She's On The Money - Let's Hear it For New York!

Episode Date: October 12, 2023

She's on the Money are in New York! Keep your eyes and ears open for all the special US content coming your way! Trust us, you cant miss it. Our Money Dilemma this week is about job hopping, is it a turn off to other employers? Is it safe to do in the current job market? The girls have A LOT to say on this, and if you're looking for extra info, check out this episode. Then, we're unpacking the ethical dilemma on lying on your rental application to secure a much needed roof over your head. 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 of millennials who want financial freedom. Today, my friends, it is Friday again, which means it is time to get our team together and celebrate you, our incredible She's On The Money community. Today, we're going to be sharing our favorite money wins, or Jessica Richie is. I'm going to be sharing Bexbrook tips because she is away today, and we'll be helping to answer a juicy money dilemma, which this week is all about job hopping and whether it's safe to do so with the current job market. I feel like you've got a lot to say about this, Jessica.

We're also going to be unpacking something that you slid into our DMs about. This week, we're debating whether it is ethical to lie on your rental application to increase your chances of securing a property, which I also think, given you worked in recruitment and then you worked in real estate, you're going to be spicy today, Miss Jessica Ricci. Literally, I've got thoughts on everything. All right. Well, tell me, first thought of the week, how has your week been? Oh my God, so good.

Guess what? What? We're in New York. How exciting. Not right this second. We are pre-recording because I think... Because we're not idiots. When this drops, we will be on a plane.

We're going to be flying to New York while you're listening to this. So excited. Hold on, hold on, hold on. The upgrade. Jessica Ricci. Guys, we flew business. We're flying business thanks to our friends at Virgin and Velocity. They have helped us hack our points.

So we have flown business class, the whole team. Remember like two weeks ago when I flew on my first business class flight ever? And now you're doing your first international business class flight. Who are you? I am dying of excitement. You are a woman with really hard expectations to meet moving forward. Oh my God, am I ever. I'm so pumped.

We're going to have the best time. It's going to be like a big bestie sleepover. We're going to have so much fun. We're obviously going to share it all on socials. So if you're one of those people that voted no when Jess said, should we share more of our personal lives on social media? Sorry, not sorry. Mute us for a week because we will be sharing a lot of it.

And that's, I think, really, really fun. But yeah, I feel like we've had a really busy week apart from the fact that we flew to New York because I swear all of us even though this wasn't what we tried to do we've been trying to pack in like a five-day week into three days so that we can get everything done because we flew out on Thursday at lunchtime so I feel like that has been a lot it's been chaos and you've had heaps of stuff from your book and just lots and lots of book PR lots of like we did a really cool recording this week with AGL I did a whole video series with them which I'm really excited about, which is kind of like tips and tricks on how to save money on energy, which I

think aligns perfectly to our community. And then, yeah, there's just been a lot this week. And I swear, I don't know it yet because we're not on the flight yet, but I'm pretty sure that business class lie flat seat is going to get the biggest workout of its life. I'm just going to sleep for all 22 hours. Yeah, like I'll look at you and we'll be like, we're sitting next to each other. I must sun. Yeah, literally, I was going to say, I can't wait for someone's going to have a mustache drawn on their face or something. I don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be funny. Oh, I love it. I'm so, so excited. All right. Well, let's jump straight into it, Jess. I want to hear what have been our community money wins this week. My first money win this week comes

from Sarah who said, I found out Ikea offer spare parts for free. I bought a second hand dining table for $30, which was missing a very important bolt. And I ordered a replacement bolt free of charge thanks to Ikea. I made a TikTok about this a while ago. Maybe I didn't watch your TikTok top. Yeah, it's all right. That's fine. About that. We love a supportive queen. You watch and save so many that you've probably just forgotten. I actually just, can I tell the truth on here? Is that not okay? Sometimes I don't watch your videos because I don't have time. Also, I've been with you 24-7. So I save them. I send them to the She's On The Money account. I like them and I comment on them even though I haven't watched them. Bye. We love a supportive queen. And just get that

engagement. I appreciate it. But it's such a good little hack. You can do it on the website. I did the same thing when I bought a couch. It was like two pieces that were not connected. I had no idea. They post it out to you. You don't even have to go pick it up. Oh, gosh. That's actually a money win. Huge money win. Next, I've got one from Sophie who said, I discovered that I could claim my psychology sessions on my private health this week. I know private health insurance is absolutely a privilege, but I'd be so lost without it. Obviously a privilege, yes. But for a lot of people, especially if you see a regular psychologist or psychiatrist, or even if you have regular physio appointments, it's honestly worth sitting down, doing the maths and working

out if paying a monthly private health fee is going to work out for you. There's obviously lots of other like features and benefits, but I'm in the circumstance where it just makes sense for me to have private health. Like I end up saving so much money each year because of it. But then I've also got friends that are like, I am in fit and perfect health, Victoria. I'm in my like 30s now and I'm pregnant. So I think it's just make your own decision, but also it can actually be a bit of a money win, especially if you're finding that your psych appointments are really adding up or like something's getting overwhelming. And check your inclusions. I just honestly would never have thought to look for mental health stuff on my private health, which is dumb of me.

No, it's not. Thank you for the reminder. Sophie, next I've got a money win from Brianna who said, I logged into my Shopback account and I found a hundred bucks cash sitting in there from old purchases six months ago. Slay. Love that. Big slay. Free money. If you want $10, the code SOTM will pop that straight in your ShopBack account. Exactly. Genius. Next, I've got a money win from Mia who said, I went to my local Bunnings. Turns out they've closed and Koala now uses the warehouse for their factory seconds. What? I scored a $450 office chair for $100, basically brand new. I have questions, Jessica, about impulse spending. Did you go to Bunnings to buy plants and then buy an office chair instead? I mean, it's a relevant question. What's going on here? It's a relevant

question, but maybe she needed an office chair. It's relatable. In which case, huge money win. In the other case, why were you looking at buddings? True that. Next, I've got a win from Stacey who said, I looked up the This Girl Can events in my area. I'll be doing a beginner's rowing lesson on Wednesday for free and a self-defense class next Monday for only $5. Extra bonus, I found $5 on the ground yesterday, so I'm using that to pay for the self-defense class. Cute. I love this. Very fun. This Girl Can is a great, it was a A little government initiative, yeah, which is really, I think it's based around encouraging women into like sports and athletic type things.

And self-defense. And self-defense, which I think is such a good one. And then lucky last, I have a money win from Britt, who said, not really a money win, but I closed two of my buy now, pay later accounts by staying on track with my budget and spending. I have been super mindful of my moods and feelings as I tend to spend a lot when I am stressed, tired, or bored. And Britt, that is totally a money win. That's a huge money win.

amazing. I love that. We're so proud of you. Is that all you've got? That's all I've got. That's all you've got. All right. Well, I'm going to channel my best Beck energy. Your BBE. My BBE. Yep. And I'm going to bring you some community broke tips. Oh, I'm excited. I forgot to ask Beck for her broke tips. So next time she's on the show, I'm going to make her do too. Love it. So no pressure. All right. Jess, this first broke tip, it comes from Lee. They say, Last year I wasn't working full-time and couldn't afford a gym membership, so instead I did 30-day trials at all the different gyms in my area. A lot of them were free, all really cheap.

I did it for 12 whole months and I saved a lot of money and did a lot of different type of exercises that I didn't think I'd ever enjoy. I actually highly rate that. That's so smart. It's totally ethical because the trial exists. You're doing the trial. Totally.

And you should write, there's like so many different things that you can do. I think about, like, even yoga classes or my Pilates place. They do, like, a really cheap, like, your first two weeks is $20 or something. Which is so cheap. Genius. Just try all the different places. Just hop around. I think that's so smart.

At what point, Jess, do you think that Leigh could go back to a certain gym with a different email address sign up? I reckon, like, 12 months. I reckon, like, once every 12 months. I reckon, like, nine months in. Yeah. You could then go and be like, oh, I was thinking about this, like, a heap of months ago. So now I'm just, I'm going to try and get back into it. Let me do the trial, see what it's like.

Because surely after nine months, they haven't remembered your face. That's, they would say so many people. Yeah. Yep. Genius. I love that. All right. So the second broke tip we have this week is from Lindsay.

Lindsay says, I have started cleaning out my fridge every Sunday. Rather than letting fresh produce rot, I either cook it up in a stir fry that night. Genius. Or just I chop it up and I freeze it. I'll also go through my cupboard and my freezer to see what I have and plan my meals for the rest of the week. You'll be surprised at how much you can save on groceries when you make more of the food you have and don't just let it go bad. I love a frozen, like anything. Like if your meat expires in two

days, just keep it in the freezer. No, it doesn't. Like, I think that is so smart. Chop up your garlic or your veggies. Can you put them in a little soup and freeze the soup? I think it's so smart. When I cook, I often double the recipe. So if I'm making like a pasta sauce or something, I'll double it. And then later I feel like a genius because I have doubled the stuff and I and be like, oh, well, Steve, you could just get out that pasta sauce I made and defrost it because I'm a really good wife. I did all of this hard work. I did this hard work. And also, I do love an everything stir fry. Not going to lie. I adore a stir fry that just is full of everything. And sometimes you find something like if you're like, oh, I just have these random like this odd

vegetable that I'd normally never put in a stir fry, but it's going to go bad and I'll throw it in. And then you realize it's actually delicious. Yeah, 100% and you do it all the time and then you buy more of that? All right, let's go to a really quick break. On the flip side, we're going to be talking about job hopping and whether it's safe to do that in the current market. We're then going to be answering a question that you slid into our DMs about, and it's whether you can lie on your rental application to increase your chances of securing a property. So do not go anywhere, my friends. 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 guys, I had a question regarding job hopping. So in the past two years I've held two positions and I've just started a new one. So I usually keep my positions for about a year to a year and a half and then I try to upskill and find a better job for better pay obviously. So from last year to this year my pay has gone up by about 35 to 40k. I just want to know what this looks like her potential employer and whether chasing money is really everything but also keeping in mind that

the economy is not doing well i would love to know your opinion thank you guys so much love your podcast uh queen pop off pop off your income's gone up 35 to 40 000 that's a huge i would leave my job too yeah literally genius catcher have a nice day yeah nice knowing you um yeah i'm so sorry to see you go. Bye. Don't let the dog kick you on the way out. I find that such a good question, especially in this economy, Jessica. Yeah. So first things first, I wish you had told me what area you work in, because obviously some industries are more impacted than others. Like if you're talking about, let's say healthcare, that's universal, like regardless of the, I guess, economy, that's going to be a necessity. And obviously job hopping can be quite hard. It

sounds like she's quite smart with it because obviously she's a bit more planned than the average bear. And I'm assuming that you're interviewing for jobs and not quitting your job and then finding a new one. I feel like I've said this on the pod before, but like it always pays to have a conversation. You can always say no. Like if that job offers you a role, Jess, and you go, I'm not really keen on that, you can do that. But it's always a good idea to have the conversation because you might learn that the grass is really greener where you order it. Or maybe you get offered a job opportunity. If neither of those things are happening. You're getting experience interviewing and that's a slay. Like I think all of those are

really important. Do I think that job hopping is a bad thing? No, I don't. If you're job hopping to upskill, then that's great. I do think that there's a cap on it though, Jess. So like I think at some point you're not going to have those $35,000 to $40,000 increases every single time. Like I can completely see how you might go from like $60,000 to like $90,000. But I feel like once you get to like 90 it's much harder to get 100 110 and so on and so forth like these things don't grow in the same ways as they might at the start of your career so I totally see where you're going I also think that you need to be a little bit more I guess mindful when job hopping like are you leaving an opportunity where you're like look I can see the grass is greener on the other side

and it's more expensive but are you moving on over to another job where you're starting from scratch and you actually could have had more career progression and experience if you'd stayed at a certain location longer. Like, I mean, I look at you, Jess, for example, because like you're an employee and I go, well, I don't know if you would have been able to hop into the role that you have, but you've got the role that you have because of the experience and how long you work with She's On The Money and like how I knew your capability was there. But if you'd applied for that, having not had the experience, I don't know if it would have worked. So I think it just, it really depends. What are your thoughts? I think that once every 12 months is totally fine.

Like I wouldn't consider that frequent job hopping. I know that by older standards that probably, you know, when people are like, you stayed a job for 20 years, that would be really frequent. Once a year, I don't think is the worst. I completely agree that I think you'll hit a cap where it perhaps is not as appealing because you're not having such a significant change in income as a result of the job hop. But I mean, from like a recruitment perspective, I think if you can explain that change, if you say, oh, I left job A because at job B, I stepped into a role where I had an opportunity

to manage a team. And I left job B because when I went to job C, I then also got to be involved in, you know, a different side of the business. I think if you can easily explain those things once a year is definitely not the worst. But I do think, as you said, you'll stop seeing such significant changes in the amount of money that you receive. And as you said, there is value sometimes in staying in one company if that company is willing to invest in you. or if you find a really good company culture because those companies are not as common as you would like them to be. So I think that as long as you're weighing up what you're giving up against what you're gaining and if it makes sense for you, I think that it's fine. If you are,

I guess, in a role which is more expendable, that's the other thing that it sounds like you would want to factor in and it sounds like she is factoring that in. If you are a really niche, if you're like I draw pictures of animals in my job that's my job and it's very specific and there's only so many companies that would want you drawing those pictures of animals is it something that could be impacted by the economy potentially if there are companies winding back their budgets maybe they've got less budget to offer for a new role maybe there's a higher risk of redundancy you know I don't know why I used that example that was a terrible example it was a great example I just let you roll with it I was like this is

fantastic I was trying to think of something niche and nothing was coming to mind so niche I'm sure it is if not niche what is it? If you're an illustrator. If you're an illustrator. But only of animals. I was trying to think of something very specific. Is it like Australian animals or is it like if you specialize in Australia or something I don't know I'm sure someone at home can think of a much better niche example. I was thinking about all of that while you were talking about your animal drawings and I think as an employer I will absolutely look at your resume and be like oh she was there for a year she was there for a year and they were there for another year, right? What I'm actually looking for is the progression in role. So like if you write a good

resume, you're going to be able to articulate to me the gained skills and experiences that you had in those roles and the increase in, I guess, responsibility in your next role. I'm also looking for gaps. So whether there was like three or four months between your last job and this job, that tells me a lot more than you just job hopping. So I think that there's, I guess, a story that a resume tells. And when you're putting your resume together, you've got to think of that story? Like, what am I putting in front of the employer? And what are they going to think of that? Like, you know, if I'm finishing in April, but I don't have another role until August, like, are they going to question that gap in my, my experience? I am because I'm going to

go, well, why was that? Like, you know, the major red flag is there. Unemployable. Yeah. Like, did you get fired after 12 months? Cause it just wasn't working out. Or did you have to take leave because of, you know, whatever was going on. And I think it's just, they're reasonable questions to be asking but do I think it is safe to job hop in the current market depends on your job and it also depends on what you're taking on I don't think it is a bad thing but I also think you need to be super aware that yeah there's going to be a cap on what you can earn and what the other thing I would throw in there is what business are you hopping to because for example in an unstable economy startup life can be a higher risk for roles you know if it's a business

that doesn't have a really stable cash flow or really stable customer base those are the businesses that might struggle a bit more, small businesses as well might feel the impacts of a potential recession or of economic disjointment more than a large corp would. And so it also depends, I guess, on where you're going to and what you're doing as well. Yeah. And it also depends on what level you're performing. So you mentioned like redundancies before, and I was having this conversation the other day at my husband's BNF dinner with somebody and they were talking about like oh well I have this grad job and like I'm really nervous because I've only worked here for three or four months and at the end of the day they're talking you know there's

whispers in the business about redundancy and their immediate assumption was last in first out yeah and so like if you were last into the business like they're going to kick you out the first and I was like babe like you work as a graduate your salary is down here they're going to actually keep you and probably get rid of the higher consultants because that's more in corporate life. That's usually how it happens. They're not going to shoot themselves in the foot and get rid of the really cheap labor. But I think in some businesses that is true, in some businesses it's not. And I can't just sweepingly say, oh, well, if you're last in, you're first out, like it's something that lots of people might say, but I think you need to just understand the environment

and how that works. So there's like lots to it. Ultimately, no, I don't think it's a bad thing if you are calculated and researched. Yeah, completely agree. All right, Miss Jessica Ricci, we have a DM. Are you ready? I'm excited to talk about this one. I know. I feel like today's episode was literally curated for your interests. All right.

So our DM this week sounded identical to this, Jess. Hello, I have a community call out that relents to renting with a cat. It's kind of one of those am I the arsehole situations. I'm applying for my dream job and it involves a short-term relocation to Melbourne for training. I'll be there for about six or eight months, after which I would return back to Sydney. I have a six-year-old indoor princess. We're talking about a cat here because she's put in brackets the cat emoji, who is perfectly house trained. And while I know landlords can't refuse

a pet application without a good reason, it is highly likely they'll give preference to somebody without a pet. I'm considering not declaring her on applications and just keeping her hidden from the landlord just so I can secure a place to live for the time frame. What would others recommend? Oh, this is so hard because I see both sides of the story. Let's start with our community questions then and then we can overlay our opinion because we, as in Jessica Ricci and I, have both rented with cats. Team cat.

So question number one we asked the community was, if this was you, would you keep the cat a secret? 39% of you said, yep, they won't find out anyway. Like, oh, ballsy. 61% of you said, ah, no, I'd be nervous of the consequences, which is Jess and I. The next question we asked was, have you missed out on a rental before because of pets? 41% of you said yes and 59% of you said no. And then we said, if yes, would you consider hiding the pet next time?

51% of you said yes, which I think is, you know, you've been burned. You've been burned before. Then we said, if you or someone you know is a landlord, are applications without pets more favourable? 61% of you said, yep, absolutely. 100% prefer no pets. Interesting. I don't like people, Jessica. It's really hard, I think, because as a current renter with two cats, you know, I would hate to think that that would impact an application for me because I know that I'm a great tenant. Like we have never, ever missed a rent payment. We always leave the house in fantastic condition, like our listener, my cats are really well trained. You know, I have

lived with people where the cats have caused damage, but then part of my brain says, well, that's what your bond is for. But I think it's tricky because, you know, pets are for companionship and I would hate to think that if someone was a really great tenant or applicant that they would be denied as a result of that. On the flip side of that, I can see as a landlord, you have a right to have your property respected and treated in the way that you want it to be treated. You know, if that is a hard and fast rule for you, if you said, I own this property and I really don't want to have pets in it, maybe you have an allergy to cats and you're like, I don't want to, if I want to live back in, in two years and have to replace the carpets because there's cat fur in there.

Yeah. So like, I kind of also understand how, you know, as a landlord, you've invested your money and you do have a right to manage it in the way that you see fit. I feel like if it was me, if anything, if I was going to be a bit dodgy, I would apply without listing the pet. And then And as soon as I moved in, submit a pet application. Because I don't think you can live there without telling them. I think it's too hard. I think it's rude. I think like, what if, you know, as well trained as your cat are, my cats have been sick before.

Like you can't control every variable. So I feel like if anything, like if you really are stressing, if you're finding that you can't get a rental, particularly in Victoria, where we do have those laws that are in favor of the tenant regarding pets, I would say apply. and then like move in and literally like that week apply for a pet yeah i can't disagree with that i think that you know the rental market is incredibly challenging so i don't want to be like don't do don't jess i think that respect is actually a two-way street so if you're saying hey i'm considering lying to my landlord okay no worries it makes me feel a bit icky no no but like

would you be okay if your landlord lied to you about something 100 so why do you think that you get to lie and they don't so I think that yeah that's my answer is like I wouldn't lie yeah I think it's also very fair to be wary of pets right because I have seen nightmare dogs I've seen nightmare cats like I had had past tense a friend who had a cat that would rip the hell out of the carpet yeah she'd just be like oh he's just so funny and I'd be like what the heck like my cats would never do that and like I know you're exactly the same like we are psychos with our pets. We picked a house that was all floorboards because we're like, well, then it's not an issue. I'm completely on that page. We like put so many more floorboards in. The only place in my house

that has carpet is my bedroom because I was like, okay, that's fine. But then also like, I've gone to the extent of like, I hate cat litter. I hate it. I've had a cat litter system plumbed into my house. I'm crazy. But how does your landlord know that you're getting a Victoria and a Jess or somebody else who doesn't care so much? So for me, when I was renting with pets, I put in a little pet resume. So cute. So I wrote up at the time, I only had Bailey, one cat, and I wrote him up a resume. I added some pictures because I do have a Tonkinese cat. So like he does look a little bit different and he's a little bit of a special boy. Like he's a bit of a princess. So I added his like little princessy photos. And then I

just did a bio of like, hey, here's Bailey's health stats. This is what he gets up to during the day. Just so you know, like we really don't like litter tracking. What we do is we vacuum three or four times a week because of that. And I think that that is what ultimately got us our last rental because they had such clarity on who was moving in. Like I have always been an above and beyond person when it comes to applying for things. Like if it was a job, like I would make sure that everything on my resume and cover letter was super tailored. I know not everyone is like that. And you might go, well, I shouldn't have to do that. Don't then. Like I'm just trying to put myself ahead of the competition if I'm being honest. And so I always had a bio on me, a bio

on my husband at the time, who I was moving in with, and a bio on the cat. And I was told by our real estate agent, that's why you got it. Because they had immediate clarity on like, this is Steve, this is Victoria, this is their cat Bailey, this is what this looks like. And they were really happy with that. So I think that just the added level of transparency really helped our situation. And I can put it on stories. We'll put our little cat resume up so that you guys can copy it. But it was lame. So lame. But I think that's what made them laugh. Because Jess, as I said, I like to be prepared. Every open for inspection I went to, I took my little folder of printed out application sheets, my printed out resumes, photocopies of my license and passport. So I

could be like, hi, kind sir, here's my pre-prepared application to put me above and beyond everybody else. They actually put Bailey's resume on their fridge at work. That's so cute. And I had his little references. So I had the last rental property manager that he lived in a property with and I also put his vet. I just thought it was funny. I feel like that's actually a great, it's not even funny. I feel like putting, if you have rented with this cat somewhere else, I reckon having a note. Bailey has references. He's a good cat. Having a note on that, a previous landlord or somebody who can say, oh yeah, like the cat lived here. It was a total non-issue. I think it would go a very long way. Because there are cats that climb curtains. There

are cats that climb windows and doors and there are dogs that scratch the hell out of a back door to the point where it needs to be replaced. So I think we need to address the fact that those are the things that your landlord is concerned about. And being able to say, oh, by the way, Jess, this is the pet that would live here specifically might alleviate some of their concerns. So for me, I'm definitely in the camp of complete transparency because it's worked for me historically. But also that's why I needed to give you so much context and be like, yeah, it's worked for me historically, Jess, but also I have been one of those above and beyond people who, like, kind of did the crazy application

because I did want the house. Like, I remember when I went to the open for inspection for our last rental property before we bought and there were, like, 60 people there. I left and I was like, there's no chance. It's a competitive market. Yeah, exactly. So I understand how it can be stressful for our listener,

but I think, yeah, like, I wouldn't go the full keep it a secret. Like, I just don't think it'll work and I think if you get busted, is that grounds potentially for you to be kicked out? I just think it definitely is grounds to be kicked out, but I also just look at it and I go, you would expect your landlord and your real estate agent to not lie to you. So why do you think it's okay to do it in vice versa? Like there might be a leak or something in the laundry and they're like, oh, they might not want the house because of that. Let's just not tell them. That's

not okay. So why is it okay for you to do it? I'm also a very black and white person. Like in my head, there's a right and a wrong and it's gotten me into a lot of trouble historically. So what did everybody else think? Honestly, there were so many diverse responses, Jess. So first things first. Someone said, we have no issues with animals renting our properties. It's what the people renting that destroy it. Yeah. Someone else said, I'll take a cat over a toddler any day. Honestly, super relevant. Yes. Cats don't have opposable thumbs. No. They don't draw on the walls. No. As someone who's about to have a baby and looking around her house going, I think it needs baby proofing. I'm like, where do people keep crayons and stuff in the future?

Because if I leave crayons out, like my cat's not going to draw on the wall. Yeah. You know who's going to draw on the wall baby yeah bam anyway next they said apply then advise that you have a cat after the rental has been accepted because they shouldn't be declining it anyway someone said controversial but if there is carpet you can't get that smell out sorry ladies I would disagree this is a weird thing yeah I mean if your cat pees on the carpet yeah but like Jess do you walk into my house and smell my pets I hope not I hope it smells like domestos I would argue that dogs but i'm not a dog owner so i don't know if that's just because i have a cat i don't know but also like look at my dog she's technically one of those hypoallergenic dogs she doesn't drop

any fur it means that we have to brush her all the damn time but like that's very different to having a german shepherd who does drop fur that might get caught in the carpets right that's so true again different horses for different courses someone said i'd be super welcoming to renters with dogs cats know due to allergies and other landlord experiences can't people be allergic to dogs too. Totally. Interesting. Bias against cats. Everyone gets an opinion. Someone else said, I know they can't legally refuse pets without a valid reason, but I've seen contracts once accepted that then say no pets. Someone said, again, want to reiterate, I'd take pets over kids any day. They're really hammering that home. I see you. Someone said, in New Zealand,

people can get a pet after moving into the rental and they don't have to tell their landlord. That's an interesting rule. What a conundrum. Someone said, try and see if you can get it first. If no luck, after a set period, change your narrative. To what? To lying about having a pet. Oh, I see, I see.

And then I've got two more. Someone said, I wouldn't approve a dog as my IP is a flat. I think IP means investment property, which means there's not enough space, but I'd definitely approve someone with a cat, which makes sense. I think there's also the narrative or the assumption, And as someone who rents, like I can admit that I have felt this way sometimes that all landlords are just so particular and they only want a really particular type of person in their property. And it can feel really hard to if you don't fit that standard. Yeah.

But there are some out there, as we're seeing in these comments, of people who don't mind or who are maybe really reasonable and really level headed. And if you showed them the right, you know, the pet resume and the references and all of those kinds of things, then maybe it would turn out totally fine. Yeah. And then this last person that I'm going to read out says, I'm a landlord. It actually depends on the pet. I'm happy with pets like cats and small dogs in our small rental property. So again, I think that clarity situation where you go, hey, actually, this is my pet. This is what they act like. This is their behavior. Here are maybe some references. I totally get that there are people out there that are going to go, Victoria, I shouldn't have to do that. Well, you shouldn't.

But you know what? There are people out there who are doing it. And I can almost guarantee that if I one day become a landlord and I look at Jess's application that has, I have one cat and then Jess's application that has, I have one cat, here's a whole heap of information about them. I am going to go with the more educated decision because it makes me feel more confident as somebody who's leasing out that property. It also tells me a fair bit about that person's, I guess, commitment, personality. I'm like, wow, they really have gone above and beyond. So as much as you shouldn't have to, if there are other people out there doing it, the probability of you getting picked when honestly there's a better option on the table

like i think we do need to put in the effort especially if we want to have our pets live with us and that's what we all want we want our little furry friends yeah true true all right before i get all emotional about puppies and kittens and like honestly looking at otter videos on tiktok we need to go it has been a wonderful friday recap with you jessica i'll see you guys on monday bright and early for pre-recorded money diaries because don't forget jess and i We're in New York. New York. Yes, that's terrible.

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