You’re smashing your financial goals, debt’s going down, confidence’s going up, and then that little voice pipes up: “Should I be investing too?” This week, we’re unpacking the guilt trip of the financially responsible. Can you actually build wealth while you still owe money? Victoria’s breaking down the maths and the mindset, and proving that sometimes the hottest ROI is just being a little bit boring. Then, an early-inheritance nightmare that’s giving full moral hangover. Her parents gifted he...
Oct 30, 2025•41 min
If you’ve ever looked at house prices and thought, “I guess I’ll just marry rich or manifest an inheritance” this ep is for you! Victoria and Jess are here to prove you can buy property without a trust fund, a partner, or a miracle. They’re breaking down the actually doable ways to get into the market... from decoding your borrowing power and super hacks to the spicy truth about LMI (spoiler: it’s not the villain). This is the step-by-step playbook for anyone who’s serious about owning property ...
Oct 28, 2025•37 min
They say you end up with someone like your dad... and for this week’s diarist, that was the problem. Her dad was reckless with money, and years later, she married someone just like him. While she worked and saved, he spent, quit jobs on a whim, and left her holding the financial bag. At 30, she’d had enough. She packed two suitcases, took her last $12K, and started again. . Now building wealth on her own terms (complete with a partner who actually gets it) and even using debt recycling to make h...
Oct 26, 2025•52 min
Ever had a job so toxic it makes your morning coffee taste like dread? This week, a community member wrote in ready to walk... 60-hour weeks, zero recognition, and a boss who extended her probation “just because.” She’s got a mortgage, $20K in savings, and one big question: is it smart or reckless to quit with nothing lined up? It’s a debate every burnt-out queen needs to hear... equal parts therapy and tough love. We're also tackling what to do when you can't get insurance. Victoria breaks down...
Oct 23, 2025•36 min
You scrimp, save, and finally book your dream trip… only to spend it fighting for a pool lounger, paying peak rates for accom, and cropping 100 tourists out of your sunset pics. Well, on our recent trip to the NT, we realised we’ve been doing travel wrong. And because we don’t gatekeep at SOTM, this ep is all about our new fave travel hack. One that's completely changed how we think about timing, value, and what makes a holiday actually feel rich. In this Deep Dive, we unpack why we’ve all been ...
Oct 21, 2025•29 min
Ever done something just because it’s what you’re supposed to do? Well, this week's diarist did the opposite. While everyone else was drowning in student debt and instant noodles, she was saving, flying, and somehow adulting better than all of us. She bought a house in her early twenties, lived overseas for years, and came home with more life experience than any degree could buy. Spoiler: doing life “out of order” might’ve been the smartest move she ever made. Inside this diary, we get into skip...
Oct 19, 2025•55 min
We all want to be the parent who “sets the kids up,” right? But between savings accounts, offsets, and “future nest egg” fantasies it's hard to know what to do . So this week we’re breaking down how to actually make your money work harder (for you and your mini-me). Then things get spicy with a DM that split the community: she’s saved $150K, he’s got $64K, and they both want to own the house 50/50. Do you still go halves? Do you lawyer up? Or do you just call it “love tax”? We get into what’s fa...
Oct 16, 2025•34 min
What if your "little side-hustle" became the next big brand everyone’s talking about? That’s exactly what happened to Alyce Tran, the ex-lawyer who turned a $5K side project into The Daily Edited, built stores in New York and Singapore. Then, because one cult brand wasn’t enough, she launched In The Roundhouse , the tableware label making dinner look like a fashion moment. In this ep Victoria finds out exactly how Alyce went from corporate girlie with a creative itch to a serial founder of cult-...
Oct 14, 2025•51 min
Ever feel like everyone else’s life is speeding ahead while you’re stuck in the slow lane? This week’s Money Diarist knows that feeling too well. While her friends were off travelling, she was juggling uni deadlines and midnight feeds. At 17, she was pregnant and kicked out of school for being a “bad example.” Instead of giving up, she finished Year 12 through TAFE, raised her baby, went to uni, and rebuilt her life from scratch, all while living on Centrelink. Fast forward a decade and she’s ea...
Oct 12, 2025•51 min
Ever feel like your money goals are at war with your life goals? Like one minute you’re saving for a house… and the next you’re convincing yourself a Euro summer is “an investment in personal growth”? This week’s DM came from someone stuck right there... her partner’s all-in on buying a home, while she’s eyeing flights. And honestly? We get it. Because trying to choose between living life and getting ahead feels like an impossible math problem. So we’re unpacking whether travel really sets you b...
Oct 09, 2025•41 min
Retiring early is the ultimate dream... so when Brooke casually dropped that she’s on track to do it by 35 (without the Bank of Mum and Dad), you all screamed a collective “HOW?!” So of course, Victoria had to get her back in the studio to spill everything... and more importantly, share what the rest of us can steal from her strategy without living on two-minute noodles. Turns out, it’s not magic, she started on a $50K salary and built it dollar by dollar with smart habits, steady investing, and...
Oct 07, 2025•46 min
Ever wondered what it really costs to turn a light-bulb moment into something real? This week’s Money Diarist is a mum of two who did exactly that. She created a world-first product that launched just two weeks ago, and now she’s here to do what most founders wouldn’t: spill on every dollar it took to make it happen. From losing out to a dodgy sourcing agency to somehow pulling together $200K through pure determination, she’s laying it all out... the risks and the real-world chaos of betting on ...
Oct 05, 2025•32 min
Have you ever wondered if you can use home equity to buy something else you need … like a car? The low interest rate makes it sound like the ultimate hack, but would it really be the money win it feels like... or are you just turning a car loan into a decades-long debt trap? We’ve got the receipts. And just when we thought we’d seen it all, a community member slid into our DMs with a first-birthday invite that came with a twist: instead of saying no presents, it asked for something that we'd nev...
Oct 02, 2025•46 min
You’ve listened to our episode about how much super you really need… but knowing your number is only half the story. The real question? How do you actually get there. Enter our Superannuation Glow-Up series. Part 1 is all about getting the right foundations in place for you and Victoria is serving up the $0 tweaks that could completely shift the trajectory of your retirement. 💸 A quick “pay check” that could expose if you’re missing money 💸 The free tool that makes choosing a fund way less ove...
Sep 30, 2025•40 min
What do you do when you’ve applied for hundreds of jobs and all you’ve got is rejection emails? This week’s Money Diarist knows the answer.... because she kept going. But this episode isn’t just about the knock-backs. It’s about grit, glow-ups, and the moment everything finally flipped. From small-town “you’ll never make it” whispers to proving every single doubter wrong, this one will hit every nerve if you’ve ever felt stuck, behind, or ready to give up. GET VICTORIA'S BUDGETING SYSTEM: Master...
Sep 28, 2025•55 min
We’ve all heard HECS is a deal-breaker for your borrowing capacity… but is it really the villain it's made out to be? We’ve got the tea on how much your HECS actually matters when you’re trying to get a loan... and let’s just say, the maths might surprise you. And because Fridays love a little family drama, we’re also talking about the stress of parents making very questionable financial moves. Do you bite your tongue, or pull out the calculator and stage an intervention? We’ve got thoughts. Plu...
Sep 25, 2025•38 min
Ever wondered if the hobby that you love could be the thing that pays your rent? That’s the story of Alice (Miss Trixie Drinks Tea) and Alisha (Sweet Bakes), two women who turned frosting and fun into booming businesses. And after fangirling over each other on socials and becoming baking besties IRL, they did what most of us only joke about... they started a business together. From side-hustle beginnings to sold-out retreats in France, brand collabs, and even launching their own pastel-pink kitc...
Sep 23, 2025•52 min
Surprise! No Money Diary today... V has hijacked your Monday feed for something different. Think of this one as a little love note from her to you (with a side of tough-love pep talk). Because if you’ve ever scrolled past someone’s new house, new ring, new six-figure job and thought “cool, I’m officially behind on life”… this episode is basically your antidote. Victoria is here to rip up the money timeline, call BS on hustle culture, and admit that success might look more like coffee in the sun ...
Sep 21, 2025•10 min
Ever wondered if sharing an investment account is romantic… or just risky business? This week we’re unpacking whether it’s the smartest way to build wealth together, or if there are easier (and safer) options. Then, we dive into a community DM that gets a lot heavier: when your partner’s choices put your financial security at risk, how do you protect yourself? Of course, it wouldn’t be Friday without the rest of the chaos; clever money wins, broke tips you’ll actually want to steal, and a few co...
Sep 18, 2025•33 min
We handed over control of the show to you this week and said: ask us ANYTHING. From how to finally get ahead on your goals, to spotting when you’re leaving free money on the table, to breaking the cycle of self-sabotage spending... nothing was off limits. If you’ve ever wished you could pick Jess and V’s brains over a coffee, this is that episode. In this ep: ❓ The surprising career path that landed Jess where she is today ❓ How to actually save for mat leave, with bonus tips for when you’re doi...
Sep 16, 2025•39 min
We’ve all been told property is the “safe” investment. But this week’s Money Diarist learned the hard way that’s not always true. She thought she was making the smart move buying a second investment property. Instead, she ended up with a building so dodgy it dragged her through years of court battles, left her with no rental income, and forced her to sell the first house she loved just to stay afloat. Now she’s picking up the pieces, rebuilding from zero and now has good things coming her way. L...
Sep 14, 2025•58 min
Should you hold off on buying until the property market cools… or is waiting the real mistake? We’ve all heard the classic “just wait two years, prices will drop” advice, but what if that never actually happens and you’ve in a worse position? This week we’re unpacking the market peak panic and what it actually means for you if you’re trying to buy right now. Then, we dive into a community DM about a partner with $40k of debt and zero urgency to pay it down. Is that just a personal choice, or a f...
Sep 11, 2025•39 min
We finally got to do it... sit down with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and ask the money questions that actually matter to you. Not the political theatre ones, but the real-life stuff that keeps you up at night: the weekly food shop, housing that feels out of reach, and childcare costs that just don’t add up. But this wasn’t all serious policy talk. We dug into his own money story, swapped budgeting habits, and even threw him some of our favourite spicy questions; from Trump’s tariffs to his m...
Sep 10, 2025•51 min
Victoria and Brooke are always swapping notes on the shares and ETFs they’re watching... so we thought, why not let you in on the chat? This isn’t a “go out and buy” list. It’s the inside scoop on how they think about investing, what’s caught their eye, why it’s on the radar, and what has to happen before they’d actually jump in. It's the kind of financial gossip we live for, and it’s your chance to get pervy about what’s living rent-free in their investing brains right now. In this ep you’ll he...
Sep 09, 2025•1 hr 11 min
Have you ever wanted to pack a bag, vanish from your old life? That’s exactly what this week’s Money Diarist did when her world flipped upside down at 21 and she had everything taken away from her, and it became the start of a money story she never saw coming. What began as a running-away chapter chasing her love of travel turned into years of odd jobs, fishing boats, and tour guiding, where lifestyle always came first and paycheques came second. But somewhere between chasing adventure and movin...
Sep 07, 2025•45 min
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 ...
Sep 04, 2025•32 min
House hunting in 2025 feels... chaotic. That’s why this week’s Deep Dive is your playbook for finding "The One". Because the perfect property? It doesn’t exist. But the right one for you absolutely does... and we’re here to help you spot it before someone else puts their deposit down. Buying a house is stressful enough. Let’s at least make sure you’ve got the hacks and the confidence to chose your forever home. Inside the episode you’ll get: 🏠The 80% rule that stops you chasing unicorn houses a...
Sep 02, 2025•59 min
Every money story has a sliding door moment... the decision that could go either way. Stay safe, or risk it all. This week’s Money Diarist chose the second option: she sold her house, walked away from job security, and packed up the family for a sea change with no plan and no savings. Everyone (including her parents) thought it was risky. And honestly? At first it did look like financial chaos. But that one leap set off a chain of events she never could’ve predicted, the kind of glow up that pro...
Aug 31, 2025•34 min
So… what is the magic number you should have when it comes to savings? Is it a neat percentage, a chunky dollar figure, or three months of bills sitting pretty in your account? This week we’re spilling the tea on how to work out your number, so you can stop guessing and start saving with a plan that actually makes sense for your life. Then we chat about what to do when financial advice doesn’t pass the vibe check. A community member was told to merge their life savings with their partner. Cute i...
Aug 28, 2025•34 min
Ever wondered how people actually know when it’s time to quit, pivot, or back themselves in a huge career move? Well Michelle Battersby's career was made on those moves. She ditched her safe banking job to launch unkown dating app Bumble in Australia, co-founded her own tech company Sunroom (and sold it while pregnant), and even walked away from an “end-of-career” salary because her gut told her no. This episode is her playbook on doing the scary thing and landing on your feet... plus the inside...
Aug 26, 2025•48 min
