Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud Yr
the Order Kerney Whalbury 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.
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She's on the Money, She's on the Money. Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast Millennials who want financial freedom.
Today, my friends, it is Friday, which.
Means it is time to get my little team together and celebrate you ow incredible. She's on the Money community. Today, we're going to be sharing our favorite money wins with Miss Jess Chi. Miss bech say Ed is back for some broque tips. We're going to be helping to answer a juicy money dilemma, which this week is all about buying in bulk.
Which I feel like Jess is going to be.
And we're going to be unpacking something that you slid into our DMS about this week, we're talking about relationship equity. So to kick off this episode, my friends, Beck, Yes, you went present last week, so you get to go first.
How have your last two weeks been? Well?
Yeah, I really hope my shoulder and it's like the whole back of the head and back of the shoulder. But I feel so much better now. But the last few weeks have been good. It was my birthday, thank you so much, cancer queen, actually thirtieth of July. Yeah, right on the close to I didn't have to share my star signs.
So that's okay.
Oh, true, that would have been strange to cancers in the one yeah studio.
No, it would have worked. It would have worked. There are literally to cancer the cancer.
Yeah, your cancer is our producer of cancer. No, she's on the cusp?
Are you want the cusp?
June seven eight? Very much, very much a Gemini, I see we're all very close.
Oh.
I don't know what that means, but it sounds. I just know that I'm the cancer, and I just know that makes us emotional, which checks out, which story checks out because his cry oh that's so sweet.
It's not it's not bad Barbie movie tears. Oh god, food that tastes really good, tears like just you can't stop it.
I love that. I feel like crying is one of the my favorite activities.
So, you know, absolutely depressing. What did you do for your birthday?
Oh birthday? I had a little party, A little party, A little party at a pub, one of my favorite pubs. Eighties for anyone listening, maybe if you maybe no.
Eighties the thing a few weeks ago I did, I mention.
I eight free so water. That's exactly That's exactly why I go there.
That's how you start a party.
That's exactly right my birthday.
Surely people are buying.
Oh I know, I really should have taken it. I was shocked by how many people offered me a drink. Well, my drink doesn't cost any money, so this is really really a shame. But it was really good.
It is a really good.
Couple of weeks and went a couple of dates with someone, which is and then yeah, well you know, who knows that we might get married and and maybe maybe we won't, but start looking likely that we're going to get married and have children. Love yeah, you know, you just go I'm really manifesting.
Yeah, that's just going to you hole it.
Just in case she's listening, I'm I promise I'm joking. Also, no one knows who I'm talking about.
So anyway, do we do because we was cute? Definitely? Do I like your instagram? Is she good enough for our back?
My good enough? Anyway?
Onto The question is not are you good enough? Are they good enough for you?
What can you do for me?
Is the question? I mean that's not what I was getting. Did you go on any dates this week? I didn't, sadly, I mean, you're in a long term relationship. That's cute. We cooked Moley spin together. I was like, now's a day. My week was good. My car is currently at the mechanic extremely overdrew, so everyone, I just have a bad feeling about it.
But do you have a bad feeling about it because of what I did with my car last week?
Is that?
Yeah?
That's actually what made me check miney because mine is about six months over jew and then your car corked it and I was like, oh what.
Haven't you so long story short, I took my car to the mechanic and it was just for a scheduled service. I thought I was doing the Lord's work by doing it on time, and I drop it off and they said, oh v this is wrong, this is wrong, and this is wrong. And it was our like the car that my husband and I share, so he mainly drives it. I drive it sometimes if I'm like picking up Jessica and need to impress her and take my dog somewhere. And they told me that the battery needed fixing. But
it's like some fancy type of battery. Anyone listening is going to be like, Victoria, you're so daft, and I'll be like, yes, I am sorry, but it's like this fancy battery that like there's a battery under the seat as well as in the hood. And so they quoted me like a ridiculous amount to fix it, and I was like, I'm going to get a second opinion. And what they say, they said, you can go get a second opinion.
That's so fine.
This is just like a really expensive battery to replace across the board, like we haven't really added much labor. And I'm sitting there being like yeah, sure, yeah, sure, no worries, and they're like, just be aware that the battery will work today, but when we tested it, it's like got failed cells in it or whatever that means, and it could just not work at any time, right, trying to scare me.
The next week, Jessica, what happened? Car didn't work, cutting work, in fact, did not work at any given time, exactly like.
What they said. And when I got second opinions, Beck, you know what happened?
More expensive everywhere else because I wanted to charge labor as well.
I see, so I should have just done it the first time.
She's too late to go back and ask for the exact same quote.
Thankfully, I have fostered a great relationship with the mechanic and I text him and I said himitch in a twist of fate that you saw coming no longer starts, and he said, just drop it in and fixed today. I said, that is very kind of you.
Thank you, Sorry for calling you a liar and a thief. And I'm back, I did.
Car services are so expensive, and you know when they come back with like all these additional things, I'm like, are you looking at me? Going You're a silly little white girl who doesn't know anything about anything? And I don't know I don't know anything about anything.
How we got in trouble right. It was very funny though, because I drove because obviously you needed to get back home, so I drove with you there and bribed her. We did do a macis running the way home.
I said, if you drop me at the mechanics, oh, buy you a happy meal?
Oh that's nice, and I said immediately yes obviously of course.
Did you get a Griomas shake?
No?
Sorry, continued, what's a Grimmer's shake?
Have you guys? This thing on? TI took right, but I don't really know.
Yes, it is that purple like shake.
Oh vile? Absolutely not.
Do they have that here?
I have no idea. Jesse gets six.
Nuggets, six nuggets because I had a toy. Yeah, we have the to toy. Silly.
Absolutely.
Have you ever seen a person with a happy meal not being happy? H a single person? Actually, that's what I think of it.
Yeah, to wrap it up, the mechanic said that that was the equivalent of a walk of shame.
I'm walking in and he's like it beat sassy, like in a funny way.
He was a nice guy, so he wasn't being rude.
He's like, just you know this is the equivalent of a walk of shame, and I was like, thank you, kind sir.
I'm going to call it him money win though, because he didn't charge you anymore even though you did infaction. I listen to him the first time.
Yeah, I think I think he now knows he's got a client for life. Yeah, because I was kind of like, thanks for looking after me, but your entire life. I owe him every car service into eternity.
Yes, sorry, you'll say something. You're carving all right the shop.
Sorry, I hope and prayers are going out to Jessica that her car doesn't end up like my car, and if it does, she just takes the advice.
Yeah, you'll be listening to my mechanic.
Yeah, don't do what Victoria did. But do you know what we should get into is the community money wins. Mister Scricci, what have you round up for us this week?
My first money in this week comes from Lucy, who said money win sort of. I'm no longer living pay to pay. I have plenty left over each fortnight, even after putting away savings and some investing. After living as a single mum for ten years. This is a massive thing for me. Financial stress has had a huge impact on my mental health. Love and over one hundred people were liking and commenting on that, and I was just loving seeing people get behind her. Good on you, Lucy.
My next money win comes from Ashley, who said, to prove a point to my friends, I just calculated the cost benefit of my health insurance premiums for extras is eight hundred and forty three dollars seventy per year. However, I can claim up to thirty four hundred dollars every year. I max out several of the categories, meaning I use a maximum of seventeen fifty. This doesn't factor in how much I save on the Medicare Levey surcharge as well.
I knew my health insurance was worth it because I use it a lot, but I'd never crunch the numbers. And I just love the idea of someone running the mass like it's not going to be the same, but everyone it's going to depend on what you use and what you need.
I also love that it was like because she wanted yeah, yeah, I took. I was like, that's why I calculate things too, Actually, you are our people.
My next money win comes from Anthea, who said My money win this week is I simply talked to my husband out of going out for brunch on Sunday money loss. I forgot my lunch, so I'm currently waiting for my boat lunch to be warmed up. But we won't tell him that.
I know.
Ye between two.
Hundred and fifty on the money community members and you, they have pow the field.
Next, I've got a money in from Lauren who said I got a rain check. I've never done it before, but I was in Calls and my preferred washing powder was out of stock and on sale for fifty percent off. I asked a staff member who was stacking the shelves nearby if they had more out the back or elsewhere in the store, and she scanned it and said they didn't have any and to go to the front desk for a rain check. So now I have a rain check in my wallet for two boxes of washing powder
fifty percent off for next time. What And I wonder if split that and do like one f and then hold on that rain check. Yeah, that could be a money I was intending on buying five and then just spread it out for the next half of many months.
Oh, that's such a good idea.
I don't know if that works or not. Someone let us know it's worth the crack. My next money wind comes from Juliet, who said money win. I won a v cap case and I'm getting back a total of two thousand, five hundred and four dollars from my landlord Spicy. We'll love to see it. Please no fighting in the comment.
Please no fighting in the comments, but also please slide into our DMS and let us know why.
Because we need the date, We need the juice.
Do you want we need to know?
I know you guys want to be shaking for that tea.
She's ready. And lastly, I have a money lost from simone, which I thought might play into what we're chatting about a little bit later, she said money loss. My partner turns the heat around in our bedroom each morning before going to work. Past three work days, he's left it on all day, so it's boiling when I get home, and our electricity provider is loving it, but my wallet not so much. Yes, I'm going to hide the remote on him so he can no longer use it. We've all been there.
We've all been there. Do you hide things in your house from your partner?
Jessica. He has a tendency to open multiple Natala's at once, So if he's running low on Natalla and I buy a new one, I hide the new one until the old one's finished because it drives me nuts like it is like it is, so I have to open at the same time to open in our pantry currently, And I like, why do you keep buying Ntella? I don't know, he doesn't want he goes to the grocery store. But anyway, absolutely not.
So that was so fun of mine for you that before.
Yesterday you see me getting angry. This is what you've got.
If this is exactly what you've got to look forward to back in your long term relationship that you're getting, I'm very yes, seriously, we have ice cube tray fights, so yeah, not feeling it up. Don't if you're gonna use the ice but you have another ice specially I know. But the ice cubes are bigger than this. Look different ice cubes of different situations.
Yes, sure, yeah, wow.
But if you get to use the ice tribes, yeah, you fill them out. Oh absolutely, they're the rules unless you're a guest, in which case you don't need to.
You can just help yourself. But is my husband and guest in this house.
Absolutely not.
He pays half the mortgage, so absolutely not. This is your house to.
Fill up the ice. Let's move on.
I want to know your break tips before Jess and I write on our partners.
Well, funny you say, Jess about the coal thing. Oh, because a few people actually sent me that that wasn't actually going to be mentioned this week. But since you mentioned it, I'm going to say that that's actually a really really good break tip. If yeah, if something runs out, then you can I don't know, do you go to the front at in front of the store and you sat tell them to give you a little voucher? Can you give you a little vucher? That's something I want
to know. If you can do like twenty in one go.
You recom there, it's a timeline on it, like with your little voucher that has to be redeemed before xby zed even if you.
Do have to redeem them more ones. If you have the money, then you have like a bowl. This is such a weird coincidence. Circular circular.
We were talking about Natella and ice cubes, which does lead to relationship equity, but.
We'll get to that later.
Yes's true. So my first breake tip for this week comes from Grace has said that when she was super poor, she would steam a sugar a sugar of rice than by the continental copper soups, continental cup of soup when they were half price, and then she would heat them all together and a container, add a cup of soup on top, and that would be her version of a poor person's rostto Does that sound like it makes sense to you, guys?
Maybe it made absolutely no sense. So you see how she pre cooks the.
Rice rosotto out of them with a cup of soup exactly.
Okay, So it's a quote unquote poor persons rosotto, which sounds to me absolutely delicious.
So I think that you need to hack it a bit more, though, Grace, because I would want to cook the rice in the soup mix so that like the flavors were.
Whiskey whisk around, But you.
Would have to boil the rice first so that it doesn't dilute what flavor. So you cook the rice and then you add your steamed cup of soup inside the rice.
So now it's just soup with rice.
Grace, if you're listening to this I am so excited to try this. I'll report back for sure, And you can use as little or as much liquid as you like. It's up to you. I think that's my on sale cup of soup dirt cheap.
And do you know what you're not going to put on your rice? Because I saw it at the supermarket this week, bag of shredded cheese eleven dollars.
I saw a TikTok chips were two for eleven and literally two bags of chips for eleven dollars, and they.
Like, I don't care what size that is. That is the use feavery for five? Absolutely not the popcorns two for five? Is it steal two for five on popcorn?
No idea.
We've got to we've got to look into this. But we're not putting cheese on Arizonto anymore. Boy, cheese eleven dollars a bag of straighted cheese absolutely not crazy. You're going vegan, We're gonna follow in your footsteps thing.
It's gonna be great. Maybe that's a good break tip.
Maybe that is a good breaked vegan. So the next one comes from Sabrina, who suggests that and this is a very real reality for a lot of people. If you do not have an iron in your home, if you can't afford an iron, you don't want to, you don't have room for an iron, you've lived in a small house. I think some people can relate out there.
I don't.
I certainly can, just wouldn't ever use an iron iron. I don't know an iron either, and there have been times where literally couldn't fit one or afford one.
Yep.
Fair So she has said that what you can do is if you have a hot shower, you pop your clothes in the hot shower, but not in shower, in the water in the bathroom. In the time, steam will get rid of the wrinkles, just like a commercial steamer used in shops. So yet you say power, ridge, space and dollars to buy the iron slash ironing board, which is a great idea something I use. And this is also if you actually do have access to a hair dryer,
hair dry we'll use the hair dryer too as well. Yeah, what do you use, Jess?
I have a steamer because I worked retail, So I just I can't like. Once I use the steamer, I was like, my life has changed forever, and so I never go back. But I like VD taught me this one. If you when you wash certain fabrics, like a lot of natural fabrics, particularly after you wash it, give it a once. You got to shake it out. Shake because they come out of the wash really wrinkly. But you can actually if you shake it out before you hang it, it dries significantly less wrinkled.
Yeah, Like I like real tug on the collars of things to like flatten them out before they dry.
Yeah, and it works.
That's a great So maybe you pair that with the shower and.
You get air and you've got yourself shirt.
You absolutely don't even need it. No, great tip, Thank you, Sabrina. I love that. I love that great And then all you've.
Got what's yours? That's from the community.
My personal break tip is, I know I know exactly what it is.
I think you know what it is. I know exactly, but you may or may not have seen me eating this What do you mean, may or may not have it all over? And I haven't actually had shorts. Yeah, I didn't realize.
It's like, oh you might have noticed. It was hard not to.
So what I do is I buy myself like a either you can make spaghetti or you can buy a spagetti, whatever you want to do. And then if you want like a really cheap version of garlic bread, cheap that will last you a long time, maybe the whole week, maybe two weeks, A loaf of bread. I love my loads of bread. In this segment, Syle and aliaway, is that what they do?
So they used to make I don't know if they used to do. Used to to get cheesy garlic bread at Subway when I worked retail and I was poor, because they did a special. It's like two dollars for a cheesy garlic bread and it would be like the subway roll cut in half and they put like the garlicoli, sauce and cheese.
On topoo that sounds really really good.
Eleven dollar cheese not so much, but aoli true and you just like you toast the bread, don't even need to put butter or anything, and you get really facts from the mayo.
Totally cheap aoli, the cheapest one you can find, the cheapest bread you can find. Toast the bread, chuck the aoli on. You've put yourself.
Garlic bread, yeah, just before, and to make it even cheaper today? Did you even pay for the bread today? No, I didn't stole it from the kitchen. Kitchen stunning.
That's so good. Cheap lunch that isn't stealing when it's meant for everybody into communal kitchen. Communal.
It feels better when you say it's stolen.
It does there's something more?
Stole it from the kitchen.
Yeah, that's a bit satisfying.
Yeah, steal it, but money weird.
That's that for this week.
I would never have thought to make garlic bread with aoli, but I can see how it would work when you are out of options and or you've worked at subway, it seems, or you've worked at subway.
Yes, it turns out it's not so broke after all.
I love it.
But good tip, good tip.
All right, let's go to a really quick break and on the flip side, we're going to be talking about one of Jess Richie's favorite tips, and that's bulk buying. The second thing we're going to talk about is something that you slid into our DMS about.
Which we're going to be speaking all about.
Relationship equity this week, So guys, do not go anywhere.
Welcome back, everybody. Let's talk about this week's money dilemma. Hi, there, have you got a.
Money dilemma you just can't solve. The Sheese 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 ladies. My question is in regards to buying things in bulk. So there's a lot of products that I really enjoy, and a lot of them it's much much cheaper to buy several or a ten pac or something like that, and I know that I'm going to use them, but they are things that take a while to use, like bars of soap and stuff like that, and you don't really need to have twny bars of soap in your cupboard. So I'm just asking how to resist the urge to buy things in bulk and should I be
buying them in bulk? Yeah? Thank you.
That is such a wholesome, funny question.
I think it is.
I mean, if you're planning for an apocalypse, twenty bars of soap might actually be very necessary.
If you want to feel better about yourself, watch Extreme couponas because you'll be like, oh, I'm really not buying in bulk if I'm buying my soap.
I cannot stand that show.
Oh I love watching it, but I just feel like there are so many people in need in the world, and then there are these people who are.
Just stock piling, Like what do.
You need detgent? Donate?
Or they why have you got an entire pantry in your house with stockpiles of things and full stock rotation systems in place for them? Sure, Like, I don't know. I get that you might donate things, but if you're on extreme coupons, you're not donating that much because you have a stockpile room at your own house.
I don't know.
It's a good point fee, but in this that's not what this is about.
This it's about buying in bulk and not needing twenty bars of soap under your sink. Jessica, do you buy many things in bulk?
I wouldn't say extreme bulk, No, Like I tend to do if something that I use all the time, like if laundry detergent is half priced, I tend to buy two because I'm like, well, I'm paying what I would pay for one. Like my rule of thumb is I like to have threes of things. Threes of things. I like to have one that's open, backup and a backup of my backup. Is that why there are three open ntellas right now? Well, one of them is open, two
of them should be closed. No, but I just for me, it's like, Okay, so I finished one off, then I open a new one, and when that happens, I have one open and one backup, And so I have plenty of time because I don't want to pay full price for it, so I have plenty of time to wait for it to go on sale before I replace my backup back up.
There's a lot of it.
Crazy.
I think that's really beautiful.
Beck, do you buy backups?
We've all got out little things. No, I don't really, but I know that my mum used to buy in bulk, like if something was on special. It's a clever thing to do. Like if someone something super cheap, you buy like maybe five of them and then you have that cheap.
For a while. But I think you need to do the maths though.
Yeah, maybe I don't because I would really rather not have the clutter and pay.
That it's a luxury to have the space to store the bulk of.
The totally where do you put it all?
Yeah, yeah, that's me.
Like if we've run out of it, Jess, there's no more in the house, Like, don't ask me for my backup. There is no backup. It means I have to go to the supermarket. And yeah, I just live my life that way, to be wild on the edge, fit on the edge, especially for someone who has a backup of a backup.
Yes, I'm eann nervous a little bit.
I could never like, I just don't want clutter in my house. I'm the type of person that just throws things away, like not puts them in the bin. Don't think I'm being wasteful, but I donate stuff if I'm like, I haven't worn this in ages, get it out of my wardrobe, get it out of my life. Like I just don't want junk in my house. I just don't.
I feel like it's worth saying for me and our listener. It's things she said that you're going to use, Like I wouldn't have three pairs of the same shoes, you know, I would, Yeah, but I would have. But if it's really nice, I'll buy it twice. If it's nice, bat twice. But things like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, things like that, I tend to have multiples off. I wouldn't call having two or three bulk like having the twenty bars of soap.
But I mean, if it's financial, she said, she run the math and it's cheaper for her to buy twenty than to buy however many I know you.
Don't need it in your house, but like, if you've got the space, what's the problem with saving some money over the long term. I don't think it's a problem. I mean it would be a problem if you're buying things that you weren't actively using and just hoarding them. That's a different story completely. Or you know, I don't think soap goes off, but like it went off before you could use it.
Yeah, make sure if you're buying in bulk that if it's a perishable item, that you can use it within the timeframe, because there's no point having twenty bars of soap that are cheaper than ten bars of soap if you only use five of them. Yeah.
Yeah, I also think it's a really interesting conversation actually that leans into money.
Stories quite deeply.
Like I grew up in a family where I was quite privileged and we never went without, and I think that might play into my not necessity to have backups and things because I'm like, no, like it's okay, we can go to the supermarket and we can pick it up.
Whereas you know, I've got no idea about that side of your money story, Jess, but like I know that you ways lean towards being a little bit more financially secure and making secure decisions, and that kind of makes sense to me that you would lean into always having a backup of something and being way more prepared than me. And then Beck, it makes sense the way that you live your life as well, and that your mum would
have bought things in bulk. I think when it comes down to it, the important thing about buying in bulk is that you're not just buying it in bulk because you assume it's cheaper. You've actually done the maths because true, do you know how many times? So historically I went through a phase when I lived with Yes, we've all been through the costco face, but I was doing the maths,
and it's sometimes not actually cheaper. You just end up with two bigger bottles of things and it's not that much cheaper, but you assume it is.
And it's ludicrous to have to pull out this huge, massive box of corn fakes my jumbo super mega but corn.
One liter bottle of ranch.
Yeah, I agree, Like, I think it's not the worst thing. It's working for you, if you've got the space, you're using it all. I don't personally don't see it.
I don't see it as a problem either.
But maybe you've done the mass yeah.
And you've actually looked at it and been like, no, this is something I use and it makes sense. I actually think that's a smart money decision. I don't think it's a bad thing. I would like to know more, Like I have questions, like more about why you think that might not be productive when it's clearly not the worst idea ever.
I don't know, as long as it's not financially putting you out either, like if you're paying the larger amount for the bulk, like if you can afford it. Agreed, Life Queen, Live, lid Love Love, I usually love more.
On the same page. Yeah, let's jump into our community dilemma. So this week we're going to unpack something that you slid into our DMS about. And this is the DM that we received this week that we have chosen to dissect on the podcast.
Are you guys ready, Yeah?
Ready?
Hello? She's on the Money Team.
I need advice on the argument that keeps flowing between my girlfriend and I. My girlfriend and I have been in the same sex couple for four years now, and this is our first time living together. I'm on a higher paying job than her, so I contribute more to the bills. She works really hard, but unfortunately her page just isn't amazing. We keep arguing about having the heater on because of course it's cold during winter. I really want to be warm, and she is just super strict
on finances at the moment. I already contribute.
More than her, but she gets upset when.
I have the heating on because she thinks she won't be able to afford the bills. I understand things are tired, but I value being comfortable. I'm really struggling to find a happy medium in this. Do you feel Jessica is probably not the person to ask in this situation, And I say, that because her heat is set to a warm, warm twenty two or twenty three degrees year round.
Yeah, sometimes twenty four twenty four.
Jess is card wild.
Because it works to me and my partner because we have the same comfort point. Interestingly, though similar to our person we both are at very different earning spot sure, with me being the hiring kind earner, big dog and a jew familiar.
I love that.
But to be honest, it's never been an issue for us because we are both comfortable at that temperature point, whereas friends of ours the girlfriend is similar to me once it's toasty all the time, her boyfriend runs hot like he is always warm.
There's no way Steve would let me have the heater on.
Yeah, And so it's finding a happy medium, I guess. But the bigger thing here, I guess is it just it goes beyond just the comfort of what temperature is ideal for the house, And I guess it plays into the bigger conversation of well, how do you manage it when you're very different earning places?
Right, totally totally, I would say. So I'm thinking, what are they I guess we don't really have the information about like what they're contributing to what parts, Like someone pay more rent? Is someone pay more this that? I would say, figure out what your priorities are. Let's say split rent down the middle, for example, half half. When it comes to energy and heating, if you want to be toasty all the time, I run cold. I'm constantly cold. Same I want the heater on constantly, I would be
willing to pay extra for energy. I would be like, I'll pay seventy percent and you just pay thirty percent, regardless of what it comes to because I want it hot all the time. I would be comfortable with that. So are there ways like are you maybe spending more on laundry detergent? Are you paying for like the little
bits and pieces in the bathroom? Maybe figure out what you're both comfortable actually splitting down the middle and then saying I'm willing in order to be comfortable, I promise I'll pay if it's extra, if it's like really really expensive, I'll pay X amount.
I just want to be comfortable, because you don't want to demonize her or punish her for setting her financial boundary either, Like if she's saying my money is really tight, this is something that's really expensive, Like I want to be conscious of it, Like, we don't want to disregard that, because what we preach all the time, right is set
your boundaries, talk about what's important to you. So I feel like your solution is, like, is a very practical one really, because you also have the right to be comfortable. Like if James said to me, oh, I want the house to be fifteen degrees, I'd be like, yeah, that is not going to work for me here.
I think it's interesting as well because we don't have enough information about when this heat is on, Like is this heater being left on all day while we're at work or is it something that just gets switched on in one room when you get home from work and you know it's at the cool twenty four degrees that Jess is happy with, but it's just the like mainland
droom or something after hours. So I think there's a lot to I guess, converse about, because hypothetically, if you're leaving the heater on all day to heat up for when you get home, that I can see why she might be a little bit frustrated that because that is a bit of a waste of money. You need to
probably use your resources a bit better. But if you're only turning it on when you get home and you're actually being really conscious, I feel like that leans into more of a balanced conversation around Okay, well, I want to be comfortable with my own home, Like where's the happy medium? Because I know, Jess, if you and I live together and my house was twenty four degrees yet around, I would not deal not because of something and it's really exciting things.
I'd be dying.
I'd be like, oh, twenty four way too hot? Like really, yeah, one hundred percent. I'd be like ill, can you not? And like my husband would lose his mind, Like our heater has to go off entirely at nighttime, yeah, because we go absolutely cold turkey to bed, and when I wake up in the morning, the house is usually like thirteen or fourteen degrees before the heater goes on. And I'm I'm really happy with that. But it's really about I guess fair Like is there a fair use policy?
Like is there? Yeah, that must be if there's.
Yes, yeah, Like have we talked about it, Like your partner doesn't like use the heating all the time. Is it because it's too hot or is it because you're just using it consistently. What do they think fair use actually looks like? And then we can negotiate from there, like, let's have a start point.
True, I didn't think about that. Maybe your partner is just extremely hot all the time and it's so sick of it.
Or maybe it could be that the enity is too and it might be one thousand percent financial. I feel like this bit extent, like healthmate.
Positions as well.
Yeah, Like I don't know, Like I would be really miffed if I was working my life away twenty four to seven and then my housemate was at home with the heater blaring all day. Yeah, like, are you home a lot more than one person?
I don't know.
There's a lot of conversation to be had.
Did everyone else think all right?
So we asked do you live with your significant other? Seventy seven percent of you said yes, twenty three percent said no. We said, if yes, are you contributing to bills equally or based on income? Fifty eight percent of you said we are equal, baby, and thirty nine percent said nope, we split based on equity.
I hope we had something to do with that. Jessicah love that.
Then we asked, do you have different ideas on how much utilities like heating or cooling should be used? Then twelve percent of you said yep, it's constant battle, forty nine percent of you said sometimes, and thirty nine percent of you said nop.
We're always on the same page. I'm never on the same page as my husband.
I feel like sometimes it comes in a shock, like sometimes able comes in like it's always those first few months of the winter, right when you were just having heating on and you go, oh yeah, and then you go, okay, we'll switch it off earlier or whatever.
But yeah, I feel like I can hear it in my head right now, Victoria.
Have you seen the gas bill?
Yes?
No, but I'm sure you're about to show me.
So we asked you guys what you thought and for your comments were, and here are a few of them. So one person said, we work hard to be comfortable in our home. Time to rework those percentages, maybe fair. Someone said, if the higher earning person is using the heater a more, they should paint more for the bills.
Simple.
Someone said, we put the same amount of money, but we cover each other on extras. If someone has spare cash, someone else said, just.
Got a bill for one thousand dollars.
For two months for two people living in a free standing house.
Oh, what law is that?
Maybe an accident? No, no, somebody who has abused their seat before.
It absolutely isn't.
My god.
Someone else said, would you consider paying even more for the heating? They can afford x and you can just maybe pay the rest set of an outcome? Just kind of nice. Someone said, could you just offer to cover the extra heating or maybe try a small portable heater. I feel like that's a common traps.
More expensive people.
Think that small portable heaters are lack way cheaper, but they're actually not.
Get some heatbags or some electric weat pats or something that's gonna be my have.
An throw blanket.
Oh yeah, Jess and I are going to do crafts soon and we're going to make wat packs.
That's cute.
Maybe we'll film it.
We'll make you one. We'll make you a weak Thank you, keep you warm, all right? Someone else said, my boyfriend earns three times as much as me, but we split everything equally, and I'm really struggling. Yeah, so that's because you shouldn't be splitting everything equally. You should be talking about equity in a relationship, and if someone is earning three times more than you, I genuinely don't believe it
is fair to split rent fifty to fifty. Yeah, Like, at the end of the day, I think there needs to be a really big conversation because we're not saying he needs to cover your expenses. But it is wildly unfair to think that your lifestyle is maintainable to the same lifestyle standards that someone with three times in income has right as to what you do. Like, absolutely not right.
I think it's wild to think that, Like, let's pretend they're on one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and you're just earning fifty thousand dollars to go out for brunch, to pay the bills, to put on the table the food that you want to eat. Someone who has an income of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars is going to have very different expectations than someone with fifty thousand dollars. And I'm guaranteeing you that somebody who earns one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, we're not crucifying them. They earned that, they deserve that. But you know what mentality they have. They also go, oh, I've earned this. We should go on a holiday, babe. How are you going to afford that holiday if you're not dividing things VI equity instead of basically equal, Because at the end of the day, it's not going to be sustainable and you're going to create drifts and rifts in your relationship.
And I think that that's a really bad position to be. Yeah, for sure.
Moving on, a lot of people said you should start tracking the cost of hours that you're using the heater and then split it up and talk about it.
Oh see, it's like a lot of mass.
You know what.
It seems like a lot of math, And I don't think we should be getting into the nitty gritty with our partner.
And it also would be hard because it fluctuates hour to hour, like gas is more expensive, not always, but some companies charge more.
Peak times and stuff.
Yeah, I think it's just a conversation at the end of the day that we need to be having with our partners, with our housemates, with people that we live with around.
Well, guys, the cost of.
Living is increasing, gas and electricity increasing, Like what can we actually do to bring it down? And I feel like sometimes even looking into it, you might realize that the impact is not that big in comparison to the bigger things. Like this conversation might be coming from a place of I'm feeling really financially constricted about absolutely everything, and the thing that's set front of my mind is
that you always have the heater on. So I'm going to direct my feelings towards that and be like, you're wasting money, rah rah, and then realizing that maybe the heater isn't the biggest thing in our financial story at the moment, So I think we need to break it up, have a look at it and go, well, what does this look like, and maybe accept that you might need to contribute more if you want to keep living your life.
The whole way. Yeah, I love that.
Great point is that all we've got time for today, though, I think so ah, Well, guys, have the best weekend and we will see you right early on Monday for our money diary.
By bye.
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