MONEY DIARIES: From Debt Hole to Property Portfolio!

Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr

Let's get into it. She's on the Money, She's on the Money. Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money the podcast are millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another one of our money diaries where we get to talk with one of our incredible Shees on the Money community members all about their journey. Let's jump straight in because this week I got a message and it sounded exactly like this.

Hi, Victoria.

I recently found my year ten report card that flaunted c's, d's, and e s. I dropped out in year twelve and proceeded to dive headfirst into an eighty thousand dollar debt trap by my early twenties. In twenty seventeen, I found myself skipping meals due to the debt. I was in fast forward and I have been a jack of all trades,

What the heck?

I know you did all of that within the period of ten years I did. Oh my lord, I am actually shook, like obviously reading through that and like, this is wild. She's gone from childcare to funeral services. And I fully expected you to go. Look, I'm almost done paying off my debt, but what you told me was so much more, and we're going to need to dive in. I have so many questions, but I do try to be a little bit structured. So let's start at the top.

I'm going straight in for the A plus.

You're going A plus. That's a bit different to your year ten report card.

Yeah, I'm changing that story.

Oh my gosh, you're not changing it. You have changed it. I love it. But now the most exciting question of the episode, my friend, can you tell me a little bit more about your money story?

So it's obviously been all over the place. As I mentioned in twenty seventeen, I was at a point where I was having to skip meals and like the meals that I was eating would be like a bowl of sweet potatoes because I bought a box of ten kilos because it was on special for eight dollars or like something ridiculous. Like I was definitely malnourished. Like I'm so grateful for that experience, because sitting with that experience and being in it made me realize, like, is this the

Oh my gosh, tell me a bit more about how you changed it, because I feel like so many people are in that position where they're like, oh my gosh, it's literally day by day like I don't know what to do, and obviously making a decision that large is really daunting. But like, what happened next? You decided to move back to your hometown. You then what got a lease or what was the next step?

Yep. As soon as I moved back, I was looking for places because I wasn't in a point in my life where I had family that I could lean on or you know, much of a support network. I remember there was one day I went to visit one of my friends and I was at her house, and she didn't know that I didn't have somewhere to stay that night, and I kind of just lingered there until like ten pm, until someone else had messaged me and said that I

I love it. And tell me a bit more about this career journey of yours. So you've been everywhere from childcare to funeral services. When you moved back to your hometown, what were you doing for work? How are you earning an income? How were we paying for these sweet potatoes?

So I actually worked at the funeral home before I moved into State and they were very sad that I left. And then when I moved into State. Part of the reason for deciding to move back was that I got fired from my job. While I was up to my eyeballs in debt and miserable and just everything sucked. Then I got fired, so I was like, Okay, I need to move back. And I messaged my bosses at the funeral home and was like, Hey, any chance you need me back, and they're like, oh my god, please come back.

Oh my gosh, congratulations. What type of role in finance?

It's just an admin role, just to get my foot in the door.

That's okay, we all have to start there.

Yeah, And I'm so excited. And it's in a financial planning sort of firm and they focus on sustainability and people building their futures and it just absolutely lights me up. And I really really hope I get it.

Oh, I have no doubt that you will.

With this personality, people are going to want you in their practice. I don't know what you want to do in the future, but the amount of financial advisors I know that started in admin and then they move into para planning, and then from para planning they move into giving some advice as an associate, and then they become a full blown financial advisor. I feel like it is such a common pathway, and I mean I'm biased. I just think it's a great one.

Yeah, I agree, And I mean, obviously, I've worked so many different jobs and like probably many more that haven't even been listed in this so far, finance actually just lights me up, Like, and I've helped a few of my friends get out of their own pickles from my own experience, and I just want to keep helping more people to do that.

I love that so much because obviously I resonate with that very deeply. I was in a pickle and then I help people get out of pickles now, and I feel like sometimes having been there, it means that you're far more empathetic to the journey of others because you're like, oh no, I really get this. It is really challenging because I think for some people who've never been there, they just go, well, you just pay off the debt, right,

I know, I just like worked my butt off. Like I worked and worked and worked, and I went to work in the morning, and then I finished work, and I went straight from work to work, and then I went home for a nap, and then I went back to work and it just was never ending.

So you had multiple roles at one time.

Yeah, Because I was in debt, I always had to have multiple jobs because my expenses were so high I couldn't afford not to. And then I've just always had multiple jobs since then, and I still do have multiple jobs. And I kind of just started learning to live on one pay and use the other pay towards my debt. And then once the debts were paid off, I was like, oh, okay, well I'm going to save for a car. And then

I love that mindset, all right. I want to get back into structured questions for a bit. Tell me now, exactly what do you do for work? The multiple jobs and how much money do you earn for each of these jobs?

Okay, so that is like the million dollar question that my accountant always asks me and I don't know. So I work in youth justice and I work in youth support work, which are quite similar, but one's in a prison setting and one is in a home setting. Last year, I earned somewhere between eighty and ninety thousand for the year.

Yeah, and what kind of hours are you doing for that?

I'm working casually in both of those roles, and I just do the hours that I can. I try my best to work, you know, five days a week. But I'm also studying finance, so I don't have heaps of time to work as much as I would like to, but I make it work.

But eighty to ninety grand while you are studying is an epic income, which makes sense. So tell me a bit more. Right now, you are in the position where you've gotten out of date your own in esmate properties. What is currently your big money goal? What are you working towards?

So I can't decide. I've been thinking about this question all week because I'm like, what is my goal?

Sorry, no pressure, I don't think I have just one.

I think definitely my first priority is getting my emergency fund back up to three months worth of salary, because it's currently not at that point. But I also just want to live freely after working so hard for so long to get out of get and then pivoting that to work so hard to buy properties and living so frugally, Like I want to travel, I want to do all of the things that I've been you know, limiting myself from because I've been focusing so hard on my goals.

I love that. I feel like that's really relatable as well, because a lot of people will say to me, oh, V, what is your big money goal at the moment, And we're in the really fortunate position where we own our own home, and you know, I look at it and go, oh, I guess just do more of what we've currently been doing, and like, to me, that feels a bit boring, but

Yeah, it is like that, because like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know, like I'm loving what's happening now.

You totally you don't need to be taking over the world at all times.

Yes, just part time taking over the world.

Yeah, part time taking over the world. I like it.

Let's go to a quick break. And on the flip side, I have a whole heap of questions for you about investments. I need to know a bit more about this debt that you had. And we're going to go through invest and worse money habits, so guys, don't go anywhere money darist. We are back and I want to dive straight in. I know you have investments, that's the next question, but I want to know about them. So you said that you have two investment properties. How do they work? How

Okay, so I have just under twenty thousand dollars in Chase eas mm hmm. You're going to laugh at this. I have a very small amount of crypto.

No, I'm not going to laugh at that.

No, No, you wait, you will. I started investing there because during COVID, one of my friends is like, this coin's going to take off, Like everybody falls into that trap. And I'm currently having back and forth disputes with the crypto wallet and they have said that the contract that I invested in has expired and I can't have my money, and I'm like, but that's mine and they're my coins, and yeah, so I'm currently in disputed about that. So I don't know if I can count.

That that is wild. How much is it?

Look? I put in about eight.

Thousand, yeah, and what is it worth?

It's currently worth just under two thousand.

Oh god, But you still want that money?

Yeah, exactly, but they're trying to not even give me that. So it's a nightmare. So you have always been right. No one should invest in crypto.

I'm not going to laugh at that. I actually feel bad about that. And once we're off air, I want to know the company. I need to know all the deats because I am nothing if not pervy.

Yep. I'm happy to tell you I have just over sixty thousand dollars in super which free me.

That's pretty cool, isn't it.

I am actually worried about it because I would like it to be so much more than what it's projected to be in my future, so I do salary sacrifice to that as well. And as you mentioned, I have two investments properties which I can't even believe. It's actually a duplex, but they're strata titled, so their individual properties.

So you got two properties for the one purchase.

Yes, money win.

I know. It was so exciting. I couldn't believe it, and like it's kind of typical me fashion. I was like, I'm going to buy a house this year, and I bought two. But I just like couldn't believe it, and it was so stressful. But I got so lucky because I used a buyer's agent. They were amazing. I shed so many tears, and I was so stressed and I didn't understand anything that was happening. And they made everything so simple.

Oh how good.

I literally couldn't have done it without them, And they made everything so simple when I made it so complicated in my head.

So, how did you buy property? You saved up a deposit? What was that deposit? How much did you spend on those properties? And then after we'll get into the debt you have on it.

Yes, so I paid five hundred and eighty thousand or both, so two hundred and ninety thousand each. Yeah, they're technically units and they have two bedrooms, one bathroom, and one cassace each. It's just them on the block, so it's quite a large block. I reached out to them and said, I'm looking to buy a property. Can you guys help me? And they were like, yeah, we can help. And I loved their honest approach in the discovery call that I had with them and just knew in my gut that

I love that.

I feel like you do have to make sure it's the right decision for you, though, and if that's felt too soon, there's always going to be another opportunity. Tell me a bit more about I guess how that works for you when it comes to investment. Obviously, we're investing for a return. Are you expecting those properties to increase in value? And what kind of rental yield are you getting?

Yes, so I don't know the percentage of rental yield, which is studying finance. I should probably work it out, but it's currently negatively geared. Unfortunately, because interest rates are ridiculous and being a single female. The banks deemed me as higher risk, which is really rude. So I get six hundred and sixty dollars a week rent and my mortgages are eight hundred and eight dollars a week.

And that's six hundred and sixty dollars for both properties rent.

Yeah, so each mortgage is four hundred and four dollars a week.

Yeah, okay, cool. So that's like not breaking even. But it's also not the worst outcome in the entire world to keep hold of your properties.

Yeah, it's definitely manageable. And the way I looked at it because when I first found out that I was going to be out of pocket, I was like, oh no, this is not what I wanted, Like I want to buyd investment properties to get rich, not to spend more money.

And the reality of the world came crashing down.

Yeah, it really did. And I just kind of had a long hard look at myself and thought, right, I have been saving more than it's going to cost me to hold them, so I know that I can manage it and future me will thank me. So I'm just going to do it.

Yeah, I love it. And tell me about how you originally purchased a property. So you used a buyer's agent, but had you saved up like a ten percent deposit or a twenty percent deposit? And did you use a broker.

I did use a broker, and I did not have a very good experience with them.

Clearly, you didn't use my brokers.

No, I didn't, and it's because I was silly, and I went to one that was local and recommended to me by a friend.

Sometimes they can be the best mines ever, though, so like it's worth a crack.

Sometimes, Yeah, they can be, but they can also suck. So I unfortunately got the model.

That's fine, I'll fix it all up for you later, don't worry.

Yeah, So I went to a broker. I had just under one hundred thousand dollars in my account, but unfortunately, with stamp duty and all of those sorts of things, I ended up having to pay LMI because I didn't quite have the twenty percent. That's okay though, which was very disheartening, But I was like, you know what, at least I'm in.

Sometimes, when you do the maths, paying LMI right now means that you can get into the property market today instead of waiting well another three or four years to get to the amount of deposit that you might need, which essentially those properties would have increased in value during

Yeah, and I would definitely be using Zella next time.

Thank you, We'll see you soon.

I'm still grateful for it though, because it made me see what not to put up with with a broker, Like the negative experience showed me what I don't want so that next time I can do it better.

No, a broker should be bending over backwards for you, and you should feel like they are basically your best property friend and you can ask them anything and they are super responsive and you never have to like poke or prod them for anything. In fact, we the ones that come back to you and go, hey, money, direst, where are we at with this?

What's going on? Oh, you're nervous?

Okay, how can I help? Like, honestly, that is what a broking situation should be. They should be the person that you're like, oh my gosh, I couldn't have done it without you, because they not only got you finance, they also provided you a heap of support.

I definitely didn't get that the broker that I was specifically speaking to from the office that I was dealing with when overseas and didn't even tell me oh no, no, yeah. While I was in the midst of my purchase, I was like, are you kidding me?

Apparently not. Oh, sometimes people baffle me. All right, let's move on back to structured questions. My friend, I want to know what debt levels are you sitting at. We know that you purchased your properties for five hundred and eighty thousand dollars total. What does your mortgage sit out right now? And do you have any other debts?

I have no other debts. I'm very proud to say that I have no consumer debt. I always stayed very far away from after pay because I knew that would be a simper slope for me. Actually, when I did get out of my debts years ago, I actually paid out that personal loan four and a half years early.

Congrat How good is that? Can I be pervy? Why did you have eighty thousand dollars in debt?

Like?

What was that spent?

On?

Stupid things? Mostly cars? Like I got a new car and then I decided I didn't want that car, and then I upgraded it and just refinanced. And then I had credit cards, and every time I got a credit card, I was like, I'm gonna be good with this one, and then I was not good with that one, and it just spiraled, and I just kept refinancing and just making it bigger and bigger, and it was just silly, but it taught me what I know now, so I'm grateful for it.

It's good to know how it happened. Are you now in a position where you're a bit like me and you're like, yeah, I'm not really a credit card girly, not because they're you know, the devil, but because I am when I have one in my hands. Like, do you have a credit card nowadays?

No way, I'm too scared.

You're like me, I can't trust me with a credit card?

Yeah, no, because I just know that I am a spec and I will just go, Oh, it's fine, I'll paid off by the end of the month, and then I'll just buy one more thing because oh I've already bought this thing, so I'll just buy that next thing.

So no, it's a slippery slope.

I totally agree.

All right, tell me about your mortgage.

How much do you owe and how long have you got left on the loan?

So the loan is only seven months old, so a long time to go, and sadly, because of the interest, the balance is actually going up instead of coming down because it's new.

Don't forget this is a season of life.

Yeah, so sad, so I've got five hundred and twenty three thousand owing on it.

I mean that's less than what the properties are valued at. So we're in a good position still, so it's not the worst ever. But I think that sometimes we need to zoom out a bit and realize that interest rates come up and they go down over time, and sometimes you're going to go through a season of life where your property is negatively good and you do have to tip in a heap of extra cash. But that's what an investment is. It ebbs and it flows, and over

So yes, we did just touch on that. I am a spender, So I think my best money habits would be that I have all my payments automated so that I don't have to go into my bank, I don't have to touch it, because that's when I bring awareness to how much I have there. And if I know how much is there, I know how much I can spend. So I make sure everything is automated. I make sure that one of my quote bills that I pay is money for me to spend.

Yes.

Smart.

When I was in debt, I allocated every single dollar to my struggles and never had any leftover, So then I would spend money I didn't have and it would just lead to more debt.

Yeah, it's a slippretty slope. How did you come up with that system? Have you implemented that yourself? Have you found a system from someone that works?

I originally had the system from the Barefoot Investor, because that's, of course the first step that I took on my journey. But that never worked for me. I don't know why. I don't know if it was too simple or how it was, but that just didn't work for me. So I thought I needed something where it was more specific, where I had specific accounts that were for specific purposes, like one that's just for my car and one that's

Can I join that sounds literally like my favorite way to spend New Years Like, that sounds elite, it's the best.

And we watched the nine o'clock fireworks and then go to bed.

No.

I adore that. That is literally living to be.

Yeah, and we just scribble it on a piece of paper and we just kind of brainstorm off each other and say, oh, but what about this or do you think this is going to work? And you know, do you think I can really save this much? And we just kind of pull each other up and say, there's no way you're going to save that much.

That is so cool.

I love it so much.

So no set plan, it's back of the envelope stuff, but you've made it work for you.

Yeah, and we do review it often. And one other thing that I include in that is that I always have everything paid in advance, So my rent, my phone bill, everything like that is paid in advance so that when it comes in it's already paid.

I love that and I think it's really important. That's how I manage my money. That's how I wrote my money masterclass, which I'm actually going to gift you because you said you do it on the back of an envelope. Don't tell anyone, but you could share it with your friend so that she has a copy of the spreadsheet

Perfect. Thank you so much.

I adore it. But let's bring it back down. I need to know what are your worst money habits. Does someone who is in A plus have bad money habits?

Yes, because everybody is human. True, My worst money habits would either be blowing my budget on gifts, like I don't have a bank account for gifts, and I know that I should because gifts is one of my love languages, so I always go over the top for anybody's birthdays or celebrations or getting injectibles.

I like that we just transparent.

I adore that, and I like that you're really clear about it, but also we are just human. Is the best thing I've heard in a long time, especially when it comes to money and from someone who says no, no, no, I'm an A plus, Like I still make purchases that are not great, but it doesn't mean I'm any less than and I'm still an A plus money Diarist. Now that we've had a chat, I feel like I'm coming to the end of this episode and I have adored it.

I think, to just keep doing what I'm doing, and you know, if I make a mistake or I have a splurge moment, or you know, have a hormonal day and I just spend too much, or you know, compare myself to what I see online and I go and get some more bowt like just forgiving myself for that and being like, that's okay. We can just continue on the path we're going. We're still going to get there. It doesn't matter.

I love that. I think it's so good Money Diarist. Unfortunately, that is all we have time for today. But it has been an absolute pleasure having you on. Thank you for sharing your story with me and for giving me the opportunity to share it with my community. They are going to love this just as much as I have loved it so Thank you, my friend. It's been a pleasure.

Thank you so much for having me.

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