MONEY DIARIES: From Debt to Semi-Retirement

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 for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another one of our money diaries where I get the absolute privilege of talking to one of our beautiful community members all about their money story. Let's jump straight in because this week I got a message and it went like this. Hi, Victoria.

Yeah?

Oh, I cannot wait to learn more. This is wild.

Yeah, I think so.

I am so excited that you have written in. Let's jump straight in the first question, as always is Money Diarist, what grade would you give your money habits If I asked you to give them a grade from A through to F.

That's gonna sound not that great. But I think like a C plus to a B minus.

I don't know about that. Sometimes I argue with people about their ratings, so I'm not gonna argue with you this close. But like, there's no way someone with a money story that goes from paying off that much debt to working towards semi retirement is only a C plus in my head. But you know what, you can tell us a little bit more about you and we can have that conversation at the end. How does that sound

Yeah? So, basically, my partner and I got married when we were like twenty two cute and I we've been together since we're fifteen.

Oh my gosh, No you haven't. So you're like high school sweethearts. Yes, well my whole heart. That's so fun. I'm just assuming you met at high school together.

No, we didn't. We went to youth group together.

Oh cute, So you didn't even have to do the whole awkward school thing. That's a win. That is a win, No wonder it worked.

Out Basically when we got married, we were children and didn't really know how to manage money. It was also the first time both of us lived independently from home, so it was the first time both of us moved out, and so we had to furnish your house. And we both had quite low paying jobs at the same time, so we were both pretty much on minimum wage.

I mean, you were twenty two, so that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, my partner isn't really a spender, but he's also, like I would say, maybe a little bit of an enabler, because like every time I would ask like, oh can I get this thing, he'd be like, yeah, I don't care.

Now.

I love that. I mean, I'm glad that that has stopped, But I mean I like a man who just lets you have whatever you want ten out of ten.

Yeah, And so because of that, we just kind of ended up with a lot of unnecessary spending. And what kind of took us over the edge is we got a puppy.

Yeah, what kind of puppy you were allowed to tell us? It's a Japanese Oh my gosh, they're gorgeous.

Yeah, little white fluffy cloud ah, cloud baby. We were on a wait list for like two and a half years with this breeder because I wanted an ethical breeder and all that sort of stuff, and she basically said like, oh, someone can't get their puppy, so like, do you want it? Like it's available, You're next on the list. And so I very stupidly drew out money on a credit card.

Basically, I'm not surprised. I mean, I feel like, regardless of my financial situation, I would have done the same thing as you. I don't know how many of the podcasts you've listened to, but I have spoken publicly before about how I got my cat Bailey when he was one and he was a rescue, but it cost me two hundred and fifty dollars and at that point I only had three hundred dollars in my account and I didn't have enough money to buy him like a crate

He definitely was. So he's poor now and so definitely well worth the money, and very fortunately because part of it is we wanted a healthy breed. He hasn't cost us any additional money yet.

I love that you waited for an ethical breeder too. That sounds like exactly how I ended up with our dog Lucy. Like we were on this really big wait list and then someone didn't want her because she was the wrong color, and they called us like three days before we got her and said do you want her? And I was like absolutely, I do. Like it happened all so quickly, but like ethical breeders have such long lists.

Yeah, that's pretty much what happened with us, and then like it was us so Christmas time, we were moving into a new rental at the time, and so like we had to pay bond and then it was a lot.

Aah so much. So tell me what happened after that. So we've had a puppy join the family and we've started to get into debt.

After that, we still weren't like great, We were still just kind of coasting along really, but then also puppy Instagram influence sort of took over, and so I was spending a lot of money on him and that sort of stuff when I didn't really have anything to do. And then we were just sort of talking about it and then just decided one day to go to the bank just to see like if we could get a mortgage, like what we would have to do to one day buy a house. And we didn't think anything would happen

No, that makes absolute sense. To just explain it a little bit more. Because a lot of our audience are Australian, our money most today is from New Zealand, which is why she said that she had a Kiwi Saver. But one of the cool things about Kiwi Saver is that you can use it to purchase your first property, which is kind of helpful and not something that's available to us but fun to learn from.

Yeah, So we basically just had that and then at the time, the government had grants to go towards your deposit as well if you were a low income earner as well.

Mm hmm.

And so we were able to get our house for well under what it would be commercially priced for. I suppose money win, definite money win. I think I actually posted about it.

Oh did you actually?

Yeah?

Oh my gosh, that would have been a few years ago too.

Huh yeah, just three years ago.

Yeah, I'm going to go find it. I love it.

Then we literally lived in an empty house with a bed for a year almost yep, because we didn't have anything else. And after about a year, we just decided we didn't want to be living paycheck to paycheck or

In three years, Queen, I love this. Yeah.

So the time pressure really helped get that down. And we pretty much did like a one to eighty on how we were living our life and spending our money after that, because we went from barely having any money and then like lookdown as like why is this because there was no reason for us because we had gotten like a few promotions over the time and that sort of stuff, so we were earning more money, but we were still very skinned and so mostly we just like

That feels very familiar to me. I don't know if I want to expand on that or talk about it. I'm not ready to make any change, but I like that you did.

Yeah, so that was one thing we did. We cut down on like our takeaway and grocery bills from I think we were spending like two hundred and fifty bucks for like two people and a small dog, which was a little bit overboard for us because we were also buying the takeaways and stuff. So now our grocery bills like one hundred dollars and we spend like thirty dollars on takeaway a week.

Oh my gosh, that's a massive change.

We've got like a reduced to clear. I don't know what they are in Australia, but they're like it's.

Kind of like a not quite right INQR. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got them over here as well. I think it's the same chain, to be honest.

And so like we get like our coffee pods and like all those sorts of things that don't really matter, but like I get them for a lot cheaper and stuff like that.

I feel like that's very smart. Though. We have a shop over here called the Reject Shop. Oh I don't know if you've got that there, but at the Reject Shop they have like lots of I guess, pantry staples

Yeah, So that's like pretty much what we go Therefore, we go for like all the household sort of stuff and just all those like random things that it doesn't really matter.

Yeah, no smart, I love it. I think that regardless of what you earn, that's a really easy way to get basically the same thing, but for cheaper. Why not.

Yeah, and then like another thing we did is like we implemented personal spending separate from our joint spending.

Yeah.

So originally we just had like a joint account and all of our money went in there and all of our money went out from the same account. But when we decided to sort out our financials, we both got a personal account that the other doesn't have access to, which we get like pocket money yeap.

Cool, and so we can spend it on whatever you like.

Yeah, we both earn very similar amounts and so it's not really a one person earns more than the other sort of thing, so it's not.

Really too much of an issue for us. Yeah cool, but it all works out.

Yeah, and then the dog gets his pocket money.

Too, does he actually is that for like his food or is that for like additional like baby chinos or do they call them puppy chinos? And then like outfits and stuff, because I feel like having a Japanese spits like those are fashionable boys, Like those aren't like normal dogs that just you know, get a dry as a bone coat, Like he's probably got fancy wardrobe, right.

He doesn't like wearing clothes fortunately, because he's a fluffy boy. But he's got a lot of bandannas and bows.

Yeah. See, he's got outfits. He's a fancy boy.

Yeah. So also we've got like his account is accumulating, so because we don't have pit insurance because his breed is known for being a little bit more healthy and that sort of stuff. So instead of having pit insurance, we just put money in there just in case.

Oh I love that. I think that that's really I guess smart from your perspective, but like what a little responsible dog boy. Yeah's got his own saving account. He's getting it, yes he does. Can't wait for you guys to potentially have kids one day, like they are gonna be so financially savvy look at the dog.

Yeah, definitely. And so at the same time, with all of the financial side, we were so just working towards earning more and so we did a lot of overtime. For about a year and a half, we were working for like six days a week. I think we at some points we're going up to like seventy hours a week.

No, that's so many hours. Did you sleep?

Yeah, we slept, but all we did was wake up, go to work, come sleep.

Yeah, the dogs sleep amazing.

Yeah, and then at the time I started my own business.

Of course you do it. These story is just getting better. I told you I'm going to have a bone to pick with their C plus. You're not prepping yourself for a C plus at the end, my friend.

I have a reason for what right?

Right?

All right, all right, I'll let you get to it. Tell me about your small business.

So I'm a virtual assistant, So I helped small businesses and that sort of stuff who were literally a single person just doing their small business and they can't quite employ a full i'm staff member or anything like that, So I do their admin work in like a couple of hours here and there for a couple of different people.

Oh, how cool. That's so helpful. When I was starting up, I definitely needed that.

I've got one consistent client that I do quite a lot of work for.

It's quite a lot of fun. All right. I want to know, now you've obviously got a lot under your belt. What do you do for work? How much money do you win? And if you feel like it, can you tell me what your partner does and what he owns.

Yeah, so we actually work together at his family's business.

Very cool.

His family owns a craft retail store, and quite a few years ago now, he moved over there to go work with them because they were expanding a little bit, and then when COVID hit and that sort of stuff, they needed a few people to help out because online sales went a little bit nutsy. That's cool though, yeah, And so I moved over there and I work in the warehouse with my husband, doing like all the post and stuff like that, getting everyone's orders out and making sure everyone's happy.

Yeah, very cool.

So I earn seventy two a year my salary, and then my partner earns I think it's about seventy eight.

Is there a reason why it's different.

He's been working me longer and he is also a technician.

Yeah, okay, that makes sense. I was like, hold up, you're telling me that you do the same job for different pays. I'm not having that, though.

He has additional responsibilities and stuff like that because he's also a technician for some of their.

Yeah, you know, that makes absolute sense for those of you playing along in the Australian market, seventy two thousand dollars in New Zealand money is sixty six eight hundred in Australian, which is just interesting to know. And has that always been your income? You said before, Oh, we were super low income earners, and like, that's not super low income to me. So is that recent?

There is recent? Yeah, within the last year. When we first got married, I was working at a law.

For were your fancy pants?

Yeah, And I was just like the admin stuff And I was earning barely minimum wage for quite a long time. And he was an apprentice electrician, so he was an apprentice for wages, so we had very minimal income.

It would have been a snug budget. Yeah. I love that all right. I want to know now, because you already own your first home, what is your big money goal? What are you currently working towards?

So our current money goal is hopefully next year, as long as everything goes well, we'll be able to sell this one and move to a lifestyle block and be semi retired hopefully.

What does semi retired mean.

My partner, Hopefully he won't be working like a traditional job anymore. We're hoping that he'll be able to because we want to get a few goats and sheep and chickens. Yeah, so like he'll be looking after the land and doing that sort of stuff and hopefully go into markets and you know, just a little bit of extra pocket money. Not really the main source of income, yeah, but still like we want to be as self sustainable as possible. And then for me, hopefully I'll be able to get

Oh my gosh, No, you don't. That's crazy, No, wonder you're looking forward to going. All right, we've got this big goal we're working towards. We're going to get a lifestyle block. We're going to semi retire because you would be exhausted right now. Yes, Oh my gosh, that's crazy. Tell me more about these business of yours. Obviously going to thirty eight hours a week would be super exciting, also much nicer doing that seventy hours that you were

I just want enough to survive, so I don't really want to be a big earner or anything like that, Like just enough to cover what little mortgage we have, because hopefully we'll be able to sell and that will cover our new property because we want to go somewhere really rural, so it's not going to be too expensive exciting. Yeah, so like just enough to sort of cover going to the cafe once a week kind of thing.

I love this. It's so lifestyle focused. All right. I want to ask you a lot more about your mortgage and what you're currently paying and what's left on it, and what a lifestyle block is going to cost. But let's do that right after this break. All right, we are back money diarist. I'm so invested in understanding a bit more about your buying a lifestyle block and like semi retired life, Like you're buying goats, Like how does

No, so we want to get They're called pygmy goats.

Oh no, they don't. They're the cutest kind.

Yeah, the little minutia goats.

I follow pigmy goats on TikTok and like have you seen them? They like have their hay baiales and they like jump up and down their hay bales like they're so cute, they're mini.

Yeah. So we're in contact with a breeder at the moment, So can.

I please come visit? Like you are going to actually live my dream, like I asked for a goat at least once a week, like I wish I was joking. The next question I want to ask you is do you have any investments. If so, what are they so talk to me about that and how that plays into potentially being able to semi retire.

Yeah, so about four months ago, we both had a bunch of savings and we decided to just put ten thousand dollars into a managed fund.

Oh, very cool.

Someone else can make some decisions for me. I don't want to think about it.

Tell me how you picked the managed fund. How did you make that decision? Because a lot of people they'll go straight into maybe like an ETF because it's the easiest, Like you could just download the chasas app and buy that. And obviously you can get managed funds, but they seem a little bit more complex, especially to first time investors. Where did you get your info from? Where did you get your confidence to go? You know what, I'm going to put ten grand in this.

Asset, So I spoke to a few different people. We ended up just going through a company that my cousin works for, so that sort of helps. Yeah.

I was going to say that would make me a bit more comfortable too.

Yeah, and it might not be the highest owner, but we wanted to do an ethical fund, so it's for businesses who are doing more sustainable work and that sort of stuff, because it just aligned with our values.

Love love love. So it was just something that you were like, all right, We've done a bit of research. I've got a family friend or a family member that works there. It all just makes sense for us at this point. I love that I always ask because it's often such a big decision to start your investing journey and it can be so overwhelming. And the more I know about it and ask you about it, the more our community knows and the more comfortable they are starting

So originally we were actually saving because our original plan was to buy a van and travel around New Zealand for a year.

Mm hm.

But we just decided we didn't really want to do that anymore. So we had this money and I just didn't want it sitting around in a bank account. Really, and I spoke to my partner. I don't remember, but I think I listened to an episode about investment and stuff like that, and I was like, Hey, can we do that? And he's very nonchalant about money, so he's like, yes, you'll go for it.

I love this, all right, talk to me about debt. You said before you have a mortgage, do you have any personal debt left? If so, what is it? And then tell me all about your mortgage.

So we have a credit card, but like, I have the money an account to pay off my credit card, so we always have the money for the credit card, and that's all that we have outside of the mortgage. I paid off my student loan and we paid off that personal loan, and we sort of made the decision not to have any debt besides the mortgage.

Ever, again, Love, do you use the credit card just for I guess security purposes or are we you know, using it to get points or like what role does that play in your I guess money story.

I also have after pay, but again I have an account where we put the money for the full purchase and then the after pay comes out because I feel very nervous having zero dollars.

Yeah I get it, I totally get it.

Yeah, so we have our savings and stuff, but we don't touch our savings and then I feel very nervous that something is going to happen, like our tires burst or something like that. And I know that's what the

See, you're one of the people that uses it responsibly. I can't be trusted with that. So I always like asking, because I'm like, oh, well, if you've got a credit card and you've got after pay, like, what does that look like? And obviously you're using it or plays easily into your cash flow. And I'm going to make a grand assumption that you like something like after pay because you get your own pocket money and therefore you can cash flow those bigger purchases. Is that right?

Yeah? Yeah, yeah, So like I bought a cricket recently, and like I wanted to buy a cricket. Like, we also put time between purchases and stuff like that, and so I've been thinking about it for a really long that's a big purchase. Huh yeah, yeah, for big purchases, and so like putting it on after pay just gives me the peace of mind because I have the money there, but.

You just want to see it come out slowly. I get it. I get it, like I understand it in principle, but I could never be trusted with it in real life. Let's be honest. No, I love it. So now tell me. I'd be about your mortgage. How much is it? How much did you purchase your house for? And what's the plan with getting rid of it?

Our current mortgage is five hundred and forty thousand. We bought the property for six hundred and forty.

Oh look at you guys going, You've only had it for three years, is that right?

Yeah? So after we paid off our personal loan and stuff like that, we just basically said the three hundred dollars or four hundred dollars that was going towards it is going to our mortgage now, so we updo our mortgage as soon as we paid off our debt.

Oh my gosh, how exciting is this? You have? What is it You're planning on getting rid of a mortgage at this rate in the less than ten years?

Yeah. So the recent evaluation for the house was seven hundred and fifty oh money when Yeah, So theoretically between now and when we go to sell, the house will have paid off a little bit more and we're hoping the housing market will go up a little bit. But also we're not depending on it.

It's looking very healthy right now though.

Yeah.

So let's pretend that the house sells for seven fifty at market price at this point in time. Is that enough to buy your lifestyle block and you know, pop a little house on it or what does that purchase look like in the future.

So we actually have like a property that we really really love and it's been on the market for a while because it's a really awkward property because no one wants to live out in the middle of nowhere.

Except for you, You and your goats and your dog. Do yes, that tells me it's negotiable. We like that.

Yes, And so it was on the market for the three hundred and twenty, but now it's gone to negotiation, so we're hoping it will be still on the market or at least something comparable.

Hey, that's exciting. Is that what plays into you potentially being able to I guess semi retire.

Yeah, So hopefully what we're planning is even no mortgage and then having no money and then having to build up everything like the things that we need for the animals and gardens and stuff like that, or selling the house and having a small mortgage of about one hundred thousand so that we have some money still in our pockets to be able to do the things straight away.

Yeah, one hundred percent. Because if we're looking at your mortgage right now five point forty in the valuation of seven point fifty, and we'll pretend that it just goes clean, that means that you're sitting on about two hundred and ten thousand of equity. And then if you purchase a three twenty property you've got a mortgage of one hundred and ten. You've obviously done your numbers. I've just done your numbers so that I could confirm it and it

Yeah, both my partner and I sort of see money and that sort of stuff in just like a means to an end sort of way. We don't need a lot of it, and we don't need an excess lifestyle and stuff like that. So like having a couple of goats and chickens and stuff is more than what we need in our lives.

Not literally living the dream. I love it. And you get to live in New Zealand, which is like one of the most beautiful places on earth. Like I am obsessed. This is honestly so dreamy. I want to know now, though, you have, from my understanding, pretty good at money, Like you've got some pretty good habits, Like you've shown me that you can get out of dead and like, yeah, you're fully across it. So I feel like you might have some good tips and tricks for us. What is your best money habit?

My best money habit I think is as soon as we get paid, we move our money into savings bills. So we've got like our personal money, we got savings account, we've got a bill's account, and then we've got a short term savings and then Marshmallow's account as well.

I love it. I love that your dog's name is Marshmallow. Like that makes my entire heart so happy. Like, ah, the best cash flow planning, that's a great money habit to have. I think it's one that we all wish we were better at. But what is your worst money habit?

Like my worst money habit actually is very similar, which sounds really strange, but we don't actually budget. I just kind of look at it and like, this is what we need in this account now, and this is what we need in this account. And so like, if you ask me how much I actually plan to spend on groceries or plan to spend on this, like I don't really have a number.

That's okay though, because it looks like you're pretty across on average what you're spending. Because earlier in this episode, you explained to me that you used to spend two hundred and fifty dollars on groceries and and you would also do takeaways and stuff. But now that's like one hundred dollars on groceries and thirty dollars on takeaway. So I feel like, even though you're saying you're not good at like calculating it, I can tell that you're across it. Still, would you say that's accurate?

It's just kind of guesstimating, and I feel like I could do better, Like I never look at my statements. I know it's really bad, but no it's not.

I feel like so many of us have our head in the sand about it. And let's be honest, money can be really boring, Like it's not that exciting. That's why I try so hard with this content to make it exciting. But it's still not that sexy. Let's be honest.

Yeah, it's just that I actually look at things. I probably spend a bit more than I need to on certain things because I'm not really focused.

I totally resonate with it. Actually, I'm really excited about this because I think this is something I can fix

Maybe like after talking about it, it's like more in the B range.

Yeah, I would agree.

I'm like, you are so good at this, but like I think it's also because I feel like, in particular because I know a lot of people struggle with getting a home and that sort of stuff, and we sort of lucked.

Into it into a sort of way, like we didn't really actively try or anything like that. And so I feel like a big financial achievements not really like due to my own effort and that sort of stuff.

But slow and steady wins the race. No, yeah, yeah, And I feel like you've got to be in the race to be able to win the race. And you're absolutely in the race. You're just taking a step by step and that's great.

Yeah. And so like I think on my active if in my financial journey and stuff like that, like the things that I'm doing for it and stuff like that, Yeah, I'm not doing as much as I want to be doing or like could be doing kind of thing.

I totally get it. I feel like we all put so much pressure on ourselves as well, because I know that there are going to be so many people listening to this yelling and being like Marshmallow's mom is so good at money, Like I don't understand what is she doing. But at the same time, there might be people listening to this and going, oh, I totally resonate, like I can do more too, Like I totally you know, feel like that's me and I'm not gonna argue with you.

I'm definitely proud of our journey, as you should be, because like when we were younger and stuff like, all that sort of stuff definitely put a strain on our relationship, Like it was a big problem for us, and so like dealing with it also, just like dealt with a lot of issues in our relationship and stuff like that.

Yeah, no, I love that. And is that something that you feel a little bit more comfortable within your relationship now You're like, no, no, now we're across it, Like we're very comfortable. Now we have a better relationship. Like what could we do if we're in that circumstance back when, I guess money was a lot more of a pressure for you.

Well, considering the fact we literally spend all of our time together. Now I would say we've got like a pretty good relationship. We don't really fight anymore. But because we've got all this sort of stuff, it's just it's a lot easier. Like recently, my partner needed an upgrade for his computer because it crashed and stuff like that, and so it was really easy for us to just go, oh, well, we'll just go and buy you some new things. It wasn't really a stress. We didn't have to think about

I love that so much money Diarist. Unfortunately that is all we have time for today, So thank you so much for being generous with your time and sharing your journey, and I guess being so open. I feel like I've learned a lot. But also I feel like I've made a friend who I can visit in New Zealand, who's going to have goats for me to play with. So I love it. Thank you definitely. The advice shared on She's on the Money is general in nature and does