She's On The Money - MONEY DIARIES: Working Remote & Kicking Goals

Episode Date: November 27, 2022

This inspirational member of our community learned the value of money from her Grandmother who budgeted every dollar of her Centrelink pension. The father of her child left when she was 23 years old and seven and a half months pregnant, so after he was born she moved to an Aboriginal community for work. With her living expenses heavily subsidised she was able to purchase her own home at 26 years old all by herself! We can't wait for you to meet her.This year our Money Diaries are being brought to you by the legends at Shopback! Check them out at https://app.shopback.com/aus/partner/SOTM and you'll get a cashback bonus when you sign up!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. Welcome back to another one of our Shop Back Money Diaries, where you're probably feeling a little bit confused because who you're hearing is Victoria Devine, not Miss Jessica Ricci. She's decided to go on an epic holiday to India and thus I am riding solo, which I'm really excited about because it means I can ask whatever I want without being told to move on. So this is a solid 10 out of 10. This week, we have a goodie for you guys. So let's dive straight in. Our money diarist wrote in and said, growing up, my parents used to just spend, spend, spend. It was my grandmother who taught me the value of money and the importance of savings.

She was living off the Centrelink pension and always found a way to make her money stretch. When I was 23 years old, my partner left me at seven and a half months pregnant. When my son was three months old, I began my bachelor's degree, and when he was four months old, we moved to an Aboriginal community so I could start work, where a lot of the living expenses were subsidised. I was able to save two-thirds of my income, and by the time I was 26 years old, I finished my bachelor's degree and purchased our home all by myself. We are now back in a city where I am currently working in the profession that I studied for. Although I'm only at the beginning of my career, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where I'm earning

more, I'm able to pay down our home and invest more so hopefully one day I can purchase the next important thing, my financial freedom. Oh my gosh, Mani Darist, what a story. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Very happy to be here. Oh my gosh, you sound like an absolute hustler. Imagine getting pregnant and being like, you know what, I'm going to have this baby and I'm going to move onto a remote community so that I can work and it makes sense for us. I'm honestly in awe and have so many questions. Are we able to jump straight into the structured questions though? Yeah. Oh my gosh. All right. Can you tell us a little bit more about your money story? Yeah. So when I was left at seven and a half months pregnant, like obviously I was devastated, but I knew one of the

most important things for me and my son was security so I looked at my options and actually it was my dad who lived in a remote Aboriginal community and he spent ages convincing me to come and he was like just come just give it a go like you'll make good money here and it's a great lifestyle and after a few months he eventually said look just come if you don't like it I will pay for you to ship you back to wherever you want to go and so I was like oh well why not that feels a little less risky yeah and I end up going there and I found work straight away they're desperate for workers in remote communities found work straight away and yeah work in remote Aboriginal communities comes with very subsidized accommodation in my case it was actually free oh money win

free power the only thing I had to pay for was like food and internet and ended up loving the lifestyle, very outdoor orientated. So definitely like fishing, hiking, camping, those sorts of things. And I ended up staying for three years and giving myself a kickstart. Oh my gosh. I love that. And I love that your Bambino got to experience that with you too. Did he love it? He did. So they did have a childcare centre there as well. So he made lots of little friends and yeah, it was run by the local Aboriginal people and it was just so different to what you sort of see in the cities. Oh my gosh. I love that. You mentioned in your money story when writing in that your grandmother was the one who taught you the value of money. Can you tell me a little bit

more about that? Yeah. So even when I was working my first job, when I was like 18 years old, I would always say even if it was just $20 or $10 a week because my grandmother would do that. She dealt mostly with cash but she'd have a little money box where she'd put a little bit of her pension away all the time and she did enjoy having a little bit of fun at the casino from time to time and going out for meals. So being on the pension and she was able to do that

because she would just save that little bit to go and enjoy her time doing what she wanted to do, Even if it's $10, $5, $20, depending on the week or what bill she had. From little things, big things grow. And you mentioned that that was kind of in stark contrast to your parents. Why do you think that you were impacted more by your grandmother instead of directly by your parents? My parents did end up splitting up.

And I just remember my mother, like always, she would still spend, spend, spend. and I remember her always saying like, oh, like I don't have any money till next payday and things like that. So as I grew older, it made me not want to live that way, like have to live paycheck to paycheck and have so much anxiety around money. So I think that's why I stemmed towards more what my grandmother was like. I love that. Grandmothers are the best. All right. Next question I've got for you is what do you do for work and how much money do you now earn? I'm an accountant. Yes. Finance friends. Yeah. And I'm only at the very beginning of my career. So I only finished my degree end of last year. I only take home about $2,000 a fortnight.

I do have a pay rise coming in January, which should take me to $21.50 per fortnight. That's exciting. And is this what you always wanted to do or why did you pick that career? Actually, I originally, since I was young, I wanted to be a financial advisor. Great idea. 10 out of 10. Can recommend them as solid individuals. And I actually went to a careers counsellor and worked out my options there. And it seemed like the best option was to get my accounting degree first and then go

do my grad diploma, which I'm looking into maybe in the next year or two. But I do want to have some accounting experience. I do enjoy accounting as well, but I think my passion lies with more financial planning. I'm always trying to give family advice. I love that. I actually feel like that's such a constructive step as well, because accounting is going to give you that base understanding of budgets and proper cash flows and how they work and balance sheets and all of that, which is honestly one of those things that pays off so much

in financial planning because you can just look at it and be like, all right, that makes so much sense. So I think you are on the right track and will make a great financial advisor. But with all your accounting experience and all of this stuff that you've learned from your grandmother, I want to know, what's your big money goal? What are we working towards? At the moment, my biggest money goal is to have 50 grand in my mortgage offset. I did make the decision of not buying my home with 20% deposit.

I ended up with a, I think it was about a 13% deposit. and I did jump on the family scheme. Yeah, perfect. I did weigh out my options with that and it was my value to provide like security, especially in this current rental market, for me and my son to buy a house and do that. So now my next money goal is to make sure I do have that 20% equity plus emergency money. So I'm aiming for about 50 grand. That is honestly so inspirational.

You are a young mum. You were left on your own and you're like, you know what? I'm just going to do this. I'm going to move to remote community. I'm going to buy my house. I'm going to get it done. Like, I just feel like I got so many questions for you after the break. Next question I want to know is do you have any investments? If so, what are they? Yes, I do actually. Of course you do. What can't you do? Yes. I have about 12 grand in investments. My portfolio includes index funds blue chip companies and a couple of high-risk penny stocks as well I also do have a little bit of crypto but I only put a small amount in and hasn't worked out so far but it is what it is I feel like that was a bandwagon heaps of people got on you said that

you had some index funds and some blue chip stocks how did you pick those like what stood out about those assets that you were like you know what that's what I'm going to start my investment journey with so what started my investment journey was actually the barefoot investor yeah and there was one part of the book where it's like find three grand and put it on AFIC and I was like oh okay and I just did it and then it didn't seem so scary and I think it was more just reading up about like the company like for the blue chips just reading up about the company and deciding whether they're going to be pretty stable if they pay dividends. Those were the sort of things I looked up and saying that when I did buy the blue chip stocks,

I was very early in doing investing as well. So it's not something I've continued to grow, mainly focused on index funds and a couple of my high risk penny stocks as well. I feel like high risk penny stocks, obviously that's not what's going to create the wealth, but obviously our listeners can't see your face. you like smile when you say that is that something you really enjoy well I think because one of my penny stocks has done really really well so I've only done three all small amounts one of my penny stocks has done really really well but then the other two have done really really badly so it's

just like oh am I willing to lose you know 500 bucks on this because I believed in it and see if it would get there and it was just that decision like yeah okay I could lose 500 bucks And have a crack. I feel like sometimes it's okay to have fun in the investment world. We just need to make sure that our core portfolio, which it sounds like you're looking after, is safe and secure because that's what creates the financial freedom that you're currently working towards. Next question I've got, and we know this is a yes because you have a mortgage, but do you have any debt? If so, what is it and how much? Yeah, so my mortgage is sitting at about $370,000 and my HECS debt is sitting at about $48,000.

And no consumer or personal debt out there? No, I remember getting a credit card when I was younger and I remember purchasing one thing on it, paying it off the next pay, freaking out and closing it. So I think I'm very anti-debt and I think that stems from my grandmother as well. That is not the worst thing to do with a credit card, in all honesty. Next question I've got for you is, do you currently use Shopback? No, I don't. That's something I need to get onto, but I just keep forgetting about it, to be honest.

It's so easy. Well, when you're signing up, make sure you use the discount code SOTM, or not discount code, what is it, like a bonus code, and you get $10 in your account to start. And if that's not a money win, I don't know what is. But speaking of money wins, I want to know, what is your best money habit yeah just probably going back to my saving like I always even if I'm really really stretched in a certain week I always make sure I'll put 10 or 20 dollars away into my savings I guess also with cooking and stuff I try and like bulk things out like putting more veggies in and stuff to make it bulky and last longer and a bit cheaper as well yeah that's fair I always go for like fruits and veggies in season. Always look out for sales, stuff like that as well to save

some money. Smart tips, knowing that you have a little boy to feed and, you know, I've got a few nephews. I feel like they can sometimes eat you out of house and home. How do you manage the grocery budget with a small growing human as well as trying to, you know, do the right thing when it comes to budgeting for groceries well I guess yeah just definitely going after the sales and my son definitely doesn't like his veggies very much so if I make like spaghetti bolognese I'm bulking it up with zucchini and carrot and all the veggies trying to hide them in there yeah and because veggies is like cheaper than meat it makes the meal overall cheaper I think I feel like I've always done that anyway. Like I don't even notice as an adult, like I am a stickler for

putting a zucchini and a carrot in basically anything I cook. I'm like, all right, we're making a stir fry, grate it up, put it in. I don't think it's even a budget thing at this point. I think I just like tricking adult Victoria into eating more greens. So it's a 10 out of 10 idea from my perspective. Turning the tables to the other side, I want to know what is your worst money habit? Look, it's probably a very common one, but definitely pretty lazy about packing my lunch. So I tend to buy my lunch a lot. I don't think going out and buying your lunch is a waste if you're catching up with a friend and socializing, but I think it's a waste when you're eating by yourself anyway, and you're buying lunch, like you may as well packed it. So

that's definitely something I need to improve on. Oh my gosh. I am quite literally the same. I feel Like I've been so under the pump at the moment that by the time lunchtime comes, I'm like, oh yeah, I was meant to do that. I don't even think of it when I'm leaving the house anymore. And I'm not only making probably unhealthy choices, but I'm making choices that are just super convenient. It's not even food that I love. I'm just like, oh, I've got to get some lunch.

I'll just pop out and grab whatever's closest. And it's not even that good. I need to get some really good take to work lunches in my repertoire because I am slipping if anyone has any good work lunches please slide into our dms 10 out of 10 can recommend all right last question before we go to a quick break i want to know what would you give your money habits if we forced you to give yourself a grade i am pretty generous and will give myself an a minus oh i love this i think because i'm just so proud of like what i've been able to achieve on my own and making good money and saving decisions. The reason why it's a minus and

not a plus is definitely about the lunches. And I do spoil my son a little too much. He should wait for his birthday or something for his little gifts all the time. But I cave very easily if I take him to the shops and he wants a new little car or something. Oh my gosh. No, it's all about balance. All right. Let's go to a really quick break. And after that, I want to know more about your grandma. I want to know what life is like now. And I want to ask more about your little boy and how you did it all on your own. Don't go anywhere, guys. All right, Money Diarist, we are back and I am in awe of everything you've achieved thus far. Like, honestly, I cannot believe that someone who was 23 and seven and a half months pregnant,

who got broken up with, I'm assuming, and left on her own has managed to achieve so much. Like so many people in our community are still working towards buying their first homes and you've done it with all of this adversity. Tell me about, honestly, what is it like being in that circumstance where you're like, do you know what? This is kind of fight or flight. What am I going to do? I'm seven and a half months pregnant. So actually I was living in Melbourne at the time and I didn't really have any family there or anything so the closest family that was around was my grandparents in country New South Wales so I finished up work at like eight months pregnant and I drove all the way over to my grandparents so it was a really really hard time and then

yeah I was over with my grandparents it was sort of like an old people's town so I didn't really want to stay, but I didn't really know where to go or who can help me. And that's when my dad convinced me to come join me remote. How did you make that decision? Obviously having a three month old baby is really, really hard at the best of times. How are you like, you know what, I'm going to pick my life up and go here and, you know, I'm going to study. I just feel like this is such a story of overcoming adversity because, you know, I can't imagine being in that circumstance and, you know, having thought that maybe you had support and then all of a sudden you didn't. How did you do this? Like, talk to me maybe more about the mental side of it

and going through that because I feel like so many people go through circumstances that aren't super similar, but you just feel like, oh my gosh, everyone is not on my team here. Like, How did you do that with such a positive attitude? I'm genuinely so impressed. I guess something that I think a lot of parents face is that they feel like they have to do everything alone. When my son was born, I realized that his biological father wasn't going to be in the picture, his choice.

He's still not in the picture today. And I just knew I needed help and I couldn't do it on my own and I couldn't achieve what I wanted to achieve without help. so I think I've always been close to my dad I was actually raised by my dad after my parents split up and I knew that I would have help from him and so that's why I decided yep okay dad I'm gonna come to you and it was the best decision I made in terms of my mental health yeah it took a long time to really work through it and definitely if you're going through things like this go see a counsellor or a psychologist don't give up on the first one I know some other single parents

have had to went to one counsellor it wasn't for them and they just didn't try find another one it took me four goes to find the right one for me and working through that with a counsellor and just focusing on my goals I guess I just knew in my head that if I achieve what I wanted to achieve like it would just be the best revenge to be honest like not that that was my main goal like I wanted to achieve but it's like look what I've done without you I don't even need you yeah I don't even need you good luck I'm better than that oh my gosh I love that I they always say success is the best revenge and you definitely have proven that what is it like to study and have a baby and live in a remote community I feel like that just sounds like a lot

Yeah, it was hard. It definitely took a lot of commitment. I did obviously had to study online and I had to make sure like every night when I put my son to bed, I'd have to, you know, get back up out of bed and study for a couple of hours every night before I went to bed and get up and go to work the next day. So that seemed to have worked out well for me. How did you do that? Honestly, if I was looking after a baby and running life and working, how did you find the motivation to get back up out of bed and do a few hours of study? Because you best bet I would not have been in that circumstance. I would have stayed in that bed. I promise you. I guess I was just so focused on my goal. Like I wanted a degree. I want a career.

I want to be able to financially provide for my son I don't want to have to ask for help money wise I guess and I also so focused on getting my house deposit as well to have a home for me and my son so it was just the ultimate motivator and I think once I got halfway through my degree that's where I was just like I could see the light at the end of the tunnel like just keep pushing through and you're going to get there and looking back it was just it was worth it you are a queen talk to me about saving this house deposit I just feel like so many people in our community will be listening to this going how did she think that she was going to afford a house like how did you work all of that out because obviously yes you were earning an income

but given the housing market and how much properties are was that not super overwhelming It was because I did buy last year when the house prices were a bit up. I guess I was very lucky when I bought my house up where I live. People tend to want to build. So I decided, nah, I'm going to buy existing. And there was this house and I ended up looking up what the value of the house was about two years prior, which was during the low period here. and looking up at what I was offering and I was only offering about, I think it worked out to be

only 8% more than the price it was a couple of years back. So I felt like, okay, like that is an increase, but I'm willing to do that. I think if I was offering like 20%, 30% after the previous couple of years prices, I might've been a bit more hesitant. So I think that's what solidified of my decision there. And how did you save your home deposit? How much did you have to save and how long did that take? Yeah, it took the whole three years. I was putting about 50% of my pay away into like a house savings account, as well as putting about 25% of my pay into my shares as well. Oh my gosh. That's what built up my share portfolio, but I haven't been really adding as much since getting the mortgage. I was going to say, how's the mortgage treating you? What

does that look like now when it comes to cash flow? Yeah, it was because I was living remote and there was like no bills. And then I moved here and I was like, oh my God, I have to pay a mortgage and I have to pay power. And the water and the electricity and everything else that comes along with that yeah and it was definitely an adjustment a huge adjustment because even though I was saving quite a lot of my pay even with the pay I had left over I still had plenty of I guess fun money to play with like so if I went on a holiday I didn't really budget because I didn't really need to I could do whatever and seem to afford it and now it's just like, oh, I have to budget everything to make sure my money stretches and still be able to save

and invest a little bit. It sounds like the move to the remote community where, you know, you had subsidized housing and bills actually ended up really turbocharging your ability to create financial freedom in the future. Would you say that that's maybe a very good decision that you made? Definitely, definitely. And I know the desperate for work is out there. So that's sort of why I wanted to share my story. And maybe it might be an option some people might consider to not only give back to a community that's amazing and incredible, but also help kickstart their savings and their goals and investments as well. I love that. It's such a different way of achieving something that we're all looking for. I want to know that what kind of work were you doing while

living in this remote community? Because I think that a lot of us hear things like, oh my gosh, they need so many workers. And you're just like, well, what does that mean? So can you give us a little bit more of an insight? Like what kind of work can we get? Yeah. So I actually was doing like the accounts payable, receivable, like grants work for a non-for-profit organization, Aboriginal led organization. So that's what I was doing there. But anything to like nursing, policing, rangers, administration, just general like community service. They did have financial counsellors out there too, to help the Aboriginal people manage their money as well. And they have like a small bank there, they have post office, they have retail, they have shops, management

positions, like they do have, I guess, on a smaller scale what you'd have in a city. So basically everything. Yeah. I love it. And it's such a beautiful way of giving back. Last question before we go, I want to know, what does life look like today for you? What's your situation? How's your son doing? And what would you say to people who were in the circumstance you were in when you were 23? Well, today I do have a partner now and currently pregnant with my second. Congratulations. That's so exciting.

Yeah. So I know when I was firstly single, I thought, oh, like I'm going to be alone forever. and I was really sad for my son that unfortunately his father didn't want to be in the picture for whatever reason but you know one day you might meet someone that will love your child as their own and he really does so ask for help don't be afraid to ask for help your family knows how to raise babies just don't be too proud like you know tell your family or friends that you know these are the things you want to achieve and you can't do it without a bit of help and ask for it. Oh my gosh, Marnie Dyrist, I am so flipping proud of you. I feel like you have achieved so much. And I know that this story is going to be such a special one to share because not only is it

inspirational, but I feel like there've been so many helpful tips and tricks and ideas that a lot of people in our community might not have thought of. So thank you for joining us today. Thank you for having me. Well, unfortunately, that is all we have time for today. We will see you guys for another episode of Money Diaries next week. 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.

Thank you.