She's On The Money - Cost Of Living Keep Up

Episode Date: November 30, 2023

Celebrate Friday SOTM style as the gals share your money wins, dish up some broke tips and answer a Money Dilemma about whether you can have your cake and eat it to when it comes to saving for a trip and still enjoying the finer things day to day! Plus, if you're not feeling the cost of living creep right now, you my friend are one of the lucky few! You slid into DMs this week about managing this tough time, and also guilt around not being able to keep up charitable donations.  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. Today, my friends, guess what day it is? It's Friday, which means it is time to get my little team together and celebrate you, our incredible She's On The Money community. Today, Mr. Screechy, she's going to be sharing her favorite money wins from the community. Bec has some pretty good baller broke tips. I'm excited for them this week. And we're going to be helping to answer a juicy money dilemma, which this week is all about supporting a savings mindset. And we're also going to be unpacking a spicier DM, which this week is all about keeping

up with the ever-increasing cost of living. When I said spicy, I didn't mean dramatic. I meant just like it feels really awful in your mouth. Rising cost of living? Blech. Hates. One out of ten. Sorry, that was too realistic. That was way too realistic. Nobody needs that in their lives on friday our community deserved better than that bet it sounded wet it was not okay when i'm gonna do a fake vomit i'm gonna commit no i'm committing we're not committed we're not committed you sit in the corner and think about what you've done how has your week been it's been really good i put up my tree this week finally very exciting and more excitingly today we started our 12 days of giveaways on Instagram. It's so fun. We've got so many brands that have given us stuff to give

away, but like it's good stuff, Bec. Oh my gosh, that's so exciting. We ran this last year. It's really good. We've got some stuff from some incredible brands and it's just a fun way to say thank you to you guys for listening. We so appreciate it and we know we couldn't do it without you. And especially with this year being such a tough year for a lot of people, we thought, you know, anything we can do to hopefully make some people's days would be awesome. So if you're not following us on Instagram, head over because every other day starting today, we are giving away a fabulous present and I'm not going to give it away. So if you want to know what it is, you need to go look. I'm not going to give away the giveaway.

That's fair. Gosh. Bec, how's your week been? Week has been so great. You haven't stopped talking about the free red rooster you got on Tuesday. Free red rooster. That's not sponsored. She just got free red rooster. Yeah. Vibes are high this week, you guys. It's Christmassy, free red rooster.

Christmas is nearly here. Totally. Oh, there's a Christmas party. And our producer is back. Is back. Yay. Annalisa is back from her tour of the States with her band. Isn't that bougie?

Lothario, Lothario, Lothario, Lothario. Sorry, just in case anyone forgets. Also, I brought Christmas crack into the studio for our Friday drinks episode today. Dream. Jess had had it before, but it had been at least 12 months since she had it. Not since last Christmas. Jess had never had it before. So good.

It's so, so good. I feel like I promised you on last week's episode that I would make it for you because you kind of side-eyed me when I said I'm going to make Christmas crack and you were like, hey, it's not. You're like, this is a PG family-friendly show. This is probably not how I would celebrate my Christmas, Victoria. And I was like, well, I'll make it for you. And then when I explained to you that it's made of saladas,

you were like, don't know if I want it. Do you want it now? I do want it now. Maybe more than what I initially thought it was. Yeah, okay. You know what I mean? But it's good and it's cheap and you can make it and gift it to people. It's a very wholesome, cheap present to give people.

I love it. Or just have in your house at Christmastime. I love it. Yeah, and if you want to make it, there's a reel on our Instagram from last year, from when we made it. We'll repost that on Stories today and probably post another recipe so that it's really easy to get. But also, thanks for asking me how my week was, guys.

It was really good. Thanks for asking. I made Christmas crack. I decorated my Christmas tree with Jessica Rucci. It was very fun. But last Friday's episode we pre-recorded because we had to fly to Sydney for the Australian Podcast Awards. And Jess was like, oh, like if you're listening to it,

we don't know if we've won yet. Jess, what happened last week? We won! We won! So exciting. We are the best business podcast in the whole country. Yeah, at the Australian Podcast Awards, which was so cool. and Jess and I were like we were sitting together kind of watching the screen and they go through

like you know all of the people that are you know up for the award and I was like Mark Boris is in this if you don't know who Mark Boris is he's big dog like his podcast is very good I listen to it I love it there was you know My Millennial Money who is one of my friends Glenn James and he's just so good at podcasting he's been doing it longer than me and like he just gets it and he has a number of shows and i was like like we don't stand a chance here and then when we won jess and i just looked at each other like wait what and then we screamed and then we went off and it's probably the funniest video ever it's obviously on our instagram you can go and see it if you haven't seen it but everybody else was kind of like demure i'm wearing these beautiful like gowns and like

going up and accepting their award and being like thank you photo and jess and i like bouncing up being like, woo, woo, we won, we won. And Bec got so excited she just did a move. Yeah, I was really sorry about that. I got scared. It was so funny. So, like, we're in this really big room. There's hundreds of people and there's, like, rows of seats, right?

And Jess and I are sitting, like, maybe five rows back from the front and, you know, because genuinely I was like, oh, it doesn't matter if we're, like, not on an end or, like, at the front. I don't think we're going to win. Like, we're not going to have to get up. We did. and then my pregnant butt had to, like, squeeze through everybody and I was, like, regret.

Anyway, Bec, where were you sitting? I was right out the front. So, like, was there anything in your way from coming up and accepting the award? Well. Anxiety. Anxiety was in the way. I didn't know.

I didn't know what the protocol was. I was, like, it's my first time here. And, like, Jess and I, like, waving at Bec, being, like, come up, come up, and she's just waving back at us, like, I'm proud of you guys. Yeah, I was, like, oh, hello. And, like, it moved so quickly that we obviously just moved so quickly. Yeah, it was, like, on and off real. It was so funny, though.

And, like, we're coming off the stage and I'm like, Bec, where were you? Like, this was us. I know, I'm so sorry. And you're like, I didn't think it was us. And I'm like, it's our picture on the screen. But honestly, like, this isn't the first time we're going to win something. So next time on, though.

Oh, okay, Miss Audacious. We're going to win again. Someone's going to have to nominate and give us an award so Bec can have her time to shine on stage. Please. Next time we are nominated for an award, I'm not going up. Bec is doing the thank you speech. Oh, wow.

Okay, I can do that. I can do that. I'll make you proud. All right, thank you. All right, let's move on. Obviously, massive thank you to the community for always supporting us because without you guys, we'd literally not be anywhere, especially winning awards.

Like, we're very proud of this one. I feel like this is one of those ones where it's a big deal in our industry. Like, and so for us, it's like, it's massive. like for us we're celebrating so much so thank you for all your support but back to the community because that's what this episode is about miss jessica richie what money wins have you pulled out to share with us firstly i've got one from diana who said money win i did a fun little experiment and decided to collect bottles and cans and invest the money i get from them into pepsi stock a bit over three months later i have more than enough to get one free 0.5 liter pepsi

max a year from my dividends oh my gosh what which is actually so funny and very specific and pepsi max is like jess's favorite yeah that's your dream this is really selfish because i just feel like diana is my people because i'm all over the bottle recycling and i bloody love a pepsi max okay okay so jess do you want to share with the community what you did at my house the other day i'm just throwing her straight onto the bus beck you ask her to be like what did you do at v's house hey i'm jess what did you do with v's house she served me a lovely beverage a coke a crispy Coke and I said, can I take my can and your can home so I can recycle it? And then I was like, do you want me to start collecting my cans and giving them to you? And she said, yes. So now

I'm collecting all of my cans so Jess can take them to the recycling depot. That's cute. That's a good friend. That is a really good friend. It's just really funny. She's like, don't put that in the bin. I've got to recycle it. That's cute. I'll do the same. Look, I've got a can here. Yeah, I'll take it. Yeah. We're going to give it to Jess. I kind of like Diana's idea. Like I want to see, like, could I make a thousand dollars to invest? Because if I could do it, then the You're 100% good to it. Do you know what I mean? Oh, absolutely.

You are now the guinea pig. You have to make $1,000 and it has to get invested. Done. We'll document it. We'll see how we go. That's a good deal. What next? Next, I've got a money win from Dana who said,

I've been eyeing off the Dyson Airwrap for ages and waited for the Black Friday sales. I managed to get one price matched through the good guys and I used a student discount and I got the whole blue blush version, which is like the new colorway. That's the fancy new color. For $475 brand new. Oh, that's a good deal. Bec, for context, they're nearly $900 for a price. I see, I see.

That's very good. Crazy good deal. Stacking them up. Well done, Dana. And I am obsessed with my Dyson Airwrap. Like, I can't tell you how obsessed I am. It's the only hair tool that I will use. I mean, it does seem worth it.

It's also the only hair tool that works in my house, so don't know what that says. Next, I've got a money win from Mary who said, I made some purchases last week prior to Black Friday and was disappointed to see most of the items went on sale. I reached out to the retailers and rather than have the hassle of returning and repurchasing, they just refunded the difference back onto my method of purchase. These were Christmas items that I had budgeted for, so I'm counting that as a money win overall.

Massive money win. If you don't ask, you don't get. We love that for you. Love that. Well done, Mary. Next, I've got a money win from Tess who said, I love Christmas, but I do not love how expensive some decorations are. Oh, same, girlfriend.

Feel that in my soul. Why are you more than $10? like obviously they can be exorbitantly expensive but in my head christmas decoration that's under ten dollars i wanted to buy a stick like a tree pick stick a stick of with some berries on it some little red berries stick with some berries yeah it doesn't sound like it would be super expensive doesn't even sound that appealing wait till you see my decorate my tree with me beck i'm actually confused as to why she wanted to buy a stick with some berries on it yeah me too it goes with the vibe just wait how much was it i wanted to i didn't buy it was 18 dollars

Oh, absolutely not. Stick with some berries. Stick with some berries on it. Literally, I was like, not today, Satan. But you have one still that we're going to see. I found a more affordable version. Oh, okay. Thankfully.

But Tess said, I've started making my own pom-pom decorations and she's made these really cute little wreaths she put a photo in. Oh, those are cute. Cute. And I feel like that would be a really simple DIY if, you know, the old school pom-pom method, the string around the thing and you cut it and then you would just, I think, she's glued the pom-poms to the wreath. So it's a pretty simple DIY, probably very kid-friendly too.

Jess, do you want to come to my house and make pom-poms? Oh, my God, cute. Bec, you're invited too, but I think you'd be like, why am I coming to make pom-poms? It's not for me. That's okay. We'll make one for you. Hold on, hold on.

Let's make it for Bec. There'll be free food. Okay, yeah. Sign me up. Sign me up. But they look awesome. Very well done, Tess. They're beautiful and could be a fun project for somebody else.

Like Jess and Victoria. Yes. Stay tuned to see us make our own. Next, I've got a money win from Ali, who said, money win, if you're with Origin Energy, you can get movie tickets for 40% off. What? I went and saw the new Hunger Games with my partner

at our local Hoyts, and tickets only cost us $35. Oh, that's a money win. Sign up for the rewards, too, because I think Village, I'm a member with Village, and you get, like, half-priced tickets during the week or something. Also, is it just me, or is $35 still really expensive to go to the movies? In my head, $15 a day.

Yeah. Is it? No, it's absolutely not. It's so expensive to go to the cinema. My brain has not caught up with the cost of living crisis we're currently in. It just hasn't caught up. It's like, mm-mm.

Inflation is hitting. I know. Ice creams at McDonald's in my head, 50 cents still. 30 cents even. Oh, yeah, but 50 cents because they've gone up in price. But also they're not. I know. I'm just optimistic at best.

Yeah, well, it's very depressing to think about the reality. Well, how about this last money win then from Bec who said, it's my birthday today and I got some birthday freebies. Oh, happy birthday, Bec. Happy birthday, Bec. She's got a Krispy Kreme and a Boost. Oh, yeah, because you get both of those free on your birthday. And I thought maybe we could pop a little post up during the week,

in the next week. Let us know what you got for free on your birthday. Maybe we'll compile a list and make a post for you. That would actually make a really good Instagram post too, Jess. So we'll, like, get the list from the community, free things that you can get, and then we'll make a list that you can save and go back to when it's your birthday

or sign up to everything so that they all come piling in on your birthday. Yeah, head to the Facebook group, let us know what you got free, and we'll make a little post-toy. A week, geniuses. Doing the Lord's work. Yeah, at the very least, doing the Lord's work. Is that it, Jessica? That's all I got this week.

Fantastic. It is time to move on to Bec's Broke Tips. Bec, what are you bringing to the table this week? Okay, are you guys ready? I think so. We are more than ready. Okay, amazing, amazing. Obviously, each week I do two from the community, one from myself.

So the first community broke tip comes from two who says, coming back from holiday will make you feel a little bit broke, which is, you know, totally understandable. It's a rite of passage as well. So to offset that, do the friends thing. I'm not a friends watcher but I'm sure this will probably relate to some people but take what you are entitled to in the hotels that is like little butters, like bits of like, you know,

condiments, hair ties, shavers, shower nets, toothbrushes, anything you can get your hands on, all the bathroom necessities and these are like things that, you know, you might even get just one use out of. But if you collect it all and you just happen to, I don't know, take it home with you, then honestly, it will save money in the long run. Even if it's a couple bucks here and there, you're still saving money. Which, if you're broke, you don't care what your hair tie is coming out of. You don't care what your little butter is coming out of.

You trust me. Oh, absolutely not. You're just like, slay, I've got butter. I didn't have it before, did I? Exactly right. If you go somewhere that has, like, something that's packaged nicely. Do you remember this? When we went to Monaco, the mustard.

Oh, yeah. We stole all the mustard because they're in cute little jars. I gave them away as souvenir gifts. Why is that so us? Can we afford to buy souvenirs? Yes. Will we? No, no.

But they were delicious. They were known for, what is the type of mustard? I think it was like a Dijon mustard. Yeah. But they used it there everywhere. It was very French. Okay. Yeah, and they were delicious.

And they came in these beautiful little jars, and so literally every breakfast I would just take five. Yeah, good, good, good. No, she would, and then she'd make me hoard them as well. She'd say, you've got to curry some. These don't fit in my hand. Yeah, you've got a purse. Put them in there.

Good, and then you save money on buying gifts for people. Yeah, and I was like, they're the perfect little thing. They were actually delicious. Yeah. It was like the time I went to a fancy hotel and they had Aesop, like all of the bathroom products. Ah, take those. Absolutely.

Not only did I take them, I hid them from housekeeping each day by putting them in my suitcase so that they'd have to replenish them. So I'd be like, double. But I was asked the other day by someone, they were like, oh, I never take the stuff from the hotel because I'm never going to use it. And I was like, they're so good for travel. One, they're good for travel. But also, I would actually advocate still hoarding those things.

Like if you go on a holiday and you've got some additional amenities or toiletries that you could pick up, my favourites are like where they have the individually wrapped toothbrushes and stuff because Share the Dignity each year do their It's in the Bag campaign where you get an old handbag or you go to the op shop and buy a bag or you could just put it in any bag and you fill it full of a heap of like toiletries and useful things for women going through situations where they might not have those. and so for me I just hoard them I have a plastic container in my room and I just like dump it in there and then when these it's in the bag campaigns happen I just like basically go

I have so much stuff the same thing is true for like you know in Priceline does their like they do a big sample bag it's like if you spend like $65 in store you get this massive sample bag and that's cool you can rate it and take all your favorite things but let's be honest you don't use everything. Sure. So like save the bag, save the product and donate it to somebody who needs it. Yeah, I love that idea. I love that idea. It's really cute. That's great, especially coming Christmas time, V. What a great idea. Exactly. What else have you got, Bec? Okay, so this next one comes from Soften, who has said that her and her mum kind of are susceptible to sensitive and acne prone skin so that could do is exactly so they do have uh products that are prescribed by

a dermatologist yeah that stuff is expensive yeah and so with this this is probably something that maybe a lot of us already do but it is a good refresher for me it was at least as well because if you get to the bottom of a product and it's you can't physically squeeze any more out all of us I feel like most of us would chuck it out. But instead, what you could do is just cut that bad boy open. Oh, yeah, of course. Maybe mix it with a little bit of water. Yeah, absolutely.

You've got, I'm going to say, at least like a quarter bottle left. Yeah. You know what I mean? No, I totally know what you mean. So much is caught in little crevices. The crevices. Yeah. Really get in there.

As someone who loves skincare, I am always breaking open the package. I did not pay this much to not use the whole thing. Totally. toothpaste as well, like any product you have. And do you guys do that with the shampoo in your shower? I always like put a little bit of water in there. I feel like at the start of the shampoo bottle, I'm like squeezing heaps out and then it starts to get real low and then I'm like a little bit more frugal. Then it gets real low and I'm like shaking it up with water and using it sparingly. And I'm like, why can't I be consistent? I know, I know. But that's basically what

Soften suggests, which is great, especially if you are spending a lot of money on dermatologically tested and prescribed products. I imagine that can get quite expensive. Also, if you're getting scripts, please make sure you're going to the discount chemists. Yes, please. And get the generic version. Get the generic version. Just be smart. Work smarter, not harder, guys. Exactly, exactly.

Bec, what's your broke tip? So my one, this is one that I do with my best friend, Olivia. I always talk about it. When we're sick, what we do for each other is we'll make like the cheapest ever chicken soup, which is literally hot water. You know Macelle's chicken stock? Yeah, great chicken stock. It's also vegan. It's also vegan, but it's the tastiest chicken stock I've ever had. And because it's so full of flavour, you don't have to use much. So I'll use a teaspoon in a mug. Oh yeah, I make broth and drink that when I'm not well too.

Yes. And then frozen veggies. And that is it. Oh, I don't even do the frozen veggies. I'm just out here drinking chicken stock. Yeah, I do. I often do just drink the chicken stock, but I'm like, If I want some maybe some more nutrition, that's okay. Would you put any like noodles in it or is that too fancy? This is optional. You can do rice. You can do noodles if you have the budget for that.

If you don't, if you're literally just living by, I don't know, two cents a week or whatever it is. But it's also really wholesome. Like when you're not well and you're laying in bed and you just feel like trash, a hot drink, like swapping it out for tea, it just feels so much more nourishing. It feels really good. Yeah, right.

And it is really, really good for you. So, yeah, I would recommend. That's a good reminder. It's less than $8 and that will last you. Oh, like for the whole tin, yeah. The whole, like the tin is $4 and then the frozen veggies can be up to like $4 as well. Yeah, 100%. So that will last you, honestly, one, two, three weeks maybe.

That's something you should actually pick up, like if you see it on sale, because it's usually like $4, so like tin, you see it on sale. That's one thing I reckon everyone should have in their pantry as kind of like a staple. Totally. Like especially the Macell one because it's vegan, So it means that basically any of your guests can have it, you can have it, but like pop it with some rice, you've got a very cheap risotto. Yes, yes, absolutely.

Pop it in a cup, you have chicken soup. I live and die by this stock. It is delicious. We're not even being sponsored by them. No, we're not. They don't need to pay for this. We already stan you. That's fine.

Exactly. Oh my gosh, I love that. All right, let's go to a really quick break because on the flip side, we're going to talk about supporting a savings mindset, which I think is really important and probably a good reminder because we're about to go into a new year. But then we're also going to be talking about, you slipped into our DMs this week and this one resonated with us, keeping up with the ever increasing cost of living. Guys, don't go anywhere. Welcome back, everybody. Let's take a listen to the Money Dilemma for the week. 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 she's on the money team my partner and i are going to europe for six weeks and the trip's at about six months. We've both been saving really really hard to make sure that we can afford it but with holiday season just around the corner I really want to be able to go do date nights and have nice dinners and while all this fits into my budget I can't help get over the thought in the

back of my head that says that I should be saving the money for Europe rather than spending it now so that we can do something more memorable. Is there a way that we can have the best of both worlds or some way I can change my mindset to make me feel less guilty about wanting to do these nice things. Thank you. I think this is a really good question, actually. And I mean, we want to talk about supporting a savings mindset, which is what that question was really about. I mean, not all of us can go to Europe. That would be nice. But also, what are you doing when you get back from Europe? So I think, Jess, you've spoken about it before. Don't do the Jessica Ricci special. Where you come home and how much do you have in your account? Like 72 cents or

something. Literally couldn't afford a chocolate bar at the airport. But like, obviously, Jess doesn't regret that life is for living I was young you were young you hadn't discovered cheese on the money yet and there's lots to it right but I think you're in this great position you've just told us you're going to Europe for six weeks um how did you save for that in six months could you please slide into our dms like I want all the goss because even I can't save for a European holiday in six months like that's a lot right Europe's expensive their flights at the moment are insane Anyway, moving on from that, how's your budget looking when you get home? Do you already have a good emergency fund? What is that going to look like when you get home? Are you relying on your

emergency fund while you're on holiday? Should you be setting up an emergency fund for the holiday that when you get home, you can go, right, well, I can just chuck that in my pre-existing emergency fund and actually be in a really solid financial position when I get home. What does that actually look like? And then go, okay, this is a really good example. And I'm not saying it's entitled. I totally get it. Like if I have a holiday booked, I still want to live my best life with my husband. But can we have our cake and eat it too? Like you're going to Europe. Should we be compromising in the short term to go, no, like I'm just going to wait and have an extra bougie time abroad, or I'm just going to wait and, you know, really live up the experience. Like what does that

actually look like to you? So for me in the lead up to a holiday, I'm often very frugal because I'm like, oh, I feel guilty that I'm already spending X amount on this holiday. And coming into the summer months, so easy to have cheap dates. Yeah. Fishing ships on the beach. Like my husband and I, when we lived a bit closer to a beach, we often would like cook our dinner as normal. Miley spoon, because we've been there since 2018. Don't worry guys. We'd cook our Miley spoons, but we'd put it into Tupperware containers and drop in the car and drive down to the beach and that would be our like beach date. Like big bottle of soda water, calling it a night, like weeknight date. We're on the beach, we're eating our dinner, we're having a really

good time. But like life doesn't have to be expensive in the short term. I totally get wanting date nights and stuff like that. And if it's in line with your values, I'm not saying no, but you're asking because I'm assuming you're feeling like you probably should be doing more and want a bit of direction. And that's where I'm like, okay, well, what's your current emergency fund look like? Do you have any debt right now? Because sometimes people do save up for a holiday but they still have debt. Could you be smashing some more of that down before you go on holiday or even putting that money aside as like an in case and then when you get home having a plan to smash down some more debt? What does that look like? Jess, what would you do? I mean,

you've come home before from holidays with literally like 70 cents in your account and that's really relatable but if you could have your cake and eat it too, what cake would you be eating it and wet. I think it just comes down to priorities. Like for me, if you said, hey, I'm going away in four weeks, we could go out, you know, to the pub once a week for date night, relatively cheap fee, call it 50 bucks. Which pub are you going to? Because that's real cheap. I'm assuming no alcohol. Oh, okay. Just a pub feed. Or a Palmer night somewhere. Palmer night, yeah. We're being conservative. Pot and Palmer you could get for like 24 bucks, I reckon. Could do that. Conservative have killed in our DMs. People

are going to be like, Pot and Palmer's on my side of town at $18. What are you talking Victoria. I don't know because I've never bought a pot in Parma. I thought you were going to say people are going to come saying it's not a Parma, it's a Parmy. Oh, get in the bin. I'm not having that conversation because it's actually a Parma. So Jess, carry on. Back on track. So let's assume 50 bucks a week on a super cheap date night feed. That's 200 bucks in the four weeks before you go away. Like for me, I would rather skip the $50 meal, do something at home and then spend 200 bucks on a nice dinner at the Amalfi Coast. Like for me, Jeremy, I think if you, as much as you want to have those date nights. And I think that's so fine. I definitely think it's worth

being a bit more frugal now. And then even if you've already budgeted for your experiences in Europe, can you maybe make something a bit more, because like when you go away, there's things always come up. You go, oh, like we've booked the restaurant, but I would like to get the nice steak instead of the salad. And that was us when we did Europe last year, Jess. Yeah. But we, I reckon we did Europe pretty well. Like we did a whole heap of fancy things. So like you might've seen on Instagram, we're going out to these really nice restaurants. But in between, we would often like go to like Marks and Spencer's because we're in the UK for a lot of it. I bloody loved M&S. It was so good, right? And we'd get like the meal deal and it'd be like a sandwich and a snack and

a drink for like a very cheap price. Like what you can kind of get at 7-Eleven nowadays, you know, where you go and you get like a sandwich and a snack and a drink and you're just like, this is a good deal. And then we'd go eat it in a park. Yeah. And that worked so, so well. So I feel like we had this really good balance. Like, and sometimes we'd just go to the supermarket and buy a few deli items and share them and grab a like a loaf of bread basically and those were some of my favorite lunches yeah like those were some of my favorite experiences while traveling because jess how much did we love going through the french supermarket oh it's so fun like how many different butters do they need actually literally beck like why have they got different

butters they have like condiment butter and then cooking butter oh my god we just have cooking Butter. The French know how to do it. They know how to do it. They're on. I would say just look at how much do you want to do this thing now versus what could that get you in Europe? Because I feel like a lot of the time if you're making that match up,

you're probably going to want to just pocket it away and save it up so you can have a bit more fun. That's so true. Bec, what would you do? Look, you know, I'm the kind of person that wants to have my cake and eat it too. But that's cool. Is that what you say?

Yes, that is. So what cake are you eating and where are we eating it? I'm eating all of them and everywhere. I would also say just like, you know, date nights, as you're saying, V, like they don't have to be super expensive. Like nothing you do that sparks joy has to be super expensive. Like you can, you know, obviously I've kind of gone back into the dating world, so I'm kind of finding things that are a little bit exciting.

But like, I don't know, pick up some like reflex cards or conversation cards and like go sit in a park with a $5 bottle of red wine. Yeah, it's just so fun, yeah. It's so fun just doing that kind of thing. Or, like, just make some fairy bread and take it to the park or whatever you want to do. Like, do something that honestly costs, like, air-dry clay. You know what I mean?

Make something for each other or something like that. Oh, Jess and I, when we were in Europe, it wasn't just Jess and I. There was a group of girls that we went with. We played the game Heads Up. It's a free app. I love Heads Up. So hard. But, like, that was really fun and we'd do that in the park

while having our sandwiches and stuff. And it's just a bit lame. Actually, that's a good Christmas present recommendation. A couple of years ago I was gifted a picnic basket and I remember being like, I don't go on picnics. This is awkward. But it's a picnic basket and do you know what you could do? Go to the op shop and get one of those real cute old school baskets

and fill it full of like, you know, two cups, two plates, you know, some disposable or reusable, sorry, cutlery that all of it's plastic. That would make an epic gift because that's then you being able to take your date nights out and about and around. Totally. You don't have to have a proper picnic. You can just package up your Miley spoon like I do, go down, but at least you've got some reusable plastic cups that are not going to break

and a place to put your stuff to travel. And it just feels nice. Get your, like, portable speaker that basically everybody has. Chuck that in there. Maybe a little beach towel. We don't need a proper picnic blanket. A couple of beach towels and you've got a good date night. Yeah, absolutely.

It can be really cheap and so fun trying to find ways to not spend money. So just try that. We can try a different beach. We can try a different park. We can, you know, go somewhere else. I love it. But I also think it's, yeah, important to have a savings mindset as well. And that's where we want to talk about the future and go, well, actually, what's life look like past Europe? Because I think so many of us see that as the destination and then forget that when you come

back, the real world's going to hit you. And earlier this episode, you were saying, you know, if you've been on a big holiday, you come back poor. Yeah. That's very common as well. So I think we need to kind of like do a good mix of both. Yeah, 100%. All right. Let's get into our DM of the week. Are you guys ready? So ready. Are you excited? I'm excited. Give us a goss. Let's recap on the DM that we got this week because I think we're all going to have different opinions. This week, the DM reads, she's on the money. I need to vent. Is anyone else struggling with a rising cost of living? Here's my current sitch. I got paid 24 hours ago. I've paid all my bills, queen, and I only have $55 left to last me a whole week. I'm feeling so stressed and so

hopeless. On top of this shitty feeling, I've had to pause my charitable donations and now I'm feeling full of guilt. I feel so bad having to cancel them, but I simply can't afford them anymore. Would love to know your thoughts on this and other things people are having to give up due to this rising cost of living. I feel so lucky that I still live at home and I can't imagine what it would be like for those who are struggling to pay rent or have kids that they need to support? Not really a question, I guess. Just wanted to have an open chat about this. Thank you so much in advance for all your support. Love heart emoji. Feels. Seriously, I totally, I mean, I feel like everyone in this room totally gets that. We've all been there and it is stressful.

And I guess like something I mentioned a couple of weeks ago was like, do, I'm sure she's probably already done this. So, you know, I apologize if you already have, but like doing like a membership and subscription audit. Look at all your ingoings and outgoings and see if there's anything that you actually just haven't even noticed yet. Like you could have a gym membership that you forgot about that keeps coming out of your account and you're just like, I actually don't need this anymore. And, you know, kind of just do like a big audit of that. But honestly, if you've paid everything off, there's no better feeling than being like, okay, there's no one out there that's waiting for me to pay money. I am broke, but I also am not being chased. And the feeling of anxiety

from that. If you don't have that there, it's just so freeing. So yes, you do have $55 for the rest of the week. And I think this is where just like trying to find ways to eat as cheap as possible. It really does suck when you're kind of in this position because nutrition is not your main priority. It's literally just existing and not dying from starvation. So prioritize the Maslow's hierarchy of needs in this moment and think about pop off queen. I think it's so kind though. Like the fact that you feel bad that you can't donate, but you're in a situation where you only have 55 bucks left for the week. It's so interesting. I've seen a lot on social media, I would say over the last couple of weeks

of people, you know, talking about Christmas, right? And some people have said, I'm really rich. And like, here's how I stay rich. I just don't buy gifts for people. And I don't ask for gifts for people. And I just go, okay, like that's fine for you. But from my perspective, the more money I come into, I just look at it and go, this is so much more impactful. Like look at how many people I could help. And like, you know, Jess and I are both on the same page. Both of us have the love language of gift giving. She gave me a present today. It's a cup holder. Like it's a, It goes on my Stanley cup and you can put snacks in here so I can have snacks and drinks together and I love it.

Gift receiving is not a love language of mine, but I'm obsessed because I know it's one of Jess's. I'm genuinely excited about that, but both Jess and I love giving gifts and I feel like the more opportunity I have to give gifts, especially ones that I'm like, oh, Jess wouldn't be able to afford. I'm going to get it for her anyway. Like I love it. It's my favourite thing in the world and that's the feeling I'm assuming

people get when they are donating to charity. It's why I donate to charity. I do a lot of that because it's in line with my values. If you guys don't know, I'm on the board of a charity. Like I am so donations driven because I think it is so important. But when you have $55 to your name, it is about the thought is not about putting money where your mouth is. I am so fascinated by the concept that the less we have, the more we often give. Like, you know, the rich are rich because they're super rich. I wrote an article for the Age in the City Morning Herald a couple of months ago, and it was literally why I didn't think billionaires should exist. Nobody, from my perspective, I will argue this until I'm blue in the face, no one needs a billion dollars back.

Not one person. You can live a very good life, but look how much you could impact people and you're choosing not to. Anyway, there's a lot that we could say on charity, but charity is beautiful when you can afford it, not at the cost of your own living, not at the cost of you being able to put food on the table, of you being able to pay bills. You know what? That's one of those things that we go, that's so nice. Let's put that on the goals list for when I have more cashflow, when I have more money. But right now you are not going to be able to pour from an empty cup and an empty cup looks like you don't have enough savings. You don't have an emergency account. You might be in debt. You might be just struggling week to week.

there is no shame in saying, look, sorry, I can't do charitable donations. They are one of the first things to go. Please don't get me wrong. Charity is very close to my heart and it breaks my heart sometimes to be like, oh, maybe we can't afford this. But I promise there's somebody else and what goes around comes around. But also just donating to charity doesn't make you a nice person. Just putting money towards things doesn't make you immediately inherently better. In fact, I would prefer more understanding people than more people with money. So I think it's just so important to just go, that's actually okay. You can let go of that.

You don't need to donate, especially during a period of time where you're financially crippled. Like that's not fair to put that pressure on yourself. Like you might need to lean on some of those resources like a local pantry or something like that. The other thing I would say is they might feel conflicted about giving up their charity because it is something that's a really core value to them.

And, like, obviously if they're debating that, I completely understand. Could I suggest looking at donating blood? Oh, yeah. And that's so important this time of year. No one has time, so they all let it dwindle. And then our blood supplies across the country go down. Yeah, so I would really recommend donating blood. Obviously it's free.

It just takes your time. And you get a free snack. You get fed when you're there as well, which is a huge perk. And it's always, like, the people are so lovely. You have such a good chat. You can chill out for a little bit. I feel like that's a great option. Or you could also look at volunteering.

I know a lot of charities do Christmas drives like at their soup kitchens or they do gift wrapping for gifts that they're distributing to children and things like that. So if you can't pay, girl, I get it. I fully understand and I see you and I know that that would be a really awful feeling, especially if it is close to your heart and feeling like you have to give up a piece of you or something that you're really proud or excited to be involved in. But you need to put yourself first and I guess the compromise is maybe volunteering your time if you're able to do that instead is still so important.

and so needed. And a lot of people aren't able to do that. So maybe you can fill a gap in that way and still continue to fill your cup and have an impact and do good things. But also if you don't have the time, I think it can stay a core value. It can stay a core value. You need to look after yourself. And I don't want you to feel guilty because you can only do what you can do. And it's tough times out there for everybody. And we need you to look after yourself first before you can help others. So true. What did the community say? So before we get to what the community said, we asked them a few questions. We said, are you also struggling with the rising cost of living? 69% of you said, heck yes. 31% of you said, heck yes, times two.

We asked, do you give charitable donations? 29% of our community said yes. 71% said no. Next, we asked if yes, have you had to cut back on these charitable donations due to the rising cost of living? 57% of you said, unfortunately, yes. So this isn't just you, my friend. This is across the board. It's something that we, yeah, we see a lot. I am on the board of TLC for Kids, which is a children's charity that is very, very close to my heart. Like I'm obsessed with them. If you guys have seen me in person talking about it, like in an event or something, it's so hard for me not to cry when I like fully like go, oh, this is what they do. And this is how we do it. this is how we're supporting them today. I'm like, I'd break. Anyway, we see it at TLC as well. Like

everybody cuts back. It's a no. We actually would prefer you to put yourself first because it means that you're going to be healthy and well and income generating in the future. And then we can join back up. Having sat on a charity, we don't look at it and be like, oh, I can't believe people aren't. We're like, it's a tough time for everybody. End of story. Bec, then we asked the community, what have you had to cut back on this one broke me someone said joy and i was like oh don't say that other people said things that are really relatable so uber eats date nights dining out someone said my car had to cut back on that entertainment subscriptions someone said buying meat they've said in brackets it's not the worst thing i'm saving some cash but that's something that would

have usually been in the budget. I think smart, like introducing a meat-free Mondays or something can actually save some money in the budget. And has an impact on the environment too. Yeah. Someone said, I'm no longer treating myself to things like my hair and my nails. They're not necessities, but I really did enjoy them and I will get them back one day. Someone said, definitely no more hair and nail appointments for me. I'm going to have to learn to DIY. I DIY my nails. I know. Great. Thank you. I've been practicing. I can do yours later if you want, But I love doing my nails. It's like a little self-care practice. Got a $50 kit. That's where I started. Got it at Priceline. She does a good job. Someone said, bougie, yes, but I had to cut

back on pedicures and pushing my brows from three weeks to five weeks. Someone said, no more Pilates memberships for me. Lots of people are saying eating out, nail appointments, et cetera, et cetera. Some other people have said, hey, I've had to pause my health insurance for a couple of months. Someone said they're doing without my car insurance at the moment. Someone else said that they're skipping tapping on their MyKey. We can't endorse, but. Can't endorse, but totally get it. Sounds very relatable. Sounds risky. Like, are you going to get slapped with that? Like, is it $288 or something? That's wild. And then obviously lots of people are saying, look, diversity in food, i.e. I'm now just shopping for cheap staple items and trying to just keep

my belly full, which I think is honestly really relatable. And you're not alone in that. Like there were hundreds of people that responded to that. And I can promise if they're not able to keep those things in their budget, they're not donating either. So I think it's about intent. I think it's about caring about people and putting other people first, but not always because you can't pour from an empty cup. So let's fill up our own cups, make sure that we are healthy and nourished and okay, because this too shall pass. And then we can get back to those things that really spark a lot more joy. And I think that that's the fairest way to approach it and just literally the smartest way to approach it. Like you can't be expected to save the world

on your own. Like the weight of the world doesn't exist to be on your shoulders. It's spread out. Yeah, totally agree. Well, my friends, that's probably enough from us today. It has been a pleasure as always. Don't forget we are Australia's number one business podcast. Thank you. And we will see you on monday bright and early for money diaries love you 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 financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards

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