She's On The Money - Hear Me Out, I Wanna Buy A Horse... And A House

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

Real talk, have you been preparing your Milo wrong? Join Jess and Bec for a special edition of Friday Drinks, where they discuss our community’s best Money Wins, Broke Tips and Question of the Week. That’s right, Victoria’s away so the gang will be taking your ears on a detour from our regular programming to bring you a more laid-back episode. Featuring a DM concerning Buy Now, Pay Later habits and a community dilemma about what sounds like a very expensive hobby, this is proving to be one of our more amusing installments yet. To buy a house or a horse? That is the question.  Want to learn more about Revolut and get your $40 – click here!  BREAK FREE: Ditch the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) cycle for good. Here’s a blog to give your debt a run for its money. Search  ‘BNPL’ at shesonthemoney.com/blog/ DEBT HACKS: Need a hand? Check out our article on avoiding and abolishing debt on the blog. Search ‘abolish debt’ shesonthemoney.com/blog/ YOUR MONEY PERSONALITY: Wanna buy a horse, but aren’t sure if it’s the right decision for you? Complete our Money Personality Quiz to figure out what actually matters to you over here: shesonthemoney.com/money-personality-quiz New here? Follow us on Instagram (@shesonthemoneyaus) for Q&As, bite-sized advice, daily money inspo... and relatable money memes that just get you.  Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements (queenacknowledgements.com) 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 - 4451289See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My name is Natasha Bamblit. I'm a proud First Nations woman, and I'm here to acknowledge country. T. Glynianganya. Neenakakakya. Neenakana, you've been aikarumja, Duma'embeka, Ithewakken, Nitaamun Daman, Imalan. Mimala. 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. And welcome to She's on the money, the podcast where we usually cover issues related to your personal wealth goals, so you can feel more in control of your financial future. But on this occasion, we'll make an exception. It is Friday during his time, which means that we are swapping some serious money

talks for something a little more laid back. You can expect casual yaps about finance adjacent topics, dilemmas from the community, plus a question of the week to help you get to know us a little bit better. Now, just the two of us today, I of course am Jess, your co-host, Partnerships Manager, an all-round sweet treats seeker. And I'm joined by our multidisciplinaryan, ceramic explorer and best ever bargain hunter, Beck Siont. Thank you, Jess. It's gorgeous. Now, we're just kicking the can around today, the two of us.

Yes, I love kicking a can with you. Oh, anytime, anytime. Victoria is away, but of course we're doing our best. Now, be honest. Have you ever enjoyed something every day, say an instant coffee, only to realize you've been making it wrong the whole time? Oh, interesting. Probably, definitely.

I feel we've all had that experience. I have it on good authority that today's question of the week. may be about to be one of those things. Okay. Now, we'll also be chatting a little bit later about the temptation of buy now pay later arrangements and how they might not be the solution that they seem and whether we can justify spending money on an expensive hobby. Okay.

All this and more right after the break. Welcome back. I know that you are dying to hear the question after that tantalizing little tidbit, but I'm going to keep the suspense going a little bit longer by sharing a five-star review. Okay, cool. Each week we turn to our podcast streaming platforms to see if anyone's left us love in the form of the verbal pat on the back for an episode well done. And let's just say you guys have never let us down. This week's review comes from a Jess.

Fantastic name. Okay, gorgeous. Just in a week. Who said, I only discovered she's on the money recently, but I wish I'd found it years ago. As a single mom taking control of my finances has felt overwhelming at times and this podcast has completely changed how I think about money. Instead of feeling intimidated by investing in financial literacy, I feel empowered and genuinely excited to learn more. Victoria and the team have a way of explaining things that make you feel capable and not judged. Every episode leaves me feeling a little more confident about creating a secure future for myself and my kids.

Thank you for making the finances accessible, relatable and something I actually look forward to learning about. Beautiful. Thank you so much. It makes my heart so warm every time we get to read one of those. It's such a joy to know that, you know, just sitting down and having a little yap has been able to help people in some way. I know that that's a journey that we've both been on. Yes. And it's amazing to hear that you guys are on it as well.

So, Jess, thank you so much for sharing your review. Thank you. And for letting us to be a part of that journey. We're so thrilled to hear that you're on your way to creating a secure future for yourself and your family. And if, like, Jess, our pod has made a positive impact on your life, please leave a review for the Shiz and the Money podcast wherever you tune in. Beautiful.

Would you like to eat a question of the week? Yeah. Oh yeah. This one might be divisive. Okay. I was a little shocked when I read it. It comes from Courtney, who asks, how do you make a cold Milo? A, hot water first to melt it all together.

Okay. Then top it up with milk. Or B, just milk, eat the Milo, drink the milk. Hot water first. Where's the hot water coming in? Water at all. Water at all. Yeah, Milo.

Also, may I just say, potentially contentious. I don't really drink a Milo broadly. Yep. But if I am, I'm not drinking at cold. Okay, okay. But you've had it cold before. I've had it cold before. This is the other thing is, Dairy and I don't always agree. Yes. Depending on the day. And so I like to be selective with what dairy I'm going to tolerate or not tolerate. A Milo to me doesn't rank in the list. What about a cold soy milk Milo? Delicious. You know what I'd never thought about putting in an alternative milk. Isn't that weird?

That is weird. Not weird, but it is interesting. Not weird, but a little bit. It's so funny that we think that, like, there are some things we just assume have to have dairy milk, like cereal or something. It's like cold soy milk, delicious. Could be the job. Maybe try that. It's gorgeous. It has to be bonsoy, no offense.

Courtney, thank you so much. Hot water is not in my future. It's not in my repertoire. It's not in my repertoire. But if I am making a cold, my repertoire. Milo, I'm putting the Milo in first and then... Oh, this is a good question. Milo or milk first?

Well, I'm putting Milo first and then the milk. And then in an ideal world, I would have some sort of cocktail shaker. You know? And then it get a bit like frothy. Oh, my God, delicious. But if it's a hot Milo, then it's going straight into a pot and I'm mixing, mixing, mixing, mixing until there's no chunks left to turn. No, it's crazy because the chunks of the best bit.

In a pot not in a microwave. Not in a microwave. Wow, it's fancy. I know. It's because Milo has to be. treated with respect, a certain level of respect. And it is funny because in any way, no matter how you make it, it's going to be perfect. It's going to be delicious and perfect. Do you like to eat it out of the tin? I did used to love to eat it out of the tin when I was a kid.

You know what else I do, right? If you have one of those little milk frothers, like the spinning ones. Yes. I love those. Not the stick ones, but like the little, no, the little, it's like a cup shape almost with a lid on it. Oh, yes. And you make frothy milk that way. I reckon just chuck the Milo in. Yes. Into the frothy milk. It's going to be hot. But then I think it's going to be like a delicious, foamy, chocolatey.

Yes. Little something, something. That's actually a great idea. That's what I would do. They're very scary those things. It's going to pop out the top. Oh, yeah. Like if you don't put it on properly, it's going to go everywhere.

It's going to go everywhere. Yeah. But the little stick one is like two bucks. Probably would do a good job too. Absolutely. Probably maybe better. All right. And you can do it for the cold as well.

Let us know. Hot or cold Milo. Yes. Milo milk first. Mm-hmm. And hot water. I fear that that might be unique to Courtney. I don't know anybody else is putting water in their Milo, but let us know.

I appreciate that, though. I can understand the thought behind it, but you don't need it, okay? Get rid of it. Could we be doing things differently? Can you top it? Comment on Spotify, let us know how you do it. Elite Milo tips only, please. Speaking of Elite, though, there are some money wins that we've been celebrating this week.

Yes. That I would love to share with you. Before we do get into the money wins, I have a very exciting announcement to share. Oh, my God. What is it? So the money wins are now going to be brought to you by our friends at Revolut, which is so exciting. If you haven't heard of them before, they've just launched banking services in Australia. You might have heard they have the card that you can use internationally, which is incredible.

Yes. If you're looking like they sound familiar, that would be why. They do. But the new banking platform is fantastic for a couple of reasons. The first is if you use the link that is in the show notes, you'll get yourself a lovely $40 bonus for signing up, creating an account and spending your first dollar. Oh my God. Okay. 40 bucks. Who would say no to that? But the bigger thing that I think people are going to be excited about and the thing that really excited me, the interest is paid daily. Okay. We've seen a lot of conversation in the Facebook group lately about a bank that will not be named that made changes to their high interest policy, which meant that if you withdraw money from an account, all of a sudden that interest rate plummets to one point something percent. I think I know. And it's really frustrating for people like me who use multiple savings accounts to budget.

So the awesome thing about Revolut paying it daily is that if you were to pull that money out, you've accrued your daily interest on everything up until that point. Yeah. You still receive the same rate on whatever the remaining balance is the next day, which I think is just awesome. There are neobanks. They have a lot of the same features that we all know and love. Yes.

I'm kind of sold. You kind of sold. Use the car if you're going to sign up. Get yourself that free $40. We'll pop all the information in the show notes and there are some T's and C's. You can see the TMD at Revolut.com.com.com. A.U. We will pop that in the show notes because that's a lot for anybody to remember.

Let's get into it. Firstly, I've got one from Carolla who said, I've just started work back as an independent support worker. I was only meant to have two overnight shifts, but then somebody else got sick and I picked up a third overnighter plus four hours more during the day for one as well. Oh, perfect. And from what I've heard, the overnight shifts, are the ones that pay big dollars.

Yes, I think it depends, but I think it does. Yeah, and a lot of it, you're kind of sleeping, which is great. I'd like to be paid to sleep. Next, we've got a money mean from Cassidy, who said, I went to call my subscriptions because I was on the fence about Stan. I selected the don't use it enough to subscribe option upon canceling, because you know when you leave, they always want to collect the information. Why are you leaving?

It's like, because I'm broke. She selected, I don't use it enough. She got three months at 50% off because of this. Great. She said since I was on the fence, I figured make the most of it, use it for the three months, and then when the discount ends, sent myself a reminder to get rid of it anyway. 100%. And I mean, you never know, maybe they'll offer you another.

Maybe that you just perpetually will be in 50% off. Yeah, give it another go. That's the dream. Next, I've got a money win from Katie. He said money win. I ordered two sets of drawers from Kmart. The cost to deliver one was $20. Okay.

The cost to deliver two was $75. Huh. So she said, you best believe I just ordered them separately. Yeah. Which is crazy, but may I just say, if you had a one-pass membership, the cost to deliver them would be free. And the annual membership is $20. True. Just putting that out there, not sponsored, just their biggest fan.

That's so true. You actually got me. I signed up the other day. Did you actually? I did. So thank you. Have you been loving it? I really used it like once or twice for a Bunnings thing.

Have you connected it to your flyby's account? I have. Good. So you can see the points getting in. Yes. I need to check in on that. Because that's like five times a... Yeah, yeah, five times the points.

It really sounds like an ad. It's top of mind for me because I booked my trip to New Zealand using mostly points. Oh, my God. And you guys know I love the ecosystem. So, like, I converted some of my flybyes points to velocity point. It was a whole thing. But yeah. Points, points, points, points.

That's all I'm going to say. Thank you. Next, I got a money winner from Katrina, who said I cashed out one week of annual leave because my leave balance was more than 100 hours. Unfortunately, no flash holidays to look forward to, but more money for the emergency fund. Gorgeous. I always forget that's an option to cash out annual leave.

I didn't know that was the thing at all. Does it depend on your job or? It might be at your employer's discretion. Obviously, when you leave a job, they have to pay it out in full, any that you've accumulated and not used. Yes. But some employers do offer it as an option because I know that government, for example, probably other industries too, they don't like you to have too much accumulated.

Got you. So sometimes they might say, oh, you can either go on holiday now or we can pay it out. Got you. I mean, if you're in a tight spot and it's something your employer offers, actually it out might be a great thing. Yeah, gorgeous. Stephanie said money win. A customer gave me a $200 tip the other night.

Oh. I love that. I just think if I won the lottery, that's the life I would want to live. Like, I would want to just be able to tip a server, a huge amount of money. Totally. I wouldn't be one of those people that go into grocery shops and just pay people's groceries. You've seen those? Oh, yes.

Anything that's like you get to just spread the joy. Yes. A little bit. I love it. I will watch a video on TikTok of that every time. Yes. Paying off the car loan of the woman who like, you know, washed my car or. I love those.

Oh, my God. That's so good. And then lastly, this week, I've got a money win from Caitlin who said, small money win, but I've been wanting a bravo pressure cooker. But even with the discount, it was going to cost me $250. I found one brand new, unopened on Facebook Marketplace for $150. Gorgeous. I love a Facebook Marketplace win.

Oh, my God. 100%. I really do. Speaking of Marketplace Wins, would you like to hear my broke tips? I absolutely would. Do you have a Marketplace-related one? I don't. I was like, wow, we're on the same page today. That would be insane. And I wish I did because now that doesn't make any sense at all.

But as per, I have two from the community, one for myself. First one comes from Lauren Ray, who says, I recently purchased a $300 fiddle leaf plant of Bunnings for $175. She looked a little rough and was originally on clearance for $225. I simply asked if there was anything they could do and they knocked the price down even further, which is crazy. It's like, hey, can you do anything about this? And they took another $110 off. Isn't that crazy? The real thing that I'm thinking of, so she separated that plant into three separate plants. And I know that, like, on marketplace and things like that,

fiddly figs especially can go for quite a lot. So there's a big, nice plant for $175, separate into three. If you sold one of those, you kind of making your money back. I didn't even know you could split fiddly figs out. I didn't know either, and I can't picture how she's done it. So if you want to send us a photo, let us know. But I'm thinking maybe it's like a propagation of sorts. Yeah, like because fiddles leaf figs are one stem, right, with the flowers coming off? That's what I'm thinking.

That's how I imagine. So maybe it's like you just chop it and it roots from the bottom. Maybe. Or maybe it's like, yeah. And maybe you cut the top off. The tip of the top of the pizza roll over again. I will Google it straight after this. But I just think that's, it's first of all, a money win and also a broke tip.

So fantastic. Thank you so much for that. Amazing. Now, the next one comes from Abby, who says the handles on our dishwasher broke, but mechanically, it's still worked fine. So instead of replacing the whole dishwasher or paying $300 plus for a repair, we bought some suction handles from Amazon for $16 each. So it's a good reminder that things that are for functional use are not necessarily needed

for the appliance to actually work, you really can just find really cheap alternatives. It's like suction cup, you know, do you have those things where you put in shower where you suction it to the wall? Like, you don't need to be spending heaps of money on like renovations or whatever it is. So it's just a really good reminder. So thank you so much for that. This next one, I did read it from a community member, but it reminded me of my own one. And so Katie says that government employees have access to what is called Blue Light app, which I think is like...

Oh, I have these blue light cards. Oh, you have this? Yeah. It's not just government. It's also frontline workers. So I say I have that. My partner is a physio. He qualifies.

Yes. Nurses, teachers as well. Lots of people qualify. Amazing. So that reminded me because my friend who I live with is also a physio. Yeah. She was talking about like, she said maybe healthcare workers don't get paid well, but they do get 15% off at El Jana.

So it all makes up for it. But no, it did just remind me that she had told me about a few different things. El Jana is one of them. And so I'm assuming it is from the Blue Light app where you get discounts. Is that right? And, like, you get benefits for, like, I suppose, like, participating retailers and things like that. So if you are a frontline worker or a healthcare worker or, yeah, a government worker and you haven't heard of it, check out the Blue Light app.

A lot of places also do just do them, like, through their own platform. So physios, I know, qualify a lot of, like, athletic brands. Shoe brands will do up to 40% off depending on the brand. You get a discount at Lulu Lemon, places like that. We've spoken before about Yochi does discounts for certain front lines. line workers. Yes. So if you do work in one of those jobs, I would highly recommend just doing Google.

I'm sure there'd be a Facebook group for it, perhaps as well. But every entitlement you're entitled to, squeeze it for all its worth, I say. Yes, exactly. Exactly. I love it. Amazing. Well, we're going to take a quick break. And when we're returned, we're going to be playing this week's Money Dilemma about something we've all dreamt of.

So don't go away. Welcome back, everyone. Let's take a listen to this week's Money Dilemma. Hi there. Have you got a money dilemma you just can't solve? The She's on the Money team is here to help. Every week we tackle your dilemmas, both big and small, to answer your most burning money, career and life questions.

To get involved, simply head to our website and leave us a short voice recording and you might just find yourself on the show. Now let's take a listen to this week's Money Dilemma. Hi, She's on the Money. I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to write in and ask about the cost of hobbies. I am a horse rider and I have been since I was little. I'm looking at buying a new horse soon and it could cost me anywhere between two grand and ten grand depending on what I go for.

I really want to find something that I can keep for a long time and when I think about cost per use it works out pretty cheap. However, I am saving for a house or land deposit with my partner and it just feels crazy to spend that amount of money on something that is simply just a hobby. I have made it into a side hustle in the past. However, that only helps with the upkeep of the horse, but the upfront payment, I'm just struggling to decide whether that is a smart choice or not. Thanks for your help. That's really sweet. And I think that it is kind of sad, isn't it, that, like, there are things that bring us so much joy and we can't or don't or don't have the intention to monetise that. It's just like going to the movies or like, you know, going to an arcade and it's like,

oh, you might drop a couple hundred bucks here or there to experience joy. And it's like, if it's something like this, a big hobby, you know, and I really like ceramics and I was spending so much money on that. I thought, well, I better monetize this. The second I did and people were asking for commission pieces, I hated it. I stopped doing it. And so it's like there's this pressure to monetize the things that bring us joy so that we don't feel bad about them. But to end. I think that if this is a hobby for you and this is something that genuinely brings you joy, something that is a passion, you know, you always see this thing like find your passion, find things that you love and then you'll never work a day in your life. It's like, okay, cool,

what if that thing is you don't actually want to make money from that? You don't actually want to like turn it into a job that you hate. What do you just want to enjoy it? You absolutely should be allowed to. So I think that if you have a way to like budget and make sure that you're like still meeting all your goals and working toward a future that you want, then don't feel bad about it. I don't really know what your situation is if you would be able to afford both, even if you had to push something a little bit further back, like I believe they said house and land package. If you had to do that later on, I just think like right now is something's bringing you

joy, something that like it's not irresponsible to do things like this. It's not irresponsible to have a hobby. It's like until there was a cost of living crisis, everyone was like, oh, you've got to have hobbies, you've got to blah, blah, blah. But yeah, we can't just like pick and choose when it's a good hobby because it's like we spend money on it. I don't know how to explain it properly, but it's like this is inherently a good thing that you have a passion like this. I agree. I think it's a hard because horses, that world, is significantly more expensive than your average hobby. Like, we're talking about the cost per use of the horse, which is hysterical. But I love that you're thinking

about it that way, but you've got obviously the upfront cost of the horse, which is several thousand dollars, then you need to think about your ongoing costs. Where are you housing the horse? Because if you're buying a house and land package, or at least what I'm picturing, it's like a 400 square block somewhere, lovely, probably not room for the horse in the backyard. Sure. You're going to have to pay to board it somewhere. You're going to have to pay for feed. You're going to have to pay for medical bills. There are a lot of expenses that come with the horse world specifically, not that my knowledge is particularly extensive, but from everything that I've hurt, it is quite expensive. And so it's not just that upfront cost that you have to think about.

You do have to really think about those ongoing costs. Are they manageable for you? If you were to, you know, go ahead, maybe now, maybe later with the house and land package, you don't have a mortgage as well. So can you afford to pay the horse expenses, the mortgage, and the house expenses that you will have? Because I think the thing with horses is, and I know it's not a traditional pet, but in some way, you're still responsible for a life. And I think you need to think about the fact that you then are taking on responsibility for their caregiving if they get sick, if they get injured, if they get pregnant, you know.

Yes, true. All these things that could happen that you need to be prepared for that you're footing the bill for because you're responsible for animal. And yes, obviously, you can resell it. Don't really know what the market for resale horses is either. I'm a little bit out of my depth here. But there's lots of things to factor in. I'd love to say you can have everything you want, just not all at once.

I think, like, do the math, run the numbers. Can you afford to pay for everything and have an emergency fund specifically for equine related things and then a separate emergency fund for house-related things? I feel like that's probably the best way to do it. And can you still achieve things on the timeline? Because I guess the other thing you have to think about is you're wanting to buy this house with your partner. Is there an ideal timeline in mind there?

because if your partner saying, well, we're going to buy a house in the next six months, and you go, well, if I spend 10 grand on buying and setting up this horse, that's going to set me back an additional nine months, then you're not aligning. And so you need to kind of look like what that looks like on paper, I think. From the hobby aspect, I think I completely agree. Hobbies are so important. Yeah. I think it's so important that you find something that sparks joy.

I think it's so important that you find something that you can go and do by yourself as well. Totally. I love the idea of wherever you're going to ride. That's almost like a third space for you, which we know is really lacking for people these days. I think caring for another animal as well again, I know that I'm likening to a pet, and it's not really a pet, but like, you know, like that is very joyful. From that side of things, I'm very pro-horse. I'm very pro-do it.

But I do just think that I don't want you get into a ski situation where the upkeep that is attached to this hobby becomes overwhelming, particularly if you then have. have commitments to things like a mortgage. As someone who is going, you know, by the time this is live, I will have moved into my house. There are lots of additional expenses that come with moving into a house beyond that regular repayment. And I just want to make sure you're prepared for all of that. True. It's a good point. It's not like something like ceramics where you can just kind of drop it and leave it. It's like it's a living thing. And it has to be cared for. So that's a great point. I love to know what everybody else thinks. Your hobbies might sit pretty high up in

your money values and it isn't a wild idea if it's important to you. Absolutely. Now, if you have a burning dilemma that you're just dying to have heard, please do leave us a voice note on the podcast page of our website. We listen to literally every single one and pick the juiciest to answer live. Speaking of juicy, it isn't the only way to have your dilemma answered. We do also welcome discreet DMs. Yeah.

Okay. This one I have for you. Hi, she's in the money. I thought buy now, pay later was helping me budget, but I think it's actually doing the opposite. I have three buy now pay later accounts and I use them mostly for clothes, gifts and the occasional bigger expense like flights or new tires. I always tell myself it's fine because I can afford the repayments. But now it feels like every payday, half my money is already spoken for before it even hits my account. The problem is that as soon as I finish paying one thing off, I end up using

the account again because it's available. I haven't missed a repayment, but I also haven't been able to properly save in over a year, should I just rip the band-aid off and stop using buy-now pay later altogether and just focus on paying everything down? Or is there a way to use it responsibly without falling into the cycle? I think if Victoria was here, she would say that they're never good and we shouldn't be using them. But I think it has come in handy in times like, you know, yes, needing new tyres. There are things that just come up. And if you don't, have an emergency fund if you don't have savings, especially in this cost of living crisis. So for things like that, it actually can be very, very helpful I find.

I don't think that it's necessarily wise or a great financial choice. But we're just like regular people out here just trying to live our life. And if something comes up and you can't afford it, you don't have any fallback. You can't borrow money. Then it's like, yeah, use that. It's okay. It's certainly come in handy for me before. And I actually currently am in that cycle because I didn't have a,

job for a little while. And so it's kind of like paying back things that I had to use, like, you know, afterpay or a mini credit card that is, you know, slowly paid off. But it's like every pay, a lot of that money is going to award those things. This is, I'm assuming what our listener is experiencing as well, at least to some extent, you find that you don't have enough money to buy regular things like, you know, groceries. And so you're like, oh, I'll just, I'll use that again. I'll use after pay. I'll use a credit card or use whatever, whatever it was that you just paid off because you used all your money to pay it off. And so if you get to a point where you've paid it all off

and then every bit of money that's coming in is hopefully yours or maybe it's going to bills or rent or whatever, it just feels like a vicious cycle of paying off and then needing to use it again because you've used all the money to pay it off. I know Victoria would probably not advise this, but you don't have to cancel it. You can have it there for an emergency.

Ideally, you have an emergency fund. But in case of emergency, keep it. just try not to use it unless you need or don't use it at all, maybe. But I think, yeah, because imagine that, say, 400 bucks a week or whatever it is, is going straight to savings instead of straight to afterpay or whatever it is. Then you're like, oh, I could just use this to pay for that thing, you know? What do you think? I agree.

I think personally there's a very big difference between using after pay to pay for large, not emergency things, but, you know, tires. groceries when you can't afford groceries versus what I'm going to guess the majority of users use it for, which is buying new clothes or buying new shoes. I have seen a number of TikToks from people who talk about how they use after pay to manage their cash flow. My personal opinion, and maybe this is a hot take, but my personal opinion is, is if you are using after pay to spend money that you do not yet have on things that you do not yet need, I don't think that's actually managing cash flow.

Like, I think that's putting yourself in debt. You're borrowing from Peter to pay, Paul, exactly like our listener is saying, you've spent half of next month's paycheck before that paycheck comes through. And then you pay those things off and then you're spending the month after's paycheck. And so I think it does become a cycle. And again, there are instances where it is a really positive thing for people who need to pay for necessities. We've all got to eat. We've all got to live.

We've all got to do these things. And that I totally get. And I think, you know, by now, pay later. If you're meeting your repayments, you're not paying interest on them, which is really positive. I think that there are instances where people maybe, you know, if you have a black tie wedding pop up and you go, well, I've got to buy a ball gown dress to wear this black tie wedding. And I don't have the cash to lay out for that up front. To me, that makes sense. But I think a lot of the casual users are purchasing things that they don't need with money that they don't have. And they

are living in a constant cycle of debt, but then they say, oh, but I'm managing my cash flow. And my personal opinion on that is, no, you're not. Like, you're managing your debt, really. You're managing it in a way. And yes, it's not the worst way to manage it because you're not paying interest if you are meeting your payments. But then we know that's how they make all their money is by people not making their repayments and then having to pay fees.

And so I just think that can be used responsibly. Yes, of course, can. But I think broadly speaking, it encourages. habits and behavior that are not in the best interests of people. And so this listener, I would say, like, yes, keep it. If you're using it to spend on those bigger expenses, I think that's fine. But the clothes and things like that, let's fix our habits. Like, let's build up a sinking fund that you can spend out of to buy those things.

So you have the money. And you're not in the trap of spending money you don't have. Because the other thing is, like, those afterpay limits can be much higher than what your salary is. So if every month you have $4,000 coming in, and from that maybe you could comfortably afford to spend $500 on clothes, but you've got a $5,000 limit on that after pay. Yeah. So all of a sudden, you're doubling what you could afford to spend or tripling what you could afford to spend. And that's how people find themselves in the whole. That's a really good point, actually.

So I personally, this is just my opinion and my recommendation would be pay it down, only use it for things that you have to. If it's for non-necessity, discretionary spending, say for it, girl. Yes. You don't need it. God, she's good. What did everyone else say? Let me tell you. The first thing we asked over on our Instagram was, do you use our buy and our pay later?

This was lovely to read. 9% of people said yes regularly. 13% of people said occasionally. 19% of people said, I used to, but not anymore. 60% of people said no, never. Really? And I'm really proud of you guys. Proud of you guys.

Like I get it. Sometimes you've got to, we're not shaming anybody who does. But also really lovely to see that people have maybe put themselves in a position where they're able to just fund things if they need to. Next we asked, once you've paid off a buy now, pay later purchase, what do you do? 11% of people said, I use it again straight away. 23% of people said, I wait until I genuinely need it. 20% of people said, I keep the account open, but I rarely use it. And 46% of people said I close the account.

We regularly get people posting in our money wins. I see these all the time. I always love to see them saying, oh, I paid off my afterpay and I closed it. Or I paid off my zip pay and I closed it. Yes. And that's incredible. It's amazing to see. Last question we asked was, has by now, pay later helped or hurt your financial goals?

15% of people said it's helped me to stay on track. 13% of people said it used to help, but it's holding me back. 17% of people say I constantly overspend. and 54% of people said, I've never used buy now, pay later. And so I think it's really interesting. Our data, we know from that first question that 60% of the people who responded had never used by now, pay later. And so I think that that probably does skew the outlook of those responses.

Yeah. I would be really interested, and I mean, like an after pay is never going to commission that kind of research from their users because I'm not going to make them look good. But I would be really interested to know, like a. survey of regular users what they feel like that does for them in their financial position. Like I just would be so interested to read it. True. But of course the last question that we asked everybody was, tell us your two cents.

And we got plenty of responses. One person said, I'm really curious about the psychological differences between using buy now pay later accounts versus using a credit card. They said in brackets, I'm thinking about points hacking as a cash flow tool. Buy Now Pay Later in my experience seems to entice. more discretionary or unnecessary spending. Yeah, I agree. Which I thought was really interesting.

You think, do you feel the same way? I think so, I think it's because of the interest part of things. You're more incentivised to pay it off because if you don't, you pay interest on a credit card. Yeah, or like I feel less, like I feel more scared about using credit card for things than I would feel like, yeah, something that doesn't have any interest. And I think too, because it's like when you go to checkout, there's the card option or there's after pay option. It just feels like really normal. That's like you don't feel shameful for clicking on half pay instead of like it just, you know, it just feels like you're not shamed for it.

And there's something nice about that. That's so interesting. I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on that. If you're listening on Spotify, please leave us to comment. I'm super curious. Somebody else said, it can be good for emergencies if you have self-control, which I completely agree with. Someone else has said, for me, buy now, pay later is like old school layby.

I only have one account and it's never been out of control. I put the repayments into my budget immediately and they are always paid off early, which I think is really positive. Someone also said, if you cannot buy it comfortably using your debit card without feeling guilty or getting the account into the red, you should not buy it. If you really need something urgent, we have emergency funds. If it's something you want and not need, you shouldn't mind waiting for it to save the money within a few months. This applies to everything. And if you want something really expensive, girl just find a cheaper option. Which made me laugh.

Fair, fair, fair. Someone else has said, if you genuinely have the money to buy the item, then you wouldn't need to use buy now pay later anyway, saying I can afford the repayments, but then being unable to save properly means that you actually can't afford the repayments and couldn't afford the item in the first place. Beck's feeling very cold out right now. And then the last one I'm going to read for today says,

close it so you don't end up stuck in the same cycle without making any changes. Yeah, that's a good idea. Which I think like that's the biggest thing is we've always said like these platforms aren't the devil. They can be used responsibly. They can be a positive tool for people who are in a situation where they need them. But they do also encourage bad habits. And I think that sometimes I see people making excuses or using language like I said before that I disagree with. If you're putting yourself into debt for things you don't need, you're not managing cash flow.

You're just accruing debt. That's very true. Is my personal take on it. But I think that's the perfect spot to leave it for today. Yeah, I think so it's beautiful. And also, I feel very motivated after this. So thank you so much. You're very welcome.

Thank you, everybody, for tuning into Friday drinks and for bringing us along on your hot girl walks, your road trips or your grocery runs, whatever you're doing right now. We hope that you found this episode helpful. And at the very least, we hope it's made you question the way that you enjoy your Milo. Oh, my God.

If you loved this edition of Friday drinks, please do leave us a review and make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode. And tune in next week for a brand new money diary and a delicious deep dive. Till then, take care of each other and we'll catch you on the round. Bye guys.

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