She's On The Money - Debt That Got Out of Control… Can You Fix It?

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

It’s a Jess and Bec takeover this week (while V is still on mat leave… but don’t worry, she’s back very soon 👀). We kick things off with Jess sharing her money wins, because we love a little financial main character energy to start the episode. Then we get into a dilemma that feels a bit too real. What do you do when a debt has snowballed way beyond what you originally owed… and is there actually a way to negotiate it down? We unpack what your options might look like, what’s realistic, and where to even start. And then a DM slid into our inbox that had us thinking about the long game. What’s the best way to set your kids up financially? We chat through the different approaches, what actually makes a difference, and how to balance giving your kids a leg up without overcomplicating it. Plus, we read out one of your five-star reviews (which we are obsessed with, by the way). If you’ve been loving the show, you can leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or drop your thoughts on Spotify, we genuinely read them all and love sharing them with the community. As always, it’s a little bit chaotic, very real, and full of the money conversations we should probably be having more often. WANT OUR NETWORTH TRACKER: It's part of our Investing Masterclass here. MORE CAREER EPISODES: Our How to Build a Successful Career podcast playist NEW HERE?: Take our Money Personality Quiz and we will send you free resources based on how YOU actually manage money here.  Ready for more laughs, lessons, and unhinged money chats? Check out our oh-so-bingeable Friday Drinks playlist. Listen here. Join our 400K+ She's on the Money community in our Facebook Group and on Instagram.  Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha 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 - 451289See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

knowledge and resources for you to thrive. She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast that makes personal finance fun, especially on Fridays. It is our favorite day of the week because we get the team together and we get to celebrate you, the incredible Shiz on the Money community. Today, it's just Bec and I, but don't worry, I will still be sharing some of my favorite money wins, Bec will be sharing her best broke tips, and we'll be helping to answer a money dilemma from someone who's trying to negotiate down a debt that has blown far beyond the original amount, and a DM that you slid into our inbox about that asks the question, what is the best way to set your kids up financially?

But before we get into it, we always like to start the show with a five-star review. Have you got one today? Of course I do. This one comes from The Coordinator. Oh. Wonderful name. Long-time listener, but finally coming to share. Since listening to the podcast, I have bought my first home, bought an investment property,

created a share portfolio with the help of the Investing Masterclass, and seen a financial advisor. I have learned so much along the way from Victoria, Jess, and Bec for these big goals that I had. There have been so many other handy tips which have helped with super, budget, and insurances. I feel so content with where I am at and am so excited for the future, all thanks to you. And now I'm trying to educate others to do the same. Keep on doing what you're doing.

Love you, girls. That is so nice. How sweet is that? And good for you. Honestly, that's incredible, incredible achievement. Oh, you're doing my dream. Well done, Queen. Well done, the coordinator.

The coordinator. God, I love it when you guys tell us what you've done. Totally. Totally. Because you did that, you know, like you took bits and pieces from the world and you ran with it. And that's incredible. Big snaps.

Big snaps. Okay. So it's that part of Friday Drinks where you get to ask us one question you're dying to know. This is my favorite part. It can be about literally anything. This week's question comes from Katie who wants to know, what was your first ever email address back in the day?

Oh, I remember this so vividly. I'm going to give you my first hotmail, my like MSN because I don't use that anymore. It was major underscore blonde at hotmail.com. No numbers or anything. I know. I feel like I got a really good one because it was spelled correctly, like no numbers, like nothing. Major blonde.

And it like obviously worked because I was very blonde when I was young. And I also like was very like ditzy at the time, I feel like. So it was just like very on brand for me. Yes. Oh my God. Don't you hate when you have a whole stereotype riding on your shoulders? And you're like, well, I can't be ditzy. yeah but you were so thank you it worked really well for me what was yours mine was i'm a big fan

of nrl and i used to go for the warriors i mean i still do i like i love them all but but my thing was go warriors underscore spec nrl spec was my nickname because everyone called me beck or spec that's really cute and a spec nrl is like it's like okay we get it we get it with the warriors part and then i put nrl at the end of the just in case just in case at hotmail.com That's brilliant. And so it was really cringe. And obviously, like, obviously I was gay, you know. It wasn't like hot sexy chick or something like that.

I love hearing people. Please leave yours. What was your first email? Pop it in the comments on Spotify. I had a really funny conversation with a friend of mine recently. We've known each other since high school. We've been friends forever. She's living overseas at the moment and I was connecting her to somebody that I know.

And I said, what's your email? And she said to me, I had to make a new one because she has a doctorate. She's just finished her doctorate. She is a 31-year-old woman living overseas, like two-time Olympian, achieving incredible things, and she was still using her running nerd at hotmail.com email for, like, her life. Like, she was still using that email. I was like, that doesn't fly by.

That's so funny. That's so funny. But I think someone like that can get away with it. Like, if you are a doctor, is that the same thing as a doctorate? No. Yeah, she's now a doctor. That is cool. Well, if you're a doctor, you can get away with it.

If you're anyone, you can get away with it, but just let us know. It's like my favorite thing ever. 100%. Okay, let's move on to the money wins in confessions, if you have. Absolutely, I do. First one that I have this week comes from Miranda, and she says, a job I wanted came up for application in the month before I went on leave for my wedding and honeymoon.

The team rushed my interview for the day before I left, and I was offered the role while I was away on my honeymoon. Oh my God. That would be the best feeling. And I feel like it's a really good sign that the company were, like, happy to work with you on that. Totally. I mean, like, they liked you as a candidate. They're like, yes, like, get it done, make it work, whatever we've got to do.

And what good news on your honeymoon? How could it possibly get better getting a new job? Congratulations. Next, I have a money win from Kerry who said, money win. I bought my ex out of the house and I am now a single homeowner. Wow. Big snaps, Kerry. That's got to be a good feeling.

Hell yeah. Next one is from Anita who said, money win. I completed my first duathlon yesterday and I won a gift card. Whoa, cool. Duathlon. What's in a duathlon? Duathlon. I'm thinking like a three-legged race, but I don't think that's it.

No! Okay, let me look it up. I've got to Google it because I don't know. I know a triathlon. Is it just one less of those? Oh! Like a relay? Like a triathlon is like the swim, the bike, and the...

Oh, sorry. I understand. My God. Okay. A duathlon is a multi-sport endurance event consisting of three... Okay, so why is it called a duathlon if there's three legs? A run, a bike ride, and a final run, often referred to as run, bike, run. Unlike triathlons, duathlons replace the swimming leg with a second run,

making them ideal for runners and cyclists. Oh, I see. Okay, that makes – I was like, why be three things if called two things? Okay, that makes sense. Either way, I couldn't even do one of them, so good on you, Anita. That's incredible. Yeah. Next, I've won a money win from Angela who said,

I have been told we can get a small bag of food from the community pantry. I've been getting food every second day and it's really been helping us out. Oh, my God. I love the idea of a community pantry. Yeah, same. I love those. I think, like, such a good idea. Whether it's one that's run by a local council that it sounds like maybe you need to apply for or whether it's one where you can take as you need.

Yes. I'm such a big fan of that concept. I think it's incredible. Me too. I love it. Next, I got a money win from Gemma who said, I went to see my GP and she put me on a health care plane due to my chronic illness. The appointment was then bulk billed and the other specialists I've been referred to will provide a Medicare rebate when normally they wouldn't because I've been put on this plan. Right.

Okay. That was a confusing one for me for some reason, but I think I understand. A lot of specialist appointments can be out of pocket. Like it can be very expensive when you're dealing with chronic health, even like mental health stuff, like you can often, or neurodivergence, like there's often a lot of out of pocket expenses for people. But it sounds like Gemma's GP has put her on a specific healthcare plan that they've like endorsed and they're going to implement together.

So when she goes to see those specialists, it means that the appointments will be covered by a rebate, where if she just booked herself in for those appointments herself, it wouldn't have been covered. She would have been out of pocket. Got you, got you, got you, got you, got you. Go talk to your doctor if you need to get it done. See if you can get a plan. Oh, my God.

That's so good. Amazing. And then lucky last one I have this week is from Juanita who said, Streamio, I cancelled my Netflix Prime and Disney subscriptions. Moving here has been the best decision ever. I really like Streamio. I've never used it. You search for anything, it's going to be on there.

And some things, like, sure, maybe they're not ready to be viewed yet. I mean, those who use Streamio understand that you check for how many people have viewed it. You know it's a good one. But that's how I watch a lot of my… Is this what we were talking about a few weeks ago? I think so. Sometimes there's people, like, theatre noise. Yes, sometimes.

I tried to watch The Roses. They were, like, filming in the theatre, which is, like, so funny. I mean, I, you know, bootlegging, bad, you know, stuff. But I do understand. But it's so funny when you're watching it and, like, you can hear laughter in the background because someone has been recording it live in the cinema. It's like a built-in laugh track.

Yeah, exactly. And bring those back, I say. So that's not my broke tip. Do you want to know? And it bled over. It did. Tell me what you've got. Okay.

So this person comes from Julia who says, never ever buy movie tickets full price. If you are linked to a bank, health insurance or like RACV, just some examples, they have movie tickets for most theatres for half the price or even less. It's the only way I buy them now. Like one of my favourite things to do is go to the movies. Yeah. I love that too. Because it can be quite expensive.

It can be quite expensive. And it's just like, it's such a nice like mindful, if you watch it at home, you're going to be checking your phone. you know so i really like that that's great thank you julia this next one comes from teresa who says i always ask my library to buy whatever books i want and 99 of the time they do i've requested three books this year for the kids and they've all been bought this is also good for their funding because it shows a utilized and requested resource for the community that's such a great idea true because like you can i mean not that i like think it is not worth it but some books are really really

expensive and you just don't have the money for that then I think it's a really great option you can at least ask you know what I mean I am the biggest fan of a library a lot of people told us when Victoria's books were coming out when they were first being released that they had requested that their libraries pre-order them or get them in which is really cool the silent heroes of the world they're like the heart of the community like to this day like I grew up in libraries like I was such a library child but like to this day like if my internet home isn't working or if I'm just having a day where I'm like I need to not be in the same spot I'm in every day because I work from home or there's been like a few times where I've been driving home from the studio and I need to

do something quickly before I got home I will always shop at a library even if it's not my local library like if I was driving from here it's happened before I needed to urgently flick something to someone I just search for my nearest library and when they're in dinner they're the best that is so good yeah I love a library my book tip is called I have I know I've mentioned before on the show, but it was a long time ago. So I guess it's just like maybe a reminder, but also a check-in because if you heard this Broke Tip back in the day, you might think, did this work? Yes. So my Broke Tip is, it's an app called Free Cash, which sounds really, really dodgy. It sounds so sketchy. It sounds so sketchy, but you download Free Cash. It's

very similar to Shopback Games if anyone plays Shopback Games. And you go on there, you'll see all these games on there that you can download. A lot of them say like, win up to a thousand dollars and like sure it actually is possible but i just wanted to update everyone i have been playing i kind of stopped there for a while they started playing again and i just won like 72 bucks oh i'm not working right now if you have a lot a lot of time on your hands then you really can make some coin you know what kind of game like is it a mindless game because well i'm playing disney solitaire right now oh which i actually really fun it's really fun and it's really it actually gets really really hard so it's very time consuming but if you have the time you really can

make some money right now i've got there's a 55 hour timer going and i i have to just get up to a certain level and i'll i'm gonna win 167 dollars yeah sorry i'm trying to figure out how they made money so google's googling it today like is it legit yes it's legit how do they make money they is there ads there are ads in some apps yeah some of the game apps but not on free cash oh so i think making money the games make money through ads and i think that they give money to free cash we get a percentage of that money that free cash get why are they paying free cash i guess because it's like well because there are some apps on here that i would never have thought to download oh like boosts them up boosts them yeah and so like so many people are downloading

these apps probably so many more people are seeing these ads also there probably are a lot of people Luckily, I'm playing this with a friend, not together in the same account, but we just have a deal where we aren't allowed to spend any money in these apps because it is very tempting. So I imagine that's probably how they get some people. Oh, you can spend money. You can spend money to, like, get ahead. Do not do that.

You live your own life, but you should try and avoid those things because it's like you can get ahead. Don't buy. Don't buy. This is like the Roblox of it all. I've got, like, young nieces. Yes. Don't spend real money on fake things.

Yes. That's all I'm saying. Exactly, exactly. So don't do that. But I'm assuming that's how they make their money, from people buying and also ads. Cool. You know? I mean, it sounds like you're doing pretty well off it, so.

Yes, doing pretty well. That's me. But I think it's a really good time to go for a break. I want to check my Disney solitaire. And when we come back, we'll be helping to answer a money dilemma from someone trying to negotiate down a debt that has blown out far beyond the original amount. And a DM that you slid into our inbox about asking, what is the best way to set your kids up financially?

Don't go anywhere. Welcome back, everybody. Let's take a listen to this week's Money Dilemma. Hi there. Have you got a money dilemma you just can't solve? The She's on the Money team is here to help. Every week, we tackle your dilemmas, both big and small, to answer your most burning money, career and life questions. To get involved, simply head to our website and leave us a short voice recording and you might just find yourself on the show. Now, let's take a listen to this week's Money Dilemma. Hi, she's on the money. Love the podcast. I have a bit of a unique situation. Over time, I've accumulated toll debt, so driving on the road toll debt. My actual debt

is $14,000, which I know sounds astronomical. However, the administration fees are currently $40,000. I'm trying to negotiate to bring them down. However, I'm not having much luck. so there's a chance that this might move forward into litigation. Any feedback or thoughts or have you heard of anybody else in this situation where it worked out? Thank you. I'm so sorry. This sounds extremely stressful.

I can't really fathom how you got to $14,000 in road toll debt because even if you're paying $20 a day in tolls, which is kind of like the max you would hit-ish in Melbourne, I would say, if you went back and forth through the tunnel twice in a day. Oh, you know what? Call it $30 a day, right? Yeah. $30 a day, but like what is $14,000 divided by 30?

Well, this is the thing I'm thinking because I – $466. Assuming $30 a day in tolls, $466 days of driving through a toll and not paying for it. But I guess it's the late fees, but then is that separate? That's the $40,000. Well, so I – because I've been in the situation. I'm currently in the situation.

I'm always in the situation. When I was in Sydney, yes, there were administration fees. Like there were some times where like the toll was $1.20 and then the administration fee was like $18. And so that's not shocking. Like as we were listening, I was really just like nodding like that does not shock me. And it is like criminal. It's criminal.

And I think that it depends on the toll and the road. And I understand like administration fees and stuff like that. But it just doesn't need to be that expensive. So I can't give advice on how to negotiate, but I can tell you that it worked for me. And I kind of was just like, well, I'll be paying it not the whole amount, but I'll be paying it slowly. i'll be paying it at least a chunk right now if you just get rid of the administration fees because they really just want the money as soon as possible and i think that kind of going about it this way

or it's like yes i can i can pay in this way but there's do not pay the administration fees like that is insane one way that it for me if i logged on say like east link right now east link me chase me for a long time and at first it's an invoice and then it goes to like fines victoria i think I know it's different states, and then it will turn into an actual fine, which is like $160 or something like that. So that's when I turn it into a payment plan. So I ignore Eastlink until that point. But if you are logging on and then sometimes,

and I think maybe this is linked, if you log on and you click, there's some sort of option where you can transfer to your linked account and then all the administration fees go. And I assume you're beyond that point. But that is an option for anyone who's listening. And that's something that you can use. You can be like, well, if I have an account and I just move all the tolls to that account, then all my administration fees should be gone.

I don't know how you're negotiating or who you're talking to, but there are several ways to remove the administration fee before you pay anything. And I'm like, why are they now all of a sudden being like, there's nothing you can do about it? No, there absolutely should be, you know? I'm assuming if they're threatening litigation that it's gone to a debt collector would be my best guess. Have you spoken to them about a payment plan would be my first port of call, exactly as

you were saying, Bec. I think that unless you happen to have a spare $54,000 lying around, which I'm guessing you don't, you can also, if you haven't tried this in your negotiation process, say, okay, well, I have X amount in cash. Will you take that today? Because we've spoken on the show before about how sometimes when you just offer them a cash sum, they'll take it. I think especially if your cash sum covers whatever the original costs of the tolls were,

they might just cut their losses and take that. I would also say definitely get in touch with the National Debt Helpline. I think they are resourced exactly for this kind of thing. They are a free national service. We've spoken about them so many times before. They have trained financial counsellors who deal with debt day in and day out. So they will be able to tell you what your best process forward is. They might even be able to assist you by connecting you with someone who can negotiate on your behalf or give you a script of things to discuss. There's also hardship options usually as well. So most toll operators in Australia have hardship programs designed for people who have fallen behind on

their toll payments. If you're struggling to pay, I definitely would speak to them directly. I think you might need to use a few keywords. So saying things like, I am experiencing financial hardship, what kind of programs do you have to assist me? That kind of language can often help. Again, if it's been referred to a debt collector or you can call the toll company directly. So I don't necessarily know that a debt collector would be able to assist you with that. But if you call them, they should have some kind of program or something in place like you're not the first person to ever find themselves in this situation and I'm imagining you're beyond stressed feeling like this is just such a hole of a pit and I totally understand a little word of advice for anybody in future

just using this as a vehicle is like things can get bad if you neglect them and so if you are experiencing financial hardship I would really strongly recommend people don't bury their head in their sand you know if you can get on top of things a little bit earlier it can help stop them from spiraling in this way obviously our listener is in the position she's in and like all we want to do is now help you out of that but if you're someone listening who's a little bit like becky you're like oh i just ignore it until it gets to wherever are there processes we can put into place to avoid this are there options that mean you don't have to take the toll things like that i would just take a second to consider because like i hope more than anything that we can find a

solution for you. And I think the National Debt Helpline is probably your best port of call for that. But I would be lying if I didn't say there is a very real possibility that they dig their heels in and say, well, you owe us $54,000. And that's not a position that I would wish on anybody. So I would be saying, get in touch with the National Debt Helpline. We will put their contact information in the show notes. They are absolutely beautiful, judgment-free. They will run you through any options that they know of. Otherwise, I think, yeah, make sure that when you are talking to people using those buzzwords you know I'm experiencing financial hardship do you offer payment plans do you offer these things yeah and if you have been referred to a debt

collector know that you can still go to the original toll company to have those negotiations you know I'm a big fan of you can always escalate things yeah I think debt collectors are paid a percentage of what they collect and so if you can then take that money back to the original toll company or if the person that you're dealing with is quite aggressive like you said you're not getting anywhere, can you ask to speak to a manager? Like not to be a Karen, but sometimes taking things a step further, speaking to somebody different can work for you. So I'm really sorry that you're experiencing this, but there are options out there and I'm keeping my fingers and my toes crossed. Please keep us posted. We can get that paid down for you, hopefully at a

much smaller sum. Yes. Hopefully. Should we get into the juicy DM? Absolutely. So this week's one says this. Hi, Shoes on the Money. I'm a single mum and I've never set aside savings or investments for my kids for when they're adults. I've been getting mixed reactions about that. I didn't grow up with parents who gave me financial help either. Instead, they taught me about money, encouraged me to build my own life and supported me in practical ways like helping with childcare. My plan has always been to do the same for my kids. At the same time, I'm still working on getting myself into a really strong financial position too. Is it actually that common for parents to have savings set aside

for their kids when they become adults? I had never had my mum do that. But I mean, I've heard of it, but I don't think it's that common, right? I mean, we talk a lot on the show about wanting to be able to set your kids up financially, whether that's investing for them now so they've got a lump sum that they come into later. I think it's probably a more and more popular conversation that's coming around.

I think it's also worth acknowledging that it comes in different forms. Some people have their parents pay their university fees or some people have their parents purchase their first car or contribute towards their first house deposit. So like that financial aid can come in lots of different variations, not necessarily just cash or investments handed over as are. It's worth even for yourself maybe having a little bit put aside that you can like quote unquote be saving for your children in case they are in a situation where they're not working. they may be redundant like right now would be a really ideal time for them to be like oh I actually saved you this whole time and I forgot to tell you or like I've just been saving it for a really really really bad time and so something like that where it's like you don't tell your children you can still teach them how to create their own wealth and be independent and all these kind of

things which I think is extremely valuable and I think that's amazing that you're doing that because you don't want them to even have the I mean it depends on the person the knowledge like oh there is a safety blanket here so I can kind of just like be a bit reckless because then that helps them like problem solve and all this kind of stuff so I think it's really cool what you're doing but for your own sake if you did want to like help buy them a car in the future it could be your own savings for when you want to ship in for them and it's not just coming directly out of your own savings you know so it's just like I'm thinking it's like a separate saver say you have one for like gift giving or a holiday and it just feels like even though it's still your money and

you've put the money in there, using that money for what its intended purpose is feels a little bit better. So if you're like, this is a savings account for the kids, but it's only for when I need to chip in for something for the kids. You know what I mean? And then if they are ever down on their luck or they just really, really need money for whatever reason, and you're like, I'll loan you $5,000. It's from that account, you know?

So I don't think it's like necessary, maybe. It's good to have, but I don't think it's super common, maybe, especially for like maybe our parents' generations. You shouldn't feel bad. No one should be making you feel bad for not doing that. I feel like there's a lot of conversation about it now that didn't exist exactly as you said in our parents' generation. I think like, if I think about my own family, financial literacy isn't necessarily something that was very prolific. And so it's like, everybody's doing the best that they can with what they have. I have not and have never operated on the assumption. It's similar to an inheritance. Like I've always lived my life, planned my life on the assumption that if I was

to receive something, obviously that would be wonderful, lovely, but I've always been very independent financially and otherwise. And so that's never been a part of my journey. I think that as financial literacy becomes a lot more common, it is something that more and more people think about. If I was to have kids, I would want to have funds aside. You know what I mean? I would love to be able to contribute to education or a house or something like that. I think by the same breath, I think like all the things that our listener is talking about, providing financial literacy and education and making sure they understand the value of a dollar are just as important of things. Like, you know, I think it would be one thing if you said, oh, I've got the

money spare and I just don't really want to give it to them. I mean, it is still your choice to make. Yeah. I think especially because they've said, well, I also am still getting myself sorted on a financial footing. You can't pour for an empty cup. You can't fund a lifestyle if you don't have the funds to do so I think getting your house sorted is the most important thing if you do get to a place where you can start popping a little money even in investing we talk about investing a lot because you know the projected return on something like that is so fantastic if you invest $20 a month or $50 a month or whatever that looks even if you just invest you know for birthdays and Christmases and family gives them money and you invest that on their

behalf because they can't do that like a three-year-old doesn't understand saving or investing or any of those concepts. So I think there is something to be said for giving them advantage of time that they can't take advantage of themselves. So true. We all wish we'd invested sooner. You know, I wish I started 10 years ago.

I wish my mum had started 30 years ago, but like hindsight's 20-20. Like if you can take advantage of those things, fantastic. But if you're not in the position to do so, or if it's not a choice that you want to make, I don't think that that's wrong. I think it's a nice to have. I look at us, we've never received anything.

We've both come out as pretty decently adjusted human beings. So I don't think it's a bad thing. I don't think it's a negative. I just think there probably is a lot more conversation. That's probably where the surprise that they're receiving from other people is coming from. So we took to Instagram and of course, we asked you guys a couple of questions. Firstly, we said, did your parents give you a large amount of savings or investments when you reached adulthood?

8% of people says, yes, I got a lump sum. 42% of people said they helped here and there when needed and 49% of people said no I didn't get any financial help. Wow and you know what that's very like comforting for some reason it's kind of like wow we are all trying to do the best we can. We're all just trucking through truly. Next we said what do you think is more important for a parent to give their kids? 5% of people said monetary help and 95% of people said financial literacy. Yes. And then of course we said what is your two cents so one person said of those that i know who got financial help they seem to be the ones that lack financial literacy and it's actually something i didn't touch on

before but i i guess the concept of a leg up financially stereotypically hails back to almost the idea of a trust fund yeah you know trust fund kid like you were saying has a safety net doesn't care i do think if you were going to put money aside there is something in doing it quietly maybe not letting them know that that exists. Yes, I agree. Or making sure that you are coupling it with financial literacy because you never want to raise a child that then becomes an adult who can't be self-sufficient or is always going to be coming back to you for assistance. That's so true. Somebody else said, this is a two-parter, I got money help and wish I'd gotten educational help, to be honest. My parents raised me to be dependent. I definitely would have preferred

to have been financially literate. Yeah, okay. Which is me against somebody on the other side. Yeah. Somebody says everybody's situation is different. It is okay to help in a way that suits your lifestyle and your own position, which I think is a great take. Somebody else said building your own wealth gives you options later and models financial independence, which I completely agree with. Totally. Someone else said a lump sum is only useful if they have the financial literacy to use it wisely and spend it on learning instead. Yeah, so true. Someone else said why are people judging you? You're a single mom probably doing the best you can. you do you yes seriously completely agree yeah somebody else said i'm saving money to give to

my little one because i'm also afraid that they will be in a much worse financial position than we are somebody else said setting yourself up to be able to support your kids is your top priority and you're doing great which i completely agree with yeah and lastly somebody said my parents poor financial position is more stress than any gift they ever could have given me which is a great point like you you've got to get yourself sorted first because if you do it means that you You can look after yourself and you won't need to rely on your children either. Exactly. That is very true.

But yes, exactly as Jess said, do the best with what you've got. And if you can, do. If you can't, don't do. And you should never be shamed for that. No, there's lots of mum shaming going on in the world right now. Yeah, I know. And I don't like it. The other parent is out there somewhere.

What are they putting away? Are they putting away money? Anyway, maybe they are. You're doing great, Queen. You're doing amazing. I think that's a good place to leave it for this week. Thank you guys so much for sending in your thoughts as always. We love to hear it.

We do these on Instagram every week, so if you're not following us there, definitely check it out. Also, you can subscribe now on Spotify, leave us a comment or a question so we can answer it at the beginning of the next episode. But thank you guys so much for listening. And Victoria, we'll see you bright and early on Monday for Money Diary. Bye, guys. Bye.

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