She's On The Money - How to navigate sales like a pro

Episode Date: November 3, 2020

Are sales just a marketing ploy to get you to buy more, or can they be utilised to help you save a few extra bucks? The answer is BOTH, which we explain in depth in today’s episode, so you can navigate the looming pre-Xmas sales expertly. Plus we chat awards, Dyson vacuums and trees falling silently (or is it loudly?) in forests. You don’t want to miss it.  Love the podcast sick and want more SOTM? We had a feeling that was the case. Join our Facebook page to share your money wins and money confessions, follow us on Insta for daily inspo to keep you on track and absolutely subscribe to our newsletter, the written recap of the pod’s key takeaways, including some bonus bits you won’t want to miss.Finally, if you’re in a money mess and need help untangling the muddle - we’ve got you sorted – simply record your question and send it through to us at [e-mail] and you may just end up on the podcast!Your hosts are Georgia King and Victoria Devine.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 Australia Pacific Funds Management Proprietary Limited ABN 34 132 463 257 - AFSL 339151.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. My name is Georgia King. I'm a copywriter and journalism student, and I'm joined as always by the queen of cash, millennial money expert, Victoria Devine. Hello, V. Hello, not V. Hold on. Where am I?

Hello. Hello, Georgia. Where am I? Hi. Hold on, hold on. Hello, Georgia. How are you? Yeah, I'm really good. How are you? I'm pretty all right. Let's move on. I'm happy to hear that. All right. Now, today's show is all about online shopping and specifically how you can make mega sale days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday work for you instead of getting sucked into buying things like three pairs of shoes you don't like or want because they were a hot deal and a bargain's a bargain. I feel attacked, but okay, carry on. If you are a sucker for an online shop like Victoria is and go weak at the sight of a

sale then this is the episode for you. Of course we will also be bringing you a money diarist who is finally crushing her debt and we'll be helping answer a Christmassy question about gift buying without breaking the bank. A lot to get to today Victoria and before we jump into money wins and confessions more exciting things have been happening. What happened over the weekend? oh this just a little something something Georgia King we were oh I don't even know how to announce this over the weekend we found out that we were top five finalists in two podcast categories for the Australian podcasting awards which is insane and so crazy because we've only existed for what is it like a year and a half now and to think that we are getting nominated for actual podcasting

awards feels like we're really legit and grown up like are we big kids now I don't know I'm just so excited so we've made it as finalists in georgia get this kind of a joke but okay the smartest podcast i know i love that i loved that um and the best business podcast which is actually legit and very very exciting so honestly guys we could not have gotten anywhere without our listeners and our community so this was you this wasn't us like yeah we make a podcast but like if it was falling on deaf ears we definitely would have never made it to being finalists in any type of Podcasting Award. So honestly, forever grateful for you guys. But in saying that, now I've kind of butted you all up to be my best friends. We want to let you know that there is actually a

Listener's Choice Award where you actually get to vote for us. So we'll be putting a link in our show notes for you. And we would so love your support. If you can go and chuck us a vote, that would be absolutely fantastic. Because arguably, as much as it's so nice to be finalists in these two other podcast categories what actually matters to us is our listeners and our community and yeah that's kind of where we're at when it comes to these types of awards 100% love that please vote um that actually just made me think v you know that phrase when a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it did it make a sound that's kind of like what podcasts are if you make a podcast and no one hears it did you really make a podcast like you kind of did

but does it count do you know what I mean anyway I do know what you mean but you know what I would like I'd like the money wins and conversions from you Dalai Lama um you go first what what's your okay Dalai Lama so this week I have like a money win and a confession I'm not sure if it's a win or a confession but you're totally gonna know what I'm talking about once I admit to this so this week my money win slash confession is that I ordered a Dyson vacuum online I did order it through the sponsors of today's show actually because I got a little bit educated on their platform and liked the idea of it so I used my eBay plus membership to order a Dyson vacuum which Georgia I've been talking about for a really long time I ordered it from the Bingley store on eBay

and I'm honestly so proud of myself for holding out on this purchase for so long oh is that the end of your story are you joking pull your head in no it is great it's great you have been talking about this vacuum since it feels like the start of the year honestly a long year honestly I do have an old Dyson and it lasts approximately 10 minutes before it needs another charge and then it takes approximately eight hours to charge because the battery is dead I've tried a heap of times to order a new battery online but I can never find one in stock and so I've kind of just given up and now a new vacuum is what I felt like I needed and I've you know I don't know I'm that girl who watches YouTube videos of vacuums um that's just where I am in

my life friends I'm not sure if you know I'm just a bit deluded today while we're recording or not but yeah I'm admitting to that on a public forum no I love that love that you're welcome and I mean I'm gonna test them all out I've been posting on Instagram about it already I haven't even got it yet I'm just really excited so if anybody wants to tune in to Victoria's review of the vacuum please just give me a follow you're welcome yeah do a little youtube video if that may not be watching are you interested in my money win not really but share it with the community anyway we do it every week anyway um so melbourne has opened up guys you can feel the energy has changed it's shifted we are free kind of um and it's pretty good anyway i went to the shops on the

weekend they were open went into stores did some browsing how weird is it it's so weird it is so novel and I don't know if you feel the same way but I just have this urge to spend because it's been so long since I've done that in store I'm not gonna lie I've I've got that as well even though I've been online shopping recently I just feel like it's novel but it's also really is it bad to say it's making me slightly anxious like going out in public I literally seem to have a level of social anxiety which is fine and I'm sure that I'll work all of that out but I'm also getting exhausted really easy yeah is that a thing like I went to the shops and then I needed a nap yeah no that is the thing oh it's a thing for me for sure so I'd be interested to hear how the

Malvernian Sotomayor's are going with that as well maybe we'll start a thread like do y'all need a nap yeah let's let's sleep together no that's weird anyway I liked your money winner confession though like you didn't buy anything at all I didn't buy anything yeah I resisted the urge because I would have just done it for the sake of it and yeah so you know that's my way she's on the money post to girl georgia king thank you i try to be uh facebook group let's chat about it 100 000 people in there victoria define oh my gosh i even took a photo of a hundred thousand with those balloons and i felt like a real influencer georgia it was so fun but i cannot believe that there are 100 000 of you this is actually wild i'm so proud of this community

imagine how much money we've collectively saved like can i make a little like form that we can all fill out and say in the last year since joining she's on the money I've saved like a hundred dollars or a thousand dollars and then we can like talk about how much the she's on the money community has saved like how cool would that be that would be cool kind of weird but I'm here for it I'm always here for weird stats but speaking of the community I actually have a money win like from the community I don't know if it's a money win or just a life win our friend Hannah has posted and she said side hustle alert I started making polymer clay earrings a month ago for fun but I ended up falling in love and soon I had these earrings with nowhere to put them

so she started selling them online it's been three weeks since opening her shop and she's shocked but incredibly proud to say that she's turned over 722 dollars after many failed businesses over the years that she's had she is so grateful that this one is working out for her can you believe it they are so cute and I'm so excited that yeah people in our in our community are just like making these small businesses. And I think that that's something that I want to do this year for Christmas as well, Georgia. Let's do a thread in the Facebook group for like shout out to She's on the Money small businesses so that we can like buy from each other for Christmas. Like how cute would that be? That's a great idea because there are so many clever people in that group. And I

mean, with the newsletter, a lot of people send through their small businesses because we do do a shout out in there as well. And it's amazing seeing what everyone is up to. So that is a good idea, my friend. Oh my gosh. I love it. One, I'm going to order some gingerbread earrings from Hannah because they're really cute. But two, if you don't actually subscribe to our newsletter, there is some juicy, juicy information in there each week from Georgia King. And every single week we feature a small business because we know that you guys don't have the platform often that you deserve. So we hope to share ours with you. So if you have a small business, go and pop your small business in an email and shoot it through to Georgia and you might be featured in the

newsletter which i think is super fun love it love it um georgia king that wasn't the only money win from our community that we liked though you pick one every week so what did you pick this week to shout out on the pod okay so mine is from the lovely kira who has a small money win she says if you need a new wardrobe how about swapping your clothes with friends genius my friends and i of all different sizes go through our wardrobes once in a blue moon pick out what we don't want and then swap them between each other. Half of the items she received had never been worn and she gave a big thanks to Hilary for the skirt and Olivia for the top which is pictured below and it's just a gorgeous idea. I think it's such a good idea to get your girls, your guy friends around, have a

little swap. We're allowed to do that now in Victoria so yeah I just love that idea. I actually really like that idea because my friends are much more fashionable than I am often so I just feel stealing their wardrobe is a fantastic idea and money win that is coming my way hopefully soon if I can convince them. Love that. Should we get to the main chat of today's show, V? Yes, because I'm actually really excited about this episode. So let's jump straight in. All right. So today's show, guys, is all about how to make those big event sales work for you. Now, I think we've probably all been guilty of it. We're coasting along in life, cruising, checking our emails, scrolling the gram, and then we see it. A sale is on and we immediately click

through to the website to troll for bargains, even though before we saw that shiny ad, we didn't actually want or need the thing that we were now coveting. Now, it will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that online shopping in Australia is a very big deal. In 2019, Australians spent $28.6 billion on online shopping, and contributing to that sum is, of course, those mega sale days like Vogue Fashion Night, Cyber Monday, and Black Friday, which is relatively new in Australia as it's very American and of course revolves around Thanksgiving. And it also marks the first official day of the Christmas shopping season. But it was actually eBay's biggest shopping day for the year in 2019, which really shows that this is officially a thing in Australia. Now, there is, of course,

a merit to these sales. If you use them to your favor, you can save yourself some serious coin. And that's what we want to chat about today. How you can make the most of these sales while while simultaneously refusing the pull of the clever marketing that sees us draining our bank accounts for stuff we just don't need. Victoria, I find this topic so interesting and it's obviously a very fine balancing act to make these sales work for you and not tip over into the territory of just being a marketer's dream. So to start us off, let's talk about what we mean by making sales work for you and how we can actually do that. Kick us off. So what you're referring to there, G, in terms of making the sales work for you,

is refusing to get sucked into the sales and buying things just because they are cheap and instead planning ahead for these sales to happen so that you can jump on purchases that you already intended on making and scoring them when you do actually have a reduced price point. It's all about planning and I think it is so important to talk about this topic especially because Christmas is literally around the corner. It's also very likely that you have in mind a few of the gifts that you're going to be giving this year and buying those items on sale can be a really good idea to bring down the overall cost of what is usually an incredibly expensive time of year. So what I want to do this year is actually challenge our community a little bit. This is

just from me, but let's start planning our Christmas so that none of us in our community are doing last minute Christmas Eve shopping. I think it's a stressful thing. I've done it a million times. I mean, probably like 29 times, like not even 29 times, however long I've been buying presents that my mum didn't fund. But it's one of those things that we all do. We leave stuff to the last minute. What I want you guys to do is actually just write down a plan, organise what you want to purchase and put a plan in place to get those things earlier than you think is necessary. Like if Black Friday is around the corner, it's at the end of November, just FYI friends, I think that we should be using this to our advantage and planning to actually purchase

all our gifts a month early if we are in a position to do so, reducing the stress and the outlay of Christmas as a whole when it comes to actually Christmas day. So I think that that is a challenge that I'm going to get around. George King, are you going to join me? I think I will this year. I'm ready. I'm ready for the challenge. I'm very glad. I'm very, very glad. Challenge accepted, my friend. So Bea, when it comes to making these sales work for us, how do we actually make it happen. So again, obviously take my challenge on board, but plan ahead now. This episode is honestly, I'm obviously quite biased, but it is the perfect launch pad for making the most of these sales and actually planning ahead. Like now is the time if you were waiting for a

sign, this is your sign, my friend. I want you guys to have a think about Christmas and the gifts that you are planning on purchasing and write them down in anticipation for these sales. Also note what you're currently in the market for. Like you're moving. How soon do you need a new vacuum because yours only lasts 10 minutes do you need a new couch georgia are you moving house soon georgia maybe your runners have seen better days and you actually need a new pair write this stuff down ahead of time so you won't be as flustered when the sales do come around and then you end up forgetting what you needed and instead you buy things that you weren't going to buy in the first place because you're in a panic to not miss out i just think it's so important to

keep a wish list and create a plan that you can refer back to when it comes to these things because we all want that hit of dopamine regardless let's be honest if we are shoppers we know what that feels like and if we plan for it then at least we aren't you know wasting it in a way another thing is to tune out Georgia when it comes to sales season and you've either bought what you already intended or if you're refraining from purchasing anything completely I need you guys to start making a really conscious effort to tune out the marketing that is going to be I promise it's going to be hammered your way from every store that you've looked at online. Targeted ads are incredibly clever and also super, super annoying. But if you're conscious of these ads that are following

you around the internet, it does make it a little bit easier from refraining to click on them mindlessly and then buying that product where you can just spend time online doing what you intended to do instead of getting distracted, which is exactly what these ads are designed to do to you georgia question do you believe that facebook ads are listening to you because one time i walked past a trampoline and i was like look it's a trampoline to my boyfriend and he was like cool chat anyway later on that night what was sent my way trampoline ads i didn't buy one they didn't get me i feel like our phones are listening because like i don't know if facebook's listening but our phones are definitely listening i don't know is that a conspiracy if we've got a she's

conspiracy going on if you guys know anything about this please share it with me because the amount of times that i've been like oh i really need to purchase a new nail polish and then next minute nail polish is being served to me i'm also finding the same on tiktok but it's getting creepy right so like off topic guys i had a sore knee last week because i've decided to start running again terrible idea anyway had a really sore knee and then i'm scrolling through tiktok the third tiktok was literally like oh have you got a sore knee here's how to strap it up properly and i was like oh i hadn't even spoken about this are you in my brain those ads are just bizarre so just be mindful be mindful that they are targeting you for a reason so they are bizarre but also if you don't

want to be as targeted online i'm not sure how much this helps these days you can also go incognito and do like private browsing while doing your shopping so you're not automatically targeted later, which could be an idea. Another thing when we are talking about online, unsubscribe from things that end up in your mailbox, Georgia. Honestly, it is one of those things that often gets me clicking and distracted during work and during the day when I'm going through my emails and a really nice promo comes up. I just think if you're not in the market for something, you don't need the marketing emails. And if you do find yourself in the market for something, you can actually go find a promotion relatively easy. It's 2020. So I think if you're in the market for a new

pair of shoes and you're actively looking for it and you want a 20% discount code, I'm sure you'll be able to find one. You don't need to always be in the loop on someone's EDM to do that. Often the EDMs force you into buying things you didn't need. Another point, which I've made on this podcast before, but it's really relevant to remind you of Georgia, is use your saved money wisely. So I love the idea of deliberately putting the money that you've saved from any purchase you make into a savings account that you don't touch or into your micro investing platform or popping it towards your holiday fund instead of having that money saved there to essentially be spent on something else. So put it to work for you and actually get bang for your buck. And this happens like when

people say, oh, like I've stopped having coffees out and I'm having them at home. Like I still want you to take that $4.50 and put it into savings. So it becomes genuine savings instead of just sitting in your cashflow account where you spend it on other things. So that would be my top tips for today, Georgia. Love it. And then when it comes to traps we can avoid, are there any tips you have there? I think when it comes to stuff like sporadic shopping and impulse buying, the key thing is that I want our listeners to avoid these things. So you only save money on sales when you're actually planning on purchasing the product and then you saved on that product impulse buying, especially at a time when everything seems really shiny and too good to be

true. We're talking about this before Georgia. It can actually be quite disastrous on our bank accounts. So I really want you guys to understand the difference between saving on sales and actually being manipulated by sales, which is a legitimate thing as well. Before we move on to our listener question today, V, I know you obviously have a bit of a background in psychology, which is quite handy and that also lends itself to an understanding of consumer behavior. So what is it about a sale that humans just find so hard to resist? Dopamine, full stop, end of story. We just love a good dopamine hit and it's not uncommon, but also FOMO. It's a massive part of online marketing and the psychology of sales as a whole. There's just this idea out

there that a sale is temporary and we need to get in now before the sale ends or before they run out of that product so beware of terms that are like for a limited time only or like selling fast or this won't last long or this is the biggest sale we've ever had because these are just marketing tools that make you feel more pressured to purchase something in the moment there's always going to be a better option there's always going to be another opportunity at some point so I think that if we have this mentality of like oh my gosh it's never going to happen again we're actually taking ourselves two steps backwards. So I think you need to see these for what they are and that's just as marketing tactics. I also think that sales more if you're thinking into what we are saving

instead of what we are spending. Like how many times have we, you know, bought something that we weren't meant to buy and been like, ah, Georgia, but I saved X amount. And it's like, well, were you really planning on purchasing that? In reality, sales shoppers often spend more than non-sales shoppers. So keep that in mind because if you think you're getting a bargain, often you might be on average spending more than someone who doesn't buy anything on sale. And that's kind of depressing if I'm being honest. But while we're speaking about research, research also tells us that when it comes to the price perception, the first digit is the one we pay the most attention to, which you're probably not surprised about. You've probably heard before,

but we would much prefer to pay $49.99 for something rather than a full $50. It sounds simple, but these are marketing tricks that honestly play with our minds. And it is just so important to be aware of and remind yourself of these things. Because Georgia, how many times have we bought something that is $49.95 and then when someone said, oh, how much was that? You say $40. Like it is so easy to round down and we really need to stop doing that and see prices for exactly what they are. $50, full stop, end of story, always round up. It's so interesting because all of these points just really sound like common sense things, but it's crazy how we do get sucked into marketing so easily. Like these are experts. Manipulating is a strong and I feel

like quite a loaded word, but at the end of the day, these businesses, their purpose is to make sales. So it makes sense that their marketing is strong and where we are manipulated by it. So it's a legit thing as well. Like we need to remember that these companies spend money on advertising. They spend money on marketing. They spend money having researchers work out what a consumer's activities actually look like and how that works and how to best get them to purchase more. It's a multi-billion dollar business. We're not saying completely avoid it. It can actually be quite helpful in some circumstances, but what I want you guys to be is aware of these things. These things have billions of dollars invested in them for good

reason because it provides good returns to those companies. So I think we need to remember that there's a reason there's still money being poured into marketing each and every single year and that we are essentially just the consumers. So let's just be super aware consumers together. Yep. Love it. Be mindful. The last little thing I wanted to note as well with this topic is that obviously both V and I are big advocates for sustainability where possible and fast fashion is obviously a huge issue when it comes to the whole ethics and question of sustainability. So if you have a problem with shopping, if you are a bit of a shopaholic and you want to understand a little bit more about the impacts of fashion and consumerism, then do go back and listen to

our episode we did at the start of season three. It was ages ago now, which I think is literally called The Real Price of Fast Fashion or something like that. It's very obvious in the title. So do go back and have a listen to that one. But for now, I think it's off to the listener question. Hey guys. So I'm really worried this year that my Christmas shopping is going to impact my financial goals. I really want to buy nice things for my friends and family, but it's going to be really hard to build those savings up again. And I've worked really hard to get to this point. So am I a bad person? I want to know how everyone is managing their cashflow this season. Please help me. Alrighty, Victoria, I feel like this is a question that's probably rattling around in a lot

of our listeners' heads. What would be your answer to this one? I feel like so many of us can relate to this, especially at this time of the year. This is going to be such a strange Christmas, if I'm being honest. We will hopefully all be surrounded by friends and family and have a really nice time, but it's undeniable that so many of us have gone through essentially incredibly challenging financial situations this year. And I think that our expectations when it comes to Christmas spending should be reflective of that. And you shouldn't just be like, oh, well, I spent X amount last year. It's really reasonable to have to do that again this year. Like, I don't think that should be reasonable any year. Like gift giving is really nice to have. It is not essential.

And I think that's something we really need to remember. But given the episode, I would recommend using sales like Black Friday sales on eBay and sticking to your goals through planning and actually understanding your money values and then trying to reduce your delivery costs everywhere and all of the additional fees like making one big order Georgia instead of multiple through a number of different weeks so I think it's all about planning but the number one thing that I would do here is actually sit down and work out what you can logically afford and work backwards like when it comes to money I often like to work backwards best because it gives us the clearest outcomes. So if you're planning on organizing Christmas this year and you just sit down and

you go, you know what, overall, I really only want to spend $500 this Christmas and I have five people to buy for, take $500 and divide it by five and you'll find that about $100 a gift is something that would be relevant for you. If you still have that $500 that you want to spend and you actually have nine people that you need to buy for, your new budget is $55 per person. So I think it's really important to start talking about budgeting. And I'm sure we'll do another episode on this before Christmas, Georgia, because I just think it's so important to talk about budgeting and cashflow and really understanding these things. But work backwards and work out what you can afford and set an overall budget and then break it down from there. So for me,

I would just make sure that you remember that Christmas is about spending time with people. it's not about the product that you purchase someone obviously nice gifts are beautiful but I think we can all agree that 99.95% of us would prefer a thoughtful gift over an expensive one so I think sit down have a bit of a brainstorm about gifts that could essentially mean something more than just something you've bought at the store the only thing I would say is that she's definitely not a bad person which was a part of her question yeah absolutely not yeah no way but in terms of managing her cash flow and how you can do that, what would you say beyond setting a number that you can afford and then breaking that up? Is there anything else you can

do? It's a bit late for this advice right now because it is November, friends, but I would be managing cash flow as a whole, not managing cash flow just for the silly season. So if you manage your cash flow as a whole, you will already be prepared for Christmas. You'll have that in the budget. You'll have that set aside so it never feels financially constrictive. And I think that's something that I would really recommend for everybody. Organize your budget, organize your cash flow. Once you have those things in place, they are like the foundations of your financial success. Honestly, if you've got your budget together, you know what's coming in and what's going out and you have a cash flow system in place, every single dollar that you make ends

up working for you as opposed to you scrambling when a bill comes in and you feel like you are consistently in this loop of living payday to payday. So I think it's just about actually managing cashflow as a whole. Obviously I'm biased because we do have our cashflow course and we do talk about budgeting and cashflow a lot on this podcast, but seriously getting control of that and you'll no longer feel as much financial stress. But I think it also goes back Georgia to taking stress off yourself. Like if you want to buy nice things for the ones that you love, like that's so, so kind, but have a think about things that are a little bit left field that might mean a little bit more to them. Like I remember a couple of Christmases ago, I got a

gift voucher from my partner that was like a homemade gift voucher for a thing that I really wanted to do. And it was just really sweet and really thoughtful. And honestly, it didn't end up costing him anything except lunch on the day. And I just think that, you know, that ended up meaning a lot more to me than, you know, an item that I would have forgotten by now. Whereas I remember that really fondly. So maybe experiences this year over actual gifts. Love that. Homemade is the way to go as well. I love that idea. I am 24 and previously drowning, but learning how to float. And this is my money diary. Now let's take a sneak peek into the financial lives of perfect strangers. It's time for money diaries. Financially, 12 months ago, I was

drowning. I was in about $40,000 worth of debt. I had quick loans. I had every type of buy now, pay later service you can imagine. Ones you probably haven't even heard of. I was struggling to pay any of my bills. I had to borrow money from one of my sisters to keep afloat. I knew exactly how much I had to get paid every single week to be able to pay my bills. But I definitely struggled to reach that amount because it was quite high and that didn't take into account any sort of discretionary spending or anything like that. So now I am about half of that. I found the podcast once my friend put me onto it. I did withdraw a little bit of my super during COVID. So that definitely went to pay off some of my free credit cards, personal loan,

quick loans, all of the above. And I have savings for the first time in my life. What does she do for work? How much does she earn? And how much does she have sitting in her bank account? I am a store manager at Abustus. I've only just taken that role but I should be earning around $60,000 a year and I have roughly $3,000 in my bank account at the moment which is incredible because I've never had more than $300 in my bank account. And what happens to her money once it arrives in her account? So as soon as I get paid, I pay my $150 for my board. I then have a direct debit come out to a savings account that I can't see. So $50 automatically disappears.

I've also got my direct debit for my raise set up from that account as well. So I leave that money in there. I transfer everything else to my app and then I transfer across my savers accounts. And I usually leave myself about $100, $150 for the rest of the week. What are her investment plans? What are her general attitudes towards investing? So for a while, I had no knowledge about investing. I didn't really think that it was something that just anyone and everyone did until I started listening to the podcast.

So I decided to jump on Raise. I have about $500 in there at the moment. I just direct debit $10 a week and then I've got roundups. So it usually ends up being about $20 a week. Once I've cleared my debt, I really want to delve deeper into the stock market and figuring out where I want to go and where I want to invest because I think it is an awesome thing to get done now to set myself up for later. Does she have any debts? So I have just under $16,000 on a personal loan, just over four and a half on a credit card debt, but I've actually cancelled the credit card so I can't use that account at all. I'm just paying off the debt and the interest but I find that really works because you can't spend any more money and I had no idea that was even a thing

until someone who posted about it in the group. What is her best money habit? Probably be that I always pay my bills. I always make sure that I'm never getting late fees and all that sort of stuff because I'm not paying my bills on time. I've always made sure that I pay them especially my loans because I don't want to mess up anything for in the future and I feel like I split my money quite well like I have maybe 15 different savers on my up account because I find that allocating money to a specific thing really helps when I need to dip back into my savings because I can see that I'm taking it away from something else so I don't tend to dip into those accounts anywhere near as much as I previously have. What is her worst money habit? Probably has always been that

I like to have multiple of everything. If I find a jacket that I like, I buy it in every single color it comes in. I find a blanket and all of a sudden I have six because it had six colors. I also spend an incredible amount of money on makeup for someone that doesn't wear makeup very often. But I just have this mentality that I have to have the whole collection. So as soon as another palette comes out, I have to have it because I have all the other ones, but I don't actually use them. And what is her big money goal? Well, I definitely want to get myself completely out of debt and I want to set myself up with an emergency fund and a rainy day fund and all of the above so that when I have a major car service or something like that, I'm not

freaking out because I don't know how to pay it. Like I need that stability there before I can do anything else. And then I think my next step would be getting serious about investing. What grade would our learning how to float money diarist give her money habits? I would probably give myself a C minus. It previously would have been like a D or even an F. But yeah, I still have a long way to go. But I've definitely come quite far. One of the main things like I wanted to even do this is because there are people that have been in my situation that just think that there's no way out like they just think I'm too far in there's no way I can do this there's no way I can save because I have that exact same mentality until like my amazing

friend put me onto this podcast in the group you can always go further you can always do it you've just got to have the people and the support behind you all righty V what did you make of 24 previously drowning and now staying afloat. I think that was her name. What did you think? That was probably the longest name we've had, but I challenge other people to make longer and more confusing names, but I really liked it. I just felt like this was such an empowering story that a lot of people in our community can probably relate to. $40,000 worth of debt. I think her name sums it up. She felt like she was drowning. And I know so many people in this situation who that's exactly how they feel. I'm also incredibly proud of her for doing this because it takes a lot to

actually pull your head out of the sand and say that you need to change. And I know she mentioned and it was very sweet of her to do so the podcast, but as much as you and I can talk about these things, I think you actually have to be open to the feedback and you have to be open to taking these things on because there are so many people out there that, you know, maybe have been recommended to get some help or, you know, someone suggested listening to a podcast and they just say, no no no like at the end of the day like you are the reason for change it's also just such a nice story of someone actively working towards changing their money story and like how cool is that extremely cool and I love that she credits UV and the listening to this podcast to kind of get her

started on this new journey and it is amazing like to be in 40 grand worth of debt and to work yourself out of that I think she she said half of it is now gone which is amazing yeah she said half of it was gone. And like, that feels just crazy. Oh, it does. But imagine, I can imagine being in that situation and just feeling like, well, there's no use me even trying. I don't want to listen to a money podcast. Like that makes me depressed. It's better. Like I'm better off just not acknowledging it. And I'll just sit here, head in the sand, as you say, but she's broken against that. And I think it's really inspiring. It's so inspiring. And knowing that in 12 months, she's gone from $40,000 worth of debt to saying that she was, you know, I think she said she was

halfway out and she has $3,000 in savings when she's never had more than $300. Like I'm so proud of her. Like I want to give her a hug and congratulate her. And I want to do that to everyone in our community all the time. But I just feel like that's so inspiring as well. And so relatable for our community because it's not as though she's making hundreds of thousands of dollars and obviously it wouldn't be as challenging to get out of debt. Like she's earning 60 grand a year and she's got 40 000 worth of debt like that was going to take a very long time to get out of but it sounds like she's making that a priority for her and like that's just really cool yeah and she's also really interested in investing which i know will make you happy v

everybody being interested in investing always makes me super happy but not to be a debbie downer i do want to talk about the end of her money diary this is what i was going to ask you about. So she mentioned that she buys something that she loves and then she buys 10 of it in different colors because she loves it. And she does the same thing with makeup. So she has the whole collection, even though she doesn't really wear makeup. So what's going on there for you in your opinion? So I obviously never have an opinion on someone else's values because that is absolutely not my place, nor is it anybody else's place to have an opinion on someone else's values and choices that they make because we've never walked a mile in their shoes, but she literally said that

she doesn't use them and she doesn't really know why. So I think that for me, if I was in that situation, I would want to do a little bit of self-reflection and like write down what types of feelings I get when I do those things. Is it security that you're looking for when you buy lots of things? Is it like a feeling of FOMO that you love this item and you never want it to run out, therefore you get multiple of them. Like I definitely can relate to purchasing multiple of things. Like if I love a pair of work shoes that are super comfortable, like you best believe I'll go and buy them in nude as well. So I get the feeling, but I also think that having a bit of a sit down and understanding your own mindset when it comes to stuff like that, and maybe taking

a bit of a leaf out of that minimalism kind of lifestyle and working out like, do I actually need these things like why am I purchasing them and then maybe writing a list of things that you could have purchased instead or things that you could have achieved instead that you can keep handy next time you want to do that and I think that that could be a way that you could combat it but at the end of the day like if that's what makes her super happy like who am I to judge but at the same time it's obviously not financially productive exactly right um last question for you B was her grade. I think it was a C minus. Did you have any thoughts on that? I think that's epic progress, especially given 12 months ago, she said she would have given herself an F, like look where

she's going to be in another 12 months. And I think that that's what we should always be doing. We should always be looking forward and looking towards what future us can actually achieve. And I just think that it's honestly so inspiring. I cannot wait to hear that she's gotten out of debt and she's started investing and doing all of these other things. But what I really loved about this story is that she has $3,000 in saving. And I think that that's really important if you're in debt as well. Like having an emergency fund is going to help you feel super empowered while you're getting out of debt. So you don't just feel like you're always stuck in a rut. So for me, I really liked this story purely because it's so inspirational, but there's obviously things

that all of us could fix. Exactly right. Bea, I reckon that's the end of the show. Me too. But just before we head off, we'd like to acknowledge and pay respects to Australians aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples the traditional custodians of the land the waterways and the skies all across australia we thank you for sharing and for caring on the land which we are able to learn we pay our respects to elders past and present and we share our friendship and our kindness now for the boring stuff the advice shared on she is 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 and we promise

victoria to find is rigi did she's an authorized representative of australia pacific funds management propriety limited abn 34132463257afsl339151 and thank you of course to ryan john our producer for putting together today's show like it's quite last minute so thank ryan cheers Ryan, it's Tuesday night. But you know what, guys? If you're still listening, I would love it if you joined our Facebook group where our community of, how exciting is this, more than 100,000 people share money, tips, and tricks every single day free of judgment.

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