She's On The Money - Cost Of Living-Core

Episode Date: July 18, 2023

There is no doubt that cost of living is weighing heavily on all of us. No matter who you are, we're all feeling the pinch of the soaring cost of groceries, utilities and interest rates! So, on today's episode we embrace the season we're currently in, and give you tips and tricks to not only make your dollar go further but have fun along the way! 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 name is Bec Syed and we are with Victoria Devine today. Hello, my friend. What a surprise. Fancy seeing you here. I know. What are you doing here? Oh my gosh. I don't even know. I still don't know why you've let me on more than... It's like how many episodes have we got now? A fair few. I'm very generous.

Yeah, like plus 250. That's a lot of hours in this studio, guys. I'll tell you what, you're on thin ice. Oh, I'm going to be yeeted. You are very soon. But today we're talking about the cost of living, which is... Which can get yeeted. Which can get yeeted. Absolutely. Basically, no matter what you are feeling at the moment, The pinch of soaring costs of groceries and utilities and interest rates is quite heavy. And I feel like that's definitely going to weigh in a lot of people.

It's pretty overwhelming, actually, to be honest. It's a lot at the moment. You and I were talking and I feel like we should have had this conversation in front of the mics as opposed to off mic. And we were just like, how overwhelming is it at the moment? Like, I feel like everybody is so conscious of what they're spending, but nobody's really talking about it. Like the media is talking about it and everybody is kind of aware of it.

we know things are getting more expensive, but I just feel like we need to be even more aware of it so that we make our friends and our family more comfortable and even ourselves more comfortable. As you know, I love to talk about TikTok because I basically live on TikTok, but Bec, have you heard of Cottagecore? It sounds familiar, but I don't think I know. I've mentioned it before. Jess and I have actually been on the side of TikTok that is like this Cottagecore vibe, and it's just like embracing a particular style or theme. So recently Barbie Corps, as you guys probably already know, had a Barbie themed birthday party and it was the best thing

in the entire world. Very fun. It was a very good time but that would be like a Barbie Corps party because absolutely everything was Barbie. I have an idea. Go on. Cost of living Corps. Oh, okay.

Like let's make it a theme where it becomes attractive to be frugal. Is that a thing? I think. You know how like Barbie Corps, Barbie a few years ago people would have been like, Victoria, you're such a loser. Why are you having a Barbie party? And then I plan a Barbie party because I am a loser and I was happy to embrace it. And then Warner Brothers is like, oh, by the way, we're doing a movie. I'm like, oh, cool. So you're going to make me look good. But I thought I was cool by myself, you know? Right, right, right.

So now we're going to try and do cost of living core because I think it's something that we absolutely should be embracing. And I think it's something that our community, we're already pretty familiar with it because like we're good at saving a dollar. Like every single week we do our money Win thread in our Facebook group. And it's my favorite thread to read through because you guys are wizards. Do you know how many posts over the last few weeks I've seen of people making my muffins? Like my really cheap, I think it's like $2.30 or something for the entire batch of 12 muffins. Money win. Yeah. How are they coming out? They're coming out great. A few people are saying, oh, this didn't work. They were terrible. I'm like, what did you do? Yeah. What did you do?

Because I'm not amazing in the kitchen and the recipe is really straightforward. It's one packet of cake mix, one standard size tin of fruit mix bake. Like there's not a lot. I really need to know what you guys are doing for it to be messed up so badly. I mean, I'm not throwing shade, just genuinely confused about how a two ingredient recipe is going so far off track. No tea, no shade. Yeah, no tea, no shade. But I think that our community is very familiar with this topic of cost of living core, but we're now making it like a vibe and we're all going to be getting in on this so that we can save money. But also, I think we need to address the anxiety side of this. Yes, the anxiety in the room. It's hard, right? Like, Bec, you and I were talking before,

and obviously you love a broke tip, but we were talking before about that underlying feeling of going out for dinner with friends and you've budgeted for it, right? Like, you go out for dinner, like, as we were talking, sometimes if you've really budgeted, you just pick like an entree and then you've budgeted for maybe one drink. And then people are like, oh, Bec, do you on another drink and you say no because you're like oh no thanks like that's all good and everyone around you orders another round and you're like are we splitting this like I've ordered one like I don't know like is this now going to be split evenly and I only had one drink and one on tray like where's this going like it actually reminds me of when I had a lot less money and I feel very

privileged to be in a position where now I like to think that I'm really super aware of it like I do have enough to get by and I do have enough, hopefully, to take some pressure off my family and friends. And I love that, you know, as you guys know, my financial life has been a bit of a journey. I was in significant debt and it was crippling and awful and really weighed heavily on my mental health. And I've kind of gone on this journey of then, you know, getting to a point of, you know, not financial freedom yet, but I'm definitely far more financially free than I was. and I have this beautiful privilege of being able to make decisions that, you know, kind of transcend beyond finances, if that makes sense. I can go, oh, Bec, I do want to take a day off to rest or

recover. I can afford to do that. And I think that's an absolute privilege. But it like throws me straight back to when I was in debt or trying to budget or trying to go out with my friends. And it just took away from the event. I know. I can totally relate to that. I remember I used to bring like boiled eggs to restaurants because I'd be like, I'm just going to get like a little side salad that's maybe a couple bucks. Oh my gosh, you're so smart though. That's like forward thinking. Totally. That was so like, condiments, everything. I would bring them myself in little like, you know, Tupperware containers or whatever. But my friends would always laugh at me because sometimes the eggs weren't peeled yet. So I'd have to sit there and peel these eggs and then

pop them in like, you know where it says add sides? I would just be like, hey, can I have a side of this lettuce or this little and then they'd be like yeah okay that's so weird but sure and they'd bring it out and I'd pop my little eggs in and I would try and eat beforehand as well so I wasn't super hungry you know. That's so frugal and I mean arguably I don't know if restaurants would now let you do that but I mean you do you. Yeah I don't think it's probably frowned upon I would say. But that was obviously done so that one you weren't under any more financial pressure but I just feel like there's such a feeling of underlying anxiety that I remember just not enjoying being out with my friends sometimes because it was so stressful. And they didn't

know. They'd be like, oh, is anything up? And I'd be like, no, no, no, I'm just quiet. I'm just fine. In reality, I was just calculating in my head how much it was going to cost and are we splitting this evenly? Or I've only brought a certain amount of cash. What if people say they don't have cash and I'm the only one and I have to transfer them back? I don't have enough money in my account to transfer them I only brought this cat like I feel like it's such a spiral and like we've decided at the she's on the money office to embrace cost of living core and we're just going to take a more I guess holistic approach to spending money we're going to make it sexy I think it's already sexy but like we're going to try and make it more sexy

you know back yeah but it goes beyond and we've obviously shared these tips and tricks on the podcast before we're like oh why don't you have your friends over for brunch instead why don't you, you know, have a dinner party and everyone brings a meal. Like, I think those things are really smart and they are, but it goes beyond just the physical and into really stepping into what other people are thinking and feeling and how you make them think and feel. Because there's nothing sexier than, you know, me turning around and being like, Bec, I know I asked you up for dinner. I'm actually paying. And you go, oh no, V, I don't want that. Like, please don't pay. and I go, yeah, yeah, but I really want to go to this particular restaurant, but I also don't want

you to feel that anxiety. Or flipping it and going, I know that we're all stressed about this at the moment. Hey, Bec, I really want to catch up. Let's do something free or cheap. And you might not even know what the outcome is. You don't have to think about it, but what can we do that's free or cheap? Totally. I can run through, if you like, a few of the things that I do that are very cheap. So one suggestion would be tea and tarot card night. Oh my gosh. Chuck some frozen pizzas in the oven. Can you please invite me? Yeah, of course. I would love to do that. I want to come for tea and tarot night. And you know, I don't know how to read tarot cards, but you know, you'll find a way. Whatever. I've never had my tarot cards read. Yes. And you know, tea. So I

won't know the difference between good and bad. Oh, I won't know why. I'm just going to pretend that all cards are good, even if it's like, this is the death card. Yeah, Steph, it's like new life, New life. You're moving past a traumatic event, Victoria. And I'm like, oh, yeah, of course. That's exactly how I feel. Yeah, I think so. That's one of them, obviously.

Another one that I like to do with my friends is movie night. We'll start like a series together. I'm currently on F Boy Island. I'm going there after this. I've just started watching F Boy Island. I love it, actually. I love it. I feel like with the movie night, too, it can become really cheap if you do the frozen pizza thing.

Because it could add up if you don't have a plan. Like if you go over to each other's house and then I'm like, oh, Bec, what's for dinner? and then you've already had a few drinks so we can't go to the supermarket together and we have to order Uber Eats, like, make a plan. And also, stop buying pre-made popcorn. Do you know how cheap popcorn can be? The microwave one. Yeah, but, like, the cheap one.

So just buy the popcorn kernels and pop it yourself in a saucepan. True, actually. Like, that is the cheapest, healthiest, best snack. I would advocate for making it not healthy. Oh, for sure. Like, my favourite type of popcorn is where you pop all the popcorn, put it in a big bowl to the side. Then you melt some sugar and some water and make a caramel kind of like toffee sauce. And then you pour it over the popcorn and then sprinkle salt over it. It's

so cheap because obviously it's just like a little bit of sugar and some popcorn kernels, but then it becomes like crunchy toffee popcorn, kind of like giving, you know, like carnival vibes. Okay. So cheap. So good. Wow. So bad for you. So bad for you. You want it to be bad for though. If you're having a movie night, you've got to do it. A hundred percent. But what were you telling me about before, Bec? You were saying something off air about a Danish concept you wanted to bring up and I thought that was pretty elite. Yes. I think this is so cozy. So, I mean, I might be wrong here. Whoever's listening, please correct me. But I have heard about this Danish concept of, and I believe it's pronounced hygge. I think it's... That does sound very Danish. It

sounds like a product you'd get at Ikea. And it sounds, and I don't know how to explain this, like a warm hug. What's that nice footstool? Oh, it's the hygge. It's the hygge. Yeah. So I think it's defined it. I wrote this down. You think or it is? It is defined as because I can see in front of you that you literally have the definition. I did write it down just in case, but it could be wrong. A quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality, convivitality maybe. Yeah, whatever. That engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being. I love that, but I can tell that you didn't write that sentence what's conviviality even mean so i don't know it sounds like a warm hug okay so our producer just let us know that it means friendly lively and enjoyable oh that's

wholesome conviviality yeah i'm gonna start throwing that into my everyday language and then you guys will think i'm really smart i do think you're really smart basically the point of that is i guess when things are cold and dark over winter to counter the possible depression of the season, you know, the winter sads. Oh, yeah, no, but that's the thing. Like, I feel like I have seasonal depression sometimes. I have real depression. I take actual medication for it.

But, like, I feel like I have seasonal depression because I don't want to get out of bed and I feel like doing nothing. Who wants to go out when it's dark and cold? It's dark and cold and wet usually. So we're redefining it. We're redefining it. Basically, the Danish peoples celebrate hygge and the sense of cosy comfort it can bring.

So the principles of it are... Hygge, hygge, hygge. Okay, maybe I'm just taking the mickey now. The principles of it are atmosphere, presence, pleasure, equality, gratitude, harmony, comfort, truce, togetherness, and shelter. That's so cute. That is actually really, really wholesome. And I think this idea of like slowing down and being present with people

and this like soft, warm. Let's go buy homewares. That's not very cost of living core, is it? It's not, but we could buy a homewares if you like. All right. So instead of buying homewares, maybe we just make like wholesome popcorn at home and have a pizza at night instead of going out. Totally. Or maybe you could find like a really nice warm light from an op shop and take that home with you. No, stop buying things. Op shop though.

Do you have a blanket at home? Cool. We can sit on the couch with a blanket and make popcorn. Now you're talking. Yeah. See, see, see. Talk dirty to me. I think we should go to a really quick break and when we come back. We're going to make popcorn. Let's do it. On the flip side, we're going to give you some really hot tips and tricks about how to embrace this cost of living core we're trying to make a thing and it's actually up to you guys to make it a thing because like beck and i we're just on the pot like the community that's what makes things come to life so make this happen amen sis we'll be back all right we are back beck and i

want to start this conversation because i can see that you've got a list of all of your favorite like broke tips and tricks and this is basically now i'm going to be like a beck show which i'm very excited about. But before we get there, during my time working in psychology, and you've heard this on the pod before, I was introduced to this concept called reframing. And it sounds really, I guess, fluffy, but it's taking one mindset and kind of shifting it to another. And it's kind of like a tool in the toolkit of counselors and psychologists that they use to kind of, one, paraphrase back to you, your concern or problem, but in a way that takes it from one mindset to another. So like you might be bossy and you might say, and I got this a lot when I

was younger, like, oh, Victoria is so bossy. And no, actually I'm a natural leader. Like absolutely not. I'm a visionary. I am, you know, somebody who's really passionate about what I do and I know what I want. Someone might've said, oh, she's so demanding. And no, no, no. I know what I want. I'm outspoken. And I feel like it's taking something that might have a negative connotation and putting it into a positive mindset. So instead of saying like, oh, I'm never going to be able to do this, you might say, I'm doing the best that I can right now with the tools and resources that I have access to. And if you might say, oh, I'm not very good at this, like I'm going to fail, like I'm never going to be able to stick to my budget, you might go, I've accomplished so

much already and I'm learning as I go. And I think just making these mindset shifts, like you might go, oh, it's too hard. You might go, I know I'm capable of accomplishing this. Like there's just so many different ways to reframe. And I know it sounds fluffy and you might go, that's lame. Like stop that. But negative self-talk is inherent. Like at the end of the day, way back when we were cavemen, Bec, we'd make terrible cavemen now. It's like asking my dog, Lucy, like, do you know that you used to have to fight for your food, sir? Like sit down, Lucy. Like, can you imagine Lucy going out into the wild and trying to like serve herself? Like, absolutely not. She'd be like, um, are those biscuits warmed? Because if they're not warmed, like, I'm actually going to

starve myself. But back in caveman times, like we had to be very defensive because our lives were at risk. So of our shelter, of our food, of our, you know, looking after ourselves, we had to be very negative because the worst outcome could be true. We now live in what is arguably a semi civilized society. So we can leave the house, thankfully, very privileged, we're in Australia, we can leave the house safely, comfortably, like there's so many resources. So being a little bit more positive is actually a really good tool, but we automatically as human beings default to negative. It's hardwired into our brain to be negative. If you think you're a negative person, it's just because you're hardwired that way and it takes work to become positive and it takes work,

but work makes us uncomfortable and we actually need to change that. So sometimes you have to be a little bit uncomfortable to become ultimately comfortable. So I think if you're feeling like being frugal sucks or, you know, you feel like you're losing something, I think reframing it to I'm going to get to spend way more quality time with my friends. I'm going to feel so much less pressure. Like let's change the mindset around this because as much as it sounds fluffy and I am a relatively fluffy human being, but as much as it's fluffy, it actually has an impact on our mental health and how we feel and how we see situations. Like you're not missing out on anything. And I think the second we can see that, the more likely we are to embrace things. And I

mean, you're like the best frugal queen I know, but I know that there's such value even in making decisions like that because they are based more on quality time as opposed to the activity. Like sometimes we pick a really nice restaurant because that could be the topic of conversation. Like, oh, let's go out to that restaurant. We can talk about the food. We can do this. We can do that. Let's be honest.

If I invite you to my house, Bec, there's no chatter going around. We're not like, oh, do you like her top? Do you like this? Like we actually have to focus on enjoying ourselves together and having good conversation and all of that stuff. So I think that one, it's beautiful. But two, I think take the pressure off yourself. If you're being negative, if you're saying, I could never do that, be like, well, why

not give it a go? You're completely capable of giving it a shot. So, yeah, anyway, that's my little soft, fluffy side of the podcast. I mean, it's been a relatively fluffy podcast. But can you give me some cost of living core ideas? I feel like there are six million. Of course I can. So I just want to quickly say this really reminds me of just off topic.

I'm so sorry, but I watch this show. It's called Superstore. And there's one episode where. Oh, I love Superstore. I love Superstore. There's one episode. Steve and I, we're obsessed. I've run out of episodes.

Same. I keep watching the same thing over and over again. ah neuro spicy girl things love this show so one episode they're talking about someone wants a pay rise and so they have like a big meeting and it's like a budget is a pay rise you give yourself and they're trying to like reframe literally living on no money and i'm like this could be exactly what maybe we're doing here for some people out there but i do just want to say like unfortunately that's the reality of it but you can sometimes make things a little bit cozier a little bit comfier for yourself. A hundred percent. Yeah. If you still want to enjoy the

finer things like seeing friends and being social and things like that. So my friend, she has like a full spreadsheet of different teas. And I know I mentioned tea in the first half, but I just want to like really reiterate how wholesome and warming and fun it is. Basically what she does is she'll get like Earl Grey. She'll get all different brands of Earl Grey that can be a little bit pricey. So you don't have to be doing that. You could get like two or three. You get two or three once a week or once a fortnight and just meet up with your friends and taste the teas and literally tea tasting. It's like a wine tasting, but way more budget. Yeah, exactly. And she literally has a spreadsheet of all the teas that her and her friends have already kind of like basically

judged. And I just want to say Madura tea is currently coming up on top. Yeah, no, that will always come up on top for me. That's the English breakfast Madura. I don't know about the other Madura. Yeah, I'm also going off track from Madura. The Yorkshire Tea Gold is my favourite black tea. I'm going to write that down. Yeah, Yorkshire Tea comes in the gold box. It looks fancy. It's not. And then what's that one? It's like the lady. The lady? The lady. I don't know why I said that so loudly like I knew what you're talking about and I didn't. The Madam Flavour Teas. Madam. I don't think I've heard about this one. We only buy them when they're on sale because they're like $7 a box otherwise.

Oh, my goodness. Look how bougie that looks. Oh, I do know this one. I like the green tea with jasmine and something. Yeah, see, they're fancy, bougie ones. And my favourite tea is actually their lemongrass, lime and ginger, which is really good for pre-recording so your voice sounds really nice. I don't think I could F with a lemongrass and ginger,

but I'm going to write that down anyway just in case. Yes, the madam flavour ones. But just for those of you who missed out, Bec just called twinings tea twinnings. I just learned. Not letting anybody let that slip. Twinnings T. What did I say?

Twinings. Twinings. Twinings. Twinings. It just doesn't look like it should be twinings. Anyway. Phonetically, it makes sense. Twinings.

Twinings would be one N, no? No. Anyway, I'm shocked to the absolute core. The word twins has one N. Huh? Oh. But, like, you know, I'm not here to teach you English. I'm here to teach you about money.

I love you. We might need to do English after this. No, let's not. It's way better this way. So we're going to do tea tastings, are we? Tea tastings with your friends. You can do them by yourself as well if you're having a night in and you want to pamp yourself, have some teas.

Tea's really good. And also, like, sometimes I do have a pamper night myself, and what I do is I just get the cheapest, cheapest bottle of lotion. Honestly, I don't know much about skincare, so don't listen to me. But petroleum jelly all over the body, I love it. All right, we're not going to go too far into that because I think that a lot of people are going to be, that's so bad for you.

that's codemic like all right sorry to my friends who are listening I'm very poor anyway I'm not really the next thing I'm going to tell you about is my delicious very cheap fried rice oh I love a fried rice so what you do so yeah I'm listening I know there's a lot of people out there that already know this but you do have to use day or couple day old rice too much planning for me absolutely not you can use it fresh if you like that's no problem with that you know what I don't even like cooking rice myself. I'm about to give you a rice tip as well after this. So that's super critical. You can get the, it's obviously not good for the environment. You can't get ones that are microwavable. No, absolutely not. We do not buy microwave rice in this house. Are you

kidding? That is so expensive. What am I going to do? Like pay a dollar for a cup of rice? Bec, absolutely not. That's right. If you don't like cooking. But anyway, you... If you're on the money, you don't buy a packet of rice. No, you don't. Ideally not. You know what I should do in my newsletter in a couple of weeks, how to cook the perfect rice. Cause I think I'm really good at it it's not traditional like I haven't told you how I cook my rice to perfection before because you guys would jump down my throats and be like that's not how to cook jasmine rice you're slaughtering it but you know what comes out perfect every time doesn't it I don't know yet but I'm sure I do trust you I think I cook the perfect rice do you do it in a rice cooker because I

no way yeah no I haven't invested in one I just can't justify it like I'm not buying an appliance that has one function. Fair. That's actually a really good point. But also, I think I do have rice cooker. It always does come out perfectly. It must be nice. It is nice, actually. So what you do with the fried rice is you chuck in your rice, which should be, you know, not super expensive. Cook it up. Ideally, it's a day old. That's okay. If not, you pop in some sesame oil. If you have, you can get the home brand one. They don't have home brand soy sauce, do they? No. I think they do now. I think they have like Coles or Woolies brand soy sauce. Yeah, I think they must. Or you can get like the black and gold soy sauce. I'm pretty sure that's

a thing. If not, just find the cheapest soy sauce, basically. All you need is sesame oil, soy sauce, rice, frozen peas. And what I do is I add a scrambled sort of egg and you chuck it all in there. You pop in your fried tofu, if you like. It doesn't cost too much, but it lasts so long. So this is showing my privilege again, but I think that you'll agree or laugh. I don't know. I don't even know if I should be telling this story because it's honestly relatively unrelatable. So. Okay, I'm scared. As you know, I have been renovating my house and I've just moved back into it and I left

all of my other condiments somewhere else. Oh. And so I've had to buy all of my condiments again. So I have gone to Kohl's and I bought like olive oil and peanut oil and I bought soy sauce and I bought jars of ginger and garlic and chili and all of those things that I use like quite regularly. As you guys know, I'm the biggest fan of Marley Spoon. honestly, that can be a money win in itself. Like I know that some people look at meal kits

like Marley Spoon and go, oh, that's really expensive. Like I could definitely make that meal for less. And you go, well, maybe you could. But the idea that they send the perfect amount of ingredients so that there's basically no waste and you get all of these really cool different meals, like it ends up being quite cost effective. But anyway, you need like, you know, some basic soy sauce and like peanut oil and stuff to cook those as well. I spent more than $300 at Coles on condiments. Oh my gosh. I took a photo of the receipt because I was so embarrassed of myself and I sent it to my husband and I was like, is this a joke? Like we needed these things and they were like lots of basics. Like we had a completely empty pantry, completely empty fridge. So I was

buying things like tomato sauce and like mayonnaise and just like all those things that you want in your fridge. And I knew that if I didn't buy them, I would be looking for them. Like, you know, when you're like, oh, I'm cooking dinner and your husband's not there, you have a husband, maybe you will one day, maybe you have a wife. I don't know, Bec, but your husband's like, oh, can I have some sauce? And I'm like, no, I have none. I just knew he'd ask because sometimes when I cook, you really do need to cover it up with tomato sauce. So like I knew that was coming. It's just small things like that. They all really added up. And I was just like, holy moly, even to cook these days without buying any real food. Absolute fraud. Yeah. Don't even get me

started on the cost of olive oil. Oh my gosh, it's so expensive. Like what? Why does it taste so much better? It tastes so much better though. That's the issue. And why is it so much more cost effective to buy the big bottle, which is obviously far more expensive than the small bottle, but you know you're going to go through it. So you should buy the big bottle, but it's not on sale. So you don't do it. Totally get you. Just another really quick thing. Yeah, I'm ready. One thing that you can just literally chuck in your garden, if you have a garden, if you have any sort of mud anywhere or dirt anywhere. Sorry, soil.

Soil, mud, dirt. I mean, you can have mud if you want. If you have like a little bit of the end of a shallot. Oh, smart. They regrow. Some people call it spring onion. Yeah. I just regrow them in a jar and I put water in the bottom of them

and you just chuck the shallots in there. They just regrow. They're impossible to kill. And you don't have to be buying bunches of shallots. All the time. What do you call them? I call them spring onions. Of course you do.

That's very Victorian, isn't it? What do you mean? I feel like shallots are way fancier. But shallots are those tiny, tiny red onions. I don't think so. Oh, okay. Well, no worries, Chef Bec. No, that's true.

I think that is a thing, but it's different maybe in Sydney. I don't know. Oh, those are echelots. I don't know. You're making this so complicated. This is meant to be like quick, fun, fast tips, and now we've gone completely off track and you're telling everybody to grow spring onions in their garden.

That's a very, very good money win. That's cost of living core. So maybe we are on track. Totally. That's very, very good. That's going to save you a lot of money in the long run. So you recommended fried rice, which I think is a 10 out of 10. Can I tell you about my budget AF risotto recipe?

Please. All right. So risotto rice. Get it on sale because it's the more expensive rice. Arborio or something? Arborio rice. So get some arborio rice. You need maybe like an onion because I feel like an onion makes things better.

I always buy jar garlic. so like we're not buying proper garlic way too expensive also who can be bothered peeling garlic to cook if you do that you are literally a better person than me I get my teaspoon out and I blop straight into the pan we're good to go but you want some garlic and some onion because I feel like that's the start of any good recipe you want some arborio rice you need the kettle and you need a good tin of cream of mushroom soup. And we are going to make a jug of the cream of mushroom soup with the boiling water. And then we're going to slowly put it in to the risotto mix over time. You know, I'll put it in a newsletter at some point because it is one budget friendly,

really scalable, and you can add whatever you want. So if you're going to get fancy, you could grab a tub of mushrooms and fry them up a little bit, chuck them in. Stunning. You want to add some like chicken or some type of protein. I'd put like a fried tofu in there. tofu very budget friendly but also my favorite thing about tofu is it soaks up all the flavors yes so if you put it in earlier it's going to taste even better my favorite part about it is i feel like if you invite friends over for risotto it feels a little bit fancy so ask them to bring a nice bottle of black white wine bam you've got a date night i love that you've got a date night it's a stunning meal i mean you can be fancy and add things like parmesan cheese but to me

that racks up the cost you don't necessarily need that but top your favorite little risotto with some nutritional yeast, you're good to go. I love that. Speaking of Parmesan, we're about to speak to our producer whose cat is named Jim Parmesan. Jim Parmesan. She's been jumping up and down. She's like, I've got one, I've got one.

I'm like, is this your show? Technically it is because she's the producer. Hi. Hi. She's the main character. Thanks for having me. My name's Annalisa. Welcome to She's on the Money.

No, guys, I was just getting so excited about this episode because I have lived very frugally from time to time and I do enjoy, I'm my father's daughter, so my dad is like the king of firstly the king of the kitchen but also the king of like reusing things and and actually making them this is quintessential cost of living core so it's actually it's not just about like getting by it's about making it better and like enriching it by doing it so you know what my dad does if he cooks a roast or if you have like a roast chicken yes save all the bones like when when you strip the meat off yeah put them in a bag in the freezer

with the veggie peelings over the course of a couple of weeks. If you have like a meat roast or something, you save the bone, put it in, and then you do a big boil up with some bay leaves, salt, some pepper, and cardamom, and you make a broth. And that broth is like I just did it the other day. It is so much better than any one that you will buy. So you are actually reusing things. You're making a better product.

And then I will make an Asian noodle soup. which was something like that or add that to another soup and it is like. You could use that in your risotto, Bec. I'm telling you, you can. And it is no kidding 100 times better than anything you can buy. I love that. So I just had to jump in there and like represent a bit of Gary Redlich. He'd be proud.

He'd be proud that I was showing that one to the community. You let him know that he got a shout out on the pod today. Yeah. You let him know. That it sounds delicious. He's not even in this country, but that doesn't matter. We're going international, Gary. He'll feel it.

He'll sense it in his bones. He'll be like, oh, some good was done today. He's going to feel like his bones are in the freezer. Not his, but the ones he's been collecting. Yes, yes. For broth. Yes. I love that.

How exciting. Thank you for sharing. I will get back off mic where I belong now and leave you to it. Good show though, girls. No, you do belong on mic. We'll drag her on later. I love it. Seen but not heard, please.

I thought you were going to talk about bubble and squeak. So there's so many things that we can do with food, right? I feel like we're all good at that. We think about food. We think about, have you ever done a cheese date where you have to take one cheese and then all the friends take a cheese? No, but that's not a bad idea. Instead of having like, you know, one friend do the cheese platter, which is absolutely

obnoxious. Very expensive. You're on hard cheese. Annalisa might be on a soft cheese. I'm on a specific type of condiment that goes with it. And we all have to bring that. And then we do the community cheese board. And then you have this epic community cheese board.

And it didn't cost everyone an absolute bomb. Anyway, that's a good idea. But let's move off food because as much as our team adores a good snacko, there's so many other things we could do like gifts. Yes. Let's talk about re-gifting. Regifting? Regifting.

I automatically went to reusing paper, cardboard, et cetera, et cetera, to give gifts. But regifting is also a really good idea. You gave me a gift this morning, Bec. I did. And I was looking at the paper and I was like, hmm, I wonder if we could use it again. Did you see what I did with it? Oh, did you put it in your bag? I folded it up and took it home.

Good for you. It was so cute. And it was like that thicker paper. I was like, this is expensive. You don't want to chuck that out? Girl, it's going in my wrapping paper drawer. Yeah, great idea. But what are your thoughts?

What happens if you get given a gift? and I guess this is only me saying it because I've written down gifts to talk about on the pod. So I feel like I'm kind of awkward now talking about this because I actually adore the gift that you've given me. You will never see me re-gift it. But what do you think about re-gifting? Do you think it's the right thing to do, the not right thing to do? I think it's the frugal thing to do. I think it's absolutely fine. But I think I probably gift different. I'll find something very strange and gift it as more of a jokey gift. So that kind of thing, like something that's under five dollars say like a weird bottle opener or something no context behind it and it's just very

funny and you know nothing that was going to break the bank basically is how i like to gift so those things are absolutely fine to re-gift because they're useless but also funny so you can re-gift it but even like if it's something more expensive i think that it's absolutely fine to re-gift i agree one probably keep track of who gifted it to you so you don't give it back to them because that could be awkward but going back to this reframing concept i think we need to also reframe gifts. So like a gift is something that I give you, Bec, or give somebody else to let them know that I appreciate them and I want to celebrate them. By me partaking in the act of giving you that gift, we did it. So what happens to that gift after that? I don't think it matters

too much. Yeah. And I know people get really like tied up and they're like, oh, they didn't like the gift. No, no, no. I loved the gift. I was thought of. You put some time and energy into thinking about something I might like. Maybe if I didn't like it, I've gone and gifted it to somebody else. And the gift was the fact that I didn't have to buy them a present. But I think the act of me giving you that gift, that's the gift in itself. Like the gift served its purpose. I felt appreciated. I felt thought about. And that's what you wanted from the gift, right? Totally. So now we can love it and leave it alone.

I love that. Do you know what my theory is? What's your theory? You know those soap gift things that come with like a little... gift me soaps. I reckon there is at least one out there that has been re-gifted and re-gifted and it's just not been open for 20 years and now it's just found its way somewhere else because those are the most re-gifted things in the world. So I almost want to receive one so I can give it to someone else. I was stoked at Christmas time actually. Someone gave me a real fancy box of lint ball chocolates. Oh yes. And I love a lint ball but I'd forgotten that I was going to my

parents' house for dinner. Perfect. Here, mum. Stunning. I thought if you wanted to listen to this episode, please. But yeah, I kind of re-gifted that. That was good, but it served its purpose. I was so excited that the stress of having to pick something up on the way, gone. Totally. And you can still eat them. Another thing I really like doing that I'm not sure you should do, because I don't think you can be trusted, is DIY beauty services. Oh yeah, don't trust me. So beauty services for me, I think is a great DIY. I'm someone who paints my nails and everyone's like, oh my gosh, you're so good at painting your nails. I could never. I painted my nails like a toddler for a very, very long time. Like, you know where you get it all over your skin? Yes. Do you know

the best thing about that? If you use normal nail polish and then get it on your skin, you can go in the shower, it gets a bit warm, you just scritch it off and then your nails look great. That's a great idea. I'm not saying that that's the way we should always do it, but when it comes to doing your own nails, practice makes perfect. And I do my own. I don't go and see someone else anymore. Not because I don't value it. I just, one, I kind of like the act of self-care. I always do it. I put F Boy Island or something on and I like paint my nails and like have a good time. And I just love doing it. But I also love that I get to do it for myself. And I've just gotten really good at it over time. I've picked up a few different, you know, tools and things that I wanted to

purchase and all of them have been less than I guess the cost of a salon visit yeah and not everyone cares about their nails like so many people could not give two flying whatever's about doing their own nails but like if there's something that you could do yourself is it possible I mean I wouldn't risk becoming blonde I mean you would you definitely would send yourself blonde at home but I wouldn't risk that but there are just things in my budget like I don't get eyelash extensions anymore because I'm just so aware of how much they were adding up and I was like oh I love it not saying forever I will not have lash extensions like there's something about and Bec I don't know if you'll ever resonate with this but far out I feel 50 times prettier with a

set of really nice lashes on oh my god I the confidence that that instills in me is wild like I feel once I get them taken off even though I have nice natural normal eyelashes I feel like a bald bandicoot the second they're gone. I'm like, what has happened? Everyone's going to think I'm so ugly. Oh no. But I decided that that wasn't in my budget for a little while because it was just adding up and it was something that one took a lot of time, but also I just wasn't getting the value out of it. So I took that out of my budget, doing my own nails. I do my own tan at home. Like I hardly ever, ever, ever. I think the last time I got was my wedding. And prior to that, I don't think I'd ever had a professional spray tan. Right. Do that at home

as well do my own eyebrows at home yeah like I love doing it I will go out occasionally but I think that there's something about embracing and learning more about being able to do that so if you're like oh I could never paint my own nails well why why can't you just give it a crack why can't you just have a turn like do it when you're not going to a really big event obviously don't try it the day before because that would send me into a meltdown but I think it's yeah very sexy you're good at beauty services actually now I think about it deeply Bec I am I do do everything at home myself, I've never been to a hairdresser. I only used to maybe get my eyebrows. Do you cut your own hair? Yeah, I cut my own hair. I've never ever. Does somebody else do that for you or do you

do it? No, no one. You just hack at it? I do. But you look like you're so cool. Oh, thank you. That's so nice. I think you're just good at it. I've done it for so long for starters, but also I don't care enough about like, if it's long at the back, a mate will tell me. It is long at the back, you literally have a mullet. I probably have it. I'm so happy to just get like literal paper scissors and cut. I don't actually care too much. So if you do value the quality or the health of your hair and you want it a certain way, maybe don't do it at home. I'm glad I gifted you Olaplex because you sure need it. I used the whole bottle. It was great. But no, even like, you know, making my hair blonde and stunning for your Barbie party, you might've seen that you came as blonde

Ken. Yeah. And you might've thought, wow, she's bleached her hair. I actually thought you'd bleached your hair again. And I was like, this is commitment. Like you turned up, you were a hot Ken, don't worry. Thank you. But also, what did you do? So believe it or not, Vicky D, I spent less than $20 on this whole outfit. So the actual stuff that was in my hair was spray paint. No, it wasn't. No, sorry, hairspray. Do you know what? I wouldn't be surprised if you said I put actual spray paint in my hair. I'd be like, of course she did, it's Beck. That's very nice. I wasn't opposed to the idea. It's just that this was cheaper. So I love $2 shops. I really think that you can buy anything in a $2 shop. And I don't know if I'm missing something here, but they're

so cheap. Like Daiso, for example. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right. Daiso. It is so cheap. And I just can't imagine why you would spend more anywhere else. It's like when people buy a bag of oats. Why are you buying the brand name oats? Yes, exactly. I just don't get it. I don't think I'll ever get that. I don't care how much money I have. One day, I hope to be worth millions. It's not going to happen. But one day, I'll still buy home brand oats. I just can't justify it. Totally. It's like pouring money down the drain. What do you mean you're buying brand name flour and sugar? Is it not the same thing? Totally. I do understand that there are some things that are more ethically sourced and stuff like that. That's not the conversation we're

having here today. I think that there's definitely a conversation to have about ethics. Sure. But I think we also need to overlay the fact that sometimes ethics are not feasible to a thousand percent take into consideration. Sometimes we're doing the best that we possibly can. Yeah, totally. Do you know what I mean? Like, I feel like a lot of people, and we've done episodes on ethical investing, we've done episodes on, you know, fast fashion and our thoughts on them. And I think, you know, it's a privilege and I'm not someone who buys fast fashion because I have the absolute privilege of being able to make that decision. Totally. No, I completely agree. That's not the

conversation we're having today, but I just wanted to let people know that. I think it's important to point out too. In case people come and say, you know, oh, we shouldn't be, you know, which I completely understand the side of, and I completely do try and do that. But yes, we are talking about sometimes it not being feasible. And what I'm saying is this hairspray that I bought was like $3. Money win. And the little bum bag that you might've seen was like very cheap. I think it was like $10 or something. What did you have in there? Snacks? Oh, let's be honest. There was a vape in there wasn't there? There was three vapes in there. And chewing gum, just in case, you never know when you're going to get a little smooch. And I didn't get one. So that could have

been thrown out the window. You didn't get one? Not a single one. I'm surprised. You looked hot as hell. Thank you. That's so nice. Maybe it was because you had three vapes. People were like, red flag. Maybe. That's true. I opened it up to get the gum out for a smooch and they saw that all these vapes were in there. That was the issue actually. Are vapes now illegal? I think they are let's move on they're getting there they're getting there anyway that's I would say probably the best course of action also like I wanted to get a scarf to look more like Ken yeah four dollars money win I didn't actually buy it but I thought about it and I was like four bucks wait you didn't buy it no like five finger discount or you just didn't wear a scarf oh no I

mean I didn't wear a scarf I should say I should say here I am being like you said four dollars money win for this scarf, but I didn't buy it. It sounded a lot like you stole it back. I see. I just put it on, walked straight out of there. No, I didn't at all. I didn't at all. What I'm saying is go to $2 shops. You might be surprised by what you'll find in there. That's not that bad of quality, you know? No, I agree. The Reject Shop is also another good one. I love Reject Shop. I love the Reject Shop. There's one in the suburb that I live in and they're great. Like, I've walked around so many times. Also, the food section in the Reject Shop changes all the time,

so you can't get consistency out of them, but they are definitely cheap. Yeah. So definitely check out that. I feel like there's so many ideas, but at the end of the day, I feel like cost of living core, we're embracing. We think it's very sexy, but there are a few things that we can do to get ourselves, I guess, more on track. So I know it's not sexy, Bec, but I'm going to recommend we do our budget. I'm going to sit down with you and do a budget really soon. Thank you. And we're going to talk through what it looks like, how it works, how to budget so that you don't feel like you're being restricted. So you need to look at your budget and cash flow because that's just a tool to tell you what's coming in and then what's going

out as opposed to saying, oh, Bec, you now need to reduce how much you're spending on groceries. No, no, no. If you're comfy with it, let's be comfy with it. Let's just understand how you're putting those dollars to work because you might be surprised to find that vapes are really expensive and maybe you didn't need three, you know? So I think you end up being quite confronted with your own costs and you might go far out. I didn't realize that I'm spending that much on a Barbie party, not willing to do my budget this month. So sit down, do your budget. Something else, if you're really struggling is our friends at the National Debt Helpline. They have free financial counseling services. So I think that if you need a bit more emotional support or

even just to chat one-on-one with somebody, because unfortunately the She's On The Money community, like we've got this podcast and we try as hard as possible, but like we can't give you personal advice so if you're in a little bit of a pickle maybe give them a buzz and have a chat because they are some of the most delightful people in the entire world and as always we will put the link to them in the show notes so that you can find some more information do a comparison go through your bills so like this is something that I haven't done in a really long time and I was actually talking to Josh who's on reception at ARN and I love him like I'm calling it now he's going to be talent one day and you're going to see him and I'm going to be like I knew him

before he was famous. I agree. It's like you, right? I knew her before she was famous, but he and I were talking about our phone bills because I feel like I just walk around to the ARN office talking about money stuff. I'm like, oh, you want a money saving tip? I've got one for you. Anyway, we're both comparing our phone bills and he was with Amazim. I'm now switching to Amazim because it was such a good deal for the amount of data he was getting for the cost he was paying. I was like, I'm not getting that. I'm paying like double. What the heck? And then I was like, but is there an issue with coverage? He's like, absolutely not. Like things have come around. Wow. And I was like, okay, well, I'm all in. So anyway, I think we should always go through

our budgets and question things. So even if you're like, no, no, no, I went through and I checked my energy a couple of years ago and I picked the right one. Have you double checked it? Have you made sure that's the best option? Because loyalty tax, which we've done a whole episode on is real and they might just be adding it up. Maybe you haven't seen a new sign on offer that would save you a whole heap of dosh. And I think that that's a really important thing to do. Definitely. So check everything out and make sure that you are getting the best possible deal. Because even if you were getting the best deal, which to be honest, Bec, with my other mobile company,

I thought I was. Turns out now things have changed. So definitely be on it and kind of keep your finger on the polls. That's a great idea. You have spoken historically about food banks. Yes, I think they're great. How do we find information about that? Like, tell me a bit more about that. Because I feel like right now, that's a thing that we should be sharing. I think that depending on where you live, you might have what is called like a good

karma network or like something that's on Facebook that kind of like binds your community together and you might be able to look for food pantries or just keep up to date with what's going on around your area. But if you Google it or even like, I don't know if you've heard of lentils as anything. I don't know if they're still a thing. They're not. But we can talk about them still. Can we talk about them?

They were so cool. That was so great. Pay what you can afford. I loved that idea. So for those of you who aren't in Melbourne, it was a restaurant where you could go and eat a meal and pay what you could afford. And if you couldn't afford anything, well, you didn't pay anything. Totally. And the way I think that they kind of had that running was the people inside the kitchen were volunteers, I believe.

It was so wholesome. It was just perfect. If you couldn't pay anything, then you would commit to like volunteering for a couple of hours or something. So it was just perfect. But anyway, that is very, very sad to hear. I would say just Google what's near you. I know what's around Brunswick because I live there, but I do want to say our producer has just let us know that there is this place you can go.

It's called Ask Izzy, a free online directory for support services around Australia run by Tech Not-for-Profit Info Exchange. So Ask Izzy basically provides the public with information, contacts for services relevant to their needs and in their area. I think that's really wholesome. Thank you for sharing that. Everything from housing assistance and legal representation to public toilets. Oh, everything.

Everything. Everything all the way till the bathroom sink. Exactly. Or a bathroom sink that you can use. That's great. Thank you, producer. Oh, I'm glad that she gave us that. But Ask Izzy is a really cool resource.

I've seen it floating around. Also, something else before we go, libraries. Oh. Free resources. I think libraries are one of the last places you can go to hang out in public that don't expect you to have some kind of financial exchange. true like you can turn up with a bottle of water and read a book for a few hours and no one's going to ask you to buy a coffee or like you know put money anywhere and i think that that's really

wholesome i love that all right well i am not done talking about the cost of living core but i feel like we've run out of time unfortunately let's continue this conversation online guys please post in our community all of your tips and tricks or slide into our dms slide into beck's dms with your cost of core living tips because each week on our friday episode beck does the broke tip and I feel like she's starting to run out of ideas. And when I say run out of ideas, she forgets what she's talked about and what she hasn't. So please go and give Bec your tips and us your tips

because we want to be able to share them. And I think that there's something really sexy about taking our power back and actually becoming financially confident even when we might not have as much money as we would like to have. Love that. All right.

Well, we'll see you guys on Friday. Have the best week. We love you so much. Bye, guys. 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 MoneySherpa, PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.