August 19, 2025 • 47 mins
You know Victoria Devine as your finance hype girl… but for the first time ever, she’s sharing the part of her story you’ve never heard. The one where she was $40k in debt, lying awake at night wondering how on earth she’d dig herself out, and how she turned it all around.
This week, we’re going behind the scenes of V’s own money glow-up. How she went from maxed-out cards and money anxiety to complete financial freedom, and she’s not holding back. You’ll get the exact mindset shifts, money moves, and game-changing lessons she used, so you can steal them for yourself.
Inside her debt-free playbook:
💸 The moment V realised her debt wasn’t going to magically disappear (and what she did next)
💸 The first game-changing move she made to start turning it all around
💸 How she stayed motivated when the numbers felt way too big
💸 The sneaky spending habits she had to break... and the ones she kept
💸 The mindset shift that made paying off $40k feel possible
💸 The money habits V still uses today to stay completely debt-free
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Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha 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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Tatasha Bamblet. I'm a proud First Nations
woman and I'm here to acknowledge country t glennyan Ganya, Niana,
Kaka yah Ya bin Ahaka Nian our gay In Nimbini,
yakarum jar Dominyama, Domagahawakawaman, damon imlan Bumba bang Gadabomba in
and now in wakah ghana on yak rum jar Watnadaa. Hello,
(00:22):
beautiful friends, we gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people.
We thank acknowledge and respect the Aberiginal people's land that
we're gathering on today. Take pleasure in all the land
and respect all that you see. She's on the Money
podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections, bringing you the tools,
knowledge and resources for you to thrive.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
She's on the Money. She's on the Money. Hello and welcome,
(01:08):
and she's on the Money.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
The podcast that proves being financially savvy doesn't mean you've
always been financially flawless. I'm beck sired and with me
is the woman who might actually kill me when she
realizes what we're doing today, Victoria, are we doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
We're going for a run. I'm just kidding. How would
you feel like? I was like, let's just get up
and run. Do you know I used to run and
it's not for me. No, I understand. It's like you're
gotta keep yourself entertained for a long time. Wasn't even that.
It just ruined my body. It was so like my
knees always hurt. I ended up with like stress fractures
in my shins. I was just not made. My body's
(01:42):
not made for Annie. He's not a runner. I wish
I could say, Beck, I have a pilates body, but
like I have a body that's meant to do pilates,
and I don't I look like I have a pilates body.
I wish it was the ladder.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Well, I think you're plenty pilates, thank you, But no,
we are doing something a little bit different. That's almost
as bad as running. You are back in the hot
seat by very popular demand. Hey, well, everyone loves it.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You love it. I love it because you're all sadistic.
That's why.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So last time we got the juicy details of your
money's story, you did, yes, But today we're digging into
the actual strategy, the good stuff.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Not that do I have strategy? I think your mind
strategy is fly by the siege of my pants. Hey
that might work.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Actually, so far, so good. Yeah, that's fantastic. So we
all need to know how did Victoria Devine get herself
out of debt?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Oh that's a good question. Actually that's a very and
you know what, it's really hard, like it was really hard. Yeah, Well,
I mean just answering that question straight out or have
you got a list of questions?
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Unfortunately, do have a longest questions. I can see some
hope in your eye, like that's the only question. Are
you ready as ready as I'll ever be?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Great?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Okay, we talked about this in Great Tetail last time,
but just in case anyone needs a refresh to kick
things off, can you paint a quick picture of what
life looked like when you realize your debt had to
be dealt with and what were your very first steps?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, so let me go back a little bit further
and tell you how I got into debt really quickly, quickly,
And then also I guess why I got into debt
because I think that people are always like, well why
like and people who haven't been in debt are often
very much like, well, why did you do that? That's
so silly, And at the time you just don't know
what you don't know. No, So I was working in consulting.
(03:32):
I had finished two degrees, so I'd done my undergrad
in psychological science and then I had just finished my
postgrad in organizational psychology, and I had what I thought
was my big dog, like my big dog consulting job.
And I remember my contract. I think it was like
for fifty five thousand dollars plus super and at the
(03:54):
time that was the most amount of money that I'd
ever earned. Like prior to that, I was just working
part time and I was like, I would say I
was pretty good, Like my work ethic has always been.
I would say fantastic, Like I'm the type of person
that's like not like if I've got some spare time,
I would just do it. So I was working like
retail jobs, I was working hospitality jobs. There was a
time where I was like a swim teacher. In between
(04:14):
that I was like doing some tutoring of some other
people at UNI, Like there was just like lots of
bits and bobs floating around. But even though I had
all of those jobs, I think people who go to
UNI can probably resonate with that. You feel like you
work like a dog day and day out, like you
go to UNI and then like straight after UNI, I
would like go to my like hospitality job that night
(04:35):
and work until midnight or one am, and then you
look at your tax return and I'd be like, oh,
I've worked my butt off, and then like, I remember
one year. I think it was like the year before
I got this big dog job, my like taxable income
was like thirty two thousand dollars, yes, yes, And like
in my head, I was like, but all I did
was work, I like, and I mean that's minimum wage
(04:56):
for you, right, Like that's exactly how it works. Anyway.
So I get this big dog job and I start
to feel like I really want to fit in, and
like this is just upon reflection at the time, you're
not thinking, oh I really want to fit in, Like
that's just not it. And I remember I got this
Virgin Money credit card, and to me, that's kind of
I don't know why I'm telling you it's Virgin money.
(05:17):
I think I'm telling you it's a Virgin Money credit
card because it didn't feel as real as like a
NAB or a combank or a Westpac credit card because.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
It wasn't a real bank, do you know what I mean,
but also kind of like gives some validity to it.
It's like if you had a bloody I don't know,
what's that one that's like a latitude.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, like a latitude. It was like, yeah, virgin money.
It was a proper credit card. Yeah, And I remember
the interest rate on it was probably like twenty two
percent because I was just like, well, I'll never pay
that obviously, like yeah, so that doesn't matter, and it
had I think, just this is just me reflecting. I
could be completely wrong, but I think I had like
a forty five day interest free period. In how most
(05:58):
credit cards have a month. This was like a little
bit longer. And I'm like, well, that's helpful. And I
remember the first credit card I got was like five
hundred dollars, and that felt like a lot of money
at the time, because like, I don't think I often
had five hundred dollars in my savings account, like you know,
it comes, it goes. I would pay rent and then
it had drop back down. So I got this five
(06:18):
hundred dollar credit card, and very quickly they sent me
an email or like a letter. After that, I can't
remember how, but I remember it going up to one thousand,
and I remember thinking four figures like that, like it
starts slow and it starts small, right, and I'd maxed
that out just buying things to fit in. I suppose
like I'd bought a new suit from Saba and I
(06:39):
had bought like a couple of pieces from Scanlan Theodore
and then bam, like the credit card was maxed out.
Like we're not talking, oh V, like you were using
it for costs like the living costs or anything like that.
It was literally like clothes that I otherwise couldn't afford.
In in my head, I was like, if I put
it on the credit card, I can just pay it
off and then I get nicer pieces, like in my head,
(06:59):
I was their investment pieces for work, like this will
be good. And yet things started to like snowball from there.
The debt didn't feel too bad. I was paying the
minimum repayments. It was probably like fifty two dollars. I
feel like in my head it was like fifty two
dollars a month, and I was like, that's fine. I
hadn't done the maths on what that actually meant for
me over the long term. Spoiler. I was basically never
(07:22):
going to pay that credit card off. That's all I
was paying, right of course, And so it starts snowballing.
And then I'm in this big dog job. And I
say big dog job because at the time I felt
very cool. And I think March the next year rolls
around and I must have been before that. Actually I
find out that I got into a Master's of Business Administration.
(07:44):
So I get into my MBA like this is so cool,
Like this is the coolest thing ever. And like I
start doing that and I'm studying and I'm working at
the same time, and it's so hard. And at this
time I didn't have any other debt. I'm just like
paying off this credit card and I reckon. It would
have been about mid year, like I got offered to
(08:05):
travel to a place called Glennorb in the south of
France to study. I was able to go and do
two units. Ye kind of not in exchange, but like
a I don't know, you go overseason, you study for
a little bit. And it was over that Christmas period,
like it was like a Christmas like semester where it
was going to be two full time units. I was
(08:26):
over there for about three months, and I knew that
I could take that period of time off work, like
I would negotiate whatever I couldn't afford to do that
beck like my university did, I think subsidize the education component,
Like I could put the actual course fees on my
hex because it was like an exchange thing with r
(08:46):
MIT and the university over there. And that was fine.
But I still had flights, I still had accommodation. And
then I remember my car blew up and I used
to drive this old Toyota Avalon and whenever I turned right,
because it had been converted to LPG for some reason,
something in the car would cut the LPG and the
(09:09):
car would literally stop if you turned right to her.
Oh I see, yeah, it was really cool. And so
you'd be like getting onto the freeway or something and
your car would cut out, and I remember just being
like this is so unsafe, and like I'd taken it
to a heap of people and they're like, oh, you'll
have to replace the whole LPG thing, and I'm like, no,
absolutely not, like that's so expensive. So I kept putting
(09:32):
up with this car and my Dad I remember, was
like Victoria, like you need to get something safer, like
we have to get something safer, and so I was like,
oh okay, like I can't really, Like I had no savings,
I had no income that would support a new car
and an overseas trip, and I thought, why don't I
(09:53):
just get a loan, like I can just get a
personal loan, Like I was already looking like I think
that the car thing was there thing that started my
thought patent on the loan situation, because I was like,
I'll get a car loan and I'll get a better car.
And I bought a secondhand car. I bought a little
two door Mercedes. She was very cute. Beck I haven't
(10:13):
been able to get rid of her yet, I still
have her.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Oh cute.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I mean, I do have another car because I have
to be an adult and drive my child around in
a car that is relatively safe. But my little two
doors still lives down at my parents' house, and I
just I probably need to sell it, but like I
just have an emotional connection to her. Anyway, I decide
that I'm going to get a car loan, and then
what's wrong with just putting a little bit more onto
(10:38):
that car loan, making it a personal loan so that
I can go do this thing in France. Yeah, yeah,
And I remember the car was I think fourteen thousand
dollars and then to study and you know, organize flights
accommodation three months in Europe, and obviously I wanted to
have a good time too, Like I ended up going
(10:58):
to the snow over there, like dude, I was like
skiing in living shops, like I spent some time in Paris,
I spent some time with friends in London, like very cool.
All of that meant that I got a forty thousand
dollar personal line. Sure. Sure, And at the time that
didn't feel scary. That actually felt like I remember signing
the contract and being like this is so freeing. I'm
(11:19):
getting exactly what I want. Yeah, And like in my head,
forty thousand dollars that wasn't my annual income, so it's
not that bad, right, right.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
And I guess like you're kind of thinking, oh, I'll
never like I will get there eventually, but if you're
giving it to me all right now, and then I
can just like kind of.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I can pay it off, pay it off. How hard
would that be? Yeah? I totally understand how that would
have that's not and that hard. No, And like I
remember then and like, this is actually really funny because
I have since I since joined a class action and
I actually got all of the money that I paid
on that loan, that loan's insurance back, really because ages
(11:57):
going NAB. Like I remember my loan with NAB and
I went down to the bank and it was so easy,
Like we're talking twenty eleven, twenty twelve. Maybe I got
this loan and I just remember walking in and then
being like, oh, have you got payslops And I was
like yeah, and like I had them on my phone
and I emailed them to them and then they're like, oh,
(12:17):
sign all of these things. Yeah, we'll call you tomorrow.
And then the next day I had a personal loan.
That's crazy. It's so easy. And I was like, oh, maybe,
like I remember thinking of the time, maybe I should
have gotten more. I know, I know, like maybe I
should have gotten more because like that freedom felt good
and like that's not freedom, that's delusion. Just to be
very clear, anyway, got this loan and lived my best life,
(12:41):
went overseas. When you get a personal loan, it's not
like a line of credit. They actually put all of
that cash into my bank account. So I paid for
that car and then I had, well, I would say,
a very healthy fund to go overseas with. Yeah, And
I made a lot of financial decisions while I was
overseas that were definitely aligned to not my income, because
(13:04):
I'd be like, well, I've got heaps of money in
my account, why don't we go to Heston Blumenthal's like restaurant,
Why don't we go to these expensive places? Or why
don't I buy And I remember, you guys have probably
seen it online because like I do wear a lot
of clothes that I have had for years and years
and years, and there's these beautiful I think it's beautiful
Ted Baker dress that I have right, and it's just
(13:25):
like it's red, and it's a meaty dress and it's
quite high cart and it's got this beautiful orchid pattern
on it. I love it. I bought that in London
for an exorbitant amount of money at the time, but
I was like, have heaps of cash in my account,
so like does it matter?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah, it didn't matter, No, And even just the whole
experience and stuff like that, it's like, you know, I
don't encourage anyone to get into dead.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
No, this is terrible. I'm just I feel like I
need to talk about how I got there, because so
many people would be like, oh, how did you get
out of it? And getting out of debt is very hard,
but I think also coming to terms with the idea
that I remember all of that. Right, I come home
and I had a little bit of savings, so even
when I got home, the pain wasn't like the pain
of being in debt wasn't there because I could still
(14:05):
make the monthly repayments really easily, and they were eight
hundred and fifty three I think dollars per month, and
that was easy because like there was still that cash
in my account from the actual loan. So I was like, not,
there was no pain right totally. That dried up really quickly. Yeah,
and then all of a sudden, you're back home. All
you've got in your pocket or experiences, and I had
(14:26):
a really nice dress. I had started to live paycheck
to paycheck again. And when you're on a fifty five
thousand dollars salary, eight hundred and fifty three dollars a
month means you don't have any extra money. That's like,
like I remember my rent was about the same, and
like I had good rent because I took the smallest
(14:47):
bedroom in this sharehouse. I lived with my best friend
and her brother, and I had the tiniest little bedroom
back and I had eight hundred and fifty three dollars
I think of debt repayment, and my rent was like
eight fifty yep, And that's wild between that food, like
there was not much to spare, no, Like there was
(15:08):
just nothing, and like by the time you pay for
petrol and your train tickets every day and you know,
the odd coffee at work, Like I just didn't have
any extra and I just remember how suffocating that felt. Yeah,
Like I started to go, oh my goodness, like what
am I going to do about this debt thing? But
I bury my head in the sand. Yeah, I didn't
(15:30):
tell anybody i'd taken that loan out because like I
kind of like, at the same time as not caring
about it, I also knew that there was some level
of shame involved in it. Yeah, like anyone around upon
you don't really know why. Yeah, Like I didn't want
to tell people I had it, and at that point
my financial literacy was not very good. Like, keep in mind,
I wasn't working in finance. She's on the money didn't
(15:50):
exist at this point, and yeah, like I just buried
my head in the sand for a very long time
about it paid the minimum repayments. So I remember looking
into getting it refinanced, so because I was like, if I,
you know, lower the monthly repayments, maybe life will be
a bit more comfortable. But I actually couldn't get it
refinanced because like, no one would refinance a personal debt.
(16:12):
Why would you refinance a personal debt. Ye, it's not
like I had. Oh and I still had that credit
card that was outstanding.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
At that point, I remember going, oh, wait, hold on,
And I think because I'd had a taste of, quote
the good life. Yeah, I'd had cash to dispose of,
like i'd you know, done this stuff in London. I'd
been to Paris and I had all of this cash,
and you know, when I got home, it wasn't that bad.
I was going out for brunches with my friends. I
was shouting them like it was fine. But all of
(16:42):
that was on the debt, Like that was the personal
loan money. Yeah, and then all of a sudden, it
just got really tight. Yeah, and then that feels suffocating,
That feels really hard, and I just I I didn't
tell anyone. My parents didn't know my like literally my
family and friends didn't know, and they'd be like, oh
(17:04):
we should. I remember like at the time, it was
like the cool thing to do, and probably still is
a cool thing to do, right. Bali trips for New Years. Yeah,
Like my girlfriends were like, let's go to Bali for
New Years. I don't remember thinking like I would love to,
but I can't afford that, Like I don't have any cash,
Like I couldn't afford and at the time, like return
flights to Bali were like eight hundred bucks. Oh my god.
(17:25):
I remember thinking like, that's my debt repayment. Yes I do,
like I quote have the money, but it has to
be allocated to something else, like because that was direct
debited out of my account. So it didn't feel like
I even had a choice, you know. So I just
felt like I wasn't going to get anywhere. And then
I started to go, well, maybe this is my life.
And I kept looking around at the people at work
(17:46):
and being like wow, were they doing it? Like are
they just earning more. Do I need a pay rise?
Like's what's going on? I know. And I mean I
still had that idea that I wanted to go out
for brunch and I wanted to steal. And it's not
the coffee. The coffee's not going to ever get you
out of debt. But like I wanted to have that
lifestyle of where I was still out and about but
(18:07):
like them to live life. Yeah, because the reality of
getting out of debt is hard. You do have to restrict,
you do have to pull back. I just wasn't ready
to do that.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
No, Okay, so I'm picturing little you. You're paying so
much money every month. What were like the first things
you did to get yourself.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Out of it? Continue to bury my head in the
sand if I set and I did that literally for years.
Like we're not saying, oh, I buried my head in
the sand for a few months and then I just
got my stuff together and got out of debt. I
feel like that's a sunshine and rose, this story and
that comes out of our community all the time. And
I think that I wish I had the resource that
(18:48):
was she's on the money at the time to go hey,
like doesn't mean you're a bad person because I felt
like a bad person. Yeah, I probably did that for
three years back, couldn't sleep properly, was really stressed about it. Like,
you know, I would be able to scrape together a
few things to do, like trips here and there, like,
but not anything stupidly extravagant. It wasn't until I started
(19:10):
to realize that everybody around me was able to live
their lives and I wasn't. I got to pay rise.
I remember I went for and get this fifty five
thousand to sixty thousand dollars and like that feels big,
Like yeah, and I'm not being condescending when I say that,
I promise, Like at the time, I was like, oh
my god, like I'm sixty grand plus SuperH Like to me,
(19:34):
that was such a big deal. And I remember going, oh,
I'm gonna have so much more cash to pay back
this debt, and like that was the point in time
where I thought, do you know what, I can probably
do something about this, and you shouldn't wait, And I
wish I didn't, but I didn't know. Beck, you shouldn't
have to wait until you have more income to be
able to pay off a debt or prioritize debt reduction
(19:56):
because there are so many strategies you can implement. But like,
I just didn't know what I didn't know. So I
worked out how much per month I was getting additional
and I started paying that off my debt and acted
like I was still on the same salary. So that
was working really well. And then you know, my income
started to increase, and I started to get excited watching
the numbers come down, because when you start to pay
(20:18):
a little bit more than the bare minimum, you actually
do start to see movement, even if it's like fifty
dollars a month, you do actually start to see movement.
And that, to me was really motivating. I was like, oh,
hold on, Like instead of the monthly repayment and then
you get like this. I remember getting the letters in
the mail and like it would be this graph of
how long it would take me to get out of debt,
and a like a never changed. I was like, oh,
(20:40):
hold on, like it's starting to change, Like this is
really Excitingly amount of years have like started to come down.
It's like, oh, okay, hold on, Like what if I
you know, what if I got a job at a
cafe or something, and I'm like theorizing other ideas. Anyway,
at the same time, I was like, I can't do
this on my own, and I decided to see financial
advice because in my head, I was like, if I
(21:01):
go see a financial advisor, like they'll tell me what
to do. What's decision of my life. I think I've
told you before. This guy was so condescending, so rude,
Like he got out this like whiteboard and started talking
me through, like, oh, what are your debts? What's this?
And I told you about my credit card that I
still hadn't paid off, and I told him about my
personal loan and he was like, oh, yeah, like you're
(21:23):
never going to be able to like really invest and
like at the same time, and this is silly again,
I had savings set to the side, so over this time,
I instead of adding absolutely everything to my debt, like
I got this pay rise and I added that to
my debt, but like on the side, I was like
putting fifty dollars here in there into savings. And I
remember thinking, oh, I've got some money and I could
(21:44):
like make some investing decisions with this, and he was
literally like, girl, you can't afford to invest if you've
got this debt. And I remember being really disheartened by that. Yeah,
so I was like, what do you mean I've got
all these savings, What do you mean I can't invest? Yes,
I can. I want to get rich, I want to
get wealthy. I've started doing my research. I've started looking
(22:05):
at YouTube videos on superannuation, like I get this, and girl,
I'm so sorry. If you have debt and you also
have savings, you actually don't have savings. Yes, you're just
putting off your debt. But like I again didn't know
what I didn't know, and like, I guess that's what
kick started me onto this pathway of understanding finance and
(22:27):
then working out how cool that was. And you know,
I started watching YouTube videos and that was basically the
only financial literacy at that time that was available. They
weren't finance podcasts to listen to. There weren't Instagram accounts
of people like you know, getting out of debt that
you could follow just stay motivated. Like that just wasn't
a thing. And so yeah, I decided to do that. Anyway,
(22:49):
I won't bore you with the whole story because I
feel like I've spoken about it before, but one thing
led to another, and I decided I did have a
passion for financial literacy. Yes, I was benefiting from it
because I was getting out of debt myself. But I
was like, oh, this is so powerful, Like if my
friends knew about this, or if my friends knew about
contributing extra to super or I remember thinking about my
best friend who I lived with. I'm like, she's not
(23:10):
that I was aware of. She's not in any debt. Like,
imagine how much she could save, well, she could invest
because she doesn't have to do what I do, but
she doesn't have to pay off her debt.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Like that's crazy, Like imagine you were putting eight hundred
a month away for Oh, my goods.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I don't even want to talk about what I could
have died and myself at that point. So yeah, that's
I guess what kicks started it. And it was like, honestly,
it was me getting a pay rise and realizing that, oh,
actually contributing more to your debt does start to have
an impact, even though it was like I think, like
fifty bucks a week or something. Okay, So what advice would.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
You give to someone trying to choose the right repayment
strategy for the situation. What motivates you For me, I
just liked seeing it come down. And I mean when
you're picking like the snowball or the avalanche method, often
they're really aligned to having multiple small debts and you pick.
You know, with the snowball method, you pick the smallest
debt and try and pay that off as quickly as
(24:05):
possible so that then you have less total debts. And
with the avalanche method, you're picking the debt that has
the highest interest and paying that off aggressively and then
moving down from there. And there are financial benefits for both,
and there are also like motivational benefits for both, right,
because like, if you're feeling good about paying off your debt,
I actually don't care if it costs you a bit
(24:27):
more interest in long term, as long as you're prioritizing it,
because like, look at what I did for more than
three years back, I did not pay more than the
minimum repayment. In fact, I wasn't even looking at the
total debt. I can't remember ever looking at any statements
or logging into the online account.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I didn't want to know what the total was. And
if during that period of time you said how much
debt were you in? In my head, all I had
was that forty thousand dollars, Like, I didn't know how
much had been paid off. I didn't know what that
eight hundred and fifty three dollars a month was doing,
because like I was just kind of scared to look,
but also embarrassed to look, and like, you know what,
it's like you just don't want to, like you don't
(25:06):
want to look. I know. So I think for me,
the best advice I have is not picking a strategy,
but picking yourself up and going, do you know what,
debt doesn't make me a bad person. I don't think
anybody would look at me now and go o V
when you're in debt, you're a terrible person, or beck
when you were in debt, awful person. I was still me.
(25:28):
I was judging myself harder. I was being so harsh
on myself. I was not kind in the way that
I spoke to myself, like sorry, I deserved so much
more than that. Yeah, and do you know what, by
looking at my debt, I would have been able to go, oh,
I could get out of this. I could have gotten
out of it so much easier. Like I literally didn't
get out of that debt until after I met my husband. Yeah,
(25:50):
and I remember that was so embarrassing to me, Like
you know when people are like, oh, do you ask
about finances on the first aid? Absolutely not. If he
had asked, honest to god, I would have lied to him. Yeah,
he'd been like, oh, do you have any personal debt?
I'd be like, no, you're an idiot, But that's a
sexy question. But neither of us asked because it turns
out we were both in personal debt where we met
each other. That's so comforting for some reason, you know,
(26:13):
do you know what I remember Like we were together
for a while and it didn't ever come up. And
then we moved in together and we had separate finances
and that was fine, and we'd both like you know,
agreed on what rent we could pay. And at that time,
I'd started earning a bit more money, so like there
was a little bit more to like wiggle around with.
And we got this little apartment together and it was
(26:33):
all sunshine and roses. And then I think I was
him that brought up, oh yeah, and I have this
debt repayment. I remember being like, sorry, what, like right me?
Judging him calling the kettle black. I remember being like, wait,
you've got personal debt and then asking about it and
like he had like probably I don't know, like a
(26:54):
ten thousand dollar personal loan or something for something along
the way, and like, I don't I don't think anybody
ever goes into debt, being like, do you know what
I really want debt? Yeah, Like it's always out of
necessity or need. And I remember being like, oh, good,
he's also got this debt and that made me feel
comfortable to tell him that I had it. And then
(27:15):
we spoke about, well, if we ever want to buy
property together, or have kids together, or do this stuff together,
we're going to have to get rid of that. And
so we both kind of knuckled down on our own
debts and like we were paying all of that out
because I think at that stage we realized we do
really love each other. We've just moved in together, this
is all sunshine and roses, and we would love to
start saving for a house, but we can't start saving
(27:36):
for a house until we get rid of these debts.
So we were doing that, but delusional me, I still
kind of had that little savings account to the side.
With a little bit of cash in it, and again,
don't do that. You can have an emergency fund, that's fine.
But I remember being like, oh, that's so that's for
the future. I should have just put it on my debt.
But sure. Anyway, hindsight is twenty twenty, and yeah, it
(27:58):
wasn't until then that I really really wanted to knuckle down,
because if I'm being honest, I didn't have the motivation
to pay it off because I didn't have any carrot
that was worth paying it off for until I realized, oh,
I actually want to build a life with someone, and
debt's not going to get me there. Debt's not going
to help me. We can't get a home loan, We can't,
(28:18):
you know, say for our deposit. We can't do any
of these things until I get my shit together. Yeah,
for sure, I.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Think that is so relatable. Sometimes you just thrown up
the motivation until there's something that you really want.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
You can see when it was just about me, but
then it's about somebody else. I don't know, I get it.
I'm not saying that you should wait for that. In fact,
I wish that I had entered that relationship, you know,
completely debt free and super financially empowered and all of
like I wish all of that for baby me, but
you know it didn't work out so badly totally and
(28:50):
you see to find your carrot. Let's go to a
really quick break and when we get back, I want
to get into what be actually cut from a budget,
whether she hustled for extra cash, and the mindset shift
that changed everything. Alrighty guys, we are back, and I
want to get straight into the juicy stuff, so via,
I want to know what your budget looked like, what
did you slash and what were your non negotiables that
(29:12):
you kept A long story short, I think after I
got that credit card and was splashing on like this Scanlan,
theat All pieces and that suit from Saba, I kind
of got scared of it. And I wasn't really spending big,
but because I didn't have a massive salary, most of
my income was going to debt reduction. So like quote,
slashing things from my budget wasn't really helping. I wish
(29:35):
I could be like, oh, yep, I slashed this and this.
I remember sitting down with Steve, my now husband, and
we were like okay, cool, Like where can we save
some money so that we can both pay off our
debts a bit better. And at the time, I think
in that first, you know, two years of our relationship,
we were eating out a lot, Like you know, when
we were cooking dinner together, we weren't necessarily cooking budget meals.
(29:56):
He was always like calling me before he got home
from work and we'd be like, oh, what we want
for dinner? And I'd be like, oh, I don't know,
like salmon or something from the supermarket, and like salmon
on this is so niche, but like that would be
one of our go to meals. Yeah, before we started
planning to get out of debt. Salmon's like at least
(30:17):
ten dollars fourteen dollars at the moment per packet for
two pieces of fish, and then he'd get sides, and
we'd always get broccolini, and that all of a sudden
becomes a thirty plus dollar dinner yea, even though you're
just quote swinging past the supermarket. So it was things
like that where we were like, oh, we probably should
be more planned with our meals. We probably should be
(30:37):
better at you know, meal planning and meal prepping and whatnot.
So I think once we both got the clarity that
hold on, we both actually have personal debts. We probably
should be prioritizing this. It was much easier to cut
out brunches on the weekends. We'd eat at home and
go for a walk and grab a coffee and like,
it sounds so silly because I tell you guys to
(30:57):
do that, but that's because that's what worked for me.
Would and we still, even though we are very financially
secure now to this day, do this. We're always like, oh,
do you want to have a piece of toast, and
then we'll go for a coffee walk with our son Harvey.
Like we always say that we'll go for a coffee
walk because historically, when we were getting out of debt,
the coffee walk was like our treat and our in
(31:17):
between of not going to brunch anymore. Yeah, so we
would sometimes jump in the car, drive to the Tan,
grab a coffee, and then do the walk around the Tan,
and that was like our mid morning activity on the weekend.
Or like now we live in our like the area
that we live in, we just like, you know, go
for a walk around that area. But yeah, like the
whole idea of a coffee walk for us really originated
(31:40):
from not going out for brunch, not going out for lunch,
trying to save on the weekends, but also being people
that love dining out, being people who love a cafe coffee,
being people who still want to feel like we're not
restricting ourselves. So that really worked for us. Would it
work for you? Who knows? But I think thinking about
what are you gonna place that with was really helpful
(32:02):
for us. So swap don't stop? They say, yeah, and
I think, not going, Oh well, we can't go out anymore.
What are we going to do? Sit on the couch
and twitterle our thumbs. Like, I'm not saying don't spend money,
but can you swap it for a cheaper activity? Can
you work out what you could do? Like, you know,
I'm not saying that the cheap Tuesday movie night tickets
(32:24):
are gonna save you heaps of money, but if going
out is a really big priority to you and having
a date night once a month is really important, how
can you make that as cost effective as possible? And
we started thinking like that. And when you start to
think that way, it kind of becomes like a game,
It kind of becomes fun. I totally get it. Yeah,
like the steak night at the Spread Eagle Hotel became.
(32:46):
It was back when we were getting out of debt.
It was much cheaper. I think it was like eighteen
dollars and it was like steak a drink, so you
could have like a beer or a wine or a
soft drink or whatever. It was steak insides and like
it was a really nice night out. And I remember
it was like a date night that we could go
on maybe once a month, we'd go out for a
fancy dinner and it was less than fifty dollars for
(33:07):
the both yes, right, yeah, And so I wouldn't say
gammify it, but it was kind of like a game
where you were like, okay, well, how could we go
out have a really good night and we kind of
still felt like we were winning. Yeah, I think that's
really cute.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
And I guess if you are already you can't cut
anything from the budgets. It's like, well do I just
stop eating? Like I literally am on End's meat here.
I've just there's so many fun things you could do
with your own Like you have a deb mash and
a bloody sausage and you just write it down on
an a for paper and pretend it's a menu and.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
You can just like make some fun out of it,
you know, dude. And like, I think a lot of
that still because we were doing that together, that stuff
still sticks with us, like it's become part of what
we just default to now. And I like, I find
that some people in our community have said, oh, you're
not relatable anymore, Victoria, And it's because I'm not in
(34:00):
the financial situation that people can relate to. But like,
I'm still the same person. I still love cheap steak die,
I still love going for my coffee walks. I still
find brunches that cost more than forty dollars absolutely exorbitant.
Just because I have more money does not mean that
I'm a different person. It doesn't mean I've lost my
(34:21):
way or lost my ability to understand the cost of
living crisis. Like I see it, I feel it. It's
why I'm so wildly passionate about continuing to create the
content that we create, because nobody deserves to be in
the position that I was in and feeling as guilty
and bad about themselves as I did. Like, it's why
She's on the money, was born and continues to be there.
(34:42):
So I just I look at it and I go, oh,
I don't think you guys realize that. Yes, I drive
a really fancy car now, but do you know how
much I appreciate that because of where I've come from.
I think that when you have been in debt, when
you have lived below your means, and once you get
out of that, and once you learn you can actually
(35:04):
keep yourself out of that, you don't want to go back. Yeah, Like,
once you taste financial freedom and once you realize what
that gives you, and once you realize that financial freedom
doesn't mean being rich, it means having choices and being
able to make a decision, you go, wow, this is
really cool. This is what I want for me, And
I'm willing to sacrifice a lot, because Becky, if I
(35:25):
lost absolutely everything tomorrow, you best believe I'd be back
in a cafe working behind the bar. I would absolutely
hustle my way back up to make sure that I
had my emergency fund, to make sure that I had
the ability to put food on the table and be
able to make choices totally.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Now, this leads me to my next question, because I
know that we're having talking about like cutting things from
the budget, But did you boost your income while paying
off your debt like a side hustle, extra work things
like that.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
I wish I had the capacity to do, so. I
thought about it a lot of times. I remember going
to a job interview for a cafe because I was like, Oh,
what if I like just worked on a Saturday or
a Sunday. And I remember, like Sunday rates were really attractive.
I was like, Oh, what if I did that? But honestly,
during that period of my life, I was working full time.
I was trying to start She's on the money and
(36:16):
I didn't at the time think that she's on the
money was like a side hustle.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
To me.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
It felt like more of a I want to say,
community service. But I was not doing it because I
thought i'd make money. I didn't think I would make money. Sure,
I didn't think it would become a podcast. I was
doing that, but I was also studying full time, I
was doing my MBA, so like that was a lot
to take on and I just simply didn't have the capacity.
That's so fair. I wish i'd known more about like
(36:44):
air Tasker. I wish I'd known more about all of
these kind of like husty apps where I didn't have
to commit to every single Saturday, like I wish that
i'd had. I don't know, like maybe I was a
casual at a cafe and they text me occasionally said, oh,
do you want a Saturday shift this week? I would
have loved that, because, like you know, some weeks you've
got the capacity, some weeks you don't. Or I wish
(37:04):
I'd been able to jump on air tasker and like
take up tutoring or something, but I didn't know that
was an option. I don't even think it was an
option then. But like I wish I had more flexible
side hustle options because I know I would have taken
them if I could have. I just didn't know they existed. No,
I totally get it. Well, we're almost done by the
way I went, almost out of time. I am so sorry. No, no, no,
(37:27):
I want to Yeah, this was my this is my
warning to you, but just so you know, almost off
the hook. I have two more questions for you.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
Okay, So this one is, you've seen so many people
get out of debt and turn their money stories around.
Is there one habit or change made that you constantly
see in those who are successful.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Yeah, consistency, Yes, that's so lame, right, Like I wish
it could be like, oh my goodness, it's this one
sparkly thing. But getting out of debt isn't sexy. Getting
into debt can be. And I think that's why you
want getting out of debt to be equally fun, right,
because like getting into debt, no word of lie had
a great time. Oh my god, not gonna lie, not
(38:05):
gonna lie. Like sorry, I walked Like, let's just frame this.
I walked into a bank deck. I gave the minimum paperwork,
they gave me forty thousand dollars. I got to spend
it based on free will. Yeah, and I sure did.
But do you know what I mean? Like getting into
debt is fun, getting out of debt is the hardslog.
That is not what you paid, Like, that's not what
(38:25):
you signed up for. I don't think anyone goes, oh,
I didn't realize that. We just don't think these decisions
through properly. I think if I was talking to somebody
about like what one change or habit, I think it's
it's a bit of a mindset shift. So it's realizing
that you're not a shitty person because you're in debt.
That is not a reflection of your self worth. And
(38:47):
for so long I genuinely saw my self worth as
being deeply tied to the fact that I was in debt.
I felt shameful about that. I felt like that should
be a hidden part of me. I mean I literally
didn't even tell my boyfriend that I had debt until
after i'd moved in with him. Would I ever recommend
(39:07):
that to someone in my community. Absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
There.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
I was absolutely relieved when I found out he was
also in debt, at the same time as being like,
what the hell, what do you mean you're also in debt?
Like now we both have to get out of this anyway.
So I think when it comes to mindset shift, really
understanding that it's not tied to your self worth. But
then also it's about consistency, and we're not saying it
(39:32):
has to be the same amount of debt repayment each
and every single month. If you mess up one month
or you make a decision one month, that means that
there's less great. All I care about is that next
month you go, yeah, I'm prioritizing it again, I'm stepping
back up. I've spoken before on the podcast about this
concept of grit. There is this fantastic book by Angela Duckworth,
and we can put the link in the show notes.
(39:53):
For you guys, it's not about debt reduction, but it's
about what creates successful people. And it is not your intelligence.
It's not who you know, it's not even what you know.
It's actually about how many times you get pushed over
and you're willing to get back up. Like the most
successful people in the world, whether they are entrepreneurs or
(40:15):
they are just average people like you and me, they
are the ones that just go that didn't work, or
I'll get up and try again. Oh that didn't work.
That doesn't mean I'm a shitty person. I'm aa just
try again. Like, and I don't know about you back,
but I have so much respect for my friends who
do that, who are like, oh, it didn't work, but
I'll just give it another crack. Yeah, absolutely, you know
(40:36):
when you're just like I asked a friend the other
day she had an interview, and I said, how'd that
job interview go? She goes, I didn't get it, but like,
there'll be another one. I was like, oh my god,
Like I remember going to job interviews, and if I
didn't get it, i'd see that as a like personal
reflection of me not being worthwhile. I know that's not
the truth at all. And she was just like, yeah, yeah,
they must have just been somebody that fit the role better. Yeah,
(40:58):
Like she was able to separate it and just be like, oh,
get up and just do something else. Absolutely, what an icon.
But like that, I would say, is the defining factor
of what I see our community doing and what I
see our community learning. They seem to be going, Oh, actually,
my self worth isn't tied to debt. I can keep trying,
and I can keep plugging away at this and maybe
(41:19):
one month you have an extra two hundred bucks and
you throw it at your debt. But that's not wasted
like we see it as consistency. Yes, So for me,
I would say, it's just slow and steady wins the race. Okay.
I like that.
Speaker 3 (41:30):
I like that, and I do want to acknowledge that
some people do have aspects of their identity that make
it a little.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
Bit harder to get by in life.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
But just you know, we're all gonna just keep doing
what we're doing, and if it takes you a little
bit longer, it's a little bit harder.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
That's something that we just acknowledge. And then I never
met one person who I would say was an inherently
good person who would judge someone based on being in debt. No,
totally judge someone based on them being in debt. You're
kind of a shitty person. So I actually I just
don't have a lot. It's it's a weird thing to
judge someone for and like some of the best people
in my entire life, like you, right, thank you, You've
(42:02):
been in debt? Is that but like, does that change
the situation?
Speaker 1 (42:06):
No?
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Does that make you a worse off human being?
Speaker 1 (42:09):
No?
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I would say you're better than most people that I
come across. It's so sweet, but like you've got a
better moral compass. You know, I see what you're saying.
All the type of person I want to surround myself
with as opposed to do you know what I mean.
It's just I know you're saying. I know you're saying,
they're so sweetet you, thank you. People don't give themselves
enough credit for that. Yeah, it builds a lot of uh,
you know, multi layered personalities. So I know I really
(42:33):
like it.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
So how do you feel about debt now. And this
is the last question, by the way, how do you
feel about debt now? And what is your approach to
credit and loans. I'm so angry about debt. I just
I still hold so much anger about it.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
I think because I remember my journey and I just
don't want anybody else to have to go through that,
the shame, feeling awful about it, feeling like you're not
getting anywhere, feeling like you're missing out on life. Like
I remember just thinking there was a very big period
of my life where I was like, well, I'll never
be to afford property, Like that's just not a reality
for me. That's fine, And I remember like framing it
(43:06):
as though that didn't matter, and you don't have to
have property, you don't need to need that. But I
remember trying to justify it to myself because like, in
my head, the reason I would never have property was
because I was bad with money, right, And it was
because I would never be able to save a deposit,
and it's because I would always have personal debt. And
in my head, this was just gonna spiral for my
entire life. So I don't like debt. I also would
(43:30):
like to acknowledge that for some people, debt is such
necessary evil, Like it is a necessary part of getting
through We're in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
Do you think I am so naive to think that
the single mum who is earning fifty grand a year
and has three kids that she needs to get through
school is not going to go into debt to do
(43:50):
that because she's got some deadbeat dad on the side. Like,
we are doing the best that we can, and if
you are in debt or you're about to go into debt,
I think it's just more about understanding that sometimes it
can be a tool, sometimes it is a necessary evil,
but we're just all doing the best that we can.
So I think my approach to credit and loans is,
if you don't have to have them, don't get them.
(44:12):
I never needed it. You've heard my story. At no
point did I say, beck I needed it to put
food on the table. Beck I needed debt to pay
my rent and put a roof over my head. Beck
I needed it for my medical costs. Those are completely
different situations. Mine was all vanity. Mine was I'm going
(44:33):
overseas and I'm traveling, and I bought a car I
did not need any of that. I should never have
gotten into debt. But if my story was, oh, medical costs,
or I was in hospital for a long time and
I ended up with a whole heap of debt because
I had to pay for my rent otherwise I was
going to lose my house, that's a different story and
that needs to be treated differently as well. So, no,
(44:55):
I don't like debt, and my approach is to avoid
it at all costs. But I also am very aware
that there are a lot of people in our community
that use debt and need debt to get by, and
I see it as my job to educate you on
how to use it as responsibly as possible and how
to get out of it when you need to take
those steps, Like when you're ready, I'm here. I've got
(45:16):
all the tools and I've got all the resources, and
I will be your best friend. I'll be your biggest cheerleader.
But I'm never going to judge you for getting into debt.
That is so beautiful and so empowering, and I think
that's a perfect place to leave this if you feel yeah,
because I would love to stop talking about it. So fair.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
Okay, so you're officially off the hook. Thank you so
much for letting Usteep dive into how you became debt free.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
I'm always willing to overshare when it comes to hopefully
benefiting our community. Yeah, thank you. And just to reiterate
everything that I've been saying, if you're in debt right now,
please know that it literally does not make you a
bad person. It does not mean that you are bad
with money, it doesn't mean you've failed, and it definitely
does not mean that you can't turn things around.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
We hope this chat gave you the tools, the courage,
or even just the permission to start tackling your own
debt without the shame. And of course, if you love
this episode, please share it with someone who might need it,
leave us a review, or slide into the comments and
tell us what you want.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
To hear more of. Bye guys, Bye guys.
Speaker 4 (46:17):
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.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 4 (46:38):
Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
of Money. Sheper Pty Ltd ABN three two one is
six four nine two seven seven zero eight AFSL four
five one two eight nine
My name is Tatasha Bamblet. I'm a proud First Nations
woman and I'm here to acknowledge country t glennyan Ganya, Niana,
Kaka yah Ya bin Ahaka Nian our gay In Nimbini,
yakarum jar Dominyama, Domagahawakawaman, damon imlan Bumba bang Gadabomba in
and now in wakah ghana on yak rum jar Watnadaa. Hello,
(00:22):
beautiful friends, we gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people.
We thank acknowledge and respect the Aberiginal people's land that
we're gathering on today. Take pleasure in all the land
and respect all that you see. She's on the Money
podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections, bringing you the tools,
knowledge and resources for you to thrive.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
She's on the Money. She's on the Money. Hello and welcome,
(01:08):
and she's on the Money.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
The podcast that proves being financially savvy doesn't mean you've
always been financially flawless. I'm beck sired and with me
is the woman who might actually kill me when she
realizes what we're doing today, Victoria, are we doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
We're going for a run. I'm just kidding. How would
you feel like? I was like, let's just get up
and run. Do you know I used to run and
it's not for me. No, I understand. It's like you're
gotta keep yourself entertained for a long time. Wasn't even that.
It just ruined my body. It was so like my
knees always hurt. I ended up with like stress fractures
in my shins. I was just not made. My body's
(01:42):
not made for Annie. He's not a runner. I wish
I could say, Beck, I have a pilates body, but
like I have a body that's meant to do pilates,
and I don't I look like I have a pilates body.
I wish it was the ladder.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Well, I think you're plenty pilates, thank you, But no,
we are doing something a little bit different. That's almost
as bad as running. You are back in the hot
seat by very popular demand. Hey, well, everyone loves it.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You love it. I love it because you're all sadistic.
That's why.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So last time we got the juicy details of your
money's story, you did, yes, But today we're digging into
the actual strategy, the good stuff.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Not that do I have strategy? I think your mind
strategy is fly by the siege of my pants. Hey
that might work.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Actually, so far, so good. Yeah, that's fantastic. So we
all need to know how did Victoria Devine get herself
out of debt?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Oh that's a good question. Actually that's a very and
you know what, it's really hard, like it was really hard. Yeah, Well,
I mean just answering that question straight out or have
you got a list of questions?
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Unfortunately, do have a longest questions. I can see some
hope in your eye, like that's the only question. Are
you ready as ready as I'll ever be?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Great?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Okay, we talked about this in Great Tetail last time,
but just in case anyone needs a refresh to kick
things off, can you paint a quick picture of what
life looked like when you realize your debt had to
be dealt with and what were your very first steps?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, so let me go back a little bit further
and tell you how I got into debt really quickly, quickly,
And then also I guess why I got into debt
because I think that people are always like, well why
like and people who haven't been in debt are often
very much like, well, why did you do that? That's
so silly, And at the time you just don't know
what you don't know. No, So I was working in consulting.
(03:32):
I had finished two degrees, so I'd done my undergrad
in psychological science and then I had just finished my
postgrad in organizational psychology, and I had what I thought
was my big dog, like my big dog consulting job.
And I remember my contract. I think it was like
for fifty five thousand dollars plus super and at the
(03:54):
time that was the most amount of money that I'd
ever earned. Like prior to that, I was just working
part time and I was like, I would say I
was pretty good, Like my work ethic has always been.
I would say fantastic, Like I'm the type of person
that's like not like if I've got some spare time,
I would just do it. So I was working like
retail jobs, I was working hospitality jobs. There was a
time where I was like a swim teacher. In between
(04:14):
that I was like doing some tutoring of some other
people at UNI, Like there was just like lots of
bits and bobs floating around. But even though I had
all of those jobs, I think people who go to
UNI can probably resonate with that. You feel like you
work like a dog day and day out, like you
go to UNI and then like straight after UNI, I
would like go to my like hospitality job that night
(04:35):
and work until midnight or one am, and then you
look at your tax return and I'd be like, oh,
I've worked my butt off, and then like, I remember
one year. I think it was like the year before
I got this big dog job, my like taxable income
was like thirty two thousand dollars, yes, yes, And like
in my head, I was like, but all I did
was work, I like, and I mean that's minimum wage
(04:56):
for you, right, Like that's exactly how it works. Anyway.
So I get this big dog job and I start
to feel like I really want to fit in, and
like this is just upon reflection at the time, you're
not thinking, oh I really want to fit in, Like
that's just not it. And I remember I got this
Virgin Money credit card, and to me, that's kind of
I don't know why I'm telling you it's Virgin money.
(05:17):
I think I'm telling you it's a Virgin Money credit
card because it didn't feel as real as like a
NAB or a combank or a Westpac credit card because.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
It wasn't a real bank, do you know what I mean,
but also kind of like gives some validity to it.
It's like if you had a bloody I don't know,
what's that one that's like a latitude.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, like a latitude. It was like, yeah, virgin money.
It was a proper credit card. Yeah, And I remember
the interest rate on it was probably like twenty two
percent because I was just like, well, I'll never pay
that obviously, like yeah, so that doesn't matter, and it
had I think, just this is just me reflecting. I
could be completely wrong, but I think I had like
a forty five day interest free period. In how most
(05:58):
credit cards have a month. This was like a little
bit longer. And I'm like, well, that's helpful. And I
remember the first credit card I got was like five
hundred dollars, and that felt like a lot of money
at the time, because like, I don't think I often
had five hundred dollars in my savings account, like you know,
it comes, it goes. I would pay rent and then
it had drop back down. So I got this five
(06:18):
hundred dollar credit card, and very quickly they sent me
an email or like a letter. After that, I can't
remember how, but I remember it going up to one thousand,
and I remember thinking four figures like that, like it
starts slow and it starts small, right, and I'd maxed
that out just buying things to fit in. I suppose
like I'd bought a new suit from Saba and I
(06:39):
had bought like a couple of pieces from Scanlan Theodore
and then bam, like the credit card was maxed out.
Like we're not talking, oh V, like you were using
it for costs like the living costs or anything like that.
It was literally like clothes that I otherwise couldn't afford.
In in my head, I was like, if I put
it on the credit card, I can just pay it
off and then I get nicer pieces, like in my head,
(06:59):
I was their investment pieces for work, like this will
be good. And yet things started to like snowball from there.
The debt didn't feel too bad. I was paying the
minimum repayments. It was probably like fifty two dollars. I
feel like in my head it was like fifty two
dollars a month, and I was like, that's fine. I
hadn't done the maths on what that actually meant for
me over the long term. Spoiler. I was basically never
(07:22):
going to pay that credit card off. That's all I
was paying, right of course, And so it starts snowballing.
And then I'm in this big dog job. And I
say big dog job because at the time I felt
very cool. And I think March the next year rolls
around and I must have been before that. Actually I
find out that I got into a Master's of Business Administration.
(07:44):
So I get into my MBA like this is so cool,
Like this is the coolest thing ever. And like I
start doing that and I'm studying and I'm working at
the same time, and it's so hard. And at this
time I didn't have any other debt. I'm just like
paying off this credit card and I reckon. It would
have been about mid year, like I got offered to
(08:05):
travel to a place called Glennorb in the south of
France to study. I was able to go and do
two units. Ye kind of not in exchange, but like
a I don't know, you go overseason, you study for
a little bit. And it was over that Christmas period,
like it was like a Christmas like semester where it
was going to be two full time units. I was
(08:26):
over there for about three months, and I knew that
I could take that period of time off work, like
I would negotiate whatever I couldn't afford to do that
beck like my university did, I think subsidize the education component,
Like I could put the actual course fees on my
hex because it was like an exchange thing with r
(08:46):
MIT and the university over there. And that was fine.
But I still had flights, I still had accommodation. And
then I remember my car blew up and I used
to drive this old Toyota Avalon and whenever I turned right,
because it had been converted to LPG for some reason,
something in the car would cut the LPG and the
(09:09):
car would literally stop if you turned right to her.
Oh I see, yeah, it was really cool. And so
you'd be like getting onto the freeway or something and
your car would cut out, and I remember just being
like this is so unsafe, and like I'd taken it
to a heap of people and they're like, oh, you'll
have to replace the whole LPG thing, and I'm like, no,
absolutely not, like that's so expensive. So I kept putting
(09:32):
up with this car and my Dad I remember, was
like Victoria, like you need to get something safer, like
we have to get something safer, and so I was like,
oh okay, like I can't really, Like I had no savings,
I had no income that would support a new car
and an overseas trip, and I thought, why don't I
(09:53):
just get a loan, like I can just get a
personal loan, Like I was already looking like I think
that the car thing was there thing that started my
thought patent on the loan situation, because I was like,
I'll get a car loan and I'll get a better car.
And I bought a secondhand car. I bought a little
two door Mercedes. She was very cute. Beck I haven't
(10:13):
been able to get rid of her yet, I still
have her.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Oh cute.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I mean, I do have another car because I have
to be an adult and drive my child around in
a car that is relatively safe. But my little two
doors still lives down at my parents' house, and I
just I probably need to sell it, but like I
just have an emotional connection to her. Anyway, I decide
that I'm going to get a car loan, and then
what's wrong with just putting a little bit more onto
(10:38):
that car loan, making it a personal loan so that
I can go do this thing in France. Yeah, yeah,
And I remember the car was I think fourteen thousand
dollars and then to study and you know, organize flights
accommodation three months in Europe, and obviously I wanted to
have a good time too, Like I ended up going
(10:58):
to the snow over there, like dude, I was like
skiing in living shops, like I spent some time in Paris,
I spent some time with friends in London, like very cool.
All of that meant that I got a forty thousand
dollar personal line. Sure. Sure, And at the time that
didn't feel scary. That actually felt like I remember signing
the contract and being like this is so freeing. I'm
(11:19):
getting exactly what I want. Yeah, And like in my head,
forty thousand dollars that wasn't my annual income, so it's
not that bad, right, right.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
And I guess like you're kind of thinking, oh, I'll
never like I will get there eventually, but if you're
giving it to me all right now, and then I
can just like kind of.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I can pay it off, pay it off. How hard
would that be? Yeah? I totally understand how that would
have that's not and that hard. No, And like I
remember then and like, this is actually really funny because
I have since I since joined a class action and
I actually got all of the money that I paid
on that loan, that loan's insurance back, really because ages
(11:57):
going NAB. Like I remember my loan with NAB and
I went down to the bank and it was so easy,
Like we're talking twenty eleven, twenty twelve. Maybe I got
this loan and I just remember walking in and then
being like, oh, have you got payslops And I was
like yeah, and like I had them on my phone
and I emailed them to them and then they're like, oh,
(12:17):
sign all of these things. Yeah, we'll call you tomorrow.
And then the next day I had a personal loan.
That's crazy. It's so easy. And I was like, oh, maybe,
like I remember thinking of the time, maybe I should
have gotten more. I know, I know, like maybe I
should have gotten more because like that freedom felt good
and like that's not freedom, that's delusion. Just to be
very clear, anyway, got this loan and lived my best life,
(12:41):
went overseas. When you get a personal loan, it's not
like a line of credit. They actually put all of
that cash into my bank account. So I paid for
that car and then I had, well, I would say,
a very healthy fund to go overseas with. Yeah, And
I made a lot of financial decisions while I was
overseas that were definitely aligned to not my income, because
(13:04):
I'd be like, well, I've got heaps of money in
my account, why don't we go to Heston Blumenthal's like restaurant,
Why don't we go to these expensive places? Or why
don't I buy And I remember, you guys have probably
seen it online because like I do wear a lot
of clothes that I have had for years and years
and years, and there's these beautiful I think it's beautiful
Ted Baker dress that I have right, and it's just
(13:25):
like it's red, and it's a meaty dress and it's
quite high cart and it's got this beautiful orchid pattern
on it. I love it. I bought that in London
for an exorbitant amount of money at the time, but
I was like, have heaps of cash in my account,
so like does it matter?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah, it didn't matter, No, And even just the whole
experience and stuff like that, it's like, you know, I
don't encourage anyone to get into dead.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
No, this is terrible. I'm just I feel like I
need to talk about how I got there, because so
many people would be like, oh, how did you get
out of it? And getting out of debt is very hard,
but I think also coming to terms with the idea
that I remember all of that. Right, I come home
and I had a little bit of savings, so even
when I got home, the pain wasn't like the pain
of being in debt wasn't there because I could still
(14:05):
make the monthly repayments really easily, and they were eight
hundred and fifty three I think dollars per month, and
that was easy because like there was still that cash
in my account from the actual loan. So I was like, not,
there was no pain right totally. That dried up really quickly. Yeah,
and then all of a sudden, you're back home. All
you've got in your pocket or experiences, and I had
(14:26):
a really nice dress. I had started to live paycheck
to paycheck again. And when you're on a fifty five
thousand dollars salary, eight hundred and fifty three dollars a
month means you don't have any extra money. That's like,
like I remember my rent was about the same, and
like I had good rent because I took the smallest
(14:47):
bedroom in this sharehouse. I lived with my best friend
and her brother, and I had the tiniest little bedroom
back and I had eight hundred and fifty three dollars
I think of debt repayment, and my rent was like
eight fifty yep, And that's wild between that food, like
there was not much to spare, no, Like there was
(15:08):
just nothing, and like by the time you pay for
petrol and your train tickets every day and you know,
the odd coffee at work, Like I just didn't have
any extra and I just remember how suffocating that felt. Yeah,
Like I started to go, oh my goodness, like what
am I going to do about this debt thing? But
I bury my head in the sand. Yeah, I didn't
(15:30):
tell anybody i'd taken that loan out because like I
kind of like, at the same time as not caring
about it, I also knew that there was some level
of shame involved in it. Yeah, like anyone around upon
you don't really know why. Yeah, Like I didn't want
to tell people I had it, and at that point
my financial literacy was not very good. Like, keep in mind,
I wasn't working in finance. She's on the money didn't
(15:50):
exist at this point, and yeah, like I just buried
my head in the sand for a very long time
about it paid the minimum repayments. So I remember looking
into getting it refinanced, so because I was like, if I,
you know, lower the monthly repayments, maybe life will be
a bit more comfortable. But I actually couldn't get it
refinanced because like, no one would refinance a personal debt.
(16:12):
Why would you refinance a personal debt. Ye, it's not
like I had. Oh and I still had that credit
card that was outstanding.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
At that point, I remember going, oh, wait, hold on,
And I think because I'd had a taste of, quote
the good life. Yeah, I'd had cash to dispose of,
like i'd you know, done this stuff in London. I'd
been to Paris and I had all of this cash,
and you know, when I got home, it wasn't that bad.
I was going out for brunches with my friends. I
was shouting them like it was fine. But all of
(16:42):
that was on the debt, Like that was the personal
loan money. Yeah, and then all of a sudden, it
just got really tight. Yeah, and then that feels suffocating,
That feels really hard, and I just I I didn't
tell anyone. My parents didn't know my like literally my
family and friends didn't know, and they'd be like, oh
(17:04):
we should. I remember like at the time, it was
like the cool thing to do, and probably still is
a cool thing to do, right. Bali trips for New Years. Yeah,
Like my girlfriends were like, let's go to Bali for
New Years. I don't remember thinking like I would love to,
but I can't afford that, Like I don't have any cash,
Like I couldn't afford and at the time, like return
flights to Bali were like eight hundred bucks. Oh my god.
(17:25):
I remember thinking like, that's my debt repayment. Yes I do,
like I quote have the money, but it has to
be allocated to something else, like because that was direct
debited out of my account. So it didn't feel like
I even had a choice, you know. So I just
felt like I wasn't going to get anywhere. And then
I started to go, well, maybe this is my life.
And I kept looking around at the people at work
(17:46):
and being like wow, were they doing it? Like are
they just earning more. Do I need a pay rise?
Like's what's going on? I know. And I mean I
still had that idea that I wanted to go out
for brunch and I wanted to steal. And it's not
the coffee. The coffee's not going to ever get you
out of debt. But like I wanted to have that
lifestyle of where I was still out and about but
(18:07):
like them to live life. Yeah, because the reality of
getting out of debt is hard. You do have to restrict,
you do have to pull back. I just wasn't ready
to do that.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
No, Okay, so I'm picturing little you. You're paying so
much money every month. What were like the first things
you did to get yourself.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Out of it? Continue to bury my head in the
sand if I set and I did that literally for years.
Like we're not saying, oh, I buried my head in
the sand for a few months and then I just
got my stuff together and got out of debt. I
feel like that's a sunshine and rose, this story and
that comes out of our community all the time. And
I think that I wish I had the resource that
(18:48):
was she's on the money at the time to go hey,
like doesn't mean you're a bad person because I felt
like a bad person. Yeah, I probably did that for
three years back, couldn't sleep properly, was really stressed about it. Like,
you know, I would be able to scrape together a
few things to do, like trips here and there, like,
but not anything stupidly extravagant. It wasn't until I started
(19:10):
to realize that everybody around me was able to live
their lives and I wasn't. I got to pay rise.
I remember I went for and get this fifty five
thousand to sixty thousand dollars and like that feels big,
Like yeah, and I'm not being condescending when I say that,
I promise, Like at the time, I was like, oh
my god, like I'm sixty grand plus SuperH Like to me,
(19:34):
that was such a big deal. And I remember going, oh,
I'm gonna have so much more cash to pay back
this debt, and like that was the point in time
where I thought, do you know what, I can probably
do something about this, and you shouldn't wait, And I
wish I didn't, but I didn't know. Beck, you shouldn't
have to wait until you have more income to be
able to pay off a debt or prioritize debt reduction
(19:56):
because there are so many strategies you can implement. But like,
I just didn't know what I didn't know. So I
worked out how much per month I was getting additional
and I started paying that off my debt and acted
like I was still on the same salary. So that
was working really well. And then you know, my income
started to increase, and I started to get excited watching
the numbers come down, because when you start to pay
(20:18):
a little bit more than the bare minimum, you actually
do start to see movement, even if it's like fifty
dollars a month, you do actually start to see movement.
And that, to me was really motivating. I was like, oh,
hold on, Like instead of the monthly repayment and then
you get like this. I remember getting the letters in
the mail and like it would be this graph of
how long it would take me to get out of debt,
and a like a never changed. I was like, oh,
(20:40):
hold on, like it's starting to change, Like this is
really Excitingly amount of years have like started to come down.
It's like, oh, okay, hold on, Like what if I
you know, what if I got a job at a
cafe or something, and I'm like theorizing other ideas. Anyway,
at the same time, I was like, I can't do
this on my own, and I decided to see financial
advice because in my head, I was like, if I
(21:01):
go see a financial advisor, like they'll tell me what
to do. What's decision of my life. I think I've
told you before. This guy was so condescending, so rude,
Like he got out this like whiteboard and started talking
me through, like, oh, what are your debts? What's this?
And I told you about my credit card that I
still hadn't paid off, and I told him about my
personal loan and he was like, oh, yeah, like you're
(21:23):
never going to be able to like really invest and
like at the same time, and this is silly again,
I had savings set to the side, so over this time,
I instead of adding absolutely everything to my debt, like
I got this pay rise and I added that to
my debt, but like on the side, I was like
putting fifty dollars here in there into savings. And I
remember thinking, oh, I've got some money and I could
(21:44):
like make some investing decisions with this, and he was
literally like, girl, you can't afford to invest if you've
got this debt. And I remember being really disheartened by that. Yeah,
so I was like, what do you mean I've got
all these savings, What do you mean I can't invest? Yes,
I can. I want to get rich, I want to
get wealthy. I've started doing my research. I've started looking
(22:05):
at YouTube videos on superannuation, like I get this, and girl,
I'm so sorry. If you have debt and you also
have savings, you actually don't have savings. Yes, you're just
putting off your debt. But like I again didn't know
what I didn't know, and like, I guess that's what
kick started me onto this pathway of understanding finance and
(22:27):
then working out how cool that was. And you know,
I started watching YouTube videos and that was basically the
only financial literacy at that time that was available. They
weren't finance podcasts to listen to. There weren't Instagram accounts
of people like you know, getting out of debt that
you could follow just stay motivated. Like that just wasn't
a thing. And so yeah, I decided to do that. Anyway,
(22:49):
I won't bore you with the whole story because I
feel like I've spoken about it before, but one thing
led to another, and I decided I did have a
passion for financial literacy. Yes, I was benefiting from it
because I was getting out of debt myself. But I
was like, oh, this is so powerful, Like if my
friends knew about this, or if my friends knew about
contributing extra to super or I remember thinking about my
best friend who I lived with. I'm like, she's not
(23:10):
that I was aware of. She's not in any debt. Like,
imagine how much she could save, well, she could invest
because she doesn't have to do what I do, but
she doesn't have to pay off her debt.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Like that's crazy, Like imagine you were putting eight hundred
a month away for Oh, my goods.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I don't even want to talk about what I could
have died and myself at that point. So yeah, that's
I guess what kicks started it. And it was like, honestly,
it was me getting a pay rise and realizing that, oh,
actually contributing more to your debt does start to have
an impact, even though it was like I think, like
fifty bucks a week or something. Okay, So what advice would.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
You give to someone trying to choose the right repayment
strategy for the situation. What motivates you For me, I
just liked seeing it come down. And I mean when
you're picking like the snowball or the avalanche method, often
they're really aligned to having multiple small debts and you pick.
You know, with the snowball method, you pick the smallest
debt and try and pay that off as quickly as
(24:05):
possible so that then you have less total debts. And
with the avalanche method, you're picking the debt that has
the highest interest and paying that off aggressively and then
moving down from there. And there are financial benefits for both,
and there are also like motivational benefits for both, right,
because like, if you're feeling good about paying off your debt,
I actually don't care if it costs you a bit
(24:27):
more interest in long term, as long as you're prioritizing it,
because like, look at what I did for more than
three years back, I did not pay more than the
minimum repayment. In fact, I wasn't even looking at the
total debt. I can't remember ever looking at any statements
or logging into the online account.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I didn't want to know what the total was. And
if during that period of time you said how much
debt were you in? In my head, all I had
was that forty thousand dollars, Like, I didn't know how
much had been paid off. I didn't know what that
eight hundred and fifty three dollars a month was doing,
because like I was just kind of scared to look,
but also embarrassed to look, and like, you know what,
it's like you just don't want to, like you don't
(25:06):
want to look. I know. So I think for me,
the best advice I have is not picking a strategy,
but picking yourself up and going, do you know what,
debt doesn't make me a bad person. I don't think
anybody would look at me now and go o V
when you're in debt, you're a terrible person, or beck
when you were in debt, awful person. I was still me.
(25:28):
I was judging myself harder. I was being so harsh
on myself. I was not kind in the way that
I spoke to myself, like sorry, I deserved so much
more than that. Yeah, and do you know what, by
looking at my debt, I would have been able to go, oh,
I could get out of this. I could have gotten
out of it so much easier. Like I literally didn't
get out of that debt until after I met my husband. Yeah,
(25:50):
and I remember that was so embarrassing to me, Like
you know when people are like, oh, do you ask
about finances on the first aid? Absolutely not. If he
had asked, honest to god, I would have lied to him. Yeah,
he'd been like, oh, do you have any personal debt?
I'd be like, no, you're an idiot, But that's a
sexy question. But neither of us asked because it turns
out we were both in personal debt where we met
each other. That's so comforting for some reason, you know,
(26:13):
do you know what I remember Like we were together
for a while and it didn't ever come up. And
then we moved in together and we had separate finances
and that was fine, and we'd both like you know,
agreed on what rent we could pay. And at that time,
I'd started earning a bit more money, so like there
was a little bit more to like wiggle around with.
And we got this little apartment together and it was
(26:33):
all sunshine and roses. And then I think I was
him that brought up, oh yeah, and I have this
debt repayment. I remember being like, sorry, what, like right me?
Judging him calling the kettle black. I remember being like, wait,
you've got personal debt and then asking about it and
like he had like probably I don't know, like a
(26:54):
ten thousand dollar personal loan or something for something along
the way, and like, I don't I don't think anybody
ever goes into debt, being like, do you know what
I really want debt? Yeah, Like it's always out of
necessity or need. And I remember being like, oh, good,
he's also got this debt and that made me feel
comfortable to tell him that I had it. And then
(27:15):
we spoke about, well, if we ever want to buy
property together, or have kids together, or do this stuff together,
we're going to have to get rid of that. And
so we both kind of knuckled down on our own
debts and like we were paying all of that out
because I think at that stage we realized we do
really love each other. We've just moved in together, this
is all sunshine and roses, and we would love to
start saving for a house, but we can't start saving
(27:36):
for a house until we get rid of these debts.
So we were doing that, but delusional me, I still
kind of had that little savings account to the side.
With a little bit of cash in it, and again,
don't do that. You can have an emergency fund, that's fine.
But I remember being like, oh, that's so that's for
the future. I should have just put it on my debt.
But sure. Anyway, hindsight is twenty twenty, and yeah, it
(27:58):
wasn't until then that I really really wanted to knuckle down,
because if I'm being honest, I didn't have the motivation
to pay it off because I didn't have any carrot
that was worth paying it off for until I realized, oh,
I actually want to build a life with someone, and
debt's not going to get me there. Debt's not going
to help me. We can't get a home loan, We can't,
(28:18):
you know, say for our deposit. We can't do any
of these things until I get my shit together. Yeah,
for sure, I.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Think that is so relatable. Sometimes you just thrown up
the motivation until there's something that you really want.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
You can see when it was just about me, but
then it's about somebody else. I don't know, I get it.
I'm not saying that you should wait for that. In fact,
I wish that I had entered that relationship, you know,
completely debt free and super financially empowered and all of
like I wish all of that for baby me, but
you know it didn't work out so badly totally and
(28:50):
you see to find your carrot. Let's go to a
really quick break and when we get back, I want
to get into what be actually cut from a budget,
whether she hustled for extra cash, and the mindset shift
that changed everything. Alrighty guys, we are back, and I
want to get straight into the juicy stuff, so via,
I want to know what your budget looked like, what
did you slash and what were your non negotiables that
(29:12):
you kept A long story short, I think after I
got that credit card and was splashing on like this Scanlan,
theat All pieces and that suit from Saba, I kind
of got scared of it. And I wasn't really spending big,
but because I didn't have a massive salary, most of
my income was going to debt reduction. So like quote,
slashing things from my budget wasn't really helping. I wish
(29:35):
I could be like, oh, yep, I slashed this and this.
I remember sitting down with Steve, my now husband, and
we were like okay, cool, Like where can we save
some money so that we can both pay off our
debts a bit better. And at the time, I think
in that first, you know, two years of our relationship,
we were eating out a lot, Like you know, when
we were cooking dinner together, we weren't necessarily cooking budget meals.
(29:56):
He was always like calling me before he got home
from work and we'd be like, oh, what we want
for dinner? And I'd be like, oh, I don't know,
like salmon or something from the supermarket, and like salmon
on this is so niche, but like that would be
one of our go to meals. Yeah, before we started
planning to get out of debt. Salmon's like at least
(30:17):
ten dollars fourteen dollars at the moment per packet for
two pieces of fish, and then he'd get sides, and
we'd always get broccolini, and that all of a sudden
becomes a thirty plus dollar dinner yea, even though you're
just quote swinging past the supermarket. So it was things
like that where we were like, oh, we probably should
be more planned with our meals. We probably should be
(30:37):
better at you know, meal planning and meal prepping and whatnot.
So I think once we both got the clarity that
hold on, we both actually have personal debts. We probably
should be prioritizing this. It was much easier to cut
out brunches on the weekends. We'd eat at home and
go for a walk and grab a coffee and like,
it sounds so silly because I tell you guys to
(30:57):
do that, but that's because that's what worked for me.
Would and we still, even though we are very financially
secure now to this day, do this. We're always like, oh,
do you want to have a piece of toast, and
then we'll go for a coffee walk with our son Harvey.
Like we always say that we'll go for a coffee
walk because historically, when we were getting out of debt,
the coffee walk was like our treat and our in
(31:17):
between of not going to brunch anymore. Yeah, so we
would sometimes jump in the car, drive to the Tan,
grab a coffee, and then do the walk around the Tan,
and that was like our mid morning activity on the weekend.
Or like now we live in our like the area
that we live in, we just like, you know, go
for a walk around that area. But yeah, like the
whole idea of a coffee walk for us really originated
(31:40):
from not going out for brunch, not going out for lunch,
trying to save on the weekends, but also being people
that love dining out, being people who love a cafe coffee,
being people who still want to feel like we're not
restricting ourselves. So that really worked for us. Would it
work for you? Who knows? But I think thinking about
what are you gonna place that with was really helpful
(32:02):
for us. So swap don't stop? They say, yeah, and
I think, not going, Oh well, we can't go out anymore.
What are we going to do? Sit on the couch
and twitterle our thumbs. Like, I'm not saying don't spend money,
but can you swap it for a cheaper activity? Can
you work out what you could do? Like, you know,
I'm not saying that the cheap Tuesday movie night tickets
(32:24):
are gonna save you heaps of money, but if going
out is a really big priority to you and having
a date night once a month is really important, how
can you make that as cost effective as possible? And
we started thinking like that. And when you start to
think that way, it kind of becomes like a game,
It kind of becomes fun. I totally get it. Yeah,
like the steak night at the Spread Eagle Hotel became.
(32:46):
It was back when we were getting out of debt.
It was much cheaper. I think it was like eighteen
dollars and it was like steak a drink, so you
could have like a beer or a wine or a
soft drink or whatever. It was steak insides and like
it was a really nice night out. And I remember
it was like a date night that we could go
on maybe once a month, we'd go out for a
fancy dinner and it was less than fifty dollars for
(33:07):
the both yes, right, yeah, And so I wouldn't say
gammify it, but it was kind of like a game
where you were like, okay, well, how could we go
out have a really good night and we kind of
still felt like we were winning. Yeah, I think that's
really cute.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
And I guess if you are already you can't cut
anything from the budgets. It's like, well do I just
stop eating? Like I literally am on End's meat here.
I've just there's so many fun things you could do
with your own Like you have a deb mash and
a bloody sausage and you just write it down on
an a for paper and pretend it's a menu and.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
You can just like make some fun out of it,
you know, dude. And like, I think a lot of
that still because we were doing that together, that stuff
still sticks with us, like it's become part of what
we just default to now. And I like, I find
that some people in our community have said, oh, you're
not relatable anymore, Victoria, And it's because I'm not in
(34:00):
the financial situation that people can relate to. But like,
I'm still the same person. I still love cheap steak die,
I still love going for my coffee walks. I still
find brunches that cost more than forty dollars absolutely exorbitant.
Just because I have more money does not mean that
I'm a different person. It doesn't mean I've lost my
(34:21):
way or lost my ability to understand the cost of
living crisis. Like I see it, I feel it. It's
why I'm so wildly passionate about continuing to create the
content that we create, because nobody deserves to be in
the position that I was in and feeling as guilty
and bad about themselves as I did. Like, it's why
She's on the money, was born and continues to be there.
(34:42):
So I just I look at it and I go, oh,
I don't think you guys realize that. Yes, I drive
a really fancy car now, but do you know how
much I appreciate that because of where I've come from.
I think that when you have been in debt, when
you have lived below your means, and once you get
out of that, and once you learn you can actually
(35:04):
keep yourself out of that, you don't want to go back. Yeah, Like,
once you taste financial freedom and once you realize what
that gives you, and once you realize that financial freedom
doesn't mean being rich, it means having choices and being
able to make a decision, you go, wow, this is
really cool. This is what I want for me, And
I'm willing to sacrifice a lot, because Becky, if I
(35:25):
lost absolutely everything tomorrow, you best believe I'd be back
in a cafe working behind the bar. I would absolutely
hustle my way back up to make sure that I
had my emergency fund, to make sure that I had
the ability to put food on the table and be
able to make choices totally.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Now, this leads me to my next question, because I
know that we're having talking about like cutting things from
the budget, But did you boost your income while paying
off your debt like a side hustle, extra work things
like that.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
I wish I had the capacity to do, so. I
thought about it a lot of times. I remember going
to a job interview for a cafe because I was like, Oh,
what if I like just worked on a Saturday or
a Sunday. And I remember, like Sunday rates were really attractive.
I was like, Oh, what if I did that? But honestly,
during that period of my life, I was working full time.
I was trying to start She's on the money and
(36:16):
I didn't at the time think that she's on the
money was like a side hustle.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
To me.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
It felt like more of a I want to say,
community service. But I was not doing it because I
thought i'd make money. I didn't think I would make money. Sure,
I didn't think it would become a podcast. I was
doing that, but I was also studying full time, I
was doing my MBA, so like that was a lot
to take on and I just simply didn't have the capacity.
That's so fair. I wish i'd known more about like
(36:44):
air Tasker. I wish I'd known more about all of
these kind of like husty apps where I didn't have
to commit to every single Saturday, like I wish that
i'd had. I don't know, like maybe I was a
casual at a cafe and they text me occasionally said, oh,
do you want a Saturday shift this week? I would
have loved that, because, like you know, some weeks you've
got the capacity, some weeks you don't. Or I wish
(37:04):
I'd been able to jump on air tasker and like
take up tutoring or something, but I didn't know that
was an option. I don't even think it was an
option then. But like I wish I had more flexible
side hustle options because I know I would have taken
them if I could have. I just didn't know they existed. No,
I totally get it. Well, we're almost done by the
way I went, almost out of time. I am so sorry. No, no, no,
(37:27):
I want to Yeah, this was my this is my
warning to you, but just so you know, almost off
the hook. I have two more questions for you.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
Okay, So this one is, you've seen so many people
get out of debt and turn their money stories around.
Is there one habit or change made that you constantly
see in those who are successful.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Yeah, consistency, Yes, that's so lame, right, Like I wish
it could be like, oh my goodness, it's this one
sparkly thing. But getting out of debt isn't sexy. Getting
into debt can be. And I think that's why you
want getting out of debt to be equally fun, right,
because like getting into debt, no word of lie had
a great time. Oh my god, not gonna lie, not
(38:05):
gonna lie. Like sorry, I walked Like, let's just frame this.
I walked into a bank deck. I gave the minimum paperwork,
they gave me forty thousand dollars. I got to spend
it based on free will. Yeah, and I sure did.
But do you know what I mean? Like getting into
debt is fun, getting out of debt is the hardslog.
That is not what you paid, Like, that's not what
(38:25):
you signed up for. I don't think anyone goes, oh,
I didn't realize that. We just don't think these decisions
through properly. I think if I was talking to somebody
about like what one change or habit, I think it's
it's a bit of a mindset shift. So it's realizing
that you're not a shitty person because you're in debt.
That is not a reflection of your self worth. And
(38:47):
for so long I genuinely saw my self worth as
being deeply tied to the fact that I was in debt.
I felt shameful about that. I felt like that should
be a hidden part of me. I mean I literally
didn't even tell my boyfriend that I had debt until
after i'd moved in with him. Would I ever recommend
(39:07):
that to someone in my community. Absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
There.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
I was absolutely relieved when I found out he was
also in debt, at the same time as being like,
what the hell, what do you mean you're also in debt?
Like now we both have to get out of this anyway.
So I think when it comes to mindset shift, really
understanding that it's not tied to your self worth. But
then also it's about consistency, and we're not saying it
(39:32):
has to be the same amount of debt repayment each
and every single month. If you mess up one month
or you make a decision one month, that means that
there's less great. All I care about is that next
month you go, yeah, I'm prioritizing it again, I'm stepping
back up. I've spoken before on the podcast about this
concept of grit. There is this fantastic book by Angela Duckworth,
and we can put the link in the show notes.
(39:53):
For you guys, it's not about debt reduction, but it's
about what creates successful people. And it is not your intelligence.
It's not who you know, it's not even what you know.
It's actually about how many times you get pushed over
and you're willing to get back up. Like the most
successful people in the world, whether they are entrepreneurs or
(40:15):
they are just average people like you and me, they
are the ones that just go that didn't work, or
I'll get up and try again. Oh that didn't work.
That doesn't mean I'm a shitty person. I'm aa just
try again. Like, and I don't know about you back,
but I have so much respect for my friends who
do that, who are like, oh, it didn't work, but
I'll just give it another crack. Yeah, absolutely, you know
(40:36):
when you're just like I asked a friend the other
day she had an interview, and I said, how'd that
job interview go? She goes, I didn't get it, but like,
there'll be another one. I was like, oh my god,
Like I remember going to job interviews, and if I
didn't get it, i'd see that as a like personal
reflection of me not being worthwhile. I know that's not
the truth at all. And she was just like, yeah, yeah,
they must have just been somebody that fit the role better. Yeah,
(40:58):
Like she was able to separate it and just be like, oh,
get up and just do something else. Absolutely, what an icon.
But like that, I would say, is the defining factor
of what I see our community doing and what I
see our community learning. They seem to be going, Oh, actually,
my self worth isn't tied to debt. I can keep trying,
and I can keep plugging away at this and maybe
(41:19):
one month you have an extra two hundred bucks and
you throw it at your debt. But that's not wasted
like we see it as consistency. Yes, So for me,
I would say, it's just slow and steady wins the race. Okay.
I like that.
Speaker 3 (41:30):
I like that, and I do want to acknowledge that
some people do have aspects of their identity that make
it a little.
Speaker 2 (41:34):
Bit harder to get by in life.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
But just you know, we're all gonna just keep doing
what we're doing, and if it takes you a little
bit longer, it's a little bit harder.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
That's something that we just acknowledge. And then I never
met one person who I would say was an inherently
good person who would judge someone based on being in debt. No,
totally judge someone based on them being in debt. You're
kind of a shitty person. So I actually I just
don't have a lot. It's it's a weird thing to
judge someone for and like some of the best people
in my entire life, like you, right, thank you, You've
(42:02):
been in debt? Is that but like, does that change
the situation?
Speaker 1 (42:06):
No?
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Does that make you a worse off human being?
Speaker 1 (42:09):
No?
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I would say you're better than most people that I
come across. It's so sweet, but like you've got a
better moral compass. You know, I see what you're saying.
All the type of person I want to surround myself
with as opposed to do you know what I mean.
It's just I know you're saying. I know you're saying,
they're so sweetet you, thank you. People don't give themselves
enough credit for that. Yeah, it builds a lot of uh,
you know, multi layered personalities. So I know I really
(42:33):
like it.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
So how do you feel about debt now. And this
is the last question, by the way, how do you
feel about debt now? And what is your approach to
credit and loans. I'm so angry about debt. I just
I still hold so much anger about it.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
I think because I remember my journey and I just
don't want anybody else to have to go through that,
the shame, feeling awful about it, feeling like you're not
getting anywhere, feeling like you're missing out on life. Like
I remember just thinking there was a very big period
of my life where I was like, well, I'll never
be to afford property, Like that's just not a reality
for me. That's fine, And I remember like framing it
(43:06):
as though that didn't matter, and you don't have to
have property, you don't need to need that. But I
remember trying to justify it to myself because like, in
my head, the reason I would never have property was
because I was bad with money, right, And it was
because I would never be able to save a deposit,
and it's because I would always have personal debt. And
in my head, this was just gonna spiral for my
entire life. So I don't like debt. I also would
(43:30):
like to acknowledge that for some people, debt is such
necessary evil, Like it is a necessary part of getting
through We're in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
Do you think I am so naive to think that
the single mum who is earning fifty grand a year
and has three kids that she needs to get through
school is not going to go into debt to do
(43:50):
that because she's got some deadbeat dad on the side. Like,
we are doing the best that we can, and if
you are in debt or you're about to go into debt,
I think it's just more about understanding that sometimes it
can be a tool, sometimes it is a necessary evil,
but we're just all doing the best that we can.
So I think my approach to credit and loans is,
if you don't have to have them, don't get them.
(44:12):
I never needed it. You've heard my story. At no
point did I say, beck I needed it to put
food on the table. Beck I needed debt to pay
my rent and put a roof over my head. Beck
I needed it for my medical costs. Those are completely
different situations. Mine was all vanity. Mine was I'm going
(44:33):
overseas and I'm traveling, and I bought a car I
did not need any of that. I should never have
gotten into debt. But if my story was, oh, medical costs,
or I was in hospital for a long time and
I ended up with a whole heap of debt because
I had to pay for my rent otherwise I was
going to lose my house, that's a different story and
that needs to be treated differently as well. So, no,
(44:55):
I don't like debt, and my approach is to avoid
it at all costs. But I also am very aware
that there are a lot of people in our community
that use debt and need debt to get by, and
I see it as my job to educate you on
how to use it as responsibly as possible and how
to get out of it when you need to take
those steps, Like when you're ready, I'm here. I've got
(45:16):
all the tools and I've got all the resources, and
I will be your best friend. I'll be your biggest cheerleader.
But I'm never going to judge you for getting into debt.
That is so beautiful and so empowering, and I think
that's a perfect place to leave this if you feel yeah,
because I would love to stop talking about it. So fair.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
Okay, so you're officially off the hook. Thank you so
much for letting Usteep dive into how you became debt free.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
I'm always willing to overshare when it comes to hopefully
benefiting our community. Yeah, thank you. And just to reiterate
everything that I've been saying, if you're in debt right now,
please know that it literally does not make you a
bad person. It does not mean that you are bad
with money, it doesn't mean you've failed, and it definitely
does not mean that you can't turn things around.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
We hope this chat gave you the tools, the courage,
or even just the permission to start tackling your own
debt without the shame. And of course, if you love
this episode, please share it with someone who might need it,
leave us a review, or slide into the comments and
tell us what you want.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
To hear more of. Bye guys, Bye guys.
Speaker 4 (46:17):
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.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 4 (46:38):
Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
of Money. Sheper Pty Ltd ABN three two one is
six four nine two seven seven zero eight AFSL four
five one two eight nine
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