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The Singles Tax & Money In Relationships · Two Broke Chicks

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Speaker 1: This podcast is recorded on gadigal Land Always was, always
0:03
Speaker 1: will be Aboriginal Land.
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Speaker 2: Patricks, I'm out and this is Two Road Chicks, the
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Speaker 2: show that shares life lessons and tips to make you
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Speaker 2: rich in life.
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Speaker 1: And welcome back. Happy Tuesday if you're listening on a Tuesday,
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Speaker 1: Happy whatever day if you're listening on any other day. Yeah, yeah,
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Speaker 1: it's been ages. It's been like four days. That's all
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Speaker 1: it takes. Yep. But today we are talking the singles
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Speaker 1: tax and money in Relationships. This has been one of
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Speaker 1: the most requested episodes ever that we've been you know,
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Speaker 1: sitting on and wanting to do, and we got some
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Speaker 1: chick submissions for it as well, so I'm really excited
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Speaker 1: for this episode. Yes, it's going to be a good one.
0:56
Speaker 1: But before we start, as always.
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Speaker 3: Whenever we cover any topic to do with this isn't
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Speaker 3: financial advice. We do have lots of suggestions from the chicks,
1:05
Speaker 3: but of course your situation is very specific to you,
1:08
Speaker 3: so take every piece of advice with a grain of salt.
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Speaker 3: Not financial advice. Go speak to an accountant or a
1:14
Speaker 3: tax agent if you have any specific question one sorry.
1:17
Speaker 1: Before we get into the episode, as always, we start
1:19
Speaker 1: with things that we're obsessed with. And mine's got a
1:23
Speaker 1: little bit of a story. I bought this item for
1:27
Speaker 1: my boyfriend for his birthday and it didn't come in time,
1:32
Speaker 1: but it was like, it's our anniversary, like two weeks
1:34
Speaker 1: after his birthday, so I was like, jo, I'll just
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Speaker 1: leave it in the tank and just give it to
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Speaker 1: him for our anniversary because it was like not that
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Speaker 1: big of a present, and I just forgot about it,
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Speaker 1: as I do with many things. But fast forward to
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Speaker 1: when was it like two days ago, and it got
1:50
Speaker 1: a thing from the post office saying like you've got
1:54
Speaker 1: a package. So anyway, I'm lining up and there with
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Speaker 1: so many people, and there's just these two older gentlemen
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Speaker 1: that work post office, and then there's like six people
2:02
Speaker 1: behind me. Right, it's actually the poo stool that I
2:07
Speaker 1: bought for my boyfriend that is not in any packaging.
2:11
Speaker 1: That is not in any packaging. It is the box
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Speaker 1: of the postal.
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Speaker 4: With the wording of like bamboo squatting stool and a
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Speaker 4: photo on the box, just with like a postage sticker
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Speaker 4: on top, with like seven to ten people in this
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Speaker 4: post office while.
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Speaker 5: I'm just picking up my shitting stool. No, why does
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Speaker 5: this shit always happen? And it w only happen to you,
2:44
Speaker 5: only happens to me.
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Speaker 1: And every time this shit happens, I think, surely this
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Speaker 1: is the last time. I think, surely shooting myself in Toddies,
2:54
Speaker 1: getting my cuchie out in BONDI, getting my tits out
2:56
Speaker 1: of the skin check, like, surely this is enough. Where
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Speaker 1: am I rynch Undy's down BONDI road like, surely this
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Speaker 1: is the last time. But no, And then he takes
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Speaker 1: so long to fucking scan it. And I was standing
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Speaker 1: there being like, just give me the fucking pooh box please.
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Speaker 3: Like I love that you bought your boyfriend a shitting
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Speaker 3: stool for.
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Speaker 1: Your anniversary, she always said, though he said, this is
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Speaker 1: the best gift I've ever got. I can say that.
3:29
Speaker 1: And this is where the obsession comes in. If you
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Speaker 1: don't have poo stool, so you've used it, I've used it.
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Speaker 1: Does it work? Look, I'm just saying there was an
3:41
Speaker 1: efficient use of the bathroom. I rate it, all right,
3:44
Speaker 1: what's your obsession that doesn't have anything to do with feces.
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Speaker 3: My obsession of the week is actually a gift that
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Speaker 3: Alex got me to celebrate the three year anniversary of
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Speaker 3: two Broke Chicks. All the anniversary, I know, happy birthday check.
4:00
Speaker 3: But one of the gifts that she got me are
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Speaker 3: these amazing slippers from cotton On. They're called Cozy Novelty
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Speaker 3: Scruff Slippers. They're like a white bouclet slipper with prints
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Speaker 3: of little cherries on the top. They're so so cute,
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Speaker 3: great to wear around the house. But Al's been rocking
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Speaker 3: them all week.
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Speaker 1: Just out and about. I just they're that fucking cute.
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Speaker 1: I literally have been wearing them to the office, to
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Speaker 1: the podcast at home, to the shops. I wore them
4:31
Speaker 1: to go get the Mecca hourglass palettes. They're glued to
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Speaker 1: my feet. They're really cute.
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Speaker 3: We're on like a trajectory to just get everything cherry print.
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Speaker 3: We've got our cherry print bikinis from Rack, We've got
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Speaker 3: the cherry slippers from cotton On.
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Speaker 1: I'm excited to continue phone cases. Yeah, let's do it.
4:50
Speaker 1: But yeah, that's my obsession. Yeah, they're the best. And
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Speaker 1: you know how slippers like, I don't know, sometimes they
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Speaker 1: fall off your feet. Does that make sense to twenty one?
4:57
Speaker 1: But they like don't stay on your feet. These stay
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Speaker 1: on your feet ten thanks else anytime, baby. All right,
5:02
Speaker 1: let's get into the air procield. Okay, so today we're
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Speaker 1: talking the singles, tax and money in relationships. Four years,
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Speaker 1: Sal and I, like, I would say, like back in
5:19
Speaker 1: our old job days, Sal and I would argue, sush,
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Speaker 1: discuss what was more expensive, because obviously at the time
5:28
Speaker 1: I was single, and Sal, you've been in a relationship
5:30
Speaker 1: for eighty four years, yep. And I I would always say, like,
5:34
Speaker 1: it's so expensive being single. But because there's so many
5:37
Speaker 1: expenses that come with a relationship, I think you would
5:39
Speaker 1: think that it was more expensive to be in a relationship. Yeah. Yeah.
5:43
Speaker 3: When we were chatting about this, I think because Chris
5:45
Speaker 3: and I had been together for so long, we were
5:47
Speaker 3: buying each other birthday presents, anniversary presents, every Christmas.
5:52
Speaker 1: I'm buying gifts for.
5:53
Speaker 3: Him both his parents, his siblings, his aunties, his nan
5:58
Speaker 3: We you know, are going out on dates a lot.
6:02
Speaker 3: I was still in a relationship, but when I was
6:03
Speaker 3: living with a friend, I spent a lot less money
6:06
Speaker 3: on food and on things for the home than when
6:09
Speaker 3: I moved in with Chris.
6:12
Speaker 1: Because I think as well, like at that.
6:13
Speaker 3: Point, you know, I was a little bit older, and
6:16
Speaker 3: you invested more things when you're with a couple, Like
6:21
Speaker 3: we spent a lot more on furniture.
6:22
Speaker 1: We spent a lot more on TVs and on.
6:25
Speaker 3: Appliances and things like that, whereas when I was living
6:27
Speaker 3: with a friend, because you're not like tied together in
6:30
Speaker 3: as much of a commitment, you know, we're buying a
6:32
Speaker 3: lot more things like secondhand or we just weren't spending
6:35
Speaker 3: as much money.
6:36
Speaker 1: On food because we were two girls who were vegetarians. Yeah,
6:39
Speaker 1: so just like things like that. But I think that
6:41
Speaker 1: also points out because it's like similarly, that still is
6:45
Speaker 1: kind of like you were splitting the costs, like even
6:47
Speaker 1: though like you weren't living with a partner, like you're
6:50
Speaker 1: splitting the cost with a friend. Because I think I
6:52
Speaker 1: can relate because I had two of those, Like I
6:54
Speaker 1: lived like single as someone that's like I was splitting rent,
6:57
Speaker 1: but we weren't really like sharing groceries or anything like that.
7:01
Speaker 1: And then I lived with like my best friend and
7:03
Speaker 1: then that's when we kind of split stuff. Yeah, but
7:05
Speaker 1: like when you're paying for stuff as a single person,
7:08
Speaker 1: it just makes you realize just how much of the
7:11
Speaker 1: fucking world is just set up to be in couples
7:14
Speaker 1: and it is so expensive, Like I can just remember
7:17
Speaker 1: all the times that, like buying groceries, it was like
7:20
Speaker 1: how everything is in two's and like you freeze it
7:24
Speaker 1: or you forget about it in the fridge and then
7:26
Speaker 1: you've got to throw it out and it's just like
7:28
Speaker 1: even hotels. It just it's so expensive. And I love
7:32
Speaker 1: that it's now got a name, Like I love that
7:36
Speaker 1: it now kind of has a name and that we
7:39
Speaker 1: are acknowledging it. And we're going to get into some
7:42
Speaker 1: tips on how you can kind of combat the single tax.
7:46
Speaker 1: But let's investigate what the single tax is a bit
7:50
Speaker 1: more so. According to the Fashion Journal, the singles tax
7:54
Speaker 1: is the price you pay for not being in a
7:56
Speaker 1: relationship like that, to put it in simple times. According
8:01
Speaker 1: to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in twenty nineteen, a
8:06
Speaker 1: one person household could spend two thousand, eight hundred and
8:10
Speaker 1: thirty five per month on living costs, which was twenty
8:15
Speaker 1: seven percent more than couples who had an average duel
8:19
Speaker 1: spend of four thousand, one hundred and eighteen dollars. That's wild, Yeah,
8:25
Speaker 1: that's a big difference. Twenty seven percent and this gap
8:29
Speaker 1: has likely widened due to the current cost of living crisis.
8:32
Speaker 1: So put, simply being single costs more money. And it
8:36
Speaker 1: makes me think about it too, because I've been in
8:40
Speaker 1: a relationship for two years and I could feel it
8:43
Speaker 1: two years ago. And that's not even when like the
8:46
Speaker 1: Kazi lives were as fucking hectic as they are now.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, we've spoken about our experiences with it and this
8:54
Speaker 3: concept of the singles tax. So there was actually a
8:58
Speaker 3: study conducted by the University of Queensland's Contact magazine that
9:02
Speaker 3: asked respondents if they thought that it was more expensive
9:05
Speaker 3: to be in a relationship or to be single. Sixty
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Speaker 3: four percent of the respondents agreed that it's more expensive
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Speaker 3: to be single than in a relationship. Out of these
9:16
Speaker 3: people who thought that it was more expensive to be single,
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Speaker 3: seventy five percent said that a lack of shared living
9:22
Speaker 3: expenses is the main reason why being single is more expensive.
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Speaker 3: Many people especially said that mortgage costs can be higher
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Speaker 3: for singles and rent, which makes it more challenging to
9:34
Speaker 3: afford housing on a single income, which I think we
9:39
Speaker 3: can definitely agree to because we're both fortunate enough to
9:43
Speaker 3: be in relationships and even as people in relationships with
9:48
Speaker 3: two incomes.
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Speaker 1: That's hard enough.
9:50
Speaker 3: To try and get into the housing market or to
9:54
Speaker 3: afford rent, so let alone, if you're single, I can
9:56
Speaker 3: only imagine how hard that would be.
10:00
Speaker 1: Also, travel and vacation cost was another.
10:02
Speaker 3: Thing that people brought up as a big reason why
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Speaker 3: being single is more expensive than being in a relationship,
10:08
Speaker 3: which I think we can definitely see one.
10:11
Speaker 1: Like when I was single, I didn't go on holidays
10:15
Speaker 1: because the cost of a hotel room is built for
10:18
Speaker 1: two people.
10:19
Speaker 3: Well, you can never find a single bed, No, You've
10:22
Speaker 3: got to go stay in a hostel. Yeah, it's a
10:24
Speaker 3: double it's a double bed that's made for a couple exactly,
10:27
Speaker 3: and you're.
10:28
Speaker 1: Paying for the top two people because they could either
10:30
Speaker 1: have two people in there or one person. And it's
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Speaker 1: just it's so frustrating. It can be so draining and frustrating.
10:40
Speaker 1: And I also do want to point out that this
10:42
Speaker 1: conversation of like is it more expensive to be single
10:45
Speaker 1: or in a relationship is also not taking away from
10:48
Speaker 1: the hardship that people in relationships do feel as well, Like,
10:51
Speaker 1: I think everyone is feeling the pinch of the cost
10:54
Speaker 1: of living crisis at the moment, and just because you
10:57
Speaker 1: know it is more expensive to be single. I don't
11:00
Speaker 1: want to take away from anyone that is in a
11:02
Speaker 1: relationship that is also struggling and feeling quite stressed out
11:07
Speaker 1: about their finances at the moment, because that is also
11:10
Speaker 1: a completely valid thing. But I think we do need
11:14
Speaker 1: to talk about, you know, how difficult it is to
11:16
Speaker 1: save money when you're single, and how not having combined incomes,
11:20
Speaker 1: even if you're not combining the income is a super
11:23
Speaker 1: stressful thing. And when you're single, to even rent, it's like, okay,
11:29
Speaker 1: well you have to find someone to live with, because
11:31
Speaker 1: even just the cost of a one bedroom apartment, especially
11:34
Speaker 1: even in Sydney, is crazy, Like there was no universe
11:39
Speaker 1: that I was living by myself because I simply could
11:42
Speaker 1: not afford it. Yeah, and it's only I think when
11:45
Speaker 1: we were looking into this that it's once people are
11:47
Speaker 1: older that they even can even fathom the idea of
11:51
Speaker 1: living on their own because it's too expensive to be single.
11:56
Speaker 1: And so that's why when I moved in with my
11:58
Speaker 1: best friend, and I think this is similar to your
12:00
Speaker 1: situation and why it is good to live with someone
12:04
Speaker 1: that you are really close with and you do have
12:06
Speaker 1: really open lenes of communication with is that Sydney and
12:09
Speaker 1: I would split everything. We would plan like our meals together,
12:14
Speaker 1: and half those costs because then we were able to
12:17
Speaker 1: save money. I think if you're living with someone that
12:19
Speaker 1: you're not very close with, that is not a thing
12:22
Speaker 1: that you can do, unfortunately, or if you are living
12:24
Speaker 1: on your own. But when we started, we started basically
12:28
Speaker 1: being in a relationship and splitting costs like we were
12:30
Speaker 1: in a relationship, Like if we were getting like you know,
12:35
Speaker 1: toilet paper or dinners for the week or whatever, it
12:37
Speaker 1: was half and half. Yeah, because that's like one way
12:40
Speaker 1: that you can try to save money when you're single.
12:43
Speaker 1: But it's a fucking shitboat. Yeah.
12:46
Speaker 3: Well it's like you're still having to team up with someone,
12:48
Speaker 3: whether or not it's platonic or a romantic relationship.
12:52
Speaker 1: But yeah, it definitely does feel.
12:53
Speaker 3: Like the world is built for couples and not for
12:56
Speaker 3: single people. And in that same study, it was interesting
12:59
Speaker 3: out of the peopleeople who did say that they thought
13:02
Speaker 3: that being in a relationship was more expensive, they did
13:04
Speaker 3: list things like going out or spending money on dates
13:08
Speaker 3: as a reason why it's more expensive to be in
13:10
Speaker 3: a relationship, and they funny though, because single people also
13:15
Speaker 3: go out and spend money.
13:17
Speaker 1: I just but I guess that's a good point. The
13:20
Speaker 1: way I was thinking of it was like that's a
13:22
Speaker 1: choice though, yeah know what I mean, like like I
13:26
Speaker 1: mean going out on dates, Like would you put that
13:28
Speaker 1: in an essential purchase? Like, because the way that I
13:32
Speaker 1: look at it, it's like the essentials are being like
13:35
Speaker 1: your rent and groceries and things like that. And this
13:38
Speaker 1: is as someone who is now in a relationship. I
13:40
Speaker 1: would not say, oh, it's more expensive to be in
13:42
Speaker 1: a relationship because our date's really expensive. When it's like
13:46
Speaker 1: that's yeah, like that's our choice to go on an
13:50
Speaker 1: expensive date.
13:51
Speaker 3: And also how much you want to spend on the date,
13:53
Speaker 3: Like I think that also varies so much within couples.
13:56
Speaker 1: Like some couples are so happy to.
13:58
Speaker 3: Cuddle up on the couch and watch together and called
14:00
Speaker 3: out a date. Yeah, quim in mind tonight or like
14:03
Speaker 3: go to a fine dining restaurant and that's.
14:05
Speaker 1: What they consider a date. Like I think that really depends.
14:07
Speaker 3: But like I was saying as well, single people also
14:10
Speaker 3: go out on dates a lot.
14:13
Speaker 1: And more. Yeah, well yeah, that's the thing.
14:16
Speaker 3: It really depends on, like where you are in your
14:19
Speaker 3: dating life or in your relationship, but you know, or
14:22
Speaker 3: you're going out and socializing with friends, like you're still
14:25
Speaker 3: spending money on stuff like that.
14:26
Speaker 1: I would argue that I went out more when I.
14:32
Speaker 3: Definitely I also went out more when Alex was single.
14:37
Speaker 1: I've also saved money.
14:39
Speaker 3: Relationship that also single anymore.
14:43
Speaker 1: But that's the I would argue that you spend more
14:46
Speaker 1: on going out on dates and like cocktails with the girls.
14:51
Speaker 3: And another thing they mentioned that was more expensive about
14:54
Speaker 3: being in a relationship is gift giving, having children, and
14:57
Speaker 3: also having less control over your money.
15:00
Speaker 1: I will say that is true, but I would also
15:02
Speaker 1: argue that that's also a choice to like spend heaps
15:05
Speaker 1: of money on gifts and stuff. But I do remember
15:07
Speaker 1: the first Christmas after a breakup, I was like I'm rich. Yeah,
15:12
Speaker 1: like because you don't have to buy the whole extended
15:14
Speaker 1: family presence exactly.
15:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, but again, like that's a nice thing that you
15:18
Speaker 3: want to do. Yah, she loves not at all the
15:20
Speaker 3: person you're with and you love their family.
15:21
Speaker 1: But yeah, and again like the children thing.
15:24
Speaker 3: Of course, if you're in a couple with kids, like
15:26
Speaker 3: you can't even compare that expense to somebody who is.
15:29
Speaker 1: Single and doesn't have kids. But again, what if you're
15:32
Speaker 1: single and you have kids. That's more expensive as well.
15:36
Speaker 1: In a twenty twenty three survey of singles and coupled
15:39
Speaker 1: adults by Forbes Advisor, it found that one third of
15:43
Speaker 1: people had stayed in relationships longer to reap the financial benefits,
15:49
Speaker 1: while ninety three percent of singles feel financially burdened by
15:52
Speaker 1: their relationship status. That's so sad, but it's so true. Yeah,
15:59
Speaker 1: I hate that people stayed in shitty relationships because of
16:02
Speaker 1: financial stress.
16:03
Speaker 3: Oh my god, absolutely, especially if you have you know,
16:07
Speaker 3: assets and things tied together or families let alone, you
16:10
Speaker 3: know the prospect of being like, okay, well now I
16:12
Speaker 3: have to go and find a new apartment.
16:14
Speaker 1: How am I going to afford?
16:15
Speaker 5: Ran?
16:16
Speaker 3: I don't want to have to live with a stranger,
16:18
Speaker 3: like I can completely empathize with people who do stay,
16:21
Speaker 3: but it's just awful that that's the reality.
16:24
Speaker 1: But do you know that one person households are becoming
16:27
Speaker 1: even more popular. That doesn't shock me, no, but one
16:31
Speaker 1: in for Australian households is a lone person household.
16:34
Speaker 5: So I just.
16:36
Speaker 1: Wanted to read this out because I thought it was
16:39
Speaker 1: really interesting. So women who live alone have higher education levels,
16:45
Speaker 1: are higher income earners, and are more likely to be
16:49
Speaker 1: professionals than women living with others. Let's flip it on
16:53
Speaker 1: its head. Sound. Men who live alone have lower levels
16:57
Speaker 1: of education, are lower income earners, are more likely to
17:01
Speaker 1: be less prestigious jobs than those living with others. And
17:04
Speaker 1: that is from the Australian government people. So very interesting,
17:08
Speaker 1: very interesting. I'm not going to say anything because men
17:12
Speaker 1: are scary one them to message me. I really think
17:17
Speaker 1: that stat illuminates how women are taking a lot more
17:22
Speaker 1: control of their finances and their life, putting their standards
17:26
Speaker 1: up where they should be, and they're not putting up
17:28
Speaker 1: with you know, mediocre men or mediocre relationships, and they're
17:33
Speaker 1: stepping into a more powerful financial situation. And that is
17:38
Speaker 1: a really really hopeful and amazing thing to see because
17:41
Speaker 1: I think when we have these conversations and illuminate how
17:45
Speaker 1: difficult these situations can be. And the single tax applies
17:48
Speaker 1: to everyone, not just women as well, but it one
17:53
Speaker 1: can validate you, but it too can be a little
17:56
Speaker 1: bit overwhelming. You can be like, well I'm fucked, like
17:58
Speaker 1: unless I you know, fly partner, like this is the situation,
18:02
Speaker 1: and it can be a bit defeating, But I do
18:04
Speaker 1: think that statistic and that study does show that, like,
18:08
Speaker 1: just because you live alone doesn't mean that you're failing.
18:11
Speaker 1: You know, women that are living alone have higher education levels,
18:14
Speaker 1: are higher income earners, and more likely to be professionals.
18:17
Speaker 1: So like, it's not all downhill, even though it can
18:21
Speaker 1: feel like it.
18:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's empowering knowing that you have a
18:25
Speaker 3: choice and you've made one, and it's to live by
18:28
Speaker 3: yourself and pursue the things that you want instead of
18:32
Speaker 3: like putting up with a mediocre relationship to save some
18:35
Speaker 3: money exactly.
18:37
Speaker 1: But we did have some tips for how single people
18:40
Speaker 1: can save money, so I wanted to throw in two
18:43
Speaker 1: personal ones and then we'll throw it over to the chicks.
18:46
Speaker 1: We put in a submission box on our Instagram. But
18:51
Speaker 1: I think the first one is it sounds simple, but
18:55
Speaker 1: it can be a lot harder is communicating boundaries with friends.
19:00
Speaker 1: Think when you are surrounded by friends that are in relationships,
19:04
Speaker 1: that can be quite a tricky thing. I feel like
19:07
Speaker 1: finding you a single and like the single people around
19:10
Speaker 1: you will get it.
19:11
Speaker 6: You'll be like, oh yeah, we'll split it we'll do this,
19:14
Speaker 6: we'll do that, we'll do that, whereas like, and I
19:17
Speaker 6: think sometimes people in relationships they can forget that sometimes.
19:23
Speaker 1: So I think always communicating with friends how expensive things are,
19:28
Speaker 1: you know, when you're paying for it all on your own,
19:30
Speaker 1: is a good reminder for them because as well, everyone's
19:33
Speaker 1: in their own little bubble. They forget, they don't know,
19:35
Speaker 1: and unless you say something, you can't expect your friends
19:38
Speaker 1: to know. They can't read your mind. And on top
19:40
Speaker 1: of that, it's encouraging per head spending four group activities
19:45
Speaker 1: or four holidays. So like if you are going on
19:48
Speaker 1: a holiday and all your friends are in couples and
19:50
Speaker 1: you're going, it's more of a per head spend rather
19:53
Speaker 1: than per couple, because that can happen quite often. It's like, oh,
19:57
Speaker 1: we'll split it by room and you're single, and so
20:01
Speaker 1: you're like, okay, cool, So I get the shitty bed
20:03
Speaker 1: under the stairs, and I'm still paying the same amount
20:06
Speaker 1: that you guys get for the master bedroom. I think
20:08
Speaker 1: the person who organizes the holiday the most should get
20:11
Speaker 1: the master bedroom. If they've done the work and they
20:13
Speaker 1: made the booking, then they get the master bedroom. Yeah,
20:16
Speaker 1: I think that's fair. So all single people go and
20:20
Speaker 1: then be like, oh, I planned it on Sweet just
20:22
Speaker 1: for me. Yeah, thank you, thank Gabe. Okay, and some
20:26
Speaker 1: community submissions that we had that I thought were amazing.
20:30
Speaker 1: They were all amazing, by the way, ten out of
20:32
Speaker 1: ten from the Chicks, But some highlights were splitting the
20:36
Speaker 1: cost of subscriptions with your single friends. I love this
20:39
Speaker 1: idea and it's one that I had thought of until
20:42
Speaker 1: I realized that we literally did the same thing. But
20:45
Speaker 1: that's such a good idea if you have another single friend,
20:47
Speaker 1: splitting those subscriptions and the cost of that together. Yeah,
20:50
Speaker 1: get on like a Spotify family plan. Yeah, spliting on
20:54
Speaker 1: Spotify together. Another common one that was sent through was
20:58
Speaker 1: like meal planning and prepping. Yeah, this is just a
21:02
Speaker 1: very universal way to save money and it is really
21:05
Speaker 1: really good if you are single, and it's like, you know,
21:07
Speaker 1: buying things and freezing them. I will say that, like,
21:11
Speaker 1: it can also be a bit shit because you're like,
21:14
Speaker 1: I want to mix it up, but I want to
21:15
Speaker 1: eat different things every night. Like that was just my
21:18
Speaker 1: personal experience. There are so many amazing like cooking videos,
21:21
Speaker 1: like free cooking videos of the different ways that you
21:24
Speaker 1: can use different ingredients and make different things.
21:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's just being a little bit more
21:29
Speaker 3: mindful about the ingredients that you're getting and either trying
21:34
Speaker 3: to use them across multiple different recipes throughout the week,
21:36
Speaker 3: or meal prepping and freezing. And even if you want
21:40
Speaker 3: to meal prep like three different meals.
21:43
Speaker 1: Over one weekend and then.
21:45
Speaker 3: You know, have a few of them in the fridge
21:47
Speaker 3: to eat throughout the week and then a few of
21:48
Speaker 3: them frozen, then you can have a little bit of variety.
21:51
Speaker 3: But also like you know, things like going to the
21:53
Speaker 3: deli or going to the butcher and buying meat or
21:57
Speaker 3: whatever for yourself. It will be more cost effective buying
22:00
Speaker 3: like two you know, chicken filets that you're not gonna
22:04
Speaker 3: eat that.
22:04
Speaker 1: You're not gonna eat. Yeah. And I did not do
22:07
Speaker 1: that for ages until like you can do it on
22:11
Speaker 1: your online groceries too, and I was like, holy shit,
22:13
Speaker 1: we haven' not been doing this. Yeah, that you can
22:16
Speaker 1: literally buy what you need or meal prep. And I
22:19
Speaker 1: do actually love like now having like microwave meals that
22:23
Speaker 1: are just single servings their best chef good ten out
22:27
Speaker 1: of ten. Yeah, love them, can recommend, can recommend. There
22:31
Speaker 1: was another tip about you know, where you have your
22:34
Speaker 1: money sitting in terms of convenience, So money is so
22:39
Speaker 1: easy to spend now because we've got our cards on
22:42
Speaker 1: our phones, you've got your card number pre saved into
22:45
Speaker 1: your phone, you're after pay we'll automatically use it the
22:48
Speaker 1: checkout of PayPal. That making it more difficult to spend
22:51
Speaker 1: your money is also a much better way to save money.
22:55
Speaker 1: So one submission we had was deleting your cards off
22:58
Speaker 1: your phone so that you can't just like tap a
23:01
Speaker 1: tap tepper all the way around. And another really popular
23:04
Speaker 1: one that was sent in, which is just a really
23:07
Speaker 1: popular tip in general, is using cash because it kind
23:11
Speaker 1: of physically forces you to see and hold the money
23:14
Speaker 1: that you're spending.
23:15
Speaker 3: That is a more physical way to set yourself a
23:17
Speaker 3: weekly budget, because if you withdraw two hundred dollars and
23:21
Speaker 3: that's all you can spend for the week, and I
23:23
Speaker 3: think that can also get you into that habit of
23:25
Speaker 3: knowing exactly how much money you're spending every week. So
23:28
Speaker 3: that was definitely a popular tip. Also, like building out
23:32
Speaker 3: your budget was another popular tip that people sent in,
23:35
Speaker 3: and setting up automatic savings, which I do think is
23:39
Speaker 3: an excellent skill to have while you're single, and build
23:42
Speaker 3: that up because I also do think that having your
23:45
Speaker 3: own financial independence when you're in a relationship is still
23:48
Speaker 3: incredibly important because even though you may be splitting finances
23:54
Speaker 3: with somebody, once you get into a relationship, you should
23:57
Speaker 3: still have control over your own money and no exactly
24:00
Speaker 3: where it's going and what you're spending your money on
24:02
Speaker 3: and what your savings goals are. And by doing that
24:05
Speaker 3: when you're single is only going to get you in
24:08
Speaker 3: good stead for when you do or if you do
24:10
Speaker 3: end up in a relationship and you're splitting your finances.
24:13
Speaker 1: Agree. There were just also some really fucking funny ones.
24:16
Speaker 1: So one of my favorite was you save cash on
24:20
Speaker 1: mental health ha ha. Another one was girl dinners, sad,
24:27
Speaker 1: Girl walks in brackets, free, don't date. Ten out of
24:35
Speaker 1: ten someone said sleep. Another chick said I don't. In
24:40
Speaker 1: terms of what do you do to save money when
24:42
Speaker 1: you're single, I don't.
24:44
Speaker 3: This is literally how to save money when you're single?
24:46
Speaker 1: Wrong answers only. I also think it's important to talk
24:49
Speaker 1: about how to manage money when you're in a relationship
24:52
Speaker 1: as well as being single, because those are two very
24:55
Speaker 1: very important factors of your finances, whether it's independently or
24:58
Speaker 1: what you were just saying when you're in a real relationship.
25:00
Speaker 1: But yeah, so I think, and I want to get
25:03
Speaker 1: into as well, the conversation of if someone earns more,
25:06
Speaker 1: should they pay more. So we'll get into that, but
25:10
Speaker 1: let's talk money and relationships.
25:13
Speaker 3: So, as you chicks know, we are both in relationships
25:16
Speaker 3: and live with our partners.
25:18
Speaker 1: Sorry, actually it's fabulous and a lot of them.
25:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we're both in relationships and live with our partners.
25:26
Speaker 3: So I feel like we can definitely speak to this.
25:28
Speaker 3: But talking about money in a relationship can be really,
25:32
Speaker 3: really difficult. Unfortunately, money is still a taboo topic in
25:38
Speaker 3: today's society, which is such a shame because it's something
25:40
Speaker 3: that we all have to deal with, and I think
25:43
Speaker 3: unfortunately it can be really awkward to bring up in
25:46
Speaker 3: a relationship and it can bring up some difficult dinapos.
25:52
Speaker 1: It's like a yucky energy.
25:54
Speaker 3: Something, especially if you're not in the same income bracket
25:58
Speaker 3: as your partner, or if you have different money goals,
26:01
Speaker 3: different money personalities. But I think that it doesn't have
26:05
Speaker 3: to be And exactly like you said, I think when
26:08
Speaker 3: you're with the right person, you can align and have
26:12
Speaker 3: open communication about that.
26:14
Speaker 1: So how do.
26:15
Speaker 3: You and Bobby talk about and manage your finances generally
26:20
Speaker 3: if you have to give me a TLD.
26:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, so he pays me all his money, right, and
26:24
Speaker 1: then I spend it perfect. I wish just jogs.
26:29
Speaker 3: No.
26:29
Speaker 1: So we have a joint account in this relationship. I
26:33
Speaker 1: think it's the most healthy approach to money in a
26:37
Speaker 1: relationship I've ever had, and it's so good. So we
26:41
Speaker 1: basically have one joint account and we have our separate accounts,
26:46
Speaker 1: and personally, as we were saying before this episode, I
26:50
Speaker 1: don't know how that will change, like if kids become involved.
26:54
Speaker 1: But I never see my income and Rob's income just
26:59
Speaker 1: going into one account like that is his income and
27:01
Speaker 1: I have my income, and then we have our finances
27:04
Speaker 1: that are as a couple. So our joint account manages
27:08
Speaker 1: everything that we pay for together. So our rent, our groceries,
27:12
Speaker 1: our baby girl beanks. It was our cant just in
27:15
Speaker 1: case you needed to know about that. Yeah, So like
27:19
Speaker 1: her insurance comes out of the joint account, or groceries
27:22
Speaker 1: comes out. Yeah, our subscriptions, like all of that stuff
27:26
Speaker 1: comes out of that, and I like put it all
27:30
Speaker 1: in a spreadsheet of what those expenses were, and then
27:32
Speaker 1: just sent it to him and he was like, yep, cool,
27:35
Speaker 1: I feel good about all those things that were sharing
27:37
Speaker 1: money on. As I mentioned before, the only thing that
27:41
Speaker 1: wasn't a fifty to fifty split on those joint expenses
27:44
Speaker 1: was groceries when we were buying them because Rob would
27:47
Speaker 1: eat a little bit more than I did. And that
27:49
Speaker 1: wasn't even me that asked that, Like he was like,
27:51
Speaker 1: I do eat like a truckload. So he's like, I'll
27:56
Speaker 1: pay a little bit more. But that's basically how we
27:58
Speaker 1: manage it. And even now, so we have a savings
28:02
Speaker 1: goal at the moment because we want to go to
28:04
Speaker 1: Europe together next year. Yeah, and we're trying to save
28:07
Speaker 1: two hundred dollars a week each, which is if you
28:11
Speaker 1: miss one way, it sucks.
28:13
Speaker 2: Yeah.
28:13
Speaker 1: So you get to the next thing, you're like, really
28:15
Speaker 1: adds up? Hey, Yeah, So it's good because we actually
28:18
Speaker 1: help keep each other on trap. And it's so good
28:21
Speaker 1: because we keep each other accountable on that saving goal.
28:24
Speaker 1: But that's his savings and that's my savings. We don't
28:26
Speaker 1: go into each other's savings, and we have a savings
28:30
Speaker 1: as a couple. So if I was to break down
28:32
Speaker 1: what our finances look like we have Rob has his
28:36
Speaker 1: personal bank account, I've got my personal bank account. We
28:40
Speaker 1: have a joint savings I have my personal savings and
28:43
Speaker 1: he has his personal savings, and it works for us.
28:48
Speaker 1: Like that is exactly how I feel comfortable with it,
28:51
Speaker 1: and it is creating no tension at all, Like it's
28:55
Speaker 1: so transparent and it's so good. Yeah, but I love
28:58
Speaker 1: what about you and Chris.
28:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we also have a very transparent and
29:02
Speaker 3: open communication. When it comes to money. We don't have
29:05
Speaker 3: a joint account. We both have our own personal accounts
29:08
Speaker 3: and then also separate savings accounts as well. We split
29:12
Speaker 3: everything fifty to fifty, even though at various different points
29:17
Speaker 3: throughout our relationship we've had different incomes, sometimes more drastic
29:21
Speaker 3: than others, but.
29:23
Speaker 1: We've always split things fifty to fifty.
29:26
Speaker 3: And then our major financial goal, both individually but together
29:31
Speaker 3: is to.
29:32
Speaker 1: Get an apartment one day.
29:34
Speaker 3: And so that's our individual goals that we're both individually
29:38
Speaker 3: saving for, but we both know how much we have.
29:42
Speaker 3: Like that, we both know how much we're saving for
29:44
Speaker 3: and know that we're going to be combining those together.
29:48
Speaker 3: I think because we do have such like an open communication,
29:50
Speaker 3: we just know that it's part of our weekly habits
29:53
Speaker 3: that we transfer each other whatever the money.
29:57
Speaker 1: Is to split the bills equally. Yeah.
29:59
Speaker 3: So I think that's why because we're both really on
30:01
Speaker 3: top of it and have like the automatic transfers going out.
30:04
Speaker 3: And then as well, when it comes to like quarterly
30:06
Speaker 3: expenses that might vary a little bit more for example,
30:08
Speaker 3: utilities and things, as soon as the bill comes in,
30:11
Speaker 3: we just look at it and then we split it
30:12
Speaker 3: fifty to fifty. So I think we just stay really
30:15
Speaker 3: on top of it, and we talk about how much
30:17
Speaker 3: we've put into our savings. I would say at least weekly,
30:21
Speaker 3: so we're both really across how much money both of
30:23
Speaker 3: us have in our savings.
30:26
Speaker 1: Because it's exciting.
30:27
Speaker 3: To talk about like getting closer to you, yeah, or
30:30
Speaker 3: be like, oh, like I was able to save a
30:31
Speaker 3: little bit more this week, so now I'm up to this,
30:33
Speaker 3: Like you know, it's just exciting and nice to celebrate
30:36
Speaker 3: those wins together. But I think that's worked really well
30:38
Speaker 3: for us. And then in terms of dates, we do
30:42
Speaker 3: you got this one, I do the next one.
30:43
Speaker 6: Yeah.
30:44
Speaker 3: We don't really like track it super closely when it
30:47
Speaker 3: comes to that, And I think because he is so
30:50
Speaker 3: like relaxed, and it's just like that's not really his
30:53
Speaker 3: vibe to be like resentful about anything like that, and
30:56
Speaker 3: vice versa. That's just never really come up being like, oh,
30:59
Speaker 3: but last time we went to the movies, we got Maltesers,
31:01
Speaker 3: and this time, like, you're getting a chunky monkey, which
31:04
Speaker 3: is a bit more expensive than the Maltesers. So that
31:08
Speaker 3: works for us in terms of doing like the tip
31:10
Speaker 3: for tat, and then yeah, when it comes to groceries
31:13
Speaker 3: and stuff, I would say we do pretty much do
31:15
Speaker 3: fifty to fifty, except that because I don't eat meat,
31:18
Speaker 3: Chris usually gets most of his meat from the butcher,
31:20
Speaker 3: so he.
31:20
Speaker 1: Just pays for all of that himself.
31:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, all right, But should we get into some
31:26
Speaker 3: of our tips for managing your finances in relationships from
31:29
Speaker 3: the chicks?
31:30
Speaker 1: First one i've seen controversial but prenups, meaning neither person
31:35
Speaker 1: can take more than their fair share. I actually asked
31:38
Speaker 1: how this question the other day about if she was
31:41
Speaker 1: to get married, which I know you don't plan on it,
31:44
Speaker 1: would you get a prenup? Yeah, I would look into it.
31:48
Speaker 3: I don't think I would, and I'd encourage my partner
31:50
Speaker 3: to get one too, exactly.
31:51
Speaker 1: I agree. I think prenups are great. I think everyone
31:54
Speaker 1: should get them.
31:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, and yeah, you can make them as detailed or
31:58
Speaker 3: as bored as you want to.
31:59
Speaker 1: And it's basically like, your money's your money, my money's
32:01
Speaker 1: my money. Yeah.
32:02
Speaker 3: Whow somebody said dedicated finance chats, and another person said
32:07
Speaker 3: hot date nights with the laptop fortnightly to budget also
32:11
Speaker 3: gives us a chance to book cute dates.
32:13
Speaker 1: Luhhh. I love that. I think that's a good thing
32:16
Speaker 1: about it. It's like you can actually enjoy going out
32:19
Speaker 1: and spending money together because you've planned it. It's not stressful.
32:23
Speaker 1: It's not like, oh, like we shouldn't be spending this,
32:26
Speaker 1: or you've spent more than I've spent, and like that
32:28
Speaker 1: bit of guilt comes in there. Like when you actually
32:30
Speaker 1: talk about it, it takes away the taboo and tension
32:35
Speaker 1: that can surround it. Yeah.
32:36
Speaker 3: Someone said, my husband and I always discuss purchases over.
32:40
Speaker 1: Five hundred dollars. I really like that.
32:42
Speaker 3: I feel like I do that with Chris a lot
32:44
Speaker 3: of the time, Like whenever I'm making a big purchase.
32:46
Speaker 1: That's because I always like want to get his advice.
32:50
Speaker 1: Someone has said, Bigger owner bigger proportion to chip in.
32:54
Speaker 1: This is a very common discussion, and it reminds me
32:58
Speaker 1: of this article that I saw on Bustle that is
33:02
Speaker 1: so interesting, and it basically does talk about how if
33:08
Speaker 1: someone earns more money, should they chip in more? And
33:12
Speaker 1: what I liked about this is that it didn't actually
33:15
Speaker 1: give a yes or a no answer. It gave options.
33:19
Speaker 1: So the dilemma was My partner and I are finally
33:24
Speaker 1: thinking of living together. It's an exciting decision, but one
33:26
Speaker 1: thing that keeps bothering me is what's fair for affording
33:30
Speaker 1: our joint lifestyle, including everyday bills and expenses, and even
33:34
Speaker 1: what apartment we should live in. I make about fifty
33:37
Speaker 1: thousand dollars more than he does, and he seems to
33:39
Speaker 1: be pushing for slightly nicer places, saying that we could
33:41
Speaker 1: afford it based on our combined incomes and why wouldn't
33:45
Speaker 1: we want to live in a nicer place. But I
33:47
Speaker 1: think he also feels that my share of rench should
33:49
Speaker 1: be higher since I make more money. Personally, I'd rather
33:52
Speaker 1: live in a slightly less nice place and save more,
33:55
Speaker 1: and I feel that in general, I am already paying
33:57
Speaker 1: for a lot more than he does. I don't know
33:59
Speaker 1: why this bothers me, but I think it does. Frankly,
34:01
Speaker 1: his quality of life would go down a lot if
34:03
Speaker 1: it weren't for me, because his lifestyle now is pretty nice.
34:07
Speaker 1: I feel like he's not as motivated to get that
34:09
Speaker 1: next promotion or move onto a role that's better paying.
34:12
Speaker 1: Should I be expected to pay more for everything we
34:14
Speaker 1: do as a couple just because my paycheck is bigger?
34:17
Speaker 1: I don't think this is a subjective thing, but how
34:20
Speaker 1: do I organize my feelings on what's actually fair between
34:23
Speaker 1: us without a build up of resentment over time? Am
34:26
Speaker 1: I being ungenerous thinking of how much investment each of
34:29
Speaker 1: us puts into this relationship? I feel like this is
34:31
Speaker 1: a big thing. A lot of couples go through, and
34:33
Speaker 1: as you mentioned earlier, you guys had that couple that's sorry,
34:37
Speaker 1: that conversation that it would just remain fifty to fifty,
34:40
Speaker 1: and that is one of the strategies that you can use.
34:45
Speaker 1: But one of the quotes in this article that I
34:48
Speaker 1: really loved is before you can be on the same team,
34:53
Speaker 1: get on the same page. And it ties into what
34:57
Speaker 1: we've been saying basically throughout this whole segment, is you
35:01
Speaker 1: do have to be able to have these conversations, and
35:04
Speaker 1: it can have no attack and defense. You really just
35:07
Speaker 1: have to be open and make it a safe space
35:09
Speaker 1: to have the conversation. And then this article did go
35:13
Speaker 1: into ways to cut the cake, and so it was
35:17
Speaker 1: basically deciding on what expenses will be split and what
35:20
Speaker 1: will be kept separate as the first step like rent, groceries,
35:24
Speaker 1: utility is an Internet is a lot of what you
35:27
Speaker 1: can expect couples to be splitting up. Then you can
35:30
Speaker 1: either split it fifty to fifty, so you can basically
35:35
Speaker 1: cut all those expensive down the middle, regardless of what
35:37
Speaker 1: anyone's income is. Another method is selecting what expenses you'll
35:42
Speaker 1: pay for and what expenses the other person will pay for. So,
35:45
Speaker 1: for example, if someone earns more, maybe they pay for
35:48
Speaker 1: rent and then the other person pays for groceries and
35:51
Speaker 1: the internet or whatever example you want to pull. And
35:55
Speaker 1: this might work for unequal incomes, but it can be
35:57
Speaker 1: a little bit like a free for all if there
36:00
Speaker 1: isn't any budgeting tracking or regular discussions. And it kind
36:03
Speaker 1: of was like what we were saying before, where after
36:06
Speaker 1: some time a little bit of tension can build when
36:09
Speaker 1: that person gets a big bill for maybe their car reagero,
36:11
Speaker 1: and they're like, Oh, if I wasn't paying for all this,
36:14
Speaker 1: like this wouldn't be that expensive. So personally, that's probably
36:18
Speaker 1: my least favorite technique, but again it's whatever works for
36:24
Speaker 1: people in the situation. And then another payment method what
36:28
Speaker 1: we were kind of just talking about is set a
36:30
Speaker 1: proportional amount of your incomes for joint expenses. So, for example,
36:35
Speaker 1: if your take home pay is five thousand dollars a
36:37
Speaker 1: month and his is three thousand dollars a month, you
36:39
Speaker 1: both agree to kick in thirty five percent of your
36:42
Speaker 1: pay towards your joint expenses. You'd contribute one thousand, seven
36:46
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty and they would contribute one thousand and fifty.
36:49
Speaker 1: So you go with like percentages of your income rather
36:53
Speaker 1: than just half down the middle of whatever the expense is.
36:57
Speaker 1: So I think the main life lesson I got from
37:00
Speaker 1: that was that whole to be on the same team,
37:04
Speaker 1: you have to be on the same page. Yeah, and
37:05
Speaker 1: you have to run through all of those things and
37:08
Speaker 1: see what's better for you, because it is really different
37:10
Speaker 1: for every single couple. I don't think you can say,
37:13
Speaker 1: like this is the right way to manage your money
37:15
Speaker 1: in a relationship, and this is the wrong way. It
37:17
Speaker 1: really is about having the conversation. But I think the
37:21
Speaker 1: only wrong way there is to managing your money in
37:24
Speaker 1: a relationship is not talking about it.
37:26
Speaker 3: Yeah exactly, Because I think, as we've seen from the
37:30
Speaker 3: submissions from the chicks, our conversations with each other and
37:33
Speaker 3: also with the people in our lives, there are so
37:35
Speaker 3: many different options and different preferences for how to manage
37:39
Speaker 3: your money. But I think the key takeaway is that
37:42
Speaker 3: you need to talk about it, and you need to
37:44
Speaker 3: be open about it, and you need to be on
37:46
Speaker 3: the same page.
37:47
Speaker 1: Literally, And I promise you it's more fun that way. Yeah,
37:50
Speaker 1: Like you get to have more fun together because when
37:53
Speaker 1: you're not stressing about the cost or something, you can
37:55
Speaker 1: actually just enjoy yourself. Yeah, exactly.
37:58
Speaker 3: And I saw an article from Business Insider quoted that
38:02
Speaker 3: not aligning on big things such as finances was the
38:06
Speaker 3: number two reason why.
38:08
Speaker 1: Couples break up.
38:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, that makes sense, and I think that completely makes
38:12
Speaker 3: sense with like a lot of people's experiences.
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Speaker 1: So that's why it's good to talk about.
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Speaker 3: These things as soon as possible, and it's never too
38:19
Speaker 3: late to bring it up and start the conversation.
38:22
Speaker 1: I really love the tip about having a cute little
38:25
Speaker 1: wine night. Yeah, I put my masks. I mean like
38:29
Speaker 1: one train doledge to addict shade. Goat you, raggy one wag, make.
38:36
Speaker 3: You wgs gosh, preeing up with all your money come
38:40
Speaker 3: to me.
38:40
Speaker 1: Good, thanks baby, and I get that cat. I'm keeping
38:45
Speaker 1: the I'm keeping the dog alrighty well, I feel like
38:50
Speaker 1: that's a wrap. Thank you so much, chicky chooks for
38:53
Speaker 1: having us in your ear holes. We absolutely love, love,
38:57
Speaker 1: love to be here. And thanks Tim, I came made
39:01
Speaker 1: for making this episode of two Broad Chicks happened. We
39:03
Speaker 1: love you cuddles, and go get that money, honey, Bye
39:08
Speaker 1: bye