She's On The Money - From the 9-5 to Gardening & Sex Work!

Episode Date: March 27, 2022

This beautiful community member left a toxic 9-5 job to get into gardening and sex work. With covid hitting, she went back to study! How can she keep building her financial stability and savings goals in the face of an irregular income? Let’s find out!This year our Money Diaries are being brought to you by the legends at Shopback! Check them out at https://app.shopback.com/aus/partner/SOTM and you'll get a cashback bonus when you sign up!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. Victoria Devine is an Authorised Representative of Infocus Securities Australia Proprietary Limited ABN 47 097 797 049 AFSL - AFSL 236523.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just before we get started, we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They're the traditional custodians of the lands, the waterways and the skies all across Australia. We thank you for sharing and for caring for the land on which we are able to learn. We pay our respects to elders past and present and we share our friendship and our kindness. She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to a Shop Back Money Diary Monday, where we chat to one of our gorgeous community members and learn about them and their story and what they're doing

and where they've been and just ask a whole heap of questions. I feel like I need a new way to introduce these episodes because I was about to say I've got a good one as if I don't always have a good one. As if you don't always use that catchphrase. Do you know what? Do you know what? Let's take this offline. You and I, straight after this chat, we're going to sit down and write a very sassy, very funny new intro and it's going to apply absolutely no pressure to us in the future because we aren't going to be looking for it. I love it. Alrighty. Well, let me get into this low-key good one our diarist said my summarized money diary is that I quit my nine-to-five job in diversity and inclusion due to hating the office environment and mental health issues

and decided to try work for myself as both a gardener and a sex worker oh sick I know then COVID hit and I couldn't really do either for most of the lockdowns I decided to go back to study and I'm always halfway through a counseling degree and I'm still working casually I feel like when I had a salary, I was kicking all of my financial goals. I had $60,000 in savings, hoping to buy a house, investments, an emergency fund, et cetera. I still have all of those things. My savings have gone down a little bit, but now I just don't know how to make my weird stunted cashflow work for me anymore. I also mainly get paid in cash from learning how to keep track of spending, do my taxes, et cetera. I would love to seek financial advice, but also just do not

make the money I feel like I would need to, to justify that. Oh my gosh, no. Do you know how many sex worker clients I have. Money Doris, we've got you on the line. I want to talk to you after this. We've got a lot of conversation to have. Great. Welcome to the show. Thank you for wanting to share your story with us. Thanks for having me. Oh my gosh, of course. I'm really excited about it. I feel like it sounds like you got a bit of a kick in the guts having quit your job pre-COVID and then gone straight into two roles that arguably need you to be present and you weren't allowed to do that during COVID. I'm so sorry to hear that. Yeah. Look, the timing wasn't ideal. Yeah. Less than. I don't regret my decision. Like I don't regret leaving my office job,

but yes, the timing wasn't great. So yeah. Yeah. What can you do? There's always a light at the end of the tunnel. I would love to know more about you though. So let's get into the structured questions because I feel like they give us a really good foundation to have a good conversation about your money story so money diarist can you tell us a little bit about your money story well yeah like I said I feel like maybe two years ago I was in a really different place to where I am right now I was feeling incredibly confident and sort of yeah on my way to financial freedom and just you know sort of had a system in place and felt really really good about it and that was wonderful but yeah as you just summarized you know there's a few big life changes in the way

work and right now I just feel like I've lost all my confidence like in financial stuff I mean I'm still really lucky in that I have a safety net I still have an emergency fund I still have some savings but the idea of like buying a house not happening not for like five years I reckon now and I just like don't know what I'm doing like I just feeling a bit lost yeah oh honey I feel like that's really common though going from being somebody who was an employee where it feels incredibly structured and your taxes kind of done for you in a way like there's a lot of things that are automated so when you go out on your own you kind of go what this is much more I feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew now is that kind of how you're feeling totally like doing my

taxes for the first time as well was yet such like a kick in the guts I was like I have to pay how much so much money because I hadn't like set aside as I was going along yeah totally you know I just didn't know what yeah as someone who freelances my best tip is set aside more than you'll think you need because then at tax time if you don't use it all it's like a little bonus that comes back to you yeah good tip and and I don't know if you've listened to all of the business bible episodes but you should go and do that my friend because I promise they're super helpful like I'm bias. It's my other podcast, but I genuinely know that they would help you in your situation. Yeah. I'll check them out. Thank you. Thank you. Let's move on to the next question. The next

question is what do you do for work and how much money do you earn? Okay. So yeah, I mean, it's been a weird time over the last two years. So in terms of how much I earn, I feel like I can't really give you a solid number to be honest. I do keep track in a spreadsheet going back what I actually do I should start with so I'm a gardener part-time casually I do that sort of depending how busy I am with uni one to two days a week I work with someone else half the time half the time I have my own clients and I just got into that through my friend I'm not qualified as such I have a science degree but I'm not like a qualified horticulturalist so my friend was lucky enough to take me under her wing as kind of like an apprentice and I just learned from her

and then got on Airtasker, got clients through that, through Word of Mouth. Do you enjoy it? That sounds like a really fun outdoorsy job. I love it. I'm a really like active outdoorsy kind of nature person. So I love it. It's a really physical job, so it can be tough, but yeah, I love it. And I don't know. Yeah, it's really therapeutic. It's really nice to be out in the sunshine and working with your body, you know, like manual labor. It's like good, honest work, I guess. Like I said, it's pretty hard work like I feel like I've definitely had to go to the physio a little more than I used to because I'm 32 almost you're still a baby but my lower back says otherwise yeah that you know

so I do that part-time and then my other job is a sex worker so I'm a full service sex worker so I work once a week at like an establishment and then I occasionally do the odd private client but like it's usually just at the establishment I prefer that to be honest even though the money's not as good you have a receptionist who does your bookings your you know you have security you know it's all really structured in that sort of sense I guess you have like that safety net it's just much easier instead of doing your own admin and you get a lot of time wasted in private work it's a bit more frustrating so I tend to just stick with that so I do that once a week and I love that I've been doing that for three years on and off.

COVID obviously couldn't work at all. I do have like a bit of an online thing going, but to be honest, I hate doing that. I don't tend to it. Some people love it and I think it's amazing, like the freedom that it offers. I think that's like if you can do that, incredible. I just personally, I don't really like being on camera.

Like that's not really my thing. I get really self-conscious and I'm not very savvy with like angles and makeup and stuff like that. you think I would I should be for the industry but I'm just you're like this ain't my thing this isn't it we tried it yeah I'm very much like a one-on-one in person you know I feel like that's where I shine and so yeah I mean I it brings in a bit of money but yeah like it's very much like I neglect it I yeah so but I love the in-person work I find that really enjoyable again it's kind of you know it's manual labor it's very physical in that regard but I really enjoy the human element

of it so I'm studying counselling there's a lot of transferable skills there absolutely there's a lot of just holding space for people talking you know seeing and being with someone vulnerable and you know making them feel good and whatever so that's um I do really enjoy that as well oh cool perfect question how'd you get into that it's something I'd never really heard of and then I realized I had a couple of friends who were doing it because it's not really an industry here but like unless you know someone in it I feel like you don't know much about it I get well that was my sense anyway my experience and yeah I just had a friend doing it and that kind of normalized it I guess and created like an in and I asked her about it and then I was kind of

like I'm just gonna try it and she gave me like a lot of like these are some good places that I've worked recommend you know recommend these places stay away from these places kind of thing so and yeah I just went for like um the job interview had a look around and decided it was the thing you wanted to give a crack yeah and I've only been at the one place because it's been amazing like management's amazing it's a really friendly warm place you're really looked after there so I've just sort of stayed there and it's been awesome great and I know it's really hard because you it hasn't been a typical year for you and you're working two inconsistent jobs but if we don't ask at least a ballpark salary I will get so many dms oh my gosh yeah yeah yeah yeah what do you make

from sex work and then what do you make as a gardener yeah okay so from gardening okay if I work once a week I'd probably earn 150 to 180 bucks from the day okay like thereabouts from sex work it's so variable yeah say I work once a week so on a good week a thousand bucks maybe just over 1200 on a bad week 300 yeah and does it have ebbs and flows like as in obviously like you're saying good week bad week do you not predict those weeks or is it just completely unpredictable sometimes you go in and it's really busy and sometimes you go in and no one is coming to visit yeah it's kind of the joke of like the back room like oh will it be busy today I'm manifesting clients it's very like we always sort of say oh January is quiet and that's because like

everyone's on school holidays or like away but like December's busy because like everyone's like really festive and people are having like lots of parties or whatever and then in between who knows it's honestly so hard to predict honestly it's so hard it's so up and down interesting I'm always so pervy because in the finance world I know that I'm not going to be busy in July because you know I've actually just had a really busy June as a wrap-up for the financial year so it's actually funny to be like hey like what do other industries do like what are your busy times and for me December ends up being like not so much work a lot of party so it kind of makes sense that your industry would pick up that slack yes that's right you're welcome

yeah and i mean i'm just thinking back to the question the how much do you earn and again for me i'm just thinking about if i'm at the establishment so if i'm working privately it'll it'll be more again for example so if i get a private client everyone's different but i personally charge 550 for the hour so if i just get one client for the week that's an extra 550 yeah okay i have previously done like a tour with a friend so we've gone to new zealand very exotic how fun it actually was really fun but we worked our little butts off and didn't get any sleep but you know I came back with like I think it was five grand I came back and that was from like nice a few days of work so you know it's kind of like almost you're really at the whim of

you need clients obviously but obviously if you put more in you get more out yeah so it's kind of really dependent on how much time you allocate to doing the actual physical work I suppose it's not like you set it up and it just like plods along it's such a job that relies on you and your body being present right yes there's and exactly that's it if you're sick there's there's no leave there's no paid leave you know you just that's it you just have to sit this one out all right money dice next question because i know i've got so many pervy questions i want to ask you at the end but what's currently your big money goal i think it's buying a house with my with my partner we both really want to buy a house like I said earlier I had 60k and I want to get back to that

I think all right that's a great goal that sounds like a really good goal but money Doris you're gonna have to be more specific this is money Doris people are pervy what's your savings sitting at right now right now it's sitting at 30k right now so it's not like shocking no that's pretty good that makes you feel real safe I've got a safety net like it's it's okay but I want it to be back to 60k plus because I feel like that's where I'm really actually realistically getting a house deposit sorted combined with my partner's finances but yeah that's sort of where I want to be there and yeah very cool all right next question do you currently have any investments yes I've got a bunch of stuff so i have spaceship i have rate setter oh i've got bitcoin

my brother's really into it so i've got some bitcoin don't i don't really understand it but i've got it yeah fair and i've got some shares like i was like an early investor and i bought some shares in some companies exciting and how much do you have of those things are we talking like you have an investment portfolio of 20 million dollars no or 200 dollars like come on my friend okay sorry okay i've got about 3 000 in shares yeah my spaceship's really gone in the like that's the market right now that's the market my friend everybody's spaceship is down everybody's investment portfolio is down but yeah so i think i've got about 8 000 in my spaceship and i've got in rate setter which is a peer-to-peer learning platform i've got

At the moment, two and a half thousand, I think. You're doing pretty well. It's like a nice little across all those platforms. Yeah. Oh, and Bitcoin. In my Bitcoin, I have 5,000 maybe. Nice. All right.

Next question, Money Diarist. You're obviously very good at investments, but do you have any debts? No, I have Hex debt. I have a lot of Hex debt, but I've never had a credit card. I'm too afraid of credit cards. That's fair. That's not the worst fear in the world to have. Yeah. I just feel like I would stuff it up. So yeah, I'm, I have no debts. Exciting. All right. Next question. Obviously if you have no debts,

I think you make some pretty good money decisions. So do you shop back? Yes. Yes. I heard about it here and I've got it. You know what? I think it's great. The only problem is I don't do that much online shopping. That's okay. But when you do, are you making sure that you're making the most of it I I forget sometimes but I try I try my hardest that's all right that's all you can do have a little the little um notification thing up the top that's what I do so it always says do you want to use this and I'm like uh yes thank you so much totally yeah all right next question given you're a good shop back user I want to know about your other best money habits so what do you think your best money habit is I mean I think old me set me up really well for now me so you know

like with all those investments like I had those going ages ago I had them all on auto debit like I had a system where everything was just auto debiting in which I had to stop all that but I'm thankful for that I put money into my super because again I you know I stopped having a salary so I I still have that going I put an auto into my super which I know future me will be very pleased about. So I know that I think long-term and I know that that, you know, I'm always trying to sort of set myself up for the future and think about that, even though I've had to pause some of those things with COVID and, you know, like fluctuating income. But I think that's probably pretty good. And not having a credit card, I think that's probably pretty good because I am

quite impulsive when I do online shopping. It's quite impulsive. So I think not having that is a good barrier yeah like recognizing like knowing that you're the kind of person you're like oh I probably wouldn't trust myself with that like I feel like that's really good yeah those are probably my best habits I'd say next question is the exact opposite my friend what is your worst money habit oh I am impulsive so like if I want something I'll just like buy it straight away I'll just be like I deserve this okay so you deserve that but also why do you think you are impulsive like do you have an impulsive type of personality or do you think that spending is just an area that you're impulsive I want to know more I'm an Aries so when I we're gonna blame our star

signs now are we I mean yeah I don't know I just think when I get an idea I get excited and I just want to go with it so I think that's sort of part of it yeah I just get excited like quickly and easily. So I think that can translate into like poor spending sometimes. I think my other poor habits are, yeah, I mean like, you know, changing drastically my career and financial situation without really implementing any kind of new system and just letting it kind of trail off into the distance and not re-strategizing, you know, not really taking the time to sit down and like do a budget I don't have a budget like I don't I just haven't I just can't face it I'm just like it's too overwhelming and it's been like that for two years you know because your

income is variable because it's variable because I didn't have an income for ages yeah it's just like overwhelming and I just like didn't want to deal with it so just being like I'll deal with this later but then like never dealing with it I think that's probably a pretty bad habit just like not facing reality. Hey, it's good to be self-aware. And I mean, you're an Aries, so. Don't hold it against me. I'm a Cancer, so like don't hold that against me. But I think that plays into a lot about my personality, guys. We'll move on from there, though. Last question before we get to go into a few more pervy questions after the break. Money Diaries, what grade would you give yourself if we forced you to give your money habits a grade?

right now six oh six yeah six out of ten ten all right six out of ten why is six out of ten I think past me has set me up so I'm like above average but now me is just not thinking things through and so that's the like why I'm not higher I don't know I just feel like I'm just coasting you know? Yeah, that's fair. Six out of 10 is a D if you go for like 60%. Does that feel low to you when we change it over to the normal letter grade? It does, but that's how I feel like emotionally about it. Like I feel emotionally like low about my, like I feel a little bit flat. We were talking about this before we started recording. You're like, I'm exhausted. I'm flat. I feel like I don't have a lot of direction at the moment, which is a really not great place to be in

because direction is what kind of gives us a lot of motivation and makes us feel like we're achieving things. And I think you just need a little bit more clarity around what that means. And you might feel not like a D. I reckon you're doing pretty well. I mean, to have that amount of savings and like you're working for yourself and it sounds like you're working a job that you thrive in, but probably need to do a little bit more self-care in. I think you're doing pretty well, but I'm never going to tell someone to change their grade as long as they're like, oh that's why and that's how and I reckon I could do better all right so let's head to a break and straight after I've got a few pervy questions for you all right money diarist I want to come back

into this by asking about self-care so you have two very physically demanding jobs or would I assume to be physically demanding jobs you're a gardener and a sex worker how are you looking after yourself mentally and physically and making sure that you can be and bring the best person to work every day when you turn up yeah it's hard sometimes I mean physically speaking I haven't done much of it lately but I do love a bit of like yoga going to the gym that kind of thing you know I think like stretching my body and releasing energy in that sort of gym way I find yeah really therapeutic I love like just getting sweaty and like out of breath at the gym and pumping iron and that kind of thing makes me feel really good I love going for long

walks in nature that is something I do every day and I find really therapeutic and relaxing and I watch a lot of tv to be honest it's pretty bad actually but it's it's something I do that I find very self-soothing I've just finished season four of Selling Sunset don't know if you've seen oh my god I love selling something we're obsessed with that in this office oh my god so just you know trash tv that kind of thing I have a beautiful incredible support network of friends I'm so lucky I adore my friends I've got a really tiny group of friends that I you know yeah talk on the phone see in person you know whatever all those social things so that's yeah super important to me I have an incredible supportive partner as well so you know I'll debrief if they're up to work whatever

you know all that sort of stuff and I have an amazing physio oh my gosh yes really important physical care is just as important I love my physio he's a legend and he really has changed my life like you know physically speaking because I get a lot of aches and pains and yeah this really helped me and I love having like a hot bath you know all your sort of cliche self-care things, I suppose. I love them. Yeah, fair. I think we all love that. So they sound exactly the same or very similar to any other job, just making sure that you're not getting burnt out. Do you find that because, you know, I'm very lucky in that the job I have being, I guess you could call it like, Jess, would you say it's desk based? Like I'm always out and about, but like if

I'm having a bit of a flat day where I just am like, do you know what? I don't really want to see clients or do anything. I'll just plod along and get my emails done or do some admin. Do you get those days or is it always go, go, go, really physical? I can't really be like go, go, go every single day. It's the nature of the work is that I literally could not work five days a week. Like I, I mean, some people do. I, I couldn't do it. It's not possible for me. And I'm studying as well. So I think I work two to three days a week and then the other days are studying. And that for me that variety is really helpful and that helps me balance it all out because I do have a tendency like I said before to get excited and like I'm impulsive and I think in the past I have sometimes

worked like four days or five days a week and I have gotten burnt out and so I know that I it's actually just not I'm at this point where I'm like it's just I can't do that it's not worth it yeah a thousand percent and actually you saying it's not worth it reminds me of something that I read out in your intro, which was you were talking about, you know, being a little bit unsure of your financial position because it's changed so drastically in the last few years and wanting to talk to an advisor, but not feeling like it was worth it. And I want to unpack this because this is something we talk about. This is such a good question, Jess. Yeah, we talk about this in our office a lot. So I want to hear from you what you particularly feel like you need help with and

then why you feel like it's not worth it. Because this, I think, is a great broader conversation to have with our community I don't know I think the not worth it is like I don't earn enough money to be worthwhile of like a professional's expertise I don't know like I guess it's a self-worth thing right yeah I was about to say that's such a self-worth thing because at the end of the day I'm gonna ask a really perfect question would you pay for the advice oh it just seems like financial advisors are for the already really wealthy or you know like that's the outlook or like that's the no no there are different like there are financial advisors who work with people on Centrelink like it is not as though we are all ultra high net wealth like I do

a fair bit of that because I do specialize in inheritance because that's what you know my community has slowly over time grown into asking for from me which I'm very grateful for I also have a really big amount of sex worker clients which I think will surprise a lot of people because I just, I don't know, some people are like, oh, Victoria, she's a bit of a prude. And I'm like, heck no, I'm not. Let's get into it. But I just feel like it's such an underrepresented community of people who need the advice and can absolutely thrive. And I find that my clients who, you know, might not have had the clarity, which is where I think you're sitting right now, who don't have the clarity once they have it. And I can be like, all right, I'm on your team.

Let's do A, B, C, D, E, and F. And you're going to feel much more passionate. They end up working more because they feel like they have that clarity around what they're working towards like they know that if they do another day or they do another shift or you know they take on an extra client they can really see how that benefits them instead of seeing it the way you were articulating it before which was like oh yeah like if I do another client it might be like $550 like that mindset from my perspective really needs to shift from $550 to one step closer to my goal And here are my goals. And I'm so clear on what I'm trying to achieve and what I'm trying to work towards, regardless of what it is. Like that goal might be getting that $60,000 back in your

savings, or it might be an investment goal, or it might be a taxable income by the end of a financial year. Like it doesn't actually matter what it is, but you need to have some really clear goals so that you can work towards them because your job, as I was saying before, is so much more physically demanding than a lot of people's. And it's so much easier to get burnt out and feel like, oh my God, like I'm exhausted, but you kind of get a different lease on life in a way when you're like, no, this is for me. I'm seeing this client because I want to get closer to my goals as opposed to seeing a client because you're like, oh, I should, it's cash. Like we don't want to have that mentality regardless of what your job is. Yes. If you were to talk to an

advisor, what area specifically is it that you were looking for clarity on? Is it managing your variable income? Is it solidifying those goals? What is it that you really feel like you need help with? I mean, I think it's all those things. It's like, yeah, having a system set up for variable income, because in the past I just had a set salary. So it was so easy to have everything automated because I knew exactly what was coming in. So I could portion it all, you know, bit to this bit to that you know I can't do that now so having a system that makes fluctuating cash flow makes sense to me and then also just as you said solidifying clarifying those goals because having those savings back is is probably the key one but I don't think about that when I work

anymore it's just like yeah and I think as well because I'm halfway through studying I'm like oh well in two years I'll probably be like a counselor and I'll have another job by then so like maybe I just wait two year a year or two years but I like you know that's actually a really long time away and so yeah and you can achieve so much in two years like look what some of our other money diarists have done in like 12 months or even 18 months like if you can have that same power like you can achieve so much and I think it's so exciting but I definitely think you're someone who either should have like a money coach or a money, like a financial advisor or something to like help you find that clarity. But I also think you need to look at your cashflow system.

I'm a bit biased, obviously, but I am going to give you my budget and cashflow masterclass because I genuinely think that that clarity of a banking system where everything comes in and you can deduct things and put tax to here and put a goal to here and then like know what you're spending on your food, your fuel, and your fun. Like I genuinely think that having a good cash flow structure creates motivation. I know that it sounds silly and I know that it can be like, oh, really admin heavy, but I promise you that level of clarity is going to give you a lot of motivation. I know it because it's happened a million times with every one of my other clients. I bet. And I think just to touch on like, because I feel like I have to, like, I think being in the

sex work industry like seeking financial advice like there is so much stigma like in certain bubbles it's you know my friends all know what I do and I'm really open but I still feel weird about contacting like an accountant or someone you know someone in the industry because I don't know how they're going to react to me or what do you know what I mean like judgment. Sorry that's the case yeah that's so terrible. Yeah it sucks but like that's just you know like it's still really heavily stigmatized and like you know it's only just been decriminalized right like that's all new. So it's just like, you know, general attitudes to sex work are still really archaic and like, you know, terrible. So it's like a tricky thing as well to manage.

I'm so sorry. That's the case. But if anybody is listening to this and they are worried about seeking financial advice, please just go through our She's On The Money website. Like I have a matching form. I would never say like clearly say, Hey, I'm a sex worker and I'm looking for an advisor that is really good with that. I wouldn't work with people who aren't like sex work is a job. In fact, it is a job where I think we need to put a fair bit more emphasis on investing and saving and creating a financial future young, because it's kind of one of those jobs that you can grow out of. It's a job where a lot of sex workers, as they get a bit older and their life changes, they go, oh, look, I don't really want to do this once I have kids. Or you might go,

oh, I don't want to do this once I finish uni and I become a counsellor, or I don't want to do this at this point, but you're also making a lot of money. So you need to kind of make hay while the sun is shining. And so it's kind of like being a social media influencer in a way, like you don't know when you're going to stop or how long this is going on because today you're like, yeah, I'm doing this. One day you might wake up and go, I can't be bothered with this anymore. Like it's way too physical for me to do. So I think it's an interesting space, but I'm honestly, I'm so sorry that you feel like somebody would judge you for the way that you're making an income like I think it's so cool that you're a little hustler and you're like no I make income like this and I'm

completely in control of my situation like that's sick and sex workers are some of the coolest people I've ever met I think because they all usually have some kind of underlying worry that they'll be judged that they're so open and honest and kind like they're not the people to judge you yeah so no some of my best friends are sex workers Jess you met one of them on the weekend my engagement party but also some of my best clients are also sex workers it's an incredible community I won't dispute that and the other thing as well like just to touch on I guess is that I feel like it does kind of warp your perspective a little bit when you're given a chunk of cash instantly for the work that you've done and then going to say like a job something about that

like part of me is like oh I should go get like an office job or like I should get a job like part-time office job but then there's something very alluring about giving a chunk of cash and it's it's a weird thing you know no I've totally heard that from a number of people before where you know you're in a situation where you're essentially making or you can be making what anybody else might be in a week in a couple of hours and you go the financial freedom and the life freedom associated with that why would I sit at a desk when I can just do that and I'm okay to do that and that's obviously not a job for everybody and not everybody is comfortable with it and that is totally okay we should still respect it but I can see why if you've done that before

you're like why would I go and spend 40 hours of my week slaving away for somebody else when I can make that in three hours totally and especially like for me personally like I mentioned like I've struggled with mental health issues in the past so if I can choose to work one or two days a week as opposed to five then that's definitely an option that I'm you know I've taken and I I love that that gives that flexibility and freedom it's amazing that it affords that yeah incredible and if anyone is in a situation like you where they're dealing with variable income we have actually done a full episode on budgeting for variable income and just to go back to that financial advisor thing it's absolutely worth you seeing an advisor if it's something that's worth it to you and the

thing that we talk about a lot is that there's a big investment when you see an advisor right you're going to be up generally for a couple of thousand dollars because there's a lot involved in that depending on obviously the nature of advice that you need but if you're in a position where you're prepared to pay that you're worthy of their time but for those people who aren't and for people who maybe they're like oh I am just struggling a little bit with my budget there are so many resources out there that allow you to get on top of that by yourself and so don't feel like you have to go see somebody because there's a good chance that you can get on top of it on your own with some of the things that are out there so I'd highly recommend that

episode to anyone who wants to hear it and then my last question for you before we go because I'm conscious of your time we know that you're working towards your degree and I just wanted to ask do you feel like your approach to things is going to change once you have that degree? Is your plan to step out of the work that you're doing currently into full-time counselling? Are you planning on juggling it all? Do you feel like you're in a little bit of a holding pattern now? Because you said before, you know, you think that things might shift a little bit once that happens and that you want to make the most on the time between now and then. So how do you see that change happening and what adjustments do you think you'll make as a result? Yeah, I actually am not sure and

it's something that I think about all the time yeah because I actually don't know if even once I get my degree if I do want to work five days a week in the exact same job every single day and whilst I don't see myself being a gardener or a sex worker forever for now it's it's good you know and so maybe I do work three days as a counsellor one as a sex worker one as a gardener maybe I still keep doing that you know I'm not really sure at this point I just I've realized over the last few years yeah I love variety I love mixing things up I don't like sitting in a desk every day and I don't like office environments generally speaking I don't really like having a boss I like being my own boss so I'm not there yet I don't know what working as a counselor like

looks like day to day I you know I think my long-term goal my like you know five to ten year goal is to set up my own practice like that is kind of my dream um long term but again that's yeah five to ten years down the track but until then I'm probably gonna go for variety I think I love that like more people taking the non-conventional road please because you know what you're here to live not to work in my opinion yeah that's it exactly I love it well thank you so much for spending the time with us today we are really grateful for it and I hope I hope that you didn't feel like we were hard to talk to. I promise we're not judgmental finance people.

You know. But as always, I do think that's all we have time for today, except Jess, you probably should wrap it and let everybody know that I am legitimate. So take it away. Yes, 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 a financial decision. And we promise Victoria Devine is an authorized representative of InFocus Securities Australia Pty Ltd, ABN 47097797049, AFSL 236523.