She's On The Money - Are You Actually Behind Financially? And the 12 Month Job Myth

Starting point is 00:00:00 My name is Natasha Bamblett, I'm a proud First Nations woman, and I'm here to acknowledge country. Tii, gulinyan ganya, nianakaka yao yinbina waka, nianakai nianbina yakarumja, duminyagumiga dumiga ithawaka nirawamundamun imalan, mumubangaraboma ininyalan waka, gaunonyakarumja, wutunadanar. Hello beautiful friends. We gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people. We thank, acknowledge and respect the Aboriginal Peoples land that we're gathering on today. Take pleasure in all the land and respect all that you see. She's on the Money podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections, bringing you the tools,

Starting point is 00:00:42 knowledge and resources for you to thrive. She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast that makes personal finance fun, especially on Fridays. It's our favorite day of the week because it's when we get the team together and we celebrate you, the incredible She's On The Money community. Today, it's just Bec and I holding down the fort. So be prepared for things to be a little bit more broke than usual. But of course, I will still be sharing my favorite money wins. Bec will be sharing her best broke tips and we'll be helping to answer a juicy money dilemma, which is all about that relatable feeling of doing everything right, but still feeling behind. And a message that we got this

Starting point is 00:01:23 week asking, is it a red flag to leave a job before 12 months is up or is that outdated advice? Great topical question, I think. Very relevant. I feel like we hear this a lot, right? Absolutely. I totally agree. But before we get into it, we always like to start the show with a five-star review. So have you got one today, Jess? Of course I do. I always come prepared. Gorgeous. This week's review comes from Under the Etwals, which is fun. And they said, Hi, She's on the Money team. I discovered your podcast at the end of September last year when I was starting my home buying journey and you have been in my ears every day since then. I just listened to the retirement episode from August 2021 and Victoria and Georgia were saying,

Starting point is 00:02:05 imagine if people were listening to us in five years and send us a message if you were from 2026. So here I am. Oh my God. It was so strange listening to Jess's first episode on the pod and I'm looking forward to Beck's debut as well. I have just purchased my first home, cooling off ended yesterday and feel so much more empowered with my money now thanks to you guys. That is so lovely. How meta is that? Like knowing that they were talking about right now all the way back then.

Starting point is 00:02:31 I know. Isn't it so weird? It's so crazy to think about. And then, yeah, like I joined and then you joined and just so much has happened in the past five, six years. Totally. I really want to know what you sounded like on your first episode. I don't remember it was so long ago yeah it's so funny I feel like when I first started I was

Starting point is 00:02:50 a lot of the feedback I got was like to stop active listening so much and so I feel like if I go back if you really cringe it's hard though like podcasting is different to just like it's like you're just talking but you have to be conscious as well I know tricky a little bit behind the curtain for everybody exactly a little bit tricky now also we do have a new addition to the Friday drinks which is I mean not super new anymore but the question of the week I love I really love this part. It's so fun, isn't it? It's not always finance. No, well, that's it, which is great for us, I think. Well, for me, for sure. Okay, so it is time for that part of Friday Drinks where you get to ask us one question you're dying to know. It can be about literally

Starting point is 00:03:26 anything. And this week's question comes from Ebony, who wants to know, what is something you've bought that has actually ended up saving you money? Huh. That's a great question. Arguably, my robot vacuum. Not that I ever have paid a cleaner or I'm in the financial position to pay a cleaner, but it's kind of like having a cleaner and you pay for it once and then it just does its little job every day. And I love that thing. I love it. I just, I literally about to say the same thing. Really? Which is crazy. Yeah. So I won't, I will change it, but I just want to say I bought one that was $300. It was meant to be $900. That's a money win. Isn't that crazy? That's really good. So that thing pays for itself, I've got to tell you. I would say subscriptions

Starting point is 00:04:06 to things like wiki camps which is like where you can find spots when you're like on your travels and like yeah which is great for i mean i think you just do a one-off thing which is like eight dollars or something and then you find like cheap or free campsites which i think does save you money but even subscriptions to like you know some people will do an app exercise thing instead of so true so i have something like that as well one pass i don't know how i didn't think of one pass. One pass. Literally, I've made money on that subscription. We spoke about that in December, I think, about like how many Flybuys dollars I've earned. Like the subscription was 40 and I made like a hundred and something dollars in Flybuys points. That's crazy. It pays to pay. It pays to

Starting point is 00:04:50 pay sometimes. It really does. And if you've got a question that you want us to answer, leave it in the comments because we always love having a little squeeze through there and you can make them as fun or as rogue as you want. They don't just have to be about finance. Love them. Speaking of Rogue, Jess, do you have any community money wins? Of course I do. I've got one this week from Kate who said, money win, my private health insurer was offering 12 weeks free for new customers. So I called up and asked if they could do anything for those who already exist. They acknowledged my multi-year loyalty and applied the same offer. I feel like we've had a few people saying that recently. Keep an eye out. I feel like this time of year, a lot of places

Starting point is 00:05:24 are trying to get new customers and so they are offering really good deals. You're entitled to that too. So give them a call. The worst they can say is no. Yeah. Next, I've got a money win from Casey who said she spent the last year saving up so that she could pay her gym fee as an annual upfront payment this year when it went on sale. So instead of paying around $17.50 a week, she paid $400 upfront, which works out to about $7.70 a week. That's so good. Which is less than half price, which is brilliant. Sometimes it does pay to pay upfront as well. That's so true. That's so good. That's so cheap. That's really clever. $7 a week. That's great. Next, I got a money win from someone with a nickname. And just a reminder, if you are in the Facebook group, we kind of

Starting point is 00:06:03 prefer that you don't use your nicknames, at least not for something like money wins. I think you don't need it. Let us celebrate you. Let us celebrate you. But with that being said, Gifted Mango6978 said they bought the Cancel Council sunscreen, which is 100% reimbursed through their health insurance. And because it was from Chemist Warehouse, they could upload the receipt to Shopback, which gave them a $4 bonus. Oh my God. You sound like me. Mango something. That is genius. Gifted mango. Yeah. Yes. You can do that sometimes with prescriptions and stuff where it's like it's all covered by your healthcare, but then you get maybe 40% cashback. So you get like a free 40 bucks depending on what the cashback amount is.

Starting point is 00:06:39 You're making money. That's crazy. Crazy. Good for you. Next, I've got a money win from Narissa who said, I was out on my daily walk with my four month old when I spotted a toddler bike on the nature strip off the street we normally walk down. It had a post-it note on it saying, please take me to a new home. It was in excellent condition and even had the training wheels attached and she loves that it can grow with her toddler and that that simple walk saved her $220. Wow. $200 for a bike for a child. That's so good. Am I out of touch or is that crazy? I think that's crazy, but I also, I think I'm also out of touch. I don't know what bikes cost these days. That's actually so true. I couldn't tell you, but for like a little tiny

Starting point is 00:07:16 one? Yeah, a little tiny one. That is actually crazy. Must be really, really good. Must be. It will literally grow with the toddler. Next, I've got a money win from Lara, who said she found a pair of Sunseeker bathers in the op shop for five bucks. She thought they seemed really good quality and ended up being $2.50 on sale. And then she Googled the RRP and they were normally $180. They fit like a glove and they're incredible quality, which she said is very hard to come by these days.

Starting point is 00:07:41 Don't you love that? That's great. Nothing quite hits like an op shop find, does it? Oh, totally. And then lastly this week, I've got a money win from Ashley, who said, money win. I had to go into Target this morning and I couldn't be bothered waiting for the two people at the parking meter. So I just hoped for the best, came back out to my car with a parking fine on the windscreen. I opened the fine to see how much I'd been stung and only got a warning.

Starting point is 00:08:03 Oh, that's so nice. I didn't know they did that. Me neither. I've been fined twice in two months. Oh my God. I want to know what county this was in because people on the east side, they're not doing that. That's for sure. That's for sure. Which county? That's so funny. Oh, which is suburb. You know what I mean. I know what you mean. I'm just completely rusty. I know. We don't know what's happening.

Starting point is 00:08:24 So that's it from me this week. Wow, a warning. That is so nice. It must be very nice. It must be really nice. I didn't know they could do that. And now I will be making sure that, well, I don't really know what I'll be making sure of. I'll still be parking in the wrong places. Okay. Are you ready for some broke tips? Absolutely. So this first one comes from Michelle who writes, sounds slightly unhinged. I love unhinged, But I can't justify the price of chocolate these days, not to mention it gives me heartburn. Oh, no.

Starting point is 00:08:50 So when I get cravings, I have chocolate-flavored toothpaste that I bought on special for $1 that I just brush my teeth with. Satisfies my taste buds without the expense or extra calories. That sounds delicious. That sounds really nice. Dentists everywhere are rejoicing as we speak. They're like, wow, this is chocolate-flavored toothpaste. I've never heard of it.

Starting point is 00:09:11 No. Also, she wanted me to note, I do not eat the toothpaste. just brush my teeth and tongue the flavor is very strong and quite bang on so a little goes a long way stop judging me she said we will not judge you i really want to know what this toothpaste is i want to try it and is it mint chocolate or is it just chocolate you know what i mean yeah it sounds like it's belgium chocolate by the sounds of like how good it tastes she's really selling it to me that's all i've got to say i would eat that chocolate i will be googling it when we finish this episode yeah 100 on that though as well i do eat chapstick when i want a little sweet treat

Starting point is 00:09:43 So, no. What's it called? Lipsmacker. Like, as in you have a little lick of it on your lips or you're going in for a... I kind of shave it with my teeth. Oh, Bec, that's not... It's not healthy, probably. I don't think so.

Starting point is 00:09:57 But it's a cheap alternative to little sweets, sweet treats. I think let's try get you a flavoured toothpaste. That seems like a better option. True, actually. Yeah, we really need to Google this after. This next one comes from Morgan, who says, before you buy an appliance. Check to see if there's any on Facebook Marketplace. If there's a lot on there for sale, it probably means the appliance is crap and everyone is trying to get

Starting point is 00:10:18 rid of theirs and you shouldn't get one. That's so smart. It's killing two birds with one stone because you might find a cheaper one on there that's good and like only one person selling it or you might realize, yeah, they're actually really bad. That's genius. Or a new one's just come out and everyone wants to upgrade. True. And then obviously my own break tip. So this is just a reminder to read your energy bills because in most of Australia, energy retailers are required by law to notify you on your bill at least every 100 days if they have a better, cheaper plan available for you. I don't think they've let me know, but if it's on the bill, I guess people aren't really reading

Starting point is 00:10:50 that. So maybe it's in a very small... No, or you just, like whenever I open a bill, I'm literally just going straight to the, how much money do I owe? I know, totally. Like I'm not even taking anything else in. Totally. So just a reminder, check your bill for more than just how much you owe. You might find a little surprise on there. All right, we're going to go to a really quick break. And when we come back, we're going to be answering a money dilemma all about feeling like you're behind. And the DM, Mishu, asked all about red flags when leaving a job early. So don't go anywhere. Welcome back, everyone. Let's take a listen to this week's Money Dilemma.

Starting point is 00:11:23 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. Hello, Victoria and all the girls that she's on the money. Thank you so much for providing this platform for me to ask you a Money Dilemma today. You've helped me so much and that's definitely an understatement with my money story. And I wish I could tell you my full story, but I don't have time. So my money dilemma today is, why do I feel like I'm not getting anywhere

Starting point is 00:12:06 when my money is so much diversified? For example, all my savings accounts, I have like five savings accounts. $60 goes to holidays, $50 goes to personal every week. I've got money going to shares every week. I've got money going to super every week. I've got money going to emergency fund every week. I just do not feel like at the end of the year, that money has grown at all. And it's because I could think I've got too many little amounts going in. And if I was to add it all up, it would be like probably, you know, $17,000 a year of savings. But I'm not seeing that because it's going to all these other places.

Starting point is 00:12:45 And I'm just wondering how do I maximize that or how could I feel like I'm actually moving forward when the $2,500 in personal every year gets spent and the holiday money gets spent and then I'm left with just the little deposits that I'm making to shares use and super and security like a fund so please help please help sounds like you're on a hot girl walk and I love that for you I love a hot girl walk there's nothing better than a walk and talk with your friends I know totally I'm really impressive too I feel like as soon as I take two steps I can't I'm out of breath so good for you I feel the same way and I don't think our situations are very similar at all. But I do feel like it's almost like every single year I'm kind of in

Starting point is 00:13:28 the same spot. And it can be very frustrating being like, wow, I'm really like things are happening. Jobs are changing, but I'm right back to square one all the time. So it's very, very tiring. I totally understand. Also that thing of like when you're saving for a holiday and then the holiday comes and then you, well, this is what the money's for. And then you spend it. And it's like, I'm back to square one again. It just feels so annoying. So I think like, I don't know what I would say, but I think Victoria would be like, set up an emergency fund, maybe put it all in one savings account, your emergency fund, and then put the rest in something that's maybe higher return. Like you were saying, you're putting in shares, you're putting some in super. The only other option is just waiting for it to, I guess, come back twofold in seven years when it doubles usually.

Starting point is 00:14:15 Yes, I see. I actually don't think you're doing anything wrong. I think that this is a perception issue, not necessarily a processes issue because I think what our listener is saying is that $17,000 into various things is amazing. That's a huge amount of money and I think that you're feeling like it's not a lot because it's split towards lots of different goals and this is where we often talk about that you can have everything you want but not all at once. So yes, if you focused all of your efforts on one goal, you might superficially feel

Starting point is 00:14:47 like you're getting there faster because instead of 1,000 going here, 1,000 going there, and it being broken up, you're seeing one big lump sum grow. But if you want to work towards multiple goals at once, which it sounds like you are, you're putting extra money in the super, you're investing, you're saving towards something, then the reality is that when you just kind of look at it front on, it might not feel like you're making that progress. But that's just because your attention is divided and that is not a bad or an incorrect choice. It just, I think, is like a little bit of a mind trick. And so what I would maybe suggest is using a net wealth tracker or something like that so that you can actually see your net wealth as a whole growing. Because for

Starting point is 00:15:28 those who don't know, a net wealth tracker or a net wealth dashboard will look at your financial position holistically. So it will say, you've got this amount in savings, you've got this amount in shares, you've got this amount in other assets, and it will total it all so that you can kind of see that amount as a whole growing, even if the money is held in lots of different places. And I think that's really what you need to do is you just kind of need to view your money in all of these different zones as one holistic sum that you are growing. And that's awesome. So it is, I think, just a little bit of like changing the way that you're looking at it. And seeing as Victoria's not here, we can kind of do whatever we want. There is a really great net wealth tracker

Starting point is 00:16:06 in our investing masterclass. So what we're going to do is we're going to set you up with that. we'll find your email in the messages and I will send that over to you myself. So hopefully that will help for anyone who is thinking the same thing. If you haven't done the Investing Masterclass, it's really fantastic. There's lots of great assets and resources in there. And I feel like the tracker will really help you visualize that in a way that will hopefully be a little bit easier in your brain. That is such good advice. Thank you. I'm trying to channel my inner Victoria. Wow, you're doing a great job.

Starting point is 00:16:36 Thank you so much. Would you like to get into something a little tiny bit juicy? Yes, please. Okay. So this week we got a DM that says this. Hey, she's in the money. I keep hearing from the older generation that leaving a job before 12 months looks bad on your resume. And I don't know if that's actually true anymore. For context, I've stayed in all of my full-time roles for at least eight months with one lasting four years. I've also always worked multiple jobs at once, sometimes 60 plus hour weeks and even 90 hours for a short period. My current job is only six months in, but it's seriously affecting my mental health. I'm on a rotating on-call roster and I'm having issues with a coworker alongside personal stuff that's going on. My mom says I

Starting point is 00:17:17 should stick it out for the pay, experience and future growth, but I don't know if it's worth the stress. Help. This is really good timing because I just want this person to know that I was at a job that I was really, really excited about. And I probably mentioned it on this show even, And I lasted nine weeks. I quit after nine weeks. And I was very conscious of how that would look on my resume. But I think that you have obviously a history of like staying at jobs for long times. So I don't think that is at all a problem. But I think the main thing is your mental health. And it doesn't seem like, you know, I was told to stick it out. You know, you just if you're getting to a point where like maybe it's keeping you up at night, like there are so many little things that we don't even probably even realize is happening. Like being at work physically, we know is stressful, but you're probably having like broken sleep. You're probably not like doing all the things you love doing. You're probably like, it's probably bleeding into your everyday life.

Starting point is 00:18:13 And I don't think anything is worth that. So in a worst case scenario, you just take it off the resume and you put something in between, or you could just tell employers that you've been doing temp jobs here and there. You've just been taking a little break, whatever you want to say. You don't even have to put it on your resume. You can tell no one that it even existed, you know what I mean? But I do think, though, moving forward, if someone was to ask

Starting point is 00:18:36 or if someone in a job interview was like, why did you only stay here for six months? This is what I'm struggling with too. I'm like, do you tell them? But I think what I've been saying is just it was a contract, it was a contract, and then never put anyone on there as your reference. So you could do that. But at the end of the day, nothing is worth affecting your mental health

Starting point is 00:18:54 and your life. So get the hell out of there. ASAP is my advice to you. And in leaving, you might have the opportunity to make it better for other people. Because you were telling me, we were talking just before about your job. Oh, the job that you've just left. And you were saying you ended up having an exit interview and you had the opportunity to kind of share your experience. And that when you shared that feedback, sorry, I don't want to tell your story for you, but they were really surprised by that, right? They were. And they were really apologetic. And it made me feel good. Like, oh my God,

Starting point is 00:19:21 I can let go of this heavy, heavy weight and they can see me and validate me and they can understand we can kind of both leave this situation feeling good and feeling like no one's got any bad blood here. Like we're all just, you didn't realize we're great. We're fine. So sometimes at the very least, like you can leave and feel like a weight, a huge weight has been lifted. And then even once you hand that resignation in, you can be like, F this, I'm just going

Starting point is 00:19:48 to make friends now. And then you might make some friends along the way. So I think get out of there. And what would you say? I agree. I think that it depends how frequently. I can understand how an employer looking at a resume with a tenure is always less than a year. I can understand if there's lots and lots of those.

Starting point is 00:20:05 From an employer perspective, you may question why. And I do think exactly as you said, it's just on you as the candidate to kind of explain that. Whether you say it was you're striving to find exactly the right environment, whether you say it was, you know, temp roles, contract roles, that's up to you. But I do think it is very easy to explain those things away. I don't think nowadays the expectation is that you would sit in a role for years and years because as we've said many a time, people who change jobs or job hop are statistically likely to earn more, have better opportunities, all those sorts of things.

Starting point is 00:20:38 So it is like don't hate the player, hate the game on some level. Yeah, it's almost like a PR moment, right? Like it's on you to kind of spin that. And I think ultimately if it was me and somebody asked me that question and said, you know, why are your 10 years so short? I would just say something on the lines of, you know, I've been seeking the right opportunity and flip it around and say, this is why I believe that this opportunity is that, you know, tell them why you think you are the good fit. Tell them why you think that this is a place you see yourself being long-term. And then if it doesn't end up working out that way,

Starting point is 00:21:08 it is what it is, right? Totally. Yeah. I think that there's lots of things that you can do in that situation, but also it's not the worst thing in the world. Like there are many other red flags that I would consider to be significantly worse than short stints in different jobs. Because it's all experience at the end of the day, right? Exactly. And six months is pretty long. It is a pretty decent amount of time, definitely. And what did everyone else say? All right. So we got lots of good responses. Firstly, somebody said, taking a risk is scary, but often lands you something you may not have found if you had stayed, which I think is very true. Somebody else said, I work in contracting. Six-month stints are totally normal at

Starting point is 00:21:43 organizations call it a contract. Yes. Very, very good advice. Somebody else said, as a HR rep, one occurrence looks like self-correcting, deliberate job hopping is what turns off employers, which is interesting to have that insight. Somebody else said, you have proven you can be loyal with previous jobs. Don't suffer for a made up finish line. So true. I completely agree. This one's a two-parter. They said, hiring manager here, regular pattern of zero to 18 months in roles mean we won't interview but if they address it in their cover letter as to why and it makes sense we will okay and this is what i think i think it's only how you spin it yeah and also if it's something that somebody's really questioning i also wonder if that's is that the

Starting point is 00:22:23 right workplace for you if it is a huge red flag and it is a huge drama is that a red flag in itself yeah got you just a couple more somebody said in some industries it's like playing chess and you need to get one position to get to where you want which i also think is a great point sometimes it is about taking that lateral step to step up and up later on. We have another one that says, what's the point of having money and career growth if you are miserable? Yes, exactly. And the last one, which I think is the perfect spot to leave it is, we all need to arrive in 2026 and stop with the boomer advice. Great advice. I love that one. Yeah. So thank you for playing along. If you do want to participate

Starting point is 00:23:00 in our weekly money dilemma, don't forget to follow us on Instagram. We post them there every week. If you haven't already, you can also join our Facebook group. That's where we get our money wins and broke tips we'd love to see you guys there but that's about all for today thank you guys for joining us and victoria will see you on monday for a money diary 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 financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards

Starting point is 00:23:41 your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.

She's On The Money - Are You Actually Behind Financially? And the 12 Month Job Myth

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