Hello.
My name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr the
Order Kerney Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Let's get into it. She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the pod cast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Beckside and we are with Victoria Divine today.
Hello, my friend, what a surprise. Fancy seeing you here. I know what are you doing here? Oh my gosh, I don't even know. I still don't know why you've let me on. More than it's like, how many episodes have we got? Now? Fair for you? I'm very generous, Yeah, like plus two hundred and fifty. That's a lot of ours in this studio. Guys, I tell you what you'll want the nice Oh, I'm going to be yeated you are very soon.
But today we're talking about the cost of living, which which can get heated.
Which can get yeated?
Absolutely basically, no matter what you are feeling at the moment, the pinch of soaring costs of groceries and utilities and interest rates is quite heavy, and I feel like that's definitely going to weigh in a lot of people. It's pretty overwhelming actually, to be honest, it's a lot.
At the moment, you and I were talking, and I feel like we should have had this conversation in front of the mics as opposed to off Michael. We're just like, how overwhelming is it at the moment? Like I feel like everybody is so conscious of what they're spending, but nobody's really talking about it, Like the media is talking about it, and everybody is kind of aware of it.
We know things are getting more expensive, but I just feel like we need to be even more aware of it so that we make our friends and our family more comfortable and even ourselves more comfortable. As you know, I love to talk about TikTok because I basically live on TikTok. But Beck, have you heard of cottage core? It sounds familiar, but I don't think I know I've
mentioned it before. Jess and I have actually been on the side of TikTok that is like this cottage core vibe, and it's just like embracing a particular like style or like theme. So recently, barbiecore, as you guys probably already know, I had a Barbie themed birthday party and it was the best thing in the entire world, very fun, It was a very good time. But that would be like a Barbie Core party because absolutely everything was Barbie. H I have an idea go on cost of living core.
Oh okay, like, let's make it a theme where it becomes attractive to be frugal. Is that a thing like where we could just be, you know how like barbiecore? Barbie a few years ago people would have been like, Victoria, such a loser, why are you having a Barbie party? And then I plan a Barbie party because I am a loser and I was happy to embrace it. And then Warner Brothers is like, oh, by the way, we're doing a movie. I'm like, oh cool, So you're gonna make me look good, but I thought I was cool
by myself, you know, right, right right. So now we're going to try and do cost of living core because I think it's something that we absolutely should be embracing, and I think it's something that our community we're already pretty familiar with it because like we're good at saving a dollar, Like every single week we do our money win thread in our Facebook group and it's my favorite thread to read through because you guys are wizards. Yeah, do you know how many posts over the last few
weeks I've seen of people making my muffins? Oh, like my really cheap. I think it's like two dollars thirty or something for the entire batch of twelve muffins. Money wean, Yeah, how are they coming out? They're coming out great. A few people are saying, oh, this didn't work, they were terrible. I'm like, what did you do?
Yeah?
What did you do? Because I'm not amazing in the kitchen, and the recipe is really straightforward. It's one packet of cake mix, one standard sized tin of fruit mix, bake like, there's not a lot. I really need to know what you guys are doing for it to be messed up. So badly. I mean, I'm not throwing shade, just genuinely confused about how a too ingredient recipe is going so far off track. No Tino shade, Yeah, no tin, no shade.
But I think that our community is very familiar with this topic of cost of living core, but we're now making it like a vibe and we're all going to be getting in on this so that we can save money. But also I think we need to address the anxiety
side of this, the anxiety in the room. It's hard, right, Like, Beck, you and I were talking before, and obviously you love a broke tip, but we're talking before about that underlying feeling of going out for dinner with friends and you've budgeted for it, right, Like, you go out for dinner, like as we were talking, sometimes if you've really budgeted, you just pick like an entree and then you've budgeted for maybe one drink and then people are like, oh, Beck,
do you want another drink? And you say no because you're like, oh no, thanks, like that's all good. Everyone around you orders another round and you're like, are we splitting this? I've ordered one, like I don't know, Like, is this now going to be split? Evenly and I only had one drink and one on tray, Like where
is this going? Like it actually reminds me of when I had a lot less money, And I feel very privileged to be in a position where now I like to think that I'm really super aware of it, Like I do have enough to get by, and I do have enough, hopefully to take some pressure off my family and friends, and I love that. You know, as you guys know, my financial life has been a bit of a journey. I was in significant debt and it was crippling and awful and really weighed heavily on my mental health.
And I've kind of gone on this journey of then, you know, getting to a point of you know, not financial freedom yet, but I'm definitely far more financially free than I was, and I have this beautiful privilege of being able to make decisions that you know, kind of transcend beyond finances, if that makes sense. I can go, oh, Beck, I do want to take a day off to rest or recover. I can afford to do that, and I
think that's an absolute privilege. But it like throws me straight back to when I was in debt or trying to budget or trying to go out with my friends, and it just took away from the event. I know, I can totally relate to that.
I remember I used to bring like boiled eggs to restaurants because I'd be like, I'm just gonna get like a little side salad.
That's me a couple of bush you know, smart though, that's like forward thinking totally.
That was so like condiments everything. I would bring them myself in little like you know, tupway containers or whatever. But my friend would always laugh at me because sometimes the eggs were peeled yet, so I'd have to sit there, I love feel these eggs and then pop them in
like you know where it says ad sides. I would just be like, hey, can I have a side of this lettuce or this little and then they'd be like, yeah, okay, that's so weird, but sure, and they'd bring it out and I'd pop my little eggs in and I would try.
And eat beforehand as well, so I wasn't super hungry. You know, that's so frugal. And I mean, arguably, I don't know if restaurants would now let you do that, but I mean, you do you like, yeah, I think it's probably frowned upon, I would say, but that was obviously done so that one you weren't under any more financial pressure. But I just feel like there's such a feeling of underlying anxiety that I remember just not enjoying being out with my friends sometimes because it was so stressful,
like and they didn't know. They'd be like, oh, there's anything up, and I'd be like no, no, no, I'm just quiet. I'm just fine. Like reality, I was just like calculating in my hands how much it was going to cost, and are we splitting this evenly? Or I've only brought a certain amount of cash. What if people say they don't have cash and I'm the only one and I have to like transfer them back. I don't have enough money on my account to transfer them. I only brought
this cat. Like, I feel like it's such a spiral, and like we've decided at the Sheesel on the Money off Us to embrace cost of living core and we're just going to take a more I guess, holistic approach to spending money. We're going to make it sexy. I think it's already sexy, but like we're going to try and make it more sexy, you know, begy, but it goes beyond and we've obviously shared these tips and tricks on the podcast before. We're like, oh, why don't you
have your friends over for a brunch instead? Why don't you, you know, have a dinner party and everyone brings me in, like I think those things are really smart, and they are, but it goes beyond just the physical and into really stepping into what other people are thinking and feeling and how you make them think and feel, because there's nothing sexier than you know, me turning around and being like, Beck,
I know I asked you out for dinner. I'm actually paying, and you go, oh, no, V, I don't want that, like, please don't pay, and I go, yeah, yeah, but I really want to go to this particular restaurant. But I also don't want you to feel that anxiety sure or flipping it and going I know that we're all stressed about this at the moment. Hey, Beck, I really want to catch up, Like, let's do something free or cheap. Yeah, and you might not even know what the outcome is.
You don't have to think about it, but like, what can we do that's free or cheap?
Totally I can run through if you like a few of please do please do? They do that are very cheap. So one suggestion would be tea and Tarot card night. Oh my gosh, chuck some frozen pizzas in the oven.
Can you please invite me? Yeah, of course, offer tea in Tarot night.
And you know I don't know how to read tarot cards, but you know you'll find mine whatever.
I've never had my Tarot cards read. Yes, And you know I won't know the difference between good and bad. Oh, I won't know why.
I'm just going to pretend that all cards are good, even if it's like this is the death part.
It's like new life, you're moving past a traumatic event Victorian. I'll be like, oh, yeah, of course that's exactly how I feel.
Yeah, I think so that's one of them obviously. Another one that I like to do with my friends is movie Night will start like a series together.
I'm currently on f Boy Island. I'm going there. I've just started watching. Actually I love it. I feel like with the movie Night too. It can become really cheap if you do the frozen pizza thing, because it could add up if you don't have a plan, like if you go over to each other's house and then I'm like, oh, Beck, what's for dinner? And then you've already had a few drinks, so we can't go to the supermarket together and we have to order a breats. Yes, make a plan, and
also stop buying pre made popcorn. Do you know how cheap popcorn can be? The microwave one, Yeah, but like the cheap one, so just buy the popcorn kern and pop it yourself in a saucepan. True, Actually, like that is the cheapest, healthiest, best snack. I would advocate for making it not healthy. So, like, my favorite type of popcorn is where you popple the popcorn, put it in
a big bowl to the side. Then you melt some sugar and some water and make a caramel color like toffee sauce, and then you pour it over the popcorn and then sprinkle salt over it. It's so cheap because obviously it's just like a little bit of sugar and some popcorn kernels. But then it becomes like crunchy toffee popcorn, kind of like giving you know, like carnival vibes. Okay, so cheap, so good, so bad for you, so bad for you. You want it to be bad for you, though
you got to do it one hundred percent. But what were you telling me about before?
Beck?
You were saying something off air about a Danish concept you wanted to bring up, and I thought that was pretty elite.
Yes, I think this is so cozy, So I mean, I might be wrong here, whoever's listening, please correct me. But I have heard about this Danish concept of and I believe it's pronounced hougar. I think it's It does sound very dayniche. It sounds like a product you get at Ikea, and it sounds and I don't know how to explain it like a worm hug. So it's the hoogha the hoogar. Yeah, so I think it's defined, and I wrote this down.
So you think or it is. I want it because I can see in front of you that you literally have the definition.
Should write it down just in case, but it could be wrong. A quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality, convi vitality maybe yeah, whatever that engenders a feeling of contentment or well being.
I love that. But I can tell that you didn't write that sentence. What's conviviality even mean? So I don't know. It sounds like a warm hug.
Okay, so our produce to just let us know that it means friendly, lively, and enjoyable.
Oh, that's wholesome conviviality. Yeah, I'm going to start throwing that into my everyday language and then you guys will think I'm really smart. I do think you're really smart.
Basically, the point of that is I guess when things are cold and dark over winter to counter the possible depression of the season, you know, the winter sat Oh.
Yeah, no, but that's a thing. Like I feel like I have seasonal depression. Sometimes I have real depression. I take actual medication for it. But like I feel like I have seasonal depression because like I don't want to get out of bed and I feel like doing nothing. Who wants to go out when it's dark and colder, darkness, cold and wet usually, So we're redefining it. We're redefining it basically the Danish people's celebrate hoogar and the sense of cozy comfort it can bring. So the principles of
it are google boogo. Okay, maybe I'm just taking the mickey out.
The principles of it are atmosphere, presence, pleasure, equality, gratitude, harmony, comfort, truce, togetherness, and shelter.
That's so cute. That is actually really really wholesome. And I think this idea of like slowing down and being present with people and this like soft warm let's go buy home wess. That's not very cost of living core, is it? It's not? But we could buy a home with all right, So instead of buying home wors, maybe we just make like wholesome pop corn at home and have a pizza at night instead of going out totally.
Or maybe you could find like a really nice warm light from an op shop and take that home with you.
No, stop buying things op shop? Though? Do you have a blanket at home?
Cool?
We can sit on the couch with the blanket, malicorn. Now are you talking? Yeah? See see see talk dirty to me.
I think we should go to a really quick break and when we come to a popcorn, let's do it.
On the flip side, we're going to give you some really hot tips and tricks about how to embrace this cost of living core. We're trying to make a thing, and it's actually up to you, guys to make it a thing. Because like Beck and I, we're just on the pod, like the community, that's what makes things come to life. So make this happen, immensis. We'll be back.
All right, we are backback, and I want to start this conversation because I can see that you've got a list of all of your favorite like broke tips and tricks, and this is basically now going to be like a Beck show, which I'm very excited about. But before we get there, during my time working in psychology, and you've heard this on the pod before, I was introduced to this con called reframing, and it sounds really I guess, fluffy, but it's taking one mindset and kind of shifting it
to another. And it's kind of like a tool in the toolkit of counselors and psychologists that they use to kind of one paraphrase back to you your concern or problem, but in a way that takes it from one mindset to another. So like you might be bossy, and you might say, and I got this a lot when I was younger, like, oh, Victoria is so bossy And no, actually I'm a natural leader. Yeah, like absolutely not. I'm
a visionary. I am. You know, somebody who's really passionate about what I do and I know what I want. Someone might have said, Oh, she's so demanding, and no, no, no, I know what I want. I'm outspoken, and I feel like it's taking something that might have a negative connotation and putting it into a positive mindset. So instead of saying like, oh, I'm never going to be able to do this, you might say, I'm doing the best that I can right now with the tools and reins sources
that I have access to. And if you might say, oh, I'm not very good at this, like I'm gonna fail, like I'm never gonna be able to stick to my budget, you might go, I've accomplished so much already and I'm learning as I go, and I think just making these mindset shifts, like you might go, it's too hard. You might go, I know I'm capable of accomplishing this, Like there's just so many different ways to reframe, and I know it sounds fluffy, and you might go, that's lame,
like stop that. But negative self talk is inherent. Like at the end of the day, way back when we were cavemen, Beck, we'd make terrible cavemen. Now it's like asking my dog Lucy, like, do you know that you used to have to fight for your food? Sir? Like, sit down, Lucy, Like can you imagine Lucy going out into the wild and trying to like serve herself? Like, absolutely not, she'd be like and those biscuits warmed because if they're not warmed, yeah, like I'm actually gonna starve myself.
But back in cavemen times, like we had to be very defensive because our lives were risk so of our shelter, of our food, of our you know, looking after ourselves, we had to be very negative because the worst outcome could be true. We now live in what is arguably a semi civilized society, so we can leave the house thankfully, very privileged. We're in Australia. We can leave the house safely, comfortably, Like there's so many resources. So being a little bit
more positive is actually a really good tool. But we automatically, as human beings, default to negative. It's hardwired into our brain to be negative. If you think you're a negative person, it's just because you're hardwired that way. And it takes work to become positive, and it takes work, but work makes us uncomfortable and we actually need to change that. So sometimes you have to be a little bit uncomfortable
to become ultimately comfortable. So I think if you're feeling like being frugal sucks, or you know, you feel like you're losing something, I think reframing it to I'm going to get to spend way more quality time with my friends.
I'm going to feel so much less pressure, Like let's change the mindset around the because as much as it sounds fluffy, and I am a relatively fluffy human being, but as much as it's fluffy, it actually has an impact on our mental health and how we feel and how we see situations like you're not missing out on anything. And I think the second we can see that, the more likely we are to embrace things. And I mean,
you're like the best frugal queen I know. But I know that there's such value even in making decisions like that because they are based more on quality time as opposed to the activity. Like sometimes we pick a really nice restaurant because that could be the topic of conversation, like let's go out to that restaurant. We can talk about the food, we can do this, we can do that, let's be honest, if I invite you to my house, Beck, there's no chatter going around. We're not like, oh do
you like her? Top? Do you like this too? Like we actually have to focus on enjoying ourselves together and having good conversation and all of that stuff. So I think that one, it's beautiful, But two, I think take the pressure off yourself. If you're being negative, if you're saying I could never do that, be like, well why not give it a go? You're completely capable of giving it a shot.
Sorry.
Yeah, anyway, that's my little soft, fluffy side of the podcast. I mean, it's been a relatively fluffy podcast. But can you give me some cost of living core ideas? I feel like there are six million, of course I can.
So I just want to quickly say this really reminds me of just off topic. I'm so sorry, But I watch this show is called Soup Store, and there's one episode where.
I love.
One of the even we're obsessed.
I've run out of episodes, saying I keep watching the same thing over and over again.
But Nero spicy girl things love this show.
So one episode they're talking about someone wants a pay rise and so they have like a big meeting, and it's like a budget is a pay rise you give yourself, and they're trying to like reframe literally living on no money, and I'm like, this could be exactly what maybe we're
doing here for some people out there. But I do just want to say, like, unfortunately that's the reality of it, but you can sometimes make things a little bit cozier, a little bit comfier for yourself, Yeah, if you still to enjoy the finer things like seeing friends and being social and things like that. So my friend she has like a full spreadsheet of different teas, and I know I mentioned tea in the first half, but I just want to like really reiterate how wholesome and warming and
fun it is. Basically what she does is she'll get like Earl Gray, She'll get all different brands of Earl Gray that can be a little bit pricey, so you don't have to be doing that, but I can get like two or three You get two or three once a week or once a fortnite and just meet up with your friends and taste the teas and tasting but way more budget.
Yeah, exactly.
And she literally has a spreadsheet of all the teas that her and her friends have already kind of like basically judged, And I just want to say Madura Tea is currently coming up on top. Yeah no, that will always come up on top. That's the English breakfast Madure. I don't know about the other.
Madia By also going off track from Madua, the Yorkshre tea gold is my favorite black I'm going to write that down. Yeah, Yorkshare tea comes in the gold box. It looks fancy, it's not. And then what's that one? It's like the Lady, the Lady, the Lady.
I don't know why I said that so loudly, like I knew what you're talking about, and I didn't.
The Madam flavor teas mad them. I don't think I've heard about this. We only buy them when they're on sale because they're like seven dollars a box. Otherwise, look how boogie that looks?
Oh?
I do know this?
When I like their green tea with jasmine and something, Yeah, see, they're.
Fancy bougie ones. And my favorite tea is actually their lemon grass, lime and ginger, which is really good for pre recording. So your voice sounds really nice. I don't think I could f with the lemon, grass and ginger. But I'm going to write that down anyway, just in case the Madame flavor ones. But just for those of you who missed out, Beck just called twinings tea twinnings. I just I'm not letting anybody let that slips. Twiny
just doesn't look like it should be twinings anyway. Phonetically it makes sense would be one.
No, no, anyway, I'm shocked to the absolute core.
The word twins has one in huh oh. But like you know, I'm not here to teach you English, here to teach you about money.
I love you that I need to do English after this, it's not.
It's way better this way. So we're going to do tea tastings.
We tastings with your friends. You can do them by yourself as well. If you're having an ID and you want to pamp yourself have some teas.
Tea's really good.
And also, like sometimes I do have a pampanite myself, and what I do is I just get the cheapest, cheapest.
Bottle of loution.
Honestly, I don't know much about skincare, so don't listen to me. But petroleum jelly all over the body.
I love it. All right, We're not going to go too far into that because I think that a lot of faithful are going to be that's so bad for you, that's coodemic. Like, all right, sorry, probably let me.
I'm very poor anyway, I'm not really. The next thing I'm going to tell you about is my delicious, very cheap fried rice.
Oh I love a fried rice. So what you do do? S? Yeah, I'm wing.
I know there's a lot of people out there that already know this, but you do have to use day or a couple day old rice's planning for me?
Absolutely not. You can use it fresh if you like. That's no problem with that. You know what, I don't even like cooking rice myself. I'm about to give you a rice tip as well after this, so that's you can get good.
It's obviously not good for the environment. You can get once that a microwaveable.
But absolutely not. We do not buy microwave and the how are you kidding? That is so expensive? What am I going to do? Like pay a dollar for a cup of rice back? Absolutely not if you don't like cooking. But anyway, you if you're on the money. You don't buy a pack at ideally not. You know what I should do in my newsletter in a couple of weeks, how to cook the perfect rice, because I think I'm
really good at it. It's not traditional, Like I haven't told you how I cook my rice to perfection before, because you guys would jump down my throats and be like, that's not how to cook jasmine rice. You're slaughtering it. But you know what comes out perfect every time, doesn't it?
I don't know yet, but I'm sure i'll coo my rice for you. I think I cook the perfect rice.
Do you do it in a rice cooker? Because I know way? Yeah, No, I haven't invested anyone. I just can't justify it, like I'm not buying an appliance that has one function.
Yeah that's actually a really good point. But absolutely Also, I think I do have rice cook It always does come out perfect.
It must be nice. It is nice. Actually.
So what you do with the fried rice is you chuck in your rice, which should be you know, not super expensive, cook it up ideally today old that's okay. If not, you pop in some sesame oil. If you have, you can get the home brand one they.
Don't have home brand soy sauce too, they know, and I think they do now. I think they have like Coals or Woolies brand soy sauce.
Yeah, I think they must. Or you can get like the black and gold soy sauce. I'm pretty sure that's the thing. If not, just find the cheapest soy sauce. Basically, all you need is sesame oil, soy sauce, rice, frozen peas, and what I do is I add a scrambled sort of egg and you chuck it all in there. You pop in your fried tofu if you like. It doesn't cost too much, but.
It lasts so long. So this is showing my privilege again. But I think that you'll agree or laugh. I don't know. I don't even know what should be telling this story because it's honestly relatively unrelatable. So okay, that's good. As you know, I have been renovating my house and I've just moved back into it, and they left all of my other condiments somewhere else. Oh and so I've had
to buy all of my condiments again. So I have gone to Coals and I bought like olive oil and peanut oil, and I bought soy sauce, and I bought jars of ginger and garlic and chili and all of those things that I use like quite regularly. As you guys know, I'm the beest fan of Marley Spoon. Honestly, that can be a money in it itself. Like I know that some people look at meal kits like Marley Spoon and go, oh, that's really expensive, Like I could definitely make that meal for less, and you go, well,
maybe you could. But the idea that they send the perfect amount of ingredients so that there's basically no waste and you get all of these really cool different meals, like it ends up being quite cost effective. But anyway, you need, like you know, some basic soy sauce and like peanut oil and stuff to cook those as well. I spent more than three hundred dollars like holes on condiments.
Oh my god. I took a photo of the receipt because I was so embarrassed of myself, and I sent it to my husband and I was like, is this a joke? Like we needed these things and they were like lots of basics, like we had it completely empty pantry, completely empty fridge, So I was buying things like tomato sauce and like mayonnaise and just like all those things that you want in your fridge. And I knew that if I didn't buy them, I would be looking for them.
Like you know, when you're like, oh, I'm cooking dinner and your husband's not that you have a husband, maybe you will one day, maybe you have a wife. I don't know, beck, but your husband's like, oh, can I have some sauce? And I'm like, no, I have none. I just knew he'd ask because sometimes when I cook, you really do need to cover it up with tomato sauce.
So like I knew that was coming. It's just small things like that, they all really added up, and I was just like, holy moly, even to cook these days without buying any real food, absolute fraud. Yeah, don't even get me started on the cost of olive oil. Oh my gosh, it's so excited and zip like, what why is it tastes so much better? Tastes so much better though, that's the why is it so much more cost effective to buy the big bottle, which is obviously far more
expensive than the small bottle. But you know you're going to go through it, so you should buy the big bottle, but it's not on sale, so you don't do it, and then totally get you Just another really quick thing. Yeah, I'm ready.
One thing that you can just literally chuck in your garden if you have a garden, if you have any sort of mud anywhere, or dirt anywhere, sorry, soil dirt, soil bud if you want, if you have like a little bit of the end of a shalot.
Smart they regrow. Some people call a spring onion. I just regrow them in a jar and they put water in the bottom of them, and you just chuck the shots in there. They just regrow.
They're impossible to kill, and you don't have to be buying bunches of shalots all the time.
Do you call them? I call them spring onions, Of course you do. That's very Victorian, isn't it. What do you mean? I feel like chalot's away fancier. But chalots are those tiny, tiny red onions. I don't think so.
Oh okay, well, no worries, so that's true. I think that is a thing, but it's different maybe in Sydney.
I don't know. Oh those are eschelots lit No, you're making this so complicated. This is meant to be like quick, fun, fast tips. And now we've gone completely off track and you're telling everybody to grow spring onions in their garden like that's a very very living core. So maybe we are on track totally. That's very very good. That's going to save you a lot of money in the long run. So you recommended fried rice, which I think is a ten out of ten. Can I tell you about my
budget af rosotto recipe? Please? All right? So risotto rice? Get it on sale because it's the more expensive rice, a boreo rice. So get some a boreo rice. You'll need maybe like an onion, because I feel like an onion makes things better. I always buy ja garlic, so like we're not buying proper garlic, way too expensive. Also, who can be bothered pealing garlic to cook? If you do that, you are literally a better person than me. I get my tea spoon out and I blot straight
into the pan. We're good to go. But you want some garlic and some onion because I feel like that's the start of any good recipe. You want some maboreo rice. You need the kettle and you need a good tin of cream of mushroom soup. Ah, And we are going to make a jug of the cream of mushroom soup with the boiling water, and then we're going to slowly put it in to the risotto mix over time. I'll put it in a newsletter at some point because it is one budget friendly, really scalable, and you can add
whatever you want. So if you're going to get fancy, you could grab a tub of mushrooms and fry them up a little bit, chuck them in stunning you want to add some like chicken or some type of protein, I'd put like a fried tofu in there. Tofu very budget friendly. But also my favorite thing about tofu is it soaks up all the flavors, so if you put it in earlier, it's going to taste even better. My favorite part about it is I feel like if you invite friends over for a risotto, it feels a little
bit fancy. So ask them to bring a nice bottle of black white wine. Bam, you've got a date. You've got a date night. It's a stunning meal. I mean, you can be fancy and add things like palmesan cheese, but to me, that racks up the cost. You don't necessarily need that, but top your favorite little rosotto with some nutritional yeast. You good to go to that. Speak at your namemson. We're about to speak to our producer who's had his name Jim Palmesan. Well, she's been jumping
up and down. She's like, I've got one, I've got one, and I'm like, is this your show? She's the producer. Hi, she's the main character.
My name's Anlis. Welcome to She's on the money. No, guys, I was just getting so excited about this episode because I have lived very frugally from time to time, and I do enjoy I'm my father's daughter, so my dad is like the king of firstly the king of the kitchen, but also the king of like reusing things and and actually making them. This is quintessential cost of living core. So it's actually it's not just about like getting by, it's about making it better.
And like enriching it by doing it.
So you know what my dad does if he cooks a roaster, if you have like a roast chicken, save all the bones, like when when you strip the meat off, put them in a bag in the freezer with the veggie peelings over the course of a couple of weeks. If you have like a meat roast or something, you save the bone, put it in and then you do a big boil up with some bay leaves, salt, some pepper and cardamen and you make a broth. And that bone. That broth is like I just did it the other day.
It is so it is so much better than anyone that you will buy. So you are actually using things, you're making a better product. And then I will make an Asian noodle soup which was something like that, or add that to another soup, and it.
Is like use that in your risotto bex. I'm telling you you can.
And it's it is, no kidding, one hundred times better than anything you can buy. So I just had to jump in there and like represent a bit of Gary redlick.
He'd be broad, he'd be broad that I was showing that he got a shout out on the pod today. Do you let him know he's not even in his country, But that doesn't matter.
We'll sell it in his bones, not his but the ones he's been collected.
Yes, yes for broth, Yes, I love that.
But just thought I was tighting, but thank you for sharing. I will get back off Mike Robe belong now and leave you.
To it, but we'll drag her on later. I love it.
See but not heard, please, I thought you were going to talk about bubble and skork.
So there's so many things that we can do with food, right, I feel like we're all good at that. We think about food, we think about have you ever done a cheese date where you have to take one cheese and then all the friends take a cheese like instead of having, like, you know, one friend do the cheese platter, which is absolutely obnoxious. You're on hard cheese and a Lisa might be on a soft cheese. I'm on a specific type of condiment that goes with it, and we all have
to bring that. And then we do the community cheese board, and then you have this epic community cheese board and it didn't cost everyone an absolute bomb. Anyway, that's a good idea. But let's move off food because as much as our team adores a good SNACKO, there's so many other things we could do, like gifts. Yes, let's talk about regifting. Regifting regifting.
I automatically went to reusing paper cardboard, et cetera, et cetera, to give gifts, But regifting is also a really good idea.
You gave me a gift this morning, bag I did, and I was looking at the paper and I was like, hmm, I wonder if we could use it. Did you see what I did with it? Or did you put it in your bag? I folded it up and to go good for you. It was so cute and it was like that thicker paper. I was like, this is expensive. You want to check about It's going in my my wrapping paper drawer. Yeah, great idea, But what are your thoughts?
What happens if you get given a gift? And I guess this is only me saying it because I've written down gifts to talk about on the pod, So I feel like I'm kind of awkward now talking about this because I actually adore the gift that you've given me. You will never see me regifted. But what do you think about regifting? Do you think it's the right thing to do, but the right thing to do? Like, I think it's a frugal thing to do.
I think it's absolutely fine, But I think I probably gift different. I'll find something very strange and gifted as more of a jokey gift.
So that kind.
Of thing like something that's under five dollars, say, like a weird bottle opener or something no context behind it and it's just very funny and you know, nothing that was going to break the bank.
Basically is how I like to gift.
So those things are absolutely fine to regift because they're useless but also funny, so you can regift it. But even like if it's something more expensive, I think that it's absolutely fine to regift.
I agree one probably keep track of who gifted it to you so you don't give it back to them because that could be awkward. But going back to this reframing concept, I think we need to also reframe gifts. So like a gift is something that I give you beck or give somebody else to let them know that I appreciate them and I want to celebrate them by me partaking in the act of giving you that gift. We did it. So what happens to that gift after that?
I don't think it matters too much, yea. And I know people get really like tied up and they're like, oh, they didn't like the gift. No, no, no. I loved the gift. I was thought of. You put some time and energy in thinking about something I might like. Maybe if I didn't like it, I've gone and gifted it to somebody else. And the gift was the fact that I didn't have to buy them at present. But I think the act of me giving you that gift, that's the gift in itself. Like the gift served its purpose.
I felt appreciated, I felt thought about, and that's what you wanted from the gift, right totally, So now we can love it and leave it alone. I love that. Do you know what my theory is? What's your theory?
You know those soap gift things come like soaps, I reckon there is at least one out there that has been regifted and regifted and it's just not been open for twenty years and now it's just found its way somewhere else, because those are the most regifted things in the world. So I almost want to receive one so I can give it to someone else.
I was at Christmas time, actually, someone gave me a real fancy box of lint ball chocolate. Yes, and I love a lint ball, but I'd forgotten that I was going in my parents' house for dinner. Perfect him, um, stunning, I thought, I listened to this episode please, But yeah, I kind of regifted that that was good, but it served its purpose. I was so excited that the stress of having to pick something up on the way gone totally and you can still eat them. Another thing I
really like doing that. I'm not sure you should do because I don't think you can be trusted. Is DIY beauty services? Oh yeah, don't trust me, so beauty services for me, I think is a great DIY. I'm someone who paints my nails and everyone's like, oh my gosh, you're so good at painting your nails. I could never I painted my nails like a toddler for a very very long time. Like you know where you get it all over your skin? Yes? Do you know the best
thing about that? If you use normal nail pollution, then get it on your skin. You can go in the shower, gets a bit warm, you just scritch it off, and then your nails are great. That's a great idea. I'm not saying that that's the way we should always do it, but when it comes to doing your own nails, practice makes perfect and I do my own. I don't go and see someone else anymore, not because I don't value it. I just one. I kind of like the active self care.
I always do it. Put f where Island or something on, Yes, And I like paint my nails and have a good time, and I just love doing it. But I also love that I get to do it for myself, and I've just gotten really good at it over time. I've picked up a few different tools and things that I wanted to purchase, and all of them have been less than
I guess the cost of a salon visit. And not everyone cares about their nails, Like so many people could not give to flying whatever is about doing their own nails. But like, if there's something that you could do yourself, is it possible? I mean I wouldn't risk becoming blonde. I mean you would, you definitely would send yourself blonde
at home, but I wouldn't risk that. But there are just things in my budget, Like I don't get eyelash extensions anymore because I'm just so aware of how much they were adding up, and I was like, oh, I love it, not saying forever I will not have lash extensions, Like there's something about and Beck. I don't know if you ever resonate with this, but far out I feel fifty times prettier with a set of really nice slashes on. Oh my god. The confidence that that instills in me
is wild. Like I feel once I get them taken off. Even though I have nice, natural, normal eyelashes, I feel like a bald bandicoot. The second they're gone, I'm like, what has happened? Everyone's going to think I'm so ugly. Oh no, But I decided that that wasn't in my budget for a little while because it was just adding up and it was something that one took a lot of time, but also I just wasn't getting the value out of it, so took that out of my budget. Doing my own nails, I do my own tan at
home like I hardly ever ever ever. I think the last time I got was my wedding, and prior to that, I don't think I'd ever had a professional spray tan. Right, do that at home as well? Do my own eyebrows at home? Yeah, like, I love doing it. I will go out occasionally, But I think that there's something about embracing and learning more about being able to do that. So if you're like, oh, I could never paint my own nails, why why can't you just give it a crack?
Why can't you just have a turn, Like, do it when you're not going to a really big event. Obviously, don't try it the day before because that would send me into a meltdown. But I think it's yeah, very sexy. You're good at beauty services act now I think about it deeply.
Back, I am. I do do everything at home myself. I've never been to a hairdresser. I only used to maybe get my eyes your own hair, I cut my own hair. Just someone else do that for you. You don't know what you just have had it I do.
But you look like you're so cool. Oh thank you, that's so nice. I think you're just good at it.
I've done it for so long for starters. But also I don't care enough about like, if it's long at the.
Back, you literally have a mullet. I probably haven't.
I'm so happy to just get like literal paper scissors and cut I don't actually too much. So if you do value the quality or the health of your hair and you want it a certain way, maybe don't do it at home.
I'm glad I gifted you Oliplex because you sure need it.
I use the whole bottle was great, but no, even like, you know, make my hair blonde and.
Yep, stunning for your Barbie party.
You might have seen that you came as blonde can yeah, and you might have thought, wow, she's bleached her hair.
Actually thought you'd bleach your hair again. And I was like, this is commitment, Like you turned up, you were a hot don't worry, thank you, But also what did you do?
So believe it or not, VICKI d I spent less than twenty dollars on this whole outfit. So the actual stuff that was in my hair was spray paint?
What was so sorry? Hair spray? Do you know what? I wouldn't be surprised if you said I put actual spray paint in my hair, I'd be like, of course she did.
It's back, that's very nice. I wasn't opposed to the idea, it's just that this was cheaper. So I love two dollar shops. I really think that you can might anything at a two dollar shop. Yeah, and I don't know if I'm missing something here, but they're so cheap, like days So for example, I don't if I'm pronouncing that right, dizo dizo. It is so cheap, and I just can't imagine why you would spend more anywhere else.
Like it's like when people buy a bag of oats, why buying the brand name O? Yes, exactly, I just don't get it. I don't think I'll ever get that. I don't care how much money I have. One day, I hope to be worth millions. Ye's not gonna happen, but one day, yeah, I'll still buy home brand notes. Like, I just can't justify it totally. I mean, bring money down the drain. What do you mean You're buying brand name flour and sugar? Is it not the same thing? Totally?
What I do understand that there are some things that are more ethically sourced and stuff like that.
So that's not the conversation we're having here today. I think that there's definitely a conversation to have about ethics, sure, but I think we also need to overlay the fact that sometimes ethics are not feasible to one thousand percent take into consideration. Sometimes we're doing the best that we
possibly can. Yeah, totally mean, like I feel like a lot of people, and we've done episodes on ethical investing, We've done episodes on you know, fast fashion and our thoughts on them, and I think, you know, it's a privilege and I'm not someone who buys fast fashion because I have the absolute privilege of being able to make that decision. Totally.
No, I completely agree, that's not the conversation we're having today, But I just wanted to let people know that.
I think it's important to point out too, in case people come and say, you know.
Oh, truly we can't know, which I completely understand the side of and I completely do try and do that, but yes, we are talking about sometimes it not being feasible.
And what I'm saying is this hairspray that I bought was like.
Three dollars money win, and the little bum bag that you might have seen that was hot, Yeah, very cheap.
I think it was like ten dollars or so. Having their snacks kids, there was a vape in there was.
Three vapes in there, and chewing gum just in case you never know when you're gonna get a little smooch, and I didn't get one, so that could have been thrown.
Not a single one. I'm surprised. You looked hot as hell. Thank you, that's so nice. Maybe it was because you had three vapes. People were like red flag. Maybe that's true. I opened it up to get the gum out forest mood. Yeah, yeah, that was the vapes.
No illegal, I think they are, but they're getting there anyway. That's I would say, probably the best course of action. Also, like I wanted to get a scarf to look more like ken four dollars money win.
I didn't actually buy it, but I thought about it, and I was like four bucks. You didn't buy it like five finger discount, or you just didn't wear us. Oh no, I mean I didn't wear a scarf. I should say, I should say here, I am being like you said, four dollars money in for this scaff but I didn't buy it. It sounded a lot like you stole it.
Ba See I just put it on walked straight out of that at all.
It all.
What I'm saying is go to two dollars shops. You might be surprised by what you'll find in there. That's not that bad of quality, you know.
I agree. The reject shop is also another good one. I love reject shop. I love the reject shop. There's one in the suburb that I live in, and they're great, like I've walked around so many times. Also, the food section in the reject shop changes all the time, so you can't get consistency out of them, but they are definitely cheap, so definitely check out that. I feel like there's so many ideas, but at the end of the day,
I feel like cost of living care we're embracing. We think it's very sexy, but there are a few things that we can do to get ourselves I guess more on track. So I know it's not sexy back, but I'm going to recommend we do our budget. I'm going to sit down with you and do a budget really soon, thank you, and we're going to talk through what it looks like, how it works, how to budgets so that
you don't feel like you're being restricted. So you need to look at your budget and cash flow because that's just a tool to tell you what's coming in and then what's going out, as opposed to saying, oh, Beck, you now need to reduce how much to spending on grocery. It's like no, no, no. If you're comfy with it,
let's be comfy with it. Let's just understand how you're putting those dollars to work, because you might be surprised to find that vapes are really expensive and maybe you didn't need three, you know, So I think you end up being quite confronted with your own costs and you might go far out. I didn't realize that I'm spending that much on a barbie party. Not willing to do my budget this month, So sit down, do your budget. Something else if you're really struggling is our friends at
the National Debt Helpline. They have free financial counseling services. So I think that if you need a bit more emotional support, or even just to chat one on one with somebody, because unfortunately that she's on the money community. Like we've got this podcast and we try as hard as possible, but like we can't give you personal advice, So if you're in a little bit of a pickle, maybe give them a buzz and have a chat because they are some of the most delightful people in the
entire world. And as always, we will put the link to them in the show notes so that you can find some more information, do a comparison, go through your bills, so like, this is something that I haven't done in a really long time. And I was actually talking to Josh, who's on reception at AARN and I love him, Like I'm calling it now, He's going to be talent one day and you're going to see him and I'm going to be like, I knew him before he was famous. Agree,
It's like you right, I knew her before she was famous. Oh. But he and I were talking about our phone bills because I feel like I just walk around to the AARN office talking about money stuff. I'm like, oh, you're no money saving tip, I got one for you. Anyway, we're both comparing our phone bills and he was with a Masim. I'm now switching to a Masim because it was such a good deal for the amount of data he was getting for the cost he was paying. I
was like, I'm not getting up. I'm paying like double what the heck in And then I was like, but is there an issue with coverage? He's like absolutely not, like things have come around wow, And I was like, okay, well I'm all in So anyway, I think we should always go through our budgets and question things. So even if you're like, no, no, no. I went through and I checked my energy a couple of years ago and I
picked the right one. Have you double checked it? Have you made sure that's the best option, Because loyalty tax, which we've done a whole episode on, is real and they might just be adding it up. Maybe you haven't seen a new sign on offer that would save you a whole heap of dosh. And I think that that's a really important thing to do. So check everything out and make sure that you are getting the best possible deal.
Because even if you were getting the best deal, which to be honest, back with my other mobile coming, I thought I was. Turns out now things have changed, so definitely be on it and kind of keep your finger on the poles. That's a great idea. You have spoken historically about food banks. Yes, I think great, how do we find information about that? Like, tell me a bit more about that, because I feel like, right now, yeah, that's the thing that we should be sharing.
I think that depending on where you live, you might have what is called like a good calm and at work or like something that's on Facebook that kind of like binds your community together and you might be able to look for food pains, trees, or just keep up to date with what's going on around your area. But if you google it or even like, I don't know if you've heard of lentils as anything. I don't know if they're still a thing.
They're not, but we can talk about them. Can we still about them? They were so cool. That was so great pay what you can afford. I loved that idea. So for those of you who aren't in Melbourne, it was a restaurant where you could go and eat a meal and pay what you could afford, and if you couldn't afford anything, well you didn't pay anything totally.
And the way I think that they kind of had that running was the people inside the kitchen with volunteers, I believe, so wholesome.
It was just perfect.
If you couldn't pay anything, then you would commit to like volunteering for a couple of hours or something. So it was just perfect. But anyway, that is very very sad to hear. I would say, just google what's near you. I know what's around Brunswick because they live there. But I do want to say our producer is just let us know that there is this place you can go it's called ask izzy, a free online directory for support services around Australia run by tech not for profit info Exchange.
So ask izzy basically provides the public with information tax for services relevant to their needs and in their area.
So everything that's really wholesome. Thank you for sharing that.
Everything from housing assistance and legal representation to public toilets.
Oh, everything, everything, everything, all the way till the bathroom sink exactly. Bathroom sink that you can use. That's great, Thank you producer. Oh, I'm glad that she gave us that. But ask Ezzi is a really cool resource. I've seen it floating around. Also something else before we go, libraries, Oh, free resources. I think the libraries are one of the last places you can go to hang out in public
that don't expect you to have some kind of financial exchange. True, Like you can turn up with a bottle of water and read a book for a few hours and no one's going to ask you to buy a coffee or like you know, put money anywhere. And I think that that's really wholesome. I love that. All right. Well, I am not done talking about the cost of living core, but I feel like we've run out of time unfortunately, so let's continue this conversation online. Guys, please post in
our community all of your tips and tricks. Slide into our DMS. Slide into Beck's DMS with your cost of care living tips because each week on our Friday episode, Beck does the broke tip, and I feel like she's starting to run out of ideas. And when I say run out of ideas, she forgets what she's talked about and what she hasn't So please go and give Beck your tips and us your tips, because we want to
be able to share them. And I think that there's something really sexy about taking our power back and actually becoming financially confident, even when we might not have as much money as we would like to have. Love that all right, Well, we'll see you guys on Friday. Have the best week. We love you so much. 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
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