Latest / She's On The Money / MONEY DIARIES: Creating a new life in Australia

Transcript

MONEY DIARIES: Creating a new life in Australia · She's On The Money

0:00
Speaker 1: She's on the Money. She's on the Money.
0:23
Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
0:26
Speaker 2: for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Tony
0:30
Speaker 2: Lodge and joining me for another shot back Money Diary
0:33
Speaker 2: is Victoria Divine.
0:35
Speaker 3: What a coincidence seeing you here, Lodge.
0:39
Speaker 2: Imagine if we were both on the same internet recording platform,
0:43
Speaker 2: same podcast, same time, same lockdown.
0:46
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, twins, I love it. Money Dories are
0:51
Speaker 3: literally I was saying this just before to you, Tony,
0:54
Speaker 3: when we weren't recording. Money Dories are literally my favorite
0:57
Speaker 3: part of every week. I know we do Deep di
1:00
Speaker 3: and I know we do Friday Drinks, and I know
1:01
Speaker 3: that we have other podcasts, and I know I should
1:03
Speaker 3: love all of those children equally, but I do not.
1:06
Speaker 3: Money Diaries are my favorite because we get to talk
1:08
Speaker 3: to our community and share those stories. So with that
1:12
Speaker 3: in mind, and I won't keep ranting on about it.
1:15
Speaker 3: Can you read this week's Money diarists? Email to me?
1:18
Speaker 2: Okay, here we go. Hey, she's on the Money team.
1:21
Speaker 2: I'm an international student and I'm only allowed to work
1:24
Speaker 2: twenty hours a week in Australia, so it's very challenging
1:28
Speaker 2: to earn little money and pay for studies, food, fun, etc.
1:33
Speaker 2: I came to Australia with a dream learning English. Four
1:37
Speaker 2: years after lots of adventures and weird jobs, I not
1:40
Speaker 2: only speak the language, but I love living here and
1:42
Speaker 2: I see this country as my home. I'm still struggling
1:45
Speaker 2: with money, but thanks to your podcast, I'm making progress
1:48
Speaker 2: and I can actually see the light at the end
1:50
Speaker 2: of the tunnel.
1:51
Speaker 3: Oh so kind, that's so wholesome.
1:55
Speaker 4: And we've got our money dirests on the line. You
1:57
Speaker 4: can hear it, giggli.
1:58
Speaker 3: Everyone's going to be like, we know that there.
2:03
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for joining us. That's such
2:06
Speaker 2: an amazing story.
2:07
Speaker 5: Thank you. Hi, guys, how are you?
2:10
Speaker 3: We are so good. We are better having met you.
2:13
Speaker 3: Let's jump straight into the questions because I have so
2:16
Speaker 3: many questions about your situation. So first things first, what
2:20
Speaker 3: is your attitude towards money?
2:23
Speaker 5: Oh?
2:24
Speaker 6: I've been thinking a lot about this question because I
2:27
Speaker 6: don't really have a straight answer. I agree up with
2:31
Speaker 6: these like two role models. My mom will be the
2:34
Speaker 6: one saying like, oh, let's go shopping. We deserve it.
2:39
Speaker 6: We work hard even if we didn't. But she will
2:42
Speaker 6: say that, whereas her partner will be the one saying like, oh, like, no,
2:47
Speaker 6: we can't spend any any money. We need to say
2:50
Speaker 6: we need to be very he was very like tired
2:52
Speaker 6: and greedy towards money.
2:53
Speaker 5: Huh.
2:54
Speaker 6: So as a result, I've always struggled with my attitude
2:58
Speaker 6: towards money. Sometimes I just feel like very hunted by debts,
3:03
Speaker 6: and all the times I just feel very guilty if
3:06
Speaker 6: I've spent some money on something.
3:09
Speaker 5: So it just fluctuates, you know, like.
3:12
Speaker 6: I can't decide if I feel really bad about it
3:14
Speaker 6: or if I feel good or yeah, oh.
3:16
Speaker 3: My gosh, you should never feel really bad about it.
3:19
Speaker 3: That breaks my heart when you say I feel hunted
3:22
Speaker 3: by debt, Like I feel like that would be really relatable,
3:25
Speaker 3: but it also upsets me because no one should feel
3:28
Speaker 3: like that. Yeah, oh my heart. All right, So let's
3:31
Speaker 3: learn a little bit more about you. What do you
3:33
Speaker 3: do for work and how much money.
3:35
Speaker 5: Do you earn?
3:36
Speaker 6: I work in marketing and I currently earn fourty five
3:43
Speaker 6: thousand dollars.
3:45
Speaker 3: Is that including the twenty hours work a week that
3:48
Speaker 3: you're allowed to do? So you get forty five thousand
3:50
Speaker 3: dollars for the twenty hours a week. Yeah, Hey, that's
3:54
Speaker 3: pretty good money.
3:56
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's a new role. So yeah,
3:59
Speaker 6: it's the first time that earning that money here.
4:01
Speaker 5: So it's pretty good.
4:03
Speaker 3: You're outs on the job, my friends.
4:06
Speaker 5: Thank you. Yeah, it's pretty good.
4:07
Speaker 6: And I will say, like, I'm finally just in this
4:11
Speaker 6: stage where I can relax a little bit and I
4:14
Speaker 6: can afford the life here.
4:17
Speaker 4: So is marketing what you moved to Australia to study?
4:21
Speaker 5: No, So, I studied marketing back home. Okay, many many,
4:26
Speaker 5: many years ago. I've been working in marketing for the
4:30
Speaker 5: past ten years. Yeah. So I graduated in Colombia. I'm
4:35
Speaker 5: from Columbia.
4:36
Speaker 6: I graduated in Colombia advertising, which is not apparently here
4:42
Speaker 6: in Australia.
4:42
Speaker 5: It's not the same.
4:43
Speaker 6: But let's call it just marketing because yeah, and yeah,
4:49
Speaker 6: I work in Columbia. And then I got a job
4:52
Speaker 6: in Central America, so I moved to Central America. But yeah,
4:57
Speaker 6: I will say, like I was very young, like I did,
5:00
Speaker 6: didn't know how to enjoy and money and save money
5:05
Speaker 6: and then just appreciate the money that I was getting.
5:08
Speaker 6: I had this really really good job and I was
5:12
Speaker 6: earning a lord, but I never saved anything.
5:14
Speaker 5: I just blew it all.
5:16
Speaker 4: But you were young and you were having god an there.
5:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely all been there. I totally get it quick,
5:24
Speaker 3: really perfect question and money diarist. We're on zoom, so
5:28
Speaker 3: tony and I can see you. You look twenty two.
5:34
Speaker 5: You said that.
5:34
Speaker 3: You'd been working for ten years, So how.
5:37
Speaker 4: Old are you?
5:38
Speaker 5: I'm thirty one.
5:40
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. I would never have I am thirty.
5:42
Speaker 3: I would have literally assumed you were at least eight
5:45
Speaker 3: years younger than me.
5:46
Speaker 5: Oh, thank you, Oh my gosh.
5:48
Speaker 6: Now, yeah, like I was studying, well, I was thirty, Eunie.
5:51
Speaker 6: I got a job in an advising an agency when
5:55
Speaker 6: I was twenty one. I've been working since I was thirteen,
5:58
Speaker 6: but in marketing, so I was twenty one.
6:01
Speaker 5: Oh my gosh.
6:02
Speaker 4: And what did you move to Australia to study?
6:05
Speaker 6: I wanted to learn English. So my initial plan was
6:09
Speaker 6: just to come here for six months.
6:11
Speaker 5: And I was just like, yeah, well look how that went. Yeah,
6:14
Speaker 5: I know.
6:16
Speaker 6: I just felt like, ah, six months will be enough.
6:18
Speaker 6: I just wanted to learn a little bit so I
6:21
Speaker 6: could get a bit of job. Yeah, and then I
6:24
Speaker 6: just after six months, I was like, oh my god,
6:26
Speaker 6: like I can't speak award like I was so scared,
6:30
Speaker 6: so I said, oh, maybe I'm going to extend my
6:32
Speaker 6: viisa another year, and then that yeah, ended up being
6:37
Speaker 6: four years.
6:37
Speaker 3: Now. I love that. I love that you've come here
6:41
Speaker 3: and like found home. That feels so nice that we
6:45
Speaker 3: get to share that with you. And I have another
6:48
Speaker 3: perfect question, completely off the railroads. Tony's going to be like,
6:51
Speaker 3: get back to your normal questions. I'm the producer, please
6:54
Speaker 3: do the right thing, Victoria. But you've stuck around and
6:57
Speaker 3: now you have a partner. Did you meet your partner
6:59
Speaker 3: here or did you move with them?
7:01
Speaker 6: No, I'm moved on my own and I met him here.
7:05
Speaker 3: Oh and now you're going to stay for love? How
7:08
Speaker 3: can you?
7:11
Speaker 5: Yes, that's exactly right.
7:12
Speaker 2: I think actually, Victoria, she might be staying for the
7:15
Speaker 2: dog that she mentioned before we started.
7:17
Speaker 3: Yes, dog, guys. People are the best kinds of people.
7:22
Speaker 3: So you know this money direst is pure, you just know,
7:26
Speaker 3: al right, true. Next big question is what is your
7:29
Speaker 3: big money goal?
7:32
Speaker 6: Big money goal at the moment, I will say, it's
7:35
Speaker 6: just to pay for my next visa. So it's just
7:40
Speaker 6: such a visas. It's just a little bit of a
7:43
Speaker 6: mess because I'm currently.
7:46
Speaker 5: In a student visa.
7:48
Speaker 6: Student visas, Like the course of them depend on the
7:53
Speaker 6: course that you want to do, if so, if you
7:56
Speaker 6: want to do like a bachelor's degree or if you
7:59
Speaker 6: want to do a diploma, certificate or masters. So yeah,
8:03
Speaker 6: the course just depends on that. So I've been doing
8:08
Speaker 6: all these courses and courses and courses because that's the
8:11
Speaker 6: only way how I kind of stay. But now that
8:14
Speaker 6: I've met my partner, we've been together for a year,
8:17
Speaker 6: and now the next step is just to get to
8:21
Speaker 6: apply for a visa is called a partner visa, and
8:24
Speaker 6: so I stop studying.
8:28
Speaker 4: Which will be a relief. Sure means you can work
8:32
Speaker 4: more hours, right.
8:33
Speaker 6: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I get like full rights to work here.
8:37
Speaker 6: So that visa cost me around between eight grand and
8:42
Speaker 6: nine grand. So I've been saving this, yeah, like all
8:45
Speaker 6: this year for that and I will apply in December.
8:49
Speaker 6: So that's my that's my money goal for now.
8:52
Speaker 2: That's a lot of money for sure, Yeah, especially when
8:54
Speaker 2: you're limited to how many hours you can work and
8:58
Speaker 2: oh that's difficult.
8:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it takes serious commitment and I think that's
9:02
Speaker 3: something that is so underestimated by you know, the average Australian.
9:07
Speaker 3: They're like oh okay, so you came to live here.
9:09
Speaker 3: It's like, yes, you did, but you also got all
9:12
Speaker 3: of these limitations on you and all of these requirements.
9:15
Speaker 3: And then they're not just you know, personal requirements that
9:17
Speaker 3: you need to meet all restrictions, there's also a whole
9:19
Speaker 3: heap of money that you need to hand over. And
9:21
Speaker 3: it's just like, we are so lucky one tony to
9:25
Speaker 3: have been born in Australia, but then two to have
9:28
Speaker 3: people who love our country so much that they're willing
9:30
Speaker 3: to sacrifice that much to stay here, Like, yeah, how
9:33
Speaker 3: did share it with us?
9:34
Speaker 5: Yeah?
9:35
Speaker 3: I love that.
9:36
Speaker 6: Yeah, I love this country's It's given me so many
9:39
Speaker 6: opportunities and yeah, just good experiences.
9:41
Speaker 5: So yeah, I definitely want to stay.
9:43
Speaker 3: Next question is do you currently have any investments?
9:48
Speaker 5: As I lamp from this podcast, only my super.
9:52
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, but I'm so glad you know that
9:53
Speaker 3: that's an investment.
9:55
Speaker 5: Yeah, I know.
9:55
Speaker 3: Now, yeah, I love that, so so good. And I
9:59
Speaker 3: think that you're in a position where it's like, yep, cool,
10:01
Speaker 3: you actually don't have the capacity to start investing yet,
10:04
Speaker 3: and that's okay. It is not a bad thing to
10:07
Speaker 3: not be able to invest, and I would never want
10:09
Speaker 3: you to feel pressure that you have to start investing
10:12
Speaker 3: because other people are, like, you're running your own race,
10:14
Speaker 3: and I think it's so important to remember that and
10:17
Speaker 3: not put pressure on yourself to start something because you
10:19
Speaker 3: think it's expected. Next question and I know we know
10:23
Speaker 3: the answer to this already, but I want to talk
10:25
Speaker 3: about anymore detail. Do you currently have any debts.
10:31
Speaker 5: Debts? I will say, oh, probably.
10:36
Speaker 6: I don't consider the visa as a debt because well,
10:43
Speaker 6: I have the chance if I want to just like
10:46
Speaker 6: stop that process and then just go back home, I
10:48
Speaker 6: can do it. So it's not like I own that
10:50
Speaker 6: money yet. But I do have a debt but it's
10:56
Speaker 6: just for eight hundred dollars now, which is the The
11:00
Speaker 6: current course that I'm doing is a diploma. So what
11:04
Speaker 6: we do here in Australia as students is like you
11:07
Speaker 6: have the possibility to pay upfront or otherwise you just
11:11
Speaker 6: pay installments, which is what I do. So I have
11:15
Speaker 6: to pay like every month or every two months. I
11:18
Speaker 6: have to pay one thousand dollars so I can keep studying.
11:22
Speaker 6: So currently I need to pay eight hundred dollars just
11:25
Speaker 6: to finish paying for this course.
11:29
Speaker 2: That is so much money though, isn't it to have
11:31
Speaker 2: to just pay up front?
11:33
Speaker 5: I know the Yeah, education here is very expensive. Al right.
11:38
Speaker 3: Next question, do you currently use shot back?
11:42
Speaker 5: I know about it because of you guys. Are I've
11:45
Speaker 5: looked it up. Yeah, look at the impact, but I
11:49
Speaker 5: haven't bought anything yet.
11:50
Speaker 3: Cool, Paisy. Next question is, and I think that you're
11:54
Speaker 3: going to be pretty savvy. I think we've got a
11:56
Speaker 3: lot to learn from you, my friend. What is your
11:59
Speaker 3: best money habit?
12:01
Speaker 5: Oh, best money habit? I don't know if that's good
12:06
Speaker 5: or not.
12:06
Speaker 6: But I have created this weird habit where I just, oh, gosh, embarrassing.
12:13
Speaker 6: But I just go to this whatever website where I
12:16
Speaker 6: want to buy things from like skincare or floating whatever,
12:21
Speaker 6: I got them. Yeah, And I just put everything I
12:26
Speaker 6: want to buy. I just put it in the cart,
12:28
Speaker 6: and then when I go to the checkout, I think
12:31
Speaker 6: do I need this?
12:33
Speaker 5: And the time so that I do not.
12:36
Speaker 2: So you're good at catching yourself out before.
12:39
Speaker 4: You just spend money.
12:40
Speaker 5: Yeah.
12:40
Speaker 6: So I just literally just close the whole website and say, Okay, cool,
12:44
Speaker 6: I saved some money.
12:47
Speaker 5: So I just shut it down. Yeah, so I saved that.
12:51
Speaker 5: That's saving right, But I would say.
12:56
Speaker 6: Just basically, I just ask myself like do I really
13:00
Speaker 6: need this, and most of the time like I don't,
13:04
Speaker 6: So yeah, I just don't spend it.
13:06
Speaker 3: She's better at that than I am, Tony, because sometimes
13:09
Speaker 3: I'm like, no, no, I really do need that white dress,
13:12
Speaker 3: even though I have a hundred other white dresses. Like
13:14
Speaker 3: I'm so good at convincing myself of what I need.
13:17
Speaker 3: So I think it's an actual talent to convince yourself
13:20
Speaker 3: that you don't need something when you are so emotionally
13:22
Speaker 3: invested in it. Like, I think that's underrated. That is
13:25
Speaker 3: an impressive good money I like it. Let's turn the tables, though,
13:30
Speaker 3: and ask you what your worst money habit is.
13:34
Speaker 6: Worse money habit probably is the completely opposite. Like sometimes
13:40
Speaker 6: I just half pace run them thought like, Okay, I
13:45
Speaker 6: deserve it, same as my mom used to say. I
13:47
Speaker 6: just deserve it, and I just literally spend it all
13:51
Speaker 6: and then I just spend time feeling guilty.
13:55
Speaker 5: So yeah, it's not like.
13:56
Speaker 6: A very healthy behavior, I will say, but yeah, that's
13:59
Speaker 6: my that's my water's money habit. Sometimes like I just
14:02
Speaker 6: spend it all and then feel guilty.
14:05
Speaker 5: But that's not.
14:07
Speaker 6: I don't know like I don't do that every single
14:10
Speaker 6: month is just I can be good for like good
14:13
Speaker 6: like saving and all of that for like, I don't know,
14:16
Speaker 6: thirty four months in a row and then I do
14:19
Speaker 6: that sort of thing.
14:20
Speaker 2: Do you think that's probably though, because you have to
14:23
Speaker 2: save so hard because you can only work such like
14:26
Speaker 2: a small amount of hours. It's probably because you have
14:29
Speaker 2: to be so strict on yourself that sometimes you're like, bah,
14:33
Speaker 2: I just really want to buy something, Like I've been
14:36
Speaker 2: looking at this thing for three or four months, and
14:38
Speaker 2: I just really really want to treat myself. I've been
14:40
Speaker 2: working really hard. I feel like, obviously, Victoria, you're you're
14:43
Speaker 2: the expert. But is that like one of the psychologies
14:46
Speaker 2: behind spending hours?
14:48
Speaker 3: Yes, my friend, it is. And that's essentially why I
14:51
Speaker 3: often compare strict budgeting to a strict diet, because at
14:55
Speaker 3: some point you are going to binge, you are going
14:57
Speaker 3: to fall off the cart and going to do something
14:59
Speaker 3: with which is why it is so important to actually
15:02
Speaker 3: incorporate healthy spending habits into our budget consistently instead of
15:07
Speaker 3: just always restricting ourselves and going no, no, no, no no,
15:10
Speaker 3: it's not sustainable long term to say I'm never going
15:13
Speaker 3: to buy something that is, you know, new dresses or
15:15
Speaker 3: shoes or something that I don't need. I think it's
15:18
Speaker 3: good to have a buffer in your account so you
15:20
Speaker 3: can say that is my fun money, that is the
15:22
Speaker 3: money that I'm going to allow myself to treat myself with.
15:24
Speaker 3: And I think that that ultimately stops that that binge
15:28
Speaker 3: or that splurge at the end of a period of
15:31
Speaker 3: time where you've saved really aggressively, because often in those
15:35
Speaker 3: splurges you'll spend so much more money than you would
15:38
Speaker 3: have if you just allocated yourself like fifty dollars a
15:40
Speaker 3: month or something.
15:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's so true.
15:43
Speaker 6: The thing is, like, as Tony was saying before, like
15:46
Speaker 6: sometimes when I have to save so much, it's like, no,
15:49
Speaker 6: it's so it's strict, Like if I don't save this money,
15:53
Speaker 6: I'm not gonna make it.
15:54
Speaker 5: So I save so, so.
15:56
Speaker 6: So much, and then I just I don't know, I
15:59
Speaker 6: just I think I get a little bit frustrated, and
16:02
Speaker 6: I say I just need to I just need to
16:05
Speaker 6: buy a little bit, and then that little bit just
16:08
Speaker 6: leads to another little bit, yeah, and so on, and
16:11
Speaker 6: then I'm just very stressed. But I think it's yeah,
16:14
Speaker 6: definitely not a healthy behavior. Like sometimes when I allocate
16:19
Speaker 6: money to spend, I feel so much better because, Okay,
16:22
Speaker 6: like I could put fifty dollars away for this month,
16:29
Speaker 6: so yeah, I can go out or like I don't know,
16:32
Speaker 6: even for a meal or something, and it's all right.
16:36
Speaker 5: But it's definitely something I can't do every.
16:38
Speaker 3: Month, no, And I think that that's where we need
16:41
Speaker 3: to be realistic as well, because in your situation, you
16:45
Speaker 3: actually have deadlines for when you need to have a
16:47
Speaker 3: certain amount of money safe for a visa or for
16:49
Speaker 3: something really particular, and given you don't have a massive income,
16:53
Speaker 3: that's a massive challenge for you. So I totally get it,
16:56
Speaker 3: and it's actually unavoidable in your situation. To actually reach
16:59
Speaker 3: that goal, you do have to be really strict. So
17:01
Speaker 3: I get why you're blowing out, but I think it's
17:03
Speaker 3: more important to just understand the psychology behind it, not
17:07
Speaker 3: just go oh my gosh, I'm so bad at this.
17:09
Speaker 3: It's like, no, you're not. You're actually doing what everybody
17:11
Speaker 3: else in this situation would do as well. It is
17:14
Speaker 3: so normal, al right, I don't think that's the worst
17:17
Speaker 3: money habit. Just by the way, So segueing into The
17:22
Speaker 3: next question, which is if I forced you to give
17:25
Speaker 3: yourself a money grade, what would you grade yourself?
17:29
Speaker 6: Probably will be a C minus. Oh no, yeah, I'll
17:35
Speaker 6: say so.
17:37
Speaker 3: I know, I feel like you have so many good
17:40
Speaker 3: money habits, like look at how much you've accomplished and
17:43
Speaker 3: achieved and done. There's no way you're a C minus.
17:47
Speaker 3: You only have eight hundred dollars. Was it debt? Come
17:50
Speaker 3: on money diarist? Well, I will respect it, but I
17:56
Speaker 3: also do think that you are definitely worthy of a
17:59
Speaker 3: higher grade.
18:02
Speaker 6: I think probably if I if I change my mentality
18:08
Speaker 6: towards money, it could be better. And also I think,
18:11
Speaker 6: like sometimes when I compare the life I used to
18:14
Speaker 6: have before I came here and the life that I
18:18
Speaker 6: have here, I said like, well, you know, like when
18:22
Speaker 6: I was living in Central America, I was earning American
18:25
Speaker 6: dollars and it was like ninety K a year, Oh
18:30
Speaker 6: my wow, compared to what I have here. But I also, yeah,
18:35
Speaker 6: like I know, I was very young, and I just
18:37
Speaker 6: do it all just but I just feel and I
18:41
Speaker 6: have that fear that, oh my god, if I earn
18:42
Speaker 6: the same money here, I'm gonna do the same. So
18:46
Speaker 6: somehow I just got used to it just to be
18:48
Speaker 6: on a budget and very strict and all of this.
18:51
Speaker 6: Because it's working now now I don't have the same
18:55
Speaker 6: issues I used to have when I was doing now.
18:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I think that that's also a really big
19:00
Speaker 3: part of your money story. And I'm not going to
19:03
Speaker 3: ask you right now. I'm going to ask you after
19:05
Speaker 3: we take this really short break. Oh my gosh, So
19:12
Speaker 3: we are back, Tony, and I want to dive straight
19:15
Speaker 3: in to asking. I guess about the income difference that
19:19
Speaker 3: you've experienced. Like I've got a whole heap of other
19:21
Speaker 3: questions about visas and tips and stuff like that, but
19:24
Speaker 3: you've gone from earning ninety thousand dollars USD, which I
19:28
Speaker 3: did some quick maths just before, and that's about one
19:31
Speaker 3: hundred and twenty three thousand dollars, which is huge Australia.
19:34
Speaker 3: That is a massive amount of money. And I know
19:37
Speaker 3: that you know there's different living costs and stuff like that,
19:40
Speaker 3: but how have you adapted from earning such a high
19:43
Speaker 3: amount of money to making a decision to move countries,
19:46
Speaker 3: change your entire lifestyle, learn English and flip everything on
19:50
Speaker 3: its head and essentially start learning less than half of
19:53
Speaker 3: what you used to earn, Like, how have you adapted,
19:57
Speaker 3: how have you changed?
19:58
Speaker 5: Oh, definitely hasn't been easier. I didn't.
20:02
Speaker 6: It took me a while just to realize that I
20:05
Speaker 6: didn't have the same life. But it was also a
20:09
Speaker 6: sacrifice I was willing to do because I really wanted
20:13
Speaker 6: to learn English. Yeah, so when I came here, I
20:17
Speaker 6: came with zero English. Like I knew like the greetings
20:21
Speaker 6: and colors and things like that, but I couldn't communicate
20:27
Speaker 6: at all. So what I put in my email about
20:30
Speaker 6: the weird jobs that I've done and all that is
20:32
Speaker 6: because yeah, like if you don't speak the language, you
20:35
Speaker 6: obviously can't have it.
20:37
Speaker 5: Yeah, just like a normal.
20:39
Speaker 3: Jobs make it hard. Yeah.
20:41
Speaker 5: Yeah.
20:41
Speaker 6: So at the start, I just came from an office
20:47
Speaker 6: to have like this position and this money to come
20:51
Speaker 6: here and work in a hotel making beds and I
20:55
Speaker 6: would make like thirty five bets per day and do
21:00
Speaker 6: the cleaning and all of this, and it.
21:02
Speaker 5: Was just shocking.
21:03
Speaker 6: It was I would go home and they just think,
21:07
Speaker 6: like what am I doing? Like while am I here? Like, well,
21:12
Speaker 6: am I doing this? Like I didn't know it was
21:13
Speaker 6: that hard. But at the same time, like I will
21:17
Speaker 6: work from like seven am to six p five pm
21:22
Speaker 6: and then at six pm from ten pm I will
21:25
Speaker 6: go to my English classes and every that that was
21:29
Speaker 6: my routine, like every single day. So once I got
21:33
Speaker 6: to the point where I could communicate, it was it
21:37
Speaker 6: was better, Like I was okay, Like now I can't
21:40
Speaker 6: like the transition fell.
21:43
Speaker 5: Lighter.
21:43
Speaker 6: I will say, so yeah, very very like achieveable to
21:48
Speaker 6: live here and to work in marketing and all of
21:52
Speaker 6: that once I spoke the language. So at the start
21:56
Speaker 6: was a heart like a very difficult transition. But I
22:00
Speaker 6: don't know, I just feel like there were all the
22:03
Speaker 6: things that were more positive and that helped me with
22:07
Speaker 6: that transition and helped me just like leaving that money
22:11
Speaker 6: and that like lifestyle, living it like in my country
22:15
Speaker 6: or in other countries and not bringing that here because
22:19
Speaker 6: I can't compare. I can't expect to have the same
22:22
Speaker 6: life in a completely different country where I don't know where,
22:26
Speaker 6: I didn't know anyone when I came to me.
22:28
Speaker 3: That just seems crazy and something that I wouldn't go, Okay,
22:32
Speaker 3: this is absolutely worth it, But why was it worth
22:35
Speaker 3: it to you? Why was making that sacrifice and making
22:38
Speaker 3: that decision something you were like, No, I don't want
22:41
Speaker 3: to go back. I don't want to do that again
22:43
Speaker 3: because I just feel like that's impressive, Like I'm so
22:47
Speaker 3: impressed with you.
22:49
Speaker 6: Initially, I think it was the main reason why I
22:55
Speaker 6: just didn't want to go back. It was because I
22:59
Speaker 6: wasn't working in I feel, and I was a little
23:01
Speaker 6: bit over it.
23:04
Speaker 5: I don't know, just like.
23:05
Speaker 6: Working for these like big companies and incorporate it gets
23:10
Speaker 6: very oh I don't know, just like heavy sometimes like yeah, yeah,
23:15
Speaker 6: your mental health is just non existent for them. So
23:19
Speaker 6: I was working like twenty four hours seven. I couldn't rest.
23:25
Speaker 6: I was physically like sick because of the amount of
23:29
Speaker 6: stress I was dealing with every day. So I think
23:35
Speaker 6: once I came here and yeah, like I was doing
23:37
Speaker 6: all these like weird jobs and funny jobs I call them,
23:42
Speaker 6: but I wasn't. I wasn't dealing with all of that stuff.
23:46
Speaker 6: I wasn't dealing with like clients or deadlines or things
23:50
Speaker 6: that were making me feel uncomfortable sometimes like because of
23:53
Speaker 6: the pressure, I was just completely relaxed. I was like,
23:57
Speaker 6: oh my god, like I'm actually leaving. Yeah, Like I
24:01
Speaker 6: never felt like I had just like as a teenager,
24:04
Speaker 6: like I have a lot of freedom. So once I
24:07
Speaker 6: came here, I would just I don't know, it's just
24:09
Speaker 6: like pressed by everything. It just like shocked by everything.
24:13
Speaker 6: I was like, oh my god, this is the rule,
24:15
Speaker 6: like you know. So I think maybe that's why I thought.
24:18
Speaker 5: It was worth it.
24:20
Speaker 6: Also, coming from like a violent country to our country,
24:27
Speaker 6: like Australia, it felt completely different, like I felt safe
24:31
Speaker 6: here somehow.
24:34
Speaker 5: So yeah, that's probably why.
24:37
Speaker 3: Wow, that is so powerful and honestly, such a sacrifice
24:42
Speaker 3: to make that. I just don't think people respect nearly
24:45
Speaker 3: as much as they should. Like, I'm in awe of
24:48
Speaker 3: this story and what you've gone through and the sacrifice
24:51
Speaker 3: that you are continuing to make to live in a
24:53
Speaker 3: country that just suits you better, Like it's it's crazy.
24:58
Speaker 3: I'm yeah, I won't go on, but I'm so impressed.
25:01
Speaker 3: But I guess moving away from that part of the
25:04
Speaker 3: conversation and into visas and how easy they are to
25:08
Speaker 3: get and how hard they can be to get, I
25:10
Speaker 3: guess what's that process been like for you? Is it
25:13
Speaker 3: actually easier having a partner now? Like, what's the process
25:17
Speaker 3: been like for you?
25:19
Speaker 5: Okay?
25:19
Speaker 6: With the student visas, it's not easy because you don't
25:25
Speaker 6: get the chance to study what you want pretty much. Yeah,
25:29
Speaker 6: you need to study always something that is related to
25:31
Speaker 6: your career. So in my case, I couldn't move away
25:37
Speaker 6: from advertising or marketing or that area, because that mean
25:43
Speaker 6: that I wasn't like a genuine student for Australia.
25:49
Speaker 5: I didn't know that.
25:51
Speaker 6: Yeah, Like as I said before, so the benefits and
25:55
Speaker 6: rights and it's just depending on your career and what
25:59
Speaker 6: you want to study so for instance, and also from
26:02
Speaker 6: the country you come from. So yeah, so between the
26:06
Speaker 6: governments they make deals and for instance, if you come
26:11
Speaker 6: from Chile, you will have a work on holiday visa
26:15
Speaker 6: and all the sort of visas available for you. But
26:18
Speaker 6: if you come from a country like mine, you don't
26:20
Speaker 6: have that option. You just have a student visa, so
26:23
Speaker 6: you're just allowed to work twenty hours a week and
26:26
Speaker 6: we have to pay a private health insurance. We don't
26:28
Speaker 6: have Medicare or any we're not allowed to use any
26:32
Speaker 6: of that. So yeah, like in terms of visas, the
26:37
Speaker 6: process aren't easy, but if you stick to your career
26:41
Speaker 6: and then just study things that are related to it,
26:45
Speaker 6: it's easy.
26:46
Speaker 5: And I guess like I've learned so much. I've done
26:50
Speaker 5: so many certificates and diplomas and.
26:54
Speaker 2: You're probably the highest qualified person I've ever met.
26:58
Speaker 3: Time Just like think back and go, wow, imagine the
27:03
Speaker 3: amount of people that would have And I'm making a
27:05
Speaker 3: grand assumption here, and I promise you I wouldn't have
27:08
Speaker 3: been one of these people, and I know no one
27:09
Speaker 3: that I'm surrounded by would have been as either, But
27:13
Speaker 3: just the amount of people that would have been so
27:14
Speaker 3: disrespectful to you while you were working as a housekeeper,
27:18
Speaker 3: Like it blows my mind that the people doing these jobs,
27:23
Speaker 3: Like you know, I've never thought any less of it,
27:25
Speaker 3: Like a job is a job, and it you know,
27:27
Speaker 3: puts food on the table and does all of that.
27:29
Speaker 3: But like you were coming from earning one hundred and
27:32
Speaker 3: twenty thousand dollars Australian each year to being a housekeeper,
27:36
Speaker 3: and I just can't imagine that jump and how that
27:40
Speaker 3: would have emotionally affected you as well. Just change is
27:44
Speaker 3: so dramatic, and I just, I mean awe of you
27:47
Speaker 3: sticking to it. Genuinely, I'm so proud of you. And
27:50
Speaker 3: you know what, like how lucky are we that you
27:53
Speaker 3: want to hang out with us and in our country
27:56
Speaker 3: and like you know, contribute to our economy and I
27:59
Speaker 3: just think that's it's so cool and so special.
28:02
Speaker 5: Thank you.
28:04
Speaker 2: The other thing I think people just fully underestimate, which
28:07
Speaker 2: is so hard for me to comprehend, is the fact
28:10
Speaker 2: that you have come here not speaking any English and
28:14
Speaker 2: you've learned an entire language like that is insane to
28:20
Speaker 2: me that you could come here and take that leap
28:23
Speaker 2: and just think, you know, this is I've got it.
28:26
Speaker 2: I can do this when you know, there's lots of
28:29
Speaker 2: people that set out to start learning a language and
28:31
Speaker 2: give up because it's too hard. You know, that's you
28:35
Speaker 2: can speak an entire language that's not native to you
28:39
Speaker 2: because you moved here and it was just a choice
28:40
Speaker 2: you made, And that's just wild to me.
28:43
Speaker 4: I know that that's not really weak money.
28:44
Speaker 3: Related, but no, I'm solely ressed.
28:48
Speaker 6: Oh wow, that's one of the most expensive courses that
28:53
Speaker 6: you can do here is English.
28:55
Speaker 5: I really yeah. I think I've paid the same amount
28:58
Speaker 5: of money that I pay for.
29:00
Speaker 6: My actual bachelor's degree back home just to study English here.
29:04
Speaker 5: Yeah.
29:05
Speaker 3: I would have taught you for a free job, been
29:08
Speaker 3: able to speak properly if you're there logan danger Love, says.
29:17
Speaker 6: Tony, saying that I don't want to generalize just saying
29:23
Speaker 6: like everyone that comes from South America or Columbia specifically
29:30
Speaker 6: it's in the same situation, because that's not how it is.
29:34
Speaker 6: Like I've got I've met a few people here that
29:37
Speaker 6: they just they learn English back home, because we do
29:40
Speaker 6: have English lessons and everything, but people like me never.
29:44
Speaker 5: Learn because I just didn't want to.
29:46
Speaker 6: I didn't think I need I needed to learn English,
29:50
Speaker 6: to be honest. So yeah, I've met people that they
29:55
Speaker 6: spoke English people and then they just came here to
29:57
Speaker 6: do like a master's and their situation is gone different.
30:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, And of course, and I mean that it's not
30:04
Speaker 3: to generalize in any way, shape or form, but like
30:06
Speaker 3: everybody has a different journey, right, and like this is
30:09
Speaker 3: just yours, and we're so lucky that we get to
30:11
Speaker 3: share this journey and you know, learn about it. But
30:14
Speaker 3: you know, for those people that are on student visas
30:17
Speaker 3: at the moment and feel like they're struggling, do you
30:19
Speaker 3: have any tips or tricks that made it a bit
30:21
Speaker 3: easier for you.
30:24
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, I've got so many tips in terms of
30:28
Speaker 6: language and also in terms of.
30:30
Speaker 3: Like visas, Oh gosh, give us both.
30:34
Speaker 6: In terms of language, I think some of the I
30:38
Speaker 6: don't know, Like a good piece of advice that someone
30:41
Speaker 6: gave me a long time ago was just just get
30:45
Speaker 6: out of your comfort zone, because a lot of people
30:48
Speaker 6: don't do that. They just stick to what they know.
30:51
Speaker 6: So they stick to I don't know, like the Latino community,
30:56
Speaker 6: or like people that speak the same language, and they're
30:59
Speaker 6: very scare of like hanging up with Australians because they're like, oh,
31:03
Speaker 6: I don't know if they're gonna judge me because I
31:05
Speaker 6: don't speak well or things like that. Also because our
31:10
Speaker 6: cultures are very different. So probably just yeah, get out
31:14
Speaker 6: of your comfort.
31:15
Speaker 4: Zone, throw yourself in the deep end, make some friends.
31:19
Speaker 5: Exactly. It's not impossible.
31:21
Speaker 6: Like I did so many weird things, like I joined
31:24
Speaker 6: meet up ups and like or will be a ff
31:29
Speaker 6: up and everything, and just to go out and meet
31:32
Speaker 6: up like weed female friends and male friends and yeah,
31:37
Speaker 6: and I watch like TV every day and then just
31:40
Speaker 6: like kind of like throw myself into this new language
31:44
Speaker 6: and new experience. So I think sometimes people just keep
31:49
Speaker 6: working on these jobs that they don't want to work
31:53
Speaker 6: or they don't want to do. It's just because they
31:55
Speaker 6: feel like they're not good enough in the language. And yeah,
32:00
Speaker 6: so that in terms of the language and in terms
32:02
Speaker 6: of like the visas, it would be probably have a
32:07
Speaker 6: better understanding how the system works, because sometimes we just
32:12
Speaker 6: that happened to me, Like I just I didn't know
32:15
Speaker 6: how like the visas work. How like I didn't know
32:20
Speaker 6: if I had a chance to stay or if I
32:23
Speaker 6: had a chance to do things like differently, Sometimes it's
32:28
Speaker 6: good if we just seek for advice with an immigration
32:33
Speaker 6: lawyer or people like that. That can give us some light.
32:37
Speaker 6: It can actually give us some options and say, just
32:41
Speaker 6: stop spending your money on this, just go and study
32:45
Speaker 6: these or go and I don't know, apply for these
32:47
Speaker 6: sort of visa And that's going to give you some relief,
32:51
Speaker 6: because that's what we think, Like once you are in
32:54
Speaker 6: a student visa, you just looking desperately. Okay, what else
32:58
Speaker 6: can I do? I just want to stay. I just
32:59
Speaker 6: want to stay, you know. So once you just seek
33:02
Speaker 6: for a professional advice, yeah, that's going to make you
33:05
Speaker 6: life easier.
33:06
Speaker 5: Probably is it.
33:08
Speaker 2: Quite expensive to speak with an immigration lawyer or like
33:13
Speaker 2: is that quite accessible?
33:15
Speaker 5: It is? But yeah, it is very expensive.
33:18
Speaker 2: Did you engage an immigration lawyer to get everything in
33:22
Speaker 2: an order for you?
33:23
Speaker 5: Or yeah?
33:25
Speaker 6: I did so once I stopped studying English when I
33:30
Speaker 6: wanted to study something else because I wanted to study
33:34
Speaker 6: something related to the jobs that I could apply in Australia.
33:39
Speaker 6: So I yeah, I spoke to an immigration lawyer and
33:46
Speaker 6: I think it was like thirty minutes and I had
33:48
Speaker 6: to pay like three hundred dollars something.
33:52
Speaker 3: Oh, my old nurse, and he so much money, especially
33:57
Speaker 3: when you're not earning much at all.
33:59
Speaker 6: I think he basically told me I needed to go
34:01
Speaker 6: back to my country because my career wasn't good here,
34:05
Speaker 6: and I was.
34:07
Speaker 2: I was just in tears, but rightfully, so that's horrible.
34:12
Speaker 5: Yeah.
34:12
Speaker 6: After that experience, I took to more people and friends,
34:17
Speaker 6: and the South American community here is super big, so
34:23
Speaker 6: everyone kind of like know what like each.
34:27
Speaker 5: Process is about. That's good.
34:30
Speaker 7: Yeah.
34:31
Speaker 6: So that's when I realized like, oh, okay, I've got
34:34
Speaker 6: a lot of opportunities actually, like I can find a
34:38
Speaker 6: company that can give me a sponsorship, or I can
34:43
Speaker 6: I don't know, just like change my career kind of
34:48
Speaker 6: and study a master's degree in these and that's going
34:51
Speaker 6: to give me another chance to stay here or yeah,
34:54
Speaker 6: just like no, I'm not I don't want to say,
34:57
Speaker 6: like I meet someone and get on a.
34:59
Speaker 7: Part visa because that's not the ideal. That wasn't my
35:07
Speaker 7: plan when I met my partner, just a side not.
35:11
Speaker 3: Yeah. Now I feel like if that was your plan,
35:14
Speaker 3: my friend, you would have done it a lot earlier. Yeah,
35:17
Speaker 3: not wasted, not wasted all that time.
35:20
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah.
35:22
Speaker 6: So yeah, once you kind of like an ask around
35:25
Speaker 6: and you just john't decide to do things just on
35:28
Speaker 6: your own, because sometimes that's not the best option. So yeah,
35:34
Speaker 6: once you do that, I think you have more clarity
35:36
Speaker 6: in terms of visas and processes. And also the law
35:40
Speaker 6: changes every single year, so we need to be up
35:43
Speaker 6: to day with that as well.
35:45
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, it's so complex, and I'm so grateful
35:48
Speaker 3: that we've gotten to learn a little bit more about
35:50
Speaker 3: you and your journey and the journey of other people
35:53
Speaker 3: in similar situations to you, who are trying to go
35:56
Speaker 3: through the visa process and do want to stay and
35:58
Speaker 3: actually want to get a good job here because you
36:01
Speaker 3: are smart, capable humans and you just have to learn
36:04
Speaker 3: the language. Like it's crazy to think how much language
36:08
Speaker 3: is a barrier for so many, like and what opportunity
36:11
Speaker 3: we're missing because learning another language is so challenging. Like,
36:15
Speaker 3: as you said before, it's not just the language. It's
36:18
Speaker 3: so expensive to learn as well, which I'm sure is
36:21
Speaker 3: a massive barrier for so many other people as well.
36:24
Speaker 3: But oh my gosh, so grateful to have shared your story.
36:28
Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you for sending in your journey and
36:33
Speaker 4: sharing it with us, because it's.
36:35
Speaker 2: Honestly such an eye amner, and I think there's going
36:37
Speaker 2: to be a lot of people in our community that
36:40
Speaker 2: listen to this that have either been through what you've
36:43
Speaker 2: been through and you know, risked it all and moved
36:46
Speaker 2: overseas and tried to learn a new language, or people
36:49
Speaker 2: that would really like to do that and you know,
36:51
Speaker 2: use you as a bit of inspiration. So it's been
36:54
Speaker 2: like such a pleasure to have you on.
36:57
Speaker 5: Thank you so much. I enjoy listening to the podcast
36:59
Speaker 5: every week.
37:00
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, I love that.
37:03
Speaker 5: Yeah, I've learned a lot, a lot. Oh I'm so glad.
37:07
Speaker 3: Well, I hope you keep learning and you keep hanging
37:09
Speaker 3: out with us on the podcast every week.
37:13
Speaker 5: Yes, definitely I will.
37:15
Speaker 3: All right, Well, I think that is all we have
37:18
Speaker 3: time for today, but as always, just before we head off,
37:21
Speaker 3: we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to Australia's Aboriginal
37:24
Speaker 3: and torrist Straight Islander peoples. They're the traditional custodians of
37:28
Speaker 3: the lands, the waterways and the skies all across Australia.
37:32
Speaker 3: We thank you for sharing and for caring for the
37:34
Speaker 3: land on which we are able to learn. We pay
37:37
Speaker 3: our respects to elders past and present, and we share
37:39
Speaker 3: our friendship and our kindness.
37:41
Speaker 2: The advice shared on She's on the Money is generally
37:44
Speaker 2: nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on
37:48
Speaker 2: the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not
37:51
Speaker 2: be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
37:54
Speaker 2: And we promise that Victoria Divine is an authorized representative
37:58
Speaker 2: of Australia Pacific Funds Management Proprietary Limited a b N
38:02
Speaker 2: three four one three two four six three two five
38:05
Speaker 2: seven AFSL three three nine one five one.
38:08
Speaker 3: I will hang out with you next week on Money Diary.
38:10
Speaker 3: SI soon, guys.
38:11
Speaker 1: Bye,