She's On The Money - MONEY DIARIES: Financially Free at 19

Episode Date: October 17, 2021

Our Money Diarist this week has been through a crazy life at the young age of 19! After becoming homeless to escape a toxic home life, she has shown exactly where drive and motivation can take you when you put your mind to it.The advice shared on She’s on The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She’s on The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. Victoria Devine is an Authorised Representative of Australia Pacific Funds Management Proprietary Limited ABN 34 132 463 257 - AFSL 339151.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Toni Lodge and joining me for another Shop Back Money Diary is Victoria Devine. Hello. What a surprise seeing you here. I know, we just happened to be on the exact same Zoom call at the exact same time.

Oh my gosh, another Monday. Who would have thought a money diary would drop? I bet no one saw that one coming. Well, we've got an amazing and very inspirational story for you today. I literally can't wait to hear it. So jump straight in, Toni. Read out the email for me. All right, here we go.

after leaving my toxic family at 17 i quickly became homeless for the sake of my mental health i was just trying to survive getting through my eta and relying on the small centrelink payments to keep me alive fast forward to now i'm 19 have a full-time job in government and full-time study and able to find secure housing purchase a brand new car outright not be terrified of my bank account and live the financially free life I thought I could only dream about what and you're only 19 that was like two years ago I know we've got our money diarist on the line and I think that we've got a lot of questions for you thank you for joining us that's okay it's my pleasure I'm happy to be here oh my gosh we are so happy you are here as well and it sounds like you have had

an ultimate money glow up. I love that. It's amazing what getting rid of something toxic in your life does for your life. So let's get straight into our questions. And my first one, I'm so interested to know from you is what is your attitude towards money? So I think my attitude towards money is kind of, I think really common in these money diaries where it's been shaped by my family. So it was like when I was young, we didn't talk about money at all, but as I got kind of older I realized that my family was kind of while they had good jobs they were in a lot of debt like car loans credit cards mortgage and then so when my parents split up I think that really came to the front of my mum's mind and we moved and we really really struggled

with money because she was dealing with a lot of mental health issues as a result of family violence so she couldn't be couldn't secure permanent work because of those issues and then so we we really really struggled so I think that and I went to a private Catholic school so it was like at home we really struggled with money but I went to school and everyone had new things and we're living this lifestyle so then um I kind of couldn't deal with that household anymore it was got to a point where I couldn't help her help herself anymore so I needed to kind of get out for myself and then so I um was getting these Centrelink payments and it really opened my mind up to I don't have to live that life that my family did and I can kind of divide up

my money because it's mine it's not anyone else's and I can do with it as I please and then so getting a job just meant that my attitude towards money is really positive now and it meant that like money enables me to like live this life that I want to not just being able to buy what I want and do what I want but just having that security I think is something that I will never take for granted ever again I'm so impressed that you are so young and have that mindset and it's funny because a couple of weeks ago um you know the internet's not the kindest place especially when you're talking about taboo topics like money so some people aren't as kind as they should be but someone slid into my dms and they're like why are you always talking about money stories it's just

fluff talk more about budgeting and it's so important to understand your money story and where you've come from. So we know where we're going and we can actually be grateful for that journey and see where maybe, as you said, like there weren't some positive things in your history or in your money story, but you knew what to change. But if we don't reflect on that, we can't grow from it and we can't learn from it. It's just so important to actually fully comprehend our money stories. To me, I'm just like, that's arguably more important than me teaching about budgeting or me teaching you what cash flow is like learn about where you've come from and where you want to go first oh my gosh so important and it sounds like at 19 you already know this so like

you don't even need us my friend but the next question is how much do you earn and what do you do for work my friend um so i work in for the federal government and i earn just on sixty thousand dollars a year but I've applied 19 that is so good um and I've applied for a different job which I've made it to the final stage of recruitment so fingers crossed and that's earning about 78 thousand dollars so who is she I can see on your face that you're so proud of yourself too you're such a glowy happy human oh my gosh yeah I think it's taken a while for me to become proud of myself but I think now what you like watching myself grow and looking back at two years ago I was having this conversation with my boyfriend yesterday that two years ago

I think I would like pass out looking at how far I've come kind of financially and how independent I am that I never thought it would happen oh I'm so proud of you I have no right to be proud of you your journey is yours alone but just being able to watch on and see that it's just so inspirational And I know that there are going to be some people listening to this podcast today who are in your past situation where they just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. And, you know, you've gone through a situation where you literally said you were homeless because it was better than staying in that situation. And that's a situation no one should have to go through.

But if you are going to go through it, look at this light at the end of the tunnel. I wish you could see our money diarist face. She's the glowiest, happiest human, despite what she's been through. so next question my friend is what is your big money goal at the moment um I think my biggest money goal is to save up money to go traveling because my family was kind of in debt for most of my childhood we didn't really get that opportunity like we went around Australia but I really want to go overseas and kind of see different cultures and I don't really know whether I want to settle where I am right now like in the city I am now so I don't want to

like I am putting aside money for um uh for a mortgage but that's not my number one priority yeah oh my gosh I love that you're gonna get to do all these things that historically you you just didn't have and I think that that's okay like you know regardless of what family you grow up in not every single family can afford to take you on overseas holidays that's kind of like a luxury of becoming an adult but I love that you're prioritizing that and that's something that you're like nope like yep mortgage is really important but I also want to travel I want to see the world I don't even know if I want to settle down here I'm just going to work out what's right for me like I love this story I love what you're up to next question you're 19 but do you have any

investments um so a big priority for me when I entered the workforce was in like making extra super contribution so I my workplace contributes 15.9 percent but I round that up so it's 20 20 percent super yes holy guacamole oh my gosh you're gonna have the nicest retirement I'm coming to stay at your place like it will be fine you are going to be set my friend and Making these sacrifices early means that they're all going to add up and have even longer to compound over time. Like, oh my gosh, I'm literally so excited to see this because the sooner you start, obviously the longer it has to compound. But like, you're 19, it's going to have like 40 or 50 years before you even need it. Like, oh, so good.

And I also have a spaceship investment just because I like to watch that grow. You're a queen. And do you put a regular contribution into that or just like some spare change or how are you using a micro-investing platform? I do 50 bucks a fortnight just to kind of have it sitting there and watch. Oh my gosh. I love this. You're a little hustler. All right. I feel like I know the answer to this question, but we're going to ask anyway. Do you currently have any debts? um so no i don't have any bad debt but the only good debt i have is half of my hex because my workplace is paying for the other half of my degree so hold up you get like 15 super you're

actually paying 20 super and half your degree is covered yeah i'm lucky yeah oh my god lucky you're there because you know what you do and you deserve it but that is such a great deal luck is finding five bucks on the ground when you're going to get a coffee what you are my friend is a hustler and someone who deserves it that's not luck that is work and i think that it's really important at she's on the money and in the she's on the money team we don't believe in luck that's not a thing everything you do you work for and even i find myself being a little bit guilty of this sometimes i'm like oh yeah i'm just so lucky that xyz we need to replace lucky with grateful, like you're grateful for it. It's really good, but you worked really hard to get to

the position that you're in and you had to make some serious sacrifices to get there. And I think that we all need to recognize luck didn't actually have anything to do with it unless you found that five bucks on the ground or like you won Tats Lotto. That's luck as well. Yeah, that's lucky. That's lucky. I would like to be lucky. I would love to be lucky guys. All right. Next question on our list is do you use shop back um no I saw when I was in high school like during classes all my friends and they showed me how to would use it and they showed me how to download it onto my browser so I have it on my browser but one of like my money things is that I try not to buy online because normally when I buy online I just it's like a regret normally when it's online I feel

like that is literally the best reason to not use shop back like it's the only reason I'm going to be accepting moving forward yeah all right so next question is what is your best money habit um my best money habit so I started this when I first started receiving Centrelink payments and I had stuff to pay for like housing and food and all that stuff as well as I had like formal and graduation and like a trip away at the end of school so what I started is when I would get that money into my account it I set up automatic payments so it would be sent off to the appropriate kind of accounts within my bank and then that's something that I still have today so when I get my salary each fortnight the money just disappears and I don't even really look at it it just goes

off into the appropriate kind of savings account and then I know that what's actually in my account to spend is what I have to spend oh my gosh she's a genius do you have that's the next question do you have any bad money habits that you're going to share with us I feel like she's a golden child Tony no I have bad habits oh what are they what are they come on spill the tea um I think I get like a bit too proud of myself and then I'll just like go online and buy all these things because I'm like imagine me two years ago I would be so proud I'm gonna buy all these things to congratulate myself but that happens like a bit too often and they're probably sure I'm gonna get proud of myself that's why I do so much online shopping Tony I'm just proud

that's it I like the way you framed that I'm going to be framing all of my bad money choices it's like it's just because I'm proud of myself I'm just trying to congratulate myself I deserve it I love that but how are you going to manage that is that something that you're like oh I'm trying to cut down on that or change it or are you like you know what that's not that bad of a money habit yeah so I take on board what you said is putting 24 hours between my purchases and i'll like talk try and talk to my friends about it to see what they think and like nine times out of ten they'll be like you don't need it and then so i kind of feel guilty if i were to buy and then kind of talk about like my new skincare and then they would be like um

why did you buy that let me tell you that you didn't need that i literally always get new skincare as well i'm glad that our spending habits are on the same page my friend skincare is it's an essential like it's one of those things that just goes into the budget and you don't have to worry about no you absolutely do it's a slippery slope skincare first you're at the ordinary then you're lining up at mecca and then you just have an ongoing adore beauty obsession so i'm sorry not sorry um if i've impacted that in any way shape or form um so next question is if we forced you to give yourself a money grade what would you grade yourself um i think uh on my own kind of timeline so i was thinking about this in the car the other day

whether you grade yourself like compared to the previous money diaries but i think mine is like on me yes it is on my friend so i think i'll give myself um a b plus no no no try again um maybe an a yeah yeah yeah i'm so glad she came up with that herself tony that was really good i have so many questions about that right after this short break all right straight back into this a's money diary first things first you mentioned before our break that you were not sure what you compare your money grade to, to summarize, it's always to yourself. We do not compare ourselves to other people's money journeys or what they rate themselves. Like it's something that I actually don't even ask my team what they would rate

themselves. Cause it's not important. Like to me, it's important to understand what you've done and where you're coming from. And it's actually a really deep question if you start thinking about it, because you could be a C and you go, Oh, I'm a C, but like, that's really good for me. Like that's, you know, I'm on this journey where somebody else might go see, oh, unacceptable. I've really slipped. Like we are in different places and we're on different journeys. And I think it's really important to never compare our journey to that of others, which is why we share so many different and diverse money stories so that you guys can learn from

each other. But it's definitely not to compare our circumstances. Like, I mean, it's nice to go, oh, that money diarist, they did this thing that I could implement. like that's what this is for or oh that money diarist they went through this situation and now i know not to do that like that's a good thing but it's absolutely not to compare ourselves so i hope that that clears up anything if anybody was thinking it but money diarist i feel like you've been through a fair bit can you step us back two years doesn't feel like that long ago you said you

left a home situation that was really toxic and chose to be homeless over that how did you make that decision and I guess how did you prepare yourself to make that decision because that's a massive one yeah so um it was a long time like I think from the age 14 when I was diagnosed clinically diagnosed with some mental health issues with and then from there all the way to when I was 17 and then one day it just kind of blew up and I was like, I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. So I called one of my friends and I was really lucky enough that her family was able to kind of take me in and I could sleep on their lounge, but it was really, really difficult. I think because there was so many like at school and some of my other family members and

teachers and all these adults in my life telling me that I was making the wrong decision, but kind of in my heart I knew that whatever else whatever else bad that was going to happen to me was not worse than the situation that I was in at home and you were so young to make that decision and I think you know I was about to say and I love that that's one of those things that I say I don't love that but I'm just so grateful that at such a young age you knew to trust your gut like you knew that that was the right thing for you and when we're young we so often don't listen to our own gut we always listen to what other people say and oh they're older and they're an adult they would know best how did you trust your gut when everybody in your life I suppose was telling you

you were wrong um I think I this big wave of relief kind of washed over me after I had left and after I had blocked phone numbers and stuff it was just like this life whatever it is right now is so much better and that's why I knew that I had done the right thing and whatever kind of was coming for me was the right thing that was meant for me because it made it all kind of worth it and I knew that whatever people were saying to me what they were saying to me kind of wasn't worse than the guilt I was already feeling so I just had to keep kind of pushing through and trust in my decision and also because I like it would have been too stubborn to go back and kind of prove the people in my life right yeah you're like also I'm just real stubborn so even if I was wrong

I'm not gonna be wrong I like that I feel that I feel like that would have been me it's as good a reason as any I think to stick to your guns but it's hard at any age to run your own race and kind of stick to your guns and go you know what no I know that this is the right decision for me and obviously I know that you said that you received some Centrelink payments but being so young I'm guessing you didn't really have like a financial identity yet how do you feel both good and bad that that has shaped how you behave around money now I think the bad um we'll start with the bad I think the bad was that I was constantly kind of comparing myself to my peers because like it was formal time and everyone was buying six hundred dollar dresses and I had to like

work an extra job to be able to like purchase stuff and then it was really difficult I didn't have family attend my formal yeah and so that was really hard and then so yeah it was constantly this comparison that I need the newest things to be able to compare myself and compete but then that kind of if I I think if I didn't have that so young I would still be in that mindset now having to compare myself and compete with the people around me but now I know um what you've said Victoria I think it's um if you live fake rich now you'll live real poor later and that kind of plays in the back of my mind when I go to kind of make purchases and feel like I'm not keeping up with people around me I think that that is something that is so true and you don't know

until you actually comprehend what that means to you deeply like it it seems like a flippant comment and like it's catchy so it's cute but like at the end of the day it actually means something really deep and like real poor later is a real issue. And from what you've said, like you've seen what that could look like in motion. Like you've seen it in your money story. You've seen it in, as you were saying at the start of this episode, like in family who were in debt and had credit cards and car loans and stuff like that. You're like, okay, like that's what real poor means. It's not like, oh, you'll miss out later. It's, oh, you might end up in a really big pickle later. So I think it's one of those things that we really need to comprehend

properly and what that deeply means. Cause I don't just say it cause it's a fun quote. I say it because it's literally like you need to start caring about these things. But something I would love to ask is just about the plan that you made. You said you got Centrelink payments and I know people in your circumstances or the circumstances that you were in are often like, Oh, where do I start? What do I do? How did you know that you needed to go to get Centrelink payments? And how did you start that process of going all right I need an income this is what I'm gonna do yeah so it was a really stupidly extensive process because it was like because I was under the age of 23 I think I had to declare independent which means that you have to contact like your parental figure

which that's made really difficult after you've kind of left and there's cut off communication so I I had some really supportive extended family that were willing to kind of write for me and say that I haven't been dependent on that person for x amount of time and then the next step is the kind of engaging a caseworker which is even more difficult because they're obviously pretty thinly stretched and then so and then you have to engage like all these different people like people at school extended family friends and stuff that and you kind of then feel this guilt because these are the same people that are telling you that you made the wrong decision but then you're having to reach out and ask for their help and then so eventually I think it was coming on

six months after I had left that I actually started receiving those payments which those six months was really difficult. That's so much time. Yeah it was it was a long time and I was lucky enough that I had like a weekend casual job with like six hours. Just to get your cash together. Yeah just to be able to kind of have that little bit of income and then once I received the payments you realize that like I think it was 418 a fortnight like that goes so quick yeah it really really would yeah but like at the same time that money meant that you didn't have to turn back to a situation you didn't want to be in so it might not be heaps but it's enough to get by sometimes yeah I think it was definitely a bit of a wake-up call to be like okay well this is

possible and me to live this life and feel better and more mentally stable and potentially have a more stable household this is made possible by these payments coming in and then once I reached got a full-time job um at the beginning of last year it kind of struck me that I was like oh my god I can't believe that I was managing to kind of live off that amount it's always impressive looking back at how you got through such a situation you're like how did I even do that but you did it and that is so impressive so if somebody is in a similar situation to what you were in what would you tell them what should they be preparing what do they need to know from someone who's gone through it and come out very nicely on the other side I think um it comes back to what

we were speaking about before about trusting your gut and kind of knowing what's because at the end of the day you're the person that knows what's best for you more than anyone else in your life so just knowing that and I think it's all about seeking opportunities like I know that's normally what people say when they're the they're the ones that are in high opportunities and high roles but I think it is like taking opportunities as they come and understanding that you won't be in that situation forever and that it's a stepping stone so once you get a little bit of experience in one area that translates nicely not just into other career opportunities but just into like networking skills and communication skills and building relationships which I think has helped me so

much over the past couple of years you do not sound 19 my friend you are wise beyond your years and I'm sure I'm not the first person to have said that to you but your head is screwed on in exactly the right direction and I can see you going so far like I can't wait I hope that we get to stay friends for a long time after this money diary goes out because I just feel like watching you is going to be such a joy yeah I'm I'm also like now it's the first time in my life I think that I'm excited for my own future because before it was like okay I'm gonna have to go to uni for four years and then like I won't even get a job because I don't have that kind of like foundations that a lot of people I know do or I my family doesn't have those connections that other people do and

and so now I'm super excited to see like what where I'll be in five years and kind of what life I'll have like I'm not scared about money anymore and having to make money to make myself feel good I'm excited to do work that I enjoy and then have money be a bonus and I think wow becoming financially free is one of the best feelings I think I've ever experienced like I think people underestimate not that money equals happiness but I just feel so comfortable and that I'm allowed to be excited for my future now because I've reached that one step that I can settle and like think about things and consider things and then make the right steps for me that aren't exactly relying on money because I don't have to yeah that is so special oh my gosh I am so excited for you as

well and it's just so nice to hear you say I'm really excited for what I'm getting up to and like I'm now in a position where I can, you know, enjoy this and not being financially stressed. I cannot stress enough how important it is to not, not have a massive income. That's not the thing that matters. It's about having that security, the consistent income. Like as you said before, you're on 60 grand a year, that's epic money for a 19 year old, but like that's more than enough to create happiness if you have the right structure. But if you don't have the right structure you're going to be so stressed like you easily could be blowing all of that money and just online shopping and not really budgeting and not planning and not knowing

anything about cash flow and you could be in a really big pickle like people who earn more money than you people who earn triple the amount of money than you often accrue even more debt they end up on a really slippery slope and the thing that i find really interesting about this is often people don't see that they just see the fact that oh earning more money when i earn more money i'll be more successful or I'll start then or I'll do this, but it's actually the difference between what you're earning and what you're spending that has the power in it. And that's where we should be focusing it. That's where we should be planning, not necessarily, oh, well, I need to earn more money. Yeah, great. If that makes that gap bigger, but if it's just to afford more things or do more

things or, you know, have more stuff, like that's not the point, my friends, like that's not going to help you feel financially secure. So, oh my gosh, money diarist, I have adored hearing your money story. And I'm so grateful that you're in our community. And I'm also just so proud that you wanted to share that story with our community. You have come so far and you've done so much and you are so young and we know you've got so much to achieve. So, oh my gosh, thank you. That was an absolute joy to hear. Thank you so much. That's all right. It was a pleasure being here and hopefully other people that can kind of relate to my story can pick up on some bits. They absolutely will, my friend.

But as always, that is all we have time for today. So just before we head off, we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They're the traditional custodians of the lands, the waterways and the skies all across Australia. We thank you for sharing and for caring for the land on which we are able to learn. We pay our respects to elders past and present

and we share our friendship and our kindness. and as always guys the advice shared on she's on the money is generally 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 any investment or financial decision and we promise that victoria divine is an authorized representative of australia pacific funds management Proprietary Limited, ABN 34132463257, AFSL 339151. See you next week, guys. Bye.