March 10, 2024 • 38 mins
This Money Diarist has had a fascinating journey, from growing up in a in a very low socioeconomic, single parent home, she learned to be very independent in life and with her finances. Now at 29, she has a degree, works as a singer-songwriter and freelancer in social media, PR, journalism, marketing and has backpacked to 44+ countries, spending on average for 4 months every year overseas! There is so much more to her story and we can;t wait for you to meet her.
Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
the Order Kerni Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before
we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
(00:22):
through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Let's get into it. She's on the Money.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
She's on the Money.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another
one of our episodes of Money Diaries, where I get
the absolute privilege of sitting down with one of our
beautiful She's on the Money community members and talk to
them all about their journey. Let's jump straight into it,
because this week I got a message and it sounded
(01:19):
like this, Hi Ve. I grew up in a very
low socioeconomic single parent home and always had to be
very independent in life and finances. Now at twenty nine.
I have a degree, work as a singer, songwriter and
freelancer in social media, PR journalism, marketing, and have backpacked
to forty four plus countries, usually for four months every year.
(01:44):
What a dream. In twenty twenty four, I'm planning more
travel and to buy a house with my partner. We've
been long distance for five years. I'm not perfect or rich,
but my number one priority is flexibility in independence, and
I would love to share my story. What that's so cool?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Let's start the show as I always do. What grade
would you give your money habits if I asked you
to give them a grade from A through to F.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
I thought long and hard about this. I'm very proud
of like how far I've come, but I still think
I've got a long way to go, especially some of
the goals that I've set myself in the future. So
I'm sitting on a C plus at the moment.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Oh is C plus? Let's learn more about that. But first,
I feel like you have a super interesting money story,
so let's dive in. Can you tell me more about it?
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Sure? Yeah, the said of my intro.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
I grew up in a really low socioeconomic country, upbringing
in a little, tiny two bedroom house with a single mom,
and you know, it was a very basic like no TV,
no broadband, no phone reception, like really just basic living.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Were we And how old are you now?
Speaker 4 (02:48):
I've just ten thirty, right, perfect?
Speaker 5 (02:50):
And yeah, my mum was like an amazing mother, but
she just didn't have a lot of the skills herself
when it came to like mindset or finances and things
like that to instill some of the in us that
I've had to learn along the way. So I think
a lot of my childhood was in like that real
survival mode financially, and then I guess that really pushed
me to become very independent from an early age. So
(03:10):
I started working my first job at eleven.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Eleven, Yeah, I was just a baby. I was assembling
hundreds of these little window washers. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
And then got my first like normal job at fourteen
when I was legally able to, and then worked my
way up until I finished school.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Moved out really quickly at seventeen as soon as I.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
Finished school and moved to the city, and then all
through that that time, I'd started building on becoming a
musician because that was what I wanted to do. So
I started gigging professionally at around fifteen, and as I
started to bring in a bit of income from that
and also work my other job, I was able to
pay for my own school fees and all of my
extracurricular stuff. Everything that I needed to pay for was
(03:49):
from my bank account basically, except for food and rent
and stuff from my mum.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
I actually was very lucky kind of through my life.
Speaker 5 (03:55):
After I finished school and even towards the end of
high school, I had like these really close family friends
of mine who were our neighbors growing up, and they
really instilled a lot of really different mindsets into me.
And they were actually the first people who took me
traveling at sixteen with their family, and that helped me
fall in love with traveling.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Oh wow, how cool is that?
Speaker 5 (04:15):
Yeah, really big step in my journey. And then yeah,
so seventeen, moved out to home, started working. Thought I
was going to like hit it big, you know, working
a real big, grown up job, and then was on
like nine dollars thirty an hour in retail.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
It was so depressing.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
You do feel like it's big at that point.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
Right, you do, But like looking back, you know, forty
hours a week for four hundred dollars.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You just go, wow, where are those people now who
are willing to accept that? Because like, we would have
a bigger business if that was the case.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
I think everyone would hit no, yeah, well we'll be
working hard.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
And then I basically had a big shake up at nineteen.
A lot of stuff happened in my life and that
really made me like reconsider what I was doing with myself.
And that's when I really started going into music a
lot more fully and started gigging solo, which made it
a lot easier for me to pick up a lot
of gigs. And I also started studying as well, so
I did bachelor's in communications, majoring in journalism and public relations,
(05:08):
and I did that all online as well, through open universities,
so that was really easy to fit around all my
other jobs that I was doing and traveling and stuff
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
How good is that? How did you find open universities?
While I was studying, there a few people doing like
the OUA stuff through the same course that I was doing,
and I'd never heard of it before, and now I'm
like the biggest fan.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
It's hard to say because I've never done a degree
in person. So I don't know what the difference in,
you know, the education.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Part of it is not much as someone who went
to r MIT and had people in the same class
doing OUA and I was like, wait, it's the same.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Yeah, I guess the only thing for me was like
that it is quite isolating. So you know, everyone has
these really good relationships that they formed through UNI and
like experiences that they had and long holidays and stuff,
whereas the OUA was, you know, less subjects at a time,
but you never had any holidays.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
So I did two subjects at a.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Time, but for semester zy, so it was just back
to back to back study.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
But you got it done, got it done in the
three years.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Yeah. And then I also, like all of my UNI
memories are like working until, you know, three in the
morning to finish my assignment and then getting up at
five to start a job at an animal shelter that
I was working at at the time.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Oh my gosh, an animal shelter.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I thought you might like, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
If nothing, I am predictable, So tell me about that.
Because I also saw behind you, which obviously this is
an audio podcast, I saw some little ears before and
I wanted to interrupt to be like, who's that, But
that's not appropriate.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Sometimes I'll tell you her name at the end. She's
very cute.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
She's my little tried enjoy dog and she's amazing. But
she's from the shelter and I worked there. I volunteered
for a year, and then I worked there for three
years as an animal attendant with mostly the dogs, which
was a really big part. This is around twenty you know,
when I was reshuffling, I was studying, I was gigging
on the weekends, and I was doing this job at
the animal shelter. And it was like an amazing transformative
part of my life working there and getting to kind
(06:55):
of know all about animal welfare and everything.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
And so yeah, she was six when I got her.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
How did you know? Take them all home?
Speaker 5 (07:02):
I fostered a lot again audio, but you can see
the pictures behind me.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
They're my foster babies, my favorites.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I wondered who they were. She's got a beautiful, like
gallery wall of pets behind her, and I was like,
surely then all hers they were at soboy, how sweet.
Speaker 5 (07:17):
I urge anyone who loves animals to, you know, go
and volunteer at an animal shelter if they have time,
because it's such a rewarding part of life to go
and like health animals.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I adore it. So that was you at twenty, that
was me.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
At twenty did that for a few years.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
You know, a lot of the time working in that industry,
it's common to get kind of a bit of burnout. Yeah,
they sometimes they call it compassion fatigue. And it's also
very physical. It's all those things. So I was definitely
ready to have a bit of a trip. And I'd
been at that point, like solo backpacking about a month
at a time whenever I could, mostly to Asian countries,
and I felt like I was ready when I was
about twenty three to go on with as big trips.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
So I went to Europe for four months.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Oh my gosh, and yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
It was so amazing and like definitely the cheapest budget
trip ever.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I was about to say, how much should that cost you?
Speaker 5 (08:01):
I mean, this is why I so wanted to talk
to you, because I had such trouble costing up trips
when I was talking to people, and I found it
like really hard because some people would spend twenty thousand
dollars in six weeks and some people would spend five
thousand dollars and six weeks, and you're.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Like, well, how am I meant to know?
Speaker 5 (08:14):
So I kept a really detailed list of literally every
dollar I spent, and on that trip, I spent eleven
and a half thousand dollars for four months, including my flights,
my travel insurance, Like every dollar I spent on the
trip before or after I left.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Tell me, was that like a really frugal trip? Like,
obviously it's so hard to cost up. I get it,
like any holiday I've ever been on, I'm like trying
to benchmarket, but you go against what, like against other
people's decisions, Like you were backpacking, Obviously that's a budget
friendly option, but like what were you eating? What were
you doing during the day? Like how did that work?
Speaker 5 (08:48):
The first trip to Europe, I used a company called
bus About, which will come into the story a bit
later actually, and that company is basically like a year
hour pass almost all around Europe. I don't think it
exists anymore after COVID, but you you basically hop on
and off the buses all around Europe and you could
just hop on and off every second day.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
To wherever you wanted.
Speaker 5 (09:05):
So that pass was like, I don't know, twelve hundred
dollars or whatever, but that covered the whole season of
travel through Europe.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Oh wow.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
And then once you're like dropped off inner city, you
just do whatever you want to do. But it's a
good way to meet people too, like, because you're on
the bus often with other travelers and stuff, and it's
pretty social.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So I use that half the trip I was actually CouchSurfing.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Oh very cool.
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Yeah, so that was a bit of a different way
to do it, staying with strangers on their couches, sometimes
in their spare rooms, sometimes on a mattress on the
floor whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
And to me, that's like Airbnb but free.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
So they would kind of offer up whatever they had
and they would tell you, you know, roughly what you'd be
sleeping on and where it would be and all that
kind of stuff. And you could read all their reviews
to make sure they felt safe and reliable and stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I was about to say, as a young female, how
did you feel comfortable CouchSurfing through a foreign country, because
that gives me insane amounts of anxiety.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Yeah, I felt very comfortable as long as I could
just read the reviews were all very positive. And stuff, like,
you know, if they had hundreds of reviews saying that
they were the nicest person ever whatever. I felt like
very comfortable. But there was a couple that I didn't
actually ever stay with, but they looked super dodgy, So
you just kind of dodge those. And I think the
biggest tip I have for any like solo female backpacker
especially is just always have enough money that you never desperate.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
To stay in a situation.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah, so smart.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
You know.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
I did have one where I was about to arrive
and the guy went like, oh, hey, by the way,
I can't find my spam mattress. All good if you
sleep in my bed, And I was like, nope, absolutely not.
Like I'm booking the first hotel room. I see, that's fine.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
So worries you're a creep. That's weird, so weird you're
giving me the ixer.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
But everyone else was so nice.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
I had people that had like Center of Barcelona, whole
guest room, my own key to come and go, Like
it was amazing, and it was free.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
That's so wild.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
Yeah, this beautiful cultural exchange too, because they're doing something lovely.
The way that they explained it as hosts was that
you were helping them travel when they can't travel themselves.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Oh that's so sweet.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
Yeah, it's like bringing the travelers to them and also
getting this excitement about their own city that they don't
often have unless someone is coming.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Oh that's so sweet. I was literally just thinking in
the back of my head, like I wonder what the
value exchanged there is, because like, I don't know how
comfortable I would be having just random people sleeping in
my spare room, but each to their own. And it
makes a lot more sense when you're like, oh, they
get a lot out of it too. I was like, okay, yeah,
that seems legit.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Yeah. I think couch theffing maybe isn't the community it
used to be.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
I think it's switched to another platform now that's more
what couch theffing used to be, because I think couchsurfing's
turned a bit more into Tinder now.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
No, not ideal.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
So I did that. I stayed in the hostels.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
I just traveled super cheaply, you know, walked everywhere, you know,
ate out a little bit, but mostly kind of just
like cooked at the hostel or whatever. But it allowed
me to go for four months through twenty two countries.
And have the best time.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
That is so cool. I can't believe it was only
eleven and a half thousand dollars, Like, are you very kidding?
So what happened after that? You get back after a
four month massive trip?
Speaker 4 (11:57):
This is wild?
Speaker 5 (11:58):
So then I got back from that tree. But as
I said, it was that travel company bus About. I
was back for a few months. Then I went to
Hawaii with my partner at the time, and then literally
fun out with like four weeks. Notice that bus About
had actually chosen me for this like worldwide competition that
they put forward.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
No, they hadn't.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, it was a.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Search for four different content creators to make what they
called the ultimate travel Squad.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
So they like, and you made the squad.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
I made the squad. So I was put on as
the blogger.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
And then I was sent over with this company to
travel for another three and a half months with three
strangers a girl from America, two guys from New Zealand.
And they sent me on this like all expenses paid
them to create content.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Yeah, what how much was that worth? You have to
tell me?
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Well, I guess it would be worth probably about twenty
grand or so.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
It was nicer than CouchSurfing.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Yeah, it was a bit of an upgrade for me,
and we got paid about fifteen hundred US, and obviously
we got like a per dem of about fifty euros
a day I think, or thirty euros a day to
fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Yeah, but like I would take that to be able
to travel. Ye're like, yep, no worries, Oh and I'm
getting paid.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Yeah, So that allowed me to travel again.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
So you can imagine after I got back from that,
I was like so addicted to traveling and so experienced
at that point of like having gone to a lot
of Asian countries and a lot of Europe at that point.
But then I thought I might as well come back
and like finally finish my degree and get into my
industry that I've been studying. So I did a little
bit of work, and I worked in PR and marketing
and social media in like the music and entertainment industries
(13:25):
because that's obviously my background. So I started working for free,
and then I got my foot in the door with
this really great boutique agency and basically worked my way
up for a few years, and then COVID came, and.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
That really doesn't help in that industry, nor does it
help you thrive traveling or is the singer no, no, no, no,
you're out for the count.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:45):
When they were saying that you felt really like disposable
in multiple industries, I was like, yeah, all the industries,
I feel very disposable.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Yeah, every single one of them.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Yes, So COVID came. It was obviously really tough to
be any of those industries. I stayed on job keeper
with my employer so I could at least continue working.
We didn't have the same type of work obviously, there
weren't any festivals or events or artists touring or anything,
but we did some like online coaching and different things
to keep busy. Yeah, long story short, that kind of
finished up naturally, and I started my own business. And
(14:16):
I also got a bunch of like grant funding around
that time too, which is something I want to talk
to a lot of the musicians about as well, because
that is definitely something that we can harness as artists
and as gigs started to pick up and stuff, that
obviously really helped as well. And there was a lot
of like online gigs and things like that as well
that sustained musicians through COVID which was really helpful. But
(14:37):
then yeah, started my own business, worked my butt off
for quite a while, and I also got this really
amazing job on a feature film, working really hardcore for
about a year on a big Hollywood blockbuster that was
in my area, doing all the social media.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Oh how fancy.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
Yeah that was amazing. Another amazing like bucket list thing
that I didn't see.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Pop up, so cool. Yeah, yeap.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
After that, I was very burnt out, and I went
again to Europe for four months, and that was a
fifteen thousand dollar trip.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
I did all the costs of that too for you go,
and that was.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Again just like hostels and yeah, just like doing overnight
buses and staying with a friend of mine who's over there,
who like I nanned for her child in France for
a little while while I was there for a few weeks,
and that obviously cut out accommodation and everything.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Your life is so much more fun than mine.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
I'm sorry this is a bit long, but like I
feel like they're all kind of stepping stones to the
bits and pieces.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
No, this is the best.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
So then that happened. That was an amazing four months trip.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
And then I got home and I've been yeah, focusing
on you know, music and doing a bunch of like
social media freelancing work, which is now what I mostly do.
And I've also just picked up another thing which is
great as well for artists. I've started doing a bit
of like ndis support work.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Oh, very cool because it is like.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
The most flexible job out there for people who need
like to work during the day because obviously a lot
of musicians used to work in hospitality, but that is
a lot of the time on nights and weekends, so
it's never really worked for me to work in and
so I found this This is like a really great
means to an end.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
It's cool and you get to like enjoy the time.
And I am making a grand assumption having spoken to
you for what the last twenty minutes, that would nourish
you a lot. Having come from like an animal shelter
and been this really empathetic human being, I just feel
like you would love that role.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
It was great.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
I really really enjoy it and it was such a
good year thing to find. That also gets me off
a computer because again that like burnout through a lot
of like my own freelance work.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Alongside this FETA film job was just screens.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
Literally from the moment I work up to the moment
I went to sleep door and that was so draining.
So having this where you're like out and about in
the community and it's very human focused and it's very enriching.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
I really enjoy it.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
It's not like my forever career, but I really love
it as a supplement to all the other things that I.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Do one hundred percent. So now you've started during business,
you're doing six million things. You have the most colorful life.
I love it. I want to ask you about your income,
but I'm real pervy too. You said in your letter
in that you've been long distance with your partner, which
is very very exciting. You want to buy a house
together and clearly settled down. How did you meet your
(17:10):
partner and how did you get away with all of
these massive trips without them?
Speaker 4 (17:15):
We actually met, really cute story. We met on that
trip over in Europe.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I was hoping you would say something like that.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Yes, he was friends with some of the people I
got paired with, So we met in Holland, and yeah,
our story started over there. But he's wonderful and he
because he's in healthcare, he actually prefers to go and
work regionally, so he's like the kind of only one
in town rather than one of many in a city,
even though he's not from Australia. Originally we've been long distance,
mostly within Australia, but he's been in these regional areas
(17:43):
and obviously COVID then did not help because we just
couldn't see each other for like six months at a
time with border closures and stuff. But yeah, so it's
actually allowed me to travel a lot of Australia to
be with him. Often being so regional, it was cheaper
to go somewhere else, like maybe meet in Cambodia or
somewhere else than go to his place. So we've done
a lot of traveling to get and he's very accepting
of my independence and life.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
How good. I was like, how did this work? Because,
like you said, you had a partner. She's pointing at
her engagement ring, which I obviously noticed because low key
it's massive, and so now you're getting married and buying
a house together.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Yeah that's the plan.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
How cute? So tell me. Obviously we know you do
some NDIS support worker stuff. You're obviously a singer, songwriter
and a freelancer in social media. How much money are
you earning for all of this?
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Okay, so it's quite variable obviously because of COVID and
traveling and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
So I broke it down as a singer songwriter.
Speaker 5 (18:37):
I kind of have my day job version of that,
which is like the typical cover gigs where I do
play my original music, but it's like at bars, restaurants,
music venus and stuff. Corporate stuff is quite a big
money earner in that. And then there's the original side,
which is like you know, the artist side of releasing
and grants and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, the
PR marketing social media side is mostly freelance and occasionally
contracts work like within a business, and then they're just
(19:00):
ability is like thirty two dollars an.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Hour roughly casual. So I usually earn between sixty to
one hundred thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Oh that's variable, hey.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Very variable. And that's like twenty twenty one.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Obviously, with COVID it was like fifty five thousand, roughly
half half music and half of my other freelance work.
Twenty one twenty two was one hundred and fifteen thousand.
That was sixty thousand music and then again roughly half half.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
I love that as a singer songwriter, you're earning a
good wage too, like sixty grand to do what you
love like.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
That makes me so happy because so many times people
who you know are in that space, they earn nothing,
and they don't get the I guess credit that they
deserve and all the work that they deserve. And there's
this expectation in that industry that you'll work for free, right,
and it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Yeah, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
I have definitely done my gigs for either free or
like literally silver start somewhere.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
I think that now, diversifying through like the kind of
day job side and and the original artist side is
really important to me.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
And a lot of artists have their own opinions on that.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
But for me, if I'm going to work a day
job anyway, why wouldn't it be playing a gig anyway?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Yeah, and getting some exposure, getting some more experience doing
something you love like.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
I honestly see that as paid practice, And why wouldn't
I just do that?
Speaker 4 (20:15):
You know?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I love it?
Speaker 5 (20:16):
Okay, So twenty two twenty three, I earned just like
around sixty thousand. Almost all that was music, but I
did travel for five months.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Oh yeah, that does get in the way of earning
an income, I've heard.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
And then this year though, I've made about thirty five
thousand in the first four months, which is when I
calculated this, So I'm on track for about ninety.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Thousand this year.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Oh very nice.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Yeah, so that's a bit of a mix of everything. Really.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
That was twenty thousand music, five and a half thousand
of the NDAs work, and then four thousand freelance.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
How good. Such a perfey breakdown as well. Thank you.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
I thought you'd enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I don't love it, you said in your letter in
obviously you're planning to buy a house. You didn't tell
me that you were engaged, though, So tell me a
bit more about these big money goals are we currently
working towards.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
So I've got a fair bit of savings. I've got
about I don't know if you want me to go
into this already, but.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
If you're willing to share what's in your savings account,
we are all listening.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
So I've got about like forty six thousand in savings.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
How are you doing this, you money with it, like
you're doing all these troops, you're earning epic income like
twenty two to twenty three. Oh no, Biggie made sixty grand,
traveled for five months, like you are living the dream.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
Well, I was gonna say in my Best Money Habits section,
but like I honestly just think it's about like working
really really hard when you're home and living really cheaply
and then traveling really cheaply, And that's how I do it. Yeah,
I mean I am obviously lucky when it comes to
loans and things. My partner is a healthcare professional working regionally,
so he and I would be eligible for a higher
ability to get a mortgage.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
I think through his opportunity.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You're probably gonna not have to pay l amine. You
would probably get a mortgage for a ten percent deposit,
which is very sexy.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Yes, that's what we've listening to. Obviously, that's an advantage
from just being with him. Although caveat he was totally
broken and we got together so.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Well, you've got a thing or two to teach it.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
We built that up together, like we've built this up
from the ground up for the last six years. Adore
so there's forty six thousand dollars of savings. I've got
about three thousand dollars kind of in my various other accounts,
and I've got a tax account where I just put
like thirty percent of any invoice that I haven't already
paid tax on.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
It's so smart.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
Through the NDAES, I go through an agency, so they
take tax out already, but everything else I just put
thirty percent away.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Especially in a gig economy, having that account is so
smart because so many of us just forget it or
say we'll do it later. And then tax time comes
and you're like so overwhelmed, so anxious and crippled because
you're like, well, where am I going to get this money?
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Well, and that's the thing.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
I never used to think about it, and so I'd
kind of look at my savings and be like, wow,
I've got all this money. Who And then I'd get
my tax bill and I'd be like, oh, crap, there's
ten thousand dollars taken out already or whatever.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
It is, So well lucky you had it in savings.
So many people don't have it in savings. They just
spend it and then go, oh, oh, now I've got
a tax debt I can't pay, and that just gives
me mad anxiety.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
I think that comes from my upbringing though, like I'm
terrified of living week to week. I live very below
my means, and you know, even all the travel and
stuff is very cheap and thought out. Also, while I
go away, I sustain my whole life at home. So
I have a dog, I have my rent that I'm
still paying, my car, my phone bill, everything still gets
paid for at home, as well as me traveling, so
I'm not like packing up and going and having nothing
(23:23):
at home.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Oh my gosh. So you've got some savings, you're planning
on purchasing a home? Any other big money goals?
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Yes? Just a trip overseas again this year.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
I didn't see that coming from me.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Travele.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Yeah, because it was my thirtieth.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
My partner has actually gifted me the flights, so that's
our thing.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Oh, thank you, sir, What a good present.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
He knows how to win me over, for sure. I
like it.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Maybe you should consider marrying him.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
I think, I say, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Great, let's go to a really quick break on the
flip side. I want to know more about your investments.
Your thoughts on debt and your best and worst money habits.
So don't go anywhere, all right, money diris So we
are back and I want to know your thoughts on investing.
I feel like you've got so much going on at
the moment. So if you said, oh, I haven't thought
(24:12):
about it, I'd be like, yeah, cause you've got six
million things on. But what are your thoughts on investments?
If you're investing already, what in And if you're not investing,
do you have a plan?
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (24:22):
So that's something that I definitely marked myself down on
because I think even my mindset around investing is very
scaredy cat.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
So that's okay, we all start there, I promise.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
Like it really does kind of terrify me to put
my money into something that I could lose. Even buying
a property, it's taken a lot of convincing on my partner's.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Behalf to be like, let's just do it, you know.
So that's something that.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
I don't have a lot of money in, Like I
have my super I don't have a lot of super
And that's another thing I marked myself down on.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
I've only got like eleven thousand.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Sorry, you're in the gig economy.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
Yeah, but I don't pay myself super. That's something that
I need to get into.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Yeah, I was about to say, we probably need to
talk about being self employed and paying ourselves super. But also,
you're not that far behind. Lots of people are in
that circumstance.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Well.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
I also, and don't judge me for this, I got
some bad advice during COVID.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
And I actually did pull out twelve thousand.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
Probably didn't need to at the time, like it would
have probably gone a lot further had I left it in,
but I didn't know any better, so I pulled it
out at the time.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
So that's so fine. I feel like so many of
us did that. And also when you're like no judgment,
I'm like, when have I ever judged people and their
money behaviors? Like if I laid all mine out, you'd
be like, oh, pot calling kettle black, no worries. I
didn't do that, But I've done some money things that
I'm not so proud of. In hindsight, I.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Hadn't started listening to you very much at that point,
I guess. Yeah, so I got that.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
And then I've just got small assets like my car,
my music equipment, which is worth like several thousand dollars
but no heats. And then I've got like little tiny
bits of money. I think I put five hundred dollars
into again crypto when someone told me to, and I
think I've got like one hundred dollars in the chaisias,
And so I don't really put much thought into those things.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Oh see, you are investing, like.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Oh but literally enough yet so not consistently okay.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
But like one hundred dollars in charesis is so much
more than most people who say they're a scaredy cat
about investing. I like that you've taken the first step.
You're on a platform, You're slowly starting to educate yourself.
Those little steps they end up being the big steps,
because even just like getting on a platform, putting your
first dollar in, like it's massive, but like you're on
the way, you'll get there when you're more comfortable.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
It's something than's on my mind for sure.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
And again, listening to all the resources and things that
you put out every week, I definitely feel like I'm
getting more educated and comfortable with it.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
So a doore now question? Do you have any debt?
Speaker 4 (26:37):
No? None, I've never had a credit card.
Speaker 5 (26:38):
I've never had a loan or a personal family loan
or anything like that. So that's something I've just again
been very afraid of. I've never wanted to put myself
in that position.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
And what is your best money habit? I feel like
I know where we're going with this, but I need
to know.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Okay, I hope you don't mind, but I just like
would love to share a few when it comes to
travel and music as well, just a really specific so
I think in general, my best at like op shopping
and secondhand first always. So yeah, I would say ninety
five percent of my closet and things I own a secondhand.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
And I love that, like I love secondhand shopping. I
live in a sharehouse.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
My rent is really really cheap, which means I can
sustain it while I'm away because I don't have the
option of moving home and putting stuff at home or
anything that's not like a liberty of mine. So and
then I also meal prep. I like never eat out
or get takeaway or anything. And I'm just like hustling
all the time, like I'm always just like networking and
keeping an ear out for opportunities and deals and things
like that.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
I've got quite a few for travels.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
So one is like traveling to more affordable countries Eastern Europe, Asia,
like places that are you're going to put your dollars
a lot further. Recently, I really loved signing up for
the newsletters for different companies because that's where you always
find out the best deals.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
So just to like blow your mind a little bit,
like I went to.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Bali last year for a whole week flights, accommodation and
breakfast included, and it was five hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
No, it wasn't. It was No, you're making up what
newsletter is date Jetstar Okay. I was about to say
you cannot gatekeep and be like, oh, just sign up
for newsletters. Hopefully you'll get the deal of a.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Light starle no gatekeeping, all right.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
All right, onwards and upwards? What was your next tip?
Speaker 5 (28:13):
And yeah, saying with that, I went on a cruise
as well for seven hundred and fifty dollars each for
ten days.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Everything included what.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Like it would have been like full food, drink everything.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
Yeah, three course sit down meals like all the four islands, everything,
seven to fifty each.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, Oh my gosh, I've never been on a cruise
as somebody who you've done lots of like traveling, which
I feel like is really independent travel, like you pick
your schedule. What was it like to be on a
cruise ship for ten days? Was it fun?
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I didn't think I would like it.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yeah, See, I feel like i'd feel trapped.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Yeah. I didn't think i'd like it.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
And I thought also I maybe wouldn't be the clientele
on the boat, if you know what I'm saying. I
thought I might be the younger demographic. But I did
actually really enjoy it with my partner, and the people
in the islands were incredible, Like we made very close
connections with some beautiful locals.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
That was really special.
Speaker 5 (28:59):
But my partner and I were actually like even more
excited by at the end of that trip because I
then got to go back on that same cruise again
like four weeks later, because I got asked to sing
with the blues band. No you didn't, Yeah, So we
were like frothing these blues players that were amazing on
the ship and then yeah, I got up and did
a few songs with them, and then they're like, come
back to this cruise in four weeks so, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
So when money diarists, you say, I'm always hustling always,
like even on holidays.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
She hustling, Yeah, she hustling. Okay.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
And then another one is like if you have flexibility,
which obviously I do and I know a lot of
people in like full time don't. But skyscanner, you can
just search flights to anywhere, like it's called like flight
roulette if you want to look up specifically how to
do it.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I do want to look up to that, so thank you.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
So you just basically look in like where you want
to go from and then do anywhere, and it will
show like the cheapest places and which times of year
and all that kind of stuff to go to. That's
always helpful if you literally have no idea, like in
Europe when I had no plan, I would be looking
up like just where's the cheapest place to get to
and I go from there?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Oh how cool? Also really fun.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Yeah, it is pretty fun. You never know where you're
gonna end up. I ended up in.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Morocco, so oh my god.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
That well, okay.
Speaker 5 (30:07):
And then overnight buses when you're traveling are great for
saving on accommodation and travel and also like baggage because
you don't have to pay for extra baggage free walking tours.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
I could not advocate for them enough.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
When you're traveling, I always talk about walking tours, like,
whenever I get to somewhere new, first thing I do
is a walking tour to find my feet and find
what's around, and like, they're always such passionate locals running them.
Speaker 5 (30:29):
And it's a great way to meet people as a
solo traveler too. But also get all the best tips
and tricks for saving money. I always carry a water
bottle when I'm traveling. Saves a heap of money. Staying
in hostels or like couch surfing or whatever was great. Also,
if you're gonna eat out and do a fancy meal,
try and do it at lunch because often you can
get three courses for like twenty dollars or fifteen dollars
or whatever is this in Europe?
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Oh yeah, they have their like lunchtime specials.
Speaker 5 (30:51):
Hey yeah, and at night it would be sixty eight dollars.
So it's so good. You save so much money doing
it then, and then I use shop back on bookings
dot Com.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
I've gotten quite bit of money back.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
Who is shot back I was just going to say again, like,
always have enough money to get out of a pickle,
because safety is the most important thing when you're traveling.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
I really like that you've put that in. Look, it's
really really smart. It's you know, something that a lot
of people say when they're traveling is like, oh, I'm
on a really strict budget, like I don't have an
emergency fund. If you can't afford travel insurance and you
don't have an emergency fund to travel, I genuinely don't
think you're in the position to financially be able to travel.
People don't want to hear that, but I think that
(31:28):
ultimately those are the two things that you need to
kind of have as your hygiene factors, like, yes, I
have access to money to get out of any place
that I don't want to be in, because you never
know where you'll end up. And also travel insurance. If
you don't have that and you're not looking after yourself,
you cannot afford to travel. From my perspective, I agree.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
Actually, another thing that I didn't add in but is
also have a few different cards with a few different
banks as well, because you just have to have them
on you and keep them in different places, maybe one
in the wall that you carry and one in your
bag you know that's locked away, because sometimes you'll get
to places in your combank or whatever just will not
work and you definitely need access.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
And actually recently I've been using Wise.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
It's a really good bank account for traveling, So I'd
recommend that for anyone wanting to travel between currencies as well.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
How cool do you want a job at? She's on
the money, you're always hustling.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
I'll take it. I'll take it because feel like you're.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Full of tips and tricks, Like how good is this?
Speaker 5 (32:20):
That would be fun leaving a podcast interview and then
getting a job yep, sligh okay?
Speaker 4 (32:24):
And just quickly with music, I play solo.
Speaker 5 (32:26):
It's obviously expensive to have a band, so playing solo
is a great way to start if you're wanting to
like start.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
As an artist.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
Now, grants and funding are a massive thing.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
I don't know if you want me to go into
detail later, but like definitely would recommend looking into that
as an artist.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah, totally. I feel like sometimes we forget that these
things are available. What's your favorite website for learning about
grants and funding? If you are a musician.
Speaker 4 (32:47):
There's a few different tiers of them.
Speaker 5 (32:49):
So first of all, look at your local city council
arts sector and then look at the state organizations. In
Queensland it's Key Music or Arts Queensland Music. New South
Wales is in New South Wales Music Victoria. I don't
know what the other states, but there'll be one as
well as there's national ones as well, so like Creative
Australia or Australian Arts Council. I think they're the same
thing now. So there's HEAPS and APRA, AMCOSS, Support Act, ABC,
(33:11):
Triple J. They offer things too, so all of those
are different, like funding bodies that you can find different
like yeah, grants, competitions, all sorts of things.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, how cool. Oh my gosh, all right, do you
even have a bad money habit to share heaps? Oh no,
all right, let's go.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
So I would say shopping when I'm overseas and baggage
fees are bad. Not being organized with tax every year
is my biggest gripe for sure. And I would say
that something that's really changed for me is like a
working with a tax accountant that specializes in entertainment and
gig economy because that actually saved me about twenty thousand
dollars in tax last financial year because they did a
tax averaging scheme with me, yes, which is really great
(33:50):
for people in the gig economy, and that means that
you can, like you know, not work for a year
and earn a million dollars the next year and they
average out over the two years, rather than you being
charged all that tax in one year one hundred and
then putting your thirty percent of every invoice into my
tax account.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
I never used to do that, and it was just
like a shock.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
But now you are. That's not a bad habit, it's
a bad habit that you solved.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
So yeah, tax is still my thing that annoys me.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
Also, probably the biggest thing is being scared to invest
and also just like not paying myself souper and not
putting into things that are going to set me up
for success in the future. And that's where my partner
has been very good for like being like, let's just
buy the house, like it's not going to go downhill
from there, like let's do it.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I like his mindset. I think it's really good.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Yeah, he's good.
Speaker 5 (34:28):
He balances me well in saying that being in a
long distance relationship is also probably a bad money habit
because that was an expensive venture too.
Speaker 6 (34:34):
You're about to change that though, You're about to buy
a house together. Will work out how that works. Yeah,
you're finally settling down. I can see the ring on
your finger, Like life is maybe about to get a
little less hectic.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
Little less.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
At the start of the show, you said to me,
I'm a C plus and I was like, oh, okay,
no worries. But then you told this beautiful story of like, oh,
I grew up in a really low socioeconomic household, Like
I've always been really independent, like you are basically the
Queen of travel. Like I cannot believe how cheaply you
are doing it and really enjoying it still, because I
(35:07):
feel like sometimes when people say, yeah, it was really cheap,
but I wish I'd spend a bit more, like it
didn't have the best time, Like that's not you at all.
You've got all these tips and tricks, Like I've never
met anyone on a money diary who's like, all right,
sit down, like his rollercoaster of really good tips and
tricks that I want to implement all of them. You
still have like forty six thousand dollars in savings. You
(35:29):
guys are going to buy a house this year, Like
you've lived on a variable income. Like, I know you
said that tax was your downfall, but it sounds like
it's actually not anymore because you have a really good
tax accountant and you have a whole account to deal
with tax. Now moving forward, do you really think that
you're a C plus?
Speaker 5 (35:48):
Like, again, I'm proud of where I came from and
how like hard it was growing up with money and
the mindset shifts I've made, But I still feel like
there's yeah, a lot of like future building I want
to do, and I think probably the biggest thing is
like setting up more in come streams that I can
use when I'm away as well as when I'm home hustling,
because that's something that kind of lets me down every
year is if I want to travel, I'm not working
(36:08):
for like four months and that's yeah, that obviously really
affecting my income. So I think that still needs to
be done, and setting myself up with those investments would
definitely help me feel like I'm more confident as like
a maybe a B minus.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
I don't know, Yeah, Okay, I.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Was like, maybe be a little bit kinder. The C
plus doesn't feel that reflective. You're like, I've never had
any debt, Like I don't have any, Like this mortgage
will be the first thing, but that's like good debt.
I don't know. I feel like you need to go
home and have a good hard think, my friend, because
you're being quite harsher on yourself. But that is okay.
I feel like it's good to have it pointed out sometimes.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Unfortunately, ah, sadly, this is all we have time for today.
But oh my gosh, this has been so fun chatting
to you. I feel like, obviously I'm not going to
be able to go on a big overseas euro trip
anytime soon, but you've motivated me to want to, and
I think that that's either a good or a bad thing.
Not sure.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
Looking for the deals now that's the way to do it,
that's all right.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
My husband and I have every intention of taking our
baby overseas at like four months and making that work.
Everyone thinks that we're insane, but I'm like, Yollo, this
will be fine. We will get there. But oh my gosh,
this has been such a fun money. I really appreciate
you sharing so much with the community, and I know
that they're going to love you and your story just
as much as I have.
Speaker 4 (37:22):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
I hope it motivates people who are in a different
way of living, you know, really based on flexibility and
the arts and travel and things like that, to not
feel hopeless and to know that there's things that you
can implement to still keep up with everybody else and
do what you love because there are ways of keeping
your values intact and also doing doing kind of what
you need to do to stay independent and flourishing.
Speaker 4 (37:42):
So yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
I'm obsessed. Of course.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
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 (38:12):
Advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 7 (38:14):
Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
of Money SHERPA pty Ltd a BN three two one
six four nine, two seven seven zero eight AFSL four five,
one two eight nine
Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
the Order Kerni Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before
we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
(00:22):
through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Let's get into it. She's on the Money.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
She's on the Money.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another
one of our episodes of Money Diaries, where I get
the absolute privilege of sitting down with one of our
beautiful She's on the Money community members and talk to
them all about their journey. Let's jump straight into it,
because this week I got a message and it sounded
(01:19):
like this, Hi Ve. I grew up in a very
low socioeconomic single parent home and always had to be
very independent in life and finances. Now at twenty nine.
I have a degree, work as a singer, songwriter and
freelancer in social media, PR journalism, marketing, and have backpacked
to forty four plus countries, usually for four months every year.
(01:44):
What a dream. In twenty twenty four, I'm planning more
travel and to buy a house with my partner. We've
been long distance for five years. I'm not perfect or rich,
but my number one priority is flexibility in independence, and
I would love to share my story. What that's so cool?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Let's start the show as I always do. What grade
would you give your money habits if I asked you
to give them a grade from A through to F.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
I thought long and hard about this. I'm very proud
of like how far I've come, but I still think
I've got a long way to go, especially some of
the goals that I've set myself in the future. So
I'm sitting on a C plus at the moment.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Oh is C plus? Let's learn more about that. But first,
I feel like you have a super interesting money story,
so let's dive in. Can you tell me more about it?
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Sure? Yeah, the said of my intro.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
I grew up in a really low socioeconomic country, upbringing
in a little, tiny two bedroom house with a single mom,
and you know, it was a very basic like no TV,
no broadband, no phone reception, like really just basic living.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Were we And how old are you now?
Speaker 4 (02:48):
I've just ten thirty, right, perfect?
Speaker 5 (02:50):
And yeah, my mum was like an amazing mother, but
she just didn't have a lot of the skills herself
when it came to like mindset or finances and things
like that to instill some of the in us that
I've had to learn along the way. So I think
a lot of my childhood was in like that real
survival mode financially, and then I guess that really pushed
me to become very independent from an early age. So
(03:10):
I started working my first job at eleven.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Eleven, Yeah, I was just a baby. I was assembling
hundreds of these little window washers. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
And then got my first like normal job at fourteen
when I was legally able to, and then worked my
way up until I finished school.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Moved out really quickly at seventeen as soon as I.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
Finished school and moved to the city, and then all
through that that time, I'd started building on becoming a
musician because that was what I wanted to do. So
I started gigging professionally at around fifteen, and as I
started to bring in a bit of income from that
and also work my other job, I was able to
pay for my own school fees and all of my
extracurricular stuff. Everything that I needed to pay for was
(03:49):
from my bank account basically, except for food and rent
and stuff from my mum.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
I actually was very lucky kind of through my life.
Speaker 5 (03:55):
After I finished school and even towards the end of
high school, I had like these really close family friends
of mine who were our neighbors growing up, and they
really instilled a lot of really different mindsets into me.
And they were actually the first people who took me
traveling at sixteen with their family, and that helped me
fall in love with traveling.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Oh wow, how cool is that?
Speaker 5 (04:15):
Yeah, really big step in my journey. And then yeah,
so seventeen, moved out to home, started working. Thought I
was going to like hit it big, you know, working
a real big, grown up job, and then was on
like nine dollars thirty an hour in retail.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
It was so depressing.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
You do feel like it's big at that point.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
Right, you do, But like looking back, you know, forty
hours a week for four hundred dollars.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You just go, wow, where are those people now who
are willing to accept that? Because like, we would have
a bigger business if that was the case.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
I think everyone would hit no, yeah, well we'll be
working hard.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
And then I basically had a big shake up at nineteen.
A lot of stuff happened in my life and that
really made me like reconsider what I was doing with myself.
And that's when I really started going into music a
lot more fully and started gigging solo, which made it
a lot easier for me to pick up a lot
of gigs. And I also started studying as well, so
I did bachelor's in communications, majoring in journalism and public relations,
(05:08):
and I did that all online as well, through open universities,
so that was really easy to fit around all my
other jobs that I was doing and traveling and stuff
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
How good is that? How did you find open universities?
While I was studying, there a few people doing like
the OUA stuff through the same course that I was doing,
and I'd never heard of it before, and now I'm
like the biggest fan.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
It's hard to say because I've never done a degree
in person. So I don't know what the difference in,
you know, the education.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Part of it is not much as someone who went
to r MIT and had people in the same class
doing OUA and I was like, wait, it's the same.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Yeah, I guess the only thing for me was like
that it is quite isolating. So you know, everyone has
these really good relationships that they formed through UNI and
like experiences that they had and long holidays and stuff,
whereas the OUA was, you know, less subjects at a time,
but you never had any holidays.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
So I did two subjects at a.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Time, but for semester zy, so it was just back
to back to back study.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
But you got it done, got it done in the
three years.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Yeah. And then I also, like all of my UNI
memories are like working until, you know, three in the
morning to finish my assignment and then getting up at
five to start a job at an animal shelter that
I was working at at the time.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Oh my gosh, an animal shelter.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I thought you might like, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
If nothing, I am predictable, So tell me about that.
Because I also saw behind you, which obviously this is
an audio podcast, I saw some little ears before and
I wanted to interrupt to be like, who's that, But
that's not appropriate.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Sometimes I'll tell you her name at the end. She's
very cute.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
She's my little tried enjoy dog and she's amazing. But
she's from the shelter and I worked there. I volunteered
for a year, and then I worked there for three
years as an animal attendant with mostly the dogs, which
was a really big part. This is around twenty you know,
when I was reshuffling, I was studying, I was gigging
on the weekends, and I was doing this job at
the animal shelter. And it was like an amazing transformative
part of my life working there and getting to kind
(06:55):
of know all about animal welfare and everything.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
And so yeah, she was six when I got her.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
How did you know? Take them all home?
Speaker 5 (07:02):
I fostered a lot again audio, but you can see
the pictures behind me.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
They're my foster babies, my favorites.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I wondered who they were. She's got a beautiful, like
gallery wall of pets behind her, and I was like,
surely then all hers they were at soboy, how sweet.
Speaker 5 (07:17):
I urge anyone who loves animals to, you know, go
and volunteer at an animal shelter if they have time,
because it's such a rewarding part of life to go
and like health animals.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I adore it. So that was you at twenty, that
was me.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
At twenty did that for a few years.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
You know, a lot of the time working in that industry,
it's common to get kind of a bit of burnout. Yeah,
they sometimes they call it compassion fatigue. And it's also
very physical. It's all those things. So I was definitely
ready to have a bit of a trip. And I'd
been at that point, like solo backpacking about a month
at a time whenever I could, mostly to Asian countries,
and I felt like I was ready when I was
about twenty three to go on with as big trips.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
So I went to Europe for four months.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Oh my gosh, and yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:54):
It was so amazing and like definitely the cheapest budget
trip ever.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I was about to say, how much should that cost you?
Speaker 5 (08:01):
I mean, this is why I so wanted to talk
to you, because I had such trouble costing up trips
when I was talking to people, and I found it
like really hard because some people would spend twenty thousand
dollars in six weeks and some people would spend five
thousand dollars and six weeks, and you're.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Like, well, how am I meant to know?
Speaker 5 (08:14):
So I kept a really detailed list of literally every
dollar I spent, and on that trip, I spent eleven
and a half thousand dollars for four months, including my flights,
my travel insurance, Like every dollar I spent on the
trip before or after I left.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Tell me, was that like a really frugal trip? Like,
obviously it's so hard to cost up. I get it,
like any holiday I've ever been on, I'm like trying
to benchmarket, but you go against what, like against other
people's decisions, Like you were backpacking, Obviously that's a budget
friendly option, but like what were you eating? What were
you doing during the day? Like how did that work?
Speaker 5 (08:48):
The first trip to Europe, I used a company called
bus About, which will come into the story a bit
later actually, and that company is basically like a year
hour pass almost all around Europe. I don't think it
exists anymore after COVID, but you you basically hop on
and off the buses all around Europe and you could
just hop on and off every second day.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
To wherever you wanted.
Speaker 5 (09:05):
So that pass was like, I don't know, twelve hundred
dollars or whatever, but that covered the whole season of
travel through Europe.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Oh wow.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
And then once you're like dropped off inner city, you
just do whatever you want to do. But it's a
good way to meet people too, like, because you're on
the bus often with other travelers and stuff, and it's
pretty social.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So I use that half the trip I was actually CouchSurfing.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Oh very cool.
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Yeah, so that was a bit of a different way
to do it, staying with strangers on their couches, sometimes
in their spare rooms, sometimes on a mattress on the
floor whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
And to me, that's like Airbnb but free.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
So they would kind of offer up whatever they had
and they would tell you, you know, roughly what you'd be
sleeping on and where it would be and all that
kind of stuff. And you could read all their reviews
to make sure they felt safe and reliable and stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I was about to say, as a young female, how
did you feel comfortable CouchSurfing through a foreign country, because
that gives me insane amounts of anxiety.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Yeah, I felt very comfortable as long as I could
just read the reviews were all very positive. And stuff, like,
you know, if they had hundreds of reviews saying that
they were the nicest person ever whatever. I felt like
very comfortable. But there was a couple that I didn't
actually ever stay with, but they looked super dodgy, So
you just kind of dodge those. And I think the
biggest tip I have for any like solo female backpacker
especially is just always have enough money that you never desperate.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
To stay in a situation.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah, so smart.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
You know.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
I did have one where I was about to arrive
and the guy went like, oh, hey, by the way,
I can't find my spam mattress. All good if you
sleep in my bed, And I was like, nope, absolutely not.
Like I'm booking the first hotel room. I see, that's fine.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
So worries you're a creep. That's weird, so weird you're
giving me the ixer.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
But everyone else was so nice.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
I had people that had like Center of Barcelona, whole
guest room, my own key to come and go, Like
it was amazing, and it was free.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
That's so wild.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
Yeah, this beautiful cultural exchange too, because they're doing something lovely.
The way that they explained it as hosts was that
you were helping them travel when they can't travel themselves.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Oh that's so sweet.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
Yeah, it's like bringing the travelers to them and also
getting this excitement about their own city that they don't
often have unless someone is coming.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Oh that's so sweet. I was literally just thinking in
the back of my head, like I wonder what the
value exchanged there is, because like, I don't know how
comfortable I would be having just random people sleeping in
my spare room, but each to their own. And it
makes a lot more sense when you're like, oh, they
get a lot out of it too. I was like, okay, yeah,
that seems legit.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Yeah. I think couch theffing maybe isn't the community it
used to be.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
I think it's switched to another platform now that's more
what couch theffing used to be, because I think couchsurfing's
turned a bit more into Tinder now.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
No, not ideal.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
So I did that. I stayed in the hostels.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
I just traveled super cheaply, you know, walked everywhere, you know,
ate out a little bit, but mostly kind of just
like cooked at the hostel or whatever. But it allowed
me to go for four months through twenty two countries.
And have the best time.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
That is so cool. I can't believe it was only
eleven and a half thousand dollars, Like, are you very kidding?
So what happened after that? You get back after a
four month massive trip?
Speaker 4 (11:57):
This is wild?
Speaker 5 (11:58):
So then I got back from that tree. But as
I said, it was that travel company bus About. I
was back for a few months. Then I went to
Hawaii with my partner at the time, and then literally
fun out with like four weeks. Notice that bus About
had actually chosen me for this like worldwide competition that
they put forward.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
No, they hadn't.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, it was a.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Search for four different content creators to make what they
called the ultimate travel Squad.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
So they like, and you made the squad.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
I made the squad. So I was put on as
the blogger.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
And then I was sent over with this company to
travel for another three and a half months with three
strangers a girl from America, two guys from New Zealand.
And they sent me on this like all expenses paid
them to create content.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Yeah, what how much was that worth? You have to
tell me?
Speaker 4 (12:41):
Well, I guess it would be worth probably about twenty
grand or so.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
It was nicer than CouchSurfing.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Yeah, it was a bit of an upgrade for me,
and we got paid about fifteen hundred US, and obviously
we got like a per dem of about fifty euros
a day I think, or thirty euros a day to
fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Yeah, but like I would take that to be able
to travel. Ye're like, yep, no worries, Oh and I'm
getting paid.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Yeah, So that allowed me to travel again.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
So you can imagine after I got back from that,
I was like so addicted to traveling and so experienced
at that point of like having gone to a lot
of Asian countries and a lot of Europe at that point.
But then I thought I might as well come back
and like finally finish my degree and get into my
industry that I've been studying. So I did a little
bit of work, and I worked in PR and marketing
and social media in like the music and entertainment industries
(13:25):
because that's obviously my background. So I started working for free,
and then I got my foot in the door with
this really great boutique agency and basically worked my way
up for a few years, and then COVID came, and.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
That really doesn't help in that industry, nor does it
help you thrive traveling or is the singer no, no, no, no,
you're out for the count.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:45):
When they were saying that you felt really like disposable
in multiple industries, I was like, yeah, all the industries,
I feel very disposable.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Yeah, every single one of them.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Yes, So COVID came. It was obviously really tough to
be any of those industries. I stayed on job keeper
with my employer so I could at least continue working.
We didn't have the same type of work obviously, there
weren't any festivals or events or artists touring or anything,
but we did some like online coaching and different things
to keep busy. Yeah, long story short, that kind of
finished up naturally, and I started my own business. And
(14:16):
I also got a bunch of like grant funding around
that time too, which is something I want to talk
to a lot of the musicians about as well, because
that is definitely something that we can harness as artists
and as gigs started to pick up and stuff, that
obviously really helped as well. And there was a lot
of like online gigs and things like that as well
that sustained musicians through COVID which was really helpful. But
(14:37):
then yeah, started my own business, worked my butt off
for quite a while, and I also got this really
amazing job on a feature film, working really hardcore for
about a year on a big Hollywood blockbuster that was
in my area, doing all the social media.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Oh how fancy.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
Yeah that was amazing. Another amazing like bucket list thing
that I didn't see.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Pop up, so cool. Yeah, yeap.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
After that, I was very burnt out, and I went
again to Europe for four months, and that was a
fifteen thousand dollar trip.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
I did all the costs of that too for you go,
and that was.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Again just like hostels and yeah, just like doing overnight
buses and staying with a friend of mine who's over there,
who like I nanned for her child in France for
a little while while I was there for a few weeks,
and that obviously cut out accommodation and everything.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Your life is so much more fun than mine.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
I'm sorry this is a bit long, but like I
feel like they're all kind of stepping stones to the
bits and pieces.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
No, this is the best.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
So then that happened. That was an amazing four months trip.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
And then I got home and I've been yeah, focusing
on you know, music and doing a bunch of like
social media freelancing work, which is now what I mostly do.
And I've also just picked up another thing which is
great as well for artists. I've started doing a bit
of like ndis support work.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Oh, very cool because it is like.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
The most flexible job out there for people who need
like to work during the day because obviously a lot
of musicians used to work in hospitality, but that is
a lot of the time on nights and weekends, so
it's never really worked for me to work in and
so I found this This is like a really great
means to an end.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
It's cool and you get to like enjoy the time.
And I am making a grand assumption having spoken to
you for what the last twenty minutes, that would nourish
you a lot. Having come from like an animal shelter
and been this really empathetic human being, I just feel
like you would love that role.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
It was great.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
I really really enjoy it and it was such a
good year thing to find. That also gets me off
a computer because again that like burnout through a lot
of like my own freelance work.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Alongside this FETA film job was just screens.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
Literally from the moment I work up to the moment
I went to sleep door and that was so draining.
So having this where you're like out and about in
the community and it's very human focused and it's very enriching.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
I really enjoy it.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
It's not like my forever career, but I really love
it as a supplement to all the other things that I.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Do one hundred percent. So now you've started during business,
you're doing six million things. You have the most colorful life.
I love it. I want to ask you about your income,
but I'm real pervy too. You said in your letter
in that you've been long distance with your partner, which
is very very exciting. You want to buy a house
together and clearly settled down. How did you meet your
(17:10):
partner and how did you get away with all of
these massive trips without them?
Speaker 4 (17:15):
We actually met, really cute story. We met on that
trip over in Europe.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I was hoping you would say something like that.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Yes, he was friends with some of the people I
got paired with, So we met in Holland, and yeah,
our story started over there. But he's wonderful and he
because he's in healthcare, he actually prefers to go and
work regionally, so he's like the kind of only one
in town rather than one of many in a city,
even though he's not from Australia. Originally we've been long distance,
mostly within Australia, but he's been in these regional areas
(17:43):
and obviously COVID then did not help because we just
couldn't see each other for like six months at a
time with border closures and stuff. But yeah, so it's
actually allowed me to travel a lot of Australia to
be with him. Often being so regional, it was cheaper
to go somewhere else, like maybe meet in Cambodia or
somewhere else than go to his place. So we've done
a lot of traveling to get and he's very accepting
of my independence and life.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
How good. I was like, how did this work? Because,
like you said, you had a partner. She's pointing at
her engagement ring, which I obviously noticed because low key
it's massive, and so now you're getting married and buying
a house together.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Yeah that's the plan.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
How cute? So tell me. Obviously we know you do
some NDIS support worker stuff. You're obviously a singer, songwriter
and a freelancer in social media. How much money are
you earning for all of this?
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Okay, so it's quite variable obviously because of COVID and
traveling and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
So I broke it down as a singer songwriter.
Speaker 5 (18:37):
I kind of have my day job version of that,
which is like the typical cover gigs where I do
play my original music, but it's like at bars, restaurants,
music venus and stuff. Corporate stuff is quite a big
money earner in that. And then there's the original side,
which is like you know, the artist side of releasing
and grants and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, the
PR marketing social media side is mostly freelance and occasionally
contracts work like within a business, and then they're just
(19:00):
ability is like thirty two dollars an.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Hour roughly casual. So I usually earn between sixty to
one hundred thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Oh that's variable, hey.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Very variable. And that's like twenty twenty one.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Obviously, with COVID it was like fifty five thousand, roughly
half half music and half of my other freelance work.
Twenty one twenty two was one hundred and fifteen thousand.
That was sixty thousand music and then again roughly half half.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
I love that as a singer songwriter, you're earning a
good wage too, like sixty grand to do what you
love like.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
That makes me so happy because so many times people
who you know are in that space, they earn nothing,
and they don't get the I guess credit that they
deserve and all the work that they deserve. And there's
this expectation in that industry that you'll work for free, right,
and it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Yeah, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
I have definitely done my gigs for either free or
like literally silver start somewhere.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
I think that now, diversifying through like the kind of
day job side and and the original artist side is
really important to me.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
And a lot of artists have their own opinions on that.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
But for me, if I'm going to work a day
job anyway, why wouldn't it be playing a gig anyway?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Yeah, and getting some exposure, getting some more experience doing
something you love like.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
I honestly see that as paid practice, And why wouldn't
I just do that?
Speaker 4 (20:15):
You know?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I love it?
Speaker 5 (20:16):
Okay, So twenty two twenty three, I earned just like
around sixty thousand. Almost all that was music, but I
did travel for five months.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Oh yeah, that does get in the way of earning
an income, I've heard.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:27):
And then this year though, I've made about thirty five
thousand in the first four months, which is when I
calculated this, So I'm on track for about ninety.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Thousand this year.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Oh very nice.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Yeah, so that's a bit of a mix of everything. Really.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
That was twenty thousand music, five and a half thousand
of the NDAs work, and then four thousand freelance.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
How good. Such a perfey breakdown as well. Thank you.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
I thought you'd enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I don't love it, you said in your letter in
obviously you're planning to buy a house. You didn't tell
me that you were engaged, though, So tell me a
bit more about these big money goals are we currently
working towards.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
So I've got a fair bit of savings. I've got
about I don't know if you want me to go
into this already, but.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
If you're willing to share what's in your savings account,
we are all listening.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
So I've got about like forty six thousand in savings.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
How are you doing this, you money with it, like
you're doing all these troops, you're earning epic income like
twenty two to twenty three. Oh no, Biggie made sixty grand,
traveled for five months, like you are living the dream.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
Well, I was gonna say in my Best Money Habits section,
but like I honestly just think it's about like working
really really hard when you're home and living really cheaply
and then traveling really cheaply, And that's how I do it. Yeah,
I mean I am obviously lucky when it comes to
loans and things. My partner is a healthcare professional working regionally,
so he and I would be eligible for a higher
ability to get a mortgage.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
I think through his opportunity.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You're probably gonna not have to pay l amine. You
would probably get a mortgage for a ten percent deposit,
which is very sexy.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Yes, that's what we've listening to. Obviously, that's an advantage
from just being with him. Although caveat he was totally
broken and we got together so.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Well, you've got a thing or two to teach it.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
We built that up together, like we've built this up
from the ground up for the last six years. Adore
so there's forty six thousand dollars of savings. I've got
about three thousand dollars kind of in my various other accounts,
and I've got a tax account where I just put
like thirty percent of any invoice that I haven't already
paid tax on.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
It's so smart.
Speaker 5 (22:22):
Through the NDAES, I go through an agency, so they
take tax out already, but everything else I just put
thirty percent away.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Especially in a gig economy, having that account is so
smart because so many of us just forget it or
say we'll do it later. And then tax time comes
and you're like so overwhelmed, so anxious and crippled because
you're like, well, where am I going to get this money?
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Well, and that's the thing.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
I never used to think about it, and so I'd
kind of look at my savings and be like, wow,
I've got all this money. Who And then I'd get
my tax bill and I'd be like, oh, crap, there's
ten thousand dollars taken out already or whatever.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
It is, So well lucky you had it in savings.
So many people don't have it in savings. They just
spend it and then go, oh, oh, now I've got
a tax debt I can't pay, and that just gives
me mad anxiety.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
I think that comes from my upbringing though, like I'm
terrified of living week to week. I live very below
my means, and you know, even all the travel and
stuff is very cheap and thought out. Also, while I
go away, I sustain my whole life at home. So
I have a dog, I have my rent that I'm
still paying, my car, my phone bill, everything still gets
paid for at home, as well as me traveling, so
I'm not like packing up and going and having nothing
(23:23):
at home.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Oh my gosh. So you've got some savings, you're planning
on purchasing a home? Any other big money goals?
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Yes? Just a trip overseas again this year.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
I didn't see that coming from me.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Travele.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Yeah, because it was my thirtieth.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
My partner has actually gifted me the flights, so that's
our thing.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Oh, thank you, sir, What a good present.
Speaker 4 (23:43):
He knows how to win me over, for sure. I
like it.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Maybe you should consider marrying him.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
I think, I say, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Great, let's go to a really quick break on the
flip side. I want to know more about your investments.
Your thoughts on debt and your best and worst money habits.
So don't go anywhere, all right, money diris So we
are back and I want to know your thoughts on investing.
I feel like you've got so much going on at
the moment. So if you said, oh, I haven't thought
(24:12):
about it, I'd be like, yeah, cause you've got six
million things on. But what are your thoughts on investments?
If you're investing already, what in And if you're not investing,
do you have a plan?
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (24:22):
So that's something that I definitely marked myself down on
because I think even my mindset around investing is very
scaredy cat.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
So that's okay, we all start there, I promise.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
Like it really does kind of terrify me to put
my money into something that I could lose. Even buying
a property, it's taken a lot of convincing on my partner's.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Behalf to be like, let's just do it, you know.
So that's something that.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
I don't have a lot of money in, Like I
have my super I don't have a lot of super
And that's another thing I marked myself down on.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
I've only got like eleven thousand.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Sorry, you're in the gig economy.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
Yeah, but I don't pay myself super. That's something that
I need to get into.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Yeah, I was about to say, we probably need to
talk about being self employed and paying ourselves super. But also,
you're not that far behind. Lots of people are in
that circumstance.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Well.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
I also, and don't judge me for this, I got
some bad advice during COVID.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
And I actually did pull out twelve thousand.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
Probably didn't need to at the time, like it would
have probably gone a lot further had I left it in,
but I didn't know any better, so I pulled it
out at the time.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
So that's so fine. I feel like so many of
us did that. And also when you're like no judgment,
I'm like, when have I ever judged people and their
money behaviors? Like if I laid all mine out, you'd
be like, oh, pot calling kettle black, no worries. I
didn't do that, But I've done some money things that
I'm not so proud of. In hindsight, I.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Hadn't started listening to you very much at that point,
I guess. Yeah, so I got that.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
And then I've just got small assets like my car,
my music equipment, which is worth like several thousand dollars
but no heats. And then I've got like little tiny
bits of money. I think I put five hundred dollars
into again crypto when someone told me to, and I
think I've got like one hundred dollars in the chaisias,
And so I don't really put much thought into those things.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Oh see, you are investing, like.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Oh but literally enough yet so not consistently okay.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
But like one hundred dollars in charesis is so much
more than most people who say they're a scaredy cat
about investing. I like that you've taken the first step.
You're on a platform, You're slowly starting to educate yourself.
Those little steps they end up being the big steps,
because even just like getting on a platform, putting your
first dollar in, like it's massive, but like you're on
the way, you'll get there when you're more comfortable.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
It's something than's on my mind for sure.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
And again, listening to all the resources and things that
you put out every week, I definitely feel like I'm
getting more educated and comfortable with it.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
So a doore now question? Do you have any debt?
Speaker 4 (26:37):
No? None, I've never had a credit card.
Speaker 5 (26:38):
I've never had a loan or a personal family loan
or anything like that. So that's something I've just again
been very afraid of. I've never wanted to put myself
in that position.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
And what is your best money habit? I feel like
I know where we're going with this, but I need
to know.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Okay, I hope you don't mind, but I just like
would love to share a few when it comes to
travel and music as well, just a really specific so
I think in general, my best at like op shopping
and secondhand first always. So yeah, I would say ninety
five percent of my closet and things I own a secondhand.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
And I love that, like I love secondhand shopping. I
live in a sharehouse.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
My rent is really really cheap, which means I can
sustain it while I'm away because I don't have the
option of moving home and putting stuff at home or
anything that's not like a liberty of mine. So and
then I also meal prep. I like never eat out
or get takeaway or anything. And I'm just like hustling
all the time, like I'm always just like networking and
keeping an ear out for opportunities and deals and things
like that.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
I've got quite a few for travels.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
So one is like traveling to more affordable countries Eastern Europe, Asia,
like places that are you're going to put your dollars
a lot further. Recently, I really loved signing up for
the newsletters for different companies because that's where you always
find out the best deals.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
So just to like blow your mind a little bit,
like I went to.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Bali last year for a whole week flights, accommodation and
breakfast included, and it was five hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
No, it wasn't. It was No, you're making up what
newsletter is date Jetstar Okay. I was about to say
you cannot gatekeep and be like, oh, just sign up
for newsletters. Hopefully you'll get the deal of a.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Light starle no gatekeeping, all right.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
All right, onwards and upwards? What was your next tip?
Speaker 5 (28:13):
And yeah, saying with that, I went on a cruise
as well for seven hundred and fifty dollars each for
ten days.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Everything included what.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Like it would have been like full food, drink everything.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
Yeah, three course sit down meals like all the four islands, everything,
seven to fifty each.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, Oh my gosh, I've never been on a cruise
as somebody who you've done lots of like traveling, which
I feel like is really independent travel, like you pick
your schedule. What was it like to be on a
cruise ship for ten days? Was it fun?
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I didn't think I would like it.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yeah, See, I feel like i'd feel trapped.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Yeah. I didn't think i'd like it.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
And I thought also I maybe wouldn't be the clientele
on the boat, if you know what I'm saying. I
thought I might be the younger demographic. But I did
actually really enjoy it with my partner, and the people
in the islands were incredible, Like we made very close
connections with some beautiful locals.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
That was really special.
Speaker 5 (28:59):
But my partner and I were actually like even more
excited by at the end of that trip because I
then got to go back on that same cruise again
like four weeks later, because I got asked to sing
with the blues band. No you didn't, Yeah, So we
were like frothing these blues players that were amazing on
the ship and then yeah, I got up and did
a few songs with them, and then they're like, come
back to this cruise in four weeks so, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
So when money diarists, you say, I'm always hustling always,
like even on holidays.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
She hustling, Yeah, she hustling. Okay.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
And then another one is like if you have flexibility,
which obviously I do and I know a lot of
people in like full time don't. But skyscanner, you can
just search flights to anywhere, like it's called like flight
roulette if you want to look up specifically how to
do it.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I do want to look up to that, so thank you.
Speaker 5 (29:43):
So you just basically look in like where you want
to go from and then do anywhere, and it will
show like the cheapest places and which times of year
and all that kind of stuff to go to. That's
always helpful if you literally have no idea, like in
Europe when I had no plan, I would be looking
up like just where's the cheapest place to get to
and I go from there?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Oh how cool? Also really fun.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Yeah, it is pretty fun. You never know where you're
gonna end up. I ended up in.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Morocco, so oh my god.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
That well, okay.
Speaker 5 (30:07):
And then overnight buses when you're traveling are great for
saving on accommodation and travel and also like baggage because
you don't have to pay for extra baggage free walking tours.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
I could not advocate for them enough.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
When you're traveling, I always talk about walking tours, like,
whenever I get to somewhere new, first thing I do
is a walking tour to find my feet and find
what's around, and like, they're always such passionate locals running them.
Speaker 5 (30:29):
And it's a great way to meet people as a
solo traveler too. But also get all the best tips
and tricks for saving money. I always carry a water
bottle when I'm traveling. Saves a heap of money. Staying
in hostels or like couch surfing or whatever was great. Also,
if you're gonna eat out and do a fancy meal,
try and do it at lunch because often you can
get three courses for like twenty dollars or fifteen dollars
or whatever is this in Europe?
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Oh yeah, they have their like lunchtime specials.
Speaker 5 (30:51):
Hey yeah, and at night it would be sixty eight dollars.
So it's so good. You save so much money doing
it then, and then I use shop back on bookings
dot Com.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
I've gotten quite bit of money back.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
Who is shot back I was just going to say again, like,
always have enough money to get out of a pickle,
because safety is the most important thing when you're traveling.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
I really like that you've put that in. Look, it's
really really smart. It's you know, something that a lot
of people say when they're traveling is like, oh, I'm
on a really strict budget, like I don't have an
emergency fund. If you can't afford travel insurance and you
don't have an emergency fund to travel, I genuinely don't
think you're in the position to financially be able to travel.
People don't want to hear that, but I think that
(31:28):
ultimately those are the two things that you need to
kind of have as your hygiene factors, like, yes, I
have access to money to get out of any place
that I don't want to be in, because you never
know where you'll end up. And also travel insurance. If
you don't have that and you're not looking after yourself,
you cannot afford to travel. From my perspective, I agree.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
Actually, another thing that I didn't add in but is
also have a few different cards with a few different
banks as well, because you just have to have them
on you and keep them in different places, maybe one
in the wall that you carry and one in your
bag you know that's locked away, because sometimes you'll get
to places in your combank or whatever just will not
work and you definitely need access.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
And actually recently I've been using Wise.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
It's a really good bank account for traveling, So I'd
recommend that for anyone wanting to travel between currencies as well.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
How cool do you want a job at? She's on
the money, you're always hustling.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
I'll take it. I'll take it because feel like you're.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Full of tips and tricks, Like how good is this?
Speaker 5 (32:20):
That would be fun leaving a podcast interview and then
getting a job yep, sligh okay?
Speaker 4 (32:24):
And just quickly with music, I play solo.
Speaker 5 (32:26):
It's obviously expensive to have a band, so playing solo
is a great way to start if you're wanting to
like start.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
As an artist.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
Now, grants and funding are a massive thing.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
I don't know if you want me to go into
detail later, but like definitely would recommend looking into that
as an artist.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah, totally. I feel like sometimes we forget that these
things are available. What's your favorite website for learning about
grants and funding? If you are a musician.
Speaker 4 (32:47):
There's a few different tiers of them.
Speaker 5 (32:49):
So first of all, look at your local city council
arts sector and then look at the state organizations. In
Queensland it's Key Music or Arts Queensland Music. New South
Wales is in New South Wales Music Victoria. I don't
know what the other states, but there'll be one as
well as there's national ones as well, so like Creative
Australia or Australian Arts Council. I think they're the same
thing now. So there's HEAPS and APRA, AMCOSS, Support Act, ABC,
(33:11):
Triple J. They offer things too, so all of those
are different, like funding bodies that you can find different
like yeah, grants, competitions, all sorts of things.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, how cool. Oh my gosh, all right, do you
even have a bad money habit to share heaps? Oh no,
all right, let's go.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
So I would say shopping when I'm overseas and baggage
fees are bad. Not being organized with tax every year
is my biggest gripe for sure. And I would say
that something that's really changed for me is like a
working with a tax accountant that specializes in entertainment and
gig economy because that actually saved me about twenty thousand
dollars in tax last financial year because they did a
tax averaging scheme with me, yes, which is really great
(33:50):
for people in the gig economy, and that means that
you can, like you know, not work for a year
and earn a million dollars the next year and they
average out over the two years, rather than you being
charged all that tax in one year one hundred and
then putting your thirty percent of every invoice into my
tax account.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
I never used to do that, and it was just
like a shock.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
But now you are. That's not a bad habit, it's
a bad habit that you solved.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
So yeah, tax is still my thing that annoys me.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
Also, probably the biggest thing is being scared to invest
and also just like not paying myself souper and not
putting into things that are going to set me up
for success in the future. And that's where my partner
has been very good for like being like, let's just
buy the house, like it's not going to go downhill
from there, like let's do it.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I like his mindset. I think it's really good.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Yeah, he's good.
Speaker 5 (34:28):
He balances me well in saying that being in a
long distance relationship is also probably a bad money habit
because that was an expensive venture too.
Speaker 6 (34:34):
You're about to change that though, You're about to buy
a house together. Will work out how that works. Yeah,
you're finally settling down. I can see the ring on
your finger, Like life is maybe about to get a
little less hectic.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
Little less.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
At the start of the show, you said to me,
I'm a C plus and I was like, oh, okay,
no worries. But then you told this beautiful story of like, oh,
I grew up in a really low socioeconomic household, Like
I've always been really independent, like you are basically the
Queen of travel. Like I cannot believe how cheaply you
are doing it and really enjoying it still, because I
(35:07):
feel like sometimes when people say, yeah, it was really cheap,
but I wish I'd spend a bit more, like it
didn't have the best time, Like that's not you at all.
You've got all these tips and tricks, Like I've never
met anyone on a money diary who's like, all right,
sit down, like his rollercoaster of really good tips and
tricks that I want to implement all of them. You
still have like forty six thousand dollars in savings. You
(35:29):
guys are going to buy a house this year, Like
you've lived on a variable income. Like, I know you
said that tax was your downfall, but it sounds like
it's actually not anymore because you have a really good
tax accountant and you have a whole account to deal
with tax. Now moving forward, do you really think that
you're a C plus?
Speaker 5 (35:48):
Like, again, I'm proud of where I came from and
how like hard it was growing up with money and
the mindset shifts I've made, But I still feel like
there's yeah, a lot of like future building I want
to do, and I think probably the biggest thing is
like setting up more in come streams that I can
use when I'm away as well as when I'm home hustling,
because that's something that kind of lets me down every
year is if I want to travel, I'm not working
(36:08):
for like four months and that's yeah, that obviously really
affecting my income. So I think that still needs to
be done, and setting myself up with those investments would
definitely help me feel like I'm more confident as like
a maybe a B minus.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
I don't know, Yeah, Okay, I.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Was like, maybe be a little bit kinder. The C
plus doesn't feel that reflective. You're like, I've never had
any debt, Like I don't have any, Like this mortgage
will be the first thing, but that's like good debt.
I don't know. I feel like you need to go
home and have a good hard think, my friend, because
you're being quite harsher on yourself. But that is okay.
I feel like it's good to have it pointed out sometimes.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Unfortunately, ah, sadly, this is all we have time for today.
But oh my gosh, this has been so fun chatting
to you. I feel like, obviously I'm not going to
be able to go on a big overseas euro trip
anytime soon, but you've motivated me to want to, and
I think that that's either a good or a bad thing.
Not sure.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
Looking for the deals now that's the way to do it,
that's all right.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
My husband and I have every intention of taking our
baby overseas at like four months and making that work.
Everyone thinks that we're insane, but I'm like, Yollo, this
will be fine. We will get there. But oh my gosh,
this has been such a fun money. I really appreciate
you sharing so much with the community, and I know
that they're going to love you and your story just
as much as I have.
Speaker 4 (37:22):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
I hope it motivates people who are in a different
way of living, you know, really based on flexibility and
the arts and travel and things like that, to not
feel hopeless and to know that there's things that you
can implement to still keep up with everybody else and
do what you love because there are ways of keeping
your values intact and also doing doing kind of what
you need to do to stay independent and flourishing.
Speaker 4 (37:42):
So yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
I'm obsessed. Of course.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
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 (38:12):
Advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 7 (38:14):
Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
of Money SHERPA pty Ltd a BN three two one
six four nine, two seven seven zero eight AFSL four five,
one two eight nine
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