She's On The Money - The Reality of Grief and Managing Their Estate

Episode Date: June 22, 2025

Ever felt like life just keeps testing you… one heartbreak after another? This week’s Money Diary isn’t just about grief, it’s about the admin that comes with it (and no one warns you about). After losing both her parents, our diarist found herself deep in paperwork, probate, Centrelink forms, and co-executor chaos… all while pregnant and juggling two little ones at home. From the emotional mess of selling the family home to navigating bank accounts, and all the estate drama, this is the side of money we don’t often talk about, but so many of us will face. And through it all? She’s budgeting, investing for her kids, and still somehow holding it together. This episode is a reminder that sometimes, surviving is the win. If you want to learn how to start building your own investment portfolio, The Investing Masterclass is open for enrolment. Join us here.  Ready to binge more relatable, inspiring, and downright juicy money stories? Check out our ultimate Money Diaries playlist. Listen now Join our Facebook Group AKA the ultimate support network for money advice and inspiration. Ask questions, share tips, and celebrate your wins with a like-minded crew of 300,000+. And follow us on Instagram for Q&As, bite-sized tips, daily money inspo... and relatable money memes that just get you.  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.

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. Mumu bangada 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 lets you be pervy about other people's money habits for educational purposes of course welcome back to another one of our money days where i get the absolute privilege of sitting down and having a good chat with one of our She's on the Money community members. Let's jump straight into it because this week I got a message and it sounded exactly like this. Dear She's on the Money, my story is one of painful grief combined with postpartum and navigating it all while trying to be an executor of my dad's estate with a co-executor who does not have the best of intentions. It's been the year of big lows

and highs with my dad passing away just a week before my son was born. We had to navigate funeral expenses and now finalize his estate including managing all of his bills and debts and selling my family home to pay for it all. My mum also passed when I was only 26. All of this has happened with a new baby, our own mortgage and mortgage and finances to navigate with a Centrelink parental leave pay kicking it into boot. It still feels as though I haven't even been able to properly grieve as I desperately am trying to work my way through all of the administrative burden of it all. Money Diarist, this is awful. I'm so sorry you're going through this right now. Yeah, that sounded even more awful when you read it back to me.

When you put it down on paper, it just like kind of kicks you in the guts, doesn't it? I'm sorry. Yeah, it's been, yeah, such a wild, at least five years actually, probably since my mum got sick. I was about to say like with your mum passing, I feel like that it's just like a roller coaster from then because like I feel like postpartum and before you did mention that you have a three-year-old you've just been going through it girl. I know and I remember thinking back like just before we got engaged so just before my mum actually got sick and being like wow our life is just like how lucky are we we're so like we're in Hawaii we got engaged like everything felt perfect and then she was diagnosed probably I think six months later or 12 months later and then from then it

was sort of, yeah, just never really got off the really wild rollercoaster. No, it just kept going. I'm so sorry. All right. I'm going to ask the first question before we get into it. If I asked you to give yourself a money grade, what money grade would you give yourself from A through to F? I was thinking, well, before postpartum, I think I was a B minus, probably navigating life right now. I'm sitting on a solid C. I would think that right now navigating all of this, you're a solid A. Like to get through all that, you just got to have your shit together. I'm sorry. Like you might not feel that way, but like it's a lot. Yes. Yes. The administrative burden of it all is just huge. Like it's like.

It's hectic. So let's rewind a little bit. I want to know about your money story, but I actually want to know about your mum. You said she passed when you were only 26. And before that you were like in Hawaii celebrating life. And then she got diagnosed, I'm assuming with a form of cancer. Talk to me, what happened? Who was your mom? So she was just amazing. And yeah, it's lovely to speak about it because you don't get to all that often, especially when they've passed, I guess, more than five years ago. They talk about grief in like stages and past five years, people kind of stopped saying their names. So thank you. Yeah, she was, yeah, still working. So she was only early sixties at this point. She was a teacher aid for special needs kids. So she

was always. So she was a special human as well. Stop it. Yeah. She was always, and mum and dad both were like low income earners. You know, she stayed home with me until we went to school and then she got a job at my school sort of thing. So we just pretty much spent all our time together until I was of, I guess, a young adult and moved out of home after uni. So yeah, she unfortunately got diagnosed with cancer while still working in her early 60s she had bowel cancer oh and that one's an awful one I mean they're all awful but that's that's awful and it was it was quite quick in terms of like you know her she'd done the bowel screening it had actually come back okay and where it was positioned it just was extremely aggressive and difficult to operate on hard to

retreat. You know, they tried chemo, radio. It was, yeah, just such a roller coaster until she pretty much, she passed away actually a week after our wedding. Oh, mom. But thanks for holding on. Literally. Yeah. So she was just so, so strong. That woman had a mission. She was like, girl, we're going to make the wedding. We're going to make it. So that was about, I think it was 18 months after she was originally diagnosed. And she pretty much got to the May, June of that year. Our wedding was in the November. This was the year of COVID actually. So 2020. Yeah. You know what? I'm sorry. Like shout out to your mom for going through all of that junk while going through COVID as well. Cause like going to appointments and having all of those

additional restrictions, like that's not fair. I still remember like the Easter of that year was the Easter. I know you're in Melbourne, so I know you had it rougher than I in here in Queensland. With what you're telling me right now, I definitely didn't have it rougher, babe. I was just stuck at home. Okay. That's true. So I remember it was the Easter of that year and you like, you couldn't even gather to celebrate Easter. Like it was that, and like that always made me a bit sad. Like we tried to, we all did our best. You did your best, but you couldn't like the restrictions were wild. So that was a bit sad that that happened in her last year. But yeah, we sort of got to the May-June and she pretty much deteriorated from there, but really

did hold on. I remember at my hen's party, she like was determined to make it and she did. She sat there and watched the stripper that my friends organized. Thanks, mom. Literally, it's so hilarious. But yeah, so she made it. And then at my wedding, she was really sick. She'd sort of entered palliative care the week before but she she made it and for the ceremony at least she we got her accommodation on the site and one of her best friends came and stayed with her so she was able to come to the ceremony we got some really amazing photos which was yeah perfect really cool to keep and then yeah so that's where yeah it was a crazy journey for that period and here we are again, sort of in a comparatively crazy period. That is a joke. Like I'm not trying to

like make light of this. That's just honestly the biggest piece of bullshit. Like imagine going through all of that. And then later you're like, cool, I'm going to have another baby. Like this is, you know, really exciting. And then something's happening with your dad. So, oh, sounds like mum was a trooper. Like sounds like mum was an icon. Like anyone who works as a teacher's aide, you just know they're a good egg like you just know that they care and like the fact that she's like girl we're making the strippers like we're going we're gonna be there for that like but you just know she was a good mum right she was she was the best so tell me about your dad so dad they were both equally actually I was at a mother's group the other day and we got asked the question of

like what do you want to pass on to your children and I spoke about how I felt like mum and dad collectively were like just both so amazing but they were both so different so mum was a really really nurturing loving you know there for everything just most amazing mum like when I was 22 and still going to stay at their house she would like heat up the bed and put my pajamas under the pillow sort of thing oh she was perfect she was literally all the way till the end like it was crazy and then dad was like charismatic like super hilarious you know like the Joker everyone commented at his funeral of just how hilarious he was so like together they were just such an amazing little team so I'm very grateful for that I wish I had longer with them but yeah

they were the best while we got them here on earth that sounds so traumatic but also they just sound like such beautiful people. Like they just sound like, like, I hope that one day my kids speak about me in the same way that you're speaking about your parents. Like, how pretty is that? Like, that's just so good. Right. Like, I hope that Harvey is one day like, oh, my mom, like that would be, I would have made it. Yeah, definitely. And even just like the people that said stuff to me at both of their funerals, like some of mom's students said, you know, at some points in their lives, she was the only person they felt like was there for them or who they could fully speak to. And like similarly, like friends that I'd grown up with and I hadn't

spoken to for years were like, oh my God, your dad was just like the best dad ever. Like you're so lucky sort of thing. So yeah, it was lovely to when people are able to say that to you and you're allowed, you get that opportunity to speak about them. Yeah. That's so nice. So talk to me, what happened with your dad? So then dad, he was actually doing really well. He hadn't had the best health during his life but in the last probably since my daughter was born in 2022 he was doing really well but on so you're not going to probably believe this but on her first birthday he was picking up her birthday cake and I was calling his phone because it was a little bit delayed and then a random man answers and says I think your dad's having a stroke of course I know I was

in the park it was starting to pour rain and I was holding like soft play that I needed to set up for the party. Yeah. Cause it's a first birthday. Like those are completely opposite scenarios. So then I raced to obviously where he was by that time. The ambulance had already taken him because he was having a severe stroke. Oh no. Yeah. So he, the birthday cake was still strapped in the back of his car. Of course it was. He's like, just let me deal with this. I'll just strap this in. Oh, there's something going on with me. I know. It was literally in a seatbelt and luckily he'd stopped to get the newspaper. Who knows why?

Because he was on his way to the party. Because he's a dad. He's a stereotypical dad. He needs a paper. What if it was boring? Soft play is not for adults. Well, that's the thing. But thank God he got that newspaper because he could have been

on the road when it happened. He was luckily returning from the shock and kind of collapsed into his car. And there was somebody there to like pick up his phone. My God. Yeah. So he survived that, but it was like a very close call. Like it was a severe stroke and they had to operate immediately sort of thing to remove the clot. But then he was never the same, unfortunately, after that. So then we had about a year with him. Was it a year? About another 18

months pretty much of navigating who he was then and his life. He spent about four months in rehab after that. So he could walk and he could mostly use his arm, although he had to relearn all the fine motor skills and things like that. But then, yeah. And I'm assuming he probably couldn't talk if that's how severe it was. He could, but it sort of changed who he was. So what I was sort of talking about how funny and he pretty much lost that part of him. His personality. Yeah. He really became a different person. So it was really difficult to navigate that as well. Like learning who he was then he was a different, like before. Yeah. Cause it does change you. Like it changes your brain it changes literally everything and it's scary as well like for you going through

this as well yes awful awful for him but like as his daughter to watch your dad become somebody that's arguably unrecognizable is terrifying like it is so scary like you just like I don't know this person I don't know how they're reacting and a lot of the time when these things happen they're not oh he's just different it's usually partnered with things like aggression and things that wouldn't make a lot of sense for them to say that feel uncomfortable and I think that that's really confronting yeah yeah definitely the uncomfortable because he was always a joker so he tried to keep that because like deep down he knew that that's who he was he knows who he is it's just not how he can show up it was yeah so it was yeah so tricky to navigate because before that

he like I used to work from home one day a week I would set up like the playroom and he would come and look after my daughter while I worked from home like it was like two worlds that day on her first birthday everything changed again so I'm so glad we got that year because my daughter has such beautiful memories and she's such a little old soul that she says things now about my son like he can't how come he never got to have a picture with Poppy like she knows we've talked about it but it is still a tricky concept to navigate with a three-year-old and yeah but that's so sweet she remembers like she's so little and still gets it like how cool's that I know and she everything of hers that he's bought her I always try and say like oh poppy got you

that we'll have a conversation about it she's like poppy got me this and like it's like she loves it even more which is so special oh she's so sweet she's also like I know what this means to me. How sweet. I know. Yeah. And then fast forward, you said you got another 18 months with dad and you were pregnant. Did you see this coming? No. Well, he was unwell and the GP had sort of a few times been like, go to emergency and get your heart checked. Like, I guess health as well as like a stroke, you know, it just does deteriorate overall for a person after something so severe. And obviously his mental health wasn't great after this, but no, it was completely, I was 38 weeks pregnant, maybe on the dot or almost 38 weeks pregnant. And yeah, my brother

called me that morning and it was completely random, just out of the blue. Like we didn't get an autopsy because the paramedic asked me if I wanted that. And my auntie, who is pretty much his best friend we sort of agreed that we didn't need to put him through more he was very unhealthy at that point so his doctor was able to say you know like it could have been one of many things but it was still as much as it was almost like a relief that he was out of the pain that he went through in the previous 18 months it was still a big shock and I I think I've had two different grief periods like I've had the you know it's coming kind of thing I actually thought like we bought a house we were planning to I was trying to get him sorted to build a granny flat here

so he could have money in the bank and just because he was struggling on the pension and all of those things but we never quite got there so yeah you sound so sweet too you sound just like your mum you explained your mum and then just the way that you're like speaking about your dad I'm like oh babe the apple has not fallen that far from the tree thank you so tell me what that's like because like you get a call from your brother your dad's passed away that's horrific but you're 38 weeks pregnant and that's meant to be a joyous period of life right that's meant to be like a period that you're just so excited how do you navigate that we were actually like luckily we were at my niece's birthday because my daughter like obviously with children you

like I try and be open with her but you try and mask some of the intenseness of emotions like you can't you're trying to protect them you do and but obviously the my reaction immediately to that phone call was like what she'd never seen before so then I had to quickly like rein it back in to tell her that mummy needed to go for a minute and luckily she was with her cousins and her nanny so she could so she was like yeah pop off mum I love being here yeah so she was half like that I saw you really sad and I want to stay with you but also I really like my cousins and I'm happy to stay here so that was sort of a blessing and a curse so she was there and then we went to mum and dad's house and I was sort of out the front because mum did pass away also in the family

home and I was just refusing to go in and the paramedic had to come out and be like we need you you were 38 weeks pregnant and this was in February so like the hottest part of the Queensland summer Yeah. And it was hot. Yuck. No, thanks. I'm just out the front because I was like, I can't go in. Just hanging out in the heat because you're like, I can't do this again. I can't do it again. So eventually they moved him back to his bed. So he was comfortable and like, I never went down that end of the house. I just sort of went outside. Maybe you could come in the house and maybe not be absolutely straining yourself in the heat. Yes. So we just went and sat there until all the logistics of that part of it was sorted.

And yeah, I guess after that came the whirlwind of quickly planning a funeral that came before I was 40 weeks pregnant and having a baby. So you had, I'm assuming the funeral the week after or so, is that right? Yeah, I literally quickly planned it. And luckily my auntie is just amazing. So she helped us with the financial side of things to be settled upon the estate settlement. So we can just quickly go ahead and organize something, which literally happened the week after. And because I'm a lunatic, because for mum's funeral, I did the eulogy, the video, the booklet, like everything. Yeah, of course you did. See, you are your mum's daughter. And so I was determined to do it again, even though like I knew I shouldn't and I knew I

didn't have the capacity, but I was like, but I did it for mum. So I wanted to do it for dad. And I bet you don't regret that though. I bet you're like, no, I'm glad I did. No. And I love the video. And, you know, every time I go to a family member's house and they've got the little booklet up on the mantelpiece. That makes me feel happy. Yeah. You're really proud. Yeah. Yeah. So we did that. And then I looked like I'd told my midwife what was going on and I'd just gone for some extra chats around then and just got some monitoring. Yeah. Smart. Thank God. But like, he was just completely fine. And literally he was vibing. He's like, mom, you seem stressed. I'll just hang out here for a bit. All right.

He just hung out. Like he was just so fun. And then I even like, I booked to the induction or my due date, I ended up going in a few days earlier just because like I felt like my brain couldn't comprehend movements at that point in time. So I was stressing myself more. So we ended up having the induction and like it was literally like dad passed away a week later, the funeral a week later, I gave birth. Oh no. And doing all of that and you mentioned like, yeah, we had to like navigate funeral expenses throughout that time. Like money is so stressful at the best of times. money when you're going through that is even more stressful. But now you're trying to finalize his estate, but you've said there's maybe a co-executor that doesn't have the best intentions.

That's another level of stress that is just not necessary. So how are you navigating? What does that look like? It's been pretty awful in terms of like somebody who should be a big part of like the support network in postpartum is just not around. And that's because of substances that they've engaged with for a long period so that's not a surprise but also still heartbreaking yeah like we always knew it was bad and when my mum passed away it probably exasperated at all I suppose people that's no excuse for them but deal with things differently I guess but yeah like since that has passed this person has pretty much well they never actually contacted me when I had the baby you know to see if I was okay so all communication has pretty much been through the

solicitor now because obviously which is why I wrote in the money story actually because the joint executorship thing is I actually had no idea about it like it's good in theory yeah and dad always said to me he's like don't worry glad because I'd be like dad this person lived with dad for a long time for free they're about 10 years older than me so it always irked me because dad struggled so much with money after his stroke while we slaved away on our mortgage and all our you know it frustrated me yeah and they're just kind of like taking a free ride and basically taking advantage of your dad and you're watching that happen and that's hurtful like that's not okay and like you seem like a different personality as well because like you just told me before like

oh our plan was smash down our mortgage build a granny flat so dad could move in because I could see he was struggling on the pension that's literally the exact opposite of what you've just explained. So like that would be so hard to navigate. And it was so frustrating because even during that time of us trying to get dad to sell the family home to build, like I was even planning on, you know, the granny flat would be like a building that if dad passed away, it could literally just be picked up on a truck and sold and taken away just like a family home. Like our property was not essentially benefiting from it. But this person said to my dad many times, like, what about my inheritance, et cetera, et cetera. It's actually not your inheritance. It's

his money to spend on his life right now. And that's what I wanted for him so bad because at the end, he just wanted to go to the pub and have a steak. Icon, honestly, icon. Exactly. And there were weeks that he would call me and be like, Georgia, my account's so overdrawn. I don't know why. Like, and like, it was just so frustrating at the end because I couldn't help him. And I just wanted him to just like mom and dad slaves at that mortgage their entire lives. They paid every bit of interest to the bank that they possibly could. And actually he paid his last mortgage repayment while he was in hospital after the stroke. Stop it. No, that's heartbreaking.

I know. And it was so weird. I remember it had come out, maybe his account was overdrawn and I was fixing it because that's the other thing that happened. I used to sort of help him manage the money. And then about once this person moved into his house, the control got lost. So it's all, yeah. It sounds like a mess. And so you're going through this process and is the solicitor kind of aware that this is going on? I mean, I feel like these people generally have some level of nows. Yes, they do. And I think that's the thing, like when they come to an appointment, they're very like, you know, if you met them in the street, you would be like, oh, like they're an

okay person, you know, like what a delight. Yeah. Yeah. Which is exactly right. Thankfully, this solicitor has been sort of like helping my family for, he supported my mum's mum and then mum did the wills. So he sort of, I guess, had an idea. So he's been on the journey very much with us. Thank God. Yeah. Okay. And is that all kind of sorting itself out or like, is that not going to go to plan? Well, so we're about like, my son just went four months. So I just got the property on the market today which has been like just congrats yeah it's been chaotic but we got yeah so we'll see how it goes obviously we've still got a the hurdles of negotiating the you know price of the property and you have a four month old so I'm assuming you're still on mat

leave and your mat leave isn't meant to be spent doing this stuff but you've been doing will executive stuff and trying to get a house on the market like with a newborn you've now got a four month old. That's crazy. Did you blink and then that happened? I know he's so, yeah. Like he had a bit of a wild fourth trimester. He cried a fair bit, but now he's like just this happy little guy that smiles all the time. Like he literally just, everyone who sees him, he'll be like making them like full body smile and like getting tears in their eyes. Cause he's like laughing to get the attention. He's like, look at me. He is. I know. So it brings you sort of back down to earth, I think having a little person. Yeah. And so what were you doing when

you went on mat leave? Like what was your job and how much money did you earn? Yes. So I worked in the public service for the last year. I did four days a week. So I was about 90,000 plus super. Oh, that's good. Yeah. Which was good. Yeah. I only got a pay rise just before mat leave, which was a lovely little bonus. And then having paid parental leave was awesome, that I got 12 weeks so before my job previously was at a not-for-profit oh yeah and you wouldn't have got that no so I did sort of make that move in the chaos of my life just to help us along a little bit knowing we wanted to have another kid yeah that's so good and so then you went on to like obviously maternity leave and you then got your paid parental leave and like the Centrelink

parental leave like pay kicking in tell me about that because you specifically put that in your submission. So I'm assuming it's a pain in the butt. It is. And I think because I like interest rates when I was on mat leave with my daughter in 2022 were much lovelier and we kind of had a lovely time. You know, we were like out to lunch some days, just living our best life. But now like I knew it was going to hit. And I think that's why I sort of said I felt like I was a C at this point in mat leave because I was great at budgeting. I was a little bit controlling, like when we get paid, I like to just like pay everything. Like I would sit down and do it for like a good hour and make sure everything was like how I wanted it with our bills,

which I know is a bit psychotic, but. No, but that's okay. We just sometimes need to feel like we are in control. We do. Yeah. But I've let that control, I guess, lapse a little bit now that I'm on maternity leave and don't have the brain space. That's okay. Sometimes we can just like let that laps. Like you're allowed to relax sometimes, I promise. Let's go to a really quick break because on the flip side, I have a lot of questions. So guys, don't go anywhere. All right, Money Diast, we are back. Talk to me. You have a mortgage. Is that your big money goal? Like pay that off or like what are you currently working towards financially? Yeah. So we, as I said, we bought this property. We had built brand new and then last year we

actually sold our brand new house and built a renovator on a bigger block it wasn't a full renovator like the previous owner had like painted it new carpets so it was okay for us to move straight in so we've just been sort of doing bits and pieces but we haven't sort of like jumped into any huge renovations just yet like we haven't ripped out the kitchen and we're living off a cooktop in the bathroom yet no not yet that's definitely it needs it needs it so that would be our first goal and then obviously to pay it down as much as we can whether or not we sell here and move somewhere different we're not quite sure but only because like as much as I love it it does have that last little connection to I wanted to build a grimy flat here for dad but we

couldn't sort of thing so yeah no totally and that does cloud it a little bit sometimes you just go you know what I want a fresh start like I want a clean slate I don't want to walk into my garden and just think about that every single time. But also like reframe that. What a beautiful intention. I know you didn't get to do it, but like imagine being the person that that's how you're thinking. Like, oh, I would love to put my parents or my dad in the backyard and like take the financial pressure off him. Like what a beautiful sentiment. Like you're a special human because you know what? There are so many people that would be like, I would never do that. Cool. But like I would. It would have been hard, I think. And as he changed over the last year,

like definitely but it would have been really cool too like I always like had little thoughts of you know like just him pottering around the yard with you know my kids or like could just sit in his granny flat and we put a pool and they could watch him swim and you know like just lovely things like that yeah and hopefully with time maybe that gets a little bit easier because like I think that you still clearly haven't dealt with this like in the nicest possible way you haven't had time to grieve because girl you've just come out of newborn territory and you just told me that he didn't really like not crying so he was a busy boy keeping you probably very distracted but like grief is fickle yes and I think that's why I really wanted to get their property sold

and organized but it was really challenging with the joint executor not actually just wanting he essentially stopped talking to me because he wanted to live there for free I think which like obviously it made it much harder for me to get things organized so he won to a degree but hopefully now that we've got it on the market we can get a buyer and I can close that part of my life and move forward yeah there's just a chapter we can close and maybe once all of that settles then you can like take a big breath and maybe grieve then a little bit more because you're like there's not a lot of weight on my shoulders now like I don't actually have any responsibilities it is now. I can just be the daughter who has lost her parents. Yes, which is so much nicer than

being a guarantor. Oh my goodness. Yeah, that's a lot, my friend. That is a lot. So tell me a bit more about money. Do you and your husband invest? If so, in what? Yeah, so obviously I'm a bit of a podcast lover of yours. So I had started investing in shares. I haven't got heaps there because I was just chipping away at the little bit per week. So I think there's $500 in ETFs for us. Oh, see, that's good. Well, it actually, I was a bit stoked the other day because obviously the market's gone a bit up considering what's been going on. So I was looking at the return at the moment. I was like, oh, look at that. Like from my little $20 a fortnight, you know.

Yeah. From little things, big things really do grow. Yeah. So I've got that. And then I've also, I've started dabbling with superhero to have the split accounts for the kids so yeah cute yeah so I've started investing for each of them I sort of started for my daughter but I was I think still learning so now that my son's here I kind of ramped hers up and was trying to make them equal I was calculating back to what I would would have done when she was born so yeah we've got that obviously that would be another sort of money goal once a few other things yeah keep chipping away at it bro I suppose I love that and talk to me about superannuation. You mentioned before that you earn $90,000 plus super, but you're in

like a public service role. Is super a big part of your like salary? Because I'm assuming if you're in public service, maybe you get better than average superannuation. Yeah, it's not that much better. It's by 1% than the average. I mean, I'll take it. It's better than a kick in the pants. Better than nothing, I suppose. So it's ticking along okay. I think it's sitting at about 80,000 mind now my husband's is much nicer because he's also been in a government role for many years but yeah it's just being on Centrelink leave and not getting any super right now is a little bit frustrating given it's coming in very soon but anyway yeah that would be so annoying you'd be like excuse me like essentially a year you know give or take I think you know whatever it is five

and a half months you get at the moment so yeah over two maternity leaves it's a little frustrating but it's a lot and that's why we have to talk about it and think about it talk to me about debt you mentioned that you have a mortgage what does that look like yeah so it's a little bit large and in charge at the moment but our house hopefully would be worth about 1.2 at the moment and we owe I think 750 on it oh that's good yeah obviously when we bought and sold in the same market paying stamp duty was a lovely kick in the bum, but yeah, stamp duty is not fun at all. Stamp duty makes me sick. It's a bit gross, but yeah, so we've got that. And then I think I've got about 15K on my car loan, which is pretty much all that we have. So that would be another goal to get rid

of that because that's not the nicest to pay. I don't like paying that one. No, I don't think anyone does, but I'm assuming you ended up with a car loan because you were like, I need it. Yes. I think I was just on mat leave with my daughter and my car was just, I'd been driving my husband's car because it was much safer actually. But I think we're both going back to work and we're just like, let's just get rid of it. And we'll just have one car loan. Yep. Fair, very fair call. So talk to me. I feel like you said, oh, I am a C, but I was a B minus. I feel like you're probably better than that. You're just not giving yourself enough credit. It sounds like you're the type of person that's relatively harsh on themselves, but that's okay.

tell me what do you think your best money habit is? As much as I was a little bit controlling I think I am really good at budgeting and it was pretty much like we were a little bit frivolous I suppose when interest rates started to rise and I was on mat leave I think I got really good at it then so as much as I was controlling I felt like our money really was like sorted organized and like I always felt good about it I hate the feeling of like just spending a little bit willy-nilly and not knowing what you're opening in your bank account. That just gives me the heebie-jeebies. I mean, that's good. What do you think your worst money habit is then? Probably spending money on my kids. I was just, it was my daughter's birthday this morning. And

after I got all of her presents out last night, I was like, she has so much stuff. And I was like, did I really need to buy all of this? Like, I don't think I spent a lot. Obviously it looks more when they're little because you can just get little things. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And they're very happy with whatever from Kmart as well. Like they don't know the difference. And a lot was just from like, I think I did a hundred dollar lay by at Big W. So yeah, maybe that. I mean, that's not the worst. No, it's not the worst. And I loved it. Other than that, probably just the lacks on the budget from my mat leave, but I'm kind of trying to give myself grace given there's been a lot going on. I feel like that's really fair. Yeah. Like let's embrace that idea. How about we

do give ourselves a little bit more grace, just always, just in general, like I think you deserve it. And I mean, we just touched on it before, but you said, look, I reckon I'm a C right now, but I was a B minus before. And then you like took me through everything you did financially and not financially. I mean, you're investing, you're dabbling in superhero because you want your kids to invest. Like you've got a mortgage, you're paying that off. You've got some really nice equity there. You obviously have a pretty okay, like very nice looking super fund, let's be honest and like you seem to just have your stuff together girl you were writing your dad's eulogy while you were 39 weeks pregnant like be for real come on like you've got your

shit together and then you're like probably a c at the moment do you feel like after we've had this chat and like read out your money story do you think that that's fair for that person who's been through all of that probably not I know I am definitely the person that's always a little bit heart on myself. But yeah, maybe a bit. Look, I get it. But like, let's just give ourselves a little bit more grace, especially right now. Like you deserve it. You deserve it. I know I need to definitely for the grieving process. I need to be as kind as I possibly can to myself, I think. But yeah. A hundred percent you do. Oh, my goodness. It has been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for sharing so much about your mum and your dad.

Like it was a pleasure. They sound like they were delightful human beings. And having gotten to know you what over the last half an hour I feel like the apple didn't fall that far from the tree so like I feel like your kids are probably going to say the same things about you that you're saying about your mum which is beautiful like that's so good like that to me is ultimate goals it is ultimate goals and I really do hope so oh I know so thank you I know so I wish we had more time but unfortunately that's all we've got time for today so thank you so much for sharing that with us I'm genuinely just so grateful and I wish that we were in the same state because I feel like we get on? We are probably a similar type of human being. Yes. I'm not surprised. Thank you so much.

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