She's On The Money - Love Runs Hot...Or Cold!

Episode Date: August 3, 2023

Celebrate Friday SOTM style as Jess shares your money wins and losses, Bec brings some top broke tips and VD discusses a Money Dilemma about buying in bulk. Plus, do you and your partner run at a different temp? Does this cause conflict when those utility bills roll in? Well, you're not alone! The gals unpack this common couple conflict! Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Hello and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. Today, my friends, it is Friday, which means it is time to get my little team together and celebrate you, our incredible She's on the Money community. Today, we're going to be sharing our favorite money wins with Ms. Jessica Ricci. Ms. Bex Syed is back for some broke tips. We're going to be helping to answer a juicy money dilemma, which this week is all about buying in bulk, which I feel like Jess is going to be all over. And we're going to be unpacking something that you slid into our DMs about, which this week we're talking about relationship equity. So to kick off this episode, my friends, Bec, you weren't present last week, so you

get to go first. How have your last two weeks been? Well, yeah, I really hurt my shoulder. It's like the whole back of the head and back of the shoulder. But I feel so much better now. But the last few weeks have been good. It was my birthday. Happy birthday. Thank you so much. Hello, Cancer Queen. We're both Cancer Queen.

I'm Leo, actually. I'm Leo. 30th of July is summer. Oh, you're right on the... Right on the... The car's full, like, close to you. I didn't have to share my star sign, so that's okay. Oh, true. That would have been strange, two Cancers in the one studio.

No, it would have worked. It would have worked. I think there are literally two Cancers in the one studio. We couldn't have three. We couldn't have three. You're a Cancer. Yeah. And you're a Cancer? Yeah.

Is our producer a Cancer? No. No. She's on the cusp. Are you on the cusp? June 7. 8. Pisces?

Very much a Gemini. Very much a Gemini. I see. We're all very close. I'm a double Gemini Virgo. Oh, a double Gemini Virgo. How do people find this out? I don't know what that means, but it sounds fancy.

Jess, I just know that I'm a Cancer. And I just know that that makes us emotional. Which checks out. Which story checks out, because all we do is cry. Yeah. Oh, that's so sweet. It's not bad. Barbie movie.

Tears. Oh, God, yeah, it's good. Food that tastes really good. Tears. Tears. Oh, you've got to. Like, you can't stop it. I love that.

I feel like crying is one of my favourite activities. So, you know, absolutely. That's relatively depressing. What did you do for your birthday? Oh, birthday, I had a little party. Had a little party? Yeah, I had a little party at a pub. One of my favourite pubs.

Edie's, for anyone listening, maybe you know Edie's. You mentioned Edie's on the thing a few weeks ago. I did mention, I love Edie's. I'm obsessed with E.D.s. Free soda water. That's exactly why I go there. That's how you start a party. That's exactly right, Victoria.

Free drinks on your birthday because surely people are buying. Oh, I know. I really should have taken it. I was shocked by how many people offered me a drink. I was like, well, my drink doesn't cost any money. So this is really, really a shame. But it was really good. It was a really good couple of weeks.

And I went on a couple of dates with someone. Oh, another couple of dates with someone. And then, yeah, well, you know, who knows? we might get married and maybe we won't, but chances are looking likely that we're going to get married and have children. Outlook is optimistic. Oh, I love this. Yeah, you know, I'm manifesting.

Yeah, Bec's just going to U-Haul it. Just in case she's listening, I promise I'm joking. Also, no one knows who I'm talking about. Except we do because we were still talking to her just before. Except you guys definitely do. Yeah, I was like, what's your Instagram? Is she good enough for our Bec? Am I good enough?

Anyway, on to Jess. The question is not, are you good enough? It's are they good enough for you? For you. What can you do for me is the question. I mean, that's not what I was getting at for sure. You know what, take it. Something like that.

Miss Jessica Rucci, did you go on any dates this week? I didn't, sadly. I mean, you're in a long-term relationship. Yeah, we ate dinner together in our house. That's cute. We cooked Molly's spoon together. I was like, not as a date. I don't know.

My week was good. My car is currently at the mechanic. Extremely overdue. So I want everyone listening to send a thought out. please? Because I just have a bad feeling about it. Do you have a bad feeling about it because of what I did with my car last week? A little bit. Yeah. That's actually what made me check mine in because mine is about six months overdue and then your car corked it and I was like, oh. What happened to your car? So long story short, I took my car to the mechanic and it was

just for a scheduled service. I thought I was doing the Lord's work by doing it on time and I drop it off and they said RV this is wrong this is wrong and this is wrong and it was our like the car that my husband and I share so he mainly drives it I drive it sometimes if I'm like picking up Jessica and need to impress her and take my dog somewhere and they told me that the battery needed fixing but it's like some fancy type of battery anyone listening is going to be like Victoria you're so daft and I'll be like yes I am sorry but it's like this fancy battery that like there's a battery under the seat as well as in the hood and so they quoted me like a ridiculous amount to fix it and I was like I'm gonna get a second opinion and what did they say they said

you can go get a second opinion that's so fine this is just like a really expensive battery to replace across the board like we haven't really added much labor and I'm sitting there being like yeah sure yeah sure no worries and they're like just be aware that the battery will work today but when we tested it, it's like got failed cells in it or whatever that means and it could just not work at any time. Right. I was like, you're trying to scare me. Yeah.

The next week, Jessica, what happened? Car didn't work. Car didn't work. Battery didn't turn on. It in fact did not work at any given time. Exactly like the mechanic suggested. We were both sad. And when I got second opinions, Bec, you know what happened?

What? More expensive everywhere else because they wanted to charge labour as well. I see. So I should have just done it the first time, shouldn't I? Was it too late to go back and ask for the exact same quote? Thankfully, I have fostered a great relationship with the mechanic and I text him and I said, Hi, Mitch, in a twist of fate that you saw coming,

my car no longer starts. And he said, just drop it in and we'll have it fixed today. I said, that is very kind of you. Thank you, kind sir. Sorry for calling you a liar and a thief and I'm back. I didn't say any of those things, but car services are so expensive and, you know, when they come back with, like, all these additional things, I'm like,

are you looking at me going, you're a silly little white girl who doesn't know anything about anything. It's hard to know. I don't know anything about anything. They are right. How have we got in trouble? Right. It was very funny, though, because I drove,

because obviously you needed to get back home, so I drove with you there. I bribed her. We did do a Maccas run on the way home. I said, if you drop me at the mechanics, I'll buy you a happy meal. Oh, that's nice. And I said immediately, yes, obviously. Of course.

Did you get a groomer's shake? No. What? Sorry, continue. What's a groomer's shake? Have you guys seen it? It's a thing on TikTok, right? But I don't really know.

Yes, it's that purple, like, shake. Oh, vile. Absolutely not. Do they have that here? I have no idea. Jessica gets six nuggets. Six nuggets and a toy? Yeah, we got the toy.

You got to get the toy. Don't be silly. Absolutely. Have you ever seen a person with a Happy Meal not being happy? Not a single person, actually. That's what I thought. Come to think of it. Yeah.

To wrap it up, the mechanic said that that was the equivalent of a walk of shame. He did. It was very funny. I'm like walking in and he's like a bit sassy, like in a funny way. He was a nice guy, so he wasn't being rude. He's like, just so you know, this is the equivalent of a walk of shame. And I was like, thank you, kind sir. I'm going to call it a money win, though, because he didn't charge you anymore,

even though you did in fact not listen to him the first time. Yeah. I think he now knows he's got a client for life. Yeah. Because I was kind of like, thanks for looking after me. You do owe him your entire life. I owe him every car service into eternity. Yes.

Sorry, you were saying something about your carving. All right. The shop. It doesn't matter. We're so far past it. Sorry. Okay. So hopes and prayers are going out to Jessica that her car doesn't end up like my car.

And if it does, she just takes the advice. Yeah. Yeah. I will be listening to my mechanic. Yeah. Don't do what Victoria did, but do you know what we should get into is the community money wins. Miss Jessica Ricci, what have you round up for us this week? My first money win this week comes from Lucy who said, money win, sort of. I'm no longer living pay to pay. I have plenty left over each fortnight, even after putting away savings and some investing. After living as a single mum for 10 years, this is a massive thing for me. Financial stress has had a huge impact on my mental health. Love. And over a hundred people

were liking and commenting on that and I was just loving seeing people get behind her. Good on you, Lucy. My next money win comes from Ashley who said, to prove a point to my friends, I just calculated the cost benefit of my health insurance. Premiums for extras is $843.70 per year. However, I can claim up to $3,400. Every year I max out several of the categories, meaning I use a maximum of $1,750. This doesn't factor in how much I save on the Medicare levy surcharge as well. I knew my health insurance was worth it because I use it a lot, but I'd never crunch the numbers. And I just love the idea of someone running the math. Like it's not going to be the same for everyone. It's going to depend on what you use and what you need. I also love that it

was like because she wanted, yeah, to prove a point. I was like, that's why I calculate things too. Ashley, you are our people. My next money win comes from Anthea who said, my money win this week is I simply talked my husband out of going out for brunch on Sunday. Money loss, I forgot my lunch. So I'm currently waiting for my bought lunch to be warmed up. But we won't tell him that. No, no, no, that's just between the 250,000 She's On The Money community members and you, babe. Next, I've got a money win from Lauren who said, I got a rain check. I've never done it before, but I was in Coles and my preferred washing powder was out of stock and on sale for 50% off. I asked a staff member who was stacking the shelves nearby if they had more out the

back or elsewhere in the store and she scanned it and said they didn't have any and to go to the front desk for a rain check. So now I have a rain check in my wallet for two boxes of washing powder at 50% off for next time. Yes. And I wonder if you could split that and do like one 50% and then hold on to it. You like forge a little rain check? Yes. Yes.

That could be a money win. I was intending on buying five and then just spread it out for the next however many months. Oh, that's such a good idea. Don't know if that works or not. Someone let us know. It's worth a crack. My next money win comes from Juliet who said, money win. I won a VCAT case and I'm getting back a total of $2,504 from my landlord.

Oh, great. Oh, spicy. We'll have to see it. Please, no fighting in the comments. No fighting in the courtroom. Please, no fighting in the comments, but also please slide into our DMs and let us know why, when, where and how because we need the dates. We need the juice.

Like if you won, we need to know. I don't know about you guys, but I'm shaking for that tea. She's ready. And lastly, I have a money loss from Simone, which I thought might play into what we're chatting about a little bit later. She said, money loss, my partner turns the heater on in our bedroom each morning before going to work. Past three work days, he's left it on all day,

so it's boiling when I get home and our electricity provider is loving it but my wallet not so much. Yes, I'm going to hide the remote on him so he can no longer use it. Genius. We've all been there. We've all been there. Do you hide things in your house from your partner, Jessica? He has a tendency to open multiple Nutellas at once,

so if he's running low on Nutella and I buy a new one, I hide the new one until the old one's finished. That's clever. Because it drives me nuts. Like it is soul crushing. You can't have two open at the same time. There's three open in our pantry currently and I was like, why do you keep buying new Nutella?

I don't know. He does it when he goes to the grocery store. But anyway. Absolutely not. Also, that was so front of mind for you that before. Literally, it happened yesterday. Can you see me getting angry? Yes.

Nutella! This is what you've got. This is exactly what you've got to look forward to, Bec, in your long-term relationship that you're getting. I'm very excited. Yes, my serious long-term girlfriend. You can have Nutella fights. We have ice cube tray fights.

Oh. Yeah. Not filling it up? Don't. If you're going to use the ice, fill it up. You've got to fill it up. But you have another ice machine. I know, but the ice cubes are bigger than this.

Look, different ice cubes for different situations, Jessica. Sure. Lucy. Yeah, wow. But if you're going to use the ice cubes, you fill them up. Oh, absolutely. They're the rules. Unless you're a guest, in which case you don't need to.

You can just help yourself. But is my husband a guest in this house? Absolutely not. He pays half the mortgage. So absolutely not. This is your house, true. Fill up the ice. Fill up the ice.

Let's move on. I want to know your break tips before Jess and I riot on our partners. Well, funny you say, Jess, about the Coles thing. Oh. Because a few people actually sent me that. That wasn't actually going to be mentioned this week, but since you mentioned it, I'm going to say that that's actually a really, really good break tip.

Yeah, if something runs out, then you can, I don't know, do you go to the front? Yeah. You go to the front of the store and you tell them. They give you a little voucher. They give you a little voucher. That's something I want to know, if you can do, like, 20 in one go. Yeah, do you reckon there's a timeline on it?

Like, with your little voucher, that, like, has to be redeemed before X, Y, Z. Even if you do have to redeem them all at once, if you have the money, then you have, like, a bulk buy. Oh, my God, everything's coming together. This is such a weird coincidence. Oh, my gosh. It's all circular, baby. It's all circular.

We were talking about Nutella and ice cubes, which does lead to relationship equity, but we'll get to that later. Yes, true. So my first broke tip for this week comes from Grace, who has said that when she was super poor, she would steam a sugar ton of rice, then buy the continental cup of soups, continental cup of soup, when they were half price. And then she would heat them all together in a container, add a cup of soup on top, and that would be her version of a poor person's risotto. Does that sound like it makes sense to you guys? It makes absolutely no sense. So you're saying that she pre-cooks the rice and then makes risotto

out of them with a cup of soup? Exactly. Okay, that makes sense. So it's a quote-unquote poor person's risotto, which sounds to me absolutely delicious. So I think that you need to hack it a bit more though, Grace, because I would want to cook the rice in the soup mix so that the flavours were a bit more permeable.

Chuck them all in the pan. Give it a little whiskey whisk around. But you would have to boil the rice first so that it doesn't dilute the flavour. So you cook the rice and then you add your steamed cup of soup inside the rice. So now it's just like soup with rice. Grace, if you're listening to this, I am so excited to try this.

Yeah, please report back. I think it'll be good. I'll report back for sure. All right, report back. And you can use as little or as much liquid as you like. It's up to you. I think that's smart. You want rice and on-sale cup of soup?

Dirt cheap. And do you know what? you're not going to put on your rice because I saw it at the supermarket this week. Bag of shredded cheese, $11. I saw a TikTok, chips were two for $11 and I literally two bags of chips for $11 and they're like a yellow. I don't care what size that is. That is thievery. They used to be two for five. Absolutely not. The popcorn's two for five. Is it still two for five on popcorn? No idea. Oh, we've got to, we've got to look into this, but we're not putting cheese on our risotto anymore. Boycotting cheese. $11 a bag of shredded cheese. Absolutely not. Crazy.

You're going vegan. We're going to follow in your footsteps. It's going to be great. Maybe that's a good broke tip. Maybe that is a good broke tip. Go vegan. What other broke tips have you got? Okay. So the next one comes from Sabrina, who suggests that, and this is a very real reality for a lot of people. If you do not have an iron in your home, if you cannot afford an iron, you don't want to, you don't have room for an iron, you live in a small house. I think some people can relate out there. I certainly can. Jess wouldn't ever use an iron. No.

I don't own an iron. I don't own an iron either. And there have been times where I literally couldn't fit one or afford one. Yep, fair. So she has said that what you can do is if you have a hot shower, you pop your clothes in the hot shower, not in the hot shower, in the water. Just in the bathroom at the same time.

The steam will get rid of the wrinkles, just like a commercial steamer used in shops. So you save on power, storage space, and dollars to buy the iron slash ironing board, which is a great idea. But something I use, and this is also if you actually do have access to a hairdryer, a hairdryer works just as well. I use the hairdryer too. As well.

Yeah. What do you use, Jess? I have a steamer because I worked retail. And so I just, I can't, like once I used a steamer, I was like my life has changed forever. And so I would never go back. Yeah, that's fair. But I like, VD taught me this one.

If you, when you wash certain fabrics, like a lot of natural fabrics particularly, after you wash it, give it a real good shake. Give it a once over. Give it a shake her out. Shake her out. Aggressive shake. Because they come out of the wash really wrinkly, but you can actually, if you shake it out before you hang it,

it dries significantly less wrinkled. Yeah, like I like real tug on the collars of things to like flatten them out before they dry. Yeah, okay. And it works. That's a great tip as well. So maybe you pair that with the shower and you've got an iron. And you've got yourself one crispy shirt.

You absolutely don't even need it. No. Great tip. Thank you. 2023, who's ironing? I mean, thank you, Sabrina. I love that. I love that.

Great. Is that all you've got or what's yours? That's from the community. my personal broke tip is... I know exactly what it is. I think you know what it is. I know exactly what it is. Because you may or may not have seen me eating this before. What do you mean, may or may not have? You sat and watched me. You got it all over the desk. And I actually had it all over my shorts. Yeah. I didn't realise. She's like, oh, you might have noticed. It was hard not to. So what I do is I buy myself like a, either you can make spaghetti or you can buy a

spaghetti, whatever you want to do. And then if you want like a really cheap version of garlic bread. Cheap. That will last you a long time. Maybe the whole week, maybe two weeks. A loaf of bread. I love my loaves of bread. I know you do. Versatile. And aioli. Oh. Aioli. Yes. That's what they do at Subway. Is that what they do at Subway? They do. So they used to make, I don't know if they still do it. Really? They used to do, used to be able to get cheesy garlic bread at Subway. Yes. When I worked retail and I was poor because they did a special, it's like $2 for a cheesy garlic bread. And it would be like the Subway roll cut in half and they put, like, the garlic aioli sauce and cheese on top.

Yeah. That sounds really, really good. $11 cheese, not so much, but aioli. True. Yes, aioli. And you just, like, you toast the bread. Don't even need to put butter or anything. No, because it would have the fats from the mayo.

Totally. Cheap aioli, the cheapest one you can find, the cheapest bread you can find. Toast the bread, chuck the aioli on. You've got yourself garlic bread. Yep. She did that just before. And to make it even cheaper today.

Yeah. Did you even pay for the bread today? No, I didn't. You stole it from the kitchen. Stole it from the kitchen. Stunning. That's a good, cheap lunch. Is it stealing when it's meant for everybody?

It's a communal kitchen. It's a communal kitchen. It feels better when you say it's stolen. It does. There's something more satisfying. Stole it from the kitchen. Yes. It's a bit satisfying when you steal it.

Money wins. I love that. So that's that for this week. I would never have thought to make garlic bread with aioli. But I can see how it would work. When you are out of options and out of money. Or you've worked at Subway, it seems. Or you've worked at Subway.

Yes. Turns out it's not so broke after all. I love it. But good tip. Good tip. Thank you. Thank you so much. Let's go to a really quick break. And on the flip side, we're going to be talking about one of Jessica Rich's favorite tips, and that's bulk buying. The second thing we're going to talk about is something that you slid into our DMs about, which we're going to be speaking all about relationship equity this week. So guys, do not go anywhere. Welcome back, everybody. Let's talk about 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 ladies my question is in regards to buying things in bulk so there's a lot of products that i really enjoy and a lot of them it's much much cheaper to buy several or a 10 pack or something like that and i know that i'm going to use them but they are things that take a while to use like bars of soap and stuff like that and you don't really need to have 20 bars of soap in your cupboard so I'm just asking how to resist the urge to buy things in bulk and should I be buying them

in bulk yeah thank you that is such a wholesome funny question I think it is I mean if you're planning for an apocalypse 20 bars of soap might actually be very necessary if you want to feel better about yourself watch extreme couponers because you'll be like oh I'm really not buying in bulk if I'm buying my soap. I cannot stand that show. I love that show. I love watching it, but I just feel like there are so many people in need in the world and then there are these people

who are just stockpiling. Like, what do you need? I mean, a lot of them say that they don't donate or they do like community pantry. Why have you got an entire pantry in your house with stockpiles of things and full stock rotation systems in place for them? Sure. Like, I don't know.

I get that you might donate things, but if you're on extreme coupons, you're not donating that much because you have a stockpile room at your own house. I don't know. That's a good point, V. But in this case. That's not what this is about. This is about buying in bulk and not needing 20 bars of soap

under your sink. Jessica, do you buy many things in bulk? I wouldn't say extreme bulk, no. Like I tend to do, if something that I use all the time, I'm like, if laundry detergent is half price, I tend to buy two because I'm like, well, I'm paying what I would pay for one. Like my rule of thumb is I like to have threes of things. Threes of things.

I like to have one that's open, a backup and a backup of my backup. Is that why there are three open Nutellas in your pantry right now? Well, one of them should be open and two of them should be closed. No, but I just, for me, it's like, okay, so I finished one off, then I open a new one. And when that happens, I have one open and one backup. And so I have plenty of time because I don't want to pay full price for it. So I have plenty of time to wait for it to go on sale before I replace my backup backup. Is that a little bit crazy?

No, I think that's really beautiful. Bec, do you buy backups of things? We've all got our little things. No, I don't really. But I know that my mum used to buy in bulk, like if something was on special. It's a clever thing to do. Like, if something's super cheap, you buy, like, maybe five of them and then you have that cheap for a while.

I think you need to do the maths, though. Yeah, maybe. I don't because, like, I would really rather not have the clutter and pay a million dollars. It's a luxury to have the space to store the bulk of the things. Where do you put it all? Yeah, that's me. Like, if we've run out of it, Jess, there's no more in the house.

Like, don't ask me for my backup. There is no backup. It means I have to go to the supermarket. it and yeah I just I live my life that way to be wild on the edge a bit on the edge especially for someone who has a backup of a backup yes I make you nervous a little bit I could never like I just don't want clutter in my house I'm the type of person that just throws things away like not puts them in the bin don't think I'm being wasteful but I donate stuff if I'm like I haven't worn this in ages get it out of my wardrobe get it out of my life like I just don't want junk in

my house. I just don't. I feel like it's worth saying for me and our listener, it's things she said that you're going to use. Like I wouldn't have three pairs of the same shoes, you know, but I would have, if it's really nice, I'll buy it twice. If it's nice, buy it twice. But things like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, things like that, I tend to have multiples of. I wouldn't call having two or three bulk, like having the 20 bars of soap. But I mean, if it's financially, she said she ran the math and it's cheaper for her to buy 20 than to buy however many I know you don't need it in your house but like if you've got the space what's the problem with saving some money over the long term I don't think it's a problem I mean it would be a problem if you're

buying things that you weren't actively using and just hoarding them that's a different story completely or you know I don't think soap goes off but like it went off before you could sure use it yeah make sure if you're buying in bulk that if it's a perishable item that you can use it within the timeframe because there's no point having 20 bars of soap that are cheaper than 10 bars of soap if you only use five of them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I also think it's a really interesting conversation actually that leans into money stories quite deeply. Like I, I grew up in a family where I was quite privileged and we never went without. And I think that might play into my not necessity to have backups of things. Cause I'm like, no, like it's okay. We can go to the

supermarket and we can pick it up. Whereas, you know, I've got no idea about that side of your money story, Jess, but like, I know that you always lean towards being a little bit more financially secure and making secure decisions. And that kind of makes sense to me that you would lean into always having a backup of something and being way more prepared than me. And then Beck, it makes sense the way that you live your life as well and that your mum would have bought things in bulk. I think when it comes down to it, the important thing about buying in bulk is that you're not just buying it in bulk because you assume it's cheaper. You've actually done the maths because true do you know how many times so historically I went through a phase when I lived

with yes we've all been through the Costco phase but I was doing the maths and it's sometimes not actually cheaper you just end up with two bigger bottles of things and it's not that much cheaper but you assume it is and it's ludicrous to have to pull out this huge massive box of cornflakes when you know what I mean like my jumbo super mega box of cornflakes one liter bottle of ranch and you don't even eat ranch normally. Yeah, I agree. Like I feel like it's not the worst thing. If it's working for you, if you've got the space,

if you're using it all, I personally don't see it as a problem. I don't see it as a problem either. As long as you've done the math. Yeah, and you've actually looked at it and been like, no, this is something I use and it makes sense. I actually think that's a smart money decision. I don't think it's a bad thing. I would like to know more.

Like I have questions like more about why you think that might not be productive when it's clearly not the worst idea ever. I don't know. As long as it's not financially putting you out either, like if you're paying the larger amount for the bulk, like if you can afford it. Agreed. Live life, queen.

Live, love, love. Speaking of love. More on the same page. Yeah, let's jump into our community dilemma. So this week we're going to unpack something that you slid into our DMs about, and this is the DM that we received this week that we have chosen to dissect on the podcast. Are you guys ready?

Yeah. Ready. Hello, She's On The Money team. I need advice on the argument that keeps flowing between my girlfriend and I. My girlfriend and I have been in a same-sex couple for four years now and this is our first time living together. I'm on a higher paying job than her so I contribute more to the bills. She works really hard but unfortunately her pay just isn't amazing. We keep arguing about having the heater on because of course it's cold during winter. I really want to be warm and she is just

super strict on finances at the moment. I already contribute more than her, but she gets upset when I have the heating on because she thinks she won't be able to afford the bills. I understand things are tight, but I value being comfortable. I'm really struggling to find a happy medium in this. Jessica is probably not the person to ask in this situation. And I say that because her The heat is set to a warm, warm 22 or 23 degrees year round. Yeah, sometimes 24. 24, Jessica. Oh, that is wild.

But see, it works for me and my partner because we have the same comfort point. Interestingly, though, similar to our person, we both are at very different earning spots. Sure. With me being the higher income earner. Big dog energy. Love that for me. I love that. But to be honest, it's never been an issue for us because we are both comfortable at that temperature point.

Sure. friends of ours the girlfriend is similar to me once at toasty all the time her boyfriend runs hot like he is always warm there's no way steve would let me have the heater yeah and so it's finding a happy medium i guess but the bigger thing here i guess is it just it goes beyond just the comfort of what temperature is ideal for the house and i guess it plays into the bigger conversation of well how do you manage it when you're at very different earning places right Totally, totally. I would say, so I'm thinking what are they, I guess we don't really have the information about like what they're contributing to what parts. Like is someone paying more rent?

Is someone paying more this, that? I would say figure out what your priorities are. Let's say split rent down the middle, for example, half, half. When it comes to energy and heating, if you want to be toasty all the time, I run cold. I'm constantly cold. So I want the heater on constantly. I would be willing to pay extra for energy. I would be like, I'll pay 70% and you just pay 30% regardless of what it comes to because I want it hot all the time. I would be comfortable with that. So are there ways, like are you maybe spending more on laundry, detergent? Are you paying for like the little bits and pieces in the bathroom? Maybe figure out what you're both comfortable actually splitting down the middle and then saying, I'm willing in order to be

comfortable, I promise I'll pay. If it's extra, if it's like really, really expensive, I'll pay X amount. I just want to be comfortable. Because you don't want to demonize her or punish her for setting her financial boundary either. Like if she's saying my money's really tight, this is something that's really expensive. Like I want to be conscious of it. Like we don't want to disregard that because that's what we preach all the time, right? Is set your boundaries, talk about what's important to you. So I feel like your solution is like a, is a very practical one really. Because you also have the right to be comfortable. Like if James said to me, oh, I want the house to be 15 degrees, I'd be like, sir, that is not going to work for me. I think it's interesting as well,

because we don't have enough information about when this heater's on. Like, is this heater being left on all day while we're at work? Or is it something that just gets switched on in one room when you get home from work and, you know, it's at the cool 24 degrees that Jess is happy with, but it's just the like mainland room or something after hours. So I think there's a lot to, I guess, converse about because hypothetically, if you're leaving the heater on all day to heat up for when you get home, that I can see why she might be a little bit frustrated with that because that is a bit of a waste of money. You need to probably use your resources a bit better. But if you're only turning it on when you get home and you're actually being really conscious, I feel like that

leans into more of a balanced conversation around, okay, well, I want to be comfortable in my own home like where's the happy medium because I know Jess if you and I live together and my house was 24 degrees year-round I would not deal not because of the financial side of things I'd be dying I'd be like oh 24 way too hot like really yeah a hundred percent I'd be like ew can you not and like my husband would lose his mind like our heater has to go off entirely at night time because we go absolutely cold turkey to bed and when I wake up in the morning, the house is usually like 13 or 14 degrees before the heater goes on

and I'm really happy with that. But it's really about, I guess, fair, like is there a fair use policy? Like is there? Yeah, there must be. Implement one if there's not. Yes, yes. Like have we talked about it? Like your partner doesn't like use the heating all the time.

Is it because it's too hot or is it because you're just using it consistently? What do they think fair use actually looks like and then we can negotiate from there. Like, let's have a start point. True. I didn't think about that. Maybe your partner is just extremely hot all the time and is so sick of it. Or maybe it could be that the energy is too expensive.

And it might be 1,000% financial. I feel like this could extend to, like, housemate positions as well. Like, I don't know. Like, I would be really miffed if I was working my life away 24-7 and then my housemate was at home with the heater blaring all day. Yeah. Like, are you home a lot more than one person? I don't know.

there's a lot of conversation to be had. What did everyone else think? All right. So we asked, do you live with your significant other? 77% of you said yes. 23% said no. We said, if yes, are you contributing to bills equally or based on income? 58% of you said we are equal, baby. And 39% said, no, we split based on equity. I hope we had something to do with that, Jessica. Love that. Then we asked, do you have different ideas on how much utilities like heating or cooling should be used. Then 12% of you said, yep, it's constant battle. 49% of you said sometimes and 39% of you said, nope, we're always on the same page. I'm never on the same page as my husband. I feel like sometimes it comes in as a shock. Like sometimes it comes in, like it's

always those first few months of winter, right? When you adjust to having the heating on and you go, oh, yeah. And then you'd go, okay, we'll switch it off earlier or whatever. But yeah, I feel like I can hear it in my head right now. Victoria, have you seen the gas bill? Yes. No, but I'm sure you're about to show me. So we asked you guys what you thought and what your comments were, and here are a few of them. So one person said, we work hard to be comfortable in our home. Time to rework those percentages, maybe? Fair. Someone said, if the higher earning person is using the heater more, they should pay more for the bills. Simples. Someone said, we put the same amount of money, but we cover each other on extras if someone has spare cash.

Someone else said, just got a bill for $1,000 for two months for two people living in a freestanding house. What? Good Lord. Is that maybe an accident? No. No. That's somebody who has abused their gas heater before.

It absolutely isn't. Oh, my God. Someone else said, would you consider paying even more for the heating? They can afford X and you can just maybe pay the rest to set an outcome, which is kind of nice. Someone said, could you just offer to cover the extra heating or maybe try a small portable heater? I feel like that's a common trap.

They're more expensive, aren't they? Yeah, people think that small portable heaters are, like, way cheaper, but they're actually not. Get some heat bags or some electric blankets or something. Yeah, really good. That's going to be my first selling project. I have an electric throw blanket. Oh, yeah, Jess and I are going to do crafts soon

and we're going to make wheat packs. That's cute. Maybe we'll film it and put it on the thing. We'll make you one. We'll make you a weedy pack. Oh, thank you. keep you warm all right someone else said my boyfriend earns three times as much as me but we split everything equally and I'm really struggling yeah um so that's because you

shouldn't be splitting everything equally you should be talking about equity in a relationship and if someone is earning three times more than you I genuinely don't believe it is fair to split rent 50 50 yeah like at the end of the day I think there needs to be a really big conversation because we're not saying he needs to cover your expenses but it is wildly unfair to think that your lifestyle is maintainable to the same lifestyle standards that someone with three times an income has as to what you do. Like, absolutely not. I think it's wild to think that, like, let's pretend they're on $150,000 and you're just earning $50,000 to go out for brunch, to pay the bills, to put on the table the food that you want to eat. Someone who has an income

of $150,000 is going to have very different expectations than someone with $50,000. and I'm guaranteeing you that somebody who earns $150,000, we're not crucifying them. They earned that. They deserve that. But you know what mentality they have? They also go, oh, I've earned this. We should go on a holiday, babe. How are you going to afford that holiday if you're not dividing things by equity instead of basically equal? Because at the end of the day, it's not going to be sustainable and you're going to create drifts and rifts in your relationship. and I think that that's a really bad position to be in. Yeah, for sure.

Moving on, a lot of people said, you should start tracking the cost of hours that you're using the heater and then split it up and talk about it. That seems like a lot of math. Do you know what? It does. It seems like a lot of math and I don't think we should be getting into the nitty-gritty with our partner.

And it also would be hard because it fluctuates hour to hour. Like gas is more expensive, not always, but some companies charge more at certain hours. It's like peak times and stuff. Yeah. I think it's just a conversation at the end of the day that we need to be having with our partners, with our housemates, with people that we live with around, well, guys, the cost of living is increasing, gas and electricity increasing.

Like what can we actually do to bring it down? And I feel like sometimes even looking into it, you might realize that the impact is not that big in comparison to the bigger things. Like this conversation might be coming from a place of, I'm feeling really financially constricted about absolutely everything. And the thing that's at front of my mind is that you always have the heater on. So I'm going to direct my feelings towards that and be like, you're wasting money, rah, rah, rah. And then realizing that maybe the heater isn't the biggest thing in our financial story at the moment. So I think we need to break it up, have a look at it and go, well, what does this look like? And maybe accept that you might need to contribute more if you want to

keep living your life the hot way. Yep. I love that. Great point. Is that all we've got time for today though? I think so. Oh, well guys have the best weekend and we will see you bright and early on Monday for a money diary. Bye. 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 authorised representatives of MoneySherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.

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