She's On The Money - From Financially Clueless to Confident With Money: How She Turned It All Around

Episode Date: January 4, 2026

This Money Diary starts at the exact moment you realise… okay, I can’t keep doing money like this. Our diarist had spent a few years doing exactly what she wanted to do. Enjoying life, making memories, prioritising experiences. And then came the realisation that while she didn’t regret any of it, she needed a different plan going forward. In this episode, she walks through the exact things that helped her go from avoiding her finances to feeling genuinely confident with them. The systems she uses to stay on top of her money without obsessing over it. How she learned what actually matters to focus on (and what really doesn’t). And the mindset shift that stopped money feeling like this looming, stressful thing in the background of her life. A big thank you to our partner Skye Wealth for bringing this episode to life. If you're ready to get your insurances sorted, you can learn more about them here. We have a long sttanding referal patnership with Skye Wealth and only ever partner with people we trust. FREE MONEY TOOLS YOU'LL LOVE: All our best free resources in the one place here. Ready to binge more relatable, inspiring, and downright juicy money stories? Check out our ultimate Money Diaries playlist. Listen now 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. Mumu bangada boma 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 lets you be pervy about other people's money habits for educational purposes of course welcome back to another one of our money diaries brought to you by sky wealth where we get to talk with one of our incredible she's on the money community members all about their journey. Now let's jump straight into it because I got a message this week and it sounded identical to this. Hi, she's on the money team. After returning from a working holiday in London with just a thousand dollars to my name, I became fed up and started my financial literacy journey. Fast forward and I am now fully self-employed,

leading a team, own my home and most thrilling of all, I'm about to get married. Money diarist, welcome to the show I think this is so exciting thank you I actually did get married oh you did get married I did get yes two months ago now in September stop it I'm so excited for you that is so so fun I'm obsessed was it the best day ever it was we had a destination wedding and that came with its challenges but it was really fun and I think you wore Jimmy Choo shoes right to any one of your engagement your hands yeah yeah yeah I bought those same shoes for the wedding and lasted a couple of hours and I had to take them off the pearly ones or the bow ones because like I have the bow ones I have a purchase for shoes yeah the bow one they were I wish you'd messaged

me girlfriend they're so uncomfortable they I know I was like yes they are so beautiful they are so uncomfortable I was so mad about it never again I remember being like they're Jimmy Choo they're going to be really comfortable like this is and I can justify any shoe purchase you watch me I'll just ask you next time any big purchases about shoes you know what Jimmy Choo's are fantastic and this is very niche content but they are only fantastic for eight centimeters and below anything above eight centimeters no go yeah good to know in hindsight but you looked really cute so like the pain was worth it. Money Diarist, I am so excited because you are the first Money Diary of 2026 to drop and I just thought what a perfect story when I read this to pop you on the show

because where you started from is where so many of our community members and new listeners are going to be at the start of their financial journey in 2026. Like you said you came back from London, I mean we're not all coming back from London but you were just like I've just got $1,000 to my name. What the heck? Like, what do I do? How do I change this? And now we get to learn about how you did change that. So I reckon you're going to be pretty inspirational this episode and I'm just very excited about it. Thank you. Let's dive in. I've probably yapped a little bit too much before even asking this question. But before we ask any other questions, I always ask my money, Doris. What grade would you give your money habits from A through to F if I asked

you to give yourself a grade? I would say I'm a B plus. I love that. And when you moved back from London with $1,000 to your name, what do you reckon you were? I mean, like a D. I mean, I wasn't in debt, so I could maybe slightly better than a D because I did have something. And I know a lot of friends of mine who came back from London, they came back in debt. So I guess that's a plus. Yeah. I mean, that's a really great slate to start on. Let's dive a little bit deeper on my favorite question in the whole world. Can you tell me a little bit more about your money story? Well, I am a family of four kids, two migrant parents who moved to Australia when I was six years old. And like any other migrant family, they kind of had to start from zero essentially.

And my mom stayed at home to look after four kids. We were all very close in age. At some point, we were four kids under five. I don't know how she did it. And my dad was the one who worked. Oh my God. Not only just like managing five kids, oh sorry, four kids under five, not just managing that, but like, sorry, what her body went through to get those four kids out in that short period of time. Icon. Honestly, I don't know how. She asks us kids if we want four. We're like, no, we're good. We're good, mum. We're good. I'm delusional. I love the idea of four, but four under five, Queen, what were you thinking? I have no idea. It's almost like a flex now to have that many kids and be able to support them,

but on a single income. I feel like it's a silent marker of wealth. I reckon if you've got four kids, you must be rich. Like that's how it works in my head. I know that's honestly how they did it. And my dad, he worked full time and odd jobs to send us four kids to private schools. four kids through private i just can i get your mom on the show like this sounds good i have no idea i know that some of our school fees went on a credit card and he worked he hustled like he worked nights he worked any job he could just to send us to school because education was very very important and i guess in their minds that was key to get us out of struggle in future and it has like, oh, it has. Sorry. You told us before that you are now fully self-employed. You lead a team,

you own your home. What do your parents think of that? Well, they are very proud. They wish I didn't spend a lot of my money on holidays and moving to England for two years. But, you know, here we are. I finally have my home. It is a mortgage and run my own business. So they can't be that upset, can they? No, no, they can't be that upset. But I also think it's just so funny because obviously they've come from a very different background to you and they're like holidays moving to London what are you doing just knuckle down make money and it's just like this freedom that their decisions afforded you is just something they can't comprehend like exactly like for them any extra money on top of the school fees was with migrants they help people back home

and send money back home which is I guess like an unspoken rule that's just what you do right you don't question it when you're younger and as soon as we all got jobs as kids that was almost like a well can you help too and we just never felt like a lot of our money was really ours right it was to support everyone back home because we were the privileged ones who are overseas and have everything here to support us. And that's quite common. Like the amount of people that I used to see for financial advice that would be sending money back home, like irrespective of what country, it was always like an expectation and an added level of pressure. And your parents probably did it because it was an expectation and they never questioned it. But moving to Australia,

I feel having spoken to lots of migrants, lots of people who have moved or lots of people who have been born here, but their parents weren't, you kind of question it because you're like, well, that's not really the Australian culture. I'm not really seeing that around me when I go to school. I'm not really talking about that. Like, it's not part of the culture that you look at. How does that make you feel? Do you go, oh, like, yes, I want to help them, but also like, I can't do it at the cost of my success. Like, what does that look like? Well, it's always like a conflict. There's a part of you, like, that's, we are so privileged in so many ways but I'm like hang on like all of my friends they have access to you know grandparents

my parents who are helping them with weddings and houses and I just knew that was never ever going to be me and I worked hard to not have any resentment because that's all my parents know and that is the norm for their background and we I guess I've set boundaries um and I was kind of shielded from it being the youngest like my older sister she kind of got the brunt of it whereas I got shielded from it a little bit so I'm a bit removed where I have set boundaries where I can help when I want to on my terms and if it's for a reason that I think is important not just because like no questions asked I am kind of yeah that's what I do to kind of make me feel better about it Yeah. And like, it's interesting asking from my perspective, right? Because I am

as white as they come and I just never have had that experience. But I go, that would be such a conflict. And I've seen my friends go through it where they're like, I'm meant to be like sending money back to the Philippines, but like, they don't even spend it on anything good. And they're like, you know, there's all of these things that go on that you just like, it must be genuinely such a conflict of like, yes, but I also want to be able to get a mortgage or I want it like where does it stop yeah exactly and my sister and I I think knowing that our money could be sent overseas we kind of became addicted to like shopping a little bit in our 20s and it was like let's spend it before it gets

sent off for example or before we get asked for it and it was just an unhealthy cycle that way and it's let's just spend it on us it became like the opposite let's spend it on us before anything else mom and dad come and ask if we've got any cash and then we can go oh no sorry I already spent it and then you don't feel bad or guilty no but then it's not working for you or creating wealth or helping you save or get ahead and like it kind of makes sense because that's like teenager logic I fear you're like well it's in my shoes mom we used to hide it you know you would hide shopping and then my sister and I moved out together it's like oh we don't need to hide it but when we moved house, there was just a whole room full of all of these clothes and shoes. I

was like, this is a bit of a problem since there's a whole spare room full of stuff we don't wear anymore, which was a bit of an eye opener. Yeah. That's really confronting. I moved house recently and going through my wardrobe, I'm like, Victoria Devine, you do not need these things anymore. Also, what were you thinking? Yeah, I know. I know. But now like the nineties fashions come back, but okay, maybe. Yeah. Maybe we do want that. so take me through to adulthood you moved to London which is so exciting why why London well I caught the travel bug as soon as I finished uni I spent all my money essentially on traveling I loved it and um I was that girl that would take leave without pay just so I can travel for six

weeks in Europe doing a top deck or a contiki tour your parents would have loved that they did Um, so one of my big goals was that I wanted to do things on my own. Like I was a bit sheltered from the world, lived with my parents for a while and then always had my oldest sister to fall back on and to prove to myself that I could do it. I did it. I moved to, moved to London, took my gap year. I think I was 27. I worked in my profession, which was lucky because I wasn't working minimum wage so I got that bit of extra money to do a lot of traveling but with timing when I moved over the rules changed where we had to still pay off our hex debt and we had to submit tax returns I was missed out a couple of years with that so I had to do that and the two years

I was there I think I paid ten thousand dollars off of my hex debt in those two years oh my gosh that's good though it was like five grand a year or something because I was earning enough to be over the threshold so that was pretty much most of my savings gone that I had um built up to come back to which is kind of hard because like you just go oh I've got all these savings and now they feel like they're gone and yes it's on quite good things but also like that's not what I wanted I know and the exchange rate is pretty sad from Australian dollar to pounds like oh it's now halved there goes that when I was in the UK I would gaslight myself and be like oh it's three pounds that's like not even bad that's three three it's three dollars

in my head it's like this is oh it's two dollars it's five dollars but it's not the case it's actually six dollars bye yeah oh no I absolutely hated that as well because I was like oh my gosh this exchange rate really cripples us and that's I think. Oh it was really sad like I think I end up going over with 20 grand I was like oh that's only 10,000 pounds and. Yuck yeah. Yeah it's like in my head this was so much more. Absolutely so tell me now what do you do for work and how much money do you earn? So I am an occupational therapist early this year I became full-time self-employed. That's so cool. Yeah, it took a while. It was a big jump, but I started two and a half years ago. I still maintained my government role two days a week. It just seemed too scary.

No, it's not too scary. That's being financially smart. I was also trying to get a mortgage at the same time when I started SoulTrader and the accountants and mortgage brokers were like, maybe don't disclose you want to be a SoulTrader until everything's signed off because they could revoke it I was like what yeah they can they can oh my gosh yeah I learned that and it was like within like two weeks I was freaking out I was like oh my god because I really made the jump yeah a couple of months ago we had an issue with a client which is like fine like we work through everything but I don't think she understood that by quitting her job the pre-approval changes because the pre-approval is based on your current circumstances not changing and even though she

was moving jobs and she was getting a good income she was moving industries so like like you yes you were an occupational therapist but you're moving to being a self-employed one that actually involves a fair bit of risk like it might not work out and this girl was going from like one industry to another and yes she was very smart and had a very good job and the income was fine but they're like well what if she's not good at this new industry she's only good at the other one there's so much risk involved so if anyone's listening and they're like I'm gonna do the same thing and I've got my pre-approval. If you're going to change jobs, please do not do it during that period of time. And also talk to your broker about it and we can work our way around it. But don't drop on me that

you've just changed jobs and you're so excited because I promise my mind goes elsewhere. I don't go, oh my God, I'm so excited for your money, Doris. I go, what are we going to do about that mortgage? Yes. Yes. So I learned that in time. Whoops. Oopsie. But it worked out in the end. it did. Going back to your question, I pay myself about $110,000 a year and everything else goes into the business and all of that. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Backtrack. $110,000 a year and you've only just gone out on your own. Queen, how? I don't know. Hustling, I suppose. I've also have a few contractors working for me and that's helped top up, I guess, the business. Yeah. So obviously scary going out on your own, but like that's an epic income for someone who's

literally been out on their own what, now a year? I was full-time only start like February this year. Not even a year. It's about to hit a year. You're about to have your anniversary. Oh my goodness. And you've already got contractors working for you, Queen. I am so impressed. Because I started earlier part-time, I was able to build it up and grow my business slowly with a little bit of risk and yeah made the jump this year it only felt right well I love that and I think it's also a really relatable story because so many people go one day I want to have my own business but for me the reality of having your own business is there is a lot of risk and there are a lot of responsibilities that you have in the interim whether that is just rent and some bills

or you have kids like to start your own business you actually have to invest so much time and energy outside your nine to five. Like, and that's what I, like, I didn't have the privilege of someone being like, here's all of the money to start. Like, I don't have wealthy parents who were like, oh, well we can bankroll that. Do you know how much easier life would have been if that was the case? Oh, don't worry. You are, I feel exactly the same way. Exactly. But like we built our businesses through the work ethic that we have. And I genuinely believe that when people start businesses like that and they have to do the above beyond, you have to do the late nights because you finished work at 5.30, you didn't get home till six, you still need to do dinner,

you still need to work out what's going on there. And then you're back on your laptop by 9pm and you're working till 1am and you have to go to bed again to get up and do the grind again. That's why your business is going to be successful long-term because you are willing to put the time and the energy and the effort into it. And now I'm just stabbing the dark here, but now I'm assuming you're like, it's actually much easier than it was when I was hustling and working full time because I just have all of my time on my business now. That's right. That's right. And I was always thinking about the business when I was in my other job. I was like, okay, this isn't right either when I'm always thinking about the business. And it took me about, yeah,

almost two years to actually rip off the bandaid. Like I went down to like one day a week and then it's like, okay, what's the point of working one day a week? Because we're anxious girlies. so yeah I'm very lucky that my now husband is very supportive and he's the stable one and is happy being the stable one where I pursued whatever I wanted really so that kind of gave me the security to do that yeah no that is so beautiful I love that so talk to me you've achieved some pretty big money goals already you bought your home you have started a business what are your biggest financial goals at the moment that you're currently working towards Well, because I can't help myself. I actually had a side hustle wedding business on top of

my full-time job before I started my health job. I just can't help myself. I actually want to start an inclusive fashion line next year. Oh my God. That's so exciting, but also so aligned to what you do. Yes, that's right. I like fashion with all the shopping that my sister and I did. You think we'd know everything, but that is the big financial goal for next year and getting my super to where I want it to be I didn't pay myself any super when I lived overseas and when I started the business it was also very minimal I guess that was advice from the accountant and financial advisor that's saying who told me that I didn't have to put too much into my super while I was building the business and so I did take that advice but that's kind of put me behind a little

bit with where I want to be with my super but also I feel like there needs to be ebbs and flows to achieve your goals as well. So yes, you're like, oh, I'm behind with my super, but like, there's a lot of reason why it's not like, oh, I've just let it lapse and never thought about it. And it's not been a priority. Like my super suffered for years. And I've tried to talk about this before because, you know, there's like the goal and like when you're building a business or when you're doing anything, there's the like perfect outcome. And the perfect outcome would have been that I started my own business and it was so financially successful that I could pay myself super and I could do all of these other things. But the reality was I couldn't pay myself

super and also take on a new staff member and scale and work all of that out. So it did suffer. And yes, there is like the best, like, as you know, you've listened to the show, you know, I'm like pay yourself superannuation, but also there's do as I say, not as I do, but also give yourself a little bit of credit and go, well, it's okay to have been a little bit behind because I'm prioritizing it now and is that something that you're excited about or you're like that's just a hygiene factor just get that stuff sorted or is it like a I'm excited to get on top of it because I don't think anyone really is I am excited to get on top of it but then the part of me is like I also want to invest in my business so this can also help me in retirement and be a

little bit of a nest egg maybe down the track if I grow this so I'm not just reliant on super so that's kind of where my mind is at as well and we're also starting our investment journey as well and that's I guess will help yeah so one thing I will say about that is it can feel like that because like that's the struggle that I was in I was like do I like because I was behind like tens of thousands of dollars of superannuation and I was like do I pull money out of my business and top it up like as a lump sum do I increase my contributions over a long time do I you know what do I do? Like what's best for me? And then overlaying that I'm like, but that money could go towards something else in business, but you don't work as hard as you do to own your business

to then retire with less superannuation than someone who never took that risk. So you need to pay your superannuation. So even though you're planning on investing and investing in the business and like starting your external investment journey, I think is so important to make sure that you're not in a worse off position than someone who didn't take the risk when it comes to super. Like you deserve to be thriving there as well. And it's so sad how many business owners go, it doesn't matter because I've invested everything in my business. And then please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be cynical, but they come to retirement and they're like, I can sell my business. And we can't find anyone who wants to buy your business or your business

is so tied to you personally that you're the value in the business. Or maybe over the last few years before you retired, you'd wound down the business and it's not worth what you thought at what like girlfriend I've just got so much to say pay your damn super okay yeah yeah I have increased my contributions this year as well so it's definitely in the back of my mind each time I pay myself that I do put in something towards my super and it's finally back on track hopefully so do you have a good bookkeeper or accountant that you work with for this yes I pay a bookkeeper an accountant and a financial advisor thanks to your podcast oh my god it's like I bullied you into it. I love this. And now I bully other people into it. Good. That's why I call this a cult. It's

like a multi-level marketing scheme, but we actually all get rich. Like we actually do. I pass on your book to from one friend to another. That's so cute. I love it. All right, let's go to a really quick break because I have a lot more questions and we'll get to them in a hot minute. Money Diarist, we are back and I'm just so excited. I went to a break, but I didn't want to go to a break because I wanted to ask you about your investing journey because you dropped when we were talking about superannuation. Oh, my husband and I have just started investing. I'm like, sorry, what? Where? When? And I had to like hold the breaks. Now I don't have to. Talk to me. What's your investment strategy? What's going on? Apart from investing in your business,

what are you guys doing well we had the financial advisor set us up with cfs investment shares so i think they're etfs and we invest three hundred dollars a month towards it and we'll be increasing that to four hundred dollars a month now that we don't have a wedding to pay for i also invest twenty five dollars a week in my raise and i've been doing that for a couple of years now that's just kind of a recurring thing that I do. I love that. So tell me when you decided, all right, we don't have a wedding to pay for anymore, because I want to ask about that as well in a hot minute, but we don't have a wedding to pay for anymore. We want to redirect these funds into investing. How did you start making decisions around that? How did you choose your

platform? How did you decide what assets to purchase on that platform? What did that look like well the financial advisor just did it and set it up we just said cool yes all right just take it out monthly set and forget and yeah I wish I had time energy to spend on it but I know I can't do it all as much as I want to no no no but I love that because we don't often get people on the show who were like, oh, I've got, you know, $400 a month and I am getting a management company or a financial advisor to run it, which is perfect. So I want to be pervy about that. How much does your financial advisor cost? So is it between you and your husband? Like it's a joint financial advisor and talk me through that. That's right. Part of it is paid through

my super. And then the other part it's, we pay for it and it's $90 a month and the rest is paid through the super. And then when they set up your investment portfolio, how involved were you? Were you like, look, we just want something set and forget. And I just want to contribute my contributions. Or were you, you know, pouring over pieces of paper for months before making the decision? What did that look like? No, I guess I just didn't have the brain space for that. And I saw them as like an expert based on our risk profile. It's like, okay, we don't want to be too risky, but we do have a lot of years to work and build our wealth. So we just kind of left it to him. And do you off the top of your head, know what your portfolio looks like? Have you got ETFs?

Have you got direct shares? I think it's very diversified. There's part ETFs and there's bonds, something like that. I love that. You've just been like, we've left it to them. I don't know what's in it we do 400 bucks a month money win yeah that's it it's been on my to-do list to actually take a deep dive into it but I just don't have capacity to do it girlfriend it's fine and that's what you like that's the privilege of getting a professional involved right like you still get to do it you don't have to be so hands-on it can actually be really easy but it's just making decisions in line with your values now can I backpedal you guys mentioned that you got married recently and I love talking about weddings. Like my wedding was the best day of my flipping life.

And if I could do it again, I would. People are often like, do you regret spending money? Like, what was your biggest regret? And I'm like, no, no, I regret that I didn't spend more. Like this was my favorite day of my entire life, apart from when my son was born. And like, that was still a different best day of my life, right? Like having all the people that you love in one location, like it never happens. So for me, it's true. So special. Talk to me about wedding budgeting. Talk to me about this destination wedding. How much does it cost? How do we budget for a wedding? Well, my husband and I, we know that we were going to fund pretty much our whole wedding. We just didn't have parents to drop that much money. We did get help, but it was all going to

be on us. Yeah. But it wasn't an expectation when you're planning your wedding. You're like, oh well I know mum and dad will probably contribute x it was like yeah we just never had that thought ever it was like a benefit when you told them we're getting married and they said we'll cover x or y is that what happened not really it was like we never had the expectations give us a present if and yes we were lucky that we got some money beforehand which was like maybe $10,000 between our parents to go towards it. And the rest was us. We started saving, I think it was an 18 month engagement and we started saving. I actually have your spreadsheet and that's how I track my spending. And you're welcome by the way, cause that was my actual

wedding spreadsheet. Yeah, of course it was. Why do you think there are so many rogue, like random things on there that you'd be like, Oh, I didn't think of that. That's because I had that so yeah so I just kind of you know use that to help budget and we just started putting money away fortnightly I had a goal in mind my husband gave me a limit on how much I was allowed to spend on the wedding and we just worked backwards like how much money do we have to put in fortnightly for this and that's how we did it for those of you playing along at home my wedding spreadsheet like my wedding budget spreadsheet is available for you to download for free on our website. So that's what she's talking about. What was your budget? So what was the limit for the wedding?

Because destination sounds spino. Well, we chose where my family's from, the Philippines. So it's not as expensive as Europe, like Santorini. It was going to be Europe or the Philippines and the Philippines was going to be cheaper. We had a maybe $40,000, $45,000 budget. And I actually did all the expenses, including the flights, a little bit of holiday, which we splurged on a little bit to stay somewhere bougie afterwards. And the whole wedding day, it was like $52,000. Oh, okay, cool. So not too far over budget, but like, not saying it's good to go over budget, but I feel like with weddings everything just ends up blowing out like you go wait what exactly and I got like my dream dress and my shoes like I didn't those weren't budget shoes we already

learned at the start of this episode she went to me too sorry at least twelve hundred dollars for shoes great so those it was actually the first thing I bought sorry I bought my shoes before my engagement dress as well like I'm such a shoes girly and I also bought my shoes before I knew what my dress looked like for my wedding dress. I just knew what I wanted. And in my head, I'm like, this is actually really smart because I can take these shoes to the wedding dress fittings and have the right length from the start. And I'm a genius. That's right. That's right. And I knew, I was like, my split has to be where the front bow is. Yep. So I got a custom made just so the split could highlight it. You have to send me wedding photos. You have to, they're the rules.

I just made them. Yeah. I'll send them to you. Definitely. Oh, please do. Oh, I adore that. So $52,000 in budgeting, like as in total budget, what expense surprised you the most? Like what expense were you like, Oh damn, I didn't realize that would come back as so expensive. Well, I've had experience in weddings before, so nothing really surprised me. I think for us, we wanted a mini holiday and we booked the holiday like a year before the wedding and that was very expensive the accommodation and then fast forward like a month before the wedding like oh I didn't budget to be paying five thousand dollars for three nights at a hotel or whatever it was yeah oh okay um that wasn't in my initial budget but we'll make it work yeah and what do you think

came out the cheapest and you were like oh that's surprisingly a good deal I guess it's really hard with destination weddings because I don't really know how much things cost and we didn't go super budget but yeah I just kind of paid whatever we did save on my husband's custom suit I think that ended up being cheaper to get it made than going to like MJ Bale or something so that was surprising Yeah. We did the same for my husband's suits. And like, we went to a relatively expensive tailor here in Melbourne, which for those of you following along is P. Johnson and I'm obsessed with them. And they are seen as being like, like if you go on their website, their clothes are expensive, like they're lux, if that makes sense. But I remember being like, oh, this is going to

cost a bomb. Like this is going to be crazy because we did my husband, this is just like a side conversation because I love wedding chat, apologies. But like we did my husband's suit and then we paid for the groomsmen suits as well and they were so good about it they're like oh we can save heaps of money here and here if we have the suits made like this instead of like this and it ended up coming out of the wash being like much more affordable than we thought it was going to be so it definitely pays to inquire even if you think like customs the more bougie option you're right MJ Bale very expensive suits or very I think that they're quite like would you say like mid-range like good but then yeah yeah then they're not like top top no but then their wedding stuff is

definitely more expensive but then you've got to get them customized and changed and whatnot and that all adds up yeah the tailoring's on top I was like oh okay so when you get a custom made everything's kind of included so it ended up being like cheaper which was crazy it just I just found that crazy yeah no all right well we'll move off from wedding chat I want to know do you have any debts. Talk me through that. I know you've got a mortgage, but is there anything else? No. So we were lucky that when we refinanced our house last year, we could pay off my husband's remaining car loan. Oh, cool. Yeah. So we redrew 20,000, 10,000 was for the car and 10,000 was just things around the house. And I think maybe some of it was for the wedding. Can't remember.

We'll sweep that under the rug. It should be right. so we don't have any personal debts we do have a credit card though that I tell myself is for frequent fly points which is our limit's like 5,700 or something and are you paying that off monthly fortnightly yeah so we're not like banking anything up there's not like an outstanding credit card debt sitting there no no we use it as an expenses everyday expenses instead of using our savings account we just put in the credit card and then just transfer over yeah totally and now back to the house. When did you purchase your home? So we purchased 2023, mid 2023. And what did you pay for your house? We got it for 669,000. And what do you get for 669,000? Did you get a

house? Did you get an apartment? We got a two bedroom duplex on 380 square meters. Love. And do you know what it's worth today? $850. Oh, okay. Sorry. Yeah. COVID. Our area just boomed like crazy. So we're so lucky that's why we're able to refinance. And I was about to say as someone who works in mortgage broking, my brain was like, cool, you probably had some equity. And you didn't mention that you were like smashing down the mortgage or anything. I was like, this property has definitely increased in value. What value? That's so cool. Yeah. It is very, very cool. It was, we just didn't know it was going to, you know, rise as much as it did, but it did allow us to refinance, get a better interest rate and all of that. And, you know,

redraw, which was a win. Yeah. So talk to me now, how much debt have you got left? So we, with a redraw, we're at 660. Okay. How good's that? So still like some equity sitting there. Like it's not like you used it all up. Money win. I love that. And it's still less than what you purchased it for technically. Yes, that's right. We would have loved to have paid it down, but with a wedding this year, that was just never going to happen. No. And so going back a little bit, you mentioned like you are doing this $400, was it per month into your investment? What made you choose investment there instead of paying off your mortgage? I guess for me, it's kind of the security, like let's diversify it all.

I suppose. I think that was my thinking that this, I know shares have better returns eventually in the long run and why not? Let's, let's do that. So we did. I love that. That is very fun. So now onto the next part, you clearly have worked your butts off. What's your husband do? I'm really want to be pervy. So he works in a project role. It's an admin project role at a uni and he's on 92,000. Oh, 92K plus good super. Really good super. He's, um, I think when we first started dating, they had a mandatory, not mandatory, like, um, you can choose to top it up and it was like, his super was like 20% or something like that. Like with the extra top up, it was crazy. So crazy. I adore that. That is so fun. Now you've obviously worked incredibly

hard. You have your own business. You are clearly setting up for life. You've just paid for your wedding. You've got a really great mortgage, looking very slick. What are you doing to protect it? Do you have personal insurances? We do. The financial advisor set up the TPD, life insurance, restructured all of our supers and everything like that. So we pay for that in addition, like every month for security. So I know that whatever spending money we have, it's not all of our money. Like, you know, all of our money is also being looked after and our mortgage and everything else is looked after in the background, which gives me the security knowing that. I love that. And when your financial, I just really like talking about

insurance, but when your advisor put on the table, Hey, here's these insurances, like insurances aren't super cheap. Were you guys like, Oh, we don't really need those. Or were you like, yeah, absolutely. Like, did you understand it? Or like, did you have to wrap your head around what that looked like? Well, I consumed a lot of your podcasts and I'm like, yep, this is what we're supposed to do. So I had to convince him that this is the way to go. It's like, well, why are we paying for this? This is like, it ends up being like 150 or $200 a month extra or something. It's so much. Yeah. Yeah. And he's like, um, where does this go? So I had to convince him that it was for our future. Yeah, exactly. And as I said, I was talking to my

producer before about this. I was like, I just want it to be the biggest waste of money. Like I'd love for you guys to like retire and be like, we wasted so much money on insurances that we never got to use and like good. Cause it means you never had any significant health events, but then also if a significant health event happens I just love that you get to keep your house like you can still pay the mortgage like you can support yourselves and I just don't think people think about what that would actually look like because like we live in Australia like what's the worst thing that could happen right like she'll be right well being in the industry that I'm in I've seen it all I've seen accidents and permanent disabilities happen

and then the insurer gives them a hard time because they could work another role but my financial advisor was telling me that if we moved insurances you'll get paid out if you can't work in your profession that you worked so hard for they won't force you to do just a random job you don't want to do before they pay you out so that gave me security knowing that yeah and it's really hard because a lot of people also rely on the insurances inside your superannuation which can be good. And like, I'm assuming that you probably still hold some insurances inside super and then some outside. That's right. Yeah. Cause most advisors do that, but some of the like income protection policies inside your superannuation only last two years. So like, as you would see

as an occupational therapist, sorry, most illnesses, especially if they're very significant or most trauma incidents, they last longer than two years. What do you do after two years? Like how are we paying for everything? Exactly. And for me, I'm a planner. I've planned my whole life. I plan next 10 years, 20 years or whatever. And that is, it gives me security knowing that, that we're not at risk. I would hate for us to lose our house or anything like that. You didn't work this hard for it to be all wiped out. Like you just didn't. Now you just dropped that you planned to the next 10, 20 years? What does the next 10 years look like for you guys? Come on. Well, next year, we're also planning for, to start a family.

Yay. Thank you. It's a bit of a scary thought and a lot of planning because I have to pay for my own mat leave, right? It's like, oh, wow, here we go. No one's going to pay me my mat leave. I have to do it myself. No, no. I'm in that position too. It's crazy, isn't it? I'm like, oh, people are like, oh, you'll have maternity leave. And I'm like, will I? yeah yeah I know I was like hang on wait a minute if I don't work then where does the money come from and who does my team report to do I have to hire someone else to run my team that's right so

that's what I'm planning yeah but like you have to make a very big plan it's not like just telling someone I think I'm gonna have a baby and I'm gonna take off from you know February next year like that's not how this is gonna work I'm so sorry business owners yes that's right and it's like how many months do you take off like my friends are taking a year to two years I'm like yeah that's just not gonna be me that just won't happen and it's funny because and like I obviously have been on maternity leave before and I hope to go on and again very soon but my entire business is my life I'm so wildly passionate about it I love it I don't actually want to leave it it's not like a nine to five Monday to Friday job where I go I'm on mat leave like please just don't email

me your stuff. I'm always checking in with my team, seeing what's going on. And it's not a flex. And I think a lot of people think that when business owners talk about the maternity leave and how quickly, quote, they went back, people are like, that's so toxic. And I'm like, I missed it. Like I, sorry, newborns. And I was in the very privileged position. My newborn was boring. Like I was so lucky. I didn't have a colicky baby. He didn't cry too much. Like what am I meant to do during nap time? Girlfriend, I'm on Slack on my phone. I'm talking to my team. I'm like, what are you guys up to? What are you working on? Oh my God, I had this idea for a podcast or, you know, I had this idea for this client. Like I just wanted to be back in the

nitty gritty of it. And so I think it's, it's very different for business owners. And I feel like there can be so much judgment because you go, well, actually I'm planning on working part time from them being like three months. Definitely. I feel that. So it's definitely something that I kind of, I don't take offense to it anymore. It's like, well, you know, I'm the one who has started and chosen to run a business before I started a family. And this is what I really want to do. And it's my first baby, right? It is, that's what it is. And yeah, so I understand. You just never know how it's going to pan out either. But yes, I feel like there's so much judgment around the decisions that business owners make, but ultimately they're

in the best interest of us and our families. Like, sorry, I'll be more financially secure if I do this. Thank you. That's right. More flexibility as well, where if I do go back to work, it is on my terms when my baby and I are, when it suits us. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. All right. Next question I have for you, because I feel like I'm running out of time and I'm so sorry, but also I've enjoyed this chat so much. What do you think is your best money habit? I am a spreadsheeter. Again, your budgeting spreadsheet template. Love it. Yes, that is what I rely on to, I guess, plan financial goals for the next year and we kind

of stick to it. So that's my responsibility in my household. I'm the more financial literate one and that's okay. But also that's a flex. Yeah. Yes, I know. A lot of my friends are like, it's my husband. So my partner's like, no, that's me. I'm obviously the same. And yeah, stick into a budget, I suppose, as much as possible. And yeah, that would be my best one, I reckon. What do you think your worst money habit is? FOMO. FOMO. I didn't see that coming. I thought you were going to say like nice shoes or like

nice because I already learned you've got nice taste. I've toned it down on the handbags and the shoes. I've toned it down. So it's, um, I allow like one item a year, which is pretty good, right? Honestly, like you're probably, and it sounds flippant, but you're probably spending less than the average bear because you're hoarding all of that to spend in one thing on one fancy item. Then like going on the iconic every week and like getting a new dress for this, that, or the other. Like I find that people are often surprised when I tell them how much I spend on like quite luxury items or clothes and shoes and stuff. Cause they're like, I thought that would be way more. And I'm like, well, no, because I'm not just buying a new dress every week or like,

I've got an event. So I need a new outfit. I'm just waiting and hoarding my money and then buying something really fancy that ultimately is cheaper than the annual spend that most people have. Exactly. That's my way of thinking as well, I would say, but going back to FOMO, half of my friends have kids and then the other half of us who don't and we are the ones that I guess that go out a lot and go on trips a lot and I still budget going on international holidays every year my husband has asked me to tone it down after we have a family but it's um what keeps me going and what motivates me to continue working you know what you'll have to see what life looks like after you have a family. So we can't promise anything. I'm sorry, sir. Exactly. We don't know

what that looks like for us. No, I love it. I love it. Money diarist. I feel like that's not the worst habit, but I totally get it. Now that we've talked at the start, you said, look, when I moved back from London, I was a D and like, I've gotten myself up through financial literacy and education and obviously setting up your own business and like getting married and now being able to invest and do all of these things, you said B plus. What would it take to get to an A or an A plus? Because I'm just feeling like you guys are on the right path. Like, sorry, you have a financial advisor. Like your business is incredible for how young it is. Like everything seems like it's in the right places. Why a B plus? Why not A? I guess we could always tone down our spending,

I suppose. I enjoy coffees and eating out maybe a little too much. And if I could get my super to where I want it to be, maybe put some more money into our investments, that would make me feel better. Maybe that's what it would take to feel like I'm an A. I love that. I'm not going to argue with you because I feel like you've got your stuff together very well. And I'm like, well, I don't want to tell her she's something that she doesn't feel like she is yet, but I feel like you're doing a really flipping good job. So if you'd said, oh, I think I'm an A, I would have been like, yeah, like, I think that too. Money Diarist, I love this. Thank you so much for having a chat with me. I just know that our community is going to love this literally as

much as I have. You're the first Money Diarist of 2026. And that's just, ah, what a good episode. Like I came back from London with a thousand dollars and look at all this stuff we've done ourselves and we didn't have any help. And it was just financial literacy. And you've dropped so many good little tips and tricks along the way. Thank you for that, by the way, because you've just promoted my website massively. You're like, oh, I've been using your free budget. I've been using your free wedding like budget sheet. I've been doing this. I've been. Thank you for that. I really appreciate it. So thank you so much for joining us on the show. I genuinely really appreciate it. And just know that this is like the money diary that kicks off this year to a

really good start. Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's been fun. And also a very huge thank you to Sky Wealth for making this episode possible. I'll chuck a whole heap of information about them, how to get in contact, what they do, how they do it in the show notes for you to check out. 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

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