She's On The Money - Is My Landlord Even Allowed to Do That?

Episode Date: December 5, 2024

Ever thought, 'Is my landlord allowed to do that?'? Well this Friday, we’re diving into that question every renter has asked at some point. From bond dramas to boundary-pushing behaviour, we’re unpacking your rights as a tenant and how to protect yourself when things get tricky. But that’s not all—this episode is packed with money dilemmas, like navigating financial curveballs right after buying your first home and figuring out what to do when your partner’s business starts impacting your own finances. Plus, we’re celebrating listener wins (a $14 cast iron cookware steal!) and sharing broke tips to make your festive season merry without busting your budget. Tune in for real talk, smart advice, and a big dose of Friday fun! The book we’ve all been waiting for—The Business Bible—is finally here! This is Victoria's ultimate guide to levelling up your hustle, career, or big biz dreams. Grab your copy here. Join our She's on the Money community...Instagram and Facebook Group Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money. She's on the money.

Hello and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast that makes personal finance fun, especially on Fridays. It's our favourite day of the week because we get our little team together and celebrate you, our incredible She's On The Money community. As always, Miss Jessica Ricci is going to be sharing our favourite money wins. She's got a few from the community that she's rounded up. Miss Bec Syed, she's going to be sharing her favourite broke tips. And we're getting to answer a money dilemma,

which this week is all about your landlord being dodgy with your bond. And then, Jess, I know you're excited about that one. Yes, I've got to unleash. And then we've got something that you slid into our DMs about, whether you should be worried if your partner has invested in a business with no contracts. This is also a very juicy one. Spoiler.

Yes. They're both equally juicy. I love the juicy stuff that you guys slide into our DMs about. Like, absolutely. But before we get there, my loves, how were your weeks? Week? Really good. I've started.

Week? Really good. Actually, week? Yes, very good. No, I got an iron infusion just the other day, which is like, it was weird. I won't go into too much detail. You didn't get any staining on your arm? No staining.

They did warn me. They give me so much anxiety. When I was pregnant, they were like saying I might have to have an iron infusion. And I'm so scared of like getting a mark on my arm. Yeah. Well, like they said, it's quite rare. It's just that the iron and I could see like those little tube of iron that they put in. It's like very, very dark brown, which is so weird.

It is so weird to see them put it metal directly into your blood. Oh, I don't like it at all. Sorry. I do not like it at all. No, I love it. I love it. It was just a weird experience. But also, like, I think the worst part of an iron infusion is that,

bless, bless, bless, I love GPs. I love my GP. Yeah. I love her so much. But having to be in conversation for 14 minutes with someone that, you know, for me. It was only 14 minutes. It was only 14 minutes.

This podcast is like half an hour. Yeah. Well, I Googled, like, it was, like, meant to be four hours or something. But anyway, they did it really quick. So it's, like, 14 minutes at my GP somehow. I don't understand that at all. That's a good deal. Do you feel better now you've had one?

It takes a couple weeks to just kick in. But at the moment, it's probably a placebo, but I feel like I probably do feel a little bit better. Yeah, okay. You know? I love a placebo effect, though. Yeah, I know. Like, if you gave me a Smartie and said it was medication and it would help me, I'd probably fall for it. Totally.

So I'm all good with it. The brain is so powerful. So, yeah, that's basically my week. honestly not too much else just had an iron infusion yeah get into the christmas spirit too which i'm sure yes ricky is also doing oh my gosh i've been listening to christmas carols for like four weeks but if you're not following us on instagram we're doing our 12 days of giveaways again it has just kicked off it's just kicked off and you guys there's some really really good stuff that you can win so if you're not following us on instagram you're gonna want to be because

because every day for the next 24 days, every other day, we're giving away a little prize. Which is really fun. And we have done this for a couple of years now and we get so many beautiful brands who are like, no, we'd love to work with you. It's actually so fun. And also I just love giving gifts. It's my love language and I get a whole month of it. Especially this time of year, we know times are tough. So whether it's something for you or whether you want to give it as a gift to someone yourself, we've kicked all of our favorite brands. You'll recognize so many of the names for things. Oh yeah, because they're already all over our social media because I am a paying customer to most of these brands. Yeah. So get on over there, you guys. It's good. I love

it. I feel like, is it just me or did everyone get in the Christmas spirit early this year? You know what's crazy? We were talking, was it us? We were talking about this. We are always talking, so it makes sense. The Christmas stuff coming out before Halloween. Yes. You know that I love Christmas, right? Like I am not one to be a Grinch. No. But it meant that we were effectively spending a quarter of the year. It was three months. Three months. Prepping for Christmas. True. That is crazy commercialist. And again, not that I can talk. I put my tree up at the start of November, but whatever. I feel like anything beyond two months is really pushing it. You know what I mean? I felt the same. And this is such niche content. But last year,

there was this candy cane pillow that I really wanted. Right. Remember, I couldn't find it anywhere, Jessica. This was important to me. And I thought this year I'm going to get it because It's from a store where it releases every year. So, like, it's an evergreen candy cane pillow, right? I missed it because it came out at the start of November. No. But, like, what are you guys doing? What are you doing?

The start of November, I think, is, I mean, that's Christmas. Yeah, but it came out in October and, like, it was sold out by the start of November and now it's December and I still don't have a candy cane pillow. She's still candy caneless. What? This is the biggest first world problem I've ever had. Is it shaped like a candy cane? Yes, it's shaped like a candy cane.

I was going to say we'll make you one, but I guess it's very hard to do. Do you know what? The shape is very. I don't even want it anymore. You know what? Yeah. I don't even want it. I don't even need it.

Out of principle. Oh, my gosh. Well, have you found, maybe to cheer us up a little bit, a cute little review for us this week? We do. This week, we've got another five-star review to share. Bec, what is it? Okay, so this one comes from Laura.

She says, hey, guys, been loving your recent podcast eps and would be interested in hearing your advice on something. I just purchased my first property a few weeks ago and now my work has made my role redundant. I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm worried about the adjustment to paying my mortgage and bills combined with unexpected unemployment. Do you have any pointers on my situation or ways to budget when I'm not receiving an income for an uncertain period of time? Thanks so much. That is so dodgy of a business. This happened to you, Jess. Redundant right before Christmas. Not from here. Not from here. Like, sorry, just to preface this. Yeah. But yeah, I got made. It seems to be going around. Someone said in the money wins, money losses thread as

well this week that they got made redundant. Who is making people redundant at this time of year? I'm sorry, but that's a big move. The audacity. I know. 100% it is. Yeah. I remember I got really stressed and I didn't have the feeling of a mortgage in addition to my normal bills. So I totally get it. That would have sent you for six. Oh, I would have been off the edge of the cliff completely. So I understand how stressful it is. I would just say, if you haven't recently reviewed your budget, if you don't have a budget, go get a need one. I've got one for you for you on our website. 100% go to the freebies page. It's really handy, but you just need to figure out what is the

absolute barest minimum you can spend to live. So rent, bills, groceries. Then once you figure that out, can you pay your mortgage? If the answer is yes, I would still cut back on all of your discretionary spending if you can, because you're going to want a buffer. Because the problem with being made redundant is you don't have the luxury of knowing you've got another job coming. So you could hopefully, fingers crossed, you get one really soon. But if the market's tough, it could be weeks, it could be months. Better to like tighten it up now, I reckon, and ride it out if you can. If you can't pay those things, easy jobs, Uber Eats Delivering, Deliveroo, Amazon Prime, like those jobs that you don't really need a qualification for that you can just pick up.

100%. In fact, Jessica, this isn't related, but next week I have an episode dropping, which are festive side hustles. So things that you can do to earn some extra bank during the holidays. So things like air tasker and just jobs that you're able to pick up. And to be honest, if you invested the same amount of time that you were working, like let's call it 38 hours a week into this, I can almost guarantee that you'd be able to cover a minimum wage job. Like we're not going to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, but by you doing like some Uber Eats deliveries, by you, you know, hustling on Air Tasker and doing, you know, some courier jobs or whatever you can actually, you know, do physically and pick up, you'll be able to make

it through. Like it's not ideal because obviously you're probably going to want to do like job interviews and stuff. So it might be a bit of a hustle, but I feel like that's a good plan, like a backup plan to be like, okay, cool. Like I've been made redundant or even just, I'm really financially stressed. You could like do a little bit of a sprint, like not just you, but people listening who are like, oh, V, I'm really financially stressed. Like you don't have to have lost your job to pick up a few things on the side to get some extra cash in the bank to get an emergency fund to start next year off well. Yes. So I want to flip this over to you because you've been made redundant before and you didn't have any savings when that happened. No, exactly.

What happened? How did you manage? Tell us all the stories. Please don't say the answer is a loaf of brand honestly I think that so the the second I found out I was being very redundant I started applying for jobs but because I think I have spent I had spent like 28 29 years working in like entry-level jobs and then just just started doing something that I really enjoy which is video producing and I was only doing that for a year and so I feel like for me that life of not that that's a bad thing or anything but I just wasn't enjoying it that much my my life of like going back into hospo was not so far out of reach for me I was really kind of scared so I think for myself I would advise if I if I did it all over again not to be driven by my ego and just be like

I'm gonna apply for jobs at the pub or jobs in yeah all of those jobs just doesn't have to be forever right it doesn't have to be forever exactly it's just if even if you have like a few days where you're working behind the bar just until you every other day you're applying for jobs maybe going to interviews all these other stuff just just do something in between if you can start tomorrow working as a kitchen hand at a cafe or at a pub or whatever 100% then just honestly do it that's not to say like when I say I'm driven by my ego it's not to say that those jobs are necessarily bad in any way but I feel like once you got to this like dream role of being a video producer you're like I don't want to go back like I don't want to go back to what

I was doing before, but I feel like so many times, and like I saw this when I had my financial advice business and these things would happen to clients occasionally. And I feel like we fall into this mentality of assuming that that's the trajectory that your entire life is on. Like, oh, Bec, you've been made redundant. What are you going to do now? And the reality is like, oh, I can find the job that I really want, but like, I can fill my time. And I feel like if someone had sat you down and said oh Bec like you could just take a job at the pub and it's not forever I feel like so many times you do feel like you're going backwards even though that's not the reality because you're like oh I'm gonna go quote backwards it's not back to a worse job it's

just back to what you knew and started doing maybe less financially less financially you know beneficial I suppose while you're applying for new video producer jobs yep exactly we can still get money in the door and I think that that's one of the most I don't know I think it's this is you know probably a lot and I like that they're asking questions now in um in reviews but like I'm going to spend a lot of time on them aren't I I think that's one of the best features of people who are good at money that's this idea that no job is beneath them yes like this idea that oh if you know the proverbial hits of hand I'll just go work in a warehouse like Jess you did the same thing beck i know you do the same thing and i absolutely would do the same thing to make sure that i could

pay my way like i'm not the type of person who's like oh i won't do that i'll get my hands dirty a job's a job totally and i think that that mentality is gonna make you feel more secure as well like oh well in that case i am very privileged to be completely able-bodied i can just go grab a job like i'm not hindered by that and so many people are and i think that just having a body that means I can go and work in a warehouse is a bloody privilege. So I think that, you know, it is probably not what you want to hear, but find something to fill the time, find something to fill the space and your wallet, and then go and find another dream job that doesn't make you redundant next time. And it's not your fault. I remember when I got made redundant, I just felt really

shit about myself and it's not on you. There's so many factors that go into that. So don't let that get you down or give you imposter syndrome when you're applying for new jobs, because I'm sure Oh, you're really great. And it's never about your competency. Actually, I've got a question. Bec, what job were you made redundant from? Video producing. Yeah, and what's your job now?

Digital content producing and also video producing from the side. Oh, okay. So you're still doing it. So you basically upgraded. Yeah. And it wasn't because you were bad at your job that you were made redundant. It was just like the business structuring. Exactly, because I came back to the same place.

Exactly. Yes, even. Just with a little bit of a pay rise and a better job. Exactly. Ten out of ten. but I think that that's important to put on the table too because you're right Jess like so often you're like maybe it was just like and your brain's awful like your brain is the worst thing to you your brain's going to be like they concocted this massive plan to have bulk redundancies at my

job because I'm so bad at it and they just didn't want to tell me that's how my brain would have worked so I think that we need to just kick that out anyway I also while we're here I was laughing because I got an email notification the other day and I screenshot it to save it for this episode because it was, you've just received a five-star review on Cheese on the Money. And I was like, excellent. Yeah, but what is this?

I don't have my Apple review, like, notifications. You can't get notifications for that. It was on Google. Oh, cute. You're on Google. Clever. You're on Google. And I'm assuming what happened was this person, Stephanie,

I'm going to read it out because it was so kind, but I'm assuming Stephanie just doesn't use Apple and was like, oh, I really want to leave a review. And I love that. So if you're not on Apple, you can also leave a Google review. That is so cool. Anyway, so Stephanie, she left a Google review and it says, Obsessed, obsessed, obsessed.

She's on the money has truly changed my life in a way that I didn't think could happen. Victoria, Jess and Beck are the most beautiful girls and I absolutely adore listening to them every single morning. Thank you for your tips and tricks. You have helped me move away from Afterpay, ZipPay, my personal loan and now i'm able to save and i have a little investment too just listen to five minutes of any of their podcasts and you'll be hooked p.s i'm obsessed with money diaries oh

thanks stephanie isn't that sweet so sweet but also like i'm obsessed with money diaries too queen like they're my favorite episode of the week because you just get the pervy deets yeah like how often are you sitting at brunch beck and you're sitting next to someone and you're like I wonder what they earn. I wonder what they spend. What's in their bank account? Maybe other people aren't thinking this way at brunch, but I am. And I just think how much of a privilege is it to sit down

and somebody genuinely be like, oh, I'll tell you what I earn, tell you what I spend, I'll tell you what's in my super, tell you what's in my savings. Oh, this is how I can afford my house. Be for real. But also congratulations for getting away from Afterpay. Yeah, that's amazing. Oh, the clan.

She moved away from Afterpay and ZipPay, but Kwanah falls into that. Same, same. Oh, side note too, this is a rogue episode, I do apologise. I saw that multi, you know how I've been on my multi-level marketing train? Like a month ago and I haven't spoken about this at all since then because I've been trying to keep a lid on it but it's coming back. It's just, it's coming back.

It's inside of me. Multi-level marketing company Monet, which we've talked about on here, they've started offering Klana. Oh! Oh! Oh, it's just like they, I think they had a little board meeting and they sat around and they said, hello, Jessica, how do we become more toxic? And we were like, ah, yes, yes, we're going to get buy now, pay later.

Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. And so now all of the Monet girlies are like, you can start your business by taking out a clan alone. Oh, I don't like that. That makes me nervous. I know, same.

Only, anyway, there'll be more MLM content to come up, but for now, let's talk about something more positive. Miss Jessica Ricci, what are your money wins and confessions from our community? All right, I'm going to rapid fire them, ladies, because we've been yapping. First one I've got is from Hannah. She said she put $20 per week away every week since last Christmas. And now she's got $1,000 to spend this year on all things Christmas related. Just a very smart tip. I know that obviously a bit late now for this Christmas, but once we hit 2025, good Lord, start putting your 20 bucks away, people. It really adds up. Next, I've got a money win from Ashley who said she updated her house and contents insurance

and she got higher coverage, but she's saving herself 30 bucks a month because she switched companies. Money win. And also was worth looking, wasn't it? Absolutely. It's that time of year, people. Renegotiate your deals. Next, I've got one from Jess who said, my partner proposed.

I love that. I just love love. Congratulations. That's so exciting. She said they were on a trip to Tassie and they managed to get free flight upgrades, free chocolates, a bottle of champers, and two framed photos for half price. She said it was such a lovely trip and all of the extra freebies made it really special. That's really sweet.

I love that. Tasmanians, they're just really good people, you know? Oh, yes. The best kind. The best kind. I've only met good ones. Yeah, exactly. Next, I've got a money win from Adriana who said she's just discovered the ATO app.

I don't know how because Victoria raves about it. But it's because I think you guys hear it and you're like, V's so uncool. I'm not doing the ATL app. You guys are delulu. You tuned out. Well, you need to get on it. Now you come crawling back, don't you?

There you go. Adriana says she's been adding her work travel deductions as well as other ones as she spends them. She's already got $1,000 in deductions that she definitely would have forgotten about by the time next tax time rolled around. Money win. See? See?

Take my recommendations as gospel, guys. We should just be listening. Next, I've got a money win from Kelly who said a friend generously gave me some school uniforms and wouldn't let me give them any money in return. I feel like I remember my mum's friends doing that for us. If your kids grow out of it and you're not going to use them again, pass them on. The same friend also offered to let her park at her place for free when she travels in lieu of airport parking. Oh, that's so nice.

Yes. Because parking is so expensive. Crazy expensive. And lastly this week, I've got a money win from Rhiannon who said she went to the dump shop, which I kind of forgot existed. The dump shop. So you know how you have your local tips? Yes.

You know, a lot of the tips will have stores where anything that's, like, decent. So a lot of people will clear stuff out in hardware-ish that's still good. I didn't know that. Here we go. So if you – Oh, this is a broke tip. Yeah, if you send something to the tip.

Look at the little crossover happening here. It's like the Suite Lives on deck. If you send something, like, decent quality to the tip, they'll often pull it out and put it in the tip shop, which is kind of like an op shop and things are like crazy cheap. What are you doing putting things in the tip if they don't need to go in the tip? Oh, I completely agree. Oh, you're making me mad.

Must be really common. So Rhiannon went to her local one and she found three pieces of cast iron cookware. Oh my gosh, money win. They were having a 50% off sale so she got all three pieces of cast iron for $14. $14. Oh my gosh. That's so good. Cast iron cookware is like hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

It's really expensive and it's the kind of thing. It's what I asked for for Christmas. is that yeah I asked for a little like I asked for one I've asked for one pot for Christmas like that's why I've been like so I was just wondering could I please have a Le Creusier pot and my husband's like you want me to buy kitchen stuff for Christmas and I'm like no he doesn't get it I was like well he doesn't and I also really like that he was like are you sure you want me to buy you like a kitchen thing for Christmas and I'm like one you're gonna probably fall off your chair when you go and purchase it because it's very expensive and two it's kind of for me like

Like it's not actually for the kitchen. Like I need this. Which color did you want? I actually haven't decided. So I'm tossing up. This is a very big decision. So there's their seasonal color, which is peach. Yeah, it's peach.

And Jess, it has a gold lid. Oh, stop. That's really cute. But also, do I go for something more classic like the ivory and like, you know, have it? Because you're going to have it for years. It's like you don't buy a cast iron pot and send it to the tip. But apparently you do. so totally oh I just bought just the orange one and I just I can show you like photos because

it actually is so much so much prettier in person than you could have yeah like orange pot it's like just kind of but it's like it's fun it's really really cool yeah but then also that's where I'm my head's at I'm like do I pick a color that's really fun because like oh anyway that's a very big oh yeah pot um dilemma Jessica what else have you got that's it but Brianna did say that as she was leaving the tip, she also found two bucks in the ground. Oh, that became powerful. Just a dollar. There you go.

Money win. See, as we say in the She's On The Money team, good things happen to good people. Absolutely. Exactly right. Exactly. I love it. Now, Bec. Yes.

Jess had a pretty good broke tip. I know. Sorry. Can you one up her? I'm going to try my best. So this is like Christmas gift related. Excellent. Oh, I like this.

She's themed it. Yes. So this first one comes from Rina, who says that. So this is like, I guess, a bit harder unless you are close by, you know, regional towns or places. You know, when you see those olive trees, those olive trees that are just like along the coast or along the roads. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the one in my lounge room that just died. Oh, yes.

That's a shame. I was over laughing at that. I forgot that you have to water them. I watered all of my other ones. And then my husband was like, oh, the olive tree is looking a little bit dire. And I was like, uh-oh. Oh, no. I didn't even know they could live inside.

Maybe they can't. Definitely not in Victoria's house. Maybe that's the issue, Bec. Maybe that's the issue. Well, I actually did this a few years ago with Liv, and we just picked all these olives off. And you can tell they're ready somehow, and I can't remember what the time was. You can Google it.

You can Google it. And then you just chuck them all into, like, literally like a salt brine, like a salt water situation. You leave it there for a few months. So maybe not for this Christmas, but – or even, like, I feel like it's kind of cute. Did you eat the olives? Oh, yeah, they were delicious. Oh, really?

A little clove of garlic. It was really, really good. So you can brine your own olives that way, just put them in a little like glass jar and put a little, I was going to say belt, a ribbon around it. Cute. I feel like the olive branches would make really pretty Christmas decor. You could make wreaths with them or garland down your table or something would be quite pretty. Or you tie them to the actual jar. Rail roads.

I feel like the railway always has, and this is probably more for like beautiful. Don't get too close to the railway. Okay. No, no, no. We're not doing that. I'm talking about the nature strip beside the railway. Like, Jessica, there's not trees on the railroad. Great, great, great.

And if there are, I'm concerned because the train would run into them, Jess. But they have lots of, like, natives along the railroads usually. And that's where I get a lot of my, like, eucalyptus for, like, table decoration. Forage, that shit. Yeah, foraged. Go back to your hunter-gatherer days and just gather, you know? Yeah, 100%. Preferably.

Yeah, that's why I said buy the railroad so you're not stealing it from some poor nonner's front yard or something. I can't cover. Bec's like, you can strip Nonna's trees. Yeah. What else have you got apart from olives? Oh, yes. Okay, this is in a similar vein. But Sam says that if you get a bulk, say, condiments, jams,

olive oils, alcohols, and you get yourself, like, little jars of, I don't know, mason jars or little, like, bottles, glass bottles, and you make a bunch of gifts to give to either, like, you know, Your teachers, your bosses, anyone, really. So it's like you made jam that you didn't have to make the jam. Exactly. And you can. You could take the credit.

You could. You could say. And then people would be like, this tastes exactly like Coddy's. And you'd be like, I'm just really good at jam. I don't know what you mean. Exactly. I'm really, really good at making jam. And even like olive oils, like a little olive oil thing.

Oh, my God, how cute. You could infuse it with something. You could. Like if you wanted to add a personal touch. Exactly. You could put some chilies in there. It could just look really, really cool. And I think, like, I mean, maybe it's because we're too adult-y now.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'm like, if I received a little thing of olive oil, I'd be stoked. So I think it's really cute. I think it's just a really cute idea. And then from myself, I found this one on Reddit. There's so many little subreddits that are, you know, frugal, broke, you know, all these things. I think, you know, if you're just wanting to have a browse on any old day

where you're just feeling like you need some help, have a look on there. But also they're quite entertaining. Like some of the things people are willing to do to save a dollar, not for me yeah totally you know what impressive content is impressive um well there's one that i found it's called buy nothing it's mainly in the u.s but you there are some places in australia i feel like it's going to take off in australia maybe like in the next few years hopefully but for right now you just chuck your address in and it'll try and find people around you who are either giving away or asking for something so it's like you know for example i found one

today that was like two new christmas bugs just give they're just giving them away you know so So it's like a community where people are trying to help each other out during Christmastime, either providing free gifts or asking for free gifts. And, yeah, it was really sad. There was a few people there that were like, you know, I have kids and I literally can't afford to buy them anything. That breaks me, but I also love that they're asking for help. Exactly, exactly.

And it's a community where people are wanting to help people like that. So I think, yeah, buy nothing right now. Not heaps on there for Australians, but it will hopefully. Lots of local Facebook groups too. But if more Australians find out via this podcast, it could become big. It could, it could, it could. You're doing the Lord's work. Thank you.

I like this. Thank you. And that was a good wrap. Long but good. So let's go to a really quick break. On the flip side, we're going to be talking about dodgy landlords, which is Jess's favourite spice of life. And we're also going to be discussing something that you slid

into our DMs about. This week we're chatting whether you should be worried if your partner's invested in a business but there are no contracts. So don't go anywhere. welcome back everybody let's take a listen to this week's money dilemma hi there have you got a money dilemma you just can't solve the she's on the money team is here to help every week we tackle your dilemmas both big and small to answer your most burning money career and life questions to get involved simply head to our website and leave us a short voice

recording and you might just find yourself on the show now let's take a listen to this week's money dilemma. Hi, she's on the money. I have an interesting money dilemma for you. My friend and I have been renting a house together for almost a year and we have just been issued with a notice to leave. We have come to find out through sources other than our real estate that the reason the house has not been renewed is because the house is being demolished. Our landlord has indicated that we will not be receiving our full bond due to supposed damage to the property and they require the bond to make the repairs. The house itself is quite old and requires a lot of work, hence why it's being demolished. But we have been really great tenants

and have looked after the place as if it were our own. It just feels wrong to be handing money over for this when we know the house will literally be knocked down after we move out. Is it right for our landlord to take money from our bond to supposedly do repairs, even when we know the house is being demolished? How can my friend and I approach this situation without losing our money? We would love your thoughts on this. Thank you. Oh, this is for Jessica Richie. This makes me angry. So first things first, keep in mind that laws and regulations vary state by state. So we're talking about VIC. Definitely head to your state tenant's website

or the consumer affairs website to get more information. But first things first, they have to actually tell you exactly what they're repairing. They can't just say, oh, we're keeping a grant because we feel like it. Ask them for an itemized breakdown of what needs to be prepared. Once they provide you that breakdown, you can review it. Hopefully some of those things will come under what's called regular wear and tear. So in a particularly old house, especially, you would expect for there to be wear and tear, for example, cracks in the walls or, you know, carpet that's peeling or pulling up a little bit. There are lots of things that would be considered normal wear and tear. And the older the house is, the more you can expect to be wrong with it.

The other thing that I would ask for if you don't have your own copies already is the photos from when you moved in. So there will always be a documentation of the state of the house at the time of handover. Some of those issues might have predated you or, you know, maybe the carpet had already started pulling up and you can refer back to them and say, hey, like, actually, that's what it was like when we moved in. And if you didn't want it to get worse, you should have fixed it then. Correct. Like you were aware that it was a problem. You continued to rent it out due to the age of the house, blah, blah, blah. So having that. I would not want to get on the wrong side of Jessica. No, same. Just don't be trying to do people dirty. Like this is why landlords have

a bad name. Not all landlords are bad, but some of them are sketchy AF. It's so true though. So get yourself that list, review it, figure it out. From there, did you know, at least in Victoria, you can claim your bond back without like actually having to go through your landlord. You can do it through the website the day you move out. And if they want to fight against that, they actually have to give a reason to VCAT. So you go claim your bond. Correct. My thought would be claim your bond back in full and then they've got to argue it and if the house is going to be demolished that's something that I would then bring up in a VCAT hearing and say like I know that sounds really scary like go to VCAT but honestly like it's there to or VCAT is the Victorian Civil

Administrative Tribunal and I'm sure there's an equivalent in whatever state you're in sorry I forgot for a second that they're different everywhere but like I know it sounds scary you can go to VCAT if you're in New South Wales too it just is going to be very unproductive and I don't recommend it. It's going to take you a while. It's actually going to do nothing. It's a long road trip. So don't take Jess's advice there.

But everything else she said, golden. Yeah. So I know that it sounds scary, like going to court or whatever, but those systems are in place to protect you. And if they're going to, I'm sorry, if they're going to knock the house down, you're not going to be repairing anything. Like that's ridiculous.

Are we not calling them out on this? Literally. Like, sorry, sorry, before we go to VCAT, I would be picking up the phone and be like, hello, Mr. Real Estate Man. And through my sources, can you just confirm, am I correct in thinking that this house is going to be demolished? Yeah.

Oh, yes, yes. So why are we fixing things if you're going to rip it down? Yes, yes. Okay. Yeah, 100%. Tell them you know. Like, let them know. I know.

And let them know that you're going to put up a fight as well. Because I think in my experience, unfortunately, a lot of the time, property managers and or landlords, you know, who have kind of tried to do me dirty, have often had the experience with... Unsuccessfully, by the way. no one can do Jess dirty no no no if I did something wrong by all means but like but also Jess knows she never does wrong so I don't think people should be punished for renting houses like that's so silly so I think sometimes just letting them know that you know your rights and saying

hey like I actually know that as per tenants Victoria I am legally entitled to xyz can often just be like a bit of a subtle way of saying hey my dude like I'm gonna fight you on this yeah and And it can sometimes make them go, oh, it's not just going to be an easy cash grab. Yeah, exactly. What would you do, Bec? Honestly, I would do everything Jess said. But also, I just moved out of this one house that was, like, going to be demolished. And the wall, like, it was ugly inside.

I remember. Like, holes in the roof. Like, the front wall, the front of the house was detaching. You could see the street from someone's bedroom. It was, like, really, really. But we were, like, we're not going to get up on back. Like, we're happy to let this one go. But it was going to be demolished.

We got the whole thing back without even getting rid of it. Yeah, because they were like, there's no point in getting rid of it. So it's like that would be so mean to keep that for your renovations. Yeah. So I think that I guess my only concern, and I don't know if this makes sense, but if they didn't find out from the landlord, it is possible the landlord will lie about demolishing it, like if they're like trying to keep it a secret because they didn't hear from,

you know, would that be an issue? Well, it could be. It could absolutely be. If whoever told you is willing to put it in writing though, then. But that's okay because guys, I'm an adult. So I called Consumer Affairs to ask myself. Obviously, I was going to do that. Like I read the PDS, I read the TMD, I read the instruction manual. If it comes in a box, I'm going to call Consumer Affairs. So we called Consumer Affairs and they said that to claim anything on the bond, you can request receipts. so not only do they have to justify it and give you a full breakdown of exactly why they need to keep certain amounts but if they said oh Jessica we need to keep $300 of your bond for this you'd

be like okay cool where's the quote like show me why it's exactly $300 you don't just get to guess and a lot of real estate agents aren't going to let you know that that's how it actually works because they're going to say oh Jess we need to keep $300 and you're going to go oh okay yeah they can't spend that money nor can they take that money from you without consent So if you say, no, you actually can't take that out of my bond. Sorry, they actually can't take it out. They have to escalate that through VCAT as Jess was talking about before. So I called for you and they said that if their plan is to demolish the house, they need to call Consumer Affairs themselves and have a conversation with them. So you would go back and say, no, actually,

like we've heard that the property is going to be demolished and hopefully they go yeah actually you're right complete like oh we didn't yeah complete issue on our end we completely forgot the real estate agent was just doing their job or the real estate agent might not have known because we're just going to assume the best of people right like let's assume the real estate agent didn't know because this is the landlord's plan and you've heard from their friend Barry at the coffee shop right so go to the real estate agent be like could you please just check with the landlord because I know that you're doing your job correctly by requesting this to fix this but I've heard they're knocking it down so like that would actually be fruitless waste of labor so

could you just check yeah and then if they have pushback on that be like okay cool so before we move forward could you please call and get some advice from consumer affairs because I called them and they said that you should do that and see what happens and then escalate like Jessica would the foundation of it all is you should fight for the money it's your money and like again the bond is there so that if something had gone wrong, if you had a cat and the cat had torn up the carpet, then absolutely the bond should be used to repair that. Unless they're ripping out the carpet, which case fight that. Exactly right. Like it's there to protect the landlord from damage. But if you have looked after the house, which is what you're saying you have, then really they should

have no claim on it. And importantly, that bond, while, you know, it's there to protect the house and, you know, there are some definite fair claims on using bond money. Yeah. Can't be used without your consent. Yeah. Remember that. So don't forget that they are going to have to come back to you and say, by the way, you're not going to get $300 worth of your bond back. At which point you go, no, no, no, that's not the case. Because I think so many times real estate agents frame it in a way that says, oh, by the way. Yeah. No, no, no. It's not a by the way. You have to ask me for consent to spend that money because even though it's in trust sitting over there, that's just to give you security that I've got the cash. Yeah. Doesn't mean you could just spend it however you

want. Also, receipts. Also, I could say that that's a really terrible quote and I want another option because you're technically still spending my money. It's not yours. Yeah. Important. Stick it to the man. Absolutely. Great advice, you guys. Thank you. Called Consumer Affairs for that one. We have got a DM this week. It's a little bit spicy. Are you ready? I'm very excited. Okay. Okay, okay, okay. So, hi, She's On The Money. I love the pod. Thank you. My partner invested most of his savings into the startup of a small business with a former colleague, which opened two years ago. The agreement is that they are 50-50 owners because

they put in equal amounts of money. I have a lot of concerns and it makes me really anxious because there's no formal contract between them. And when I ask, he can't tell me the plan for returns on his investment into the business. I also worry because they hardly meet or send formal documentation on how the business is doing. I feel uneducated on what this should look like, but no, it's not good. It's a touchy subject for me to bring up. And in the past, he's asked why it's my business, but I feel like it is absolutely my business because we are partners and I have shared financial goals for the future, such as buying our first home together. I would love to know what your thoughts are on this whole situation.

I don't know about the business side of things, but I just feel like this partner of yours might be gaslighting you a little bit. It's feeling a little gaslighting in here. It's feeling a little bit reminiscent of that production, gaslighting. I just think, like, even if it was a friend of yours, even if there was no, like, shared goals, shared financial goals, like literally building a life together with somebody kind of thing.

Even if it's just a friend and they're like being really, really dodgy about something that they're doing, a big thing they're doing in their life. You're like, hey, this feels weird. Like why are you not telling me anything? You know what I mean? I've literally done the same thing to Jessica before in the nicest way possible because she has her own side hustle and like has her own

influencer business and does a whole heap of stuff. I've like poked my nose in and been like, oi, when you said that, what did you mean? Do you know why? Because I'm caring about Jess because I want the best for her. And I'm pretty sure you're asking about your partner's business because you're like, hold on, are you going to be screwed over? Yeah, like you care about them.

Yeah, like it's not me going, I want some monies. Like it's me going, oi, you know how you said that? I probably wouldn't ever let that happen in a contract or I wouldn't do this or I wouldn't do that. And like you can take my advice and put it in the bin. That's fine. But if your partner is asking questions, it's usually because they care about you.

Totally. For so many reasons, there's so many layers and so many, I guess, yeah, yeah, yeah, just so many reasons why you probably should be in on this whole thing. Just a little bit of information might be nice. You don't need to be on the contracts. You don't need to be on the contracts. You don't need to be part of anything they're doing. You just need to literally be told something.

Yeah. What is even this, what's anything, you know? And it's hard, right? Because when business goes well, it goes really well. And when business doesn't go well, it gets real salty real quickly. And that's where you need a fallback plan. So before I start yapping about business stuff, Jess, what would you do? So there's two elements.

I think firstly, my thing with money is if you ever intend on having something be enforceable, like if you're putting money into something or lending money to someone and you need that to be enforceable to make sure you can get it back, an agreement should be in place. Whether that's a friend, whether that's a business, whether that's some type of loan for something else. Like if you are going, I'm putting money in and I need a guarantee on that in some way, you need to have a contract in place. For a business to run officially, there has to be some kind of document, like you would need an ABN, you would need to be potentially registered for GST. Like there has to be some kind of formal documentation. So either your partner's being

screwed and he's not being included on any of that, or he is and he's not sharing that with you. And either way, I view that as a problem. The other thing is you are absolutely entitled to know about it because having a business is going to be either an asset or a liability when you apply for that loan, depending on how that business is performing. That directly impacts your ability to qualify for a loan, assuming you're looking to purchase together. And therefore, absolutely beyond the fact that like your partner should just be sharing stuff like that with you, if you share finances or if they value your opinion in any way, like in my brain, there's no reason for them not to share that. The whole thing is kind of giving me sketchy vibes. And I

don't know if it's because your partner's being sketchy or he's being sketched out by somebody else but either way something sketchy is happening you know what I mean yeah a hundred percent and like I guess this comment is coming from me being a business owner I own two technically three businesses and all of them generate income and all of them sometimes require some big investments in one way shape or another and when that happens obviously I sit down with my team and we chat about what we need or how that works and like we brainstorm it. But one thing I do before I make that investment is I talk to my husband. Why? Because I feel like I just want to make sure that he knows I'm making a big money move and that he's aware of it. Not because I need permission

from my husband to do business, but like he's my partner in life. Like I am paying parts of the mortgage. He's paying parts of the mortgage and I'm making a decision that could impact my ability to generate income. And I want to talk that through. And so many times he's like, why are you telling me this? Or what's going on? Oh, okay. So you're going to hire another person or whatever. I'm often asking him these things, not for permission, but more validation that I'm on the right path. And I feel like that's a healthy way to go about things. Because if I'm going to go, oh, I'm going to hire another person. I'm telling my husband that my business is taking on you know another $70,000 income plus you know insurances plus tax plus whatever else like that's

a big liability and I want to make sure that I've got you know someone's like oh no you're like I've got no qualms about you making like it just makes me feel good. Because ultimately it could go wrong and like if you choose that example you could hire someone and that could tip you out like if the company wasn't super profitable it could tip you over into the negatives and that then impacts your cash flow, which impacts your ability to pay the mortgage, which impacts Kim. Exactly. And I think that that's where I kind of go, oh, okay. Like I thought everyone did this, but again, you might be like, but out. I mean, it's funny. I was actually talking to Brittany Saunders the other day. We recorded an episode together and she and her partner, AJ, worked

together and they are like a powerhouse together. Like they are so good. If I brought my husband into my business, I would quit five seconds later. I could not work with my husband. So like everyone works very differently, but I do think that open communication about money decisions, especially if you're a business, like a small business owner specifically, because, you know, the decisions I make inside my business are so impactful on my everyday life. Like, it's not like the business money is my money, but like, if I make bad decisions, I can't pull out money because you guys sure as hell are getting paid before I am. and so that makes me a little bit icky the other thing you touched on already Jess is

sorry is there not like an ABN registered yeah like so to start a business in Australia you need to register an ABN to register an ABN you're obviously going to have to pick a business structure it's clearly not going to be a sole trader because there's not a sole trader there's two of you so you would pick a partnership or you'd pick a business entity so you've probably gone through that you could do it yourself or you could have seen an accountant and they would have set it up for you but where is this documentation at a bare minimum because when you set up a business and there's more than one person even when there's one person involved you have to identify how many shares you're going to issue so like some business and you can pick

whatever you want by the way this is just like a real quick business like crash course but if you go and register a business in Australia the government will say how many shares do you want in this business and like my default is often 120 why because that's what my accountant said because you can split them up so like if there's two people we get 60 shares each and it means that if a third person gets involved we can like shuffle shares around it's like really it's a very divisible number yeah yeah yeah and like it doesn't change how much it costs to set that up but that's always just been my base of my businesses right but if you just went in you wanted one share in the business and great no worries but you might be creating a problem for

yourself in the future if a business partner like wants to buy in. Because like if I wanted a business partner to buy in, I might go, oh, well, I'll give Jess five shares, but I keep, you know, the 115. Does that make sense? So like you can split it differently, lots of different ways. But usually if you went into business with one other person, you might have issued two shares or you might have issued 120 shares and like have 60 each. Like where's that documentation? Because that's the bare minimum. Like that's not even like a shareholders agreement, which I don't think should be a choice, but is a choice. That's like just registering it. Where's that? Yeah. Like that should be a thing. Like, can you search the ABN? Like, and I know that your partner said it's

not your business, but, or does this business have a website? Can you go to that website and see what the ABN is and look that ABN up? Yeah. Like I know that that feels a bit pervy, but if you're genuinely worried, I'd be like, sorry, are you saying that you in, cause like to me being very cynical right now, are you saying that your partner got involved with the business and tipped half of his savings in and somebody else is in control and owns 100% of the shares. But he just gets some dodgy paperwork occasionally on maybe how the business is doing. Yeah. Because I was going to say that like if it was registered, for example, as a sole trader, like if his friend had set it up as a sole trading company and said, hey, mate, get on board. And your partner's going,

yeah, great. I'll give you the money. Let's do this thing. Yeah. Yeah. Great. We've put in the same amount. Like you might not know how that works. Yeah. But you haven't documented anything you haven't done. You haven't restructured the business to be not a sole trader. You haven't restructured the shareholders agreement or any of that sort of stuff, then like on paper, it could be quite easy for him to be screwed over. And I mean, I know that there's lots of logistics and documenting and it's not that simple, but like that's a significant risk, I would think. I agree. I agree. So we did ask the community, obviously. We said, should your partner's business investments be your business too? 76% of you said,

yep, we're partners. But 24% of you said, no, I'm selling our own money. I'm shocked by that. Yeah. Maybe it's like early days. Maybe they're like, oh, my partner. Yeah, maybe it's being viewed, but, like, let's use me as an example. I have a mortgage with my husband. I have a child with my husband. We're also married. I feel like that's the same as being de facto these days. But, like, does that change the dynamic?

Because to me it does. Yeah, definitely. Like, I've got responsibilities. If your financial decisions actually will directly or indirectly affect him, then that's fine. Exactly. Yeah, for sure. We also asked, would it worry you if your partner was invested

in a business like this? Surely everyone said yes. A little bit. It's nice. 94% of you said yes. It feels risky and unstructured. 6% of you said no, I'd trust them in the process. Okay.

You're more optimistic than I am. Oh, my gosh. Me being like, cool, so was it set up this way? Yeah. All right. So obviously I feel like we're kind of on the same page with the community. We then said, what's your two cents? First response, get a good accountant, which is really

true because your accountant can one, set that structure up if that was confusing when I was talking about how many shares I issued and stuff. Also, it's really important to talk about that because like, you know, I own all of my businesses a hundred percent, but I haven't always. So my mortgage broking business, I had a business partner for a while, but it didn't work out. but the reason it worked out, I suppose, in my favor was because I'd set it up properly from the beginning. And I also had a shareholder's agreement, which you'll need a lawyer for, but your accountant, a quote, good accountant will have a good lawyer that sets up shareholder's agreements. So you can go through that and structure yourself properly so that you aren't

screwed over. The next person said, going through a divorce now, I can say with confidence that you need to know. Completely, because that then, like de facto or married, that then impacts potentially the division of assets. Wild. Somebody else said, people need to be able to talk about money without getting touchy. You need more open conversation. We got another person say, I'm a corporate lawyer and I strongly, and she put four exclamation points in brackets. Really strongly. Really strongly suggest they document their arrangement. True. And that might mean that for starters, you're just putting it in an email yeah like and that could be like let's pretend you've then had this conversation with your partner yeah and your partner's been like oh maybe it's not you could

start with an email to your business partner being like hey just thought i'd pop this in an email i just want to document this do you want me to take the next steps to registering the business officially just so that you're starting to create your own paper trail so that if anything falls back on you can be like no no no remember this email i sent you where i said this is what we had and you agreed yeah you've got to be a little bit smart about it somebody else said he might be being defensive because he knows he's messed up oh that's true oh yeah but also don't take it out on the people it's kind of a dick I know that's so mean oh yeah no no but also sometimes if I make a mistake I get a bit defensive and then I have to check myself and be like oh sorry about

that um yeah oh sorry sorry sorry about that um someone else said I think it's only her business if they are getting married and joining finances? Well, I think that buying a house together sounds like they have shared financial goals. I don't think marriage for me is the bar anymore. Yeah, not necessarily. Not everyone gets married. Exactly.

We're never going to get married. Also, marriage is expensive these days. Yeah. I feel like so many of my friends are choosing, do I get married or do I buy my first house? Yeah. Like there's no, oh, we're going to get married and then we're going to buy a house.

It's all kind of like you're choosing the big financial commitment. Yeah. So I feel like, and also legally, living with someone de facto gives you the same rights. True. You just be like, I promise I'm commuting to you. I swear to God. I feel like I would prefer to try and get out of a marriage than a mortgage. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I know. Anyway, someone else said, it doesn't make sense why he wouldn't share the details on how the business is doing. shouldn't he be proud yeah and if it's not doing well like that's what your partner's for like you share things with good and bad like you help each other through yeah someone else said hello lawyer

talking gal here and then all in capitals with claps around it contracts are there to protect you amen um someone else said it's completely fine and normal to have separate investments So those, I guess that's a good summary of all the comments that were received. But I think it is a bit of a red flag that he doesn't want to talk about it. But also maybe he's just like, stop butting your nose in. Like, I don't know, maybe he just doesn't want input, which is totally okay. But like, hey, I don't want to give you feedback on it. Like, can you just make me feel like this isn't scary?

Yeah, communicate. Be like, I would rather you not give your advice in case that taints something in my mind. But I will give you the information. But just don't say anything. All your partner needs to say, if that's the reason, like why he's not saying anything. Yeah, and then there's me on the flip side. I'm like, so this is what I'm planning on doing, Steve.

And then he goes, yeah, okay. And I go, well, what do you think? And he goes, I said okay. And I'll be like, yeah, but what do you think? What's your advice? And he's like, you told me you don't want my advice. And I'll be like, hmm, that's correct. How is that?

But what do you think? I am the worst. I'm the worst. All right, guys. I feel like that was really fun. I feel like that was a good one. It was a good one and the previous one about the landlord was really spicy. I feel like we've had a good week of content and someone slipped

into their five-star review a question. I feel like that just adds to the richness. So be smart. Leave a five-star review with a question and it will get answered on the show, which is very exciting. But, guys, I think that is all we have time for today. But before we go, do you know what happened recently? What happened?

Could it be on theme in the business space? Oh, my gosh. It's almost like my fifth book, The Business Bible, came out, which is really, really fun. I know that that obviously you guys might be getting sick of my books at this point, but I'm not. So could you please just let me have this moment to promote the fact that my business book, which is arguably one that I am most proud of because it's just got so many juicy business stories and like helps you in, I guess, these situations where, you know, should

I have a contract? Absolutely, you should have a contract. I talk about it in my book. I have business diaries in my book. Anyway, I think that would be a really good Christmas present if anyone's looking for, you know, a Christmas present for a small business gal or guy this Christmas season. True.

I'll put all the information in the show notes, but that's it for me. I just wanted to shamelessly plug my own content. You're allowed. Absolutely you should. Available at all good bookstores and also online and it's probably on sale right now as well. It is. You can always find it on sale.

And honestly, would you be a She's On The Money girl if you weren't buying my stuff on sale? We are here for it. so many people are like oh i didn't want to buy it on sale i'm like thank you that's very kind please buy it on sale yes like i love that anyway have a good week guys we will see you bright and early on monday for a money diary bye guys bye 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 authorized representatives of MoneySherpa, PTY, LTD, ABN, 321-649-27708, AFSL 451-289. Thanks for watching!