June 17, 2025 • 22 mins
If you're feeling overwhelmed by money, you're not alone. After work and family and general life admin, there's not a lot of time (or capacity!) to get your finances in order. Join Canna Campbell - a financial planner for 20 years - and Fear & Greed's Michael Thompson as they look at way to deal with the mental load of money, and to prioritise the things that'll actually make a difference to your finances.
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The information in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances, financial needs or objectives. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of it and the relevant product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. In particular, you should seek independent financial advice and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement or other offer document prior to acquiring any financial product.
Canna Campbell is a Corporate Authorised Representative and Corporate Credit Representative of Wealthstream Financial Group Pty Ltd ABN 35 152 803 113 Australian Financial Services Licensee AFSL 412079.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to How Do They Afford That, The podcast that
peaks into the financial lives of everyday Australians. I'm Michael Thompson.
I'm an author and the co host of the podcast
Fear and Greed business News. As always, I'm with Canna Campbell,
financial planner and founder of Sugar Mama TV, the financial
literacy platform covering YouTube and podcast, books, Instagram threads, TikTok
and more. Hello, Hannah, good mind. I need some help.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You need a lot of help.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yep, there we go, Thank you. I was waiting for that.
Ask anyone right if you went out and if you
walked outside today and just did a survey on the street,
everyone will agree with me. I guarantee you that the
mental load is just huge right now.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, between work and family and just general life admin.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Responsibilities, all responsibilities, all of these things.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It is it feels like it is hard to focus
on any one task right, let alone trying to over
all your finances or make big changes to your money
and trying to kind of reclaim your money and set
yourself up for financial success. So the reason I need
your help today. I would love to do it all right,
(01:15):
but I just can't. So how do I decide the priority,
what's going to have the biggest impact on my money?
And how do I get it done? So really I'm
just I'm speaking on behalf of everybody, but really this
is about me today. Are you up for helping?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I am? Oh, that's good, Well, I am. I'm always
up for helping.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Would have been very uncomfortable if you'd said no, I've
got nothing else to talk to you about. Look, before
we get into this, it is worth pointing out, of course,
that as you're listening, everything that we talk about is
always general in nature. It is never personal, investment, strategic
or product advice. It is purely for financial education purposes only.
And if you do hear something that might be relevant
(01:58):
to you, then it is a good time to go
and get some financial advice and talk to somebody about
that is there and here I am looking for a
quick fix kind of Is there a golden rule for
what to prioritize first when it comes to managing your money?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So the classic order is debt first, then emergency savings,
then you know, investing and planning for retirement and those
big lifestyle purchases. However, personal circumstances do matter, so sometimes,
like you're, the person's emotions take priority. So someone say,
feeling really anxious about having no savings and they're sleeping out,
(02:39):
like staying awake all night, and it's causing a lot
of emotional distress, it might make sense of them to
prioritize building up some emergency money is a buffer first
before tackling the debt. For example, you know, might have
like a thousand dollars in credit card debt, but then
you've got no emergency savings to fall back off something
happens out of the blue. In those situations, you need
(03:01):
to listen to your gut, your intuition and go, all right,
I'm aware of the debt, but quickly save up a
thousand dollars for emergency money. Then us to tackle the debt.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Okay. Do you think then, if we agree that everyone
is overwhelmed mostly, do you think that financial sense of
financial overwhelm leads to avoidance? Do you think that we
just get there's too much, and so you just got
I can't, I can't tackle any of it.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Absolutely. Avoidance is a very common coping mechanism. So for example,
someone might be you know, really diligent with their investments
and even you know, checking in on their superannuation. But
then they completely ignore their credit card debt, particularly if
they had like a recent blowout or summer holiday. So
(03:51):
you've got to try and break the cycle sooner rather
than later.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
How do you do that? So it's all right, I
understand the importance of doing it. It feels like it
is that that is the single biggest hurdle of trying
to actually break that cycle, all right.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So just break it down into small, simple steps, you know,
something as simple as just opening up a bank statement
or opening up an email or checking one account. Take
action on just one simple thing for each day or
even each week, and then look at maybe even setting
like a money date, so like scheduling you know, the month,
(04:32):
each Monday evening or each Monday morning, to actually sit
down and look at your finances on a regular basis
and do it with no judgment. Everyone is overwhelmed, everyone
is feeling anxious about their financial situation, and you know,
doesn't know where to start. So no one is alone
and no one's judging each other. But also learn to
like reframe the narrative, the inner talk. Stop beating yourself
(04:57):
up going I'm so bad with money, or I'm so irresponsible.
Let drop the ball on this or let the wheels
fall off on that. Say okay, all right, I'm doing
my best. I'm going to have a go at looking
at this one particular area in my life and say
it out loud. Tell someone that can help you make
it accountable. Even send me a DM. Say you know what, Canna,
I'm going to have a go at looking at my
(05:18):
budget this weekend. I'll make sure I reply to you
and check in on you that weekend to make sure
you've done your budgets and really, yes, why not, Like
we all need to do this, We've got to help
each other. And another great hack is and I do
this for cleaning and tiding. I set a timer for
ten minutes and I go. It almost gamifies it because
I've got to beat the clock. So, you know, set
(05:38):
a timer for ten minutes and sit down and go.
Time is going. I'm going to check my credit card statement,
or I'm going to check my bank transactions, or my
savings accounts or my superannuation. So stop making it to
be a bigger thing in your head that really needs
to be. But do this by small little manageable tasks
that you can actually see yourself doing without too much.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Stress, that all makes sense, like that actually feels like
just and even just a little bit. The feeling of
satisfaction that you get from that is huge, or the
relief and suddenly you realize that it's not that big.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Exactly, and that then can drive you to do this
again and you almost might even get a little bit
of a dopamine hit from it.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Is there one financial task in that ten minutes or
twenty minutes or half an hour or something that would
give you the biggest return on your time and energy
or is it just getting started? Or is it a budget?
Is it doing a budget?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
It's a budget and a goal. A budget without a goal,
you can be in a little bits alls a bit
lifeless and boring. But if you can, if you have
like an exciting, empowering, sexy financial goal that you really
want to achieve, that is the driving force to help
you and make you do a budget. And the budget
(06:56):
is what gives us the clarity to see, all right,
how long is it going to take me to achieve
that exciting sexy goal? You know, it's the motivation and
what is it needed? For me to help prioritize this
goal happens in time. So instead of saying, you know,
with your goals, don't make them flaky, make them, make
them detail. Money loves definition and clarity. So say things
(07:17):
like I want to save five thousand dollars in my
x y Z savings account by the first of December
twenty twenty five because we are going on a holiday,
a family trip to Disneyland, and we are all so
excited we can't wait. Suddenly that goal isn't just like
wafty like save more money. It's actually something that's got
(07:38):
a deadline. You know exactly how much you want, so
you'll know how you're progressing and when you've achieved it,
and you've got some emotion behind it.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I'm not looking for a short cut here, but can
we make like a minimum effective dose for financial admin
like the bear assents that will still move the needle? Yes?
And what would what would these be? An easy people?
That's right? Like, I'm not trying to I'm trying to
(08:09):
find a way that I can still get enough done
to have an impact, acknowledging that Hey, at this particular time,
I don't have the time to sit down and just
spend hours working through everything, so I just need them
what's going to still have a still make a difference,
So make a huge investment of time.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So my first point of call would be debt, looking
at debt, looking to minimize debt, particularly high end just
debt like credit cards, so there would be that would
be my first point of call. Then would be looking
to automate savings and investing. Even you can set this
up really is with most online training platforms and obviously
(08:52):
with online savings accounts, so that really does help make
things happen without having to think too hard.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Once You've only got to set that up once and
then it just happens.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Sit and forget.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
And then of course just doing a monthly check in.
This is what I teach in my Budget and cash
Flow Academy is checking your transactions to make sure you
are sticking to your budget, because this will mean that
you can put those you can automate all of those
other financial goals back into your budget, which is one
of the key principles behind making a huge difference in
your financial future.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Okay, how do you then find this balance between essentially
what is short term survival with long term financial goals.
When life is busy, when life is chaotic, you know
that you want to kind of achieve all these big
things later. You want financial independence, you want a comfortable retirement,
you want to travel overseas. Is it possible to do
(09:49):
that without without putting in the work? I don't mean
it like that, but can you How do you strike
that balance trying to tick everything off you want in
the future and acknowledging that just at the moment it
might not be possible.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Rome wasn't built on a day. Yeah, okay, So it's
about showing up consistently. You know, we've spoken about power
of compounding interest and you obviously it takes time. You
cannot you know, this isn't a get rich quick scheme
here you do if you can just do little bits
on a consistent basis over the long run, it is
incredibly powerful what you can do over the course of
(10:27):
a ten year period. It's that one percent shift. You know,
every time you do one little thing, it really does
help you take you into a very different, healthier and
happier financial situation in the future. And this is why
financial education is so important, because as you learn more
about how important certain things are and paying attention and
(10:47):
traps to avoid. You will want to invest time, you know,
even it means having to get up twenty minutes earlier
in the morning to look at your statements, to look
at your debts, to check your superannuation. These things really
do make a difference. And as you see the impact,
the progress, the debts coming down faster, that fuels your
(11:10):
motivation to actually go further and deeper with this. So
you've got to I know it's cliche, but you got
to almost lean in and trust the process. But as
you educate yourself, you get it and go, actually, this
is really important. I need to stop coming up with
excuses and make this a priority in my life because
I'm starting to see the progress I'm making and also
realize that I'm worthy of having this in my life
(11:30):
and I can actually do it because I'm doing the steps.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay, we're going to take a quick break. When we
come back, I want to talk to you about kind
of avoiding the guilt around kind of not managing to
do everything that you want, but also kind of what
you can outsource and whether you should be looking at
outsourcing some elements of it, and also sharing the financial
burden of the decision making and in the processing and
(11:56):
within within the family unit, for instance, or within the household,
so that it doesn't all fall on one person, and
hope in doing so, whether you can actually ease the
burden on yourself. We will come back in a moment.
Can we are talking about financial overload today and this
(12:19):
idea that life is busy, The mental load is huge
for everyone between work and family and just all of
the responsibilities that we have. How do we make the
time to also keep on top of our money and
how much do we need to be doing in order
to be getting ahead and making some progress long term?
Can we outsource parts of our financial life? And if
(12:40):
we can, what is worth outsourcing because this is going
to come at a cost. Are there particular parts that
are going to deliver greater value by getting someone else
to help you?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Yes? And it all boils down to what's important to
you and what areas you can actually handle yourself and
want to do yourself will actually properly get done. You know,
you can actually dedicate that time versus what you just
is too overwhelming, and you're happy to invest in that cost,
So you know, going and finding a financial plan that
can just purely do your superrednuation. If that's what you want,
(13:12):
and you're going to do your investing separately, that is
perfectly fine. You know, if you're a business owner having
a bookkeeper, having an accountant to help you do your
tax re trens, you know, it's the cost and benefit.
You're going to get your time back and it's going
to get done, and you're going to be able to
progress on with your life and also emotionally feel like
you're more in control than on top of things. So
(13:34):
that is a wise investment.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Can I say that when we started working with our
current financial planner and they said we will look at
all of your insurances and help make sure that you
are kind of correctly insured and getting the right policies
and all of those things, I actually felt a physical
(13:56):
weight lift off, because every time I say thinking about
insurance and making sure I've got the right policies and
all of these things, it is as though something just
shuts down in my head and I just can't. That
feels too big. So outsourcing, even in that kind of
which is a more expensive way to outsource, having a
(14:16):
financial plan of working with you on that still to
me I consider that to be a worthwhile investment.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And the four or five hours you get back not
having to figure it yourself, you can then use that
time to earn more money elsewhere in doing what you
do best.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Knowing then that you've got the peace of mind of
being insured correctly. And because we have discussed.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
About had some heated conversations with you, both online and.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Offline, where I have been frighteningly under insured and.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
I have been horror equally horrified.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Indeed, is there value when we're talking about the financial
overload and overwhelm is there value in kind of doing
almost a brain dump style financial checklist to free up
some mental space, just to go all right, I'm gonna
put it all down on a list, from kind of
a budget, through to insurances, through to mortgage through to superinuation.
(15:10):
Just get it down on paper so it gets out
of your head.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Absolutely. I call that a financial stock tech.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Oh I like that.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
So you write everything down, you write down where you
stand financially, you know, and you don't just condense it.
You actually go, Okay, on this credit CARDIO, this much money,
on that credit CARDO, this much money and this savings
and I've got this much and then that savings and
kind of got this much and this portfolio, don't like,
just add it all together and give it yourself one
concise number, detail where exactly they are, exactly how much,
(15:41):
and also obviously write down your income as well. The
more information you can put down, the better and you will.
It's just like journaling, which is something I am doing
at the moment each day. Getting it down is incredible
what it does to your headspace and you just it
compartmentalizes and it quarantines your stresses and problems because now
you can see, Okay, that's what I'm worried about. What
that's what needs my attention, and I will come to
(16:03):
that when I next have time.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, and you don't necessarily have to act on it
straight away, no, not at all. It does just kind
of free up that space and it allows you to
then come back to it knowing that you've already started
the process, You've already done some of the homework.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Gives you awareness, clarity, and then gives you a purpose
to go where you're going to go and focus your
energy on.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Next. We talked about, or I mentioned before, this idea
of sharing the financial load within say a household within
a couple or a family, How do you do that?
How can you do that to make sure that it
is more evenly spread and one person isn't kind of
carrying the full burden of making sure that the household's
(16:46):
finances are in order.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I love this question, and so divide in conco So
I'll use myself as an example. So Tom's responsibility is
to do the mortgage. My responsibility is to do the
super and the investing and the budget and cash flow.
So the key to making this work, though, is continuous communication.
(17:12):
So trusting each other is doing the work. They've got
their responsibilities, they understand when things are due and what
needs to be done, and making sure that you share
any updates or any necessary changes or potential changes that
are coming your way, and that you know, having that
regular checking with each other to make each other accountable.
But definitely, I mean, you know, I'm a financial planner
(17:34):
and I even have my limits as to how much
of the personal family finances I can take on, both
mentally and physically and financially. So divide and conquer, I
think is a very effective way. But communication is essential,
and transparency and anything you see as a potential risk
or expense. Communicate to each other, hey, that we might
get you know, the car tires may need to be replaced.
(17:57):
That's going to be an expensive we've got, so we
need to make sure we keep that in mind.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
But definitely it's just communication is key. And that goes
right back to some of our earliest episodes we've done
on this podcast when we were talking about I remember
one in our very first month where we talked about
how do you resolve this financial imbalance in a relationship
where you have one partner as a spender and the
other as a saverer, And funnily enough, the answer was communication. Yeah,
(18:25):
And it all comes down to that within a household,
within a couple, talk about your money.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
And empower each other and educate each other. You know,
sometimes you know someone might be spending because they don't
understand what the benefit to putting that extra hundred dollars
per month on the mortgage would be and actually say
them seventy thousand dollars in interest for example. Suddenly when
that spender understands that they don't want to spend as
much anymore.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Are there any apps, any tools, anything that you would
recommend to help kind of streamline their money.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Lots of different apps out there you can use, but
you've obviously got to check the safety and security and
the data. But at the end of the day, the
most effective one, I think is your own. You know
what works for you, stick to it, obviously, tweak and
improve it where possible. But you know, I believe in
having a cash flow system that matches your budget so
(19:18):
that it's easy to stick to your budget and it's
easy to put your financial goals into your budget so
that they actually happen.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
So that could be a spreadsheet, it could be on paper,
it could be anything, as long as it actually works
for you.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yes, and it's written down and it's checked on a
regular basis where you cross reference it against your transactions
so you can see that you are sticking to your budget.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
How do you this is the final question for you.
How do you kind of avoid guilt or deal with guilt?
You may not be able to avoid it, but how
do you deal with the guilt around not being able
to do everything when it comes to managing your money?
And is it just a case of just do what
you can, just get in, get started to do something,
(20:02):
even if it is those little bits and just accept
that we can't always do it all.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I think so acceptance is key, but also a bit
of TLC. We are living in a very expensive world.
The financial stress and pressure right now is horrific. What
so many households are going through is so incredibly stressful,
overwhelming and for some downright frightening. So we understand that
(20:30):
you are doing your best, but I mean education here
is key if we want to start making a shift.
And also ask yourself this, how does this serve me?
So does feeling guilt help you in any way whatsoever? No?
But if you sit down and look at what you've got,
what if you've got right now, what can you do
that will help that situation? Where can you go? Free
(20:51):
resources like a podcast, a book from the library, a
conversation with someone who's been in a signal situation that's
gotten through it. The best you can do for yourself
to help improve your situation, even if it's only one small,
simple thing once a day, once a week, or once
a month. You've got to see light at the end
of the tunnel. But understand that, yes, there is work involved.
(21:14):
It is tough, but it won't always be like this
as well.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
It feels like a good place to finish up. I
think that's it is a good message and to go
back to where we started as well, that those priorities
being the kind of debt, emergency savings, then investing in
all of the other bits and pieces. But in the end,
you just need to do what works for you that
is going to get you going. Just something and whether
it is even just a small little thing, and just
(21:38):
sitting down and setting your goal. I loved that that
you said that once you have your goal set, it
just it helps to provide motivation for every other thing.
Otherwise a budget can just feel like it is, did
just say, a little bit empty, a little bit kind
of soulless. Yeah, But if you're doing it with a
goal in mind, that all of a sudden there is
motivation to to try and kind of find those little
(22:02):
bits of time and chip away at securing your financial freedom. Canna,
If we want more information from you, where do we
find you?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
The best place to reach out for help is on
Instagram at sugar Mama.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
TV, and you can hear me every day on Fear
and Greed with Sean Almer. That is the Fear and
Greed Business News podcast. Thank you very much for listening
to how Do They Afford That? Remember to hit follow
on the podcast, and the best thing that you can
do is tell somebody else or perhaps send them a
link to this very episode and spread the word about
how to they afford that? Thank you for your company.
(22:38):
Join us again next week.
Welcome to How Do They Afford That, The podcast that
peaks into the financial lives of everyday Australians. I'm Michael Thompson.
I'm an author and the co host of the podcast
Fear and Greed business News. As always, I'm with Canna Campbell,
financial planner and founder of Sugar Mama TV, the financial
literacy platform covering YouTube and podcast, books, Instagram threads, TikTok
and more. Hello, Hannah, good mind. I need some help.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You need a lot of help.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yep, there we go, Thank you. I was waiting for that.
Ask anyone right if you went out and if you
walked outside today and just did a survey on the street,
everyone will agree with me. I guarantee you that the
mental load is just huge right now.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, between work and family and just general life admin.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Responsibilities, all responsibilities, all of these things.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It is it feels like it is hard to focus
on any one task right, let alone trying to over
all your finances or make big changes to your money
and trying to kind of reclaim your money and set
yourself up for financial success. So the reason I need
your help today. I would love to do it all right,
(01:15):
but I just can't. So how do I decide the priority,
what's going to have the biggest impact on my money?
And how do I get it done? So really I'm
just I'm speaking on behalf of everybody, but really this
is about me today. Are you up for helping?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I am? Oh, that's good, Well, I am. I'm always
up for helping.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Would have been very uncomfortable if you'd said no, I've
got nothing else to talk to you about. Look, before
we get into this, it is worth pointing out, of course,
that as you're listening, everything that we talk about is
always general in nature. It is never personal, investment, strategic
or product advice. It is purely for financial education purposes only.
And if you do hear something that might be relevant
(01:58):
to you, then it is a good time to go
and get some financial advice and talk to somebody about
that is there and here I am looking for a
quick fix kind of Is there a golden rule for
what to prioritize first when it comes to managing your money?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So the classic order is debt first, then emergency savings,
then you know, investing and planning for retirement and those
big lifestyle purchases. However, personal circumstances do matter, so sometimes,
like you're, the person's emotions take priority. So someone say,
feeling really anxious about having no savings and they're sleeping out,
(02:39):
like staying awake all night, and it's causing a lot
of emotional distress, it might make sense of them to
prioritize building up some emergency money is a buffer first
before tackling the debt. For example, you know, might have
like a thousand dollars in credit card debt, but then
you've got no emergency savings to fall back off something
happens out of the blue. In those situations, you need
(03:01):
to listen to your gut, your intuition and go, all right,
I'm aware of the debt, but quickly save up a
thousand dollars for emergency money. Then us to tackle the debt.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Okay. Do you think then, if we agree that everyone
is overwhelmed mostly, do you think that financial sense of
financial overwhelm leads to avoidance? Do you think that we
just get there's too much, and so you just got
I can't, I can't tackle any of it.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Absolutely. Avoidance is a very common coping mechanism. So for example,
someone might be you know, really diligent with their investments
and even you know, checking in on their superannuation. But
then they completely ignore their credit card debt, particularly if
they had like a recent blowout or summer holiday. So
(03:51):
you've got to try and break the cycle sooner rather
than later.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
How do you do that? So it's all right, I
understand the importance of doing it. It feels like it
is that that is the single biggest hurdle of trying
to actually break that cycle, all right.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So just break it down into small, simple steps, you know,
something as simple as just opening up a bank statement
or opening up an email or checking one account. Take
action on just one simple thing for each day or
even each week, and then look at maybe even setting
like a money date, so like scheduling you know, the month,
(04:32):
each Monday evening or each Monday morning, to actually sit
down and look at your finances on a regular basis
and do it with no judgment. Everyone is overwhelmed, everyone
is feeling anxious about their financial situation, and you know,
doesn't know where to start. So no one is alone
and no one's judging each other. But also learn to
like reframe the narrative, the inner talk. Stop beating yourself
(04:57):
up going I'm so bad with money, or I'm so irresponsible.
Let drop the ball on this or let the wheels
fall off on that. Say okay, all right, I'm doing
my best. I'm going to have a go at looking
at this one particular area in my life and say
it out loud. Tell someone that can help you make
it accountable. Even send me a DM. Say you know what, Canna,
I'm going to have a go at looking at my
(05:18):
budget this weekend. I'll make sure I reply to you
and check in on you that weekend to make sure
you've done your budgets and really, yes, why not, Like
we all need to do this, We've got to help
each other. And another great hack is and I do
this for cleaning and tiding. I set a timer for
ten minutes and I go. It almost gamifies it because
I've got to beat the clock. So, you know, set
(05:38):
a timer for ten minutes and sit down and go.
Time is going. I'm going to check my credit card statement,
or I'm going to check my bank transactions, or my
savings accounts or my superannuation. So stop making it to
be a bigger thing in your head that really needs
to be. But do this by small little manageable tasks
that you can actually see yourself doing without too much.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Stress, that all makes sense, like that actually feels like
just and even just a little bit. The feeling of
satisfaction that you get from that is huge, or the
relief and suddenly you realize that it's not that big.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Exactly, and that then can drive you to do this
again and you almost might even get a little bit
of a dopamine hit from it.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Is there one financial task in that ten minutes or
twenty minutes or half an hour or something that would
give you the biggest return on your time and energy
or is it just getting started? Or is it a budget?
Is it doing a budget?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
It's a budget and a goal. A budget without a goal,
you can be in a little bits alls a bit
lifeless and boring. But if you can, if you have
like an exciting, empowering, sexy financial goal that you really
want to achieve, that is the driving force to help
you and make you do a budget. And the budget
(06:56):
is what gives us the clarity to see, all right,
how long is it going to take me to achieve
that exciting sexy goal? You know, it's the motivation and
what is it needed? For me to help prioritize this
goal happens in time. So instead of saying, you know,
with your goals, don't make them flaky, make them, make
them detail. Money loves definition and clarity. So say things
(07:17):
like I want to save five thousand dollars in my
x y Z savings account by the first of December
twenty twenty five because we are going on a holiday,
a family trip to Disneyland, and we are all so
excited we can't wait. Suddenly that goal isn't just like
wafty like save more money. It's actually something that's got
(07:38):
a deadline. You know exactly how much you want, so
you'll know how you're progressing and when you've achieved it,
and you've got some emotion behind it.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I'm not looking for a short cut here, but can
we make like a minimum effective dose for financial admin
like the bear assents that will still move the needle? Yes?
And what would what would these be? An easy people?
That's right? Like, I'm not trying to I'm trying to
(08:09):
find a way that I can still get enough done
to have an impact, acknowledging that Hey, at this particular time,
I don't have the time to sit down and just
spend hours working through everything, so I just need them
what's going to still have a still make a difference,
So make a huge investment of time.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So my first point of call would be debt, looking
at debt, looking to minimize debt, particularly high end just
debt like credit cards, so there would be that would
be my first point of call. Then would be looking
to automate savings and investing. Even you can set this
up really is with most online training platforms and obviously
(08:52):
with online savings accounts, so that really does help make
things happen without having to think too hard.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Once You've only got to set that up once and
then it just happens.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Sit and forget.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
And then of course just doing a monthly check in.
This is what I teach in my Budget and cash
Flow Academy is checking your transactions to make sure you
are sticking to your budget, because this will mean that
you can put those you can automate all of those
other financial goals back into your budget, which is one
of the key principles behind making a huge difference in
your financial future.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Okay, how do you then find this balance between essentially
what is short term survival with long term financial goals.
When life is busy, when life is chaotic, you know
that you want to kind of achieve all these big
things later. You want financial independence, you want a comfortable retirement,
you want to travel overseas. Is it possible to do
(09:49):
that without without putting in the work? I don't mean
it like that, but can you How do you strike
that balance trying to tick everything off you want in
the future and acknowledging that just at the moment it
might not be possible.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Rome wasn't built on a day. Yeah, okay, So it's
about showing up consistently. You know, we've spoken about power
of compounding interest and you obviously it takes time. You
cannot you know, this isn't a get rich quick scheme
here you do if you can just do little bits
on a consistent basis over the long run, it is
incredibly powerful what you can do over the course of
(10:27):
a ten year period. It's that one percent shift. You know,
every time you do one little thing, it really does
help you take you into a very different, healthier and
happier financial situation in the future. And this is why
financial education is so important, because as you learn more
about how important certain things are and paying attention and
(10:47):
traps to avoid. You will want to invest time, you know,
even it means having to get up twenty minutes earlier
in the morning to look at your statements, to look
at your debts, to check your superannuation. These things really
do make a difference. And as you see the impact,
the progress, the debts coming down faster, that fuels your
(11:10):
motivation to actually go further and deeper with this. So
you've got to I know it's cliche, but you got
to almost lean in and trust the process. But as
you educate yourself, you get it and go, actually, this
is really important. I need to stop coming up with
excuses and make this a priority in my life because
I'm starting to see the progress I'm making and also
realize that I'm worthy of having this in my life
(11:30):
and I can actually do it because I'm doing the steps.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay, we're going to take a quick break. When we
come back, I want to talk to you about kind
of avoiding the guilt around kind of not managing to
do everything that you want, but also kind of what
you can outsource and whether you should be looking at
outsourcing some elements of it, and also sharing the financial
burden of the decision making and in the processing and
(11:56):
within within the family unit, for instance, or within the household,
so that it doesn't all fall on one person, and
hope in doing so, whether you can actually ease the
burden on yourself. We will come back in a moment.
Can we are talking about financial overload today and this
(12:19):
idea that life is busy, The mental load is huge
for everyone between work and family and just all of
the responsibilities that we have. How do we make the
time to also keep on top of our money and
how much do we need to be doing in order
to be getting ahead and making some progress long term?
Can we outsource parts of our financial life? And if
(12:40):
we can, what is worth outsourcing because this is going
to come at a cost. Are there particular parts that
are going to deliver greater value by getting someone else
to help you?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Yes? And it all boils down to what's important to
you and what areas you can actually handle yourself and
want to do yourself will actually properly get done. You know,
you can actually dedicate that time versus what you just
is too overwhelming, and you're happy to invest in that cost,
So you know, going and finding a financial plan that
can just purely do your superrednuation. If that's what you want,
(13:12):
and you're going to do your investing separately, that is
perfectly fine. You know, if you're a business owner having
a bookkeeper, having an accountant to help you do your
tax re trens, you know, it's the cost and benefit.
You're going to get your time back and it's going
to get done, and you're going to be able to
progress on with your life and also emotionally feel like
you're more in control than on top of things. So
(13:34):
that is a wise investment.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Can I say that when we started working with our
current financial planner and they said we will look at
all of your insurances and help make sure that you
are kind of correctly insured and getting the right policies
and all of those things, I actually felt a physical
(13:56):
weight lift off, because every time I say thinking about
insurance and making sure I've got the right policies and
all of these things, it is as though something just
shuts down in my head and I just can't. That
feels too big. So outsourcing, even in that kind of
which is a more expensive way to outsource, having a
(14:16):
financial plan of working with you on that still to
me I consider that to be a worthwhile investment.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And the four or five hours you get back not
having to figure it yourself, you can then use that
time to earn more money elsewhere in doing what you
do best.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Knowing then that you've got the peace of mind of
being insured correctly. And because we have discussed.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
About had some heated conversations with you, both online and.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Offline, where I have been frighteningly under insured and.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
I have been horror equally horrified.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Indeed, is there value when we're talking about the financial
overload and overwhelm is there value in kind of doing
almost a brain dump style financial checklist to free up
some mental space, just to go all right, I'm gonna
put it all down on a list, from kind of
a budget, through to insurances, through to mortgage through to superinuation.
(15:10):
Just get it down on paper so it gets out
of your head.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Absolutely. I call that a financial stock tech.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Oh I like that.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
So you write everything down, you write down where you
stand financially, you know, and you don't just condense it.
You actually go, Okay, on this credit CARDIO, this much money,
on that credit CARDO, this much money and this savings
and I've got this much and then that savings and
kind of got this much and this portfolio, don't like,
just add it all together and give it yourself one
concise number, detail where exactly they are, exactly how much,
(15:41):
and also obviously write down your income as well. The
more information you can put down, the better and you will.
It's just like journaling, which is something I am doing
at the moment each day. Getting it down is incredible
what it does to your headspace and you just it
compartmentalizes and it quarantines your stresses and problems because now
you can see, Okay, that's what I'm worried about. What
that's what needs my attention, and I will come to
(16:03):
that when I next have time.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, and you don't necessarily have to act on it
straight away, no, not at all. It does just kind
of free up that space and it allows you to
then come back to it knowing that you've already started
the process, You've already done some of the homework.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Gives you awareness, clarity, and then gives you a purpose
to go where you're going to go and focus your
energy on.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Next. We talked about, or I mentioned before, this idea
of sharing the financial load within say a household within
a couple or a family, How do you do that?
How can you do that to make sure that it
is more evenly spread and one person isn't kind of
carrying the full burden of making sure that the household's
(16:46):
finances are in order.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I love this question, and so divide in conco So
I'll use myself as an example. So Tom's responsibility is
to do the mortgage. My responsibility is to do the
super and the investing and the budget and cash flow.
So the key to making this work, though, is continuous communication.
(17:12):
So trusting each other is doing the work. They've got
their responsibilities, they understand when things are due and what
needs to be done, and making sure that you share
any updates or any necessary changes or potential changes that
are coming your way, and that you know, having that
regular checking with each other to make each other accountable.
But definitely, I mean, you know, I'm a financial planner
(17:34):
and I even have my limits as to how much
of the personal family finances I can take on, both
mentally and physically and financially. So divide and conquer, I
think is a very effective way. But communication is essential,
and transparency and anything you see as a potential risk
or expense. Communicate to each other, hey, that we might
get you know, the car tires may need to be replaced.
(17:57):
That's going to be an expensive we've got, so we
need to make sure we keep that in mind.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
But definitely it's just communication is key. And that goes
right back to some of our earliest episodes we've done
on this podcast when we were talking about I remember
one in our very first month where we talked about
how do you resolve this financial imbalance in a relationship
where you have one partner as a spender and the
other as a saverer, And funnily enough, the answer was communication. Yeah,
(18:25):
And it all comes down to that within a household,
within a couple, talk about your money.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
And empower each other and educate each other. You know,
sometimes you know someone might be spending because they don't
understand what the benefit to putting that extra hundred dollars
per month on the mortgage would be and actually say
them seventy thousand dollars in interest for example. Suddenly when
that spender understands that they don't want to spend as
much anymore.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Are there any apps, any tools, anything that you would
recommend to help kind of streamline their money.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Lots of different apps out there you can use, but
you've obviously got to check the safety and security and
the data. But at the end of the day, the
most effective one, I think is your own. You know
what works for you, stick to it, obviously, tweak and
improve it where possible. But you know, I believe in
having a cash flow system that matches your budget so
(19:18):
that it's easy to stick to your budget and it's
easy to put your financial goals into your budget so
that they actually happen.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
So that could be a spreadsheet, it could be on paper,
it could be anything, as long as it actually works
for you.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yes, and it's written down and it's checked on a
regular basis where you cross reference it against your transactions
so you can see that you are sticking to your budget.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
How do you this is the final question for you.
How do you kind of avoid guilt or deal with guilt?
You may not be able to avoid it, but how
do you deal with the guilt around not being able
to do everything when it comes to managing your money?
And is it just a case of just do what
you can, just get in, get started to do something,
(20:02):
even if it is those little bits and just accept
that we can't always do it all.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I think so acceptance is key, but also a bit
of TLC. We are living in a very expensive world.
The financial stress and pressure right now is horrific. What
so many households are going through is so incredibly stressful,
overwhelming and for some downright frightening. So we understand that
(20:30):
you are doing your best, but I mean education here
is key if we want to start making a shift.
And also ask yourself this, how does this serve me?
So does feeling guilt help you in any way whatsoever? No?
But if you sit down and look at what you've got,
what if you've got right now, what can you do
that will help that situation? Where can you go? Free
(20:51):
resources like a podcast, a book from the library, a
conversation with someone who's been in a signal situation that's
gotten through it. The best you can do for yourself
to help improve your situation, even if it's only one small,
simple thing once a day, once a week, or once
a month. You've got to see light at the end
of the tunnel. But understand that, yes, there is work involved.
(21:14):
It is tough, but it won't always be like this
as well.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
It feels like a good place to finish up. I
think that's it is a good message and to go
back to where we started as well, that those priorities
being the kind of debt, emergency savings, then investing in
all of the other bits and pieces. But in the end,
you just need to do what works for you that
is going to get you going. Just something and whether
it is even just a small little thing, and just
(21:38):
sitting down and setting your goal. I loved that that
you said that once you have your goal set, it
just it helps to provide motivation for every other thing.
Otherwise a budget can just feel like it is, did
just say, a little bit empty, a little bit kind
of soulless. Yeah, But if you're doing it with a
goal in mind, that all of a sudden there is
motivation to to try and kind of find those little
(22:02):
bits of time and chip away at securing your financial freedom. Canna,
If we want more information from you, where do we
find you?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
The best place to reach out for help is on
Instagram at sugar Mama.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
TV, and you can hear me every day on Fear
and Greed with Sean Almer. That is the Fear and
Greed Business News podcast. Thank you very much for listening
to how Do They Afford That? Remember to hit follow
on the podcast, and the best thing that you can
do is tell somebody else or perhaps send them a
link to this very episode and spread the word about
how to they afford that? Thank you for your company.
(22:38):
Join us again next week.
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