She's On The Money - MONEY DIARIES: More than 30 part time jobs, and just learning to save

Episode Date: November 28, 2021

This weeks money diarist has had over THIRTY part-time and casual jobs to keep herself afloat but never had savings in her account, has lived through bankruptcy and has just found control when it comes to money!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 Shopback Money Diary is Victoria Devine. Welcome. Hello, Toni Lodge. How are you going? I'm pretty good. I'm excited for another Money Diary. And I might have overheard you saying

that this was a goodie to Jess and that she'd had like 30 jobs or something, but that is as far as I got. Toni, read out the email for me. I am very ready. All right, here we go. From the age of 14 and nine months, I got a job. i've had over 30 casual and part-time jobs since then just to keep myself afloat 30 my parents divorced when i was in year 12 their money story was not a positive experience dad made some dodgy deals got mom to sign things she shouldn't have went bankrupt use mom's super to get them out of it sold our family house and broke up our family what i know it keeps going hang on all right all all right i'm sitting down i moved in with mom and my brothers and had to work to be able to

live as mom couldn't afford to help us i changed my mind about which uni course to undertake three times until i finally found the one for me and i've now been working full-time as a primary school teacher for three years oh congrats i bought a brand new car on a loan in my first year of teaching and got approved for a mortgage with my partner in my second year i've never had savings and have spent every dollar i earned until now i just hit two thousand dollars in my emergency fund yes tutor students after work as my side hustle and my partner and i have increased our mortgage repayments to pay off our loan even faster i've never felt empowered and in control of my money and what a feeling that is thanks to shoes on the money for all the help and guidance

in helping people see the light at the end of the tunnel oh my heart what a cool money story and we've got our money diarist on the line of course hello of course we do money diarist how did you feel listening back to your own story being read out by tony my heart's racing a little bit um so i think writing it down is one thing but then having someone else tell it back to you you're like oh that happened and that happened oh like it just feels like it uh is a lot but yes step by step I guess. Were you like wow she's really cool she's achieved a whole heap because that's exactly what I was thinking while listening to that like your story is epic like having gone through all of that to go to uni to get through uni to be a professional to have a mortgage like

all of those things are milestones that a lot of people having gone through similar situations are still going, oh, I hope one day I'll get to that stage. And you're just smashing goals left, right, and center. Yeah. It feels crazy because honestly, it feels like such a blur that whole time. But I guess when you say it like that and you put it like that, yeah, it sounds, it sounds okay. Very, very impressive. Let's kick straight off into our Money Diary questions because I want to have a chat with you about that entire journey a little bit later on. But Money Diaries, what is your current attitude towards money? So my attitude towards money is, I would say it's good now, but often hasn't been. So we grew up with money on and off, but living outside, you know,

our means with my parents. So like we have a big house, but couldn't necessarily afford it. I went to private school, couldn't necessarily afford it. So I think all of that kind of was a bit confusing because there wasn't one way to do things and there wasn't necessarily those learnings in place about how to use your money and what to do with it and all of that. But I think, you know, for about the last 10 years, it's been tight. As I said, I was living at home with my mum and my brothers and I pretty much had to pay for everything because she was a single mum and that's just the way it was. Living paycheck to paycheck was really tough as well. I spent most of what I owned and never really saved or I'd have a little bit of savings and then splurge it on

the next best thing. I think I'm more determined now to have that financial freedom at some stage. be able to have no debt um so I think I'm really working towards that but it's a lot better now than it has been oh good I feel like you've got clarity on where you're going and what you want to get up to so that is a very good thing money diarist the next question I have for you is what do you currently do for work which I think we already know but what do you do for work and how much money do you earn? Okay. So, I'm a primary school teacher and I earn about $76,000 a year. And what does your partner do if that's not too pervy and how much do they earn? That's fine. He's in construction and he's on about $80,000 a year.

Ah, so pretty good wicket between the two of you. That's not bad at all, especially given you said we've been through so much and it was a bit crazy and now you're pretty comfortable. Again, peppy questions. How old are you and your partner? I'm 28 and he's 26. Oh, so you're like actual babies and you've already got a mortgage and you've got everything sorted and you're complete professionals. Okay. All right. I'll stop asking questions then. Money diarist. What is your big money goal at the moment? Well, it was to hit my emergency fund and I did that last week. So that's super exciting. So there's $2,000 in there now that's just sitting there. Thank you for whenever ready to make you feel comfortable and it's amazing even just having that and that was

my goal and ticking it off to go oh like everything just feels lighter so that's that was awesome that was one of my goals and that was awesome to hear there's a few things at the moment so because we have the mortgage as i said um in the bio like we've made extra payments towards paying it off quicker so that was part of our goals i want to start building up my savings now as well to have that as, as our next thing. Um, and just making extra contributions to super would be my goal as well, just because I feel like that's the next step. That's the next thing to do. Yeah. Awesome. I feel like you're on the right track. Like this just feels like such a positive story of we've cut our teeth ourselves and we're on the right track. And you know, five years from

now, we're going to be super successful. I love this. Here's hoping. I'm totally on board with that so tell me about your investments so if you yes including sofa super but no otherwise so I really wanted to pay down my car loan debt which has just gotten to two thousand dollars owing so I started that loan at 36k three years ago so I just wanted to smash that out whoa and that's why I haven't really invested yet because I wanted to pay down my debt straight away and it was funny because the car dealership tried to sell me a five or a seven year loan. Oh, it's only a little bit each month, blah, blah, blah. And I thought, no, that's more interest. That means I'm paying it off longer. So I went with a three year loan and I'm almost done. So that's another goal that's

almost been hit. And then next year will be like investing focus. Oh, congrats. So you haven't got much left on that. I feel like that was such a savvy decision by you because you're right. They would have just been making more money in interest and delaying the inevitable of having to pay it back anyway. The next question, obviously you mentioned your car loan, but do you have any other debts? Uh, yep. I've got my hex debt, uh, which is just, which is good debt. So, you know, we'll classify that as debt, but it's good. And just the mortgage. Yes. Awesome. And do you do shop back when you're shopping online, money diarist? Of course I do. Shop back is awesome. I was like, what do you mean you're looking at me like that? Like if I asked a

silly question, you're like, of course I do. She's a true, she's on the money at Tony. If I can buy something online, I'm always like quickly looking for the shop back just to see if it's going to help because it's amazing the amount that you get back in your account. Like it's like a little future win. Literally. And the idea that you can just pull the money out, like and have it as real money. Like that just to me is an epic win. I feel like I used to be super skeptical of it, but now I've been using it consistently since Tony told me all about how you could do the extension on your Chrome. And I was like, what? Yeah. Tony, I just clicked on it. I have $76 in my Shopback account right now. I think I'm doing pretty well. That's awesome.

The extension actually uninstalled for me a couple of weeks ago and I purchased something And I was like, I didn't, I didn't get the email notification. What happened? Um, so I had to go back and make sure it was reinstalled. Slight delay, but it's okay. We worked it out. How rude. Well, I'm glad that you went and got that back because that's very important. Next question I've got for you. Maybe it's shop vac. I don't know. What's your best money habit? I think there's a few. So with the emergency fund, like the more I was saving, the more I wanted to save like seeing that money go up was so it was just like it was a really good feeling gratifying yeah for sure so I think I'm good when I've got a goal I kind of see like two versions of myself I

either see myself like really on track which is like selling things I don't you know I no longer need you know being really conscious about buying coffees and spending out and sticking to a budget and not using after pay and all of those things so when I'm in that mindset that's awesome so I'm just like ticking off things I need to do and just making sure that you know I'm living within my means and one thing I've always said to my friends was if I'm ever indecisive about something like I'm not 100% sure about a purchase that is my decision to say no like if I'm not 100% all in it's a no and that has worked so well oh my gosh we're so on the same page yeah totally it just makes me makes my decision so much easier if I'm not all in it's a no so that's really helped

my good money habits. Oh my gosh. My partner and I say that actually, we always say, if it's not a hell yes, it's a hell no. And that really helps us like make decisions around whether, do you want to go out for dinner? Like, oh yeah, maybe. No. Is it a hell yes? No. Okay. Well, we're not going. Like, I feel like it really helps. Like if we're not excited about it, like why are we putting money towards it? It doesn't make sense. For sure. For sure. Money, Doris. To ask the exact opposite question what is your worst money habit oh I have a treat yourself mentality which is really hard to kick so you know I'm can sometimes be quite impulsive in my purchases like I'll see something pop up my Instagram but oh awesome straight away purchased they're here

you know get delivered or whatever so that's something I'm trying to rein in and you know that treat yourself mentality of like I deserve it I've had a big week at work or I've hit 2k my emergency fund or you know whatever it is that sometimes is my worst enemy because I just can't run that in so I'm that's what I'm working on at the moment but that would be probably my worst money habit is that just the no filter just go for it deal with the consequences yeah have you made any naughty decisions? I know you said that you just hit your $2,000 goal in your emergency fund. And then you also said, when I hit a goal like that, I treat myself. Has there been any cheeky purchases over the last week, money diarist? Well, no, because we've just come out of lockdown

in Melbourne and I want to wait till the shops open because I have ordered things online over the last few weeks and they still haven't come, which is probably like a bit of karma coming back at me being like, you didn't need those things, but it was meant to be a hell no. Exactly. So nothing yet, but I'll keep you posted on that one. I feel like I've been holding out. We are also in Melbourne and we haven't got retail back at the point of recording. And I'm definitely holding out for that. It actually feels so strange to think that we're going back to quote COVID normal or whatever that is. But I'm like, I haven't worn real office outfits for like two years. So I'm going through my wardrobe and I'm like, I don't love anything in here. And I mean,

that's quite dramatic. I have some very beautiful clothes, but I'm like, really just want like a new work dress or a new pair of pants or just something fresh. So I feel like I'm excited to go back to the office, but I'm also like, Victoria, you have an entire wardrobe that hasn't been worn. So you have no excuse to go buy new stuff. So I've been quite naughty as in mindset wise, haven't bought anything yet but tony you just wait a couple of weeks from now i'll be on the friday drinks being like look i had this massive money loss went to chadston all right money diarist the last question in this little segment is if i forced you to give yourself a money grade what would you give yourself i thought about this for the last week i think and i think i would say

a B. I think I'd go with B. A B. Why would you say a B? Because I've never seen, like, I've never seen myself go with money. I've never seen myself be able to achieve anything or get on a roll. So I feel like a B is a good spot to be. And I've still got, still got to invest. I've still got to build up some savings. I've still got to rein in that treat yourself mentality. So I'm going to go B. All right. I'll agree with a B. Yeah. But you've also come a long way from, you know, like the life that you had when you were growing up too. I think you definitely deserve something a little bit higher so you can show yourself like, wow, I've really taught myself good money habits, but wanting to get better is never a bad thing. Absolutely not. And I really want to talk to you

about how you grew up and how that impacted you after this really quick break. All right, Money Diarist, let's dive straight back in. At the start of this episode, Tony read out your money diary that you wrote into us and I found it really inspirational that you've gone through you know I don't want to be too dramatic and be like oh such adversity but you know you clearly have been through a fair bit when it comes to finances that could have significantly impacted the way that you interacted with money as an adult or in your relationships and I'd be really interested to understand from your point of view how did that impact you growing up and how does that impact your money story today I think at the time I didn't really know that was all I knew

back then so I think I didn't know any different and I didn't really realize I think probably one thing that made me realize was you know as I said I went to a private school but all of my friends had all these different things that I didn't have or and I kind of went oh okay no that's that must be normal you know and it wasn't till yeah about 18 19 that I realized oh like that was that or I didn't do that or I didn't have access to that or whatever it was so I think I was just in the mentality that you you made money you spent it on things you made money you spent it on things you know if something comes up you'll work it out that was kind of that was just what I had known my whole life pretty much so living paycheck to paycheck though you

know having all you know as I said I've had so many jobs and there's nothing really to show for it up until you know the last few years that was a real eye-opener I think being you know not having that savings behind you or having nothing behind you but that was what my normal was um so I think that probably affected me up until a few years ago where my partner and I were looking at okay we want to buy a place we want to do this this and this um and you know things had to change and that makes absolute sense but money diarist you mentioned before that you live with your partner and that's really exciting but obviously what your mum went through was arguably pretty financially traumatic how does that make you approach money in a relationship so at the start

it was really interesting because my partner had a very different upbringing to me and early on I was very guarded like I'd never talk about money I'd always be like yeah that's fine let's do that even if I couldn't um because I didn't want him to think that you know I didn't I didn't have any back up or you know couldn't just live um and do things but since we decided we wanted to buy a place and you know really move our lives forward I think that we're really open now so we sit down and we plan our budget our joint spending and that has really helped because I feel like we both have the same approach to money whereas I've never really had that even with myself like I've never I've always been really torn whereas with him I feel like we both you know want the same things

and we both worked towards the same goals. So yeah, it's a pretty good position to be in now, I think. Yeah. Wow. I really like that that's, you know, that's your mentality, but also you really know what that means. Whereas I think a lot of people, and I mean, I probably got this expectation because, you know, you're a money diarist. It's a pretty common theme that nobody writes in and says, I want to be a money diarist without having had a bit of experience with the she's on the money community. You might be in the Facebook group or you might be an avid listener, like you've, you've heard it all. So you're probably a little bit more financially literate than I would say the average Australian. So it kind of makes sense, but so many people don't

have any, any conception of that. They don't have any thought pattern around that. They move in and they're like, oh my gosh, at some point it hits them and they go, I haven't protected myself in any way, shape or form. I haven't thought about this. You know, I really love my boyfriend, but now I'm stressed out because I don't want to go through what my parents went through are there any fail safes that you're like nope that's a hard no from me I'll never share xyz or I'll never let them do this for me or is that something you're like you know what I really haven't had to think about that I haven't really had to think about that to be honest um but I think growing up the way I did and like now being where I am I don't really have any of that I feel very

like open and free about money like as I said at the start we never talked about it and now we talk freely and I think I've learned to you know be able to say oh actually that's not going to work this week or can we wait till next week or whereas as I said I'd usually just make it work so I think having you know I'm a lot more open with those conversations and Victoria I've thrown you under the bus a few times where I've been like I listened to this podcast um and Victoria was saying that we should do this or this is a really good idea or we should look into this and he's like oh okay yep and he's probably like who who is this woman on a podcast that you're getting your information from this woman I'm so sick of her but I tell you guys to do that all the time I'm happy for all

your partners to not like me that's all right as long as you're in a better financial position because of what we're talking about and if it instigates a conversation did you find that was an easier way to approach it instead of being like oh so this is this thing I want a hundred percent it's so much easier and I feel like I'm learning a lot more now so then I can bring that back to the relationship and go oh did you know about this and do we have this and you know all those questions that pop up that you're listening to the podcast and you go oh hang on like that's me or you know you can relate to things so it's definitely helping in that sense but I think the open communication has helped a lot in just being comfortable with money.

Oh, I'm so glad. But it's also note, anybody listening to this, throw me straight under a bus. Be like, Victoria said this was a not negotiable. Like, honey, what do you think of that? Definitely have those conversations though, because the more empowered we are, the more likely we are to be financially free earlier, the more likely we are to put ourselves in positions that we can get out of. If we want to get out of a relationship, a place, a space, a job, even just like a country, you want to fly home early from a holiday. Like I want you to be in those positions where you don't have to second guess, can I afford to make that decision that would put me in a safer, better, nicer position? Like we shouldn't have to second guess ourselves

because we're like, oh, that position to put me in that's safer, I can't afford it. So I'm not going to do it. Like it makes me so upset to think that that's, you know, what guides most people's decision-making process. And it makes me so happy to know that you're not in that position and you've grown and learned and you're, you know, embracing it and throwing me under a bus. It's really good. Thank you. You're welcome. Money diarist, completely pivoting away from that. You can throw me under a bus however you like, but you mentioned something at the very start of your money diary that I was like, no way. And that was that you've had more than 30 casual different jobs. How, when, where, before you told me you were 28, how have you fit all of this in?

And were you doing all of those at the same time? Like, what is this? So from 14 and nine months, I walked myself into Woolies and got a job as a checkout chick. Yes, good. Which was awesome as the first job but then I saw another job I liked and I thought I'll apply for it and I'll see and I started to think I can probably make both work anyway years and years on I just kind of had I just had lots of jobs at once like I think at once I had four jobs and it was really interesting because I was studying to be a primary school teacher I could work school holiday program over the holidays I could work in before and after school care which was only like little bits of time throughout the day so I had the middle of the day free I had nights and weekends so I kind

of had the lifestyle where I could make multiple jobs work at once as long as they didn't clash with their times and what they were requiring yeah but yeah over about 30 I got I actually wrote a list must have been a few years ago now and I got to 30 and I went I'm sure there's more but I can't remember because some of them were for a month some of them were for a few years like I had a lot of long-term jobs as well over that time so I guess I got used to juggling a lot of things and crazy your time management must be second to none tell us about the craziest job you've had I worked at a fish and chip shop in our local area and I went to grab fish like out the back once and I had gloves on and the owner was like no no no no gloves you don't use gloves

they're too expensive and I was like what yeah and I I literally walked out that night I was like I took my 12 for my shift that I earned and I never went back your 12 bucks like that's that's what the cost of a box of uh gloves costs so I can see where he's coming from there that makes complete sense yeah way too expensive I've loved all of my jobs I've had like I've worked in retail hospitality um I worked in like my best friend's family's restaurant and you know it feels like a family which was which is probably one of the best jobs I had but even like all the Christmas casual jobs like you get to try different places see what you like um so I guess I really liked that element of it as well and if I could make it work and it meant that I could earn more money

um that was a win as well you were all over it oh my gosh how cool and I'm sure that that's something that has really shaped you as a person as well now as a teacher I feel like teachers have to be super time conscious and very good at time management because there's so much to go on do you think you've learned a lot during that process that has helped you today definitely I think I can manage all of the outside of work activities a lot better just because I've had to manage you know multiple jobs at once so it's nice having one boss that you answer to rather than a few um but yeah it's definitely helped oh my gosh and if you ever decide to not be a primary school teacher you can probably be a very adept careers advisor like just whatever whatever they're asking

you've probably done it I mean you arguably couldn't have done brain surgery but I'm sure you've worked in some kind of medical field at some point at some time it's always the way I do think that that is all we have time for today though thank you so much for joining us oh my gosh thank you 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 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 an investment or any financial decision and we promise that victoria divine is an authorized representative of australia pacific funds management proprietary Limited, ABM 34132463257, AFSL 339151. See you next week, guys. Bye.