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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. Welcome back to another shot back Money Diary Monday, where we chat to a beautiful community member. We learn their story, their insights, and we kind of just get to hear a little bit about some one who might be living their life differently to us, or maybe it's the same.
Maybe you're going to relate.
I don't know, because I don't know.
Victoria. This week's story.
Haha, it is me again coming in solo and just like telling you what's going to happen. It was actually very funny this week guys, because Jess messaged me and she's like, oh, like, have we be organized anybody for Money direst and I was like, oh, yes, I completely forgot to tell you. I've had this booked in for a few days now, and our Money Diarist, I'm just going to go out on a whim here. We're Instagram friends. We've never met, but we converse in my DM's a
fair bit. We have a chat. She's on the same page as me. I feel like she always replies about my food memes or my pet memes, and like she's just my people, you know. So Jess. The other day, this Money Diarist sent me a gorgeous DM and literally made me tear up, which apparently is not that hard to do these days, but this one was really moving. And I'm going to read you the DM before we have a chat to her. So it said, Victoria, I just wanted to personally thank you for keeping me motivated
while on my own money journey. I found shees on The Money when it was still in its first season, and I knew I needed to get my finances back in order. Back then, my husband and I had eighty thousand dollars in personal debt and at two hundred and thirty four thousand dollar mortgage, we're on a good wage and still living week to week. I knew something had to give. Two years on and a lot has changed.
We are totally consumer debt free, and we now also only owed two hundred and eight thousand dollars on our mortgage. It hasn't always been smooth sailing, though, as eighteen months ago I was involved in a workplace accident where I had my back broken. I've been on workers' compensation ever since, and now it's to the point where I'm about to lose my six figure salary. I'm only twenty nine, so I knew I needed to do something to keep myself employable.
Then in brackets, she says, as there's been no help from any insurance company. So last semester I enrolled to do a bridging course to get into UNI. I worked incredibly hard and quote this is very Jessica Ricci manifested good grades in the hope of getting a scholarship. I got an ATAR equivalent of ninety three, which is massive, guys. With this my newfound love of personal finance, I decided to go on in enroll in a double degree doing business and commerce, with the aim of one day also
becoming a financial planner. Well, I have news. I've just started week four of my double degree and I've just received the news that the Financial Planning Association has granted me their Women in Finance Scholarship, Hard Work Manifestation or both. This is the biggest money win ever and I just wanted to share it with you. Thanks so much for keeping me motivated and for helping me unlock a passion for finance. Yes, that's why she's on the show and money diarist. Welcome to she's on the money.
Thank you, Thank you so much for having me.
Oh my gosh, I was so grateful to get that message. It just makes my heart sing when people are getting out of consumer debt but also finding their passion, and that message was everything. But then the added complexity of you being on workers compensation. I was like, oh my gosh, this is a diary we have to hear. And it was quite literally typing out, hey like, if you've ever thought about doing a money diary, let me know, And you said, if you ever want a diarist, let me know.
I was like, come on down, I will book you in, I will clear the decks. When can you record? Because it's just genuinely such a beautiful story that I want to share with everybody because one you're killing it, but two we want to know the pervy details and money dirests.
I don't think we've ever spoken to someone on workers comp but it's something that is actually sadly very common, but also fraught with a lot of worry and you know, not knowing what's going to happen next, and potentially insurance issues that are going on because you did mention you didn't have insurance. But can we get into it so that we can get to the juicy part of Yeah, definitely, Oh my gosh, money diarist. First question off the bat is can you tell us a little bit about your money story.
Yeah. So I was raised by a single mum. My parents broke up before I was born, and then unfortunately, my father passed away when I was also very young. So my mom totally did it on her own. She is an absolute power woman. She's insane. Growing up, we always kind of lived in our own house. Mom was into her property investing, even if that meant, you know, making sacrifices elsewhere a queen.
Yeah, so investing in property, yeah.
I know. But other than that, I think there was a lot of encouragement, I would say to save money. In saying that money was a topic that was never really spoken about. I vividly remember, you know, asking her when I was probably about eight, you know, what certain things would cost, and what would a house cost, and this and that, and she pretty much sushed me and said, why are you so obsessed with money? You don't talk
about that, blah blah blah, and oh. So it was one of those things that yeah, I never Yeah, it was just a topic I never really got to speak too much about. But I did, you know, have that habit of saving money that was up until I moved out and realized what everything actually costs. I was also on a low income when I moved out, and think has got a little bit out of control? Oh, really somewhat, Yeah.
What do you mean out of control?
Well, I was pretty good until it's just going to sound really bad, and I don't mean it in a bad way towards my husband, But when we combined finances, we were very separate people or different people. So he was a bit of a spender and I was a saver. And because we had then joint funds, I didn't feel like I had a right to tell him not to spend on certain things. So I kind of let it go. And then one credit card ended up into two credit cards, which then ended up into three, so and.
It just keeps rolling. I actually think that that's more common than we think it is. A lot of people end up combining finances and it could be your situation where you didn't want to tell your partner like not to spend it, or people get into relationships combine finances and then kind of breed this massive sigh of a relief and go, I don't have to worry about it anymore because it's all combined. And so they just don't
track their spending anymore. And it's snowballs. Like I've said it before on the show, nobody gets into debt on purpose, and I guarantee it you wouldn't have been in that situation. It just kind of snowballs over time, and you stick your head in the sand, and one thing leads to another and eighty grand in debt and you just don't know where it's all.
Right, yeah, exactly. And the thing is, you know, the first credit card, it had a ten thousand dollar limit, and then he tried to roll it over to another bank to get the interest free thing.
Very common.
Yeah, they would only cover six thousand, so they then gave him a six thousand credit card, and I didn't realize because I suppose communication around money also wasn't probably where it needed to be, and so that sixteen thousand ended up being sixteen thousand maxed out between two credit cards rather than paying the other four grand down on the other one and then closing it. But then on top of that, we then also both ended up with a.
Car loan out out.
So yeah, lifestyle creep got us when we started to earn more money.
Got you really good? Hey?
It did?
All right, let's move into the next questions because I have so many questions, but I know woman to leave the part to the end. My friend, what do you do for work now? And how much money do you earn?
So when I got hurt, I was in the mining industry as a truck driver. I was on a permanent wage, so I was on salary of one hundred and twelve grand, and that also had a ten percent super and ten percent bonus every year, so the total was about one hundred and thirty seven thousand.
Oh my gosh, to do mining and truck driving. That is epic. I've always known that mining have really good salaries.
Yes, and to work only six months out of the year technically was what.
That is?
Genius? No wonder so many people want that.
Oh definitely, yeah. I was doing one week on, one week off. Oh, and making the.
Actual dream and making absolute bank like you arguably would have been making way more than what our community makes on average. And you're working half as hard. Come on now, not pretty much. You're probably working just as hard during that period of time.
But oh my gosh, when I'm there, Yes, the lifestyle, yep, it was great. It was like I was a full time worker but also a full time mom, like stay at home mum.
I like that for you, it was so good, the best. But you did mention in passing that you are currently on workers' compensation. How much does that pay and how does that work?
So I'm still in the middle of it yet. So at the moment, my employer is still paying me, although it is less than before, so I don't have an actual salary figure to compare it to, but there is a four hundred and fifty dollars difference every fortnight after tax that hits my account. That will change very soon again though, because they are trying their darndaest to fire me, which apparently is perfectly illegal.
Really.
Yes, and my new salary, once the insurance company picks it up, will be a whopping twenty six thousand dollars per annum.
Oh my gosh. Yeah, and you mentioned before that you're a mum. We hadn't talked about that yet, but that is a significant difference when you're supporting a family, like huge, significant difference for anybody, but like you've got the responsibility of small humans on top of all of that. You must be so stressed, my friend.
It has been the darkest time of my life.
I'm so sorry.
It's okay. I just think that's why it's really important to speak about because you know, you mentioned before me that it is quite common, and it really is. You know, I'm one of four people that I know wow, And yeah, I'm sure there is plenty others that I don't know about, and that's just in my workplace alone.
Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm going to get into asking more questions about this after because they do try to stick to it. But yeah, oh, let's come back to that hot minute. Next question, my friend, just what's currently your big money goal.
So my husband and I really want to get out of the town that we're in. So we are living and owning at home with a mortgage in the mining town that I was working in. He and I both have different goals now that we won't really be able to achieve here anyway, so we want to move into a bit closer to the city. So the next big money goal would be trying to buy a house closer to the city. But to do that, we are looking at a mortgage. It's probably going to be at least
three times the size of our current mortgage. That's even after the nice deposit that we'll have once we sell this place. So I'm trying to save up as much money as i can while I am still on that nicer income because I would like to pay for you know,
stamp duty and everything out of pocket. I don't want to have that in the mortgage, So just try to save all those fees while I'm still doing a bit of market research and shopping around trying to find different locations with prices that I'm comfortable with.
Fair call fair Coal all right, next question is do you currently have any investments.
I do. So if you ask me this question two weeks ago, I would have said I had eighty thousand dollars in super that's currently sitting at seventy seven four hundred. But I'm not too worried. That's why.
That's yeah, right, These things fluctuate over time, exactly.
And I'm still young. I've got heaps of time. On top of that, I have one thousand dollars in spaceship. I do still salary sacrifice one hundred and fifty dollars into souper every fortnight. And I do own an investment property with my mom and we own that outright.
Oh my gosh, you're a queen. Check you out. Single mom now owns an investment property with her daughter. Is she insanely proud of what she's done?
Yes, definitely. She still owns between my stepdad and her, she owns four, but she has her name on three.
Need money diary what I mean, I'm gonna get to her later. Yeah, we're going to move on to the next question though, money diars. This one's an exciting one. Do you have any debts?
Yes, I do. I currently have a mortgage of two hundred and eight thousand.
But that's it, isn't it.
That is it?
There is no consumer debt, There are no credit cards, there are no personal loans, there is nothing. You just have good debt. Isn't that exciety?
That is it? And I did just have a five thousand dollars HEX bill, but that's about to get wiped, so that's not even a debt.
Gosh, you're not even gonna have hex anymore.
Nope. Oh my gosh.
I know you're going through a lot of stress. And you were saying before it's super dark, and I totally get that, but holy moly, a lot of people would dream to be in a similar position when it comes to not being in debt and you know, finally getting out of hex and oh, I'm like, I'm so proud of you at the same time as going, oh my gosh, how do we help you make sure this is all? I know?
I find I feel a little bit guilty sometimes too when I do feel down about my situation, because I know that there really is a lot of privilege there and I am still lucky to have what I have, especially at this young age. So I'm losing a lot, but I already have a lot as well. It's kind of like a yeah yo yo effect with my own emotions.
About it's such an interesting space to be in at the moment, and I feel like, you know, cancel culture on social media and the pressure that we're all under to make sure that we're acknowledging our privilege always, which I think is really important, but also seeing what's going on in the media often makes you feel even more guilty for feeling bad about a situation that you're in.
And I think now is a really good time to remind you that, you know, just because you're going through something doesn't mean you have to go, oh my god, but somebody else has it worse. You're right, there is always going to be someone who has it worse, absolutely, but that doesn't invalidate that we are going through something that is traumatic or upsetting or you know, not what
we want to go through ourselves. And I think so quickly we put so much pressure on ourselves, which then translates into guilt and feeling like trash about a situation because you're like, oh my god, like I feel so bad, and you genuinely would be so stressed about losing your income, and I'm sure there are few people thinking, you know, listening to this, going, oh what she worried about? Like she's fine, Like she's going to lose her income, big whoop,
and like that's not the point. The point is your situation is dramatically going to change. You've worked your butt off to get to exactly where you are, and you absolutely deserve it, and the right thing is not being done by you right now, by an employer who should arguably be looking after you. And I think that that shouldn't be downplayed, Like just because you're right, somebody else has it worse, and somebody else is still in debt, and somebody else is going through something that you know,
we would never wish upon anybody. It doesn't invalidate the fact that your situation is emotionally draining and hard and a challenge. And I just think that whatever you're going through, stop downplaying the fact that it's you know, oh, it's not so bad. Somebody else has it worse, Like you can have those upset times, like, don't not be upset because somebody has it worse. That just makes us feel guilty and it doesn't help anybody grow.
Yeah, you're so right, and thank you so much for saying that. I suppose a lot of my frustration comes from the fact that I didn't ask for this, and I also didn't hurt myself. Somebody else hurt me. Oh so, yeah, it's been very difficult, very frustrating. Yeah, I've gone through the motions, I think. To be honest, I think I've gone through grief and.
Are going through grief. That's exactly what it is.
Yeah, I totally have been grieving my past life, or at least life how it was, and knowing that the person who did this to me can live as normal. They don't lose anything, they didn't even get in trouble. In fact, they didn't even know that they had hurt me until months later. Oh my god.
Oh okay, I'm going to ask you about that later because I feel like that's a really deep conversation to have and I really want to understand the semantics of that.
But yeah, oh I'm.
So sorry, my friend. That sounds that sounds hit.
It's been horrific, and that is an understatement. Oh my love.
All right, I have to ask the next money question. The next money question, my friend, is, in light of all that negativity, what's your best money habit?
My best money habit is shopping around for the best deal, Yes, queen, So I don't care if something takes me three days, three weeks. I will buy something at the cheapest possible price for the highest possible quality.
Oh my gosh, I adore that. I feel like that is so me as well.
Yeah, especially now that I have so much time at home. I mean not so much now I'm doing UNI, but yeah, I shop around and that includes utilities, items, clothing, everything.
Oh my gosh, I love that. What's the most recent money when you had.
Other than my scholarshipy lifestyle and a scholarship most recent I haven't done it yet, but I've been looking through car insurance at the moment because my renewal has just come and it has just gone through the roof. So who I'm with now to who I'm possibly going to, there'll be a fifty dollars savings each month, Oh each month, each month.
That's a money win for sure, legend. I love that. To counteract this, what are you bad at? What's the worst money habit you have?
Worst one would be playing iou with myself, So every so often I'll take from one account to use it elsewhere. But in saying that, it is very controlled. As soon as I move anything, it's written down and it goes back next pay out of you know, the bucket that that was supposed to come from. So I'm pretty much playing after pay with myself, and I'm totally okay with that.
I'd rather you play after pay with yourself than play after pay with actual after pay so exactly.
Oh my god, yes, I feel like that's such a cool thing as well, to be able to play after pay with yourself. Like you said, that's a bad habit, but the fact that you're you know, maybe dipping into some savings or something that was allocated for something else, but doing an iou nah, that's responsible. That's a good money habit because a lot of people would just dip in and be like, let's pretend it didn't happen.
Yeah. No. But every time I do it, I kind of think to myself, Oh, maybe I should redo the budget. Maybe this is something I should have budgeted for. So I do write that down as well, and I am at the point where I need to go back through and redo the budget, especially now that my wage is going to drop again very soon.
I'm glad that you're thinking about that, though you're not just burying your head in the sand. I need to find it new catchphrase, jes Let's work on that after the show, because bury your head in the sand is
getting really old after four seasons. But I do genuinely think that that's really empowering to hear that you are on top of your budget and you're like, you know what, we're going to have to rework this and be on top of it, because so many people would actually end up in consumer debt after this situation because they would just go, all right, well, I'm going to continue to live the same lifestyle with the same spending habits when
I had a higher income. And I've seen it a lot of times from a lot of people because they just weren't ready to deal with it, and it was I get it. You might not be ready, but you kind of have to force yourself into being ready because you're not choosing when your income's changing.
My friends, No, And something that keeps playing on my mind is I started this finance journey six months before I got hurt, and back then I was thinking to myself, what happens if, for some reason I end up on a forty K wage again, like I used to be on, I can't maintain our lifestyle, especially with all of the bills when we were so deep in that consumer debt as well as mortgage and normal bills and everything else
that comes with owning a house. So it was nearly like something was telling me that I needed to sort it out because something was coming. And I'm just so grateful and so thankful towards myself for actually getting all that done before I did lose my wage, because otherwise the bills would have stacked up and so would of the debt.
So I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud.
Even though I'm losing my wage, I still know that we're going to be okay, and we will still be able to put some savings aside while I'm on that as well.
Okay, that's a good position to be in. But it breaks my heart that you've been working so hard and sacrificing so much much to not be looked after. Like, honestly, it's frustrating me beyond belief. I can't tell you the gripe I have right now. I want to be asking who your employee is, and I want to talk to them. I want to like run up to them and be like, excuse me, do you know what she's on? The money could do if we talked about this. But that's not
what we should do. That's not the right thing, Victoria, and.
You would die if I told you who my employer was, because they are worldwide known.
I am going to ask you when we're not recording a podcast, my friend, all right, speaking about money Habits money diarist, I have to ask you. I know you're really good at finding a bargain, but do you use shopback?
I do use shop back?
Of course she does, Jess. Of course she does.
Yes, but only when that is the best deal that's out there.
So are you saying you're finding better deals?
Yeah? Sometimes?
Oh my god, tell us how.
Being a UNI student, I have access to UNI Days.
Oh that's a good one, and I don't get access to that I'm envs.
Yeah it's pretty good. But on top of that, I just kind of get online on Google, and I like to Google, you know, say, if I'm shopping at Meyer or somewhere random, I'll just type in the company and discount code, and sometimes Google comes up with ones that I can use.
Oh my god.
So good. Yeah. Or if it's a brand, say like Moody Body for example, that influencers tend to promote, I just go to their tagged Instagram and try to find a discount.
Oh my god, that is a genius hack. But money Diarist, you know you can use discount codes with shot back, right, so you can like double whammy them together.
I did not know that. What are you doing? Oh my goodness.
So I turned shop back on and then it check out. You can put your little discount code in. I mean sometimes it might go invalid and you'll be like, oh, getting the bin and then pick which works best for you.
Yeah.
But I have actually shot back so many times when I've like signed up to a website. Because this is also me being cheeky, Like if I want to buy something, I will check the website and nine times out of ten, if it's a bigger retailer, they will have like a sign up to our EDM to get ten percent off your first order. I can tell you right now if that works, we shot back so you get both.
That's a good tip because I do that too, and I just changed my email every time. Haha.
You're way more committed than I am.
I like a bargain. I don't like paying full price for anything.
That is so fair. But last question of the set series of questions, I feel like this is going to be a goodie though. What grade would you give yourself? If I forced you to give yourself a money grade?
I would give myself a B. And I'm saying that because I am really happy with what I've already done. I'm so thankful that I had the tools and the nolly and the drive and the motivation to get it done. The reason I can't give myself an A is because I was under the assumption that I had income protection insurance through my superannuation, and I yes, and I did not. So if I had.
That, you'd be in a very different position.
Yeah, the income thing wouldn't have been such a big issue.
Far out Brussels Sprout. Let's go to a quick break and then I'm going to ask you so many questions about this because I feel like we can all learn so much from you. All Right, So we are chatting to a money DRS who has been through an absolute rollercoaster financially. You've gone from being an eighty thousand dollars worth of personal debt to being out of that situation to now being on workers' compensation, which you feel like
you're about to lose. So I want to talk a little bit more about that process and what it means and how it works, because I'm very great, but I've never been on workers' compensation, but I can imagine it's quite a stressful process with making sure that you're claiming the right things and doing the right things. But before we get there, can we ask a little bit more about your accident and how you ended up in this position? Yeah, for sure, So, my friend, what happened? You were at work?
I was I was at work under normal conditions. I was in my truck and I went to go and get a load of dirt, and the digger operator he picked up a bit of wet material which acts a little bit different to dirt, as one could assume, and it got stuck in his bucket and all came out at once into the back of my tray. So instead of having like a smooth movement, he dropped one hundred and twenty tons worth of material in the back of my tray at once and nearly put me through the roof.
Oh my god, Yeah, that is so scary, that's terrifying.
Yeah, I'll be the first of me.
I have no understanding of his industry at all or how anything works, but I would assume when you're working in kind of a more high risk situation where you're working with large quantity use the materials and things, is there a process that should have been followed in that situation that wasn't.
Yes, most definitely so. In the procedure, and this is pretty much industry ride, it says that they need to get what they call fines, which is just basically like normal dirt, right, So no rocks, no nothing, just the smallest stuff that they have, and they put that in the bottom of your tray first to act as like a cushion so that then they can put the bigger stuff on top. The stuff that he picked up was like a wet clay material, so even though it wasn't big,
he probably just assumed that it would come out as normal. However, this material I had clay in it, so it all stuck together in one big chunk and it didn't come out of his bucket until he'd put the full thing over my truck. And yeah, one hundred and twenty tons came out at once and just went bang.
What did that feel like sitting in a car when did you have your seatbelt on? I mean, you were stationary, so you did all that sucky, But did you physically lift up like I'm imagining that the whole thing like a sea Sawdier just went ooh.
That's exactly what happened. And these trucks, I don't know if you've seen them, but they're huge. They're massive.
They look pretend.
Yeah, they're like the size of a two story house. And the force that this created ended up lifting the whole front of the truck off the ground.
And he did back to what he'd done.
Nope, Oh my goodness. So that happened. Did you feel the pain immediately or is it something that after you'd gone home from the day you kind of, oh, something's all right.
Yeah, that's the thing. I didn't. I felt like a jump, as you could only imagine. But you know when you know, you hit a bump in the road and you kind of jump and you're like, oh my god, that scared me. I wasn't expecting that. I kind of had that feeling and it was kind of like the feeling of that in your stomach, but it was in my back as well. It was kind of like full body, but it didn't hurt, so I thought I was fine. I was just like, oh my god, that scared the hell out of me,
and kind of kept going with it. It wasn't until I got to the top of the dump, so I, you know, drove it up to where I had to put this dirt and I went to reverse backwards. And in these trucks, the cabs are so big that you have to lean forward to look out your mirror so that you can reverse. And that motion of leaning forward, I felt like a It was kind of like between a pinch and a pull, and I was like, oh my god, I have actually
done something. Go something's not right. So I called up my supervisor, who then came to see me, and they took me up to do a drug test and a statement before I was even seen by paramedics. You're joking what I'm not.
That's disgusting. That's actually disgusting.
Yeah, horrific that.
I feel like you're going to carry some trauma from that as well.
That's yeah, that's huge up, which is why it's another reason why we want to get out of this town. I just I can't be here. I want to just move on with my life, and I can't move on probably while I'm still surrounded by the same people.
Gross, I'm so sorry. That is so trash. The fact that they didn't even seek medical help. Are you suing this legally? I am yeah, great, good good. That's what I would do. That's exactly what I would do. And if you weren't doing it, that's what i'd say.
Do yes, And I'm happy to talk about that too, because there are quite a few options that I can pick from, or you know, paths I can choose to go down, and they're all completely different.
Oh my gosh, my heart. This just sounds like a whole heap of stress. Like it sounds like so much is going on. The fact that the company, we're trying to protect themselves before even looking after you medically, that's messed up. But the fact that now it's in your hands to probably pursue all of this, Like, no one's going to help you do that, no one's gonna go all right, money, diarist, you need to get a lawyer
and do this and that. How have you learned? How have you I guess worked out what the next steps are without going into hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of legal costs.
When I realized that no one was on my side, you.
Know, so we're on your side, I promise.
Thank you. I keep saying to my husband, thank God. Family life is so good because yeah, between my employer, my doctors, my specialists, my physiotherapists, the insurance company, and all my other rehab providers, they're all working together as one team. And then there's me. When I realized that they were looking after themselves and no one was actually really looking after me, that was when I was like, Okay, I need someone on my team. So I went and
sought out a lawyer. I had the first lawyer for a little while, but I didn't really click with him, and I didn't really feel like he was on my team so much either. So I went and found another lawyer, and I'm so glad I found her. She's fantastic. The line of communication is great. I speak to her weekly. If ever I have any question, no matter how big or small, she's there to answer it straight away. Yeah, she's finally I have someone on my team that can actually help me.
Oh my gosh, it's so sad that you need to like find or work so hard to find people to support you, Like in this situation, you've done nothing wrong, you know, it's such bad luck that it had literally nothing to do with you. And I'm so sorry that it is really challenging to find that support network to help you through something that you've got no training and you've got no understanding in, and nor would anybody expect
you to. So I can only imagine how stressful that would have been on top of the pain, on top of everything else that you're managing all at once.
Yeah, exactly. And it's sad that I had to find a lawyer, like it had to go as far as to finding a lawyer who was then going to be on my team. Like I just feel like and I wish it didn't have to go that far, Like I wish I was just looked after I was rehabilitated and then you know, I just go back to work. But that's not the case.
And they've just been really difficult the whole way along.
Have they really difficult. So in two weeks time, I have to go for a full medical assessment with a doctor that's employed by the company that I work for It's a two and a half hour assessment, and I know I'm going to be walking out with a bit of paper that says that I have no job.
Oh my gosh, that's an actual joke. I am so sorry that that is the case.
This isn't even the half of it.
Oh.
I just I can't comprehend why companies can get away with stuff like this, because obviously there is a certain level of risk involved in your job. That's why you were remunerated so well. Like you said before, I'm truck driver, but like, I don't think that really defines what you did before, because if you compare that to a truck driver that you know does deliveries for Woolies, like, that's very different to the fact that you are driving mega
trucks and there is mega risk involved. Like I'm not saying that there's no risk in driving trucks as usual, but this is next level and their insurance arguably would cover them for situations like this, because I guarantee you are not the first person to ever be injured on site. Whether you know, someone twists their ankle and breaks their ankle and they're out of work for eight weeks or something.
Way more significant, like this has happened to you. I just can't comprehend why they aren't putting you guys in the best possible position, because this is horrendous, Like I just there's no care, there's no love, there's no and I know that you know they don't have to love you, but it just makes no sense that they wouldn't, you know, want to put you in a situation where they're looking after you, given it was their lack of compliance and
training that put you in this situation exactly. Oh my heart, I feel so bad. Oh that's such a terrible situation. But I feel like you've got the right people on your team and that there's light at the end of this tunnel, my friend, I really feel like there.
Is, I hope, so there has to be.
Before we head off. I'm sure, as they said, it's such a common thing. If anyone's listening who is finding themselves in a similar battle to you, where their workplace is perhaps not doing the right thing by them, what would you recommend they do? What first step should they look at taking? Is there a resource they can look into for me?
I think it's probably just getting legal advice from the start, even if you don't think you'll need it in the future. Yeah. At least that way, everything's more likely to be documented as well from the beginning, and you will know your rights as well as what you actually have to do to be compliant with their procedures rather than what they want you to do. Yeah, because what you actually have to do and what they want and expect from you are totally different things.
Money, Darst. Something that is really important to me, especially because I am a financial advisor, guys, is income protection. And you mentioned very early on that you thought you had income protection through superannuation. Can you take us through why you thought you did and why maybe you don't now and what that looked like.
Yeah, So I've kind of always been told, and I know I shouldn't listen to people that don't have finance experience, but I was always kind of told, you know, Super takes care of income protection and TPD and you know, life cover, so I just kind of assumed I had all three. But you know, previously I went and did get you know, a life cover insurance outside of Super, so I wished I looked into the other two and
just kind of did both of those as well. So that's That's probably been my biggest money mistake, because if I had that insurance this twenty six thousand income that I'm now going to be on, it wouldn't have been the worst thing because I would have also had that other insurance to bulk it up.
Yeah, and I feel like that would have put you in a position where you wouldn't be having chats with lawyers. I know that you deserve that, and that's really important. But something we've said before on the podcast is sometimes your mental health is actually way more important than the financial benefits that you might get from suing somebody or pursuing something legally, because it's a financial freedom to be financially free, right, and that's something that income protection could
have afforded you. No, you wouldn't have got your entire salary. You would have got about seventy five percent of your salary, and then you know, there would have been other insurances that could have topped that up because TBD would have come into play given that you're not able to return
to work in the role that you had before. But it just breaks my heart to think that you just assumed that you were in the best possible position, because people should look after us, right, Like yes, it's an Australian mentality and like that's such a nice thing, right that we just assume that other people want the best for us. And it kind of breaks this facade when you realize that people don't want the best for you.
She's on money community does. But insurers and superannuation companies are just doing the best thing for them as a business, and that's okay, Like that's what should happen. But I think as Australians we just make the grand assumption that it'll be right, they'll look after us. I mean, we live in a world where that is kind of true.
But I think we need to really take action when it comes to things like total and permanent disability and income protection, because that's what would have put you in the position where you money direce could have said, you know what, this is really shit. They deserve to get into trouble for it, but it's not worth my mental health.
I'm just going to pull the pin on this because financially I am okay, But that is a grace that you don't have right now, and I think that everybody deserves that, regardless of their situation or what has happened to them, and that's what insurance can afford you. And I just think that too many times you go, oh, i'm young, I don't need that, but money darist. And everybody can't see you because you are obviously anonymous, but
you're twenty nine years old. You are gorgeous, like you are, this gorgeous little blonde thing that I just want to hug and say, I'm sorry that you're going through this. But insurance is not something that you just get when you're older, or just get when you have kids. It's something that we all need and if you're not prioritizing it, you really need to asap exactly.
Thank you for sharing your story. I think that it'll agat. I mean we say this whenever we talk about insurances, but you know, it's something that's so common that people don't think about. And this is a situation, as we said, we haven't spoken to anyone on the podcast before going through the worker's comp process and going through that really hard time with their employer where you're having to fight for your rights, which you absolutely shouldn't have to do.
And I have no doubt that there are other people in our community who have gone or will go through the same thing. So thank you for being so open. Please keep us updated. Like I am so angry on your behalf, Like it is just like steaming out of my head like a cartoon character.
I'm so mad. Oh my lord.
Yes, you're going through this process.
It's just absolutely ridiculous, and I truly hope that you get what you deserve because the fact that they're trying to give you anything less is appalling.
Yes, thank you, all right, Well, that unfortunately is all we have time for today, So Jess, do you want to wrap the show?
And remember the advice sheared on She's on the money is generally nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the money existecurely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or a financial decision. And we promise Victoria Divine is an authorized representative of Infocused Securities Australia Proprietary Limited ABN four seven oh nine seven seven nine seven O fortnine AFSL two three six five two three
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