Hello.
My name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud your the
Order Kerni 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 I'm the Money podcast. Millennials who want financial freedom. Now we know how vital it is to care for our health and wellbeing, and we're hopefully across the importance of caring for our mental health. But financial self care. What does that look like? My name is Jessica Ricky, and today we're gonna talk all about it, of course, with everyone's favorite finance expert, Victoria Devine.
Finance expert sounds bougie, I reckon, I know, I thought you'd lack that way fancy gal finance expert or self care genius, like I'm so good at self care. So we've done an entire episode about how self care is important basically to me. So that's where we're at. But financial self care is, from my perspective, a very underdiscussed topic, but one I hope is not totally new to our community. Because self care, or specifically financial self care, is what
she is on the money is all about. And I hope this episode is a good and practical little reminder and reframer for us all. And if it's a new concept to you, then welcome to it. My friend. I'm excited that you're discovering this with us.
I'm really excited too. So let's start at the beginning and define self care. It's putting yourself first, even when you don't want to right. It takes on heaps of different forms. It could look like anything from setting your alarm that a little bit earlier to go to the gym no, thank you, so no from me, or sleeping in when you had planned to be at the gym.
Yes from me, same for me. It could be saying no and setting an important boundary yes for me, or prioritizing some social or alone time for my fellow introverts. That's where it's at. But ultimately, it's all about being centered and in touch with what you need as opposed to what you want in the moment, and looking after your future.
Self or about putting future you first, which actually is on the money is the person that we are always working for. And Jess, as you know, it's not just a piece of chocolate cake or an early night in bed. It's kind of like self parenting. You're doing the right thing for future you even when you just don't feel like it. So the exact same principles of normal self care applied to financial self care. When you first start on this journey, it can feel like a lot, and
I totally get it. Financial self care from my perspective, is a bit like a muscle and you need to train it and build strength. It's a massive shift in mindset, but it's one of those things that won't go away if you bury your head in the sand, just like you wouldn't do with actual health concerns. Right, she's on the money. It literally exists for this mission, So do not worry. We are here to guide you through a few tips today. So that you can get on your
journey or encourage you belong wherever that might be. Today we are doing a massive vibe check and we will be giving you some really easy ideas to get you started with your own financial self care journey.
All right, let's talk about some broader ideas to help us get into the mindset for financial self care, and after the break we'll go into some more specific practical tips. I like that format me too. So there's two big things that we say all the time on the show. V is to check your personal values and to keep things sustainable for ourselves that.
We do as women, Jess, we stereotypically have been patronized for literally all of our wants, while also the economy relies on it. And speaking in gender stereotypes, Jess, once that are unquestioned for men are frivolous money sinks for women. We see it all the damn time. I'm not saying that we should use this as an excuse for a shopping spree or anything like that, but I do want you to cut out the external noise from popular culture, friends, family,
or even your partner and go into yourself. What is it that you need to do to keep on track with your personal financial goals, but also nurture yourself. Jess, I want to know, throwing you straight under the bus here, what is an example of this for you, Something that you could happily go without and something that you want to prioritize.
I feel like in terms of like everyday people like, I'm pretty happy to go without buying a coffee in the morning. I wouldn't necessarily get a hot chocolate every morning or smoothie every morning. Like, it's just not a part of my morning routine that I feel like I need to include.
Yeah, good luck prying a coffee from my cold dead hands.
Absolutely. Whereas for me, it's a little bit more important to prioritize allowing myself money to spend on myself. Like I have said before, I really like clothes. It's a form of self expression for me. And so within my budget, I have an allocation every month to allow myself to spend on clothes, whether that's at the store or whether that's things that I buy secondhand online.
I will have it in your budget.
Yeah that's important to you, Yeah, absolutely, Like that's just what's important to me, And I know I have friends who couldn't care less. They buy clothes once a year if that, and that's what they like. But it's something that's important to me, and so I really try to make an effort to prioritize it in a way that I don't have to feel guilty about spending.
Yeah fair, And I feel like that's really relatable because to me that makes sense. But I also have those friends that are like, oh, I could not be bothered shopping every month, and I'm like, what, I love it. It's my favorite, all right, Jess. This next example kind of goes together with the previous point. So we've spoken about practicing mindfulness and gratefulness, but I also think it's really important to understand your privilege.
That's so true. I feel like in twenty twenty two, with how connected we are, but Instagram comparison culture is just insane. I find myself doing it and I recognize that I'm in a totally privileged position. And I think a lot of us are probably in the same boat. Where we see somebody else with something that's really new,
or we see someone on a holiday. And we've spoken before about how a lot of the time you don't see how those people who are living those lives are going into dead or you know, doing everything that they can to keep up with the joneses, and it becomes a bit of an unhealthy cycle where we're watching and then consuming to keep up, and then watching and then consuming,
and it's really really difficult. So I think you're totally right that taking a step back, reminding ourselves how fortunate we are and how good we actually have it, and how so many of those things that in the moment seem like total needs are actually just really nice things to have and things that we absolutely can live without, is really.
Exactly And I find it an interesting mindset when people are like, oh, but I deserve to go on a holiday. You go, yeah, of course, but those things come with a level of compromise, like you can't have your cake and eat it too. And I think that, you know, when I say we need to understand our privilege. We can't just assume that we deserve a holiday every single year, like, yeah, that's an absolute privilege. But it's kind of like, well, is that actually at the cost of our financial wellbeing
long term? If so, how do we frame that so that we can kind of have our cake and eat it too. But it might be over a longer time frame, because so many times people will be like, oh, yeah, but I travel overseas every year, and you're like, oh, okay.
Like and when I was working as a financial advisor, I used to find it really hard because people would be like, oh yeah, but like we go on a holiday every single year overseas, and I'd sit down and look at their financial circumstances and be like, I don't mean to burst your bubble, but at the end of the day, like, that's actually not feasible given the financial goals you've set for yourself and wanting to buy house and wanting to put yourself in the best possible position, Like,
that's actually detrimental. So how do we find that balance? And I think that by understanding our privilege and kind of checking that and being like, all right, well where are we at can actually put us in the best possible position because it means that we're always really aware of exactly where we stand, not just going oh, but
everybody else does it, which means I should too. All right, moving along, I want you to all remember that working hard should put your head not behind, which I think is an interesting concept because just how many times and I don't know if this is a personal attack or not. I'm not meaning it that way. Have you been like?
All right, well, if I work extra hard and do this over time, I can then afford a new pair of shoes, or I can then afford this other thing, or I can take myself out for dinner, or I can you know, buy ten more espresso martinis for my girlfriends and I to relax. I genuinely think that when we are working really hard, we should be putting ourselves financially ahead so that we are in a better position
than we were when we started. So if that means that that cash goes to paying off some debt or putting it straight into your emergency fund to build that up, or investing it or saving it, I just genuinely think if you're going above and beyond for work and time time and trading your time for money, we shouldn't be trading that for physical things that in the short term make us happy, but in the long term don't put us ahead financially.
Great point, V. What else have you got for me?
All right? So, just like in exercise, routine and habit is your friend in saying that when it comes to exercise. I absolutely haven't got this mastered, but I've heard it's a really good thing too. Master. But practicing financial self care means developing habits that work for you and reflect what you're trying to achieve with your money. Those habits can look very different for very different people, and what's most important is consistency and practicing them in the long term.
Jess, Yeah, amazing. I think those are all really great points. Let's dash to a really quick break, and then when we come back, I want to get into some really specific tips, So don't go anywhere, alrighty, straight back into it, V. Let's get into some practical tips for financial self care.
I've been giving practical tips this entire episode, Miss Jessicata each absolutely, but I think now let's talk about some really implementable steps that I could go home right now and go all right, here's my little checklist of things that I can do to know that I'm hopefully putting myself.
In a position where I'm going to be looking after myself.
All right, So first things first, Just my favorite thing is writing a list and then putting things on the list that I've already done because it makes me feel accomplished. So the first thing to do is listen to the She's on the Money podcast.
You've done it, yeah.
And the second step of that first point is to actually join our Facebook group. So many of you haven't joined the Facebook group, and I know you haven't because I know there's more than a million listeners of this podcast, but there's only two hundred and forty thousand people in the Facebook group. Those numbers don't make sense. So go ahead and join the Facebook group. It is free, and the community shares money tips and tricks literally every single day,
free of judgment. Search Shees on the Money on Facebook and join us the next my friend. Again, it's free because I put a free budget on our website. You're going to go create a budget so that you can be really on top of every single dollar that comes into your account and every single dollar that goes out, so that we're just aware. That's a very big step
when it comes to financial self care. The third is my favorite, and if you listen to the first season of Shees on the Money, you really know how to do this. But you're going to check your bank transactions and your supranuation account. While you're at it, You're going to go get a free credit report to make sure there's nothing suspicious on there.
That's such a good tip. We have so many people tell us that they had no idea that they could check their credit port really easily. We've had people say that they found out that they were being defrauded and all kinds of other things.
So hopefully nothing dramatic. But these are all free, So that is a money win if I've ever seen one. The next is look for trends in your spending from the last month. So you've done your budget, you've had to look at your banking transactions. I want you to see what types of trends exist. You might notice habits that are forming that you didn't even notice and that
might not actually align to your core values. So, jess, if you found a trend in your space from the last month of maybe buying one too many drinks at cough Starbuck haha, that didn't exist before, and you know that buying drinks actually doesn't align to your cash flow and budget goals, maybe now is the time to nip that one in the bud before it gets out of control. I say, Starbucks, jes, because you and I have found
a new love for the art. What is it the strawberry sie refresher Ten out of ten recommend bit expensive, but we hear for it. The next thing is put your bills on auto pay to avoid any late fees, but do check on your bills. So a lot of people will say to me, oh, Victoria, I don't direct debit my bills because I want to check them every month.
You absolutely can, but there's a lot of power on having it direct debited, as well as staying on top of it, because it means that it is absolutely going to happen on time, because sometimes life gets away from us. The next thing really boring, but we are going to find and cancel reoccurring charges for things that we are not using. The same with the count fee, So I want you to know what you are paying for and be sure that you can't get this free for somewhere else. Guys,
it is twenty twenty two. We don't pay for bank fees in twenty twenty two. There are too many free options out there, and when you check your banking transactions, you would have been able to see if there are any reoccurring charges for things that you aren't using, highlight them, get rid of them. And another hot tip which I think have I shared this on Friday Drinks. We're going to share it in a deep dive episode because I know not everyone listens to it. If you have an iPhone,
you can go to your settings. You can then hit on your Apple id iCloud Media and Purchases, which is at the very top, and hit subscriptions and it will show you every single subscription that you have that you're not using. Just remember the time we went to France and I went and got my Duolingo subscription.
Haha.
Yeah, we're going to get rid of that because I have not been using that and I did not commit to learning a new language in the way that I thought I would. I mean they tried, I failed. Didu elinga al appreciates your service? Do they do? But I'm going to cancel my subscription because that is money that I don't need to be spending. The seventh thing I have on this list, Jess, which arguably should have been
number one, is start an emergency fund. If you do not have an emergency fund yet, you need to create one. That is your f you fund. It is going to get you out of any circumstance relationship, situation, job, or place that you do not want to be, and I promise it will become one of your superpowers. An emergency fund is the most powerful thing that you can do for your financial future. And if we're talking about financial self care, I can't think of anything that is more
financial self care than an emergency fund. Agreed, Next is set some money and career intentions. Go, do a little journal, pull yourself a nice cup of tea or, if you're like me, a very nice class of red wine. Write them down and prioritize them. This includes asking for a pay rise and coming up with the evidence if you believe you deserve one. Then next, as I said before, journaling can be really powerful. Journal about how each of
your financial goals connect to your core values. I know that can sound really lame, but please give it a crack. It will make you feel so much more in touch with everything that is going on in your financial world. This can be really helpful, especially when your goals are feeling a little bit abstract or difficult, or you're finding
it hard to focus and clarify your financial goals. It'll make making choices on a day to day basis so much easier, I promise if you have one, talk to your partner about finances, Jess, have a chat, have a money chat. Maybe you share some financial responsibilities, or you might keep your finances separate. It doesn't matter, but have a money conversation with your partner. However you manage things. It is good to be on the same page when it comes to long term financial goals. Now, Jess, I
can see you've got a few written down. I'm sure we have some that overlap. But what else have you got to share? Absolutely, I did my homework. If you've got a little extra money, make it extra debt repayment. We've spoken before about the impact that additional payments to debt can make inteter of shaving down not only the time that you have to pay off your debt, but also the amount of interest that you pay, so you could save yourself some cash. And we've said it before
on the pod. Paying off debt is an investment in itself, so that's a good thing to do.
One thousand percent then go out and learn something new about money. This ties back to point number one, I think. But there's so many resources out there. There's podcasts as blogs, there's TV shows, Now, money is everywhere, and I think out it, taking the time to learn something new will keep you engaged and excited as well as obviously educate you further.
And I would recommend obviously going and listening to our podcast which are already doing. But there are so many things that we don't know about money. If you haven't listened to other podcasts, go and check them out. My Millennial Money. There's equity mats, there's girls that invest like. There are so many people creating beautiful finance content that I think that you guys will absolutely love.
Couldn't agree more. Next, I've got pay for services that allow you to spend time doing things you love, and remember your time is also where money. I think when people think of financial self care a lot of the time they go, how can I cut every cost in my life that exists? But actually self care is about putting yourself in a position where you're able to function at your optimal level. So for someone who maybe you don't like vacuum in the house, this is me. We
got a robot vacuum and it changed our lives. I thought you were about to say you got a cleaner. Oh no, I'm not. I was like, okay first, but not that far, not for me anyway right now. But you know that was a big financial outlay initially, but worth every penny in my opinion, because it was something I dreaded.
It was used to talk about it before we got it, and you actually loathed that task.
Me and my boyfriend would fight about it. So take something off your plate and don't feel guilty for doing that, and off the back of that, pay for the things that bring you joy. So it's not just about providing yourself more time. It's also about if you really like yoga and you find yourself feeling really stressed, pay for a class. Yes, you can do it on YouTube, but sometimes the action of putting yourself in that specific situation or utilizing that specific servers helped to keep you on
track to your bigger long term goals. And I think it's really important to value that.
Couldn't agree more. What else have you got?
Have a benefits research night if your employer.
A benefits research right, just.
I'm trying to make it sound more fun than it is. That if your employer or your insurance fund offers benefits, set yourself a date night to investigate these and figure out where you can save yourself some money. A lot of the time people aren't utilizing their insurances to the fullest extent, which is what I talk about a lot. Read your insurance policy. I found out, after like a decade of paying for insurance that I could claim my contact lenses. Did I know that?
I know?
You did it?
And so now I can claim two hundred bucks a year towards my contact lenses. And it's going to be different for everyone. But I think knowing your policies inside and out help you, one to make sure that you're getting the most bang for your buck. But two, it means that if it is time to shop around, you can compare apples for apples.
What are you recommending here? Are we having like a little party where I do a cheese platter and you bring them and we look at our insurance policy, get.
The girls together, our partner, make it fun to date. No, absolutely, I guess kind of similar to that. But shop around for insurance or any other big costs there on your life. We always say it makes sense to every once in a while compare what you're paying against current market rates, because loyalty doesn't always pay off.
Un we've done the whole episodes on it. Being loyal to a bank or insurer often doesn't pay off. And you know what you should do. If you got your annual notice, You're going to call them and ask for a better deal and say that maybe I'll leave if you don't give me a better deal. Nine times out of ten, what are you gonna get, Jess a better deal? Exactly use your leave entitlements at work. This is one I am very passionate about, because by passionate she means good at doing.
Absolutely, you have leave for a reason, and I think pre pandemic. I have so many recollections of working in corporate where I would work through the day when I was sick, and you know, I feel like I do not recommend it's got a little of a headache or a little bit of a cold. It's not going to impact my ability to do work. And then two weeks later, I'm still sick because I haven't taken the time to heal. That applies to sick leave, that applies to mental health leave,
personal leave. Those things exist for you to utilize them, and it's important to give yourself a break when you need it. Listen to your body and don't feel guilty, because if your employer is making you feel bad for taking leave, they're a jerk.
They're a jerk. Like turn do you many hear first? If she's on the Money, Jess reckons your boss who won't let you take leave is a jerk.
And you can tell them. I said that. I listen back to our episode that G and V did all about employee rights, because I think there is so much gold in that episode and it really plays into your ability to look after yourself.
It's hilarious how many people DMed me after that episode to let me know that their bosses were douches. It was really good, I mean not good for them, but good for my soul knowing that it didn't fall on deaf ears.
Next on my list is add five bucks into your investment account good tier, I think so future you can have the chance of earning a little compound interest. You can have a play with the market. Five dollars is not you know, if you've got ten dollars even better. But if you have a little spare change rattling around and you want to have a play, I think it's a really good opportunity to learn about the market and also potentially put future in a good position.
From little things, big things grow. And I think that there is this massive misconception Jess that you always need to start investing with massive amounts of money, and historically, like ten years ago, you did because there were minimums that you needed to meet when investing. But as you know, we talk about them all the time on the show. This is not a sponsored mention. It's just a good mention. Our friend's chares is invest with as little as one cent money win.
Five dollars goes a long way when you're investing one cent increments. So I love that, but play learn a little bit about.
It goes a long way, Jess. I'm giving you one last point before and try and wrap the show because I feel like this has gone on and on, so what have you got.
My last tip is don't be afraid to get help from a professional. And I feel like people are going to listen to that and be like, oh my god, do I need say a psychologists not lame? I heard it.
I was like, this is the lame point.
No, Like, yes, absolutely important. But I think a lot of the time, as humans, and maybe it's just me, we try and do things by ourselves for too long, and whether you need to speak to a financial professional, whether you need to speak to someone to give you clarity around your goals. Speaking to professionals in their industry is really important because they are experts in a thing
that you are not. They have spent their lives or their careers culminating knowledge that isn't necessarily readily accessible to everybody. And sometimes it's super helpful to have someone give you a different perspective on things, whether that's your physical health, whether that's your mental health, whether that's your financial health. Talking to an expert I think can really help to put things in perspective and take a little bit of a load off of your shoulders. And I would really
encourage people to do it sooner rather than later. Don't make it a response to you falling into a heat because you're having a mental breakdown because you went on by yourself too long. Early, check in, see how you're doing, and make your life a little bit easier too true.
All right, Well that is all we have time for today, my friends. Thank you, Jess. I feel like that was actually a really good episode. It was just like, here are a whole heap of points that you can and will implement, and if you do, you'll be in a better position, which I love. We should do more episodes like this more often. See One Friday Guys Bye. 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 product, read the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards
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