Big Financial Decision Drama

This week’s episode has everything: baking tips, big financial decisions, and a whole lot of laughs. From Victoria’s breakdown of a sky-high interest car loan to a partner splurging on a second ute (and now eyeing a boat) to the the all-too-relatable Christmas gift stress and offer ideas for navigating the holiday season without overspending or losing your sanity. Whether you’re here for practical advice, broke tips, or just a festive laugh, this episode has something for everyone. Hit play to join the chaos and walk away a little wiser!

Anne That English Cleaner Lady! Tik Tok

Pecan pie cookie recipe. 

Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.

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 your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
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

(00:22):
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.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Let's get into it. She's on the Money. She's on
the Money.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Hello and welcome to She's on the Money podcast. That
makes finance fun, especially on Fridays. It's our favorite day
of the week. No surprise is there because I get
the team together and we celebrate you the incredible. She's
on the Money community this week, guess what times are changing?
Not just Grici is going to be sharing a favorite

(01:17):
money wins and confessions from the community. Beck is going
to be sharing her broke tips and how much she
loves Jess Goterici's cooking, and we're going to be helping
to answer a money dilemma. This week we're talking all
about a partner who thinks treat yourself is buying a
ute or a boat and something you slid into our
dms about the pressure of feeling like Christmas is a

(01:39):
really big spender, thon which it is right. But as always,
before we get there, Beck with a mouthful of cookie,
tell me, tell me about the cookies that chest mate.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
Oh my god, I was well. I did take a
bye while you were talking. I just couldn't literally couldnt
control myself. But I've been looking at them and I
don't think I can go a whole episode without eating
a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
More so in the background to explain them.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
If you go to like a really really good donut
shop and you can smell like the fresh cinnamon donuts,
it's like that it's imagined that smell the texture of
a literal perfect cookie.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Right, Jess was saying that they're too dry. No, sorry,
that's not right.

Speaker 4 (02:18):
Also, I don't know if this makes sense, but personally
I'm a big fan of like hotcakes cook cakes, and
it kind of like does it's got a hotcake vibe
in the middle because there's like some sort of maple
Lea's like.

Speaker 5 (02:28):
A pecan, but there's maple in it.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
Yeah, pie cookie, imagine the best cinnamon donut you ever had,
the best textured cookie you've ever had.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Plus caramel with maple syrra pecan.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
You're cooking and just like I can't cook and then
she whips things like this out and you're like, yeah, Jessica, easy,
so you're a life feel Yeah, so use straight lined
to our faces?

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Real, Jesse? Where did you get this recipe? I found
around tick? Can we have it in the Yes?

Speaker 3 (03:03):
I feel like this would be a really good present
because look how cute they are too, so like, yeah,
the vibe of the cookie is very wholesome, very festive, black,
it's got like the dimple. This is probably too much
cookie talk, but like it's important, right, But there's like
the dimple in the middle, and then it's got the
pikhans in the middle with the caramel.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Like, can you imagine getting a plate of those as
a gift? Totally?

Speaker 4 (03:22):
And that's the thing if you're listening and you're like,
pickens are going to fall off, no, because they do
have the little dimple and they're covered in this beautiful
maple ley syrupy.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
People is so good.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
If Jessica doesn't share the recipe with a find it
for you, don't worry.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Don't don't expect to be allowed the show next week. Yes, seriously,
jess is not here next week. You know she's cookies.

Speaker 6 (03:42):
All right.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
I want to talk about our five star review that
we received this week because it is so sweet, and
you guys seem to love hearing the five star reviews
because mainly they're just stroking Beck's ego. But this week
I picked one that doesn't specifically mentioned Beck.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
That's okay.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
So Brookie has written in so she said love, love, love,
all in capital letters.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
You know it's going to start.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
I started listening to the pod about six months before
I moved out of home with very minimal financial literacy.
I've now been living out of home for three years
and I am financially thriving. I used the podcast as
a starting point for setting up our finances and organizing
our budget when my partner and I moved in together.
We are now on track to buy our own property
in the next two years. I could not have done

(04:27):
this with other beautiful She's on the money team, and
I'm eternally grateful for the advice, guidance and support. The
girls have given me so much love for the team.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Oh my god, it's really sweet. Also, Brookie reminds me
of Brookie cookies. That's on theme for today. Yeah, oh,
there you go.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
It's just a bacon episode. It's a baking episode, all right.
What has the community been baking up.

Speaker 5 (04:49):
Jessica, Oh, they've been baking up some money wins? May
I say? Firstly? This week I have got one from
Ze who said, I'm working through my freezer and I'm
eating all my frozen stuff to start fresh. I feel
like I haven't done a proper grocery shop in two months.
Money win, which is one of my favorite things, because
you know how you haven't gone through my freezer in
age one hundreds and you're half eaten meal, or you'll

(05:09):
buy pack of sausages nearly used to a new chuck
ress in a freezer. I always guarantee you there's whole
meals in your freezer.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
I convince myself, jess I convince myself that I can't
remember when I put it in there, and then I
try to work it out and I'm like, oh, it's
been more than six months, or like it's been like
a year or something. Is it still safe to eat?

Speaker 2 (05:27):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
And then I get stressed, and then I don't throw
it out because I get anxious about that, so it
just stays in my freezer.

Speaker 5 (05:33):
You got to put a permanent market date on whatever
your chuck in case pants, I think give that one
a go.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
He's a smart.

Speaker 5 (05:39):
Cookie, but I wish I want a cookie money when
I don't, sadly.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
In there somewhere, I'll figure it out. I'll work it
out if you're next.

Speaker 5 (05:48):
I've got the money in from Airy who said she
worked for a waste company and they take faulty books
from publishers to the dump. So a lot of publishers,
you know, things have ruined. You can't send them out.
Maybe it gets wet or something like that. Every so
often the driver brings some boxes in for the office staff,
anything that's good enough that it doesn't need to go
to waste. Today she scored these beauties. It's two copies

(06:09):
of shoes on the money. I got saved from the
waist and owned it. But I didn't want to send
them to the dump, which I loved that.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
I thought that was really cute. I've got a puny
in my head. Can't say it please. Life's better when
you're with She's on the money. Oh I got retracted.
I'm not retracted. Okay, so you know how I was like, Ah,
I'm so funny. I'm not.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
This is a finance podcast, a lot of comedy podcast, so.

Speaker 5 (06:31):
You'll stick to finance. Yes. Next, I've got a money
win from Hannah, who said money win. I'm up skilling
myself and learning how to do build a gel manicures.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
Oh my gosh, how funny suggests. It's so fun.

Speaker 5 (06:42):
She said she's going to turn it into a little
side hustle as well, which lets her be creative money.
We love that. Next, I've got a money win from Tash,
who said she had to change her holiday plans but
she had booked the really cheap flights that don't include
like the changes or the cancelation. Luckily, she called the
airline and they were able to change the destination for
her and she only had to pay ninety dollars in

(07:04):
change fees, which is a lot of money, but better
than losing your flights.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
But that's new destination. It's pretty good.

Speaker 5 (07:10):
Yeah, Apparently they found the cheapest flights for her, so
she didn't have to pay the difference either.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
We did that accidentally with Virgin recently.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Remember so Beck, we went to Sydney just for the
day and we're flying back and I had accidentally booked
the like flights that have no flexibility on them, and
we were like, oh, we need to get on the
next flight. And usually if you've got like the what
is it, I don't know, I don't know what they're called,
like flexi Yeah, sure, And so you get the flexi
flight and when you get to the airport, if you

(07:37):
need to change, you can go up to the front
tesk and be like, hey, could you swap this, And
they're usually really like accommodating, and the girl was like,
oh you aware that you don't have those flights that
you can change, And I was at the desk acting
like I did. I was like, oh, I was just
wondering because I've done it before, and I wasn't being
rude or anything. I was like, oh, hey, I was
just wondering if we could change to this flight because
I think we're at the airport like three hours early

(07:58):
or something, so we wanted to get on the flight
to go home earlier, and side note, the flight that
we were on we had just found out was delayed
by like another two hours.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
So I would have been a five hour age.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
And we were like, oh, we could sit at the
airport for five hours, or I could see if we
can swap them anyway.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
The girl was so nice and she's out. Yeah. She
was like, look, you're not meant to do this, but
I'm going to work it out for.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
You, and and we were home before we needed to
be home.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
So you know what it means. It always pays to
be kind.

Speaker 5 (08:32):
Yes, and also to be like a loyalty member because
I think because I.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
Think because they then saw, oh you're a platinum member
or that's big dog status, but also because we fly
so often, like it just happened. It wasn't because I
bought that status. Like I just do a lot.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Of work, all right.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
Yeah, she was like, I'll make it work. And the
rest of the team aren't platinum, but she changed all
of them as well.

Speaker 5 (08:56):
She's good your name and shout out to the queen
at the Velocity Lounge. We love and appreciate.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
You and dialso really like the pumpkin soup there.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
Honestly, beck I walk into the lounge.

Speaker 3 (09:09):
And the first thing I say to Jess is if
the soup's not pumpkin, I'm a riot, Like I'm not
going to be happy.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
That's such a funny thing.

Speaker 4 (09:15):
Like when I go into so if I ever go
into the lounge I did with you guys once. I'm
not thinking about soup when I'm in there.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Sally, aren't you What are you thinking about?

Speaker 4 (09:22):
I think about the most unhealthy, like sweet treats, you know,
all that kind of stuff. I have twenty te's. You know,
I don't feel like tea. Actually I don't feel like tea,
but I'm going to have so many teas.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah they're free because they're free, yeah, free coffee, free sweet,
so they've got literal free wine, free beer. Like it's
actually insane to me. And then you're right, it is
a bit unhinged that I'm excited about.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Just back to you. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (09:46):
Next, I've got a money went from Lisa, who said
she did a new mattress for years. She got the
email from us, this is totally me just striking our
own ego because we save someone some money. Got an
eymil from mass reminding her she'd get one hundred bucks
off with that code for Koala that we had, and
then she stacked it with shot back and she managed
to save herself two hundred and fifteen dollars.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
So I saved a heap of money because I recently
bought Harvey a new cot mattress and I went through
Coola because we hadn't go I'm sorry, like I'm not
going to work with brands, I'm not going to use myself.
And when the little cop mattress came, it came with
a Kohala branded book. I don't know if you know this,
but they're like baby version is called Joey I think
it's Joey Away. They come with a book, and the

(10:28):
book is called Joanna the Goanna, and it hasn't very
quickly become Harvey's favorite book. And I really like reading it.
This is probably like complete side note, but I really
like reading it because it's also about like recycling and like,
you know, saving.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
The planet, and like Joanna and.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
The Goanna has one eye and like they're like trying
to save their planet and they're like basically like you know,
every small step in the right direction is still a
step in the right direction.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
And I'm like, oh, this is the narrative.

Speaker 3 (10:54):
I want to be feeding my kid, so the free
book at the bottom of a mattress box has become
my kid's favorite book.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Glass Saber, you can get you.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
It's not even about the mattress at this point. You
can get your hands on that book. It is a
good one for kids.

Speaker 5 (11:07):
Go and I've got a rund for everyone where we're
all shopping for Christmas. We just did Black Friday. Stack
your discount codes with your cash back because I saved
I reckon about five hundred dollars with across a few purchases.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
Okay, sorry, we need to know, Jessica, what were you spending,
because just say five you need to.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Be probably spending.

Speaker 6 (11:26):
That.

Speaker 7 (11:27):
I bought some practical with I bought some contact lenses.
I just tell you, Okay, that's boring and really no bothering.
I'm c she is a discount stacker, So what else
are we buying?

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Contact lenses?

Speaker 1 (11:44):
What else?

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Because I want something unhinged.

Speaker 3 (11:46):
I don't want to hear that you were making responsible
purchases and planning ahead to save money or.

Speaker 4 (11:50):
Most unhinged purchase if you can, I don't know, I
mean an unhinged I got you at the marketing got me.

Speaker 5 (11:56):
I'm a posed to chip took on this. I went
to buy my favorite serum, which is expense if it's
one hundred and fifty dollars, but it was. It was enough,
the long com Genefe.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, you are used to.

Speaker 5 (12:05):
It for like a decade.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
It's really good.

Speaker 5 (12:07):
It's expensive, but it's good.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
One time I got sent that in PR and I
was like, oh my god, I got sent that in
PR and Jeff wiped it and I was like, I mean,
it's really good. I love it, but also Jess is obsessed,
so you can have it.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
But I was very proud.

Speaker 5 (12:21):
So I went on there to buy that.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
That was all I was buying, and I had like,
you got like a six piece free gift.

Speaker 5 (12:25):
I was like great. And then when I was checking out,
it's like, because you've spent one hundred dollars, you can
buy like this upsell thing.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Normally I would imagine you.

Speaker 5 (12:35):
They do always get used.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
And I looked.

Speaker 5 (12:37):
I had a little look, see you what was in
the box, and I was like, immediately at cart the
car the upsell was two hundred dollars. Before you freak
out on me, you know it was in that box.
One hundred and fifty dollars erum. Oh.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
In addition to that, there was one hundred icream.

Speaker 5 (12:50):
That I also used, so I was like, the box
is paid for itself, and then there was like ten
other free items which I then sold on Facebook market
Place for one hundred dollars.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
She's so good. I don't think we could ever catch it.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
No, I don't think we can catch her making a
bad money decision, but we will continue.

Speaker 5 (13:06):
To try four dollars cash back as well. So basically
I've all one.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
It was just all free. It was great. Oh that's
such a nice so impressive.

Speaker 5 (13:15):
You're so impressive stacky discounts, That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, so sorry.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
That was a hack that I don't think we've talked
about on the podcast before seeing an opportunity like that,
and I'm not saying it's a good investment long term,
but going I could sell that on Facebook market Yeah.
Did you look on marketplace first to see what it
might self for? Are you just like I've done this
so many times?

Speaker 2 (13:34):
I know, Nah, I.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
Just kind of knew, and because I like I in
my mind, even if I didn't, I was like, oh,
I could gift it to someone potentially or whatever. But
everything came. I got two really like pretty makeup bags,
and then so I just kind of split the products
across them. Checked the retail value because I all new,
like I'm not being dodgy or anything. Checked the retail value.
Each bag was worth like two hundred and fifty bucks

(13:56):
or something. It was so much free stuff, So each
bag was worth aout two and fifty bucks. I truck
to my marketplace and I think I just listed them
for like sixty dollars each or something.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
And negotiated it for fifty bucks. Yeah, a girl message.

Speaker 5 (14:06):
He was like can I do both for a hundred?
And I was like done today?

Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, my gosh, so you technically like I'm just doing
some background maths. Got a two hundred dollars product, you
ended up paying one hundred dollars, but got your free
one hundred and fifty dollars serum and one hundred dollar
ice cream.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah as wow, yeah, okay, I like game.

Speaker 5 (14:25):
And then you got cash back, and then I got
forty bucks in cash back as well, So I just laugh.
I popped off.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
It's home keeping shot back in business. Just absolutely sure.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
I love that, all right, Moving on to broke tips,
Miss beec what have you got for us apart from
stealing cookies?

Speaker 4 (14:43):
Okay, so this one comes from a friend of mine.
These these are all kind of Christmasy, getting in.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
The festive mood. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I like it. It's
the mood. It's not a Christmas win, but like they're
festive feeling. Festive feeling exact.

Speaker 5 (14:55):
Okay, a cute festive feeling.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, that's cute. So this first one comes from a
friend of mine.

Speaker 4 (15:00):
He says that if you're and this might be like,
you know, common knowledge to some extent, but if you're
a hosboal worker or working healthcare or anything like that,
just be open to working at least one of the
public holidays. I remember when I worked at this, Like
I used to work at like line painting, you know,
either the car parks and stuff. You know, we used
to paint all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
What And they offer me a.

Speaker 4 (15:19):
Thousand dollars So fun, I know, it was really fun.
They offer me a thousand dollars to work Christmas Day
and I was.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
Like, immediately, yes, immediately, yes, I've worked a few Christmas
days totally costpo life.

Speaker 4 (15:29):
And it's like there's no better feeling, Like I understand
that you're like missing out on family time and maybe
if you have to work in the mornings and that's
when everyone does the presence, but if you, you know,
just have a chat with everyone and like try and
work around it.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
Like there's no better feeling than finishing.

Speaker 4 (15:43):
Like a day's work and also knowing that you just
made so much money and then going home and just
being able to go and spend time with your family
now uninterrupted. You got so much money, You've probably made
all the money that you spent back.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
I didn't make a thousand dollars though, Like I remember
working Christmas Day because I worked at a rest d
way back when and every year, like somehow now i'm
thinking about it, they'd be like, oh, vib but everybody
else has families, so did I, but I had no children. Yeah,
and we'd work Christmas Day. But the vibes are real high.

(16:15):
All the kitchen staff were being festive, like obviously the
people that were there were there for their Christmas dinners.
Like it was actually just a really fun and they
only made us do either a lunch or a dinner service,
Like we didn't ever have to do the back to
back and.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
I kind of vibed it.

Speaker 5 (16:29):
I feel like there's some unwritten rule that like Christmas,
public holidays, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, all that, like everyone
kind of can do the bare minimum like Boxing Day.
Obviously you're run off your feet if you're in retail
or something, but like there's a spoken, unspoken rule, like
you get a good plate of food, Like you get
a little bit extra time on your break, like everyone's
just chill because you're putting in.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
It makes me now think of all of our like
frontline workers, so like all of the nurses, the doctors,
like literally everyone who's going to have to work Christmas Day,
while I now get to have a full Christmas Day,
which is really nice.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
But I didn't always have that.

Speaker 3 (17:02):
But just shout out to you because like serious is
like that's the reason why we are safe on Christmas
Day when all of the kids get their new trampoline,
double bounce their siblings straight off the trampoline to end
up in an emergency and we're okay because you're there.

Speaker 5 (17:18):
Yeah, every I'm working for Christmas Day.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
Speaking of double bouncing.

Speaker 3 (17:22):
Complete side note, I feel like in twenty twenty four,
like I'm seeing all of the trampolines with like this.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Segmenting and stuff.

Speaker 5 (17:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:30):
I don't know about you, but my favorite game on
our old school definitely above Ground, no net, no bumper metal,
just metal a.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Metal my favorite. Do you remember the game Crack the Egg?

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Oh my god, yeah, sister, My sister and I used
to play that game. And like what for those of
you who don't know what we're talking about, one person
bundles up like a little ball and position on the
trampoline or the other person and jumps aggressively on the
trampoline trying to bounce them off. Yeah, our game was

(18:05):
bounce the other person completely off the tra aggressive.

Speaker 6 (18:09):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
Because we can't do anymore with the nets, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
I'm just really concerned, like my babies in the next
few months probably going to start walking.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Is this what I mean? For absolutely?

Speaker 5 (18:20):
My intrusive thought with the nets is just that I
want to hurdle myself at them as fast as you.
But I'm assuming the chances are I wouldn't just go through.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
We should go to Trounce. Actually we should have wanted
to go, have you not been? I want to go
to all right, Well, we'll do God, but I do
have to be.

Speaker 3 (18:41):
Really clear before we get them, before you consent to
coming with me. I have never gone to bounce and
not had someone who's been with me break a bone.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
Oh my god. Like every time I've been that's Cindy.
How times is like twice? Three times? I have been
read three times? Every single time? Every single time?

Speaker 5 (19:05):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yeah. The first time I went, my ex boyfriend broke
his leg. Don't about really, egg? Yeah whatever whatever.

Speaker 3 (19:13):
The next time my friend fractured the bone in the
top of her foot by like landing on the side
of a trampoline really hard, came down and like land
Its weird. And the next time one of my friends
broke his arm, Oh god. Track record says it's mainly
males who do okay, actual really but if we go,

(19:34):
we should go.

Speaker 2 (19:34):
It's just us and I'm the most mask of the group.
That means the chopping I reckon, you'll be fine? Do
you think so going? Men make dumb decisions? Yeah? Yeah,
I'm so excited.

Speaker 3 (19:50):
But we're not double bouncing each other. Okay, crack the
egg maybe you and me can do. And just for sure,
what's your next break tip?

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Okay, so the next one is also probably common knowledge.
Knowledge ain't that common exactly.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
And also I feel like it's a good These are
just good reminders, you know, like a lot of I
feel like a lot of families. Maybe it's just my family,
but I do hear of like friends and stuff. They like, oh,
we're having Christmas dinner at mine, so that means I
gotta get everything, and you know, it's very stressful.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
They've got to do all the cooking.

Speaker 4 (20:21):
But no more of that from now until forever. If
you have people coming to your house or you're going
to someone else's house, the rule is now, everyone must
bring a dish.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
One dish. Everyone just does one dish and that's it,
even if it's two of you.

Speaker 5 (20:32):
We want it.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
Recently for the Zella team, like I wasn't Christmas. They
wanted to do Thanksgiving but Friendsgiving, and so everybody just
brought a dish.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah, it made it so easy.

Speaker 4 (20:43):
That's it's what you need. That one comes from Amanda.
I should say sorry. I even give the name of
the other one that my other friend is friend.

Speaker 2 (20:48):
People are like, oh, that's such common knowledge.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
You need to do a little bit of a reminder
or a little bit of a like self check and
be like I know that, but not everybody know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
And like I learned very early on, like in my
early twenties when I moved out into sharehouses, that we
don't all have the same experience growing up, Like we
don't all learn how to do.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
The same things.

Speaker 3 (21:10):
Like I remember one of my girlfriends that I lived with,
she was like, Hey, they's really embarrassing. Can you show
me how? Like you always iron, Like I'm a psycho.
I know, Jess, do you even.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
Own an ime?

Speaker 5 (21:20):
I do not?

Speaker 4 (21:20):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
She refuses to buy things that you have to iron.
I hail that you do you? But I'm an iron girl.
I love a crispy shirt.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
She was like, can you teach me how to iron
a shirt? She just didn't know how.

Speaker 3 (21:32):
And I remember at that time, I was like, oh
my god, how do you not know how to iron
a shirt? And in retrospect, I'm like, ah, the you're
being a bit rude, Like we don't.

Speaker 2 (21:43):
Just learn this stuff.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
If someone didn't teach you or share with you a
small tip or a small trick along the way, we
can ask our friends. And I know that you might
have been like, oh, like it's not that common, but.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
You can all bring a plate? Like you might have
grown up in a family.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
Where when you're hosting, everything is on you and that's
the expectation. And you're like, oh, well, you know, if
Jess said she's coming to my house, like I'll say, oh, no,
don't bring anything, Jess, Like that's your default.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
You don't have to do that. And I think just being.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
Given permission or having these conversations goes, oh, hold on,
So you're saying you could make Jess bring snacks to
my house.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, it's good to me. I used to a great
deal and her cookies. Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (22:24):
I used to get so anxious because I also grew
up a house where we didn't like host dinners or
even like, you know, I didn't even know what a
quilt and like the difference between a blanket or a
quilt or a comforter was. And so when I went
out and bought my first what blanket set a moment
to know that. I think it's like, well, a comforter
is maybe something you put on your lounge or something
like or like something you.

Speaker 5 (22:43):
Put comforter is it's kind of like a doate. It's
usually a little bit thinner. Do they or do they doner.
She's interchange. Quilt is like the you don't take the
outside off, whereas your doner is like your white plush
thing that you put on your like your heavy thing.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Then you change the pre on.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
The quilt is often decorative, but some people like them
because they're lighter.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
I have a doner, then you have a doner.

Speaker 5 (23:12):
Yes, totally change.

Speaker 4 (23:13):
Even like napkin, Like you know when you go to
a place and they give you a nap I didn't
know what to do with that until literally, I'm not
joking this year, Like I was, I don't know what
what what? Like the material one, yeah, I'm like I
don't know, and then the lap I was like what
they do it for you?

Speaker 3 (23:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Okay, Well now I feel uncomfortable.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
So you know, whenever we've been out for dinner or
like lunch or something, have you noticed I always do
it before they can.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
Get to me.

Speaker 5 (23:39):
I need to start doing that.

Speaker 2 (23:40):
I don't.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
I don't want you doing that. It's uncomfortable. I know
that it's like part of the service, but.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
I just feel.

Speaker 5 (23:48):
Silly, like I'm like, oh, like I can I can
just put it on my laps, Like don't you feel
like I want you to have to do that for like,
I know that anyway, no, I know you, doesn't make
you feel like a tiny baby? Yeah, heard, is that right?
Like there's so many silly little things that people just
don't know.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, because everyone grew up different, we need to different.

Speaker 3 (24:05):
I was thinking about this for like a like series
on my Instagram or something. You're just like stuff that
your big sisters teaching you or something like that.

Speaker 2 (24:12):
Because they are my favorite.

Speaker 5 (24:14):
Like the talks, Yeah, because there's TikTokers or YouTube, so
we're getting so far off truck everybody.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
But I feel like it's related to the she's on
the money.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
I love the idea.

Speaker 5 (24:22):
One of my favorite teat talk is this little old
British lady named Anne who teaches you.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
How to clean stuff.

Speaker 5 (24:28):
Yes, and she so we'll put it in the show
notes showed out to Ann. I love that woman.

Speaker 3 (24:34):
Oh my god, she's so wholesome too, Like you can
tell by her tone that she's so non judgmental. She
like she stitches videos and she'll be like, oh hey baby,
I see that you've done x y Z. What I
would actually do is get out the sides and use
some cold water.

Speaker 5 (24:49):
And this, and you just like I love I'll show
you after.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
But I feel like.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
I feel like I am that person ADHD. So I'm
jack of all try scared of none, so I give
everything a crack. And I grew up with a mum
who has not been diagnosed with ADHD.

Speaker 2 (25:07):
But if you see the two of us together.

Speaker 3 (25:09):
You'll be like, Wow, the apple doesn't fall that far
from the tree. And that's a compliment. So if you're
my mum and you're listening, like, that's not a bad thing.
But like, I don't know one thing that woman can't do.
She can sew, she can bake, she can cook, she
can clean. She like if you were like, oh, I
need to build a chicken coop, she'd be like say less,
Like this woman can do everything. And growing up I

(25:32):
was in the very privileged position of, oh do you
want to do that?

Speaker 2 (25:36):
We'll work it out.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
And so I've just hey, Jess, I can sew, I
can bake, I can stitch. People like, where did you
learn how to do crostitch? I'm like, can't you all
do crosstache?

Speaker 2 (25:46):
You just learn it and you.

Speaker 3 (25:47):
Just do it anyway. I think that that would be
a fun series. Beck have you got anything.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Else for us?

Speaker 4 (25:52):
Yes, okay, and so my one these are all kind
of like similar ish. This one's not really a Brooke tip,
but I guess it's just a good idea for any
friend group or any family group that wants to try
to not spend any money this year, this year, or
actually this has gone on.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
For a few years now.

Speaker 4 (26:07):
But my one of my friend groups we do this
thing called shitty Christmas. And these are the rules of
shitty Christmas. No spending one cent on the gift or
wrapping winner is the shittiest gift of them all. Sorry
everyone for all the swearing, and we'll have their name
engraved on the golden turd.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
I actually do you have it? Are you telling me
you have a truth? We have a golden turd?

Speaker 4 (26:30):
That being just like those you know, those cheaping grades
you can probably get them from like I don't know, yeah, no,
I do know.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
It's spotlight and stuff.

Speaker 4 (26:37):
If you leave behind your present of wrapping, twenty doll
penalty goes into the Christmas pool for next year. So
I guess you'll leave behind you're rubbish exactly, and so
that that amount of money will go into the pool
for next year. So if you want to, you know,
maybe get a new golden turd or whatever that is.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
So that is.

Speaker 3 (26:53):
Fine people, And then with the fine money they're buying
golden turds, Jessica.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
It's money well spend. I am screaming, crying on the inside. Perfect,
So this is shit.

Speaker 5 (27:05):
What's your shittiest gift that you've ever gotten?

Speaker 4 (27:08):
Okay, so I I want to know who's winning. Yeah,
last year I didn't go, but someone like, okay, so
someone did a I can't.

Speaker 2 (27:14):
Fully remember what it was, but it was very funny.

Speaker 4 (27:16):
It was like a cute someone gave just like a
piece of paper with a QR code on it, and
you scan the QR code, it's Ellen DeGeneres doing something.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
I can't remember what it was, but I'll try and
fine for you guys.

Speaker 4 (27:24):
Just like really silly things like that, and you have
to be like it's so fun because yet so creative.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
It is so funny.

Speaker 4 (27:30):
It is so silly, and you don't spend a single cent. Ideally,
if you spend ten cents on printing off a QR code,
maybe that's cheating, but that's okay. So just a good
idea for anyone who is like I don't want to
cost for money.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Let's try and do that, you know, something like that.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
So I think that's really fun because the Q really
forces you to be creative.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yes, and the twein dolls can go to the food
next year whatever, you know, So I think that's really fun.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
All Right, let's go to a really quick break because
on the flip side, we're going to be talking about
a partner who thinks that a treat yourself present is
like a ute or.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
A boat in the well.

Speaker 3 (28:08):
And then we're going to be chatting about something do
you slid into our dms about? And that's the pressure
of feeling like Christmas is just one big spenderth on it.
So guys, don't go anywhere.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
Welcome back everyone.

Speaker 5 (28:22):
Let's take a listen to this week's money dilemma.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
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.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
Hi, Yeah, I was just a little bit of a
money dilemma.

Speaker 6 (28:54):
What would you do if your boyfriend of three years
has just gone out and brought a brand new ut
at a forty five thousand dollar loan, a nineteen percent
interest rate, and over five years. Don't get me wrong,
I really like this year. I love it, actually, But
we didn't need to get in debt for.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
This because we've already got another U.

Speaker 6 (29:15):
We also have a boat, Whereas now you would like
to go and get a twenty thousand dollar loan now
to buy a bigger boat, but it's not much bigger,
and we've already got a boat, and we've already got
a You, and now we got a new you. I
really don't know what I can say to him, and
I really don't know how I can express the way
I'm feeling. I'm feeling really unsure, unsettled, and I'm starting

(29:37):
to stress a lot. Before this, our finances were great,
Our five year goo of a baby buying a moving
state was really on track. We're in our early twenties.
I know we don't have anything to lose right now,
but I'm really worried. Thanks, any advice would be amazing
or what can I say?

Speaker 2 (29:57):
What would you do?

Speaker 6 (29:58):
Would be super super great?

Speaker 2 (30:00):
Thanks guys. Also, I love you. I love you a lot.

Speaker 4 (30:04):
First of all, I don't know who this lovely person is,
but they sound like such a ball of fun.

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah, just I need to know them. She's so funny.
She's like she was like, well, I love the you too.
But you know, I'm like, oh my god, what a legend.

Speaker 4 (30:19):
Congratulations, congratulations in things that is incredible.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
We've already got a vote. That's incredible. You've already achieved
very pretty good money goal.

Speaker 4 (30:30):
Yeah, I guess it sounds like, you know, we don't
have heaps of context, but it sounds like they're already
pretty well off if.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
They have those things. And I mean, I could be
completely wrong.

Speaker 4 (30:42):
Maybe they worked for a long time to buy those
things and now they're just kind of like, you know,
comfortable or less then, But I guess it is a
thing we hear a lot, and it's if you have
shared financial goals, which it sounds like you guys do,
it's really not okay for your part to making that

(31:04):
like such big grand financial decisions that will actually affect
you and your shared financial goals.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
I don't think it's okay.

Speaker 4 (31:13):
I mean, if you feel like you want validation, that's
all I'm going to tell you.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
I don't have any financial advice, obviously because I am
not the one. But Jess might have something better.

Speaker 5 (31:27):
I think if it's hard because she didn't say whether
or not they share finances, because I think the more intertwined. Like,
I agree, if you have shared financial goals, you should
absolutely still be talking. But I think, particularly if you
share finances, you really have a strong case to be like, hey,
my dude, like not okay. I think that, honestly, exactly
what you said to us is what I think you

(31:48):
should say to him. It's you're at the point where
obviously these things are not things that you can just
return to the store. But I guess there's a conversation
around okay, well are we selling the other ute and
the other boat, like we don't need two of each,
Like let's be practical, let's make some money back. And
then I think the bigger conversation is around I think
we've mentioned this before, but like setting your threshold for purchases.

(32:09):
So if you share finances or share financial goals, I
think having a number, and that number is going to
look different for everyone. But for example, if I'm going
to spend over one thousand dollars, you know I'm going
to talk to my partner about it and be like, hey,
like I want to do this. It's not necessarily asking
for permission, but it's creating an opportunity to discuss how
is this going to impact the things that we want

(32:30):
to do, Because for example, taking out a load on
a car, if you're going to want to move states
or buy a house, that's going to impact your ability
to do that. And so even if he's paying for
that completely out of his own money, like, it still
warrants a conversation. I think this applies on both sides.
The same applies to her as well, Like it's an
equal thing, or it should be across both partners that

(32:50):
you're having conversations about these big things. And I don't
think it needs to be any harder than that. And
if he's a nice person and he loves you, he
will hear you out. Is kind of my thoughts on that.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
I agree, I have two streams of conversation to have.
So let's have the first conversation, and that's around shared
financial goals. So I've done some maths, and as you
guys know, I own a finance company, so my team
actually finance cars all the time. Yes, it's not amazing debt,
but I think we also are very on the same
page about understanding that sometimes we just need to finance

(33:22):
car Like your family's growing, you need a bigger car,
or you need a ute like not in this particular situation,
but you need a ute for work otherwise you can't work.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
Right.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
So we do a lot of car financing, and I'm
going to give you a really good comparison that's going
to make your eyes water in a hot second. But
I just went with the standard, like you're paying every month,
five year term ten dollars a month fees, which is
pretty standard, but at nineteen percent, that means you're paying
eleven hundred and seventy seven dollars a month. Can you

(33:51):
imagine if you were saving for a home together, and
now your partner has decided to take eleven hundred and
seventy seven dollars from your shared goals and putting it
towards a car loan, Like, that's not very Livlah laugh,
That's not very prioritizing our financial goals.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
Like I would be personally to put it.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Lightly off it if my husband came home and said,
I've just signed up to a five year loan at
nineteen percent.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
I haven't consulted you.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
It's going to mean that if we wanted to achieve
any other financial goals, it's not going to happen. So
eleven hundred and seventy seven dollars a month for a
whole year, that's fourteen than one hundred and twenty four dollars.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
That's like someone's rent. It's not just someone's rent. It's
like literally someone's rent. Like it's it's someone's rent.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
It is a year's worth of savings that is a
whole lass, massive emergency fund. That is multiple holidays throughout
the year that could be a holiday, and a new
reasonably priced second hand car. That is school fees for
an entire year of private school. Like we're trying to
contextualize this a little bit because that is a lot.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
But I also did some further maths. So this is
the second stream.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
So the first one was like, I can't believe someone
is making and I would feel really upset if my
husband was making big financial decisions that compromised my financial
security into the.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
Future without me totally.

Speaker 3 (35:16):
Like if it was a joint decision and you both
had sat down, you did your numbers, and you said, right, well,
we're both on the same page. We both want this you,
we both are happy with the terms of the arrangement.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
Who am I to judge?

Speaker 3 (35:26):
But right now you're telling me that your partner prioritized
his wants over your shared goals. Yeah, and that's a
bit thick if I'm being honest. On the flip side,
I did the maths because nineteen percent is an incredibly
high interest rate on car finance. That is what on average,
I would say a credit card in Australia is So
forty five thousand dollars at a nineteen percent interest rate

(35:49):
over five years means that you're paying a total of
seventy thousand, six hundred and thirty nine dollars for a
forty five thousand dollar carp Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
Cook, oh my god, that sounds illegal.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
That means you are overpaying twenty five thousand, six hundred
and thirty nine dollars for this car. And we know
that the second so you went and bought this car
brand new fantastic. You drove it off the lot, it
already lost value, So you've already lost like thirty five
I'd say thirty to thirty five thousand dollars by making
this decision, because you can't sell that car for what

(36:23):
you owe, nor can you sell that car for what
it ultimately costs you over that five year time period.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
Are we saying that all car finance is bad? Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (36:33):
Not nineteen percent exorbitant. I would never let a client
do that. So if you came to me and sayvia
I want to I want a car loan, I would
be like, probably not that one. We recently at Zella
financed a car loan sixty thousand dollars car six point
seven two percent, which, by the way, is what on
average I would say home loans at the moment, we're

(36:54):
getting them.

Speaker 2 (36:54):
For like six point two percent, so like not that
much more than property.

Speaker 3 (36:59):
And I'm not saying that it's good, but I'm giving
you a bit of context here. That means that every month.
Context First, for the forty five thousand dollar ut that
was costing them eleven hundred and seventy seven dollars per month,
right for our clients at Zello who ended up, you know,
getting car finance and really needing it for six point
seven two percent. They were paying eleven hundred and ninety

(37:21):
dollars a month for sixty thousand dollar car, right, and
they were paying a total of seventy one thousand dollars
over the life of the loan. So, yes, the loan
would cost them about eleven thousand dollars, but it's not
twenty five thousand, six hundred and thirty nine dollars.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
Yes, I see, like we're not.

Speaker 3 (37:37):
I feel like when we make these decisions, we'll go
that's a bit of interest, whatever it makes my monthly
payments a little bit more Like we've all been there,
Like Beck, you and I have been in debt. Jess,
you've been in debt as well, probably not as significantly
as Beck and I.

Speaker 2 (37:50):
Thank God God. She's the smartest one of the kids'
the smart one, and she will give that to her.
She's also way better at baking.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
But that is crippling, and that mindset exists, right, Like
I remember when I got my personal loan, I was like, whatever,
it's a monthly payment. I'm happy to pay that monthly
payment for this lifestyle or I'm happy to, you know,
do that value exchange. But no one sat me down
and said, well, this is actually what it costs. Like,
does your partner no that that forty five thousand dollar
car is actually costing him about seventy grand?

Speaker 2 (38:19):
Is he aware of that?

Speaker 3 (38:20):
Is he comfortable with that if I put that on paper?
Is that a good financial decision? On the flip side,
remember that client that I was telling you about sixty grand. Yeah,
they're paying seventy one thousand dollars over the long term.
That's actually a work vehicle, so they actually need that
to generate an income, and they're very happy with the
idea that over the next five years they'll pay about

(38:42):
eleven thousand dollars to have access to that car. But
that means that they're going to be able to generate
a full time income. So they're like, oh, eleven grand,
I'm probably paying about two and a half grand a
year for the privilege of having a car loan And
they're like, oh that, like it's a lot of money still,
but two and a half thousand dollars year year that
I'm happy to pay that in order to get the

(39:03):
car now instead of saving for five years to be
able to afford it, and I think that that's where
we need to go.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
Back to it.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
That's a great point, like no one gives the context,
and I guess that's where I shoot myself in the foot.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
And I won't say we lose clients.

Speaker 3 (39:16):
I think we gain clients, but then we don't make
any money off them, because so many times people come
to Zella and they say, oh, VI, we really want
a car loan, and like we're happy to do them, Like,
if that's in line with your values, Slay, I can
organize that. But sometimes our brokers get involved and they're like,
are you sure you want to do that just a
car Do you want to just have a chat about that,
because we kind of have our morals hat on as well,

(39:37):
and we want to make sure that you're in the
best possible position. But that tells me that he hasn't
thought about the long term plan, because what logical person
goes I impulse purchased forty five thousand dollar youth with
nineteen percent finance, and I'm totally okay with that because
me being me, you could have got better finance elsewhere.

(39:59):
I'm as so that nineteen percent. I'm assuming it was
like in dealer. So like you walked in on the
lot and there was probably a finance person sitting in
a desk over to the left, and you went, oh,
I'd love to buy this car Beck. And then Beck says, oh,
did you need finance for that? And I say yeah, yeah,
Oh come over and just quickly say Jessica, she can
sort you out. Jessica would have been like, okay, cool,

(40:20):
So I can probably let you drive home with that today.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
So these are the terms and conditions.

Speaker 3 (40:24):
You're so excited you haven't even thought about the interest
rate and they go, oh, look, it's usually a twenty
two percent interest rate, but I'm going to cut that
down to nineteen. And you go, that sounds like a
good discount. No worries, You don't even think about it. Yeah,
you signed straight up. That is how it happens often,
and it's a slippery slope. But I context realized it
a little bit for you.

Speaker 5 (40:44):
Now.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
I think everyone has the iic about it.

Speaker 6 (40:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (40:47):
I think just take that information to him and have
an open chat, because you're.

Speaker 3 (40:51):
I'm going to I'm going to email you my numbers
and be like het, no worries, just show your partner
this is because you can also potentially go back and
work that out, or what you can do is talk
to a finance professional and potentially have that car refinanced.
So what that would mean is the finance amount and
the amount owing would stay the same, which is okay

(41:14):
because you still have the asset. But you go to
somebody who can get your better car loan. We pay
out the first one with the second loan, and then
you pay off the second loan, which would hopefully be
at a lower interest rate. If I'm being honest. You
have whiddled down your options though, so you're not like
on a completely level playing field with somebody who has
a brand new car that they haven't driven off the
lot yet. But it's probably a really good idea to

(41:36):
get a second opinion and just put yourself in the
best financial position. Don't even don't even get me started.

Speaker 2 (41:42):
On the boat sail away.

Speaker 3 (41:47):
Let's move on, because I I just want to, like,
I love you so much.

Speaker 2 (41:53):
I want to shake your partners so hard and be like,
what were you doing? What are you doing?

Speaker 5 (41:59):
I like it?

Speaker 3 (41:59):
You do you know what you can't, but you'd look
so hot in a you think you you would.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
I agree, like I don't want to be that person,
but I can't agree. But all right, move on. We
have a DM. Do you guys want to get into that?

Speaker 5 (42:14):
Yes? Ampletely?

Speaker 3 (42:15):
All right, So here is the damn we received this week,
Hay team. Every Christmas, my in laws insist on buying
individual gifts for everyone, no matter how big the family
has grown. They say it's part of the holiday magic.
But for me, all that overspending, over consumption are a
waste and really taking the magic away. Last year, I

(42:35):
scrambled to buy thoughtful gifts for people I barely know,
I overspend, and I still feel like it wasn't enough.
I suggested we switch to Secret Santa to ease the stress,
but they were not.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
Open to it.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
They think it would take the joy out of the season.
But honestly, the pressure to keep up is doing that
for me already. Is there a way to simplify things
that still respect their traditions? I want Christmas to feel meaningful, overwhelming?

Speaker 5 (43:01):
Oh it's so hard, isn't excuse? I think everyone has
their own perspectives and feelings on Christmas. Yeah, if you
have two really strong different feelings, it's a hard thing
to reconcile.

Speaker 3 (43:12):
I feel like I've seen this a lot. I've been
having a lot of conversations with my dms recently about Christmas,
and like, I suppose intergenerational wealth. So like the older generation,
like the Boomers being like, no, but that's the Christmas magic.
But they also have the disposable income to spend on that,
and it's not painful for them to do that. Like

(43:34):
they're like, no, of course I want to get Jessica
a present. Of course, her new partner Beck is coming.
I'm going to bring Beck a present. Like and you
know what, that's so nice. Like the idea that gift
giving is they love language and they want to allocate their.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Resources to you guys.

Speaker 3 (43:51):
So nice, But they're not seeing it from the other
perspective that when I receive one hundred dollars gift, there's
that expectation to give one back. And if you're going
into a situation where there's fourteen people coming to Christmas,
is that actually reasonable to expect of everyone? Financially it's crazy.
We're in the middle of the cost of living crisis.

Speaker 5 (44:11):
Yeah, it's sad that they didn't want to do because
my normal suggestion would be like a secret Sanda, like
that's the obvious choice, and.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
She's clearly trying to pitch you Already's.

Speaker 5 (44:19):
If me personally, if that was the case and I
couldn't afford to do the gifts or like the stress
of it or whatever, and I was like, oh, I
need to give something, but like they're not meeting me
at the table with the secret thing. I would probably
do it, like bake something.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Like I would.

Speaker 3 (44:32):
I would ask you to bake me something. Don't give
me presents food serious food.

Speaker 5 (44:37):
Is you know, if you do a big batch of
the same thing for everybody, it can be like reasonably
affordable and you can still I think if you present
it really beautifully. I'm thinking that these people sound kind
of selfish and maybe they weren't appreciate it, but like.

Speaker 4 (44:50):
Yeah, that's the viow I get to if I was
getting but I didn't want to say it so much.

Speaker 5 (44:54):
If that's the case, though, you're never going to be
able to win, is my kind of thoughts. And so
I think like, if like I think cook comes from
a heart, you can dress it up really beautifully, like
put it in beautiful packaging, maybe write out, you know,
a recipe or pick a meaningful recipe it's a family
recipe or my personal favorite, and I wanted to share
it with you. You can, you know, give them a
little tea towel or something if you want to add
something to it. But I think baking is a really

(45:16):
good gift to give to lots of people because you
enjoy food, you share food. But I honestly my deep
down feeling you're just not gonna win, and that kind
of sucks. But like if they're gonna hold that against you,
they're kind of shitty people.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
Yeah, totally.

Speaker 4 (45:30):
I was going to say too, like if you are
just grappling with these particular people and everyone else is
pretty chill, because I feel like this is not some
completely alien concept. Like literally Christmas is stressful right now,
I'm sitting here. I actually have anxiety about this conversation
about how much money I'm going to have to spend

(45:51):
over the next month. And so it's not a foreign concept,
like people understand that. So this is the only one
or two people that are are kind of like pushing
back on this, maybe like talk to everyone else and
just get those two people presents and be like for
everyone else, let's all do a secret stander all. Let's
all do nothing, because I'm sure if you're thinking it,

(46:11):
other people are probably thinking I can't thought this either,
like this is excessive, this is yet.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
Surely you're not the only one.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
Surely, And maybe this is just stereotyping, but I'm assuming
it's coming from the matriarch in the family who's like
running the Christmas stuff, and you will go to her
hot like, I don't know, this is very stereotypical, but
I feel like that's often the type of person that.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
Pushes that narrative.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
And I don't know how you would approach this because
so many people have so many different ways, But I
do believe they might have their blinkers on a bit
and they're not seeing the world for the situation we
are generally, and they're just seeing their situation and going
but it's.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
Fine, and that's really nice.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
But maybe even contextualizing it and being like, hey, cool,
like I've actually done the maths on this, and I've
worked out that it all cost me fourteen hundred dollars
just on gifts before I even come to Christmas, and
that's just not financially viable for me. And seeing if
that context helps, because often people will push back on
you when they don't have a full comprehension of the situation,

(47:12):
like if I've never been in your shoes back and
I go, well.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
It's not that hard.

Speaker 3 (47:17):
It's like someone trying to explain their anxiety to you,
Like I am someone that's not scared of spiders, like.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
I genuinely am not. I'm like, oh, hey, friend, you're
big boy.

Speaker 3 (47:26):
Like when I see a huntsman, Jessicau would fly across
the room, like she even smelled like she thinks there
might be a spider. She's not going in that room.
So like trying to explain that to somebody and going,
but I'm fine with it.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
Why isn't Jessica fine with it?

Speaker 5 (47:43):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (47:43):
Yeah, that's not fair. And the same thing exists around money.
So I think we need to give somebody else the
context because in this situation, let's pretend it's spiders. Just
might go hey v my heart rate goes up significantly,
I get anxious, I get sweaty hands, like it's I
can't even think straight, Like it is so uncomfortable for
me that I never want to be in that situation.

(48:06):
For me, that's not my experience. But by being able
to contextualize it, and see that.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
Oh well, that's just this experience. Farah. I'm going to
step in and be like, all right, will you stay outside.
I'm going to deal with the spider and I'll let
you know when it's all done and gone. I can
sympathize easy after you exactly.

Speaker 3 (48:20):
And I think that by giving people more context and going, hey, cool,
I did the maths and it's fourteen hundred dollars for
me just to come. If my partner is also buying gifts,
that's now twenty eight hundred dollars across the whole family.
We're spending thirty thousand dollars this year on presence, do
you know what I mean? Like we could extrapolate that

(48:40):
out and go that's insane, that's not in line with
our values at all.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
Or on the flip.

Speaker 3 (48:46):
Side, this is probably a little bit more rogue. Hey,
that's fantastic. We won't be participating. Could you just circulate?
People don't have to buy for us, they can buy
for absolutely everybody else. We know that by opting out
of this, we're not going to receive any gifts, but
we're also not going to give any gifts on the day.
You know, Jess and I We're going to make a
big batch of cookies and bring all of the food

(49:07):
and the vibes like will be there. Yes, And in fact,
our kids would love to do a little secret santas,
so maybe we could do that in addition, are you interested?
We could just get the kids in on that and
still have something that aligns with their values.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
Right, no worries. You do your thing then.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
But I'm actually not going to be actively participating in
that and see how that goes. And I think it's
all about being as positive as possible during that Because
these situations money Christmas emotions, everyone can start yelling really quickly,
everyone can start typing in group chat in like capital letters,
and I think that just by going okay, cool, like

(49:44):
this is really this is pushing me to my limits.
But I'm going to maintain kindness and I'm always going
to try and approach every response with empathy. Hey, I
can totally see where you're coming from, but unfortunately that
doesn't align with what we are trying to work towards
for Christmas. And like, as you know, the three of us,
we kind of people please is like, I'm not the
type of person that's like I'm sorry, Beck, I'm not

(50:05):
doing that. I want to be like, oh, actually, that
fourteen hundred dollars that we talk and this is just
like the number f picked out of my head. We
don't know if that's a number. This fourteen hundred dollars
is actually going to go towards We're planning on taking
the kids on a holiday later this year and with
budget about twenty five hundred dollars, so between us, like,
that's actually our holiday budget, you know.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
Makes sense?

Speaker 3 (50:27):
Ha ha, Like I think if you need to contextualize it,
you can do that. But also, no, nobody deserves an explanation.

Speaker 5 (50:35):
You're like to say, no, you're a grown adult. Yeah,
I totally forget that sometimes. Yeah, like genuinely, I'm like,
oh no, it's an.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Option and the other thing, Jess, no is a full sentence.
That's true.

Speaker 4 (50:47):
I understand how uncomfortable it would be. One hundred percent
of social prior or yeah, one hundred percent. But people
are probably going to be you might be shocked. You
might be on your side and be like, oh my god, yeah, I've.

Speaker 3 (50:57):
Been someone else's years, someone else's Itally we used to
do that in our family and then I don't know
who pitched it, but now we do Secret Santa, and
that's actually really fun because the cap for us in
our family is I think it's fifty dollars a present,
but that's like our total Christmas budget for that side
of the family, so that for us is quite reasonable.
And then someone gets a good present, like we all

(51:19):
walk away with a good fifty dollars present. On the
flip side, I think I've told you guys this before.
We do homemade, handmade, or second hand, yes, and so
it has to be one of those three, and that
becomes fun. It's like your like shitty Christmas where you
kind of it's kind of like gammified, like what's the
best if I can get secondhand on Facebook market place, which.

Speaker 5 (51:40):
Is really fun?

Speaker 3 (51:41):
Yeah, whateveryone else say Okay, So we had a lot
of opinions. First one we said which one of you?
Eighty five percent of you said we are team Secret Santa.
Fifteen percent said we are team buy for everyone.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
Almost be nice, yes or stressful Now I'm not on
the tea.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
We then asked how are you feeling about Christmas this year?
Forty three percent of views said that you were feeling
stressed about overspending.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
So Beck, when you said.

Speaker 3 (52:08):
I'm really already stressed about this, soo's most of our community,
forty three percent agreed with you. They were like, Beck,
we are also stressed, so ac company. Do you know what,
Maybe our community are better at money than we are.
Because forty six percent of you said I'm actually a
Christmas budgeting queen.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
It's like, oh great, it's been nice.

Speaker 3 (52:26):
And eleven percent of you said I'm happy to blow
the budget it's Christmas.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
Well, you know what you're allow. You're allowed.

Speaker 3 (52:35):
You can do whatever you want as long as it's
in line with your values. Like Beck, if you said, well,
I want to blow my budget every Christmas, I'll be like, okay,
well if you thought about it, cool, Like, all I
want you to do is think about it and make
sure that it's not compromising your bigger financial goals. Maybe
Christmas is like Jess, is Christmas crazy and we love that.
Maybe that's like the biggest thing that you're budgeting for

(52:57):
the entire year because you cannot wait for Christmas. Yeah,
I'm not gonna yuck your yum, Like, I'm not going
to stop you from doing something that's so aligned to
your values.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
But isn't it cool that by going through.

Speaker 3 (53:09):
The steps on these conversations, we're getting clearer on our
own values. You're probably thinking, oh, well, I do do
that or don't do that, but you've probably never thought
about it before. You just go through the motions every year.
So we then said to the community, what is your
two cents? One person said, this sounds like I could
have written it. Keen to hear answers, it is so hard.

(53:30):
Someone else said, ask if you can do thrift mess
or put a twenty dollar spend limit on each person,
or make gifts instead.

Speaker 5 (53:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (53:39):
Yeah, we've got the cookie recipe for Jess's peak am
Pire cookies in the show notes, so you're welcome.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
Someone else said, just by everyone the same book. Obviously
she's on the money book.

Speaker 5 (53:50):
You imagine everyone going a cofee if she's the money.

Speaker 3 (53:54):
Cue, by everyone the same book to it. Then someone said,
bonus points. If it's that she's on the money, you're
an icon. Another person said, you need the problem person
to think it's their ideas somehow.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
Ohha, clevera I like this. This is a little bit psychological.
Maybe you could pull them aside and be like, we're
in the middle of the cost of living crisis. I
think it would take the pressure off everybody. Maybe you
could pitch the idea's just see how it goes. Yeah,
oh that is nifty. I wish I'd thought of that one.

Speaker 3 (54:28):
Someone else said, feeling like a grinch for having to
give gifts for the sake of it?

Speaker 5 (54:34):
Yes, true, you shouldn't have to do something you don't
want to do. Is what it like ultimately comes down
to Someone else said, my mother in law was the same.
It took two years of us suggesting and building support,
but this is year one of only buying one gift.

Speaker 2 (54:49):
Great, I love this.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
Someone else said, give that mental load back to her partner.
Her in law gifts should be her partner's responsibility.

Speaker 5 (54:57):
There you go, huh pot take yeah, di.

Speaker 3 (55:01):
Y something small I reckon, like your Christmas crack and
wrap up some for everybody Instagram.

Speaker 5 (55:08):
We do.

Speaker 3 (55:09):
We'll link it in the show notes as well, because
it's super easy. Just where the cookie is easy to make?
Or are they like complicated?

Speaker 5 (55:16):
I would say mid like, they're not like a choc
chip cookie because you have to make the peacan topping
separate to the urine. But it's not No, like I
can do it, and I maintain I'm not a particularly
good cook, so like I think.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
It's what's the dishes?

Speaker 5 (55:30):
Nah, like two pans in the mixing bowl really, and
and you're measuring cups and spoons, which I feel like
is pretty standard.

Speaker 2 (55:35):
Yeah, that's yeah, we could do that. We could do
that cooking.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
Being back, someone else said, I love gift giving, but
I'm not offended if it's not reciprocated.

Speaker 2 (55:45):
Opt out, you queen. True.

Speaker 3 (55:48):
In fact, I find it really interesting this concept of
gift giving. Like if I'm giving you a gift, it's
not because I'm expecting something in return. I'm giving you
a gift because I'm undred big you are going to
love it.

Speaker 5 (56:01):
Yeah, it needs to be reciprocated equally to like I
bought you a hundred doll year or you brought me
one hundred all years.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
No, absolutely not. It's just it's love.

Speaker 5 (56:11):
Gift giving is meant to be.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
It's not your love language. That's so far exactly.

Speaker 4 (56:16):
Imagine we put that blanket rule over everything, like I'm
going to go get your coffee, so therefore today you've
got to do a good deed for me, you know
what I mean. It's like No, you just like do
nice things because you feel like you want to do
a nice thing.

Speaker 3 (56:26):
Yeah, and yeah, if you are giving gifts in that way,
this is probably really nasty. But that's okay. You were
never giving the gift for that person to benefit. You
were giving the gift to get something in return, and
that's actually not gift giving.

Speaker 5 (56:40):
Hey.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
True.

Speaker 3 (56:41):
Yeah, So anyway, that is probably a negative place to
leave it, So let me change it into a positive.
I have a really great Christmas present suggestion, and that
is my new book that came out a couple of
weeks ago, The Business Bible hit Shelves, which is so
exciting because I feel like I probably haven't promoed this enough.
It's not just for like building ashes on the money

(57:02):
size business. It's for side hustlers and earning some extra
income on the side and managing that properly. And I
think that there's for a very long time been this
massive misconception that if you start a side hustle, you
need to scale it to become your full time income. Like, Jess,
how many times have you been asked, Oh, you have
a side hustle, when are you going to be a

(57:23):
full time influencer? And I think that we need to
decipher that and champion the teeny tiny micro businesses because
you need the same structure, like Jess, you still have
to do the same tax return as a big business, but.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
You don't get the advice.

Speaker 3 (57:38):
So it's from small micro businesses to changing into a
company for the first time, to taking your first million,
to taking your first eight figures. And I think that
it's a scalable book. That's also really fun because that's
full of business diaries. So from all of my favorite
business owners around Australia, they've come together and been like, oh,
this is what I struggled with.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
This was really hard.

Speaker 3 (57:59):
I still what I'm doing and that was my favorite part. Anyway,
that would be a very good Christmas present.

Speaker 5 (58:06):
And it's probably on sale right now.

Speaker 3 (58:08):
We'll link it in the show notes as well, because honestly,
if you're buying my books not using a discount code
or a sale, are you even a proper She's on
the Money member. We support you all right, Thank you
so much.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
It has been a pleasure. Where we will see you,
guys bright nearly on Monday for a money diary. Bye guys, say.

Speaker 3 (58:31):
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.

Speaker 2 (58:44):
If you do choose to buy a financial.

Speaker 3 (58:46):
Product, read the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
Advice tailored towards your needs.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
Victoria Devine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
of money Shoper Pty Ltd ABN three two one six
four nine two seven seven zero eight a f s
L four five one two eight nine