She's On The Money - I Think I Accidentally Became Rich

Episode Date: August 9, 2026

This week's Money Diary starts with a sentence I don't think I've ever heard before. "I think I accidentally became rich." Growing up, money was something her family never really talked about. She was raised by a single mum, grew up on Centrelink, won a scholarship to a private school, and didn't realise just how little they had until she was much older. Fast forward to today and she's 34, has more than $100,000 invested, over $218,000 in super, a full year's worth of expenses sitting in her emergency fund, and recently quit her full-time consulting job to work on her own terms. And here's the part I loved most. She bought a house... then decided she actually didn't want one. Instead, she's chosen a life built around flexibility, travel and financial independence, proving that building wealth doesn't have to look the same for everyone. We chat about growing up without financial literacy, becoming obsessed with investing, why she contributes up to $2,000 a week to ETFs while the income is there, turning down home ownership, and what "enough" really looks like when you're designing a life you actually want. This conversation is a reminder that there isn't one right way to build wealth. Sometimes the smartest financial decision is the one that gives you the most freedom.Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha Bamblett (nartarshabamblett.com.au) 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 Bamblett, I'm a proud First Nations woman, and I'm here to acknowledge country. Tii, gilinyan ganya, nianakaka yao yinbina waka, nianakai nianbina yakarumja, duminyagumiga dumiga ithawaka nirawamundamun imalan, mumubangaraboma ininyalan waka, gaunonyakarumja, wutunarana. Hello beautiful friends. We gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people. We thank, acknowledge and respect the Aboriginal people's land that we're gathering on today. Take pleasure in all the land and respect all that you see. She's On The Money podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections,

bringing you the tools, knowledge and resources for you to thrive. She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's On The Money, the podcast that lets you be pervy about other people's money stories for educational purposes, of course. Welcome back to another one of our money diaries brought to you by our friends at Sky Wealth, where I get the absolute privilege of sitting down with one of our incredible She's on the Money community members and talking to them all about their journey. Let's jump straight

into it because this week I got a message and it sounded exactly like this. Hi, She's on the Money. I think I might have made myself rich. I'm about to hit $100,000 in my beta shares, have above average super and I'm living well below my means. Plus I have one whole year in my emergency fund. I also bought a house and then I unbought a house and I think I might rent forever and I might actually be okay with that. I quit my, and this was dollar, dollar, dollar sign consulting job and work casually now, but that is a scary thought. So, I just say that I'm semi-retired. Not bad for a Centrelink baby who thought those little packet side dish pastas were a full meal for three people. Money diarist, what the heck? I am so excited. You and I have been having,

I would say, a really, like, I don't know, a really fun chat before we started recording. So, I'm genuinely very excited to have transitioned into doing this money diary with you. So, I'm hoping that the vibes stay exactly the same. Money diarist, that's really impressive. You obviously think that's really impressive. I think that's unhinged, honestly. Okay, good, good. Because like sometimes people come on and I have to be like, hey babe, like that's not

that relatable in the nicest possible way. And I'll be like, oh yeah, I'd be really grateful for that too. But like, I love that you're like, this is sick. It's unhinged. but also here, I'll give you my hacks and tips and tricks so that maybe you can do it too. Yeah. It's definitely one of those things where you look at all the little steps and you're like, oh, well, if I could do it, then probably a lot of people can do it. But also how on earth did I do this? You know? Wait, I don't know. And I'm about to find out. Before we get into it,

I need to ask one question. But before, before, before I get into it, how old are you? I'm 34. She's a baby. I say at 35. Are we like the same age? Yes. But like, sorry, that's so young, like so young to be like, oh yeah, semi-retired. What? Look, not working, yeah, quitting your job and not having something to go to sounds scary when you say it like that. But then you say, look, I'm just going to be semi-retired and then it doesn't sound so bad. No, but also the privilege of being in that position where you're like, I have a year of emergency funds. Like, I'm just so happy for you. Like, oh, I wish that financial freedom upon everybody in my community.

Before I ask you how the heck you did that. Money Darius, what grade would you give your money habits if I asked you to give them a grade from A through to F? I'm not playing the C game. I'm not playing the B. I'm not playing the B plus. And we'll see. I'm going full A.

I'm going full A. I'm full A. You can't come on my show and be like, I'm semi-retired and 34 years old and be like, I'm an F. Like, absolutely not. Oh my gosh. plus I feel like everybody when they set their score we kind of go we sell it down a bit and we go there's so much more to learn but I was really thinking this through and I thought when you take

a test you're just assessing the knowledge that you have at this point and how well you're applying it and so I know there'll be so much for me to grow and grow on further but right now with the knowledge I have I'm making great choices I'm feeling very empowered I'm obviously nailing stuff objectively and so I'm like no this is what an A would look like if I was tested right now she's on it. Obsessed with this energy. Oh my goodness. All right. Money Doris, can you tell me a bit more about your money story and the things that have impacted it? Yes. I think that, well, objectively, I know that we didn't grow up with a lot of money. I also think that a flip side of that was that I didn't actually know that until I was a bit older

because we just lived in like a really dodgy part of town where nobody has any money. So you're kind looking at everyone around you with your peers 100% and it's like okay well I'm going to school in ripped clothes but this kid's got holes in his shoes and everyone's like got bikes that we picked up off the side of the road so it's kind of like we're all in the same tax system yeah the same playground ecosystem so it wasn't too bad and then I was very lucky to get a scholarship to high school. And I realized it's because my mom didn't want me going to the local high school because it was pretty dodged. And she wanted to get me out of that area, get me away from the people who went there. It was a pretty unsafe kind of neighborhood. And so I got the scholarship and went to this

private school, which obviously then put me into contact with people who did have a bit of money. and I will say even back then it wasn't too jarring for me to be in that environment but only because and I don't know if this was good or bad it just is what it is only because my family didn't talk about money so I knew that other people had things I didn't have I knew that I couldn't have those things but I didn't know that it was money that was the reason it was just a thing that we didn't do it like we don't yeah okay we don't yeah the thing we get the second hand uniforms you're going to get one blazer for all of high school and it better fit you like that sort of a vibe yeah so I'm very interested in that because I feel like that's

one of the first times on this show we've been like I didn't realize that it was money that was driving that tell me a bit more about what that felt like because did that feel like oh like I'm not as deserving as other people or I just don't get those opportunities like did you understand why? I had no idea. And I think it was when I looked at certain times when I felt, and I think undeserving is a great word for it, when I felt undeserving or less than, it was things like I would go to my family Christmas, my parents were separated, so I'd have had Christmas with each of my parents and then go to bigger family Christmas. And I would know that, you know, I woke up in the morning and I got a little present and then I would have to go and sit through all my cousins

getting heaps of gifts but I don't know what the financial implication I didn't understand the financial situation of different people in my even in my family to know that that's why they got more and I didn't I just knew that I get this thing and they get something else it is when you look at it like that but at the time it was just oh no you don't get it but like that's just it right like yeah kids are so beautifully naive to what's going on but like that's why I think financial literacy from a very young age is so important because in that moment you probably couldn't have articulated it but you're like why do they get better than me I'm like you might have been fine with it because you're like well maybe my siblings got exactly what I got or whatever there

was a narrative that you clearly accepted but like you do go well if there is a social hierarchy I'm not higher than them and that is not okay like to me that is not okay like and I just want to scoop baby you up and be like it wasn't ever you babe when you said you know I felt less than it's not because you are it's a feeling but I think it's really important to validate that as well yeah it's just it really upsets me that that was your narrative it's definitely one of those things that I think it definitely impacted me quite a lot but when I'm coming to those realizations and having those feelings I'm also in like that teenage angst kind of vibe anyway where you feel like everyone is against you and everything you know nobody has it that just compounds it doesn't

Exactly. And so I think on the one hand, I didn't have a target for like those feelings of what they're going to do and where they're coming from. But it was also just, oh, well, this is my reality and this is where we live in the world. And I think that part of that was just when I started to notice that there were money opportunities that I wasn't getting, it was frustrating in the purest sense like when you see a kid who can't process the emotion and they don't understand so I you know was going to this high school and I got a place to go on a school trip to India and I remember coming home and being like mom I got it I applied for this thing I've won a place only four people at my school get to go she was like well you can't go you obviously can't go yeah and I was like oh

okay but I won it though and like we have to put in the deposit and and it was like I think it might have been two or three hundred dollars for the deposit but then it was a total of like two grand that had to be paid within maybe a month or so and she was like well that's simply not something that we do we're not going to do that we can't do that that's not available and it wasn't like a we'll fundraise we'll do this we'll do there wasn't any problem solving and that's okay that's her money story and how she was dealing with it but it doesn't and this is where I sound wanky maybe like I say that I sound a little bit pretentious when I say having a growth mindset is important because I feel like every entrepreneur who has a podcast is talking

about growth versus fixed mindset. You know what, you know the vibe, right? But because of my background in psychology, because of money stories that I hear on the regular, like it is so important even if you can't afford it to be fostering this growth mindset in your children, in my children, in us in general, because it opens us up to more opportunity. Did it mean that we could have changed you going? Probably not. No. But like explaining, all right, well, we don't have the resources for that right now. This is how they're budgeted. You know, what could we do to get you there? And you could have like brainstormed it out and you know, you might, I don't know you as you know, a young child, you might've gone, mom, don't worry about it. I don't want to have

to do fundraising and organizing, but there could have been a solution that really helped you build. I mean, to be honest, looking at your wider money story, you didn't need it. I think too, it comes back to, and spoiler alert, I work a little bit in financial literacy with kids now. And I think it comes back to the fact that the only money story, and we ask kids like, what have you heard about money growing up? The only statement I'd ever heard was, we can't afford it. And that is a helpful objective statement, but it doesn't give context for what that means and when you take me objectively going to a private school it doesn't make sense that you can't afford to give me money to go overseas for a school trip because how are

you sending me to this private school I knew I had a scholarship but I didn't know what that financially meant and I was old enough to start putting numbers to money I was spending money at the canteen I was you know nicking money from my dad's little coin bowl so I could get a soft serve on the weekend like I had a bit of a concept and I was using it but because I had no real world application of money. Someone telling me we don't have money for that didn't make sense to me when I could see what we did have money for. And it wasn't until I started to look back and put the pieces into place and have more conversations. And my mom is still very hesitant to talk about money, but I know now that her boss was paying my school fees, not her. I also know now, and again,

have context for it now. I remember when I was lodging my first tax return and I actually was like, I think I'm going to get taxed back because I've earned more money. I asked her how to do it. And she said, I don't know. I've never earned over the threshold. And I was like, this is a single mom with two kids who's paying rent and she's not earned over whatever it was at the time, $15,000, $16,000. I was like, oh, oh, so that's what we were working with here. Okay.

So now I understand when you say we don't have money, we didn't have money. And to the comment about- What an icon. I know. You said that you grew up not knowing, you know, you didn't understand the concept of not affording it. Okay. That makes a lot of sense.

like you know growing up I heard a fair bit oh Victoria we can't afford that and like we weren't on the poverty line we definitely were like well off in comparison to a lot but like we definitely like I think looking back we're very week to week like and that's okay but often when my parents said we can't afford that it was because we're prioritizing money for something else like we definitely didn't have the big family holidays and all of that like that just wasn't part of it but when my parents said we can't afford that I had the benefit of knowing it was because they were allocating it to something else yeah whereas when your mom said she can't afford that you didn't know the difference she hadn't told you we actually have no cash babe like there's nothing

there that's just not happening and I respect that she didn't I assume you know you don't want to say that to your child you don't want them to worry like you said I might have been more oh what can I do and what can we do and how can I help and and that might have not made her feel great either, but it did mean that it didn't have the context in our family for what can't afford meant. And so I wasn't able, I think at that point to understand money is a thing that can get you things. Money was just the thing we didn't have and that we probably wouldn't have. And so just go and earn some and try and survive on what you earn. And that's success, which is also not bad, but it's one of those things where like, if that's where you think the end of the road is,

that's as far as you'll ever go. Yeah, of course. Of course. So tell me a little bit more about your life. Like what do you do for work? How much money are you earning currently? I have a lot of different things that I do for work. She's a diverse queen. Oh yes. I'm diversifying everything. I am the asset and I'm diversified. I basically, I went to uni because my parents were like, doesn't matter what you do, you have to go to uni because you're going to get a job and that's the way to do it. And I really wanted to study theatre. So I did. And I really wanted to study psychology, but I thought I would be smart enough. Oh, you give theatre vibes. No, I hope that's not a bad thing to say. It's a great thing to say. Yeah, in the most positive way ever. You just

seem like a really fun time. Thank you so much. She's got range as a friend. I can see it. I can see it. She's got everything. You're clearly empathetic, but you're also probably the most entertaining at a dinner party? I hope so. I hope so because one of my jobs is entertaining. Yes. There you go. It's all coming together. I studied that. I studied behavioral science, which I really enjoyed because it was that practical behavioral application of psychology. And I studied education because everyone's always going to need teachers. So it was like my fallback, my backup plan. And I was very comfortable being a teacher for a little bit, got the big girl job got the big girl car lease slash loan did that and then moved with my

boyfriend to Sydney when he got his dream job and realized that teaching is a state accredited profession and it can take a long time to move your registration from one place to the other so I was waiting 10 months to get my registration changed and obviously in that time yeah I was like I can't casual teach. I'm not registered. What am I going to do? And I started looking for anything and I basically fell into working in schools still doing behavioral science, doing behavior change programs for lots of different types of information and mostly in cyber security and digital safety, but also financial literacy, which was fun because I was learning it along with the kids yes I was like what how do we check the award wage how do I know what I'm getting paid

like what does this actually do you know what one of my girlfriends is a teacher and she's just like changed where she's at and she was really stressed and I was like babe you literally just need to be one lesson ahead of them like you can learn it at the same time just make sure you're one lesson ahead so that when they're asking you you have all the answers but like go home and learn that stuff. So the next week, and you know what, the year after that, you're not going to have to do that again. No, no, exactly. And so I moved up in that job and I found that I really enjoyed talking, surprise, surprise, but also teaching in that way, not so curriculum bound, but more in the conversations and listening to kids say, well, this is my problem. What can I do? And me

saying, well, what can you do? What do you think you can do? And facilitating rather than just telling. And so I started doing more of that work and eventually went into consulting through the company that I was with and did that at a pretty good level for a while until I got to a point where I realized, actually, I'm doing a lot of the consulting management planning project stuff and not the talking and the connecting and the facilitating, which I really love and I'm really good at. And I had a really nice conversation with my employers and I said, look, this work is here and I would love to be doing it, but because I'm doing this other stuff, I'm not doing the thing I love anymore. There are people who are better equipped. They're the project management people.

The type A's are really good at that. Let them do that. Let me do the yapping. How do we make this work? And so we agreed that actually I would quit and I would come back as a contractor or a casual it's a bit funny contract wise but essentially a casual employee and I would still do the workshops so I do still do the workshops but I also then was asked by my friend if I would marry them as their celebrant so yeah that's so sick so I became a marriage celebrant I've also actually done quite a few memorials and funerals which I also actually really love yes it's such a privilege and it's such a beautiful time to chat to people and I have found that it is a good challenge to have but also as such an interesting thing to be doing

and then I've been doing emceeing event emceeing as well on top of that and so cool you are just so cool plus I could still casual teach if I need to so backup plan tick oh my goodness like you are a weapon so how much money are we earning across all of these different things well I love that to date it a little bit, we are doing this around end of financial year time because it means that all my year to dates are looking good. And in the last year today, I pulled $204,578. What? And you're just working casually, hanging out. Somehow you managed to convince your boss to fire you so that you could get hired as a consultant. And we all know they all get paid more like like I feel like you've gamed the system in some way shape or form backtrack backtrack

you're doing these like workshop stuff that sounds amazing yeah but you became a wedding celebrant and like what do you call it when you do like celebration is it a celebration of life celebrant or like yeah I still call it a celebrant it's still a civil celebrant some people say it for just memorials or funerals but you're still a celebrant yeah how do you market yourself for that because I'm assuming you're kind of like self-employed in that space. You don't just go work for someone and do that. Yeah, I am. And being self-employed is also a real identity shift that I haven't quite come to terms with yet. So I know that technically I am, but that feels really scary to say, which is why. You can just call it a side hustle if you would like. Maybe. So actually

so far, how to market that is a great question. I just got business cards like a week ago. I've been doing this for like a year, but my dad was like, do you have a business card? So now I do. Okay, dad, that's very 90s. I'm not going to a conference. He was very happy to know that I do have one. So yay. But I haven't actually marketed myself in that domain at all. I gave myself one job, which was to put up one Instagram post a week because I really don't like doing it and it's ripping the bandaid off. And there we go. And I've been able to do that and everything else because it's not my primary income. It's just something that I love that I can do. Everything else has been for friends of friends, word of

mouth, people hearing about it from somebody else, which I also really love because I think that the thing that I'm really good at is taking the story and the feeling of the people that I know well and telling it. And so that's been good for the weddings of people that I know. And it's about like us loving on them, not just a stranger being like, here are your friends that you all know better than me. Aren't they pretty? And do you know what? That from my perspective as someone who cares and loves and be like business everything right I think that is such a brilliant way of building that business if you've got the time like there's a lot of people like I need to market because I need to hit clients great I get that this sounds really self-promotional I promise

that's not why I'm telling you I wrote about it in my book the business bible and it's about attracting the right client because they refer the right client for you and often at the start of business and I did this like where I would just take anyone who was kind of interested in working with me and be like great this is how clients work right like you don't have to love them all like you don't have to you know really enjoy every single client that's just how the cookie crumbles and I found that even though I did a great job with those clients those clients that I didn't love working with they referred other clients that I didn't love working with and then it kind of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of filling your business with people

who are maybe not the target that you originally wanted so I just love that you're like nope I'm doing this yes I'm doing one post a week but by doing that you're going to attract the right people and always love what you do and I think that's important to you why do I think that's important to you the sign behind you in your office which says do what you love every day and I think that's so important but like that's so aligned it definitely is and I think that one of the prompts for leaving my full-time job which was incredibly scary as somebody who I have had a job since the beginning of time I was working before it was legal because my mom knew the boss you know like 10 out of 10 yeah you do what you're gonna do I'm not the ATO and you

are also anonymous and if they called me I happen to have lost your number that's crazy can't remember her name bummer this is just a really cool dream that we had I loved a part of the job but not the whole job and I saw people who loved the job and I was like that's the kind of people that should be doing this job not me and it was similar when I was teaching full-time I would look at some of the teachers that were there and just go they are they are the teachers that you want your kids to have and I think I was a good teacher but I know that when I was in that full-time classroom I didn't have the passion and the drive for it that I could see other teachers did and it was this nice subtle thing that was just saying you could do this when you want to and if you need

to, but this is maybe not the thing that is going to get you out of bed in the morning for the next 30 years. And I didn't quite understand that at the time because I thought any job is better than no job. And so it's taken a long time to get to a point where I could say, actually, I will quit my job. I didn't have a full year of emergency fund then. I did have a good emergency fund and I did have the money behind me, but I think it was about like explicitly saying, actually, this is what this money is for so that you can quit and you can take your time finding something else. And I think it was a nice balance between saying there's something better and different out there for me and it's worth me pursuing but also I know that I have the work ethic to take anything if I need to

I'm not going to be precious about it and I think that I previously would have thought that it was bougie or stuck up or something to go well no I'm not going to do that job but I think there's a real difference between going, what's my value and where's my passion and what can I do? But knowing that I can do that because I worked really hard to get to the point to do it and that I wouldn't not work if I needed to work, you know, I still want to be there doing what I like. Yeah. And I think that that's really important. So tell me, you clearly love what you do and I feel like you've got a lot of clarity over the life you want to lead. So what are your big money goals what are you currently working towards I am currently working towards seeing polar bears

in the wild so I love this yeah so I am saving to do a cruise in the arctic oh my gosh that is so cool it's gonna be sick I'm so excited which type of cruise are you going on because there's lots I've so I have done the research and at this stage in my life it's not feasible for me to do this cruise but you best believe the second my children are all over the age of 18 i will be going to the arctic oh yes i went to the antarctic a few years ago and that was like my biggest money goal that i had ever done and once that had happened yeah i was like okay now i need to see a polar bear i was about to say they don't have polar bears they don't they don't famously so i gotta go you would think you would think you would think that there would be polar bears there

there are not can't tick them all off on one cruise unfortunately so I'm looking at the ones that go northern Europe so like Svalbard and up around there but then I went down the rabbit hole I follow someone from Svalbard on TikTok yeah yeah niche but I love this thank you I learned that I loved traveling once I figured out I could afford to travel so I've really ticked off a lot a lot of travel and and started doing it through work which I think was like a nice soft way to get into it to be like you're traveling it doesn't feel like a waste of money it doesn't feel like a waste of leave because it's part of the job that you're here to do or the learning that you're here to get and then decided I really liked it and then was able to

continue doing it so I'm saving my goal is 20 grand for my polar bears before I'll book the cruise and everything which I think will probably be 10 to 13 grand yeah so you're just like I have to have the money before I even do the thing. I always. Yeah. But that's a really positive way to manage money. And I feel like that's the pinnacle of delayed gratification, right? Like so many people would be like, no, I'll pay for it now and I'll pay off the whole holiday before it happens. Or this option, which I don't like, which is people who are like, no, I'll go and have the experience and I can pay it off later because I will never get that experience back again. And I get where you're coming from, but it's just also very financially irresponsible

in my not so humble opinion as a finance expert I love hearing it but where did you get your sense of delayed gratification like how did that get built because that's not something everybody has yeah I didn't think that I had it but I do when I look at the choices I make I think that part of it was truly from not having any other option and I think I was lucky because I listened obviously to every single episode and all the money diaries and everything. And I don't know what it was. And I was actually thinking about this the last couple of days. I don't know if it was a strategic thing on the banks or whatever, but I, in my little friend circle growing up, especially in the places that I lived, we didn't get the like credit card in the mailbox

kind of thing at 18. I was about to say how, given your lack of financial literacy growing up, did you not just fall into getting a credit card and, you know, going crazy on it because you deserve it kind of vibe. Yes. I truly, the only thing I can think of is that I know my mom never had a credit card. It was just never modeled to me. It was said to me as something that you don't get. And part of that was you don't get it because you shouldn't. But also part of it was you will not get one. Like you can't get one. You're not going to be able to get one. You're not going to have the money to be qualified to get one and so the good side of that. I was about to say yeah from what you've shared about your mum not being able to do a tax return I think it would

have been very challenging for her to even access a credit card. I think so and so it was just one of those things where it wasn't a thing that I could have and I didn't really see people having it. I know now they probably did but I didn't understand the difference either between debit and credit until I had my own bank account. So it was just one of those things where I saw someone tap a card, I assumed it was their own money and was just really lucky in the fact that that didn't backfire on me then overspending and finding credit cards and doing all that sort of thing. Plus I was always very averse to debt and I knew that credit card was debt and didn't stop me from taking on loans in different ways, but credit card was never a thing. And I was actually

very hesitant to get my first credit card because I thought to myself, I'm not a person who can be trusted with a credit card, with having what feels like unlimited funds or having just the ability to buy as I feel and not as I've planned. And so I was actually very hesitant. Yeah. Okay. Rude, but okay. No, I kept that one to myself, you know, just to really marinate on that. Yeah. Like Victoria, I had to let you learn yourself or something. Yeah. Girlboss, Gatekeep, Gaslight, the classics. Thank you. I appreciate it. Let's go to a really quick break. And on the flip side,

I need to know what's in your beta shares account. I want to know about your further opinions on debt, personal insurances, and I want to know what your best and worst money habits are. So guys, don't go anywhere. All right, Money Drivers, we are back and you have hit more than six figures inside your beta shares account. How? Why? Why beta shares? Let's start there. I started with a stablecoin. Okay. Tell the community what a stablecoin is.

Look, not a thousand percent sure, truly. Great. All right. Well, I'll explain that one. But you tell me your steps. So I was recommended by a friend to go to a certain platform, which was having a stablecoin, which my understanding was they were the ones investing essentially in cryptocurrency, but not passing on I suppose the volatility of the cryptocurrency to the people investing in it

that they were giving a guaranteed rate of return and I was like I don't really understand this but what you're telling me is that they're going to pay me interest daily for however long I keep my money in there which they did the platform spoiler alert no longer exists and did have some legal conversations with some people. And I got out before that happened. Yes. Oh, you actually did? I was about to be like, how did that go? For me, really well. Okay. I love that for you specifically. Yes. For me, really well, because what it did, and I will say not the ideal way to get into it, but what it did was I had a referral code. I got in and I saw money that essentially was

given to me for free. It was a classic Chez's code situation. It was free money. No, no, no. Do not bring Chezzies into this. No, no, no, Queen. They would never. They would never. And also, that platform that you're talking about, that referral code got them in a lot of trouble. It did. It did. It truly did. And I essentially had this, what was for me at the time, free money, sat there and every day I got like a dollar more. Money win. Money win. And then it felt too good to be true. It felt a bit uncomfortable. Things were in the

news and I was like, take my money. That's mine now. Got it all paid out. Not a problem at all. No problem with the platform. But also terrifying. Also, I feel the need right now to like, I don't know, you know, when you like need to back yourself a little bit. Okay. So the Sharesies code I have, I don't make any money from my friends. So if you were to use my Sharesies code, which this is a subtle plug for them, not paid, but it's SOTM10, you get $10 in your account. I get no dollars when you use that and that's the way I like it like I don't actually want to make money from your code usage it's just to benefit you if you want to use it I obviously get paid by them in marketing because sometimes they sponsor the podcast but they don't get to tell me what to say

or how to say it or any of that and I use the platform myself so you know unlike stablecoin where the referral you would make money if people used your referral code and like if you guys heard about the platform where the influencers were getting in trouble for using their referral codes to promote cryptocurrency investment. That was that. And those that, yes, I think it's as prevalent and that's where people, especially when they don't have the financial literacy that they deserve, get confused because they go, well, it's the same as shares is, right? So different and scary. It was wild. I was asking the question, how can they do this? And that could never be explained to me in a way that I was comfortable with. Yeah. Why are they consistently able to

give me money? Like that makes no sense. And so I was thinking this can't last. It is too good to be true. It isn't appropriate and I didn't feel good being a part of it. So I came out of that. The thing that it did help me understand was interest and compounding interest because I knew that I had had high interest savings accounts because my brother had been like, this is how you do it. And I was like, great. But I didn't see that. I think because I wasn't looking for the interest, I didn't quite understand how it was adding up. And because that interest was changing depending on how much was in my accounts. And so I couldn't quite equate it with the fact that it was just earning money on its own. And so seeing that daily did break it down for me

to understand, actually, if I just leave it there and don't touch it, I will get more. And so that helped me understand the concept and then came out of that and was like never again too crazy then got into the she's on the money cult really happy to be here thank you so much for having me thank you for coming loved it and was listening to all of the podcasts as is the required reading for this session and got the shares his coat and thank you very much we love and put in my little $10 and was just like, let's just, let's just look. Oh, so you're on Sharesies. You're not direct to a faded ship. I was. I was. Sorry, sorry. This is such a windy answer. Yes. Basically I got on them. I had a spaceship. I did the whole, like put a little bit everywhere and see what you

like and see what works for you. And so I had liked the spaceship portfolio situation where I could just pick one easy choice out of three or whatever it was. And off we go. Then managed to get into Sharesies with the code, loved the platform, got back onto that. I had a raise at some point as well to suss that out. And then when I was in my big dog consulting job, I went to a financial advisor and they looked at the things I picked and they said, you've actually picked beta shares and you can just do it with their own platform and you won't have fees and it will look like a bit more consolidated for you. That seems to be the way that your profile has already lent towards. You just split across two different platforms at the time. And I was

like, oh, okay, let's just consolidate. Interesting. Okay. Okay, cool. Love. Yeah, it was great. How fun. And how often are you investing? What does that journey look like? Currently, because I know that I'm making bank at the moment and I know that I'm living under my means, I'm trying to invest what looks like spare on my beautiful She's on the Money Budget spreadsheet. Iconic. And so currently my bank transfer automatically without me having to pay attention $2,000 a week sorry $2,000 a week a week a week a week a week okay sorry just had to check a week a week like you have $2,000 post-tax correct okay so like just to confirm you're you're investing about a hundred grand a year look I will say that number has gone up and

up and up i started i love this i'm obsessed with this like i just i think it is so cool no it's not unhinged see see people are like that's unrealistic and i go okay why is someone doing it then yeah how did we get here like if she can do it it's actually not that unrealistic like unrealistic things are things that nobody's ever done before but right now you're role modeling that for us and showing us exactly how you did. It might not work for some people and I get that and that sometimes doesn't feel good. Like sometimes I'm like, oh, I wish I could do that as well. And I'm not saying that this is comparable, but it's a good analogy. It's like you saying I'm planning an Arctic trip. That is just not going to work for me. I have two kids

under two. I am on a different life journey than you right now and that is okay. But for me to go to the Arctic right now is incredibly unrealistic. For some people in my community to invest even a hundred dollars a week is unrealistic and that is okay. But how cool is it that we get to learn about what people are doing so that when you have the resources, you've already got the education. It's the habit that made it possible though, to your point is that, and I know you say it every episode, at least somewhere is that you get into just the habit of doing it and it's going to keep going. And being the behavioral science background, I know that habits matter. I know the environment matters. I set up the environment to invest and the amount is the

thing that changes. So I've been putting in a weekly amount for a few years now, and that was like $10 and that was it. And so when I had a bit of extra income, it wasn't, oh, well, now I am someone who invests more money. It was just, well, I'll just put it in a bit more this week. so I went back through my transactions to see how much I had been investing over the last couple of years because I thought that like I say it out loud two thousand dollars a week and that is you're like exactly but I look back through it and I go okay well actually this time last year I was doing a couple hundred bucks a week and then because I was earning more money and I didn't want to spend it on something else I just said okay well I'll just put a bit more into my

investment for now knowing that I can take it and stop it whenever I want and because I do work I'd be casually a bit contract I work in schools there's not a lot of work over December January so I stopped investing in December January because I was like I need that money to live I need to keep it here ready to go and then when I'm ready to turn it back on it'll go back on and so it was more just turning it on and it felt flexible it's the best example of what I try to literally preach every day and that's from little things big things grow and that feels really flippant like it can feel like sure Victoria and I always say just set it up set it up today even if you can only invest a dollar and people go yeah but that's not worth it Victoria and I go yeah but

it's not the dollar today it's the dollar tomorrow like because if you've already got the habit you just turn the habit up a little bit and that's so much easier than starting because it's terrifying so say you start investing with a dollar this week a lot of people are going to go that's not worth it and I go so you could afford to lose a dollar and they go yeah like my coffee costs more and I go great start with something that you're not stressed about losing because if you've just saved your first thousand dollars and you're trying to make a decision on that entire sum of money it's terrifying oh it sucks I don't want to lose a thousand dollars and you're not going to lose it but like that's how it feels when you start your investing journey. So why don't we just start

small and then go, oh my gosh, I'm so silly. Like a dollar a week, what was I doing? I could have done more. I was just being conservative. So you double it and then you double it again. And very quickly that money becomes, I mean, not for everybody, because again, adore you, but unrealistic for most people, but that for you has become $2,000 a week. But had you waited until you had that cash flow, I promise you would have found something else for that cash flow. You would have been like, oh no, like I'm just going on my Arctic trip earlier. And like life has a very sneaky way of absorbing money. We need to put a system in place for ourselves. As somebody who has been very hesitant to spend, it's a nice way of feeling like I am saving because it's for future me

than just putting it in a savings account and knowing that it's not going to do as well and that obviously I will say came with a lot of the the learning of my own mindset and my own risk profile and my own way of living as well as the comfort of going okay well you can earn money and you do know the difference and you are taking a calculated decision between high interest savings account and what you invest in and what that looks like and I think part of that too is knowing that that $2,000, that's what I have put in for the last few weeks. And I'll probably will for a few more weeks. And then if things change, then I will put it down and I will still be an investor and I will still have the portfolio and I will still be contributing. And it won't be any worse than what

I was doing right now. And it's still going to feel good. So that was a really nice rollercoaster to know that it's also not failure when I turn it down. And in my head, I'm saying when I turn it down, I know this isn't how much I will sustainably invest forever because it's mad. And so I'm going to make hay while the sun is shining for this moment. Exactly. And I say that all the time. Like, baby, make hay while the sun is shining. Yes. Like, let's go. And that's how you've set yourself up. So tell me, you've done the same thing for your superannuation?

Yes. I, again, this was very nice advice from my brother when I first started working. He said, when I got my, yeah, my big full-time job, I know a man, good advice. Can you believe? He gave me that and he said, please put in just a little bit extra. And literally it was 20 bucks every pay and kept going kept going I realized that I technically then had been contributing to the first home super saver scheme when housing was on my mind so what an accident a happy accident it was so good and so now my super is at 218 000 at 34 uh-huh okay she's gonna be like real rich by the time you're retiring that compounds your retiring with what oh like at least two million dollars in super if not more so if you didn't contribute anymore but I'm assuming you're not

going to stop your contributions because that would be silly do you know what and this is also spoiler alert unhinged unrelatable content I looked at my payslip firstly please everyone should it's like the first thing we teach kids as well look at it see what it is understand what the words mean and I had a super refund and I thought hang on what's going on here don't love this. And that is how I learned that actually there is a cap that your super can get every quarter. And because I had had a really good quarter, my employer had paid me too much super and had had to take it back like 40 bucks or something. And I remember calling my brother and going, oh no, they've taken my super. What's going on? And he's like, there's no way you would

have hit the cap. And he had to look and he goes, oh yeah, okay, you're doing well. I was like, great. So it was one of my strategic choices. When I quit my big dog job, I stopped contributing voluntarily to super I still obviously was getting paid super and it is a nice thing in the fact that I am technically a casual employee is that my super is paid for me and I don't need to be keeping on top of that from like a contractor self-employed side of things so you're already ahead so and it's not like you're not investing at all like you're going I am going to be able to access this sooner have you thought about the difference between investing inside and outside of super or is that just what's happened? Like that's why you have the strategy that you have?

Yeah, it has happened quite, I would say accidentally, but through the gaining of education over the last few years and the choices that I've made, right? That's how I've obviously ended up here. I definitely have seen that I'm in a very privileged position in that I've had super for all of my working life, which I know, you know, we talk about my mom and some of my older friends have not had. And so I know that it's there and I want it to be really healthy for retiring. And then only in the last couple of years have I looked at my investments outside of super and gone, oh, hold on a sec. I could be on track to do the whole retire early investments, take myself up to the super age and then go on from there. And so it's only in the last

five or six months that I've gone, okay, well, what do those numbers look like in what I'm aiming for. Because before that, the goal, as I think we all do, we set the next achievable goal. My next achievable goal was hit a hundred grand in my beta shares. And that'll happen hopefully in the next couple of weeks. And then the next one from that is, okay, well now what are the numbers that I'm chasing for what a retirement early might look like? And that's the next thing when we talk about, you know, giving yourself an eye on what you know so far, that'll be my next chunk of learning. Yeah. And so to talk a little bit about the house thing, you said I bought a house and then unbought it. What does that mean? Oh my goodness. So because obviously I have been doing

well at work and I had this savings, I thought, what do you do when you have savings? You try and buy a house. That's very stereotypical of you. Exactly. And I thought that that's what I needed to do because that was a lot of the conversation. And I saw people around me really trying to buy their houses. And I thought, you know, I can be in on this too. I've got some cash. Yeah. I thought I could actually do this. I looked and I thought, you know, I've got this first home super saver that's been taken away that I didn't realize I had. I have access to this and maybe I do want to because I don't want to rent forever. So my partner and I looked at a few places, put in a few offers, didn't get anything, had a wonderful Zella mortgage broker, obsessed. Yes. Who did

you have georgia gorge gorge that was going to be my answer depending on who yeah whoever it was they were like i love them all but i just i like knowing yeah i truly did and she was very helpful in helping us understand what was available to us and and how to do it and we were looking for something where it would be comparable to paying rent so we weren't going to the top of what we could borrow we were keeping it very achievable we wanted to pay it off early we wanted to have it be a smart decision and not just a panic buy kind of moment. Of course. Everyone was talking about interest rates had gone a bit lower. This was like maybe end of 2024, maybe 2025. And it felt achievable. So we looked around, we found a few places. We found a place that was technically

new. No one had lived there before, but it wasn't actually off the plan because it was old enough or so. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And we liked it. It would have been a bit more of a drive. It was smaller than where we lived but at the place that we were renting was really really bad like they've had to tear it down bad since we moved out kind of thing so we were sick of the rental life we'd done share houses we'd done small places we were like okay this is gonna be our starter house off we go and we signed all the paperwork got it all going and then the building and pest came back and it was a bad build there were so many things that had to be fixed they all could have been fixed but we said well we're not buying a fixer-upper we're not that couple who

are buying something to renovate or flip it we want something that's comfortable yeah it's not for us and so we had to go through a lot of back and forth with the real estate because they were not accepting us withdrawing even though we had the condition in the contract we were within our right to do so the building and pest was written perfectly our conveyance was fantastic remember this it's me yeah oh yeah you it's the mojo dojo casa house it is the mojo dojo casa house just for everybody playing along at home i was like what is going on this gorgeous couple sent us a box of treats that said like the mojo dojo casa house on it and you sent georgia the cutest letter being like thank you for helping us to buy our mojo dojo casa house and then georgia

a couple of weeks ago it was like they no longer own the mojo dojo casa house it's gone and it was a nice way to think about it i will say for people like it really did turn into ken's house huh it was bad horses everywhere also i'm just so glad that you had the ability in your contract to have subject to building and pest and subject to finance because when people don't put those in and they're just really optimistic they're like it'll be fine like sometimes it's not fine and as you experienced sometimes even when it's in your contract people are still like oh no like you you can make it work money diarist you should make it work you should do x or y or z and you just go don't bully me into this this is not what I signed up for and like you would have got all

your deposit back because of that clause right absolutely absolutely we got it all back and they were really stringing it out and the only thing that actually yeah because they knew that there wouldn't be another buyer. They knew that once you were lost, trying to convince somebody else to purchase that house was just not going to happen. And they were still, they really knew that we were first home buyers. They were really putting the pressure on us that it had to happen, that we'd already agreed. The only thing that got it backed out at the time was that the real estate agent accidentally cc'd our conveyancer on an email where he basically admitted, this place is bad what am I going to tell these people to get them to sign the contract yeah I didn't know that

part that is diabolical in the best way yeah it was awesome and our conveyancer she was such a boss so she was just like oh I guarantee you your money will be back by the end of the week after this and it was amazing no we had a separate conveyancer but also still an icon I just know Layla who was my conveyancer would have loved every second of that and I'm sure your conveyancer So it was just like, no, no, no, this is why I get to do what I do. She had called me that morning and said, you're going to need to get a lawyer because they're not going to let it drop. We're going to have to take it to court.

And then two hours later, she called me and said, check your emails. You won't believe what they've done. Oh, I love live. Oh, yes. And you know what I say? Good things happen to good people. Look, it cost us in all the things that it costs you to buy a house, right? In paying the fees to get it all sussed out.

It cost me in that I didn't know and I know now that once you withdraw for the first time super saver scheme. If you give it back, firstly, you can withdraw it and hold it for a little while. It's like a year and then extension if you want, if you want to buy again, if you decide you're not going to buy and you put it back, you can never withdraw it again. So I have put it back since, which means I can never withdraw it. But basically going through that whole process taught us that we could buy a house if we want it. And again, it sounds very bougie, but it's one of those things where I think that we needed to know that it was possible to know that it was something we didn't want to do. And when we were going through the whole process and really understanding

what buying a house looks like, but then also what having a house looks like and the ongoing costs, but also for us, we're both people who like to travel. We like to move around a lot. We're currently in Melbourne, but we might not stay here forever. For us, it wasn't the freedom that we needed in our lives, even though it did have the potential for financial freedom down the track. And instead it was nice to sit down and go, well, actually, do you want to do this again? And my partner was like, I don't think I do. And I said, I don't think I do either. This really isn't what we want. And yes, that was colored by the fact that it was a really bad brilliant opportunity to be able to say, let's not do this again.

Yeah. And that really helped me with actually my investing goals because I went, babe, you're not going to have a house. How are you going to pay for accommodation when you're older? What are you going to do? So that's what I was like, all right. So yeah. Oh, I love that. yeah all right that's obviously something that you can't insure for this is going to be a great segue for me that's beautiful thank you it's also far more effective when you don't point out that you're trying to segue but do you have personal insurances if so what are they how does that work yes i have seen our besties at sky wealth oh you have i love because i have come on do you know what at some point someone's going to go victoria i am convinced that you only pick people who have

seen Sky Wealth. Like money, Darius, did we ask you? You absolutely did not. You absolutely did not. No, like it just happens to be that our people all have great days. I do feel like it's almost like being in the Girl Scouts where you start listening and you get your first badge where you just like get your shares as code and then you get your next badge where you've gone to like Sky Wealth and then you get a badge when you've gone to Zella and you start collecting the badges. Do you know what? I should start making badges. I'm going to send out badges. Thank you. I'd love that. That'd be great. I'm also going to start selling cookies. I would like both I've got the sweet treat provider so I'll hook you up you'll be fine

exactly I love this I love this all right so all of that is sorted and settled and how was that a priority to you because I feel like so many people they want their badge but they always put off getting their badge it was I think I had like a really nice motivational moment basically because I reached out to a financial advisor and Sky Wealth in the same kind of week I really took that hyper-focus and just ran with it and sort of said, what can we get done? And it was really helpful because I had been talking about, at the time I was still full-time employed, but I had been talking about going to contract or casual. And so they were really helpful when I had transitioned. I had started the process with them when I was in my full-time job. And then as I

transitioned, they were able to change the quote for me. And so I have life insurance with them. And I also, because of the way that I was working and I will be coming up for my yearly review, so it'd be nice to go over it with them again because of the way i was working i didn't qualify for income protection because my income was about to ask yeah yeah so they explained to me which i think was really nice the education piece of it all they helped me understand i have trauma insurance so when different things happen i'm entitled to different payouts depending on what things happen and they probably bumped your trauma up because you have no income protection and kind of made sure that you had policies like your life insurance policy they've probably

ensured that you can potentially claim on it for terminal diagnosis as well which obviously is not something we want to have to talk about but like that's why it's important to not just take the first answer and because so many people might have been in your situation and been like I can do it myself and you go yeah great like you're a smart individual I have no doubt you could go through this process yourself. But so many of us just stop when we get a decline that says, oh, no, sorry, you can't have income protection. And then you go, right, well, I'm absolutely up the creek without a paddle. And there are just so many things that we can do that put you in the best possible position still. I mean, your advisor probably would have said, money diarist, we would

love for you to have income protection. And if your circumstances change, please call us and we'll try and implement that. But here's what we're going to do instead. I love that they've done that. Money, Doris, that's a good money habit. What's your best money habit? My best money habit, I think it's just looking at my money. And I know this is a slippery slope, okay? So I don't want to look at it too much. I don't want to become fixated on it. But the more I see it, the more I like it and the more I care about it. And it's just understanding as somebody who wanted to avoid money a lot, it's just becoming more familiar are with it. And I think too, because I know my money in that, you know, I know how much I pay

for rent. I know how much I pay for bills. I know how much it costs me to exist because I know that number. It means that when I'm looking to buy something new, I'm already thinking about, is this more expensive than last time? How can I get this cheaper? What can I do? And so then everything else flows on from there. So the comparative shopping, the shop backs, the points hacking, like the everything. That never leaves you to be clear. Like I always had in my head that you know when I'm out of debt I won't have to you know shop on Facebook marketplace or when I'm out of debt and I have money I won't have to always look for things on sale and like I remember just like telling myself this narrative of like you know when I'm in a better financial position

this is what my life will look like my queen I'm not paying full price still have I got the money in the bank at the moment yes and I'm so grateful I do and that's actually where I would like it to stay I am not paying full price if I don't have to like it's now instead of being something I have to do it's something I get to do and it's like a game it just got better I think because I know it and because I'm across it it's knowing what all the dollars and I think one of the things that stuck with me from listening to the podcast when I was starting to get on top of my money it was the whole giving every dollar a job because it felt really scary firstly to spend money but also saving money I was like what's it for I don't know and so when it was for a house it made sense

when now it's when it's for investing it makes sense even now when I'm hesitant to spend I'm a buckets person I have my buckets and that's the job of the dollars so when I have to spend for something you know my dog's been wandering around he is my greatest liability so when it's time to buy him things he has his little college fund and that's what the money is for so it feels okay yeah we call it the college fund I'm obsessed so that's been really helpful and knowing that as well the other thing I think that is actually really really helpful is that my partner and I to have very separate finances. Like we don't grocery shop together. Everything is separate. What? Yeah. And you live together? Yes. How do you not grocery shop together if you live together?

Like who's buying the olive oil? Well, I've lucked out because he's been doing it lately. That is a money win for me. That is the biggest money win ever. Yeah. We don't cook together. We kind of share food, but not really. And it's actually really nice because one, we have different like dietary preferences. Two, it's one less thing to worry about in your day. You don't have to check in with someone and go, are you home for dinner? Should I make leftovers? What do I do? What do I have to take care of? And I think that already is a money win because it means that we don't get into the habit of going, well, I can't be bothered cooking, but it's my turn. So I'm going to buy something. And it means that we go halves on takeaway when we do want

takeaway. And it means that if I'm having a cheap week, I can eat ramen three days in a row and no one's going to tell me off. So it's really, I'm really happy for you. That would never work in my household never but that's like that's the beauty of our circumstance in that you know we work we travel a lot we're separate individual people who like can make that work we don't have kids and so it's really nice to just I think we understand our lifestyle so much that we can optimize our money in the same way I love it and like yeah when I say oh my gosh that would never work for me like it's just so cool that it works for you that's I promise not coming from judgment no it's good but like I feel like as time goes on and like life changes and should you decide

to change your life circumstances or like you had children like it obviously changes again because like I'm consistently thinking okay what's for dinner and I think that's why I am so obsessed with my leaf spoon because it's taken that mental load away but I'm also just thinking about the next meal I have to cook because I have a kid who eats food now yeah and it needs to be or from my perspective I want it to be purposeful I want it to be nourishing I don't want him to live the way I was living before I had him which is I will just eat toast again like and that's not because I couldn't afford it don't get me wrong but I'm just such a creature of convenience and like I get so distracted by work and so distracted by what I do that like food was never the priority yeah and

like even now my husband and I think it's such a win and I think that you would like this such a when there's leftovers in the fridge, not for us, but oh my goodness, we can feed the leftovers to the kid. He's got a good meal. Steve and I will eat toast. Like we got out of jail for free. Like that's a win sometimes when we're really busy, but also like budget win. Like we don't do that. Like even when we were younger, it's your night to cook or you have to go pick something up. Like we'd both be like, well, what are you feeling? What's in the fridge? Like we were happy to kind of eat whatever's there. Don't get me wrong. I love Uber Eats. Love it. But it was never the default. Like the default was what's quick and how do I get it cooked and done and on the table

in record time. For me, looking back as well, I didn't cook a lot or have very good food growing up. So it was never a priority. But what it's meant now is that because I'm the one who cooks for myself, it's like, well, there's something I think I'm going to like. I'm going to have a go at cooking it. I cook a lot more than I used to. I'm happy to try something new and it doesn't matter because no one else, like if I'm cooking and he's around, I'll be like, Hey, do you want some of this? Do you want to try it? Sometimes he's like, no, if we're doing different appetites, so you're trying to eat in a different way for a little while, or, you know, we'll cycle through the meal boxes sometimes and he'll have leftovers from his Miley spoon and he'll be like, do you

want a bit of this? No worries. So it's nice to feel like we're making our own decision in that regard to and then being able to like enjoy the extra bits together oh totally and like just talking about food still if I want to change my diet it's like a whole house conversation because like well if I don't want to eat those things for dinner or I want to do something else and this was really bad when I was going through a period of time where I had heaps of intolerances and my gut was really unhealthy and really unhappy and I was like I'm cutting out gluten which then impacted what I was cooking for my husband like that yeah that's just a lot of mental energy that you don't have yeah don't need it so what are you not so good at what is your

worst money habit my worst money habit I think it is still being hesitant to spend on things that really just just spend it and be done with it a little bit yeah okay it frustrates me which I think is why it's a bad habit because it doesn't make me feel good it's not like a bad one where I'm like, I got too much Uber Eats, but I still feel kind of good about it a little bit. This is like a really frustrating one. So for example, you know, I had a friend come over, we were going to do a little movie day and I was like, cool, we'll look for the film. It wasn't on a streaming platform and we could buy it on Prime. It's like five bucks. And clearly, as we've established through this money diary, I can afford five bucks. But I was like, oh,

but that's like, why would I do that? And how dare they? And I got really frustrated about having to spend that. And spoiler alert, I should have just looked harder because it was on YouTube for free. but I had to like it's not the point thank you I had to tell myself like this is a very normal thing to pay for this is a very nice afternoon you're going to have and this is not something that you need to worry about it's five dollars and it's okay it wasn't you in your home on your own being like oh I just want to watch this movie and then you're just like individually like buying heaps of movies and watching them that way like I get that I really do get that and I think that goes back to your money story where you don't feel like that's acceptable actually that's a really

good point that's a great connection I hadn't quite gone as like full into and I think that's exactly it it's those little things where I sometimes have the tendency to feel disappointed that I spent it but then I look at it and I'm like no it's okay and this is why I think giving a dollar a job helped because it was in your budget for your entertainment for the month it was in your budget for spending time with your friends it was in all these things you were allowed to do that enjoy it and move on yeah and I think that that's where we do sometimes need to go oh this small thing is so annoying like and you don't second guess it those small things are usually the things that are coming from your money story because the bigger things are the things that

you've actively tackled because like you probably haven't sat down and been like oh the little like incidental things are the things that are actually getting me wound up the most where's that coming from what's going on and like too many times I've seen it come back and people say exactly that and then I go hey when you're growing up and you didn't have much money did your mum maybe yell at you because like it's not just five dollars money diarist it adds up and they go wow how'd you even get the tone right um and like it really does come from the little voice in your head that's probably crucifying you for something that now is so easy and not a problem but used to be a really big problem yeah definitely i've loved this thank you so much i would ask you you know

now that we've spoken today what grade would you give your money habits but at the start you gave yourself an a and i just don't think we could go from there and you really justified it well you said because i'm making good decisions and doing what i can and i will still learn but like i'm doing literally everything that I can. And I just, I think that's so beautiful. What would it look like if you were an A plus today though? I think it would be a little bit of a clear next goal. So like I said, I'm about to hit my investment goal. So then it's understanding what is the next one and planning for that. So I don't have a little limbo in the middle where I'm like, what is this for? What's going on? I think that it would be nice to have a bit more of a

plan timeline wise. And that's what I'm starting to come around to, to go, okay, what does this look like in terms of, you know, if we are talking about retirement, which is wild, what does that look like? And how do I break that down into a more manageable timeline to do that? And what else do I want to achieve as well? Because I think that a lot of those milestones, like marriage and kids and buying a house, taking a few of those off my plate is very nice and going, this doesn't align with the things that I want. But that also leaves space for like, well, what do I want on my plate instead? Now there are some more possibilities. Yeah. There's space on the plate for another side. Which one are we going to pick up?

Exactly. That's so exciting. Money Dirst, I have loved this money story and just getting to know you and you are clearly very vibrant, very bright, very switched on. Like I'm obsessed and I'm just so grateful that you're in my community and that I got to chat with you and share this journey with our community because as unrealistic as $2,000 a week is for so many people like how motivating yeah thank you for giving us that thank you for helping me get it obsessed oh I wish we had more time today but thank you so much it has been an absolute privilege thank you the advice shared on she's on the money is general in nature and does not consider your

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