Hello.
My name is Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud or
the Order Kerni Whaltbury 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.
Let's get into it. She's on the Money. She's on the Money.
Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money podcast that makes personal finance fun, especially on Fridays. It is our favorite day of the week because we get the team together and we celebrate you the incredible She's on the Money community. Mister Skrieky is here as always, and she's going to be sharing our favorite money wins. I think one of her money wins, Beck is going to be discount easter eggs. Probably yep, fantastic.
Beck.
You're here obviously, and you're going to be sharing your broke tips. We're going to be helping to answer a money dilemma, which this week is all about setting boundaries and knowing your worth and something that you slid into our dms about what do you do when you want to leave a relationship but you can't financially afford.
To do so?
Oh, I feel like that is a really good topic to discuss. But before we get into the deep juicy stuff, I need to know how have your weeks been, Jessica.
Have you gotten discount Easter eggs?
Oh?
You know, I was at the shop in the mornings scooping them up, But you know what, half price this year feels like full price last year.
So discussing, I'm getting why is that good? Why were they fifteen dollars? Crazy?
I opted for baking all my Easter stuff this year because I was just like, no, it's so.
Great, actually way better. And yeah, just made these like Easter egg nests with.
What are they called the mini eggs?
Yep, the mini eggs, but like the conchy mini eggs. Oh, she found them so.
Hard, hunt.
I had to buy the little individual tidy packets because they were all God, I literally bought like fifteen I was like, I feel like a bad person because I'm taking all.
These nicecrew it I need them.
Yeah, but then she made it for me, so slaighty.
They're just so good and you're so cute, Jessa. It's so sweet of you.
Cute.
I was your weekend, your Easter really nice?
My dad was randomly in Melbourne, so okay nice, Yeah random, So that was a nice just like you know, extra for the weekend. And then yeah, just saw some friends ate a lot of chucky and yeah, having a great time over here.
I love that about you.
Oh, mine was full of renovations actually, so we've recently finished our bathrooms, which you'll see all over my social media very very soon.
But I also decided, and I.
Feel like this is this is big, Jess is going to be like I would never I have sacrificed my walking wardrobe to make it my son's bedroom because we have a split level house and upstairs there's one bedroom. There was like a walking wardrobe downstairs were the additional bedrooms. I didn't want Harvey to be like all the way downstairs, like in the night, Like that just didn't fare like,
it just didn't feel right. So we have made a very small bedroom upstairs by like knocking out a wall, putting in a new one, and now I just have an Ikea packs wardrobe like it's built into the wall. We've done I would say a pretty good job of it, but we've like built it into the wall as opposed to having a walk in wardrobe. So we've lost a lot of wardrobe space, which I don't think Jess would
ever consent to. But it means that Harvey can have his own little bedroom upstairs, like right next to our bedroom. Ye cute just feels right, Yeah that makes any sense.
I don't know.
I never thought i'd be this needy mum like Beck. I just really didn't see this coming. Like I did not think that I would be the mum that wants to watch their baby on the monitor, like I screen record him sometimes, Like I had this screen recording I can show you later of him playing in his cut. Once he woke up in the morning with one of our cats, the most wholesome thing in the entire world. He goes to sleep, I'm looking at videos and pictures of him on my phone.
What that's so cute?
Like I can't be trusted And like I used to think that the mums that were doing that I was like, weird, Okay, have some you time, babe.
I don't want you time.
I want to look at pictures of my baby and cry about how he's so much bigger than he was. Anyway, it's been a very wholesome easter. Obviously, Harvey loved it. I don't think he comprehends it, yees, because he's still a little bit little for it. But he was very excited. Yeah, because there was lots of colorful things and lots of stuff on the ground that you could pick up, and that's very fun. That was my weekend. Also, I've been in the reviews. Do you guys want a five star review?
Absolutely before we get there. We did actually get a couple of weeks ago saw this when I was looking a two star review, which is hilarious because apparently, get this. We should not be covering the budget because it's government based, and somebody believes that only get this. Skilled journalists bring a level of rigor and nuance that a lay person might not achieve.
Well, Jess's face is like, but what the whole point of this podcast is to make things more accessible to people?
I don't please agree that, Like.
You know, journalists do an incredible job, and they're so important that they get no point.
Do we have a claim to be expert?
I actually do claim to be a finance expert.
Literally, I claim on a daily basis that I am expert when it comes to finance, because I am.
I'm sorry.
I just thought it was so funny because obviously, like there are so many beautiful people leaving beautiful reviews, but like this two star one, I just thought was really funny to bring up because I was like, do you really think that I read this and go, yeah, you're right, I wouldn't know how to interpret the budget or talk about anything when it comes to politics.
Yeah, I mean, at least it was two stars and not one.
Yeah, self aligning also cheers. But on the same page we got another one that was five star. But if you guys also think that maybe we should be covering
the budget, I loved covering the budget. I think I was salty about that review because I was like, hold on, I think we deciphered it in a really beautiful way that made a lot of sense to our audience, and we had so many nice messages from people saying I have never engaged in the budget before until your episode, or until your Instagram posts or until I saw you guys like really getting into it and what it means for me.
Yeah, I'm going to keep doing that.
Sorry, sorry, not sorry, but we got one five stars. It's from Becky. She says, amazing, amazing, amazing. Hi, she's on the Money Team. I just wanted to leave a little review so that you guys know how much I love your podcast. I'm a twenty four year old mum of two toddlers and I need all of the broke tips, advice, support and inspiration I can get. The podcast gives me just that and more. I've started a master's degree in
accounting after leaving my healthcare job. As you three have shown me my absolute love for money, numbers and still being able to help people. I have you, guys to thank for opening these doors for me. You three are an absolute dynamic trio. I'm doing God's work for the girlies and you.
Are also appreciated. Love you guys so much.
Oh my god, that is really beautiful. Congratulations, that's so sweet. We love you, Thank you sweet, Thank you so much. Also, look at this influence.
I don't know if you guys think this is as sexy as I do, but more women in finance and accounting. Yeah, yeah, I love to see it so much Like Masters.
That's incredible.
An icon who runs the World Girls exact. Oh, speaking of the girls, tell me about the Facebook group. What have our friends been up to? One of their favorite money wins of the week.
Alrighty, first of this week, I have one from Chow Chow, he said. I was sitting at home last night eating a pint of salted caramel hugan Dos on my couch, watching Netflix with my silly dog in my new apartment, with a manageable mortgage and money in my offset account. My bills are fully paid, my fridge is fully stocked, and I am just loving my life.
Wow, my stomach felt really warm.
I also huggin us. Oh that I was going. He's just so.
Good, gorgeous. I love the positive mind there. You love to see it.
And she did give us a dog photo of said dog, Chow Chow Dog.
Chow Chow Dog has a chow chow.
Oh my goodness, he's so fluffy. Girl. The photoguys he's adorable.
Oh my god.
Also, just a gentle reminder to the community, if you're going to mention your dog and not give us a picture.
We do judge you. Pet taxis due ye.
Next of kind of money win from Teresa, who said money win, I'm going to New Zealand for ten days with free accommodation the whole time. Excuse me, how merely by being an excellent friend. I haven't lived there for fifteen plus years, but I still keep in touch with all of my friends there. Some of them might even chat to daily. I love that so much, right, and I love the idea of yeah, staying with a friends cozy, it's kitzy. Next, I've got a money win from Pullack,
who said money win. My Dyson vacuum stopped working, so I reached out to Dyson customer support, who suggested I either get a battery change, which would have been one hundred and twenty dollars, or they could offer me twenty five percent on off of a new purchase. I did some research and I found the battery replacement off of Amazon for forty dollars. It had great reviews and it saved me eighty dollars total from what I would have paid at Dyson.
That but also props to Dice and for good customer service like they kind of said's out of warranty or oh no, we don't do that, but they offered you a discount on it.
That's pretty good, especially off dyce In.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. You could probably stack it with cash back too.
Exactly exactly started. That is great.
There is good cash back on Dyson as well, like not being sponsored by any of those, but like, whenever I see the cash back on Dyson, I'm like, maybe I do need a new aerrap.
I know I don't need a new air rap that you can get like up to twenty percent cash back, which is so good cash back twenty five percent.
Maybe I'll just DM them they have like a live chat function and be like, hey guys, I have working dyce In products. But I did see that you released a baby pink air wrap and I find that quite rude. Yeah, get this baby pink and rose gold.
Oh anyway I could pretend that you have I can say, well, I actually just think that's really rude because I have a hot pink one and while that is really chic, baby think would suit Jess.
Had my aesthetic much better?
Yeah you think it's beautiful?
Yeah, yeah, I had my hair draps so maybe it's time for my hair drap. It would match my hair dryer which I have in the baby Pink. Well, you've got to have it exactly, say.
Set up the customer support chattered.
This is why Beck, I have to have my savings at a different bank.
Next, I've got a money win from Nicole who said I finally transitioned my old budget to the shees on the money budget, and I've discovered a few places where I could capture some lost savings.
Iconic or just love almost like I spent ages building that to work.
Imagine.
Next, I've got the money win from Ruth, who said she bought a dress she's wondered for ages the secondhand off of Deep Hop. Instead of spending one hundred and ninety dollars to buy it brain new she bought it for sixty two dollars including shipping. And the bonus was it had only.
Been worn once.
Oh how good is that?
I'm loving Deep Hop.
Oh my god.
I bought a pair of shoes off Deepop. I have them in my car. I will show you them to you. This is going to mean not a lot to Beck, but like it. I bought a pair on Deepop of vintage Manolo Blanets. Oh they cost me delivered eighty dollars, which obviously eighty dollars on a pair of shoes, you might go whatever, but there's like thousand dollar shoes. But they're like a beautiful vintage pair and they had some stains on them, but I cleaned them up and they
are perfect and I'm obsessed with them. And they're in like my perfect size, like they're a thirty eight and a half. Amaze, that is right, that's right. Anyway, deepop is giving. Yeah, I got it was so cute, see it was very happy with it. And then lastly this week, I've got money in from Rannon who said she claimed eleven dollars and seventy five cents for her cancer counsel sunscreen through her health insurance.
Yes.
Good.
Just reminded to double check that we're coming towards end of financial year, so claim your things, claim your things, double check what you can claim to you because sunscreen is a great one.
Oh I love that for us, and that did for me this week. I was going to make a joke, but it's too late now. Oh is it just give your head too quick?
No?
It was relating to pet tags, and I was gonna say.
Oh, yeah, it's really delayed your that.
Sound statements delivery. But anyway, let's move on as quickly as possible. So my broke tips if you'd like to hear, of course, yep. This first one comes from Jock, which is an interesting one. So you know, sometimes you go to like parties or like you have people over and you're like, I'm gonna get some snacks and they've suggested cheesels instead of chips because it looks more impressive and they're often cheaper.
I love a cheesel to It reminds me of like a kindergarten party, Like the cheesels. They actually sit right beside the fairy bread and they're across from the party pie and like a little.
Plastic what did you used to call them?
I don't know, like the cocktail frankfurts, the like little red frank fet Like.
No, I'm not actually a.
Little boy wiener.
So what I used to call them when I was little was little boys, and I just really inappropriate. But like when you were little, you didn't you wouldn't know, you don't know, And then yes, I was trying to say cocktail Frankfurt, Jessica, not weener.
Cocktail is just a suggestive yeah, but like.
Who doesn't love a little cocktail? Frank Fit.
We need the little toothpick though in it with a little flag. We should have a kid's party at work, Conde.
I would love that.
Do you want what surely you had?
Cavanosi?
What is Cavanossi?
He's basically saying he's just like harder, more gristly, way, less yummy and like you know, long long, like the red twiggs called twiggy sticks. Sorry it must be used other whales thing.
I have.
Tweaky stick.
Hey everyone, editor Sam here, and I was listening to this audio. I heard the girls guess the Cavanossi is twiggy sticks. Knew immediately that if we didn't correct that the dms would blow up with people letting them know. So just want to let everyone know. I've informed them, and they wanted me to let you know that they now know the very specific difference between these meats. Not really sure why we're doing a full sandwich meat conversation, but we are. Let's get back to it.
For a second, I thought she was going to go on to explain like Devon, like you know, like the smiley face devon. Oh yes, And you know what, when I was growing up, I used to think I was so hard done by it because so many kids in my class got Devon sandwiches with tomato sauce, and like, I used to trade my mum's sandwiches for those, And in hindsight, like my mom used to bake the bread.
My mom used to make like these beautiful salad sandwiches, and I would hate on them so hard for because I'd be like, ill, she puts mail on them and the mayo goes soggy and all they wanted was a Devon and sauce sandwich. Yeah, strasin sauce is what they called it. Yep, jealous.
You used to be crazy how everything's got a different name every week go.
You know.
Yeah, it's like if I say, what's a prima?
Like a juice box?
But would you call them primus? You call them like, no prima.
In my head, I thought of like hem, Yeah, so like at school, we used to call them premias, and I was having this conversation.
Brand, wasn't it Yeah yeah yeah, no, definitely different.
No.
I am glad that we got that whole sideline sorry, God, how did we get there? How did we get to Devin and jess Rickie?
Somehow we always end up in the same spot with our broke tip money wins.
We really are. And I was gonna say, if you try.
And either do what our listener did with the dice and kind of reach out. I just recommend if anything breaks anywhere in the world in something you know, something that you own, let's say your dice and hair app or whatever. Try And I was going to say, market go and market place and look for the parts or google the parts and.
Just choose a hand. Deep down you have.
My robot vacuum, like the little brushy thing e. I replace those myself. Yes, And some people will be like, I don't understand what's happening here. I'm just gonna get a whole new, brand new one, you know, And so just just try and do that first, or yes, go to customer service. I'm sure there's a cheaper way. If you've bought it once, you shouldn't have to buy it again and again, you.
Know what I'm saying.
Yes, and oh sorry that one came from Emma. I'm giving you credit where credit is to you and my one for this week is if you can afford it. So just want to like a tiny, little, very very short backstory, you know how I'm saying that I have like a million gym memberships.
Do you still have a millionaire?
I canceled all of them, I want to know on but I got another one, just one, just one, So it's like all clean. And I was like, you know, signing up, and I realized that this is probably more so if you are in a position of, you know, you have some money to put towards something, which is already a very privileged position to be. And so of course, but as I was signing up, he gave me options or three dollars per week or one hundred dollars a month, or twenty dollars a week if I paid bi annually.
Oh yeah.
So it just made me realize, like, if you can afford that, try to do I know a lot of just that.
It's where money has power, right, Like, that's where I would call that, in the most non offensive way possible, the poor tax. Yes, I agree, And I feel like that is so rude because they're saying, if you've got the cash, will give you an even better deal. Yeah, and I love that, but the people who need the better deal are the ones that don't have heaps of cash, which I think is why it's so important to get on top of our budgeting and our cash flow so
that we can seize opportunities like that. Like, how good would it be if you had a heap of cash in like saved, not even heaps, but like enough cash so that you can save cash? Yeah, exactly, it's so frustrating exactly.
But even if you like what because legitimately what I'm gonna do is put twenty bucks away every week for six months, Yeah, and then hopefully I'll be able to afford it, because right now obviously it cannot. But I just thought, like, wow, wow, those people really be getting some benefits.
Same thing happens with like your life insurance and your car insurance and like all of these other things. They often offer a pretty nice discount to do a lump sum.
Yeah, and like rude, I know, but anyway, that broke tip is somewhat depressing, but also just good to know it's actually a good broke tip, Thank you so much.
Also, if they.
Don't offer that and you have the cash, ask yeah, what if I paid for a year can I get a discount totally?
Yeah, do that. I think that's a good one. I love that.
All right, Well, how about we go to a really quick break we can talk more about party food and on the flip side, we're going to be talking about setting boundaries and knowing your worth, which is something I am wildly passionate about talking about and something that you slid into our dms about this week. What do you do when you want to leave a relationship but financially you just can't see how that's going to work?
Guys, don't go anywhere.
Welcome back, everybody. Let's take a listen to this week's money dilemma.
Hi.
There, have you got a money dilemma you just can't solve The She's on the Money team is here to help. Every week we tackle your dilemmas, both big and small, to answer your most burning money, career and life questions. To get involved, simply head to our website and leave us a short voice recording and you might just find yourself on the show. Now, let's take a listen to this week's money dilemma.
Hi, guys, I have a money dilemma with a side hustle that I really should be turning into a business, because I feel that it's gone too far. I work full time in a quite a good paying job, and I also work casually in another quite good paying job, so.
My time's quite full.
But on the side, I also do a lot of photography and videography work as a hobby. This hobby has really expanded and I've had a lot of people reach out to do their weddings. I've also had local councils reach out to ask me to do events like it's become quite a big thing. My issue is every time I do a large job, so like a full day wedding with videography or like a big event, I can't charge them. I feel really guilty and I let them have the work free, even though I have spent hours
doing this. I'm now beginning to hate photography, so I don't know what to do. I don't know how to now start charging or whether this is something I should completely stop and just let this hobby go.
Please help.
I'm burning myself out in doing this, but I also really struggle to say no.
Girl, no stop that I want to get it. I like tap tap tap on your hands, like absolutely not, I get it.
I get it, Like I get it too, but like it's not just about knowing your worth, Like people are genuinely taking advantage of you.
We know that you're bad at saying no.
Yeah.
Those industries specifically, like weddings particularly, are known for being really lucrative for photographers and videographers understandably, so it's a lot of hard work and it's judging on that. But like knowing what people pay for wedding photographers and they
know as well. If you're saying that those are big organizations, it's not like, oh I did like a shoot for a girlfriend who's starting a brand who maybe didn't know how much photographers get paid, right, yeah, But like you're saying you did big, They've done this before.
This ain't their first rodeo.
I get so angry about big organizations taking advantage of smaller people. It actually happens so much, And Jess can attest to this in our industry as well, of like people reaching out and expecting that I would speak at events for free, or expecting that I would go on a panel for free when they're selling tickets to that event and making money off it. Like there are so many can you imagine Jesse, if I went public with
who takes advantage like, you would be shocked. Obviously I'm not gonna do that, but you would be shocked about the level of audacity that some organizations have and how much power they hold. Like it's often the smaller businesses that are like, oh my god, like how much does it cost to do xyz? Because we'd love the opportunity to work with you. And they're the ones that we're like, hold on your brand new small business like gol We'll do that, you know, for free or for a significant
discountel look after you. But like, it's the big business says that take advantage and that kisses me off. I don't think she should stop doing something she loves. We need to flip it, though, into something that you continue to love because you don't like it because it's being associated with being taken advantage of and that's not fun.
Beck, what would you do in this situation?
Well, I totally totally get this feeling, because obviously I do like little arts and crafts on the side, and when someone asks me for a commissioned piece something that.
I did and I tried to pay you for it and you said no, So I don't know what to do about this situation.
So well, this is the thing is that if it's commissioned, then it's like someone's giving me an idea and I'm making it and they have no control over how it's going to look. I have no control over whether they'll enjoy it or not. And so in those situations, which is weird because commissioned you expect, in any other situation to be more expensive. Those pieces I do not even charge for because no, I don't know what.
I have a back, so I'm still going to pay it.
No, they might hate it, I don't know, and so that's I'm not going to hate it. It was made with love by beck That's why it's very sweet.
But can you just put a step in the middle in an instance where you're like, oh, I'll draw up a quick sketch so you have an understanding of what it's going to look like.
Kind of it it depends on because if it's ceramics, and it depends on like it will look different after both firings and after I've hand molded it, and like there's no telling. So I'm sorry asking for a custom piece based on seeing your previous custom work and enjoying the way you craft things.
No, you charge for that, that's true.
Well, the thing I've decided to do is just not do and maybe this will help for this person as well. I'm not gonna do commission pieces unless, like you know, it's a friend or something. And I because I actually do enjoy doing it, it's not a problem for me. But what I'm gonna do instead is I'm going to make stuff and then put it online with already a price on it, and then they people pay for it,
and then I sell it. Because that way, I can imagine with this person, like they've come in, they've been asked to a job, they come do the job. Afterward, when they're discussing money, it's like, oh, this is really awkward. I don't want to do this. I'm not going to charge.
But instead, if you had an option, maybe like an online situation where someone paid in advance, you pay for a let's say like a package where you're like, I send one hundred photos, I take out however many I send you one hundred, I have a thirty second video. You have packages, and you pay for the package in advance, so by the time you go and do the work, everything's being paid for. You don't need to discuss it.
You send everything you need. It says a problem after they'll come to you, and then you can be like and the chances of them coming back to you and being like, I have a problem with whatever, then you know the chance is very low. So but if that happens, then you can decide to give fifty percent back or all of the back, or whatever the hell you want to do. But paying an advance and just completely separating yourself from them. It's just a complete stranger on your
website deciding to buy something. You get notified someone's paid for a service, then you go forward with the service. That kind of like because I get I really get the feeling of like talking to someone and then be like how much is this and be like.
Ah, it's really awkward, am I? And that's where I that's where I think you need to get really clean and clear on your language, and like, this is something that I think Jess is really bloody good at. So yes, let's pretend it's us for a hot second, because it's really good and it does have example right, So let's pretend that we've got a client that we worked with and that's never paid us, and we're like, yeah, cool, we would like to be now paid for the work that we do.
How would you approach that? I think?
So what we because.
Also backtrack for those of you because we've got a lot of new listeners at the moment, which is very cool.
Jess.
There's also head of Partnerships for she's on the money. So she's not just like the hot girl that's on our podcast, is she like? She's also actually really really smart in this space. So you've come to the right place, guys.
Yeah, I think the biggest thing, and this is something you taught me VD, is just operate on the assumption when somebody comes to you, like someone says, hey, I really want to work with you, even though they haven't said it, they want to pay you for your work, because in our minds, we assume that all professionals should be paid for the jobs that they're doing, so because it's.
Way more awkward if they have to put on the table. Oh, I just assumed you'd work for free, correct And you go, I don't know why you would have had that assumption as opposed to working on the opposite assumption that they think it's going to be free, and you have to convince them yea, because that is a power play.
Yeah.
So it's when someone messages you or emails you or whatever it is and says, hey, we really love to work with you. The first thing that you should be doing is sending off your rate card. So what Beck was saying, whether you have individual you know, you might have a day rate, a half day rate, or packages for you know, X amount of photos, x amount of hours, whatever, however you want to set it up, have a think about what you want to charge, look at other people in your industry, put.
Together what that looks like for you. Anytime someone inquires with you, you're oh, my goodness, I would love to help you bring your vision to life.
This is so exciting. I've attached my rate card. Let me know if you've got any questions, because that then you.
Can go from there.
You're like putting a line in the sand that these are your expectations.
And now these.
People have to come back and say, oh, well, we were actually hoping you'd do it for free, or we are we didn't expect that, and that's so fine.
But I think it's about updating your language.
So if we've done it, for free historically, Like, even if we've done it for free, we can use the language of like, oh, hey, we've actually recently updated our rates. Yeah, yes, my rates before were zero, but now I'm charging for them.
I don't have to justify that to you.
I do not owe you an explanation on wanting to be paid for work that I'm doing. Like, I don't owe you an explanation. So, hey, our rates have updated recently. I've actually attached them for you. Have a quick look at that, and then once you've got a good idea of what you want to lock in, let me know when.
We can have a meeting.
Yeah.
Correct, And from there you can negotiate, you can do whatever. If you want to offer discounts for friends and family, you can do all those things. But I think it's genuinely just going oh, like, my default is I charge these prices, and my expectation is that anyone contacting me would understand that there's a fee attached, and I'm just letting them know what those fees are one hundred percent.
That's really nice.
Also, how good is the transparency of letting people know the fees before wasting either of our times on having a conversation, because there's nothing worse right even as me. Like, you know, let's say I am hiring a new photographer and I do this all the time, and you know, I'm engaging the service of somebody in a once off capacity.
We're doing a cute Xella money photoshoot, and I want to work with somebody I love when they send the rates first so that I know what to expect, because then I'm not having a whole conversation about me being like, oh, I found you on Instagram and I really liked your
work and I really want to work with you. And then the rate comes back at like five times what I had thought it might be, and then I have to go, oh, hey, like that's actually not in budget for us right now, like I've wasted their time, I've wasted my time. If they are giving me the rates upfront, I can go, oh my goodness, I'm brainstorming in my head. Okay, well that fits in budget, and oh I could add in this social aspect, all this, this and this. It's
an opportunity for upsell before you've even sold to me. Yeah, Like I'm looking at that and going okay, well that's reasonable and that if it's not within budget. I might go back and be like, hey, Jess, for example, I've had a look at your rate card and unfortunately it doesn't fit within budget. Thank you so much for your time. That's then their opportunity to if they wanted.
To offer a discount.
But from my perspective, I'm not undervaluing a freelancer or a service provider by saying can you do it cheaper. It's like, there's a reason they have those rates, And if they have those rates, I can promise you they have thought long and hard about what their value is and just because I can't afford it doesn't mean they have to lower their prices to meet my expectations.
No, it's actually it's the flip.
Really like, if that's what happens when someone comes back and goes, oh, I'm so sorry, I only had Let's say you're going to charge two thousand and they only had one thousand, that's your opportunity to say, okay, four
one thousand dollars. I can do xyz and maybe you drop some of the deliverables off, or you take a couple of hours off of the day so ice they're doing a full day, or do a half day or something like that, like that's your chance to then go, Okay, well I we can negotiate this XYZ within your existing budget, because I think the thing for freelancers all of the time is the fear of when you you're scared of putting your rates out there. And I get this as
someone who freelances. You're scared of putting your rates out there and then the opportunity going away completely. You're almost like, well, I'd rather to have one hundred dollars than no money at all.
But if you're being paid to begin with, I don't think you should be working with those people. To be quite blunt, like, yeah, if you are working with people that you adore but they aren't paying you, and then you put rates on the table and they go away, they were never there for you. They were there because they were able to take advantage of you. They weren't there because they're like, oh, Jess is the best ever there this? Go find your people. Go find clients that
actually pay you. Go find people that see value in the work that you have, because right now you're just finding free loaders who are taking advantage of a situation.
Let them go find someone else.
Yeah, and local councils specifically always have budget allocated of these things they do before.
Like they have budget, so like they can afford to pay you.
Yeah, one hundred percent.
And like if they have decided that they want you and you've put rates on the table, it can be so overwhelming putting your rates out and being like, oh, i'm exper hour, I'm this, or i'm that. You're like what if they come back, if they really want you, they're going to come back and politely explain, I'm so sorry, Jess, we don't have budget, and that's your opportunity to let them know what.
That looks like.
But then on the flip side, it means that they always see your value, so like that they know that they're getting a significant discount. Like and we always if we're working with a client at a discount, which we do sometimes, we always make sure we articulate why we're doing it, so we're not just like, oh, yeah, we
could definitely do it for less. We're like, oh, look we've had it, and we'll taliate to the clients for examples, yeah for example exactly, but we will articulate to them why they are getting a budget discount or whatever it is, because I might go, look, you're a really good brand for my community, and while you don't have budget, I think that they would get a lot of value out
of this as well. We clearly don't do this often, but it gives us an opportunity to build the relationship, and they're obviously grateful because it now fits within budget. But then if they revisit us again, like the same rate, supply, I can't always discount my rates, so we're not setting an expectation that now our relationship is worthless, like I'll work for less this time and we'll see how it goes.
Because I think that.
The community would love it, or I think that this would work really well, and I think going from there. But like, if people are taking advantage of you, they are not your people. They're not good clients, full stop.
End of story.
Yeah, yeah, start charging for your work.
Go on before I actually lose my mind.
Guys, we had a DM this week and you know what, this one makes me really sad because there are lots of people in this situation.
Would you like to hear it? Yes? Please?
High shes on the money. I haven't told anybody this yet. I want to leave my husband, but I don't think I can afford to financially. We've wrapped up debt in both our names over the years, and most of it was from his spending, as it's in both of our names. If I walk away, I still owe Huff. I've run the numbers and between rent bills and my share of debt, I actually don't think I can make this work on
my own. I feel completely stuck. I'm trapped in a relationship I don't want to be in because of money. Has anyone else been here? How do you leave when it feels financially impossible.
I'm really glad we're talking about this because there's so many people in this situation, and it will always looks so different. In the most ideal world, your husband is a very sweet person and is willing to work with you on this, But in a lot of cases, either they're really hostile, they're not very happy that you want to separate, and they're going to make things very difficult for you, and in really, really really sad cases, they're quite abusive and you feel scared for your life to leave.
It's so cooked.
It gives me goosebumps talking about this because there are so many women that have approached me over the years in this exact situation, and just I don't want anyone to be in that, Like I want you to have cash, not just so that we can buy cool shiny things.
I want you to have cash that you've got choices so you can leave a situation you don't want to be in, whether that is a partner or a workplace, or even just like you're out for the night and you don't want to be anymore and you don't feel safe getting the train home, Like I want you to be able to leave places, and all women deserve that, Like it just, oh my god, Beck, it just upsets.
Me totally, and what I immediately think of now, I don't know, I don't know how financially smart this is, but I'm just thinking about like my world and my mom as well. Like luckily for us, we were in a situation where, like you know, we were scared for our lives or scared of being harassed and kind of like chased down for leaving. So we were very lucky in that situation. But the first thing that came to mind was can you maybe if it's wise or possible
for you, I would file for bankruptcy. Personally, this is probably not good advice, but I would file for bankruptcy.
I would clear that debt.
I would get myself a job anywhere I can, and just be like, Okay, I'm starting from zero now, and I'm going to move into a sharehouse, or I'm going to go and look at what resources are available, maybe a what are they called, sorry, the women's shelters. Sorry,
that's the word. With or without children? Obviously it's very very difficult, but without I'm thinking as long as you're kind of like starting from scratch, I'm also assuming there are not sources available, friends, family, things like that, just in case, so shelters. Personally, i'd file for bankruptcy. I don't know about you, guys, because I'm like, I'm trying to leave a situation and I can't afford to it, literally cannot afford to do that. And so I'm finding
as cheap and as affordable housing as I can. I'm getting any job that I can. My priority right now is not to get on top of my debt and get on top of my finances and make sure I've got an emergency fund. As not my worry right now. My worry is feeding myself, finding housing starting from there, and then going wherever the hell you can. But yes, that's my advice. I don't know if you guys are on the bankruptcy train with me.
It does. It depends how much debt.
It depends how much how much debt because bankruptcy, while I know you've spoken publicly about having utilized that yourself, you were in so much debt that you weren't going
to get out of it. Like you know, bankruptcy stays on your record for seven years, and there's a lot of stuff that like a lot of criteria that you need to meet during that period of time, right and like you've like is the word struggled or you've you've dealt with this over the last yeah, six or seven years, like your phone plan.
Yeah, And I do want to say, like for context and just so this person knows, I don't think it has affected me at all. But I also haven't needed to get a home loan or anything like that. But right now I am able to get everything because it's.
It was tweet if it's like thousands and thousands, or if it's like two thousand dollars worth of debt at this point and like it's a good option, but I think from my perspective, it wouldn't be the first Porto call, Like, I want you to make a plan and see what we can do with outgoing bankrupt because I literally run a mortgage broking business. I have seen women come out of these situations and in two years flip their entire
situation and own their own home. And like, I don't want anybody to have to wait because of a situation they were in. I think for you it made a lot of sense. And like there are and we've done podcasts on bankruptcy. Maybe we'll link them in the show notes as well. But there are so many situations where bankruptcy is the perfect bit like clean slate for somebody, like it just wipes everything. It is actually sometimes so empowering to go, you know what, I'm going to surrender
to this, wipe me clean. I know that there are like rules and regulations and whatever that I'm going to have to abide by, but that is so much better than the fifty plus years it probably would have taken me to get out of that debt. And I can just start building well for on my own and taking my power back. I adore that, but like, let's look at all our options that can be one of them and make the decision that makes sense for our situation.
If that is fair, ess what would you be doing?
I'm not sure if how Lis is only sorry, it sounds like maybe you have, but if you haven't running a full budget of what you would need to pay to exist on your own, because obviously, as you're kind of getting out, in addition to taking on your debt, repayments and stuff, you're going to be no longer splitting costs that historically you probably were, like the cost of.
Food, your electricity, you're housing.
So put together a budget, figure out what that housing situation looks like. Are you looking at shelters, are you looking to share house? Have you got somebody you can move in with? How long will that term be for? Run your numbers, figure out what you need to live on, figure out what the deficity is, and then go, Okay, do I need to get a second job? You know, it's no one wants to do that, but as someone who works two jobs for the majority of their working life, it's doable.
You know.
It's sometimes we have to sacrifice short term to put ourselves in a good position long term. So whatever hold, whatever job you've got now, can you waitress in the evenings or on the weekends, can you bartend? Can you do some kind of shift work, warehousing. There's a lot of options out there. It is hard, like I'm not going to lie to you, but it is better than being in a situation that you don't want to be in.
Once you've got an idea of your numbers, I would also be calling our friends in the National Debt Help Line they are to spread.
About them out. Yes, absolutely, they're a great resource.
They have access to financial counselors. They'll be able to be financial counselors, and they will be able to help you come up with a plan. They have access to a lot of resources. They're well versed in all the support programs that are available. You know that our government assistance programs for people who are leaving hard situations. Again, we don't really know exactly what your situation looks like, but if those resources are needed, they will be able
to point you in the right direction. So have a chat to them because they will be able to kind of table for you what all the options are. It will likely include bankruptcy as an option. It might include, you know, consolidating your debt. They will be able to talk you through all the different things having looked at your situation holistically, because obviously, where we've just got a DM to go off of, we we can only provide
very generalized insite. So I think having someone look at your situation in depth and provide you all of your options will probably be really empowering for you to help you see what the right move is. So I would be having a chat to them and yeah, I would really just be running your numbers and seeing, Okay, well how much money do I need to make and what can I do to make that happen? Because it is a short term thing. We've said before, living by yourself
is far more expensive than living with a cup. That's unfortunately just the reality of it. But there are lots of things that you can do to lessen that burden, like share housing and things like that too.
Yes, also sendlink is also a really good option. Also, if you're on sendlink for a certain amount of time, you can claim financial hardship. It's a whole thing.
Maybe just Google yah literally can get in touch with the National Debt Helpline. They are incredible and They're not just for people who are up Chip Creek without a paddle.
I think so many times you think you can't call these services because your situation isn't bad enough for that, you aren't as in need just call like because they'll let you know and be like, oh, actually you're fine, and maybe that's the validation you need to leave, Like you might be not budgeting correctly and they can like tweak a few things and then you're on in your.
Way, right.
Yeah, But I think that the other thing I want to say is one eight hundred. Respect is a really fantastic resource that again is underutilized because so many times you think, oh, I have to be in a super abusive relationship or I have to be in these like really really bad situations to reach out. But you could pick up the phone and they can give you the emotional support you need, a little bit of guidance, like some resources that are going to point you in the
right direction and on the right path. And then also it takes a village, so like you've obviously sat down and done all of the numbers and you're just like probably in your own head about the plans and what's going on. Sometimes we need to reach out sometimes we need to get in contact with these resources. I'm not saying you have to tell your friends and family. And I feel so privileged to have seen this DM coming through because you've just told me. I haven't told anybody,
but I think I'm going to leave my husband. Thank you for trusting us with that. Like, I want to know that you are safe and well and on the right path. But the best way to do that is to literally reach out to some professionals and be like, look, I really want to leave my husband, and I have done all the budget and I don't think it's going to be possible, and they're going to go, Okay, sit down, sit down.
What we can do is and they're.
Going to be able to lean on different resources and work out what you're eligible for, and just they're there to help you. They aren't there for the worst of the worst situations. They absolutely are, but like they're also there for you. So we're going to put those resources in the show notes, and I'm hoping that you know, you take us up on those because they are literally beautiful people. We also asked the community, so we said,
what would you guys do if you are our community? Member, sixty eight percent of you said I'm going to start planning for a secret financial exit, sixteen percent of you said I'm going to leave even if it means struggling, fifteen percent said I honestly don't know what to do, and then one percent said I'm actually just going to stay to share the financial load.
It's horrible that people find themselves in a situation where they feel that they have to do that.
Yeah.
We then asked, have you ever felt stuck in a relationship because of money? Fifty three percent of you, thank god, said no. Luckily, twenty eight percent of you said no, but I've seen it all around me. Thirteen percent of you said yes and I left, and six percent of you said, yep, I'm still there. So then we said we want you two cents, like, what advice have you got for our listener? What advice have you got for our community member? First person said, legal advice is the
best step here. Often the debt isn't actually split evenly, as overall it may not be fifty to fifty, and it can be allocated more to your partner.
It's a great point.
Well, I think it's a really good point as well, because, like you're just operating under the assumption. Well, both of our names are on it.
It is my debt.
Like that doesn't mean it can't be negotiated to go, hey mate, yes, we're getting a divorce. Obviously financially, we've wracked up heaps of credit card debt. It actually was all you and not me, and I want to leave this relationship cleanly, like obviously might not be as clean as this, But they go, yeah, no worries.
Or can you sell some the asset, Like if he's brought a boat, great, like either you take on the debt or selling the boat, you know.
Things like that.
Yeah, like filing for bankruptcy would impact him as well in this situation, so like there might be some ting and throwing. And if you talk to the National Debt Helpline they can give you options on what that might actually look like.
Someone else said, I've been there, Please call the National Debt Hotline. They were awesome.
Someone else said, what you said, Beck, go to sentling and see what you might be entitled to.
Mm hmm.
Another person didla a three parter. So first was this was me I left with debt as our credit card was in my name. I sold our unit at a loss. I have regrets as I wish I bought the unit, but don't regret leaving him for a minute. That was the best decision ever. Now, thirteen years later, I am in a great financial position with a fantastic husband and father. Isn't that so cute? Someone else said, can you safely
be honest with him? If not, can you lean on your support system, Like can you sit down and have a chat, because obviously he doesn't know yet. Someone said, stayid with someone eight months un till he paid me back the fifteen thousand dollars I lent him and then I left.
I mean, as you should, absolutely, but like.
They should be paying it back, not be stuck in a relationship with you, Like if money is owed, money is owed.
And then I've got two more. Someone said, leave your husband.
You're going to be better off financially, mentally and emotionally.
We know.
And then the last one is my friend tried creating a plan, but he continued to increase the debt. You actually just need to get help now and leave, yes, because like otherwise it might just compound, like he might just get more spend ye, And I mean we know that if you're not happy and in a relationship spending my increase and budgets aren't stuck to like.
That is a really tricky one, but I do hope this is okay. Please keep us updated if you have any questions about the bankruptcy thing. I almost got done by someone who was like, I'll pay me x amount of money and I'll do your bankruptcy. You can do it for free by yourself. Let me know if you need any help with that, and we'll.
Put all the links to all the recent as we're trying to hundred for anyone you know might need them. There's some really great organizations out there that can help you get.
One hundred percent.
Well that's all from us today, guys. We will see you next week. I've got a money diary brighton early on Monday morning for you.
But have the best weekend, by guys.
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