She's On The Money - Even More Unhinged Savings Hacks

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

Sometimes a spreadsheet isn’t going to cut it. Sometimes the only thing standing between you and an impulse purchase is a genuinely unhinged obstacle, like freezing your credit card in a bowl of water and letting time do the work. And because our first Unhinged Hacks episode became one of the most replayed of the year, Bec took that as a sign, went rogue, booked the studio, brought Jess along, and recorded round two with absolutely no supervision. TThis episode sounds ridiculous on purpose. But underneath the laughs is something genuinely smart. These are the money behaviours people actually use when discipline is gone, motivation is fried, and “just try harder” is not on the menu. It’s diabolical. It’s chaotic. And somehow… it works. Listen to part 1: I'm Bored. Give Me Your Most Unhinged Money Saving Hacks...  Join our Facebook Group AKA the ultimate support network for money advice and inspiration. Ask questions, share tips, and celebrate your wins with a like-minded crew of 300,000+.And follow us on Instagram for Q&As, bite-sized tips, daily money inspo... and relatable money memes that just get you.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 - 451289. See 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 ithawaka nirawamundamun imalan, mumibangada bomi ininyalan waka, gaunan yakarumja, wutunarana. 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 knows sometimes a spreadsheet isn't going to cut it. Sometimes you need to put your money in the freezer or cut your credit card in half. Something a little bit more unhinged, I would say. I'm Bex Side and today Victoria's not here because Victoria has something called financial qualifications. And honestly, I mean, that sounds awful. I'm so sorry. My thoughts are with her today. That just gets in the way of the chaos we're about to unleash, I would say. So I'm glad that she's not here with all of her financial qualifications, spreading her seed. Today, I actually have Jessica Ricci with me.

And while Victoria's away, we're doing some serious financial expert things. I've been left unsupervised and I've gone behind her back in Booker's studio and I brought back up, hello Jessica Ricci. Hello. It's always fun when we get to do an episode together. I know, I get so excited. We really get to say whatever we want. Yeah. It doesn't have to be fact-checked. It doesn't have to be true. No, who needs any of those boring things I hold down. But yeah, at the top, if you're hoping for serious financial advice, perhaps today is not the episode for you. Yes. Yes, I completely agree. But if you are just looking for something that is, i don't know maybe like crazy smart that you hadn't thought of before this is the episode for

you oh you're setting them up we're gonna blow your socks off we may or may not blow your socks off so i'll be wearing some you know what's crazier jessica is that it's new year's eve and we're working oh my god look at us putting in the hard yard i know seriously i think we should be getting day and a half maybe that's tomorrow i don't really know definitely not through the power of pre-recording no that's so true because it's not using we are currently i mean i don't want to know where we are right now so luckily we pre-recorded this because we would i would say we're probably not legible is that the right word it's the right idea in the wrong font ah yes i said the wrong word twice but i hope that everyone understands um well happy new year

for all those listening yeah happy almost new year i feel like it's been such a crazy one i feel exactly how you sound like just like my brain is scrambled and melting out of my ears a little bit so totally we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do a fun light-hearted episode yeah not not too heavy for anybody and I feel like the the last unhinged hacks was so popular oh my god which I totally get because some of these like it's a lot easier to follow than I don't know doing a whole financial degree you know it's like hey just I don't know run over your own foot and you won't be able to walk to the shop anymore. I just, I love those kind of things. And they really do work. So stay tuned. More great tips like that.

Okay. So Jess, do you feel ready to start? I feel ready to start. I'm excited. Okay, great. Because before we start, I want to know, do you have any unhinged hacks of your own? I'll be honest, not to sound like a stick in a mud, but a stick in love mud. I'm not a huge unhinged person, but I do have one that I loved from the last episode, which was where somebody said that every time they feel like shopping, they turn their phone to grayscale. Yeah. That's so clever. Was that you who said that? I might have relayed it, but it was not my idea. I think it's genius. I think that's very clever because so it was making me think a lot of my friends have kids. I have nieces and nephews. And so there's a lot of discussion about how like modern

day everything tv but this definitely flows into like advertising social media etc is so over stimulating and so it's like you turn the gray scale on and all of a sudden it's like you've flipped that switch that your gets your brain firing yes so i feel like you don't get that joy anymore yes i completely agree and it also feels like a bit old and timey i was just gonna say what is this the 1500s yeah seriously i'm like i don't want an iphone 17 from the 1500s thank you yeah so i was a big fan of that one yeah i really that's such a good idea what's on your list for me this one comes from one of our community members rachel she says i freeze spending for may and november that's crazy i freeze spending for may and november it's a game within

my family so we can be more money free in the other 10 months that is pretty cool it seems so random seven months i think for may and november sorry i was like between may and november and i was like wow that's a long time just two specific months that makes a lot more sense yeah and i'm like i wonder where why those random months but the intent is to limit as much spend as possible so we try to use pantry items as much as possible oh wow that includes like food and i think it's great walking public transport etc rather than cars it's a bit of a fun challenge and interesting to see how the conversations generate enthusiasm at the dinner table we have chosen may okay this what i wanted to know we have chosen may is the mid-year holiday challenge in june and november

to help prep for december madness both through moving the adrenaline and temptations many of our savings mean that our holidays are a bit more focused on memories as we can spend a bit more okay that makes so much sense i love the idea of making it a game that everyone's participating because sometimes it's a bit sad when you're doing a no buy by yourself and everyone's like oh when i go out to dinner and you have to be like no i want to know i know i know maybe that's something we can do for next year we can make it a challenge for the community I feel like that would be really fun oh my god that would be so fun and it would be like you come together it's like going on a little solo adventure and then coming together and talking about how it's going

it's like that is so fun that really does generate some conversations well I want to wait for 2026 yes absolutely do you have any unhinged hacks you'd like to share yeah we pulled some really good ones from the community so my one that I've got here is from Luke who said we used to do a thing when saving for our house deposit we called it coulda but didn't okay we would be like hey want to go to the movies tonight? Sure. Or we could do coulda but didn't. So we'd go rent a movie, make popcorn at home and even grab a bottle of wine and then transfer the difference between what we could have done in this case, going to the movies and what we actually did. Sometimes we'd even just mentioned doing an extravagant thing for fun so we could transfer more money

to savings. We also put a block on our savings account so that money could go in, but we couldn't transfer it back out until we were ready. I love a catchphrase. One thing about me, I love a catchphrase. Yes. And that's going to stick. That is going to stick. When you say I'm not going to do X, Y, Z, you need a catchphrase. Otherwise sometimes it just like, it's also easy to remember. Yeah. That's clever. I really, really like that. And another way to make it fun, make it enjoyable. I completely agree. You're going to make it a game. Otherwise it's like, where's the color? You know, I love it. So this next one comes from Cam who says, get yourself a partner who's equally if not more stingy than you are when it comes to money

my partner is proud to say he will wear his cheap Kmart undies regardless of holes and rips I'm exactly the same and loves to op shop it really rubs off on you and you end up finding cost effective ways to enjoy your time together example walks camping trips etc which has literally saved us enough money that we could technically not work for three years and still pay our bills and mortgage comfortably. What, how much is that? That's hundreds of thousands of dollars. I would think. That's very impressive. I don't know if I'm pro holes in the undies. I don't like a light breeze, but you know, I think that if you're, you and your partner have to be on the same page, because again, like back to that thing, there's nothing worse than you being like, Oh,

I want to save money. I want to do this thing. And your partner being like, let's go out, let's blow the budget, do whatever you want. Yes. That sounds exactly like me and everyone I've ever met. There are a lot of people on the thread that we put in the Facebook group. If you're not in the Facebook group, definitely go join it because that's where we pull all these fun things from. But there are a lot of people making jokes about, you know, not leaving the house to not spend money. But Charlotte actually took it a step further and she does a fake lockdown. She said, when we're in a tight spot, I pretend I'm on lockdown, i.e. we can't go anywhere or do anything other than work. I just stay home, clean my house, walk around the

neighborhood for an hour and that's it oh that's so clever I fear that that may bring up trauma responses from some Victorians yeah take us back to a different lockdown but that's true the joke about leaving the house and spending $200 by the time you blink is not a joke no yeah I totally agree something about being left to your own devices I don't know what it is like I'm quite good with money but there's something it's so tempting there I honestly the thought has crossed my mind before oh should I go to the like should I just go for a wander around or go pick up groceries no I'm gonna stay home so that I don't spend money yes and I think even when you're going to buy groceries and you do an online Woolworths order and then you can like you see the total

before you get to the checkout because once you're at checkout sorry but it's way too awkward to be like I've gotta I can't spend this much money yeah so you're like you're buying it online you're looking at it, you're in the comfort of your homes, not awkward. And then you just take things out of your car. Cause you're like, Oh, actually I don't need that. And then you're also not tempted by impulse purchases, bars, bars. I don't know what it is with me lately, but I have a Kit Kat chunk of your day. And if I just don't leave the house, I probably won't be doing that. So everything adds up. Everything adds up. I think this is great. I do need to do a fake lockdown on myself. So this next one comes from Tori who says I'm not in, don't want to be a trad wife.

Good. But I follow Tradwife and Homestead type content on social media so I can learn all their hacks. That's actually pretty, pretty clever. I'm not out there farming and being completely self-sufficient, but I know how to make almost everything from scratch. And it's so ridiculously cheap and not as time consuming as I thought it would be. And I've learned how to have almost zero waste because almost everything can be turned into something useful. That is so cool. I'm always impressed when one of those Tradwife videos comes up on my like feed page. Like, you know I'm making my own butter or I'm doing whatever I aspire to be that person I don't know that I'm quite there yes but she's right you can totally make almost anything really and probably

better quality much healthier for you a lot of the time for anything that's food related a lot of cleaning products too like I see a lot of people DIYing their cleaning stuff totally and it is really really cheap it's also great for the environment as Tori says like you know having that no waste kind of approach as well. We got a lot to learn from Tradwives and not just the in an equal, uh, mental and physical and emotional labor. Um, but I think we, I do want to get into like butter churning, you know, I could see you churning your own butter. Oh my God. I can see that for myself too. I just, I think you do need one of those dress dresses. Or you can fight against the stereotype and do it in your sweats. Oh my God. True. I could do it in the most like

masculine, darky outfit I can find. And just churning that out. Five years. Yeah. And then I think it's no longer trad wife. It's like, it's like first track. It's just giving tradie. It's giving tradie. It's giving trad. Oh my God. Okay. I'm going to get into this. Thank you, Tori. Next I've got one from Chloe who said, if I want something or if I have something extra come up

and I need to use additional money, instead of using anything from my savings, I do a door dash and make myself work for the extra money so it feels like I didn't actually spend the money on it because girl math but it keeps my savings building without touching it yeah okay I love this idea I'm all for this idea because I think I've said before my finance hot take is you are not entitled to anything outside of your needs you don't have to have a new outfit or a new book or like you you're not entitled to it if you want it that's so fine and you budget in but if it's not in your budget and you still want it work for it pick up a little extra door dash or uber eats drive get the cash and then you can have it like that's so fun you're allowed to work hard for

things I agree I think I think we because I know that that's your take on that you're allowed to disagree though but I it's only because I cannot say no to myself and so I'm like I if I want something. I don't want to work hard. I will be getting it. I know I'll be getting it. I'm going to work hard for rent and I'm going to work hard for utilities, but I'm going to not work hard for luxuries. And that doesn't work for all. In fact, probably most people that doesn't work for, but anyway. Okay. I think we should take a really quick break. What do you reckon? I think so too. There's more unhinged hacks. Let's go have a dig for them. Yeah. And we'll come back right on the other side of this.

okay guys we are back and we're about to unleash even more chaotic saving tips jess what do you have next this one's from shari who said my unhinged strategy is i literally learned python coding so i could turn a notion page into the ultimate savings tracker with achievements etc so it felt like my bank account was a video game oh clever i'm gonna be honest i don't know half the words that i just said no so it sounds very impressive yeah i think the The long and short of it is she gamified her savings, which I think is very clever. So Shari, if you're listening, can you send us this?

Because I would like to. This is a public thing that we can share. Yeah. Is this something we can use? I feel like I want to do this. Anything in the world. If you turn it into a video game, I feel like it could be really, really fun.

What a great idea. Shari, I think you're sitting on like a million dollar idea, by the way. This sounds great. Yeah. Anything coding, I'm like, I don't understand, but I really, really respect it. So this next one comes from Lucy who says,

okay, this actually does ring some bells. You've told me this one before. Squish the toilet roll so it can't be easily rolled and therefore less easy to use because you are like, you know, you're trying to pull the thing. Sometimes you just do a little pull and it like this thing is rolling, rolling, rolling. You're getting so much toilet roll.

But if you squeeze it, then it's like you've got to really put in the work and maybe you're only getting four squares out of it, you know. it's something you're not conscious of because I'd never given it a second thought until whenever it was that you gave this as a broke tip I reckon it's over a year ago maybe two years ago now yeah and ever since then I'm so aware of it and I was like wow I really was like plowing through it yeah before I was aware and now I'm like conscious I don't always squeeze the roll because it looks ugly but I just like I it's always in the back of my mind I always think about it how many squares am I pulling out whatever it's such a good idea thank you Lucy you've really changed our lives

next I've got a hack from Laura who said my partner and I will settle debates with a dartboard we both transfer to savings the amount of points we land on and whoever is the highest wins the debate and the long-term benefits of saving more oh I would be making no money because me and a dartboard are not friends no absolutely and what if you're like the debate here's the thing about the debate I'm like what if you one of you is absolutely in the wrong objectively and I know there's no objective truth, but what if you want to be who's absolutely the wrong one and then you just get the highest score on the dartboard and you're like, well, I win.

And that means that I'm trying to think of something factual and accurate. The earth is in fact flat. Yeah, the earth is flat and that's true. We have to believe that now. Sorry, but I respect it. I think that's great. And yes, I guess the biggest win of them all is how much money we save at the end of the day.

And maybe it's a way to avoid an argument too. Yeah, that's so true. When you both get real stuck in and you're like, well, I'm right, but I'm right. I know. Sometimes you just need a way to referee it out. God. I think that would make it worse for me.

But anyway, it works for you. Fantastic. Okay, the next one comes from Rubina. I pretend I'm my great-grandma during the Great Depression and find a way to fix, reuse, or go without. My Great Depression name is Mary. Stop. Beautiful.

This is what we mean when we say unhinged hat. Yeah. I mean, it's out here doing a full cosplay. outfits like how does this go you're really leaning totally the lengths we go to to save save a buck you know yeah i but i do i completely am on board with making it a game and making it a role play a cosplay of some kind i love a role play i love it you gotta find a way to make it fun you really do well mary i i really do hope we meet you one day send us a photo let us know if there's an outfit, I've got to see it. Yes, totally. I've got one from Rick and he's really

is treading into unhinged, morally questionable waters. Okay. But I'm just repeating what it was said. He says, if something breaks or stops working, I buy an identical one and use that receipt to return the broken one. Fair enough. And unless it's like a small business, like if family run business, I'm on board. I'm on board. If it's Kmart or something, go for it. I think it's so clever. And a reminder, if your thing breaks in like less than 12 months, that's covered by consumer warranty. Less than two years even. Yeah, totally. God, it's annoying though, isn't it? Sometimes you need to take the whole thing in. You don't have the box anymore. But Rick, I'm taking this one. I'm going to take it. I'm going to use it. Rick, if you're listening,

can you let us know if it's ever like backfired on you? If they've ever been like, hey, this doesn't look like you just bought it. You know what I mean? Maybe he isn't listening because he's arrested he's sending this in from jail i'll see you in there actually because i'm going to start doing this um this next one comes from georgie who says i structure my money with a small amount in my transaction account money for living in a linked savings account attached and all actual savings in a different bank sometimes i sneak attack myself and just take all of the money from the money for living account transfer it to the different bank and just make it work for a week okay i get that and i kind of like that so this is what i'm

thinking because i do explain it to me because my brain's struggling to follow so what i'm gathering from this because i'm exactly the same is that i have in real life i have a savings account that i put money into yeah often i lock it and it's it the thing goes to my friend every three days i'll have to unlock it and say hello my sweet angel me again and just unlock it for me and it's only $40 in there so it's like my savings and then my actual spending and then and then I assume what's happening here is that like that savings account is not the real savings account it is like the fake one to trick herself into thinking like I've got to dip into my savings switch exactly and then but there's actual savings in a completely different bank that she can't touch can't access

and so sometimes she puts all that money in there and she's like well i don't have any money for the week because that money doesn't exist outside of mind yeah that's the vibe i get georgie if you're listening and you're like that is not at all what i meant then let us know because the the version that i took is great uh but maybe it's better like just can you trick yourself does that like is that a thing i have tried it yeah i have three different bank accounts now from trying to trick myself and putting money in a different account it has not worked for me so far yeah because i always access it but I think if it's so far removed that you don't actually know how to get in there you know sometimes you just gotta like demystify something once you like you know

I don't know how to access this account I don't know how to withdraw money from that account once it's demystified and you've figured out how to do it there is nothing stopping you ever again from accessing that money so it's it's it's just trying to get it so far away from you that you've You've got to find the sweet spot for your brain and what works. Yeah, yeah, I think so. That makes sense. I've got a hack from Katie and I will say, I've got thoughts on this from the other side.

Okay. She says, if you add something to your basket in Depop and you don't buy it, usually the person selling it will send you an offer, which to me says they are having trouble selling it. So I always counter with a lower price and I've never not been accepted. Okay.

I will say yes to the first part. Like as someone who sells a lot of stuff on Depop, if someone has something in their cart, if it's if I've really just put it up I won't discount it like I'll it'll usually only be for things that I've had listed for a couple of months or whatever but if someone adds it to their cart I will usually send them a little discount and be like buy it today and it's yours but the reverse is true where if they then lowball me even further sometimes it pisses me off enough that I'm like actually offer revoked you can pay full price depending on how much because this is the thing

I have to say with Depop is sometimes people will be absurd. Like I know we're all for don't ask, don't get, and I'll never fault somebody for asking for a discount, but like if I've listed an item for $50 and you're going to offer me 10, you're in my bad books. I'm sorry. You are. You've done it. You've really done it this time. I will actually never accept it off. No, I'm just kidding. But, um, you know, like i mean you put me offside whereas yeah so i mean you know what don't ask don't get yes i think the first half of that very true like if someone's had a hard time selling something and you put it in your cart you're gonna get an offer i think that's a fair fair play second one i'd say do it your own

risk yeah okay but that's just my personal take totally i also think someone might be struggling for money i don't want to lowball them more but also if they take it well then that's a win for you. Great. Thank you, Katie. I'm sorry that your hack has caused such a debate, but I'm on both sides. Yeah. You know, I'm on both sides of the coin. But yeah, that's fantastic. Okay. The next one comes from Angela who says, I asked for 50 pounds. LBS. I've always wondered why does that mean pounds? You know, how could it possibly? I've never get any thought, but that's a great question yeah i'm like where there's no lb or s in pounds oh there's an s but anyway someone out there's gonna know let us put it in the spotify comments please because this is gonna keep me up

at night please let us know so i asked for 50 pounds of flour for christmas i didn't that is quite a lot of flour i didn't have to buy flour for nine months baked every other day vacuum sealed it in four pound bag so it keeps fresh this year i'm asking for 50 pounds of flour and 25 pounds of sugar go get it get it Angela I make my own brown sugar and it never gets hard like store bought which is it's a very practical gift very very practical that is so funny that this year she's like I'm trying 50 pounds of flour and also 25 pounds of sugar because clever I've got to know what she's baking I know because that's a lot of flour it is well you could do a low bread yeah that's true bread yeah um but I wonder with the sugar what are you going to do with the sugar

some sweet treats surely yeah so oh you gotta make some sweet treats you have to um and the next year maybe you should ask for butter 50 pounds of butter I don't think you can really get anything done without butter but I'm loving this that is so clever all for a practical gift absolutely totally and also it's a hack for both because if someone asked me for 50 pounds of flour and I you know I got them like a couple kilos that's still a big win for me because it's only a few dollars that's true actually it is quite affordable I've got one from Rachel who said she taught her blue collar husband how to bleach and tone and install her 24 inch taping extensions which saves her thousands whoa i saw this you know the this is the epitome to me of if he wanted to

he would there's a woman on tiktok i saw she made a video that her husband did a spray tanning course oh my god and then bought like a bought like online a kit he got the tent the sprayer the whole thing yes and does her like weekly spray tans for her oh my god because he saw that it was like so annoying for her to have to go every week and pay all this money and whatever and it wasn't always good so he's like oh bet i can do that better yes uh pop off king that's so good put the the husband's boy fees girlfriends put them to work absolutely i completely agree yeah i want more actually if you've taught your partner something i want to comment i want to know maybe we can make it a thread what is such a bonuses for pictures what are they doing like what pink

color jobs have you given your partner totally or is there someone in the friend group has picked up something that like say like they've learned how to do nails they've learned how to like yes and then you're all just saving money yeah yeah that's so clever because then they appreciate the effort firstly like that husband now understands how annoying it is to scrub the whole body to get between the fingers to do the powder the whole thing the guy is doing the bleach and tone i also can't hear the words bleach and tone without thinking of tana mojo a bleach and tone i have not a single clue what that is i'll have to i'm so sorry maybe perhaps for a very specific a bleach and tone a bleach and tone anyway i'll show you the video after yes um but

i'm just thinking like that man now appreciates what goes into the maintenance of those extensions as he should absolutely because now you're gonna see a girl on the street with extensions and be like you are looking great my queen that's fantastic and something i really want to start doing actually learn how to do all these things so this next one comes from lauren who says i read three-star reviews and almost every time I decide against buying the item. I always read the lowest. Yes, me too. It turns you off. Yeah. It really turns you off. That's such a great idea. You're right. That is such a good way to de-influence yourself, isn't it? Totally. Seeing the worst of the worst. You know what? Probably don't need the sandwich press. Totally, totally.

I think that's a really good place to leave it. So if you're listening to this episode, you're getting FOMO about all the fun you're missing out on in the Facebook group, hit the link in the show notes and join us there because there's all kinds of fun things going on. Absolutely. And share the episode with a friend who might need some unhinged hacks to help save them money. It's been so much fun spending New Year's Eve with you guys. Thank you for hanging out with us. It's been an absolute privilege having you in the community for 2025. Just a reminder, we're not going anywhere. Over the summer, you're still going to be getting all of the episodes you love to start year off the right way all the way through

January. There'll be some more less unhinged hacks, great ways to set yourself up. Don't worry. All the finance bits and pieces you love will be back along with Queen Victoria Divine in the new year oh and as always we've got more unhinged fun coming your way on friday 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 financial product read the pds tmd and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs victoria divine and she's on the money are authorized representatives of money

sherpa pty ltd abn 321-649-27708 afsl 451-289 We'll see you then.