She's On The Money - And Then There Were Four!

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

Join us today as the team finally reunites! Victoria is back, and baby Harvey Roy Devine makes his podcast debut with Jess and Bec. The gals catch up and share your money wins, and talk some HILARIOUS broke tips. Plus this week's Money Dilemma is about managing an inheritance, and you slid into our DMs this week asking about splitting rent and bills when living with your partner. What's fair and how to make it all equitable? The gals have thoughts and feels. Check out Cheapskates Podcast Preorder Victoria's new book, Money Diaries with She's on the Money here!  Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money. She's on the money.

Hello and welcome to She's On The Money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My friends, today is Friday, which means we are back and it is time to get our little team together to celebrate you, our incredible She's On The Money community. Today, Ms. Bex Syed is going to be sharing her broke, broke tips. Ms. Jessica Ricci, she's back with her money wins and confessions from the community. We're going to be helping to answer a juicy money dilemma, which this week is all about what you should be doing with an inheritance. And we're going to be unpacking something that you slid

into our DMs about, which this week we're chatting about sharing rent and bills with a partner, which I think can be a little bit of a fickle topic for some. But as you guys know, I have been off for a little while. I've been just having a baby, which turns out he's decided to join the show today. He's in his carrier. He has been perfectly asleep up until right now and he's decided,

oh I hear that there's a mum talking and there's a Jess and there's a Beck and I just really want to be involved so if you hear any squeaks or little moans um it's from a sleeping baby called Harvey because I had a boy my friends it's so cute or maybe me or me or Jess might fall asleep at some point yeah but that's okay if I start singing or swaying please just cut that out of the episode but how have you been oh my god everyone's back together this is so exciting And we're allowed to be back. Our guests weren't so exciting that you wanted to kick me off the show and, like, just do guests forever?

Not at all. No one, you're like, well, we checked. They were actually busy. Yeah, exactly. So we will take you, yeah. We did check. We did offer some, we tried some contracts and stuff. But unfortunately, nothing worked out and now you're here.

Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry that that happened to you guys. I will let you know that I am going to go on a holiday soon. Oh, that's very nice. And so I'll give you a few extra guests for that period of time. But after that, I'm back for good. Okay. Perfect.

So apologies in advance for the chop shop of She's On The Money at the moment. But I wanted to come back. I didn't want to, like, keep doing the guest episode thing. I did want a few weeks back with you guys. And then I'll go on holiday and you can watch via my Instagram stories. And then I'll be back. Okay. Okay.

That's so fine. I'm happy that you're back. I really missed all of our dynamics together. Like, this is how it's meant to be. We're a good little team, aren't we? Yeah, I really like this. I like us. And I mean, that's bias because I am us. I feel like other people could validate that though. But let's get into the episode. I am very excited. I feel like I've missed out on a lot.

Bec, have you got some broke tips for us this week? If so, what are they? Can you share with the team? Of course I can. Okay, so these are a little bit unhinged. And I just want to say- Wow, I expected Bec to be completely hinged by the time I returned. True. That was my goal. I was like, when Victoria gets back, I'm going to impress her with my- With another broke tip. Exactly, exactly. I do want to say when I started the broke tips thing, I was like, I'll share my own, which I quickly realised were a little bit too unhinged.

So I'm going to go back to that. Yeah, okay. But anyway. Love. You'll see what I mean. So firstly, we have two from the community. The first one comes from Chesney. I hope I'm saying that right.

Chesney says, and this is, again, something I have mentioned before, but we have a new addition to what I've mentioned. So get a library card. You can get audiobooks for free. We have mentioned Libby. But this is a new one. I had not mentioned before I did not know about. BorrowBox. Has anyone heard of that before? No. You're right. This is new. Becky is good at trying to recycle. But this is not a recycled one. This

is new and fresh. It is. Reduce, reuse, recycle, they say. What is it? So BorrowBox is, I believe it's essentially the same thing. You can also get 15 hours of audiobooks, of course, for free with Spotify Premium. You can also have more than one library card. So if you join multiple times, if they don't have what you want. You can ask, like, more libraries. Or you could borrow She's On The Money from multiple places. True. You could get it back to back to back.

You could. Just read it over and over and over again until it sinks. That's exactly how I would like people to consume my books. Three out, one more out very soon. If you haven't pre-ordered it, it's out. Money Diaries is coming out at the start of May, which is very, very exciting. Very exciting.

So that's a good one, BorrowBox. So have a little googs. The next one comes from Bridget, who says that some airlines let you purchase your checked baggage using your airline miles instead of cash. So when booking a flight on a budget, you can book the basic economy seat, which is always cheaper, but doesn't include the free checked bag.

So use your miles to save some money. I didn't realise that was a thing. Oh, that's quite smart. I didn't realise you could do that. Totally. Would it have been nice for you to give me that tip before I booked my flight? Literally me in America last year paying like $150

in overweight baggage or something. Oh, my goodness. goodness because I'd stocked up on pumpkins it was actually so funny um what Bec we're not joking she went to where was it Target yeah Target in the US and she bought a whole heap of these plastic hollow pumpkins because Australia doesn't have that much Halloween decorations and you do love a theme Jess doesn't love a theme Jess is the theme yes like she is the moment she needed her pumpkins. We were all very supportive of it, but we all laughed a lot when the pumpkins cost her a lot of money to get home. And that wasn't just $150 back. It was $150 USD.

Oh, that's like $300 or something. Yeah, it was. Don't tell her. We decided not to work that out. Next time I'll use my airline points. Yes, good idea. Or maybe no pumpkins. Don't be ridiculous. Don't be ridiculous. That is ridiculous.

We need to bring the pumpkins. That's so true. Okay, so my tip is very on topic, actually. So this might help you in the future. And this is something I have always done, but I'd never actually acknowledged it until I saw this airline baggage broke tip come through. So what I do every single time I travel, I am scared of airplanes, so it's not often, but when I do, I will usually just take one bag with me. And the way I do that, like it usually has no clothing in it, because what I do is I wear several pairs of underwear several pairs of socks i promise you no you don't several pairs of pants no and that way that way i don't have to put any clothes in my bag but why beck yes yes hit me

surely you've got enough space for the undies i probably do Like, surely there's enough. Jessie, you all right? I'm sorry. It's so funny. I'm literally crying. I'm so sorry. I just don't understand.

Several pairs of shoes. I can't. No, you don't. You don't wear multiple pairs of knickers. No, I actually do. And this is because I'm, like, so used to it. Why? Well, like, the undies are, like, short.

How big are your undies that they don't fit down the side in the bag that you're carrying? Huge. Huge undies. Harvey's crying, guys. But you said the thing that I don't, you said the bag is empty. So why are you wearing two pairs of underwear? You told us what's in the bag.

That's right. You wear all your stuff and the bag's empty, but what are you putting in the bag? That's so funny. So all your other things. So, like, let's say, like, when I do this, that means I don't have to have any checked baggage. You know what I mean?

I don't have to go and check any baggage. But you know you can have carry-on, right? You can carry on one baggage. All the stuff, everything I've ever needed is in the carry-on and all my clothes are on my body. Yeah, but, like, is there not any room left in the carry-on? Oh, yeah. Both Jess and I, chronic overpackers.

Like, we are the worst. But if we are going to Sydney for the weekend, you best believe both of us can pack just to carry on. And get this, Bec, our clothes are in the carry-on. How long are you talking about? Like, how long of a trip are you doing this for? Like, Bec's just headed off to the US and she's got 60 pairs of knickers on. I'm usually like, I'll do this if I'm like,

I don't usually go overseas, but if I do, I'll do this, you know, and then I'll just kind of like sort it out when I get there. Do you have to then wash all pairs of knickers or do you deem them clean because they've technically had a barrier of knickers between them? Yeah, well, anything after the second pair, fine. Golden, yeah, agreed. And then I am so concerned about your mental health right now.

But honestly, also, this is the other thing too, Was that my partner? My girlfriend. I remember when this was a, like, full secret. I know. And now it's not a secret because all you do is spam each other on Instagram and I'm like, oh, yeah, real subtle, guys. Very cute.

It's actually really, like, low key. No one really knows. Yeah, no one really knows. 7,000 people. But, yeah, so she often, like, goes and she'll, like, weigh a bag ahead of time. But sometimes you just get stuck and you go and you get on the plane, you don't realise, but you're actually, like, a kilo over

and that might be, like, $100. I don't know. I don't know how much it costs. because it's never happened to me, because I'm always wearing everything. But, like, what if, what if... Yes, go. We just underpack? Like, what if you put everything in your suitcase

and then if you got there and it was over, then I would be like, oh, you can put your jacket on or you can put an extra top on at that point. Like, I think we've all done the airport shuffle, like, for sure, when the bag's overweight and they go, that'll be $100. You go, no, sir, it will not be. No, sir, I will make this work. And then you put everything.

But that's why Jessica wore a pumpkin. I'm just too awkward. I'd be like, oh, yes, sir, I've paid for that. So that's why I have to do it ahead of time. You are so funny. Well, congrats, Nick, on the challenge of Broke Tips. And if anyone can tell, our producer doesn't okay them before they get to the show.

We literally just stopped doing that. That's why I'm like, I'm going to go rogue. I'm going rogue. I like it. I like it. It's a good tip. It's one that I probably won't take myself, but someone out there might be really interested in that.

Someone's going to use it. Speaking of Broke Tips, though, our friend, Indie Simmons. Has she started a new podcast? Yes, she did. And you went on it recently, didn't you? I sure did. Bec, what's it called? Cheapskates. And what do you talk about on cheapskates? So she will kind of like get a true story. She's always telling true stories about a very like, you know, a cheapskate of any kind. And they're usually quite outrageous stories, more than just wearing all your clothes on the airplane. Yeah, like they're way better. yeah way better way better so this is this is my way of making up for our terrible broke tips

is to give you a better podcast to listen to exactly exactly and so you'll go on and she does has two episodes out now but she has many more in the bank so just keep an eye and ear out she's had Marley from Big Brother I'm not sure if anyone remembers but I certainly do because he's very good looking and then we have myself you have a girlfriend step back I know oh my goodness what am I talking about? Cut that out, please. Just kidding. And then we have Alex Water, who's a comedian, and et cetera, et cetera.

Yeah. She's a very well-connected lady. She is. And as a friend of the show, I feel like it only makes sense to promo her pod because it's about cheapskates. Totally. So we'll put a link to her show in our show notes so you can go and check it out. But it's very, very cool, and I'm very excited about it because they're the pervy stories

that everyone wants to hear, especially when it's about money. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, they're really good stories. But let's segue back to the community. Jessica Ricci, what have you got when it comes to money wins and confessions? All right, my first money win. None of this is going to be new to me because on my mat leaf, all I did was read these threads.

Your favourite. You could recite them all from memory. I had so much FOMO. I was like, what's going on? Please. This little, like the little orphan outside the window. Please, sir, can I have some more? My first money win this week is from Rhiannon, who said money win.

Coles bag, chic wrapping paper. She forgot to buy wrapping paper, so she cut up a Coles bag, flipped it inside out and wrapped the gift. She used a bow off the sheet that she got on clearance after Easter for 50 cents. Hey, that's really smart. Really smart. And it looks, she put in a photo,

it looks just like the fancy butcher's paper wrapping. Oh, she's a genius. It looks beautiful. Do you know what? I would, one, love to get that gift. It looks really cute. But I'd like to be like, oh, she's a smart cookie. Once I opened it and realised it was Cole's bag,

I'd be like, this is genius. Because they're hard to reuse the paper bags. Like, if you're not, true. I buy the paper bags because I know they're better for the environment than those like quote reusable plastic ones. Like they're not really that reusable because no one actually packs them up and takes them back to the supermarket. Right.

So it's such a good way to reuse the bag. I love that. Next, I've got a money win from Amy who said, my partner signed up to do some product reviews and they sent us four tubes of toothpaste. She said they're covered up, but it's easy to tell what brand they are. So I think it's like a blind test kind of thing. All right. That's pretty cool.

She said 50 bucks a toothpaste for free. and then once we use them and review them, we get a $50 gift card. Money win. That's so cool. How cool is that? How long would it take you to get through four tubes of toothpaste? If two people are using it, not that long.

I don't know. Like your standard tube? Yeah, probably. I couldn't even tell you how quickly I go through toothpaste. It's one of those things you feel like you have heaps and then all of a sudden like in one second. Yeah, that's so true. I'm squeezing it to try.

Yeah, like cutting the tube. So true, there's never an in-between. No, there really isn't. I bought a pump toothpaste and I thought that was genius because I was like, cool, like that's going to be really easy. Yeah, but we're not giving them credit. They market everywhere. They do not need us either.

It's the weird flavours for me. Oh, no, no, I got the smooth mint. Don't worry. I got the minty one. You're like bacon or something. No. Yeah, yeah. I just don't know how clean my teeth would feel

after using a flavoured toothpaste. I agree. However, I did, this is a bit rogue, I did buy the Colgate toothpaste the other day because it's peach flavoured, but it's like peachy mint. And the second I tried it, I was like, Jess is going to love this. That sounds delicious. Yeah, so I'll get you some toothpaste, but the pump,

you just don't know when it's going to end because with the tube, you can kind of see it and track it. I just ran out of toothpaste and I was like, wait, what? No, I don't like that. Now there's none. Stressful. Stressful. Very stressful.

Carry on, Jess. Sorry. No, you're fine. Next, I have a money winner from Lisa who said, after receiving an almost 40% increase on our home and contents insurance renewal, I called around, I got some quotes, and I was able to almost halve that renewal, which means this year we're actually paying less than last year. Money win. And also a really good reminder that if you've been looking at your budget and you're

like, oh, there's nothing I can really cut out. Have you actually reviewed the expenses you have? Like if you've got some, you know, insurance that you're paying for, is that the best deal? If you're paying more than 30 bucks a month for your SIM plan on your phone, that's too much in my opinion so like review review review and always try and cut down pre-existing expenses we're not saying get rid of the expense just see if you can get a better deal yes and don't forget we have that get a better deal script on our website oh good deal you head to the resources page it's right there it is next i've got a money win from lisa who said that's a second lisa but this lisa this lisa is spelled with two e's lisa lisa said i pressure

I washed the house last weekend and I got water into an external light fitting. Oh, my gosh, no. It blew the lights in our entire house and the solar power. I thought it was going to be an incredibly expensive fix, but turns out it was just a $40 fuse and her partner fit it himself. Oh, money win. Relief was almost small money loss, but I would still call that a money win. That's a money win, but also, like, let's just be careful

with high-pressure washing and electricity. Completely agree. Ah, that gives me so much anxiety. Please be safe, people. And then lastly, I have two money wins from Buy Nothing groups, which are like my favourite thing ever. I love a Buy Nothing group. Firstly, Tina Shea said,

I received a salon-sized waxing pot and leg roller waxes and strips, all full of wax, thanks to the Buy Nothing group on Facebook. I've been waxing my legs, Brazilian and underarms, and it's costing me $100. DIY Brazilian? Yeah. Oh, I could never. Bold.

The yoga involved? Crazy. She said it was costing her $138 every six weeks. Now she can wax herself all the time and it's free. Money win. That's so good. Amazing. I love that.

I'm very impressed. And then Marie said her ASICS sneakers died. She couldn't afford new ones, but she snagged a pair on her local Buy Nothing group, practically brand new and in her size, and the lady threw in some limes for free. Oh, money win. I love this. Join your local Buy Nothing group. Get some stuff.

If you can, give some stuff. It's so good. I love that suggestion. Very, very good. I'm still thinking about how I would give myself a Brazilian. I don't think I could pull. I think I would put the wax on and I'd just be like, I can't do it. And it would just be there forever.

I can literally imagine Jess calling me and being like, V, I have a dilemma. Please, please come to my house and fix it. Anyway, let's go to a really quick break. Before this goes somewhere it shouldn't. On the flip side, we're going to be talking about what you can do with an inheritance and we're unpacking something you slid into our DMs about. This week, we're chatting about sharing rent and bills with a partner,

so don't go anywhere. Welcome back, everybody. Let's take a listen to this week's Money Dilemma. Hi there. Have you got a money dilemma you just can't solve? The She's on the Money team is here to help. Every week, we tackle your dilemmas, both big and small, to answer your most burning money, career and life questions. To get involved, simply head to our website and leave us a short voice recording and you might just find yourself on the show. Now let's take a listen to this week's money dilemma. Hi guys, I just wanted to send in my money dilemma. I am 22 years old and I'm a registered nurse on the Gold Coast. I finished uni last year, so I'm a graduate nurse now. I have always been living paycheck to paycheck, like ever since I was a teenager up

until now I've always had the same amount of money in my bank account which is just wild considering I earn so much more now but also I do pay rent and bills and all those things now too but I just got deposited $13,000 as a form of inheritance and I just wanted some advice and tips to try and use this money to try and get me ahead and make some smart decisions with it so thanks so much guys look forward to hearing from you. I feel like this is such a good question and given over the next 10 years we are going to see the biggest transfer of intergenerational wealth this unfortunately might be a situation that a lot of us find ourselves in but I think the first thing I would say when it comes to inheritance is you do not need to make a decision

right now like that money could sit there for a year or more literally earning zero while you work out what you want to do I think so many times especially when you have an inheritance you've got Uncle Bob over here giving you advice and Aunty Jill saying, oh, you should be getting into the property market. And someone else is suggesting crypto, like just sit on it for a while and work out what your values are and what you could be doing with it. $13,000 is a lot of money. In fact, if you invested it in the Australian share market, $13,000 invested today in 30 years is going to be about $230,000 in 30 years. So that's a lot of money to be making. But it also could turn into more in property or it could turn into more in crypto or more in different shares. It's

completely up to you. I mean, you might want to use that inheritance money to go on a holiday. You might go, you know what, this is the best use of these funds and that's completely up to you. There's actually no right or wrong. I think when we get an inheritance though, there can actually be, and it didn't sound like this in your tone of voice, but often there's a certain level of guilt because someone has passed away for an inheritance to have occurred and that's not a nice situation. and sometimes when you get an inheritance maybe you were really close with the person so you want to make sure that you're doing the right thing with the money and not disappointing them or on the flip side you might not have been close and you go oh my gosh this person that should have

been close to me and wasn't we had a bit of a disjointed relationship has passed away and I've got money and now I feel guilty for even having it in the first place because we didn't have a good relationship so money in these circumstances is really fickle and I think it's important for you to take the time to work out what you want to do with it and work through that guilt because you shouldn't feel guilty. At the end of the day, that money is for you and it is to put you in the best possible position. So what would you like to do with it? There's no, you should invest it or you should do this. The second someone tries to give you advice, disregard it or take it on with a grain of salt and put it to the side and wait because there's always, always, always going to

be another opportunity. There's always going to be something else to invest in. You don't need to jump on the next investing trend because I promise if it is a trend right now, it's not going to put you in the best possible position. We need to be thinking long term. But also, I want to give you permission to do whatever you want with that money because it's up to you. What I want you to do, though, is make an educated decision. Have you thought about investing? Have you thought about property? Have you thought about debt reduction? Have you thought about, you know, an asset? Maybe you want to buy a car. Maybe you want to invest it in something that is more sentimental. It might be a piece of art. It might be literally anything. But there is no right and no wrong when it comes

to win inheritance. But I guess that's a good question. Jess, if you came into 13 grand tomorrow, what would you do with it? I feel like I would be boring and I would put it in my house deposit. Would you? I mean, outside of...

No, I thought she would have said, I'm going to go buy a Chanel double flap. Yeah, I'm going to buy a Chanel. What is that? It's a very expensive, very beautiful bag. Oh, okay. It would take up almost all of that money. I see.

It's like, you know how everyone has that? I mean, you don't because you're not materialistic. I'm feeling like a little materialistic shit. You don't have to worry. Not true. This side of the table, quite materialistic. Willing to work for it. Absolutely.

But also, handbags are important to us. Bec, sorry, not sorry. It's like my dream handbag. Sure. But, like, they're literally, they've, it's one of those things, they've gone up and up and up in price. They're literally, like, $10,000. To be honest, they're a very good investment.

It's like investing in Birkins. In Birkins, which are by the brand Hermes, I think have a 47% return if you don't use the bag. I'd probably buy mine secondhand. Like, if that, like. You wouldn't. Might be a little frugal. If you're spending that much, you may as well get it full price

is what I'm thinking. Maybe. You know what I mean? Well, see, if you buy a Birkin secondhand, it's much more expensive because they're so hard to get in store. Yeah, right. So in store you could be spending like $15,000 on a Birkin, but secondhand $25,000 plus.

Oh! Isn't that wild to think that a handbag is worth that much? Yeah, that's wild. Bec, what would you do with $13,000 if you had $13,000 in your hot little hands tomorrow? You know, this is funny because when I was made redundant, as everyone knows because I went shut up about it. I was literally given.

Stop going on about it. It's not like it's like your livelihood or anything. It's not a big deal. It's not even like it's impacting your income. Was given exactly $13,000. Were you? Yeah, I was. That's a different story.

It is different. But I'm thinking like if I still had a regular income with that $13,000, I probably would do things that I can't, I probably could do now, but I just like am really bad with my money still. but I would, like, get my car fixed, get a new phone if my phone's broken. Like, do all the things I need to do just to feel like my day-to-day isn't super. Yeah, exactly. Like, I can literally hear my clutch slipping as I drive to work every morning.

I'm like, I would do those kind of things. Must be nice to be able to drive manual. Can't do that. I can teach you if you like. I would like to be taught. I'll do your budget. You teach me to drive manual. Perfect.

It's actually a deal. Do we trust Bex driving? Yeah. If we don't trust her flight tips. I trust it. Thank you. But no, I think like after all those things are done, I would then maybe just sit on it until, I probably wouldn't invest it yet.

I'd be like, I'll sit on it, put it in, I'll start an emergency fund finally. That would probably be that. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, I like that. So get all those things taken care of. The rest will go into an emergency fund so I feel secure. But see what that shows us?

That we're all entirely different and therefore can't answer that question directly for you. But what we can say is we want you to be educated to make the decision that is right for you. We've done episodes on inheritance before. We've done episodes on coming into a sum of money and how to make decisions around that. But there's no one size fits all approach. And I think that's kind of the outcome here, but also the driver behind She's On The Money, not lump sums of income. I wish we could, that could be the driver for everybody, but more giving you the education

you deserve to make the right decision in situations like this. Yeah. And if you want to find that episode, you can search up on Spotify or Apple. It's called How to Treat Inheritance with the Respect It Deserves. And it's a really good episode. All right. Let's move on because this week you guys slid into our DMs about something a little bit, I would say spicy because it can be a fickle topic to discuss. This week, we're talking about sharing rent and bills with a partner. So let me read out the DM we received. Hi, Shoes on the Money. I just moved in with my new partner. We started our relationship quite recently and soon moved in together. I did that too so like no judgment babes. I live in a

two-bedroom apartment and he moved in with just his personal stuff. He didn't bring anything for the house as we already have a fully furnished place. We split rent 50-50. I'm starting to feel like this might be quite unfair as I've contributed to so much cool stuff for the apartment and he gets to enjoy all of that for the same price that I'm paying. We also share grocery bills 50-50 but he eats so much. He buys a lot of expensive things that I don't consume, such as the best branded peanut butter, so much meat, he goes to the gym a lot, and I feel like sharing the bills equally will also be unfair for me in the long run. However, I'm afraid I'm going to sound stingy about bringing up the rent and grocery bills situation. I'm on a $70,000 salary and my budget

is quite tight at the moment. Guys, what do we think about this situation? I think furniture wise, it's still all your stuff. It's kind of like if you move into a share house and like it's already furnished and you still get to enjoy all the communal spaces. Yeah, but they take it if they leave. And they take it if they leave. Exactly. And if you, if it gets damaged in the meantime, like maybe you spilt some red wine, like you pay for that. Like if anything is damaged, like obviously he will kind of bear the financial burden of that but like that's still all your stuff I would say not to worry about that yeah I personally wouldn't worry about that I mean I feel like maybe this is an extension of you already feeling like there's some inequity in

the relationship and so maybe that's a projection but also being like oh I've got cool stuff in the apartment okay like you're gonna get rid of it so that someone else can't enjoy it at which point I'm a bit confused as to why you wouldn't want your partner to enjoy your stuff too. Like, I don't know. It's a bit hard. It's like he could have bought forks but you already had forks. Like, why would he bring more forks?

And why would he then pay because you already had forks? Yeah, it doesn't make sense. Like, don't get me wrong, it could be bigger things. Like, she's got, like, some fancy gaming system or something. I don't know. But I feel like your stuff was already in the house. You could negotiate and be like, oh, I actually really want a new couch. We're going to go 50-50 or I'd like that to be your contribution

because there might be some things that you want to upgrade or change. But, like, if it's not broke, why fix it? It's not something that you would pay more rent for. Like, it doesn't really make sense. Totally. But now the food situation I totally get. The food and the rent sitch. Yes.

Let's talk through that. Yes. Are you planning on moving in with your girlfriend, Bec? She's a bit of a slow mover. I was like, when's this going to happen? She's like, maybe like five, six years. Let's see how we go. Wow.

Sorry, what? That is not a female same-sex couple relationship. Totally. We usually move all. Yeah, usually you haul it and you've moved in in 0.2 seconds and you're married next week. Exactly. I'm not used to this. I'm going to talk to her. I'm going to talk to her.

Chat to her for me. Yeah, I'll have a chat to her. Because I'm ready right now. Okay. But if you're ready right now, how are you splitting it? I think this is the thing. If I'm moving in with her or she's moving in with me, I'm thinking we just, well, regardless whether we could find a new place or moving in with each other, split the rent down the middle, split the utilities down the middle, unless one of us works from home. In that case, we kind of have a conversation, sure. But

So food wise, it would be really tricky if you're, I guess one of you is eating a lot more or has like different dietary requirements. I guess it's easy for me to say because we kind of both have the same dietries and we're both, you know, eat about the same amount. Doesn't look like it, but we do. And then I would say like, you know, we kind of go half and half, like she'll buy dinner one night, I'll buy dinner the other night. But in this situation, because one of them is eating a significant amount more than the other like whether that's meat and I'm you know meat's quite expensive I would literally just have a conversation about that and be like hey I'm gonna buy dinners for us like the breakfast and lunches we can like take your additional stuff do you want to just

pick that up exactly your additional stuff like here I'm cooking like a chicken pesto or something like that like and if he's like oh that's not enough protein for me hey any additional you just grab for yourself but like I'm just this is what I've got in the pantry yeah it's what I'm making And then, yeah, kind of find a way. But I know what you mean. Like, you don't want to sound stingy. It is quite new still, as they mentioned. And so it is a real tricky one.

But I would say, as it always comes down to, communication is key. Wow. Didn't see that coming. Jess, how do you manage it? I agree. Like, we split everything 50-50, my partner and I, in terms of, like, rent, groceries and bills and stuff. But if, like, you're feeling like there's a lot of inequity,

I think you know similar to you my partner and I are pretty comparable in terms of like what we consume I mean I work from homes if anything I guess I'm chewing through electricity but hard money win for you Jess let's not mention it hope you're not listening James keep that on the down low no but I think like if it's something that stresses you out and also I guess the salary thing like she's mentioned she's on 70,000 and she feels like that's putting her on a tight budget is your partner earning significantly more if that's the case maybe look at an equity split we've spoken about before like yeah I was about to go hey can we rewind a little bit because Jess has been on the show a number of years now and you guys might know that Jess's partner used to

study yeah and we've spoken about it publicly before on the show because Jess you haven't always split things 50 50 have you no we our rent at one point was split I paid more because the place that we lived you know I wanted more aesthetic things he would live in a shack and couldn't care less. Why are men like this? And I was like, no, no, like I need, you know, and for work as well. I was like, I need like nice lighting because I need content. Yeah, just the simple things. So I said I was happy to pay more because I was like, well, I earn more and the place that we would rent would be more expensive based on what I want. So to me, I was like, that seems reasonable. Like I'm happy to pay more rent. Totally. And then obviously now he has

a full time job. He's graduated and we've gone to 50-50 and that works for us. You know, it's different for everybody, I guess. But if this is something that our listener is feeling pressured about, like that's a great and very reasonable conversation, I think, to have. And that's where the conversation comes down to equity versus equality in relationships. Like there is a difference between the two and splitting 50-50 might make sense for you guys because you're basically on the same page, earn very, very similar amounts and you can call it a day, like you and your partner, Bec. But like, let's go really dramatic for a hot second. If your partner earns $300,000 and you're on $50,000, is that actually fair to split things 50-50 and expect

you to live up to the lifestyle of your partner? Or even if your partner's willing to live on that $50,000 lifestyle, even though they're earning $300,000, is that fair that they have so much more savings capacity in terms of percentage than you when, you know, you're probably scraping by? Like in this economy, you would absolutely be scraping by on that salary trying to keep up. So I think it's important to talk about, you know, it's very normal to want to split based on income. And so what we haven't learned in that story or in that message is, well, how much does your partner earn? That should actually come into the conversation. Are you not wanting to split it because you're 50-50 and, you know, you earn similar amounts and therefore, you know, he's

actually just spending more. Great. Have that conversation. But also, is he earning significantly more and we need to have an equity conversation about splitting it differently because what's fair inside a relationship doesn't mean dollar for dollar and I think that sometimes we just assume that because Beck paid a dollar I should pay a dollar but it's different in a friendship than it is inside a relationship because I'm assuming you moved in with them because you see a long-term sitch happening yeah like you're not moving in with somebody hopefully because you're like ah let's move in with Jess right now break up next year yeah Jess like let's just keep everything super separate and not get our lives intertwined like you are intertwining your lives

because you're moving in together so I feel like these conversations need to become second nature especially now before life becomes more complicated before you're negotiating who's picking nappies up and who's you know going to be paying for the mortgage and where the offset account is sitting if those are goals of yours in the future so I think it's really important to talk about sharing rent and bills with a partner and you shouldn't feel bad because you know what you might be humbled they might turn around and go well Beck I know that you are saying that I should be spending less on meat can you stop putting all your makeup into the daily expenses categories you know every time we go you're picking stuff up at the supermarket spending an extra 50

bucks like so I think we should also look at well are you spending quote your money collectively together and that 50-50 might actually be distributed differently yes you might be tunnel visioned and only seeing the meat is there something of yours that maybe evens it out and you might go oh actually I might not say anything because it's actually working out well and maybe he's thought of it as well right or is it actually not even and we need to have this conversation if anything like the longer you live with someone whether like regardless of how much or how little you share your expenses. You need to be able to have the conversation. Like it's a skill really to be able to talk to them comfortably and openly. A hundred percent. And it starts with things like

this. And if you can't talk about things like this, as money gets more complicated, it will get harder and harder to start those money conversations. So the sooner the better, my friends. What did everybody else say? So we obviously took this to the community. It's one of my favorite things. We said, tell us your two cents. And obviously you did definitely tell us or two cents couple said it's going to depend on income i'm definitely all for equity in terms of rent if you have different salaries but the furniture does seem a little extreme someone said a 50 50 grocery split feels like you're funding his hobby not just the essentials that's true true that's fair totally agree that she shouldn't have to pay more for groceries if he's

eating more a good conversation to have someone said if you're really worried about this stuff are you actually ready to live with someone else? Well, now that's a good question. If you don't want to share your expensive couch. Well, yeah. Someone else said this stuff should have been discussed before moving in together. Like totally. I totally understand that. But you know what? We can't think of everything. We're here now. We're here now. Yes. Yes. Do you know what? Sometimes I really hate when people are like, well, you should have done it differently. That doesn't help. Oh, yeah. Really helpful, Fred. Thanks. Thanks for that. But I'm here now. So where's the advice for now exactly I feel like I've been getting really up and ante on and not replying or

anything but like seeing lots of like Facebook posts where people are asking for advice and people are jumping in being like well you shouldn't have done it to begin with I'm like Susan we're here now yeah like just let it be let it be sit down have you got advice or are you just being hag like sit down so annoyed I have way less patience people who say becoming a parent gives you like a beautiful level of patience? Denada. Mine's worse. Some of you said my partner pays more because he earns significantly more than me. They need to have that chat, which is exactly what we've said. Someone said maybe having a joint account for every joint expense and then separate everything else for personal like his meat consumption. Someone said

same as me, my partner eats a lot more, but I have some expensive hobbies too. I just let it go. so I think that's important to kind of balance it out as I said maybe you're picking up some stuff or maybe he goes well actually Jess like you get all of those expensive ice creams and you say that I can have them but I never eat them because I don't like them like it might even out I'm not saying it will but that's why you have the conversation always want to have an open mind someone said make sure that they understand a partnership you're on the same team one of you shouldn't be struggling so speak up yeah which I think is a good place to leave what your two cents were. We did ask a few other questions and we said, if this was you, would you expect your

partner to pay more rent because the place is furnished? And 19% of you said yes and 81% of you said absolutely not. I wouldn't care. 19% is higher than I thought it would be. I was really surprised about that. And then someone said, if you live with your partner, how do you split your groceries? 57% of you split at 50-50 and 43% of you split the basics and pay for other items separately so i feel like that's some good insight as well but my friends sadly oh for my first friday drinks back we've run out of time we'll have to do it again next week yeah it was it's really nice to have you back oh thank you babies i'm excited to be back as well genuinely my favorite thing in the entire world is this podcast so i feel like i was itching and ready to go at

like three weeks i think i was messaging jess being like can i come back and she's like absolutely not we've got guests scheduled you're not kicking them off the show and i was like oh okay i will wait my turn sorry sorry but it has been a pleasure i have loved seeing you guys and being back in the studio but till then we will see you next week on monday for money diaries bright fresh and early and another friday drinks next week so see you later and have the best weekend guys bye guys bye the advice shared on she's on the money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances she's on the money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision if you do choose to buy a

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