She's On The Money - What Should You Really Do With Your Tax Return? And a Spicy WFH Energy Bills Debate

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

Tax time always feels like free money season… but is it really? This week we’re debating whether your refund should go straight into savings, into shares, or into the nearest Dyson Airwrap. And just when things couldn’t get more divisive, a community DM slid in: should you still split bills 50/50 when your housemate works from home (and claims it all back on tax)? Is it fair, or are you low-key subsidising someone else’s career? And we've got your community money wins, broke tips you’ll want to steal immediately, plus all the Friday chaos you signed up for. 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, mumubangaraboma ininyalan waka, gaunonyakarumja, wutunadanar. 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, our incredible She's on the Money community. Miss Jasgarichi, She's here, as always, sharing her favourite money wins. Miss Bex Syed has a few cheeky broke tips. And today we're going to be helping to answer a money dilemma about what you should do with your tax return

and something that you slid into our DMs about. Should you be footing the bill for a housemate that is working from home? I feel like this is a good one and we've kind of touched on it before because you work from home and your partner doesn't work from home. Yeah, I'm the housemate that works from home. But it's also a different conversation when your housemate's not partners. Well, that's it. I'm excited to get there.

Before we get there though, my loves, how were your weeks? You go first. My week's been good. I have just kind of been bobbing along, living life, not doing anything super exciting to be honest. I wish I had something fun to report, but I don't. That's okay. How about you?

Really good week. I'm going to Thailand in like three days. That's crazy. I forgot to tell you guys. I'm sorry about that. No, right. She's taking annual leave. We probably should talk about that.

Just for one week because my girlfriend's going over there for a dance retreat and she was like a dance retreat that's so fun she's a dancer isn't that like I knew that but like also very cool it's so like of course you know like she's already so hot and then she also is a dancer it's like this you have lucked out I know I don't know how I did this I really don't know how to do this but anyway and so I'm like gonna meet her over there after the dance stuff I should really be listening more to what she's been telling me um because I'm just calling it dance stuff but I'm sure there's more to it so I'm kind of excited for that but I hate flying so I'm a bit anxious but that's okay what is your strategy when flying when if you're anxious I don't recommend this but

I either go to my doctor and I get some things prescribed or I just pinch my eyebrow so hard no that I'm like no I can't focus on anything but the pain I do it I do like all my thighs like the it's pinching is an annoying feeling you know this is just not how I saw this conversation going I thought you'd have like breathing strategies or something and you pinch yourself I need to disassociate, you know, but that's me. And how about you, VD? How's your working? Oh, like when I fly, I pop a Valium and then have a red wine on the plane.

And I find that does the job. Yeah, that does the job. Can I medically recommend that? Absolutely not. Is that probably irresponsible? Absolutely. But my doctor prescribed it, so it must be legal, right? And nobody stopped me.

Like before they served me that red wine on the plane, they weren't like, you had a Valium? Maybe I have. Maybe I haven't. You'll never know. Who's to say? Who's to say? they're like who's that like oh so chill yeah no my week has been good I just cannot seem to shake this post-laryngitis voice and it is driving me insane because I actually feel fine you know when

you're like I'm fine but my vocal cords have not recovered and like obviously I'm on the pod right now so I'm not exactly giving them any type of chance to get better on their own I've just been willing it into reality I've been like no tomorrow I'm waking up and I'll be fine and then I wake up and I actually sound like the devil. You sound sexy. Thank you. Bit of vocal fry. It's just really annoying because, like,

then I feel like my voice gets exhausted really quickly. Yes. Anyway, so live, love, laugh, I suppose, just like Jess. Do you guys remember when I had that a couple of years ago? I feel like listeners hopefully will remember. It was Christmastime and I was on the show but I wasn't making any sound. Then you were, like, dead. Yeah, like, listening you would be, like, they're responding to nothing.

thing because I wasn't making any noise it can be so rough yeah it's the worst oh my god well before we dive any further in would you guys like to hear a little five-star review read in my husky voice yes please I knew you'd want this especially back all right so we have a beautiful one from Steph BR so she says thank you I started listening to She's On The Money in 2019 upon my sister's recommendation I was kid free and in my second year of full-time work It helped me immensely to focus on my savings goals and finance several overseas trips before and after COVID hit. Your Christmas savings episodes were the push I needed to start a Christmas savings account that I add to fortnightly and saves me so much stress once that wonderful

time of year starts. Now that I'm a mum of two small kids and money is way more tight, I love the feeling of community She's On The Money provides and listening to V, Jess and Beck as i wheel the double pram around makes my day oh thank you isn't that so cute that is so cute well hi we met you in your single era and now she's a mommy yeah wow we grew with you i'm obsessed like i just love our community so much like just the idea that like we have got to hang out with people in just like such different life phases like we're not just like a oh i listened to that podcast while it was relevant like i just thought that's how our podcast would go yes i don't know if that's silly or not but then people are saying oh i've listened to you for literal years and my

entire life's changed but still relevant i'm like yes this is so good my friends are still my friends that's so nice and like we people associate us with different parts like the the walking the pram or oh it's so cute i think it's really really sweet someone messaged me on instagram the other day and said that they'd just driven to adelaide and done a she's on the money binge listen oh my god they'd organize their episodes so that like they were like all right I'm gonna drive two hours to like this stop location and she picked a few episodes because she was like in the morning I'm learning about investing in the afternoon I'm doing this and I was like girl what you're like that's crazy crazy cool that's really cool so just so you guys know

we went on a road trip to Adelaide a couple of weeks so I love Adelaide yeah what's good yeah and we helped someone learn all about investing that's so cool what a great idea it's so cute Anyway, Miss Jessica Ricci, what money wins and confessions are you bringing to the table? Alrighty, first of this week I've got a money win from Lisa who said she automatically transfers a certain amount towards her pet fund each week, which is meant to cover like food and flea and worm treatment, things like that.

However, she makes sure she has a little bit of a buffer on the amount that she transfers so that over time it slowly builds up. This week she had to take one of her goldens to the vet and there was enough in there to cover the appointment, the medicine, and she bought a little treat for the cats as well from the same pet fund. She said it's such a good feeling knowing that she had the money there, particularly because money is a little bit tighter while she's on mat leave. And she did provide us a beautiful pet tax photo.

Well done, Lisa. Next, I've got a money confession from Madison who said she ticked an item off from her bucket list, stopping at the Cookus County Cookies Factory in Donald. That's a bloody mouthful. Say that five times fast. She said she spent $53 on cookies and merch and she's really happy, but she definitely didn't need to do it. And there are a lot of people who commented saying that like various things

from the Cookies County Cookies factory were very, very good. Oh, my God. Where is this? Where is this? I have in, I'm assuming, Cookies County. I'm not sure where that is. Oh, Cookies Country Cookies. Apologies.

Cookies Country Cookies. I mean, that feels still like a mouthful. It is still a mouthful. We'll have to do a little Google search. I wonder if it's in Victoria. If it is, maybe she's on the money road trip. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not too.

I love a good trip as well. We love a sweet treat. Next, I got a money win from Jamie who said, My gym just installed a coffee machine, so I'm saving six bucks a day by not purchasing a coffee on the way to work. Gorgeous. So good. My coffee machine has been slaying recently. Putting in the hard yards. Yeah, 100%. I got a new Breville for those of you following along at home, as I know there was a question about like, what coffee machine did you pick? Because I did a whole Instagram thing, a Breville,

and then I buy my beans at the local cafe, which is probably not a money win, but I feel like we have it at home now. Yeah. Same. Same thing. Clever. Well, Jamie said that she's now investing that $6 that she would have spent on a coffee every day into her shares account. See, I need to set that up. I need to set that up because it's just, it's mindless things and from little things, big things grow. Absolutely. Next, I've got a money win from Cecilia who said she found a dress that she really wanted. The retail price for it was $150. So she went on to Depop and found the exact same dress for 10 bucks. Stop it. She put in an offer for eight and they accepted. So it was $18 total, including shipping. That's such a money win. Which is very well done. Lastly,

to have a money win from aunt who said they had to change the weekends that they were going to visit a friend. Thankfully, they hadn't booked their flights yet. And the weekend they ended up going is $120 a week cheaper than the weekend that was planned. Love. And also just the difference of a week that your flights can make. If you have flexibility, it can be hundreds of dollars. So true. Inconvenient flight times. Yeah, exactly right. Happy to take one for the team. Sometimes it's worth it. Absolutely. And then you can upgrade to business with your points. And why would you not? 10 out of 10. Ms. Bex Syed, what have you got for us when it comes to broke tips this week? so this first one comes from Bridget who says Woolworths Metro stores if you have like a Woolies

rewards card and you spend more than $30 in one shop you get a voucher for a free coffee I did not know that that's actually such a good deal I didn't know that either no that is so cool do you like your shop for dinner that night or something and then get a coffee yeah and well maybe it like goes into your rewards app because I've never seen I shop at a metro but that's really cool. Thank you, Bridget. I will be using that constantly. And this next one comes from Beck. Great name. Great name. My little cleaning broke tip. I swear by $5.75 methylated spirits from Woolies with one litre lasting ages. I pour it into those magnetic Kmart spray bottles. They stick to the

fridge, washing machine, garage, shelves, and use it for just about everything. Sorry, magnetic spray bottles is low-key genius. Yeah, that's actually really smart. They stick to like a washing machine and stuff. I can't do anything. I've seen them. methylated spirits well just before anyone buys any she has a um like a recipe i know it's the wrong word recipe for metho yes and um you a method oh oh sorry i'm sorry i just that was so slow uh window spray is 50 50 metho and water for streak free magic bench spray i won't go through

all these but if you go into the she's the money facebook group and just have a look out for beck's Brooke Tip, be very careful with your cleaning products. Please be careful with your cleaning products and don't mix cleaning products without checking. At least it sounds like the method is being watered down. Watered down. Yeah, but there's things you can't mix as well. So if you're thinking, oh, that's great,

I'll just add my favourite cleaning product as well, don't do it because I know that if you mix bleach and like vinegar, for example, you create gas and that can actually seriously harm you. So don't mix things. Really? Yes. That's good to know. No mixing unless it's a proper recipe.

All right, guys? Yeah, it's very good to know. And then my broke tip, I came across this and I think it's only for Victoria. I'm really sorry to say, but right now it's only for Victoria. You can get a free water efficient showerhead through the Victorian Energy Upgrades Program. This initiative funded by the Victorian government aims to reduce water and energy consumption. So you can just, you already know it's going to be one of those like weak as hell showerheads, but it's still good. it's like a free showerhead replacement. And I did replace mine the other day and I thought it would be like $5. It's like one of those, you know, just this standard stock standard. It's

like $23. So I'm like, that's actually such a good broke to bougie tip. So like if you live in a rental, more often than not, you can actually screw off your showerhead and store it in your bathroom cupboard and put in one that you like. I remember I lived in a share house for a very long time without that knowledge and had the worst showerhead, but it had the best shower pressure yeah so like I just remember it and I never changed the shower head I just remember the opportunity that presented I could have had a good shower head in that shower and had an elite elevated experience you didn't but it attacked me every time I went in there you know like the ones that you get at the swimming pool sorry you know the ones you get yeah it's kind of like

there's lots of little holes but they all go in one direction and it's like kind of beat the hell out of you the second you get in the shower yeah I kind of like it no really I love a high pressure I like high pressure everywhere but like I need a bigger shower head anyway you can purchase a shower head and you can just screw it in on your own very easy and like I would say a bougie upgrade to yeah here you go and then you can take it with you to your next rental oh yeah and don't forget it when you move out because that would be a money loss yeah is that it from you Bec that is it for me but I was just gonna say it is very very quick and easy um let me know if you have any troubles But when I moved into the share house that I'm in now,

we had water just coming out of the wall. That was our shower. So I was like, well, we have no choice but to find a shower. So I wish this was around back then. That's actually insane. Is that not the bare minimum? I just feel like it's illegal. I don't know.

Probably. Oh, God. But the stuff Bec's willing to put up with. Yeah, we're not going to be a bother. No, Bec. We just kind of like put our hands against the wall and then splashed onto ourselves. Bec!

This is fine. All right, let's talk about this. We're going to go to a break. On the flip side, we're going to be helping to answer a money dilemma about what you should be doing with your tax return and something that you slid into our DMs about, should you be footing the bill for a housemate that works from home? Guys, 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, just wanting to get your opinion on something. So I received quite a sizable tax return. And I'm just wondering what to do with a certain portion of it. So I've already put a fair chunk of it into my savings. And I've also topped up my emergency fund, topped up some of my savers. I put some into my investments. And I, of course,

kept a little bit aside for a treat yourself moment. And after having done all that, I have about $500 left over. I'm just not quite sure what to do with it. I have considered putting it into my superannuation and I was exploring the co-contribution scheme, but I just don't fully understand that scheme. So I'm not too sure about that. But otherwise I've got this $500 and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. And I'd love to hear what you guys would do with $500 from a tax return. Thanks guys. Bye. Let's start with Bec. Bec, what are you doing? 500 bucks on your tax return? Such a good question. I know this is really not relevant to right now, but I currently have a thousand dollars in my Sharesies account. So I would be putting it in Sharesies. I don't

even know how this happened. I can't actually remember. I just, I put roundups on. From little things. Yes, seriously. They grow. I've never had that just, you know, it's crazy. You are creating financial freedom for yourself. Thank you so much. Now tell me, does that feel good? What does that feel like? It feels very good. And so with that 500, probably, I mean, I would definitely be really irresponsible but I'm just trying to investment think yeah I'm trying to think about like if I'm being really responsible I'd probably put it in sharesies but if you're not being responsible like if you're just being back and no one's looking oh my god that would be gone in one nanosecond I have a long list of things that I want to buy for my girlfriend and you are

so lovely sweet as I said as I said that I was like wow sounds so lame but I also would buy I'd buy like three vapes just so I don't have to keep going back and forth every week. Yeah. Okay. And then I would maybe buy like an item of clothing, just one, you know, I'm just like the same kind of clothes every day kind of girl. And then, yeah, it would just go, it would just be, it would be going to Uber Eats. I'd just be living large for a little while. I love this. Miss Jessica Ricci, I think I know, but I don't know. What would you do? Well, I just got my tax return back actually. I'm very lucky. I got a similar to our listener, a good return. And I did a similar thing, investments, house deposit, not to be like that really boring person, but that's where all my

money goes. But I am a big fan of a tax treat. You guys know I buy a tax treat every year. I think it's if you have it and you've paid all the things that you should pay, it's kind of nice to let yourself get one little treat. It's like something to look forward to. This year, I haven't actually bought mine yet because it's only just come through, but I like you back. I have like a wishlist of things. I was just looking at it, trying to think. Looking at your wishlist? Yeah. Cause I keep a list on my phone of like the things that, you know, what's really high on my list but I it's too big for a tax treat I really want to get a Pilates reformer so maybe I'll put it into my Pilates reformer fund yeah yeah yeah what about your reformer ones yeah

keep appearing on my Instagram oh they're so beautiful yeah they're not just like functional they're pretty yeah anyway am I allowed to be a downer on this no I mean yes your tax return is returning income to you that you paid over and above what you needed to so it's not free money it's actually your money that you worked really hard to earn and yes it is very attractive because oh lump sum I can do whatever I want but like girl that's still part of your taxable income if you made $80,000 that's part of the $80,000 it's not like above and beyond like it's literally your money that you worked your butt off for and don't get me wrong we all deserve a little treat so don't get me wrong I don't think it's a bad thing Jess that you're doing your we're not anti

a tax-free. But you're also a very financially responsible human being. So I kind of, I'll let that one slide a lot. I appreciate it. But on the flip side, I think a lot of us get it and we just immediately go free money. It feels good. What are you doing? Like the amount of women I have spoken to, and again, no shade, no judgment. I actually don't care what you do with your money. I could not give two flying monkeys what you do with your money. As long as I have given you every single tool and every single resource that I believe you deserve to make the decisions that are right for you, then go and make those decisions. Go and make them. I don't care. Bec, you want to buy three vapes? Hop off queen. I love that for you. But what I want to remind people of is that is your

money and you worked really hard for it. And it's not often, especially if we're not good at saving or we're not good at investing, we are presented with a lump sum opportunity to get ourselves ahead. So for me personally, I would just whack it into my investment. Like, but I already have a set up, tried, true strategy. Like I'm, when it comes to money, if you dug under the covers, kind of boring. Like I'm not a massive spender on clothes and stuff. I don't know if people even pay attention to that anymore. Like I feel like I wear the same jumper, the same jeans on rotation every single week. It actually really annoys our video editor, Brooke, because she's like, Victoria, you wear the same thing over and over again. So it looks like we recorded everything

within the same day. That's unlucky for you. That's unlucky for you. That looks a lot like not a me problem. My hair might be different because I didn't wash it one day. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, for me, it's about putting future you in the best possible position. And if you are ridiculously excited about getting your tax return, I get it. But that's probably because you don't have access to a lot of funds right now. Like when it's $500, but you've already got $100,000 invested, you're kind of like, okay, cool. I'm going to do the right thing. But when you get $500 and you don't have $500 in your account, you just see endless possibility. I do want you to seriously consider, have I got an emergency fund set up? Could I top that up?

What could that look like? Have I got some bills due that I could take some pressure off like future me for because as much as like an air wrap or a Pilates reform or anything good like I get it I want that stuff too is fun I can almost promise you that oh $500 maybe I'll put $250 on credit to my energy company so that I don't get bit in the butt next time that comes around and future you is going to be like oh that was so good when your bill does come and it's $15 so for me I think it's out driving home. What is important to you? I know you set everything up, but could you, you know, turbocharge your investment a little bit or turbocharge your savings account? I hate the fact that we're in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

We're going to need that money at some point. Yeah. It's not free money. Yeah. And on the government co-contribution thing, am I right in remembering that that is mainly targeted at low income earners? So I would check that you qualify before you put the money in. Yeah. I would go to the ATO website and just check what's going on. I mean, you want to turbocharge your superannuation. I'm all about that because if you contributed it today as well, next tax return, you can claim that contribution on tax again, which we were just like taxi, taxi, taxi, making it work for you. But I also think, how can you get ahead? How can you put future you in the best possible position? I get it. Get a little treat. Yeah. Like I'm a sweet treat. You are never going to catch me

going oh my god I can do the fire I can do financial independence retire early and save all my money that's not for me but I am about let's create a secure financial house that you can live in comfortably yeah let's do that yeah put future you in the driver's seat cool she'll love you she'll think you're so cool and that's why you're where you are today exactly right crying and I don't have a reformer yeah should we get into this week's dm yeah before you cry. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. So our DM this week, hi, she's on the money. My partner works from home and I'm on the road all the time. We split bills like power and internet 50-50, but he can claim part of that back on his tax return while I can't. I'm not sure if it really

makes a big difference, but it's been on my mind because our last power bill was huge. He's getting a really big tax return. Surprise, coincidence. And I've got an unexpected bill from a payroll error. I agreed to 50-50 when I moved in so I've never had an issue with it but now I'm wondering if I'm kind of subsidizing his work from home costs. Do other people take this into account when splitting bills with a partner or housemates or am I just overthinking this? I'd be curious to know how often you're this person's on the road because it sounds like they're like a lot of their job is kind of like they're often not even home at all. I would be a bit irritated that like like if it was the other way around if I was working from home all the time and my partner

was not really and then we had a huge energy bill they wouldn't even have to use expend any mental energy at all I would be like wow I'm home most of the time I'm gonna figure this out so you don't have to be paying 50 50 also that the fact that you can get a little bit back on tax or you can claim it on tax would absolutely come to my mind and I like the other person wouldn't even need to think twice about it I'd already be like cool this is the split because I'm always home you're never home you know like it's so annoying that that's not just like a default thing that not everyone just goes to logic and putting the other person in the best possible position because then you're you feel awkward and you've got to like maybe you'll have a fight maybe you won't maybe

they'll get angry maybe and so it's just like anxiety inducing you know what I mean so that sucks and I'm really sorry but with that it's probably pretty clear where I sit on this because I think absolutely it should be like, it should be about, and I think this is the right word, equity. No? Yes. And if you're home far less, like if you're home every evening, then maybe like from 5pm onward, maybe it kind of all comes out in the wash, but still you still shouldn't be paying as much. But if you're like on the road a lot and you're barely home except for on the weekends or something like that, then it's a no brainer. It's a no brainer that your partner should be paying like 70% depending on, figure out how, how often you're home. If it's 30% of

the time, then you pay in 30% of the energy. You know what I mean? So yeah, I don't know. I feel like it's a no brainer for me. You should definitely be paying less. Yeah. To play devil's advocate. Interestingly, energy off peak rates are during the day. So it's actually cheaper to use energy during the day than it is in the evenings, generally speaking. I would say, yeah, kind of like similar to working out if you have a provider or maybe look at changing to a provider some providers allow you to track your hourly energy usage I think that's a really good way to look at it because if I think about me working from home the only significant electrical cost is heating cooling like when I I'm not using lights because it's daytime so I don't actually

need to turn the lights on right I will try you're also pretty good with the heater in the cooler anyway well I was gonna say the way that we've kind of worked it out is we'll turn the heater on in the morning when we're both home as soon as it hits like 18 degrees like a comfortable temperature we then turn it to like our holding temperature which is like 13 14. And you would have left it on that anyway. Correct so like we've kind of worked out and that was something we had to kind of trial and error like I we went through a phase where our heating bill was astronomically high and absolutely I recognized okay well I'm home a lot like doesn't need to be on let's change that but I think looking at the breakdown actually would probably be quite interesting because if I

reflect on like me being at home the electricity usage would actually be relatively minimal outside of heating and cooling, which we've obviously now found a middle ground on. Obviously, like me and my partner have spoken about it, he's really happy for it to be 50-50. He stays up late when I go to bed. So for us, it kind of does come out in the wash. But it would be, if that's something that's on your mind, something you're not stressing about, I think exactly as you said, finding a way to quantify the difference in usage, the difference in cost is important because it may also be that you might discover, oh, well actually in the evenings when we're both home and peak usage is really high and we're running the TV and the dryer and cooking dinner and doing all of those

things. That's where it's all coming from. That accounts for a lot of our electricity usage and you don't realize it. And it could be the other way. It could be that the daytime usage is absolutely eating it up, in which case, completely agree. Equity is the way to go if that's what you want. And that's very fair and valid. But I think having an understanding of how it actually all breaks down because it isn't quite as black and white as whoever's home is what the usage equals. It's just worth considering, I would say. It's a really good point. that's really fair. I feel like I'm kind of on both sides. Like if you're working from home more consistently, I would also assume that your grocery bill is being impacted by this because

maybe they're eating lunch at home more regularly. I'd be like, okay, how do we split this? And what is fair? I mean, for me personally, it's never been something that I've had to discuss. I've never lived with someone who worked from home. And if they did, it was like an odd rarity because I had housemates all prior to COVID and we weren't allowed to work from home. And now my husband works from home a bit. I work from home a bit and it's just not something I've really thought of. But I do think the equity thing is the fairest. Cause it's like, well, I don't know, maybe your partner isn't as considerate as a Jess in this situation and does have the heater on 24 all day while you're out, all the lights are on, like they leave the fridge open. Who knows? At which

point I would probably be saying, Hey, how do I have this conversation? I don't think any conversation is unwarranted but like I would be open to what their thoughts are on that first not going to them with a solution I'd be like hey do we need a solution for this because this kind of seems crazy or blame the she's on the money community and say oh someone in the she's on the money community was saying they split their bills like this differently should we be relooking at ours because you work from home um and seeing what happens because I think that that can be a little less confrontational because you're right Bec like if you get the bill and then you have to have the conversation that can be quite confrontational and they'll be like oh I don't

what the hell you said you'd pay 50 cent why are you going back on that as opposed to an open honest conversation about like okay times have changed yeah I saw this thing could this benefit us yeah yeah absolutely that's probably where I'm sitting what did everybody else say so obviously we all had thoughts and feelings but we first asked a few questions first question was what is the work from home situation in your house? 48% of you said one or some of us work from home. 40% said none of us work from home and 12% said all of us work from home. We then said, what would you do in this situation? 36% said add the tax refund to the bills kitty. Oh, that's a good idea. 32% said adjust based on usage and the other 32% said keep it 50-50. Now we also went to the community

and said, guys, what is your two cents? First person said, he should only be claiming tax back on the portion of bills he paid, not the full bill anyway. Which is true. Yeah. It's a good point. Next person said, tell them to buy you something pretty. I'm not mad about that as a solution. I'm going to be really honest. I put it in there because I was like, that's funny. Next person said, these situations can turn into tit for tat. For example, I'm not home on the weekends though. I go to footy all day and I don't use any power. What about that? So I think we need to just zoom out and have a holistic view of these things before we start a conversation next person said internet bill same either way electricity would be hardly a little different overthinking but it's

good to be aware next person said I work from home two or three out of three days I try not to add any additional power minus my laptop because that shit is spino it's true yeah next person said if this was a housemate I'd probably have an issue but with a partner I think it balances out and then another person said equity is not equal 50 50 only works if you are using and earning exactly the same otherwise you need to split proportionally you've been in the comment section back yeah it sounds a little bit like me and then the last one that I'm going to leave you with is a really good contribution and they said finder.com.au actually has a really good breakdown of what work from home costs look like have a look and go from there yeah we've got a little resource we've got a

little opinion you got everything i think from that response yeah guys i think that's a very good way to wrap it thank you for doing another friday episode with me and we'll see you bright nearly on monday for a money diary have a good weekend bye guys 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 authorized representatives of Money

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