She's On The Money - How a Side Hustle Paid Off Debt and Funded Big Travel Dreams

Episode Date: December 8, 2024

What if your side hustle could cover your bills, tackle your debt, and send you off on your dream holiday? This week’s Money Diarist shows us exactly how they made it happen. With financial stress, and a serious case of wanderlust, they looked at what they had and unlocked a clever side hustle that changed everything. This episode is packed with juicy insights, practical tips, and some seriously relatable moments. Whether you’re looking to crush your debt, save smarter, or just dream a little bigger, this one’s for you. Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha 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.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. 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 another one of our money diaries where we get to talk with one of our incredible She's On The Money community members all about their journey. Let's jump straight into it because this week we got a message and it went just like this. Dear She's On The Money, travel was always a huge part of my life, but once I came home, everything changed. Between 2020 and 2022, I was hit hard by burnout. I was weighed down by health expenses and mortgages and I felt completely overwhelmed. I've recently managed to save up for my first big international holiday in years using Qantas points and Airbnb to cover most of the costs. That trip was a much

needed reset and it inspired me to re-evaluate my spending. With She's on the Money resources, I set a budget, started saving again and made living within my means a priority. Now I'm back on track, focused on my financial goals and building a life that aligns with what truly matters to me. Money Diarist, that sounds so special. I'm so excited to have you on the show. Thank you for having me. No, of course. Thank you for wanting to share with us. I cannot wait to jump further into it. So before we get there, as always, I need to ask Money Diarist, if I asked you to give your money habits a grade from A through to F, what would you grade yourself?

I think based on recent behavior, I'd say a B for now. Oh, I love this. And I want to know, can you tell us a little bit more about your money story? Well, I guess, as you mentioned in the intro, I love to travel and it's always kind of been a priority for me. But about 10 years ago, I bought my first property. I didn't want to spend all my money on travel. I did want to have something behind me. So I returned home to my little regional community and bought my first little property. And after a few years, I was kind of ready for a change so I moved and bought my second off equity in the first one which was very lucky not lucky hard work that's what you meant to do that's true yeah and yeah as I said

I don't know at times it's felt pretty hard and like there just hasn't really been a light at the end of the tunnel to just paying bills constantly but yeah this year I just kind of made a priority to have that holiday. And it was a really good reset for me to realize I can do the holiday if I'm a bit smarter with my money when I'm at home. So it's been a good motivation to get back on track with prioritizing what matters and what doesn't. And is travel, I guess, top of the priority list at this point? It is, but I think I've just recently been reassessing what types of travel to, like I did the European holiday this year, but I think next year I'll try to do something a little bit closer to home like Asia it's nice seeing money go to my I'm really trying to

prioritize getting money into my offset to bring that interest down so I don't I'm as much as I do love the travel it's also it's been really rewarding being a bit better with my money and seeing it have benefits to me as well so is that something you've always felt or are you only recently going actually this is really like empowering seeing money in my offset and seeing you know me control my budget because I think so many of us avoid budgeting because it feels so restrictive and we're like we can't live our best lives if we do this but it doesn't sound like that's what budget is doing for you oh it took me a while to sit down and do the budget like I it's overwhelming yeah it was and I just wanted to avoid it but I knew I had to do it and

when I used your resources actually on your website it made me sick to see how much like when you took out the bills and what my necessary payments were, I was, where's all the excess going? It made me feel like I need to be a bit more accountable. Sorry, but also you're welcome. Like it's just both are really good. It's confronting at the same time as going, I'm glad you now know, because I'm assuming that this process happened and you're going through it. And it wasn't, oh my gosh, I have to be restrictive when you did this budget. It was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm spending that on that. And it really highlighted your values because you were like, actually, I'd much prefer that money to not go to X and it to go to Y. What was

the most surprising thing in your budget? I think it was just the, how much was left over. I think food, just entertainment and things like that, how much I had been spending and, you know, chatting with some friends, have really kind, supportive friends. We all were on board with maybe instead of having our hundred dollar meals and cocktails out every week, we do that less, less often and go out for a dessert or like a coffee or frozen yogurt or something instead so I love that how nice is it to have friends on the same page as you like you're like um this would actually benefit all of us like it's not just me guys like and that's such a good way to frame it as well it's like this is going to be good for all of us and I mean you can start having

dinner at each other's houses it's just so wholesome yeah we did that recently and it was so nice because we were able to get to have those wholesome conversations we weren't interrupted by you know a waiter every few minutes yeah it was it was lovely or you have to pipe down because there's like a few tables beside you and you're like oh yeah I want to tell you about this but I'll tell you later no you could say it right at the table yeah no it was lovely I love that all right tell me a bit more about you I want to know what do you do for work how much money do you earn I have a government job and I make about 110,000 a year plus super very cool and how long have you been doing that role and what does it kind of look like? I jump around roles every few years

to be honest within government which is kind of I think what keeps me there keeps it interesting but I'm a project manager so I manage projects. Yeah very cool what did you like 110 grand a year that's pretty good money what did you have to study or do to get into I guess having a government job that pays so well? I did like a project management degree at uni and that was a while ago now and I guess a lot of the skills I learned on the job really, when I reflect back, it's having good mentors and good people around me to help foster and build my skills too. Very cool. Talk to me about money goals. I need to know, you have two mortgages already. Like you said, I'm back on track. I'm focused on my financial goals. What are those goals? Ultimately, I'd like to have

financial freedom. As I said, I love to travel. Yes. The best goal ever. Yeah. I'd love to add some extra income streams that I feel like I need to get on top of. I'd like to pay down the, add some more to the offset really just to feel a bit more comfortable. And I'd like to learn a lot more about investing. I did dabble at one point, but I had to pull the money out to pay for the bills. So I'd like to revisit that. That's so fair. And I mean, you learn something along the way and then you pay bills. Like I'm proud of you 10 out of 10. I would love to see you getting back into it, but like we need a solid emergency fund and like having a nice amount of money in offset is going to be really powerful in comparison. I need to know, what does financial freedom mean

to you? Like if that's something that you're like, this is my big goal, this is what I'm working towards. Like how did you work out what you would need for that? Well, I guess I'd just like to live a life that isn't bound by bills. I'd like to, I mean, ultimately long-term, I'd love to be able to keep both properties and have the rent coming in and paying me. I mean, that's obviously very long term I'd like to buy a house I don't know I'd love to be able to keep both of them hopefully I can but yeah have a house where I can have a yard but yeah ultimately the freedom it's like being able to travel every year not be just feeling like I'm bound by these bills and things like that and is that something that you feel pretty strongly at the moment you're

like oh my gosh like all these bills are piling up and it feels like it's running my life I feel like this is a theme that i'm picking up in this conversation it was but i think it taken a few years now to understand when they're all coming in i've been able to map them out in handy excel spreadsheet just see to know like february and august are my big bill months so i need to be making sure the money's in the account to be able to pay those big bills when they come in so i think yeah just understanding what those bills are and cash flow and things like that is really important and not splurging before those are paid, being smart around sale time and things like that. But that's really hard. I totally get it though, because you said February and August. I feel like

our bills might match up actually, but those months, are they big because you have rego or insurance or body? What's happening in those months that is so, I guess, burdensome in comparison to the other normal months? It's pretty much all of the body corporate, all of the rates my rego insurance in the early part of the year anyway and then the second half is the other doesn't have the rego in the car but it's just pretty much all the big bills for the house are due then and have you decided to like implement a cash flow system to manage that or like are you a one bank account girl like tell me a bit about like how we're putting this money aside because like so many of us are like oh my gosh it's in my account like I could spend it

tomorrow? No, I've got multiple bank accounts. I have a house account. I've just started a car account though. I'm really excited about that one. So next year, those bills won't be a big burden on me. But yeah, multiple accounts, tracking. And as you mentioned, I've been using Airbnb to help anything that I make and Airbnb goes to the house account and then that pays for the bills there. So that's been really helpful too. I adore that. You're going to have to tell me more about Airbnb though. What does that mean? How are you using it? Are you having guests or are you renting your whole house out or are you just cleaning Airbnbs? I need to know the deeds, my friend. Yeah. So I've been using Airbnb the last few years to help pay my house

bills. So I've been renting out my spare room on Airbnb and I've had doctors, an Irish doctor staying with me for the last few weeks while she's been- Oh, okay. How fun. Yeah, it's been really nice because I like to travel. It's been nice to get to meet people who are setting up their life here. It's like traveling, but at home. Yeah. I've got a paramedic staying in another few weeks. So mostly women. And they tell me that they would prefer to stay in someone's home than in a hotel on the side of the highway. They feel safer. So yeah, it's really helped me out. But in holiday times, I do rent out the whole place for longer periods of time, usually just to one person.

That's really fun. You have to tell me though, because it just feels really overwhelming to go, oh, I'm going to stick my spare room on Airbnb. Like, what did you have to do to prep for that? Like, did you have to buy all new sheets or all new furniture? Like, I don't know, what does that look like? I guess I had it all set up, to be honest. It was just my spare room. So, I had it looking nice and I've always got nice sheets and towels ready. I had Airbnb set up the photographer to take nice photos. Oh, cute. Yeah. So, it looks nice. And then you just put the listing online and say, hey you can come stay in my spare room I'm a really nice girl who lives in this location

and I like chatting with friends like is that just what you do and then how much are you making you have to tell me like what are you making lots of money a little bit of money well it depends on how often you do it obviously my rates change depending on season and availability and if they book for a long period of time I have discount rates so I can generally make a hundred dollars a night. What? A hundred bucks a night for your spare room? Yeah. But I mean, I've had someone stay for three weeks and there was a discount on that. So I guess it keeps it a little bit more comparable to a short-term rental, I suppose. I love it. I feel like that's good money though. Like every week making an extra like, what, 700 bucks just by having someone stay. Like I know

that it's going to ebb and flow. You've probably got some Airbnb charges, but that's money you didn't have before. Yeah. It's helped pay the bills and it's kept me afloat for sure. It's taken a lot of the pressure off. So without that, I wouldn't have had the holiday this year and I wouldn't have had, I guess, these better habits too. I think all of my money would have just been going to paying the bills. Now I've had a little bit more extra to be able to enjoy life a little bit more. So it's definitely taken pressure off. Absolutely. And I have to know, what happens if someone takes your whole house? Where are you going? What do you do? Because do you just hide under the house until they come back? I don't know. Yeah, I go on holidays. So yeah,

it's usually Christmas time. Yeah. Okay. Perfect. So while you're on holidays, you're leasing your whole house out. I'm not sure why I couldn't comprehend that that was an option in my mind. I was like, so where do you go? I love that. That is really fun. All right. Let's go to a really quick break because after the break, I want to talk to you a bit more about having two properties like you're only 39 that is a massive goal you seem a bit like oh yeah like it's just something I did but like we need to know how when why all of the details so guys don't go anywhere all right money diarist we are back and I know the answer to this is yes do you have any investments if so what are they yes so I've got two well I guess if you count your home as an

investment but I guess technically yeah one rental property I bought nearly 10 years ago and then the property I live in now. I love this how did you get into property like was it something that you had always wanted to purchase was it something that you had you know saved for 1 million years to purchase was it something where you're like oh actually I saved the deposits in like six months Victoria like tell me a bit more about that journey because like for so many of us property purchasing feels so hard and so far off? I guess I started contributing years and years ago. I think it was Kevin Rudd that introduced one of those first-time saver accounts. You couldn't touch the money, but you could just add to it. And if you have never used it, it'd just go to

your super. So I thought for someone that loves travel, it would be a good idea to open one of those accounts. So when I got a little bit of tax money back or a bit of a lump sum, I'd drop of money in there because I knew I'd probably just spend it on travel and would have nothing I didn't want to have nothing to show for it so yeah when I moved back from overseas I had to live with my parents for a while and I guess I was just looking at the rental market where I was living and cost of mortgage was about the same as rent so I thought why not stay at home a little while longer save a bit more money and then yeah buy my own place and Kevin 07 helped you out with that one I like that. Yeah. So no, that helped. I guess it's been a while since I had that one. I rented

it out. It's been rented out now for about four or five years. That's very cool. What kind of rental yield are you getting on that? The renters are paying about 500 a week. And does that cover the mortgage or does it mean that you need to top up or what does that look like in comparison to the ownership costs? It nearly covers the mortgage, but it doesn't cover any of the other bills at the moment. It did before all the interest rate rises. And in fact, then I wasn't being smart with the money. It was covering it, but I could have been smarter and putting more towards an offset back then, but I wasn't, you know, live and learn though, I guess. We were learning. We were doing the best that we could with the tools and resources we had at the

time. I feel like we're always so harsh on ourselves. We're like, I could have been doing more. Yeah, you could have, but you weren't and you just didn't know. So that's fine. So tell me more about this second property because you mentioned in the first half of the show that you bought your first property and then you managed to buy your second with equity. So what was that property worth when you purchased it? What did it increase to? Or did you smash down the mortgage aggressively so that the equity grew? Tell us, we need the dates. I did have savings. I did save a deposit. I think I had around 80,000 because I moved home to save a bit but I had it revalued and I haven't had a revalued recently in the last year but it had

more than doubled in price oh my god yeah because it's a little regional town that's done quite well over the last few years so I love that for you so much so tell me what were you thinking when you bought your second property what was the plan there were you like I'm gonna buy another investment or I'm gonna buy a family home or like what was the next step plan well I didn't think I could do it to be honest. I was just paying rent and my brother encouraged me to go speak to the broker that we both used. Smart man. Yeah. He did the numbers and was like, yeah, for sure you can buy another one. So with the equity I had and the savings I had in the bank, yeah, he encouraged me to do it. And I, again, glad I did

because this one's also grown in value in the few years I've had it too. I love that so much. All right. Talk to me about debt. How much debt are you in? What do your mortgages look like? Yeah. My mortgages, the first property still has about $320,000. I did a renovation on that one, taking out another loan. So, that loan has gone up since I have had it originally. So, that's $320,000. What's the property worth? About $700,000. Oh, very nice. Isn't that exciting when you like spell it out? You're like, actually, look at me go. Yeah. No, it is around that anyway.

Yeah, that's okay. And then you're getting about 500 bucks a week on that property. Do you know what? That is creating such good long-term wealth. Like at the end of the day, you said, I'm working towards financial freedom. It feels a little bit distant. It's not that far off. I hope so. Yeah. I think having good systems in place has helped me to realize it isn't if I just keep going down the way I am. I love that. All right. Tell me about your second mortgage. yeah it was about 550 no actually that's the value of the property i think the mortgage itself was about 450 yeah i haven't paid too much off that because it's only been a few years but the property is worth about 750 i think what it's gone so when you purchased it you purchased for

550 and now it's worth 750 yeah so you're earning 110 grand a year but then also your properties are like increasing every year by like a hundred grand overall. Yeah. You're a hustler. I love this. Yeah. It's been hard work and luck, I guess, in that things have jumped. I don't know if we'll see, continue to see that jump. No, there's no such thing as luck. Do you know what? It's so weird. All of these people that I know that consistently work really hard towards financial freedom, the harder they work, the luckier they get. Yeah. It just feels like a lot of work in the beginning, I guess. I'm sure looking back, well, I hope looking back, it'll feel easier, But when you're at the beginning, it does feel a bit overwhelming.

It's overwhelming and all-consuming. But now you have two properties, one of which you have rented out for $500 a week and one I'm assuming you live in currently and you sometimes rent it out to people on Airbnb and that gives you some passive income to help pay down the mortgage or go on a holiday or live your best life. You've got a really good income. I'm just so excited about this money diary. like you are killing it but it's also really achievable and really relatable I think sometimes

when you talk to people you're like oh yeah that's okay like she owns two properties but she did get you know a really big lump sum or you know she's been able to live at home until she's 50 or like there are all these stories but like you've just plotted along and gotten it done and done it yourself and oh I love it what do you think is your best money habit I think the Airbnb has been one of the best things I've done, as well as the tracking, the budgeting, but that's all very recent. But I've been really disciplined with making sure all of that Airbnb income goes to cover the rates and body corporate maintenance bills. Yeah, smart. So at least it feels really productive and actually takes, I know like having extra cash coming in, always sexy, right? We

always want more money, but the idea it's pre-allocated to something that is going to take the pressure off later. Like when rates happen, you'll be like, oh, that's already covered. That feels nice yeah it does obviously increase my taxable income because that's okay too yeah and my accountant tells me that's okay in fact the more money we make the more tax we pay so I would like to earn lots and lots and lots of money and pay lots and lots of tax yeah that's true I love it tell me do you have some bad money habits what's your worst I think I do try to find cost effective ways to do things but when it comes to my hair and my skin it's absolutely always the best. I don't want to sacrifice on quality for those. And I think the other one would probably

be, well, I've got some really good systems in place now. I kind of like consistency. I'll go through periods of being really disciplined with like the budget and then I'll just splurge like, yeah, I get it. You know, all of the sales that are on right now. So I've got to, yeah, I kind of just throw it all out the window. I've got to put some blinkers on. I'm like trying to reframe all of the sales stuff to be like, okay, this is actually a really good time that every time they text me to unsubscribe from that list. So I'm trying to not read too much into it, but also I'm a little bit spendy. Like I like nice things. I'm just a girl, you know. It's a girl tax. Yeah.

You said at the start that you are a solid B, which I think is pretty good. But what would it take for you to become an A or an A plus? Like what other steps need to be put in place? I think it's just more of the consistency and following through. If I can keep this behavior up for the longer term, I'd definitely bump that score up. But yeah, I just haven't seen myself do it a little bit longer than the last few months for sure. That's exciting though, because that's totally possible. I can check in with you in 12 months and be like, so have you been consistent? And you're going to be like, yeah, of course I've been consistent because I had a really clean plan. And then I'm an A plus now. Isn't that exciting?

It is, hopefully. Yeah, I think I'm on my way. I adore it. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Unfortunately, that is all we have time for today when it comes to money, Darius. But I've loved this. I've loved having a chat with you. I totally resonate on always wanting to spend on good products for hair and good products for skin. It's also like a little bit of self-care, right? You feel good using them. So I get it. But I also have loved learning a bit more about how you've been using Airbnb and bringing some extra cash and I mean, more tax means you just earn more money. We just have to have a plan for it. I feel like so many people are scared to earn more money because tax is scary, but like you're only ever

going to be taxed at your marginal tax rate and that is a good deal. Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you so much for having me. No, of course. Thank you so much. I have adored this money diary and i know that everyone listening is going to adore it as well 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 divine and she's on the money are authorized representatives of money sherpa pty ltd abn 321-649-27708 afsl 451-289