Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
the Order Kerni Whoalbury 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 daries, where I have the absolute privilege of sitting down with one of our incredible She's on the Money community members and talking all about their money story. Let's jump straight into it, because this week I got a message and it sounded like this. Hi, Victoria.
I recently quit a toxic, yet well paying one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars plus tech job to run my small business full time. At twenty four years old working with my dad. As an immigrant, I always felt family and societal pressure to achieve, and I'm still struggling with comparing myself to my peers with a more traditional career path, and I'm second guessing if I made the right decision. I want to share my story of consolidating
pressure and finding my truth with the community. Money Darist, Welcome to the show. What a good story to share.
Thank you. Yeah, that was an excellent summary.
I am so excited. I feel like this will be a really, really good story to share because background, my producer has told me that you moved here at five from China and you didn't know any English, and now you're running a business here like look at her glow up. I love this, but let's get into it, money Darius, The first question we always ask is if I asked you to give your money habits a grade from A through to F, what would you grade them?
I think I'd give myself a B a B, which is, you know, like, I think it's good, but it could be better.
Love all right. My favorite question comes as no surprise to anybody. Can you tell me a little bit more about your history and your money story.
Yeah, sure, I think, Yeah, you mentioned like I am a first gen immigrant, so I think my story in some parts might be quite like typical of like a lot of immigrants. But I guess the gist of it is, grew up with not much money at all, moved here when I was five from China with mom and dad, and and yeah, I had no English ability at all. And yeah, without like the help of some really nice like ESL teachers back then, I felt like I would have just been, yeah, just way out of my depth.
I think it's easier to stomach as a child really young, moving overseas, because you know, you're sort of like a sponge and you soak everything up. So within a couple of years I was sort of like any other kid on the playground. But definitely those first years were really tough, especially I think for my parents. They were both like uni educated, but when they came back here to Australia. So when they came to Australia, they basically had to
start from scratch. They were like working in factories and doing like delivery driver jobs and yeah, just trying to you know, earn an income to support the three of us. I remember when we first moved here, like we were living in like a tiny flat. I think I remember literally sleeping on a mattress on the floor. It was really like bare bonoons at that time. But I think also like benefit of being a small kid, you don't like that sort of stuff. You sort of you know, don't really remember it.
You don't care. It's novel, it's new, Like it doesn't matter that the mattresses on the floor. I had a good sleep, right exactly.
Yeah, And like you know, I'm with mum and dad and that's sort of all that matters. I remember, like, despite being in like a not so great area of town, like we had really lovely neighbors and most of them were immigrants as well, and they would like leave me secondhand toys and books outside the door.
That's so sweet. It it'd be like coming home to a surprise.
Yeah.
Yeah, And that was like my first impression as a kid was that.
This place is great.
Yeah, this place is great. He would just give me free stuff now hundred percent.
Like if I was five and people were leaving toys on my Doorsteff, I'd be like, this place is lit.
I think they just felt really sorry for us. But yeah, my first impression was, yeah, like, you know, despite people here probably not all having that much, like, they were all still willing to sort of band together as a community, and I guess make you know, the newcomers' lives a bit easier, which I just found really heartwarming looking back on it.
That's so kind though. That's the kind of I guess community and hospitality that you deserve if you're new to a country, like I feel like everyone should experience that.
Yeah, exactly, Well, sorry, I guess back to the story, Like my parents, they did work really hard, and I think their hard work really did pay off because they started a business in importing and wholesaling, and bit by bit it started to I guess, grow bigger and able to sustain our family. But it wasn't until I was sort of well into my late teens that my family's financial situation improved, and then we were sort of sending my siblings to private schools, family holidays every year sort
of thing. But growing up, I did not have any of these privileges. I like to tell my siblings, I walked so they could run.
Yes, you did, That's exactly what happened.
Yeah, jokes, but not really.
You're like, sorry, not sorry. Also, I'm joking, not joking. So you moved here when you were five, and you didn't have any siblings at that point because you said it was just the three of us. How old are your siblings in comparison to you?
So I have three siblings.
Oh wow, I did not see that coming.
So quite a large family, I think by today's standards. I've got my two sisters are four years younger, once eight years younger, and my little brother's actually twelve years younger. Oh how exciting, big age gap. And it's funny because I think for the past like ten years, we've always had like at least one child in the family in a different stage of like schooling.
So yeah, yeah, that's the like that's when people say, oh my gosh, I can't wait to get out of Nappy's stage, Like your parents really did say we enjoy that, and then just kept putting themselves back in there, like they didn't even you know, try and knock a couple together so that you could just do the nappy stage together. They were like, let's just go back to the start, start from scratch, like we want this to be as hard as possible for.
Us exactly every four years, it's like start over again.
Why don't we just do this again? I love that for them.
Genius is actually tell my mom that From time to time.
I feel like, why did you do this? Like I love my siblings, but also you're crazy exactly, No, that's so special. Having three siblings must be a lot of fun. I want to know more about now who you are, so, you know, growing up obviously that was the case, you're now an adult. What happened between being a teenager and your money story changing and today.
I'd say because of the way I grew up, I guess I and like the way that my parents sort of you know, hustled head down trying to just make enough money to survive and just like put food on the table. I guess I grew up with that motto of like money's meant to be saved and not spent, and if it's spent then it has to be like for necessities only, which is I guess, like a you know,
solid mindset to start from. But I feel like it sort of had impacts on me later on when I had my own money as well, because I felt like I would get like a bit of spending anxiety, even on like things that were necessities, like bills or like groceries or yeah, just like food and stuff, Like I would like put off paying bills to the last day, for example, just to I don't know, stretch it out, even though I knew I'd eventually have to pay it.
I feel like that's really common though. I feel like that's so common, especially for people in your circa stance, where if you didn't come from money, then finally having it, it's really hard to part with it. And that's often obviously relatively crippling because it doesn't put you in the
best possible financial position. Because I know if I sat you down at the time a bill with you and I'll be like, it's better to pay it early, right, You'd be like absolutely, Victoria, like get it off my plate. But then in the background, it's this mental anguish of going, but if I pay it, the money's out of my account, and what if something happens and I need the money for something, And I just I think that's really relatable.
Yeah, yeah, it's always the like, what if some big thing happens and I suddenly need to take a lot of money for that. I think like the concept of having an emergency fund has helped me in that aspect. So it's sort of like that waights off my mind.
Yeah, that's good. That's good. I really like that. I want to know. You mentioned in your story in that you used to have a job and now you have your own business with your dad. What do you do for work and how much money do you earn?
Yeah? So right now I run a small property management business of my dad with my dad as the business partner, my sole business partner. We specialize in short term and vacation rentals and we help our clients of everything from like setting up their property and marketing it to like managing bookings and guests and housekeeping. So basically like everything you need to run a successful short stay or vacation rental.
That's very cool.
And within that, I because it's really just us too, wear a lot of hats. In terms of pay I currently pay myself fifty five K plus super plus a ten percent profit share. And you know, although that's what we have on paper, I'm actually thinking of like putting that ten percent back into the business instead of taking it for myself, just because I think like at this point, investing in the business and helping it grow is yeah
really my priority. And I think with the way I live, especially like after taking a pay cut, like I don't have a really fancy line for anything, like I'm able to sort of maintain my current lifestyle.
I like that tell me more about these business like how did you know that you wanted to go all in and quit your big paying job. You're one hundred and twenty five grand and then you're like, you know what, I'm just going to start my own business. What was that thought process and what made you confident to do it?
Yeah, well I definitely wasn't confident to do it, just to put that out there, and I think I know mentioned in my submission in that like to this day.
Like I still second guess your decision.
Yeah, like second guessing, have doubts come up time to time. But from like I guess talking to like you know, mentors or other people who have run businesses, it seems like they always tell me that's quite common.
It's very normal. I question myself literally every day. I have the worst imposter syndrome in the entire world. I genuinely believe that After nearly five hundred podcast episodes, someone's going to listen to my podcast and be like, she doesn't know what she's talking about. Get her off, get her off here? What the hell? Who let her hear?
Like?
Who let her out of this house? Like absolutely not? Put her back in a box? Like cancel, she's on the money. It's toxic. It doesn't help anybody, does it?
One hundred percent? Like it's it's definitely like the impost syndrome. And yeah, that's exactly the same spiral.
I go down. You're like, I don't deserve to be running a business? Who who am I? What audacity have I got? But do you know what? I learned a lot about you when you told me what you earned and the fact that you've probably got an incredibly well structured business and financial plan. When you say I pay myself fifty five thousand dollars plus super organized tax, and I also have a ten percent profit share? How did you learn to structure a business that way so early,
my friend? Because that's not normal. Most people just take out some cash to pay their bills. They don't pay themselves super They're definitely not talking about profit share, especially this early on, Like where's this come from? Why are you so smart, I'd say the fifty five K.
I sort of just calculated the amount that I would need to just live on, and I cut down a lot of my expenses by first of all moving from my very nice apartment in the city to you know, into the suburbs of my partner. And then I guess having shared living costs that way has really helped with like budgeting. As I said before, like I don't really have a very glam life apart from I guess, like a holiday every year. Like there's not like I'm not going out to like fine dining or high end places
or shopping a lot. I guess I'm lucky in that my lifestyle has always been quite manageable. I guess the downside is then obviously I'm not saving as much like you know in my bank account, or investing as much. But I sort of think of it the other way, which is like I'm investing in the business instead, and eventually, like this is the biggest investment, it's hopefully going to have the biggest returns as far in the future.
How did you structure this so you thought, all right, I'm going to start a business. I'm assuming you went onto the government website registered in ABN. But how did you know what to do next? How did you know what to do about accounting and you know, marketing and finance and even HR like what does all of that look like and how did you learn?
Yeah, I think it's a combination of my dad already having run a business in the past, so he's you know, already operating a small business, albeit like in a completely different industry, so he sort of needed a process of like setting up an ABN, setting up an ACN and all of that, and sort of the paperwork behind it.
Already had like a business accountant, so we were able to leverage that, but also everything else like I think came from like just researching digging through Google, and also just like from my past experiences is working in my
day job. Since graduating, I've worked in marketing, I've worked in consulting and then most recently tech and I think given the structure of some of those companies as well, some were large organizations, some were startups, I was like exposed to like different areas in each business and sort of how they manage their employees and like, for example, the startup had options for employees to you know, buy shares and you know, become like part of the business
and participate in that profit share scheme as well. So that sort of came from Yeah, just a I guess margamation of yeah, different experiences I had sort of gathered last free years of work, but definitely not perfect.
No, that's fine. It's just really cool to understand how people start, because I think a lot of us have the aspiration of being like, well, maybe one day I'll start a business, but like how And I promise it's not as hard as people think it is. Running the business is hard, but starting the business is very easy. Why property management, my friend, how did you fall into that? When did you realize that that was something that you
were like, do you know what? I think I could make a whole business out of this.
How it all sort of started was, I guess before I started my grad job. So out of UNI, I helped my dad set up the first property online, and that was like an investment property that he had originally purchased and wanted to live in after retirement and occasionally use it as like a holiday home. He sort of just asked me like, hey, do you want me to
help me manage this property? Sort of as like a side thing like then that was really the original intent for it to be sort of like a thing that I set and forget and it's sort of, you know, just one property runs on its own, not that much overhead. So I originally started with that, and yeah, it was really trial and error for like the first few months.
I quickly realized that there's a totally different level of risk running like a short stay rental versus like just a long term lease, because a long term lease is really just set and forget, right, like you just want someone who pays the bills on time, whereas a short stay.
I realized that this is like a business, Like there's like communication with like people coming in and out, organizing like housekeeping, schedules, marketing it so you know, in the high seasons you can attract more bookings and then the low seasons you sort of have different pricing strategies to sort of shoulder it as well. But yeah, that's sort
of how it started. And for a while it was sort of you know, cruise, we were trial and erroring it the point where I realized like, oh, this is you know, like a business, this is.
The whole thing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, like it's actually gaining some traction. Is when we started getting noticed by like other property owners nearby asking us.
Like hey, who manages your property?
Yeah? Yeah, like would you possibly be interested in helping us manage ours? Or like you know, how do you do it? And it was then that we acquired a few more under our management. But one thing I'd like to say is at this time, like our infrastructure did not support it, yeah, or like it was really yet breaking point, like because he had asked me to set up this one property for him when I was just out of UNI, before I had even started a full
time job. Yet our operating like processes and procedure were like bare bones. It was basically just an Excel sheet with like a to random formulas that I had made.
Is that's the easiest thing to do when you just have one thing to do exactly?
It was like the MVP, right, And it was just like a few message templars I had written up. There was like no chat GPT, so I just you know wrote all of them myself.
Oh chat GPT would do amazing things for you now, right right, so incredible, Yeah.
So it was really really like their votes. Everything was like manual on exl so when we got a few more properties under management. To be honest, I feel like I could have buffed up the tech more at that time, but because I was also by that time also juggling a full time job, I just didn't have like the time or energy to invest into it. So it was really like bootstrapping it.
For a while, just get it done.
Yeah, exactly. And yeah, because my intention had always been, my thinking has always been like, oh yeah, I'm just gonna, you know, through my day job. I'm gonna go and you know, start my career, and I'm going to progress along in my career in like a completely different field. This is just like a humble side hustle that I'm doing. I didn't really invest that much more into it. I'd say, like the point when I decided that I could go full time into this business, it was because of like
several reasons, I guess. First of all, the current job that I was in, the one right before this was, like I mentioned in my submission, a bit toxic.
Yeah.
And I don't want to say that word lightly as well, because it is like quite a strong word.
It was really bad.
It was really bad, Like it was it was full of politics, a lot of red tape. It was a large organization and just like a poor work culture, and I was just like mentally and emotionally drained every day working there. But at the same time, it was like I was getting paid like a good salary.
There's always a trade off.
Yeah, yeah, So it really took a lot of I guess, like convincing from I guess like my partner and also myself to make that switch, because I think by that point I was like still so focused on like the dollar figure and like the number.
And that would have meant a lot to you as well, especially in your background, the idea of earning one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars at twenty three, Like, I don't know, if I could have walked away from that, I would have stayed in my little toxic bubble of toxicness and pretended I liked it.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think what it came down to was like after just being so like emotionally drained every day, just wondering to myself, like is this actually worth it? Like first of all, like my lifestyle isn't like I don't need a lot of money to just live mine lifestyle, Like, yes, I was saving a lot, which was good. But at the end of the day, like you know, I think you like you talk about values on your podcast, and I think it that's sort of what it came down to, is like the life
that I want to lead in the future. Like I sort of I realized, like, hey, I just need to make enough money to facilitate the sort of life I want in the future.
I love I love it. That's the way you're thinking about it.
Rather than like just reach like a really high, arbitrary figure that you know will never be enough, Like if you'll just focused on a figure, go high, higher, But the trade off is like work life balance or mental health, and like, that's not what I want to see in my future. So I guess it was realizing that, but realizing that was also kind of painful because it was then like going back and realizing, like, oh, what have I worked so hard for?
I guess, Yeah, but you learned a lot. Yeah, and you learn a lot about what you didn't like and what you wouldn't accept. And I think that sometimes we disregard how much we've learned, even though it's not super positive. But yeah, pay off in the future, I promise.
Yeah, yeah, one hundred percent. Like I sort of, you know, took it always learning experiences, but I did sort of, upon reflection, look back and sort of realize that I had pinned a lot of my self worth to my achievements and by like how much I was making or what I was doing, and and it's like really dangerous, I feel to think that way, because yeah, like when what you're doing no longer sort of fulfills you anymore, like I was feeling in my last job, your self
worth or like your sense of self starts shipping away as well, because it's so like inextricably tied in your mind to your achievements and what you're doing.
Yeah, that's so true.
So it's like your whole reality.
Like YEAHS questioned, Yeah, oh my gosh, I'm so excited that you did it though. That's so good.
Yeah.
Yeah, so it was definitely like a leap of faith.
But yeah, I think a calculated one.
Yes, hopefully calculated.
I love that.
But yeah, this opportunity as well to run a full time also, I guess appeared at the right time and place as well, because, as I said, we were sort of at breaking point with how we were managing it, like our current operations, Our current infrastructure wasn't supporting like the amount of I guess, like bookings or like traffic and revenue that we were taking.
Yeah, that's fair as well.
Like it was literally the same Excel spreadsheet and formulas I had made years ago.
Please tell me we've retired the XL.
Oh, my gosh, it's it's really bad.
Like no, not, we all start somewhere. My entire business used to be run on XL and it was embarrassing the day I walked into my account and I, I think I've got a legit business and we probably should have accounting software. And you said, m Yeah, I told you that twelve months ago. So you know what, I did my stuff in my time, and I'm sure you did too. But we're just we're all just trying our best out here.
Okay, exactly exactly. It's MVP. It's you know, the minimum viable product. It's it's whatever works.
Exaxactly all right. I want to know, can you tell me a bit more about your big money goals, like what are you working towards?
Yeah, so a big money goal right now is definitely purchasing our next home with my partner. So in the next four to five.
Years, do you already own a home.
Yes, both of us own a home.
A big dog, energy, she's a baby, she has her own business, she owns a home. She wants to buy another one, of course she does.
Yeah, so that's our money goal in the next four to five years. So it's still quite a while away.
Four to five years. That's tomorrow. That's so soon. That's so exciting.
Yeah, yeah, so you know, yeah, hoping by then we'll both have enough like borrowing power and you know, would have saved up a bit as well to make that purchase. And you know, we might have to sell one of both properties. Depends how we go. I see, I guess.
Oh how exciting. All right, I have a lot more questions for you. We're going to go to a really quick break and on the flip side. I want to know more about your investments, your properties. I want to know about debt, and I also want to know about your best and worst money habits. Don't go anywhere, guys. All right, money diarist, we are back, and you slipped in that you might have to sell one or both properties. Are you trying to tell me that you've got multiple properties.
If so, can you tell me about your investments, my friend.
Yeah, definitely not multiple. I do have one investment property that I got about a year ago. It's an investment property that I do get rental income from, so it adds about twenty k to my income every year.
Oh how cool.
But yeah, I did buy it at a very sweet low interest rate a year ago.
So oh yeah, and now you feel like you're being kicked while you're down.
Yeah. Yeah, So I'm really not looking forward to when that fixed rate period runs out and I have to face the reality. Like everyone else, you need.
To talk to the girls at Zella Money to make sure that you're structured well for that so that it doesn't completely bite you in the bottom when it pops up, so that everything is good to go. I feel like all of our clients at the moment are super stressed about that. But with some good planning, it won't be nearly as painful, I promise.
Yeah. No, I definitely need to get onto that.
Tell me a bit more about this property though. How much did you have to save to purchase it, and how did you decide that that was the right investment property for you?
Yeah, so I have to save the twenty percent deposit. So it was a five hundred and seventy k property, so the deposit on that was just over one hundred grand.
Oh my gosh, and you saved all of that money and you're a baby. How did you do that?
I would say savings from UNI not much at all, because I was working part time, of course, but also then working full time for just over two years and living at home.
I'd say, yeah, okay, so that makes a lot more sense. And as you said before, you obviously had a very high income, but I'm assuming from the way that we've been conversing, you don't spend all of that. You have a relatively frugal life. Is that correct?
Yeah? Yeah, And to be honest, I wasn't sort of like actively like saving towards this first home. Like it wasn't in my mind that like, I'm saving towards a first home because I really want to buy a property at this time time or by the state. And like I was living at home as well, which I'm super lucky to have done. So I wasn't sort of like paying rent or bills or anything. So yeah, incredibly lucky for that. And I guess you know, those two years were lockdown, so twenty twenty one.
Yeah, and there's not a lot you can do at that period of time.
Exactly, so that you know, even if I wanted to, there wasn't too much that I could blow my money on during that time, And like, I know, like as bad as it sounds, because I know a lot of people suffered during lockdown, of course, like I don't think I would have been able to save up for a deposit if.
It hadn't been yeah, unless you were kind of literally locked inside and you couldn't go and spend all your money. Yes, yeah, yeah, no, I think there are a lot of people like that. And I mean it goes in ebbs and flows right every single market, whether it is a bull market or a bear market. There are people who benefit and there are people who don't. And that's actually okay, it's not your fault, but I can see why you're like, oh, I feel a bit icky about this because so many
people were not doing well during that time. But I promise you it is okay, my friend.
Yeah, yeah, And I felt, like, you know, honestly, I felt, I don't know, like even a bit guilty at the time, Like, I didn't put it on socials. I didn't really tell many of my friends except like my closest.
Yeah, because you just feel uncomfortable because so many of your friends might have lost jobs or really been struggling, or their partners were losing jobs, or they're moving back in with parents because they can't afford things. And then you're out here being like, actually, hey, I've achieved something really cool. I completely understand where you're coming from, but it doesn't mean we should downplay your achievements because somebody else quote has it worse.
Yeah, I'm realizing that as well, but definitely, yeah, back then it was sort of something I couldn't openly celebrate.
And that's okay. I think that just tells us how much of a kind human being you are.
I guess. So the how I ended up buying that home, though, was I wasn't really thinking about buying a property, but sort of, you know, lockdowns and stuff lifted. The interest rates were really low. I think that was definitely a big motivator. And I know, like there's risks to that
as well, because it won't stay low forever. And now I'm sort of you know, now we're all seeing that, but that definitely was like a big incentive to sort of jump into the property market at the time, and I was sort of encouraged by like family as well to do it. It was sort of I think for them, their mindset was really like why not, Like you have the deposit and it's a really low interest rate, cash is cheaper than ever, sort of the like why not
just do it now? So like I wish I could say that I thought more about it apart from that, but that was really like how it happened.
Yeah. Wow. I feel like it's nice that you can be so honest about it, though, because I think so many times people are saving and they just don't know what they're saving for at that point, and then all of a sudden it all falls into place and that's okay, and that's amazing, and that's why we need consistent savings goals. Do you have any other investments?
Yeah? I invest in stocks, so like ETFs and shares, and I started doing that during like lockdown as well. So I think to date, I've got about twenty two thousand dollars in like ETFs and shares.
Oh my gosh, you're a baller. I did not expect this.
That was definitely not the amount I put it. It's gone up a bit from the time I put it in, and it was like during the crash. So yeah, I think I'm lucky.
Invested at a smart time in that sense. Yeah, how did you decide what shares and what ETFs you wanted to pick?
I'd say, like for myself, it was like a combination of like research articles. No, sorry, not research articles that makes it sound like it was like a medical journal or something, but like researching articles online. Like friends and family, I guess just like conversations with them, like oh, what do you invest in and what do you think is
performing well? We're going to perform well. And like I'm not like a very fine and investing person myself, Like I don't like keep up with the stock market or anything. So yeah, I really just rely on like my conversations with the people around me to sort of let me know what's going on most of the time.
That's cool to know, though. I really like understanding how people make decisions and why they make decisions. And it's so interesting because even if this was your first investment, it's going to be so different to somebody else's first investment and their thought process and what that actually looks like. It makes me. I just love it. I'm so interested in it. Everyone else is like, Victoria, that's so boring. I'm like, no, it's not. Tell me more.
Yeah, it's really interesting. I find it fascinating myself as well too.
I want to know. Now, I know you've got some debt, because there's no way you've paid off that whole mortgage yet, tell me about debts. Do you have any? If so, what are they?
Yes, so I do have a mortgage on my property, and yeah, like you said, I really should calculate how much my repayments will go up by and yeah, what impact that would have on like my lifestyle. But yeah, I've just been procrastinating, putting it off a bit, just because the thought seems very scary.
Soon you work out what that's going to mean, and when the easier or b I promise, I know, I know, I promise. So any other debts just the mortgage at this point.
No, I also have my hex debt, although I'm not loving the indexation on that either.
Nobody is. Don't worry.
Currently after indexation, it's sitting at just over eight.
K oh that's Okay, that's not too bad at all, but indexation would have made you feel a little bit sick when you're so close to the finish line.
Yeah yeah, I actually just checked it last night, and I was like surprised by the amount. I think, like because it had just been like I've just been automatically paying it off like every pacelip. It's gone down like faster than I've thought it would have been.
Oh that's good, though. I want to know, because I feel like you've got a few what are your best money have its?
I think like a combination of having like a high interest bank account and credit card. So I do use a credit card to you know, just manage my like cash and cash out sort of thing. Like I use it more as like a financial tool, which is why I sort of don't consider it that much as dead because I've I've never been late on a payment.
No, But that's okay, because everybody is. Everyone's in a different situation, right. I know, if you gave me a credit card, I'd be tap happy and we would not be in a good financial position at all. But someone like you who's using it as a tool to create more financial resources genius, so smart I can't be trusted though.
I think it's also the points that I earned from credit cards. Like I sort of just see it as like, oh, free money, because.
I mean technically it is if you're not paying a really big annual fee for your credit card.
Yeah yeah, So like on my day to day spending, like it's money that I would have to spend anyway. I sort of use my credit card to get the points, but then like I have most of my money for like most of the time in like a high interest bank account, so I get the interest, but then I also get the points. And right before my credit cards bill is do you I pay it off fully? So I don't, you know, get any fees from that.
You don't see it. You don't get any fees, you're not paying any interest, which is the smart way to use a credit card.
Yeah. Yeah. And because I had like accumulated like a fair amount of points from like some credit cards have bonuses when you sign up for them. Plus sort of like my like day to day spending, I've cashed out like four or five hundred dollars worth of like vouchers.
So far money win. That's free money. That's absolutely free money. That's girl Math.
It's one hundred percent girl maths and it's so good.
Oh, I love that You're so smart when it comes to that. See, I would just collect all the points and then forget that they were there as well, because I had all this new stuff that I bought with my credit card.
I've been using it on like a Willy's vouchers oh so much, just because like, groceries are so expensive these days anyway.
One hundred percent they are. That's such a smart way of using it as well, because that would go so much further, and it also ends up impacting your overall budget. Instead of you seeing it as like, oh I can get something new and shiny with this, because it's girl math money, you can actually cut down your bills and your actual spending, which ultimately impacts your financial security. So that's genius.
Yeah, that's I guess that's that's what I've been using it for. But yeah, it's It's definitely helped with the budget a bit more.
I know everybody listening to this is probably thinking, there's no way this money direct has bad money habits. She's so young, so smart, so good with money. But we need to know do you have any bad money habits. What is your.
Worst Unfortunately I do.
Oh yeah, okay, here we go, sorry.
To break the fac had. I think my worst money habit is like going back to investing, is not really having like a solid plan for investing. Like I get the basic concepts of like investments and putting money into shares and that, but I keep forgetting to do it regularly or like sort of have a solid strategy for
doing it. So like, for example, every time I've invested in shares, it's literally because I'll be having a conversation with like family or a friend or my partner and I like suddenly remember, like, oh, yeah, I have shares. I should probably check in on them. It's been a while.
That's not the worst way to be.
And then I log on and then I might make like one or two trays and then I just forget about it for the next six months. I'm lucky in that, like overall, I haven't made a loss, but there definitely has been like certain stocks and stuff.
That that haven't performed as well.
No have like completely crashed, and then like I'm too lazy sometimes to just like take them out, And I don't know. I think it's like some sort of weird mental block for me. But yeah, I feel like if I am a bit more diligent and actually like sat down to do like a you know, a real investment plan, like I could get better retens on my investments.
Yeah, fair, fair, I mean, I will agree that that might be your worst money habit, but that's not the worst money habit I've ever heard. In fact, it makes me think that you're relatively good at money still, even though you think that's not a good habit, which leads me to my last question. At the start of the episode, I are, do what you would grade your own money habits? And you told me it was a B. After we have had a chat, do you still agree with a B?
And if so, that's cool? What would it take to get you to an A?
I think after speaking with you, I'll upgrade it to a B plus.
Okay, I love you.
Know you've fluffed me up a little bit.
Always that's my job.
So what would it take for me to get to an A? I think, yeah, like just having a more solid plan for investing. I think my exposure to sort of investing when I was younger was always like from property like real estate, right like that's what I feel like most parents in that generation say, but it's not as applicable for many people now and definitely not very feasible for me to just you know, build a real estate empire.
Like it's yeah, yeah, it's definitely not what it used to be.
Yeah, so like looking into other forms of investments and for a lot of people that shares, it's a lot more accessible. And yeah, I feel like if I actually, like you know, did more research into it, was more diligent with it. Yeah, I could probably get myself to an A.
I love that. I love that there's a plan though, and you know what, it will take money, Diarist, it has been an absolute pleasure chatting with you. I feel like I've learned a lot. I have felt that you have achieved so much, but you are still only a baby. You're only twenty four and you've done all this stuff. I'm just so impressed. But sadly, that is all we have time for today. So thank you so much for
joining us. I'm just genuinely so grateful to share so many diverse stories in our community, Like our community is made up of so many beautiful human beings, and the fact that you want to hang out with me and share your story. It blows my mind. It's literally my favorite thing ever.
So thank you, no, thank you so much for having me feel so happy and yeah, grateful to be here.
I love that. Thank you and just.
Like contributing back to I guess like, yeah, like this community, as you said, because it's really helped me a lot, like your content and like the Facebook group and everything, like I love going in there and feel like I've learned a lot over the past few years.
Oh, I love this. Thank you so much. All Right, have the best day, and I'm sure we'll cross paths again very soon. The advice shared on She's on the Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial.
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