She's On The Money - Should You Wait For The Property Market To Drop? And What If Paying Off a Big Debt Isn’t Their Priority

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Should you hold off on buying until the property market cools… or is waiting the real mistake? We’ve all heard the classic “just wait two years, prices will drop” advice, but what if that never actually happens and you’ve in a worse position? This week we’re unpacking the market peak panic and what it actually means for you if you’re trying to buy right now. Then, we dive into a community DM about a partner with $40k of debt and zero urgency to pay it down. Is that just a personal choice, or a financial dealbreaker waiting to happen? But it’s not just big dilemmas on the table, we’ve also got clever money wins you’ll want to steal, broke tips that actually work, and a few confessions that prove none of us have it all together. Ready for more laughs, lessons, and unhinged money chats? Check out our oh-so-bingeable Friday Drinks playlist. Listen here. Join our 300K+ She's on the Money community in our Facebook Group and on Instagram.  Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha 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.

My name is Natasha Bamblett, I'm a proud First Nations woman, and I'm here to acknowledge country. Tii, gulinyan ganya, nianakaka yao yinbina waka, nianakai nianbina yakarumja, duminyagumiga dumiga ithawaka nirawamundamun imalan, mumubangada boma ininyalan waka, gaunan yakarumja, wutunarana. Hello beautiful friends. We gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people. we thank acknowledge and respect the aboriginal people's land that we're gathering on today take pleasure in all the land and respect all that you see she's on the money podcast acknowledges culture country community and connections bringing you the tools

knowledge and resources for you to thrive she's on the money she's on the money Hello and welcome to She's On The Money, the podcast that makes personal finance fun, especially on Fridays. It's our favorite day of the week because we get our team together and we celebrate you, the incredible She's On The Money community. Miss Jess Gritch is here checking our pronunciation to make sure everything's right, but also we'll be sharing her favorite money wins and tips and tricks. And Ms. Bex Syed has a number of good broke tips for us this week. We're going to also be helping to answer a money dilemma, which this week is asking, how do you know if you're buying a property in the market peak? And something that you slid into

our DMs about, what do you do if your partner is in $40,000 worth of debt and they're just not in hurry to pay it off. Oh, interesting. But before we get there, how were your weeks? Oh, it's been lovely. I have nothing exciting to report at all. I'm afraid just gorgeous, living, laughing, loving. No news is good news. Yeah. How about you? My week's been really good technically because we're recording a few days early this week. Cheeky, cheeky. When you hear this, I am in Thailand. I will be in Thailand or maybe just coming back actually. You'll be in Thailand you'll be in Thailand I'll be you'll be enjoying your Friday in Thailand so if everybody could just shut their eyes for a second if you're not driving yes um and imagine Beck on a beach

with a coconut yes we've got a coconut and a vape deeply I feel like that's I've got a vape like if we're being honest if we're fantasizing there's no vape okay okay I am fantasizing that Beck quits vaping but I also accept her as she is like I just like her the way she is so that's fine but also we shouldn't be romanticizing that that's naughty naughty that's really bad that's This is so funny. I've watched a full, like, emotional rollercoaster of you two fantasising about my Thailand trip. We just want the best for you.

But also, I feel like in Thailand, like, this is not good, but, like, I feel like you're going to have unlimited access to the vapes. Yeah, you're fine. In Thailand, whatever. But you've been trying to stop. I have. I have. I have faith in your self-control.

Thank you so much. I have no faith in my self-control. I don't have any faith in my own self-control. also. I wish I could help you back. But like, as much as we are complete polar opposites when it comes to our ADHD, same, same. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Completely agree. I did like one of those personality tests and self like, what's the word? Self-regulation. Self-regulation and like impulse control was my lowest. And so I'm like, I don't have any faith. You're like, I have no surprises on this piece of paper. No surprises. But if anyone has any tips or tricks on how they

quit vaping, slide into our DMs because I feel like this is not an uncommon experience. No, Oh, I don't think so. I think, yeah, let me know how you did it. I'd be very, very grateful. Maybe I'll use one or two of those tips, but yes. So currently right now in Thailand and living it up. So great week. I gotta tell you, great week. What about you guys? I love that for you. I mean, I just got back from Bali and so I'm a little bit salty that you're technically in Thailand right now because there's nothing like just escaping the winter for a bit. Oh yeah. But like you escape, you feel amazing. It's so warm. And then you catch your flight. And like, I don't know if you're like me. I know, I know you're like me. We pick the

inconvenient flight times, not because they're inconvenient, but because they're much cheaper. Oh yeah. And so you fly back into Melbourne 1am and you're like, I have to get back to my car. I have to put a baby into the car. It's bloody cold. It's freezing. He's upset. This is not the the Bali vibes that I had prior. So yeah, I feel like I'm on my post-holiday blues. I get it. And you're just rubbing it in my face. But also what a privilege we get to holiday. How good? Yeah, that's so true. It's a great way to look at it. So would you guys like to hear a little five-star review from the week that was?

Of course. All right, sit down because this one is cute. This one is from Riri and she says, love you guys. Absolutely love listening to you every single week i never miss an episode and i'm always looking forward to the next one since finding she's on the money i've learned so much about managing my money particularly investing i have started reading victoria's books and i'm finding them so helpful in my current money journey i honestly wish there was more than three episodes a week oh isn't that so cute someone slid into my dms like a month ago and was like victoria like i don't mean to be a pest but like you need to do more episodes a week. I was like, girl, are you aware we do three? Like no podcast does three,

like that's a lot. And she's like, yeah, I actually binge listen to them all on a Friday and then have only one day where like I can listen to your podcast. So you're just going to need to step it up. And I was like, girl, the only recommendation I have is putting us in slow mo. We can do more. Me and Jess can do more. Okay. Yeah. You guys do that. And also I want nothing to do with the planning process because that actually takes a really long time. I'm pretty sure our producer emma is scowling at you right now she also wants to kill you um we are trying our best yeah if i was put in charge of it it would not be finance it would just be something it's just like the jess and beck wrap up of the week and it's just yapping about literally

our favorite tiktoks of the week oh my god i'd love it someone someone said we need to give Beck her own podcast in my DMs and I was like that is really sweet but no we do not like Beck is amazing but can you imagine if Beck wasn't in a controlled environment like and she just had her own Beck show it would be great people would love it but you would not be able to predict what was about to happen what's going to be on the show who knows it'd be 12 hours long as well yeah like the episodes would go for six years my husband actually said he started a 20 hour podcast the other day oh and I was like I would never like an episode was 20 hours yep and I was like oh that's actually crazy about science oh that makes sense and I was like yes okay cool I mean you

can't trust this man's podcast recommendations he listens to cricket podcasts he listens to science podcasts and history podcasts which find slaking like pop off but like I get in his car sometimes and like it automatically starts playing and I'm like this is so bland what are you doing it's like oh it's really good my that's cool some people just have their brain you know yeah that's my husband i don't want it no i'm going to say about that i just feel really bad for my son because he gets in the car with his dad and has to listen to this drivel he's gonna be so smart he's gonna be really he's gonna i was i was most if i the i don't know what the verb for osmosis is but he's gonna soak it all up he's gonna soak it all up all right well i am praying for that

because the big brains aren't coming from my side of the family right now. Miss Jessica Ricci, when it comes to money wins and confessions, what are you bringing? All right, first of this week I've got one from Julia who said her parents were helping her do a huge yard clean-up on the weekend, including cutting back a big tree that was starting to overhang. And her neighbour mentioned that their council offers four free green waste drop-offs at the dump every year.

Hey, that's a good deal. I wanted to remind everyone you also get free recycle. Well, maybe it's not every council. My council does it as well. Free recycling drop-offs. So if your recycling bin's getting full, you can take it to your generally local for free. So always worth checking your council website

exactly as Julia did. Next, I've got a money win from Christy who said she's got a money win from last week. She had been wanting to get her daughter a mini Yoto player for her birthday. So she'd been tracking both Marketplace and the website for a deal. Mini Yoto player for anyone playing a lot at home.

What's the other version? There's the Yoto and the- Tony Box. Tony Box. So my son has the Tony Box. I really want to get one for my nephew. It's like basically an audio book player. They're really cool.

You put cards in. It looks like a little bit like an old school cassette player. You put the card in and it plays like music or talking books or educational content. Cool. Whereas the Tony box, which is what my son has, and I picked it, not sponsored by the way, I just purchased it for him.

I picked it because it's like a box and it's like soft, so easy, and he's like one and a half. And it has characters that magnet to the top of it and the characters magnet and then it's got like songs and books and stuff on it as well. Cool, I want one of those. Yeah, they look really fun. I want to give one to my nephew.

Yeah, the tactile nature of it. I was like, oh, that's probably better for someone younger. But the Yoto looks very cool as well. Well, Christy managed to find someone on Marketplace who had a 10% discount and then the website had up to 20% off, so she scored herself 30% off in total. That's such a good deal. Really well done.

And I feel like when they first came, those things weren't going on sale, but now they've been in Australia for a little bit. They are starting to discount. So if you're like me and you've been wanting to get one, keep an eye out. Yeah, 100%. and also marketplace is great for that yeah when they grow out of it like they just grow out of it and mum's put it up there for much cheaper and to be honest they're pretty well made so i've got no issues pretty sturdy next i got a money win from natasha who said she bought four five liter

bottles of engine oil on sale last week that's exactly what i always go looking for she said they were half price and much cheaper than they had been in ages that means that she can serve as her and her husband's car for approximately 51 across the next year excuse me that is such to slay what do you mean you are servicing your husband's car there you go that's what we love to say that's really cool it's a lot cheaper apparently proud of you next that's very beck goaded oh yeah i love it next i've got a money loss from jemma which i giggled out just because i could really relate and said money loss i really need to stop shopping at tk max because i never leave md and that's just i love tk max that's where if anyone wants to know where

to get good halloween decor tk max is great for it so yeah because they're american remember the time we went to america and then you brought home a whole suitcase full of plastic pumpkins i use them every year i'd love to go back and no shade just like probably the one of the funniest moments ever and then we with the rest of the team beck sorry you weren't there because you would have made that really fun it already was fun but you would have taken it to the next level nice um jess was negotiating with the rest of the team because she bought too many pumpkins who could get a plastic pumpkin into their suitcase yeah to smuggle it back to australia if you had a hole in the top then you just put things in there it's almost like didn't

Well, I think I've got seven of various sizes in my already very full suitcase. Wait, Jess, I need to tell you that if you get a witch's head, like, thing, casing, you can grow your pumpkins into a witch's head. That's so fun. And I just need to tell you that. I've always wanted to grow my pumpkins. How often do you grow pumpkins? Never, but it's an option.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I want to get into it this year. Me too. Yes, because, honestly, because of you. Oh, that's so fun. All righty. Lastly this week, I've got a money win from Erica who said she got her library membership renewed so she could get some audio books from the app Libby instead of paying for Audible or buying from Apple. She said she's already listened to Ikigai and is now listening

to the Money Diaries book. Okay. Awesome. That means she probably did my best year yet course, which will obviously come back in January next year again. But Ikigai is a very good book for you to read if you are trying to find your passion in life and also get paid for it which we love that outcome. Ikigai. Yeah I'm trying. That was what I was looking at the pronunciation. It's a Japanese concept of finding like contentment in life so there's like four different components and I'm gonna murder it off the top of my head but like what you like doing what like the community and the world needs and what you can get paid for and like what skills you have and so like how do you bring those things together because I think sometimes we need a framework to kind of help us

work out what we want to do with our lives but then it's also not that helpful honestly if I'm like oh Jess well what do you like doing well that's very different than what do you like doing but can also get paid for yeah you could I reckon Jess if she got another side hustle would be one of those women who goes and decorates other people's Christmas trees that's my dream I know I thought about starting – actually, I don't want to share my business idea because what if one day I do it, but I had a Christmas-themed decorating business idea. Can you just do that for my house?

Absolutely. I did get her when I was pregnant with Harvey to help me set up my Christmas tree, and it never has looked better. Yeah. I will pay you to do mine this year. You don't have to pay me. I'll do it for free. It's fun.

Oh, but what about your business? Slave labour. Anyway, that's for me this week. The team will definitely take advantage if they're able to. Ms. Bex Syed, show me, what have you got when it comes to broke tips? Okay, so this first one comes from Steffa. Best and Less Friends Club. Best and Less, oh, my God.

Friends Club is cute. They do great kids and babies clothes. I am aware. Great kids and babies clothes. I am not sending my kid to daycare in bloody Country Road. It's not happening. You are wearing Best and Less. You are wearing Kmart.

I don't even know how, but the other day he came home with paint on his back. Oh. Flexible king. but you know when you're just like I don't know how that happens but I'm glad that that was on a Kmart jumper best and least god I need to go back in there I'm also like I always tie them in my head with Lowe's but I know they're separate but they do actually have good training I've never been into a Lowe's Lowe's is great I love Lowe's what are you buying Lowe's I feel like all they sell is Hawaiian shirts because whenever I walk past this store they've

just got Hawaiian shirts in the front so I'm like this this is not my journey that's the dream they just do work clothes and hawaiian t-shirts and party shirts so strange yeah i think you go in there for like tradie clothes your good basics yeah your tradie clothes and stuff like that okay best and less friends club make sure you log into your account and you can add yours plus your partners and five more birthdays each birthday month you get a 50% off voucher sent out that's seven months of coupons because you do yourself your partner and five other birthdays okay do yourself and and six other people my cat my other cat exactly my other cat that i don't have yet but i'm pretty sure his birthday is on the 19th of august

your original due date i was two weeks late so i get the 14th and the 30th you know things like that talks of people being like i'm going out to celebrate today going to get myself a sweet treat and a gift and then they go because I wasn't born today but I could have been and if I was it would have been my birthday I really respect that respect every day could have been our birthday today could have been our birthday it could have been it wasn't but it could have been and we should celebrate that absolutely I agree so I think that's really great and exactly as Jess says perfect for kids and baby clothes and school basics or stocking up on little hair trinkets for birthday presents oh they're so cute this next one comes from Michaela who says

find a company that sells laundry liquid to hotels etc in 20 kilo lots oh that's huge they pay 70 dollars for 20 kilos of concentrate water down and last over two years that's crazy people and five horses worth of laundry wow what kind of laundry the horses are using blankets and stuff leg warmers i think yeah they have little leg warmers because they do aerobics Oh, that's so cute. It's very clear that I was not, I didn't come on a horse family. Do you not drive past, like you go down the morning to Peninsula a lot. Yeah, yeah, true.

Do you not drive past all the horses in their little coats? They do get little coats on, yeah. I don't know you wash those. I would just chuck them in the garden. I just feel like, I don't know, when it's rude to not point out animals as you're driving. Oh, I have to, yeah, you have to. You're like, oh, look, Steve, cows.

And he's like, cool. And we're like, oh, horsies, horsies, hi, horsies. And Steve's like, I have married a child. that's so cute it's rude not to i'll be like look those horses look so fancy they're jackets today and it's even more fun when they're babies like your mommy made you look so nice today oh that is so cute i am so lame something that's cute is made so much cuter when someone talks to it in such a like a little like oh yeah it's like your dog voice it's so cute you can't have your normal voice when talking to an animal no you can't i don't think they understand no absolutely

You have to use baby voice. And then my tip, my friend sent me a link the other day. She said, oh, my God, you should sign up for Andy Lee's 100. And you get $100. And I haven't got my $100 yet. I saw someone who did it. Did you do it? I'm sorry, but I haven't got it.

Is Andy Lee starting a Ponzi scheme? Yeah, I think so. But no, I don't know if you guys have seen. It's like it's on very late at night. I mean, maybe it's not, but everything feels late to me. But he does this show where he asks 100 people, like you can't you kind of join via zoom is the vibe and then they're like a few guests and they ask a question like how many of you pick your nose you know what i mean something like that

for example and you just have to join zoom you're on the show but like you're very you can't even you're not even noticeable you know what i mean because you're among 100 other faces or 99 other faces i should say and then yeah so i signed up yeah we all signed up and we haven't got our hundred dollars yet but i i think it's gonna be on the show uh i haven't heard back but so i think Yeah, I think you do need to actually make it onto the show. I would assume so. Yeah, I would assume if you go on the show you get paid $100 because that makes sense.

Otherwise it's a free $100 and then I'm like, Andy Lee, we've got to chat. Are you running a Ponzi scheme? If so, how do I get in? But I just think it's such a – because the chances of being picked, you're just like – you're just a random face on a random screen. Of course you're going to be picked. But that's another broke tip where money wins. To expand on that, you can like sign up for TV shows to be in the audience.

Yes. I remember one time I was – this is so first world, but I was overseas so I couldn't go. but Gabby and I who used to work here we signed up because we were like we want to go and be in the audience of thank god you're here like that would be so good and we signed up and then they said the tickets weren't transferable but I wasn't in the country and Gabby's like oh well it's you've got a ticket and I've got a ticket and then her friend pretended to be Victoria so if anyone ran into Victoria and thank god you're here it wasn't me that would be so fun to watch yeah I was really

envious because that's one of the shows i've watched since i was teeny tiny and i just feel like that would be a fun yeah show to be in the audience of whereas i think some other shows might be like a little bit boring but that could be a fun date night sign up for all these shows and then taskmaster i reckon would be taskmaster yeah that would be fun but you're not there for the task you're just there for them watching their task yeah then they do the live task the live task oh yes true i love that would be cool can we run a she's on the money taskmaster oh my god that would be so fun i feel like that would be a good youtube series it would be a good youtube series you would both suck because whoa because jessica ricky because the adhd of it all

yeah all the information you need is in the task i can't even the amount of times that whoever was hosting would have to say that to you too hold on that's so true jess yeah you were able to get out of escape rooms aren't you i love an escape room have you ever successfully escaped an escape room no yeah neither everything feels like i'm gonna win the she's on the money i feel like she's on the money task master would be very fun we'll we'll workshop we'll come back to this oh my god how do we marry she's on the money task master but like somehow with money and budgeting and maths tips easy our producer used to work in tv hey emma emma help here's more work. Anyway, all right. That sounds really good. That's it from my end. I love that. I have

to go to a break. We have to talk about Taskmaster a little bit more. And after the break, we're going to help answer our money dilemma, which this week is all about asking, how do you know if you're buying a property at the market peak? And something that you slid into our DMs about, what do you do if your partner's 40 grand in debt, but doesn't seem to be in any type of hurry to pay it off? Don't go anywhere. Welcome back, everybody. Let's take a listen to this week's Money Dilemma. Hi there. Have you got a money dilemma you just can't solve? The She's on the Money team is here to help. Every week, we tackle your dilemmas, both big and small, to answer your most burning

money, career and life questions. To get involved, simply head to our website and leave us a short voice recording and you might just find yourself on the show. Now, let's take a listen to this week's money dilemma hi she's on the money team i'm trying really hard to break into the brisbane property market but wow prices especially for units have gone through the roof i recently read on domain that prices are now at levels that would have been laughable a few years ago which is so true i'm currently priced out of everything except for the cheapest suburbs but here's the catch those suburbs are now being flagged as potentially overvalued too. How do I figure out if I'm buying at the peak of the market? I get that Brisbane's growth is likely to continue with the Olympics

coming, but I'm terrified of making a big money mistake, but also scared of being completely pushed out of the property game. Does that make sense? All right. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings. Bec, how do you know if you're buying in the market peak? I'm the perfect person to ask um because I she's a property connoisseur property connoisseur honestly I would not have a single clue I don't know I don't know anything about property I don't I and you do and you're good you're good at getting rentals I'm really good at getting rentals but that's I don't know I don't I fear that that's probably not going to be helpful but also I do know that like there are some rentals where like people are just kind of like they're sticking to the market whatever the

averages in the area but they're not fixing up the house so I don't like I'm just going to go for whatever I'm never looking for the best property and like am I paying too much I just I know I'm paying too much and what can I do about it nothing so I'm probably the best person to ask but I guess I would just think about what like lifestyle wise which is not this is not financial advice at all obviously but like lifestyle wise do I want to be living out further are you in a mad rush right now I know what you mean by like if you wait are you going to be like completely pushed out of the game altogether. God, I don't know what I would do, but I probably would prioritize lifestyle. And I would be like, well, if I can't afford to buy or live where I want to,

where it's close to my community, close to my friends, I'm going to rent forever. And that's me. That's not fair. That's not helpful. Fair call, Miss Jessica Ricci. What are we looking at? There's a few things you can look at. You can look at auction clearance rates is normally a pretty good indicator. If your clearance rates are decently high. What's that mean? So clearance rate is what percentage of houses sell at auction. Just because a house goes for auction doesn't mean it gets bought. Yes. So every week, like realestate.com.au and domain.com.au publish data and say of 100%

of the auctions that went ahead, 57% of those properties sold. Got you. And the higher that percentage, the more market appetite there is to purchase. I see. Yeah. So auction clearance rates are a good indicator. If not a lot of houses are selling, it's probably a good indication that either people can't afford them they're priced out expectations are too high and so you might see like a little bit

of a backslide I will say that like historically as much as we talk about the peak of the market prices haven't really dropped so to speak like they've kind of just increased at a slower pace at least in the last like maybe five to ten years even during COVID there was like a prediction that there would be a huge trough and like yes like things absolutely did dip out during COVID although i think that's really an extenuating circumstance but there is predictions that there would be a secondary drop in the years following that just didn't happen so i don't know that like looking at the peak of the market so to speak is the most helpful thing it's kind of like investing right like you can try and time it but like if you actually knew how to time it would be so rich

correct so i would more so be looking at like i think the sooner the better just based purely on my personal experience, I think that if I had bought three years ago for something that I just could afford, I think I arguably would be in a stronger financial position. And so I think rather than trying to go, okay, well, what's the best time in the market for me to make this purchase? Can I afford it? Is it somewhere I want to buy? So I would actually be looking at the data of the suburbs that you're saying you can afford to buy in. Is that a good purchase for you and your goals more so than going is it a good time for me to purchase I agree but you don't think if anyone's qualified to speak on this is you BD hi my name is Victoria Devine and I own a mortgage

broking business so I talk to people about this literally every single day and my answer is we do not care and I mean that in the nicest possible way if you are buying your home and you're a long-term investor. We aren't looking for the peak or the troughs. We're not looking for it to come off. You're going to hear stories about people who bought in like the dips in the market during COVID. You're going to hear all of this, right? And that is going to distract you. All I want to know is, have you spoken to your broker? Can you service this loan? Are you comfortable with that? Desperation adds this additional layer of complexity, which might make you make decisions that aren't in line with your long-term values. And you might be like, oh my God, but we need to

get in right now. And then three years down the track, you're like, we really just like shotgun purchase that house because we were desperate as opposed to actually looking at our financial circumstances. The best time to buy an investment, the best time to buy a property is the time that it makes financial sense to you. It's the time that you sit down and you have your deposit comfortably. You've got your buffer comfortably. You are happy to take on that loan. You are happy with how much those mortgage repayments are going to be. It's not about timing the market or waiting for an interest rate drop because you know what you're not the only person thinking that and I think I've had to dispel over the last couple of months a lot

of conversation with clients where they go we're just going to wait for like the next rate cut and I go that's fantastic. Do you really think that you are the only first home buyer that is waiting for the rate to drop and do you know what happens when the rate drops and that's why you're wanting to wait is the rate drops and the last rate drop as of recording was a 0.25% basis drop So that means that the interest rate in Australia or the cash rate in Australia went to 3.60%. That means off the last rate cut that we had, if you had a million dollar mortgage, you're probably saving about a hundred dollars a month and off a $500,000 mortgage, it's probably cutting 50 bucks off a month.

So that is a good amount of money, like not, not something to sneeze at, but on the flip side, if you haven't purchased yet, you actually have an increased amount of borrowing power because the bank goes, oh, with that same deposit, you can actually borrow more money because the money to borrow is cheaper. And you go, that's a money win. But when money is cheaper, and let's pretend, Jess, you're in the market to purchase. You currently have a budget of $500,000, which is a very normal first home buyer's budget, right? And you say to me, V, I'm going to wait for the next rate cut, or I'm going to wait for the market to come off. Every other first home buyer that is in the market that is saying that is your competition, right? And so say you wait for

the rate cut and then your broker calls you and goes, great Jess, like, you know, we had your pre-approval at $500,000, but now it's actually $520,000 because of the rate cut money win. You're now going shopping and have $20,000 extra to spend at every single auction you go to. I promise you will cap that out if you are desperate. So will every other first home buyer. So instead of that house going for $20,000 less, we all have a little bit of free extra money to push that auction up a little bit more. So you will often see with rate cuts, increases in property value, but that's just because there's more cash floating around the economy to spend, not because, oh, there's more demand for them. You cannot predict this stuff. So like kind of put some blinkers on

when you're buying property. And I know that I go, do your research, keep your eyes open. When it comes to your budget and the market, you can't time it. Yes, if you are an investor purchase, that's probably worth a little bit more consideration. Like if Jess came to me and said, got $500,000, I want to buy an apartment and I want to, or a house, or I want to buy something. And the plan is to purchase it with a short-term horizon. And I would like to have it on just interest only. And I'm hoping that in five years I can sell that property because I would have gain some equity in it and like that's how I'm planning on making money that's when we start to care a lot more about what the market's doing and you know what it looked like over the last 10 years

but if you're purchasing your family home yeah it's important to be across it we don't want to be ripped off we don't want to be overpaying like that's not our journey but we are also not trying to time the market because if you're trying to time the market with everybody else I can promise you that you're not putting yourself in the best possible position and also not to throw Miss Jessica Ricci under a bus but I can almost guarantee that she wishes she put just like pulled the trigger and bought at a time without putting blinkers on like or had a few more blinkers on at the start of her journey because it would have been financially beneficial but you also just don't know what you don't know. Hindsight's 20-20. Absolutely. Should we get into

this week's juicy DM? Absolutely so this week we got a DM and it said hey she's on the money my partner currently has around $40,000 worth of debt accumulated and is in the process of consolidating it and also isn't currently adding any additional debt. Although they are coming up with a plan to consolidate, they have no desire to actually pay it off quickly or be out of debt at any point. They believe it's just part of life. I feel quite the opposite. I've never had debt and I am quite good at saving. I'm nervous about when the time comes where we might join finances. They've mentioned that they always keep their debt separate to me. However, I'm not sure it works that seamlessly would love some advice and thoughts from the community what would you do

yeah I'm not too sure how debt works when like it doesn't become your debt like okay unless your name's on it it doesn't become yours but like if my husband had debt and I didn't have debt and we have shared financial goals that's now a burden on me totally I want to help pay off because I'm like well I can't buy a house or I can't do anything or I can't go on a holiday until that's on. So it kind of becomes a burden of yours in the relationship rather than a burden of yours long-term. Absolutely. So like, yeah, in like an indirect way, I will definitely still, I guess if the loan repayment amount is not a giant chunk of, like if it's not like really, really impacting your day-to-day, I can kind of understand that feeling of like, oh, like I'm not super worried.

If it was like HEX, I know it's different, but like HEX, I'm never thinking about HEX. And I I know this is very, very different to HECS, but I'm thinking if it's like a drop in the ocean, on the one hand, you'd be like, oh, if it's a drop in the ocean, then like quickly pay it off so you don't have to think about it. But on the other hand, it's a drop in the ocean. I'm not in a rush. I'm just paying that slowly. I don't want it to like impact three full months, for example, of like paying this thing

off heaps and just like kind of living tight and on a budget for that time while you pay it off. I guess like if you have a chat and and crazy communication is key here but wow I'm glad that has come up it never comes up on this show if you have a chat about it and you kind of realize that like the likelihood of it impacting you either directly or indirectly like yeah let's say you want to go on a holiday or you want to buy a house together or something it's like like if you look at it and you're like can you see how this debt will impact that directly and maybe that's just all it takes like just like the actual like showing someone how while it doesn't seem like

anything while it just kind of seems like it's happening in the background how it could impact your day-to-day life I guess because I have someone in debt that I can understand two different sides of it so I think yeah just communication it's Jessica Ricci yeah I fully agree I think like it it sounds like you just need to have a conversation I think pointing out to them as you said like how that will impact your future goals because it's not about the fact that they have debt. Like people can accumulate debt for a whole host of reasons. And, you know, it's up to us to do with that as we will. But pointing out the fact that, well, if we wanted to buy a house together or if we wanted to have children or if we wanted to do, you know, take on any kind of

significant financial undertaking, you already carrying debt inhibits your ability to contribute to that, might inhibit our ability to borrow money for a big goal like purchasing a house, all those sorts of things. I think it's really important to be on the same page because I think if you have one person who is very like, I don't care about the debt. I'm happy to let it hang out there forever. And one person who's very driven and very like, I want to buy a house. I want to go on a holiday. I want to do this, that, the other. I think there is potential for there to be conflict there down the track. So I do think it's important that you address it. And both of you hear each other out. As you said, people are entitled to have different opinions and perspectives

and there's no right or wrong. But I think that when it can start to impact the things that you're trying to build together, that's when it has the potential to become a problem. So I think, yeah, you're absolutely right. It's just about having a conversation, you explaining how you feel about the impacts, them explaining why it might not be a priority to them, planning out what you want to do and how, you know, that might overlay or underlay underneath, you know, the things that already exist and kind of go from there. But I think it is important to address sooner than later, because if you leave it, I think it has the potential to be a bigger deal where right now you're in a position where it doesn't need to be. Yeah. And it's rough because

that's just telling me you're not on the same page. Yeah. And you clearly want to be on the same page. So it's not about how they accumulated the debt. It's about prioritizing that and your future financial goals. And I think that just even talking to them about like, you're aware of like how detrimental this debt is. It's not just like you've got debt. Great. But it's also like the exact opposite of compound interest. Like the longer you have it, the more you're paying off. yes, you're in $40,000 worth of debt, but how much is that going to cost you? Probably $52,000 to $60,000 to pay it off. Like people don't look at how financially impactful that is. And like your situation, Bec, at the moment, and I know you've been through a lot of debt with a payment

plan on something like fines is a bit different to a debt that's carrying a lot of interest. So like, I can see why you might go, it's 60 bucks a month. And do you know what? It just ticks along. Whereas if there was a significant interest charge payable on that, I'd be like, well, actually, yeah, it feels like that in the moment, but ultimately it's putting you behind and that, you know, thousand dollars you own is actually two and a half thousand dollars. And like that is not cool. Cause I'm pretty sure you would want 1500 bucks in your back pocket. So I think it's about contextualizing it and going, do you actually know what this means for us? Like, and not being able to do things. And I just think it's, it's really hard, but it's all about getting on

the same page. Now we did ask the community, we asked a couple of questions. First we said, how do you feel about this sort of debt? 92% said, I'm exactly the same as her. And 8% said, I actually agree with her partner. We then asked, how would you feel if your partner had $40,000 in personal debt and wasn't in a rush to pay it off? 57% said, I'd be stressing about our money future. 23% said, I'd need a payoff plan from my partner. 11% said, this is actually a deal breaker for me. And 9% said, it's their money. It's their choice, which is all fair and good and reasonable we then said what's your two cents we want to know first person said you need to explain hey this person's on my page first person said you need to explain the money saved in

interest by paying it off faster and using that money for a fun goal another person said I was in the same situation and I actually gave my partner an ultimatum you let me help you sort this out or I'm gone we are going on 10 years strong wow next person said you can't control how other people choose to live, but I would not be marrying them. Next person said, if your money values can't align now, it'll only get exasperated later in life with weddings and kids and your bigger family goals. Another person said, don't combine finances. You need to be managing things separately until they aren't in any debt. Another person said, the reality is that if they are paying off debt, that's money that's not going into the relationship and making it better. And

the last person said you can't really keep debt that separate if you're planning on getting married or plan to apply for a home loan together in the future which is true I think yeah I just think like it is impactful for your future whether you care about it or not is a different story but being on the same page as your partner is really important true yeah couldn't agree more oh wow communication that's so crazy good place to leave it guys I hope you have had a really beautiful week we'll see you bright and early on Monday morning for a money diary but until then have a beautiful weekend bye guys 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

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