Genius. I just
25:15
Speaker 2: think that's blanket. It's a great idea. National Debt help
25:18
Speaker 2: learn is going to know about that, sent links going
25:20
Speaker 2: to know about that. There's lots of places you can go.
25:23
Speaker 2: I feel like the best thing you can do is
25:25
Speaker 2: google financial support programs on your state and a lot
25:28
Speaker 2: will pop up. Yeah, genius, have a little looxi.
25:31
Speaker 1: All right.
25:31
Speaker 2: Number seven is arguably my favorite and should have been higher.
25:37
Speaker 2: We should have really done this checking list twice. Thing
25:40
Speaker 2: beck maybe, but we want people to remember because it's
25:43
Speaker 2: saved last. It's almost the last thing, all right. So
25:46
Speaker 2: this one is build an emergency fund when you're in debt.
25:52
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people think that they need
25:54
Speaker 2: to build an emergency fund once they get out of shore,
25:56
Speaker 2: or that no, no, no, I shouldn't have money sitting
25:58
Speaker 2: to the side if I'm in debt. It should go
26:00
Speaker 2: to debt repayments. Like, I totally get that mentality, but
26:04
Speaker 2: I think it's so important to start setting aside a
26:07
Speaker 2: portion of your income into an emergency fund. Obviously, the
26:11
Speaker 2: goal might be whatever you want right It could be
26:14
Speaker 2: three months worth of your expenses or six months worth
26:16
Speaker 2: of your expenses. But I promise, if you're in significant
26:18
Speaker 2: personal debt or you're in a little bit of a
26:19
Speaker 2: financial pickle, that's unrealistic. So let's start with two hundred bucks.
26:24
Speaker 2: Then let's talk about five hundred dollars. Because if you're
26:27
Speaker 2: in a financial pickle and something else pops up, the
26:31
Speaker 2: only option you're going to have is to go into
26:33
Speaker 2: more debt to pay that off. That's true. Do you
26:35
Speaker 2: know how empowering it is if you're in a bit
26:37
Speaker 2: of a financial pickle and you know, a bill pops up,
26:40
Speaker 2: or you get another speeding fine like miss Beck across
26:43
Speaker 2: the table who thinks she's speedy Gonzales, you can pay it.
26:47
Speaker 2: How empowering that on your journey of debt reduction, that
26:51
Speaker 2: you don't have to join back into the spiral of
26:53
Speaker 2: going back into debt. And you go, oh, my emergency
26:57
Speaker 2: fund paid for that, Look at my good financial planning,
27:00
Speaker 2: look at my changed habits. You're going to feel so
27:03
Speaker 2: empowered when you need to use that emergency fund because
27:06
Speaker 2: you're can be like, this is exactly what I've been
27:08
Speaker 2: planning for. Yeah, Like, no one plans to take on
27:10
Speaker 2: more debt, No one wants that. But life is very,
27:13
Speaker 2: very unpredictable, and I think that one of the things
27:16
Speaker 2: you can do while in debt take a lot of
27:18
Speaker 2: the pressure off and start creating good financial habits is
27:21
Speaker 2: to actually just have an emergency fund that you can
27:25
Speaker 2: rely on a little bit so that you don't feel,
27:28
Speaker 2: as I guess, bound to debt repayments. I think it's
27:31
Speaker 2: really smart. That is very smart. What is the last tip?
27:35
Speaker 4: Beck, Yes, so this one, I would arguably say, is
27:38
Speaker 4: maybe the most important, more important than that.
27:40
Speaker 2: No, that's not such thing that is more important than
27:44
Speaker 2: an emergency fund. I take that back, right, number eight?
27:47
Speaker 2: What is it? Stay positive and patient? Oh we did
27:50
Speaker 2: write that one down, and I feel like it's really
27:52
Speaker 2: important though, exactly like recovering from a financial mess does
27:56
Speaker 2: take time and persistence.
27:57
Speaker 4: Just avoid getting discouraged and stay folks from your goals,
28:01
Speaker 4: celebrate small victories along the way, and keep working toward
28:04
Speaker 4: long term financial stability. You will get there. It does
28:07
Speaker 4: sometimes feel exactly what you said, like you're maybe stuck
28:11
Speaker 4: in this cycle, like you're stuck in quicksand because something
28:13
Speaker 4: pops up and you're in debt orlready, you're going to
28:15
Speaker 4: go into more debt, and et cetera, et cetera. This
28:17
Speaker 4: is why an emergency find is important. Whether it's ten
28:20
Speaker 4: dollars a month, five dollars a month, whatever you can afford,
28:23
Speaker 4: just put a little bit aside and stay patient with
28:26
Speaker 4: yourself and be kind to yourself.
28:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I love it all right. Well, I think
28:30
Speaker 2: unfortunately that is all we have time for today. But
28:32
Speaker 2: I guess this entire episode is hopefully making you feel
28:35
Speaker 2: a little bit more empowered, Yeah, a little less alone.
28:39
Speaker 2: This stuff can be really hard. And if you're not
28:41
Speaker 2: in debt and you've just listened to this whole episode,
28:44
Speaker 2: I promise learning more about this is going to help
28:47
Speaker 2: serve one our community so that they feel more heard.
28:50
Speaker 2: But also you're going to run into a friend or
28:52
Speaker 2: a family member who's going through this and some of
28:54
Speaker 2: these tips or tricks or even just level of empathy
28:58
Speaker 2: can actually help them feel so much better about their journey.
29:01
Speaker 2: Very good point, V, So stick with it. You're all
29:04
Speaker 2: doing a great job, and I'm proud of every single
29:06
Speaker 2: one of you. Yes, we are. We love you all right,
29:09
Speaker 2: We'll see when Friday. Have the best week. Bye, guys.
29:17
Speaker 5: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
29:20
Speaker 5: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
29:24
Speaker 5: on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
29:27
Speaker 5: not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
29:31
Speaker 5: If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
29:33
Speaker 5: the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial.
29:36
Speaker 2: Advice tailored towards your needs.
29:38
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