September 21, 2025 • 25 mins
Money troubles can feel deeply personal and embarrassing, but the truth is that financial struggles are incredibly common, even among people who seem to have everything together. Drawing from my own journey of overcoming massive credit card debt and building substantial savings (which recently helped my family weather a season of reduced income), I'm breaking down the steps that transformed my relationship with money.
Financial recovery begins with brutal honesty. We dive deep into how to track every dollar spent, categorise your expenses and get crystal clear about where your money is actually going versus where you think it's going. This transparency often reveals surprising spending patterns you've never noticed before. The second vital step involves building a financial safety net before aggressively tackling debt. I explain why having even a small emergency fund is psychologically crucial for breaking the debt cycle and why high-interest debt should be your priority target once that safety net is established.
Perhaps most importantly, we explore how to cut expenses without feeling deprived. Using my practical 4D Filter (Delete, Delegate, Delay, or Do Differently), you'll learn how to evaluate each expense in your budget and find creative alternatives that still allow you to enjoy life while moving toward financial freedom. For instance, we discuss how my family still enjoys weekly pizza nights, just with a budget-friendly twist that saves us hundreds annually.
Whether you're struggling with overwhelming debt or simply wanting to optimize your financial health, these practical strategies work because they address both the numbers and the mindset behind money management. Ready to transform your financial future? The journey starts with a single step and today's episode gives you the roadmap for every step that follows.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mel (00:18):
Welcome to Beyond Organised , the podcast that helps you
simplify your life and amplifyyour purpose.
I'm Mel Schenker, life coach,speaker, founder of She's
Organised and, more importantly,a wife and mom of four little
kids.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed, like you're constantly
juggling everything but neverquite catching up, this is the
place for you.
Here we go beyond just thetidying up and creating systems.
(00:42):
We're talking about real lifestrategies that bring order to
your life, but also we talkabout the things beyond the
organising, the things thatreally matter, like the
parenting relationships and somuch more.
So grab your coffee and let'sdive in.
This episode, I want to talkabout finances and getting your
(01:04):
finances in order Now.
I will just give you a quickdisclaimer.
I am not a financial advisorand nothing in this episode is
financial advice, so pleasespeak to a qualified
professional for tailored adviceto do with your situation.
This is simply what has workedfor me and what I share with
(01:26):
clients, and it's just givingyou a starting point when it
comes to budgeting.
So how do we get your financesin order Now?
You may have heard recently, ina previous episode, been
talking about my business andhow, financially, things are
(01:47):
pretty tough right now.
We've eaten through all oursavings and we're starting to
build it up again.
And, as much as I hate nothaving a buffer, I've been in a
position where I had the massivecredit card debts I had really
bad money management and wecleared all of them and we built
(02:10):
our emergency funds and savingsand all that stuff.
And we've done that before.
I know I can do it again andit's happening.
We're moving forward again.
It's just I knew that theseason that I was in with not
working with the baby, startinga business, all of that that we
would be going backwards and itwas all planned.
Unfortunately, it was plannedto go backwards but that's why
(02:34):
we had the savings there and westill got through it and we
still did everything we needed.
And there's just no way I couldhave even started this business
let alone get through and havetime off with my baby and that
if I wasn't good with managingmoney.
So I've helped a number ofwomen now with their budgets and
(02:54):
getting forward.
I know it's incredibly personaland it can be really attached to
someone's identity and valuewhen it comes to money and how
they manage money.
And I just want to start bysaying if you're not great at
managing money.
You're really not alone.
There is so many people outthere that look like they've got
(03:19):
their life together and are sobad with managing their money.
And there's others that mightbe driving the old car and
having really cheap meals, nevereat out, all that kind of stuff
that you think are doing reallypoorly and they're actually
doing really well with money.
So you just don't know.
You don't know, looking atsomeone really, where their
(03:42):
finances are at, and it is apretty personal thing.
But I want to, I guess, talkabout it today and make it not
so taboo, and there is plenty ofgreat experts and stuff out
there that can help with thesethings.
But I'm really just going toput it in a nutshell the things
that I find the most helpful toget you learning and moving
(04:06):
forward with your money.
Now there's three key areas thatI'm going to cover here.
So the first one is know whereyou're really at, to get a full
view of your finances.
Two is building a safety net.
And three is cut back the smartway.
So if we go through the firstpart knowing where you're really
(04:29):
at this one was hard for mewhen I first started out with
finances, as I've mentioned.
I think even in the firstepisode or two it was because of
money that really got me intothe organizing side of things.
To begin with, I wanted tolearn how to manage money better
and it took years to finallyget on top of our money and to
(04:53):
clear credit cards and debt andto finally be free.
In that sense.
It took a very long time, butwe also were not looking too
good and it wasn't anything thatmy husband did, it was pretty
much all me.
It was me not knowing how tomanage money very well, making
poor choices, impulse spending,all of that kind of stuff, and
(05:15):
we've had some very difficultconversations over those early
years because I was the problem,I was the main problem, and I
also want to encourage a lot ofyou.
You are with partners who arethe problem.
You are the ones that arepretty good at saving or doing
things well with money, but youmight have partners that really
(05:37):
struggle with impulse spendingor anything like that, and I
want to encourage you, assomeone who was that person,
that they can change.
They really can.
They have to want it, but it ispossible, and I did like a full
180, completely different whenit comes to money.
Now I still have my momentswhen I impulse, buy or things
(05:58):
like that and, you know, snapback into reality.
But it is possible to changeand no matter where you're at or
your partner or anything likethat, it is possible.
So the first point is know whereyou're at, so don't bury your
head in the sand.
Know your numbers, share whereyou're at with your partner as
(06:22):
well.
So if you're married, it isgood to really be transparent,
have joint accounts, things likethat.
But I know a lot of you do haveyour own separate accounts and
it's really up to you how youwant to manage your money.
I do think it's better inrelationship to have joint
accounts, but even then, myhusband and I we still have our
own individual account that weput our own discretionary money
(06:45):
into that I can spend onwhatever I want and he can spend
on whatever he wants.
It's a very small allocationeach week, but it is still ours
and we can do what we like andI've gotten better at not
spending it each week andactually saving up for some
bigger things which I could tellyou I would never have had a
cent left at the end of the week.
(07:05):
I used to be that bad.
But anyway, it is possible, nomatter how bad your numbers look
right now, to get out of thebad situation, and if your
numbers are looking good, thengreat, we can make it look even
better.
But I encourage you to go backthrough your bank statements,
credit card statements, whereveryou spend money even buy now,
(07:29):
pay later all that kind of stuffGo through at least the last
three months and have a look atevery single expense that you've
got Now.
You could break it up into anumber of different ways.
You could have, like a fixedexpense category, variable
expense category.
So the fixed you might haveyour rent or mortgage,
(07:51):
insurances and subscriptions oranything like that, and then the
variable category might havegroceries, utilities, petrols,
things that can change frommonth to month, and you can list
it all out that way.
So then you kind of know thethings that you can either
reduce or you might have to cutout completely, depending on
whether it's fixed or variable.
I have some categories.
(08:13):
I may have touched on this in aprevious episode.
I'm struggling to remember now,but some of the main categories
I include are housing and bills.
Some of the main categories Iinclude are housing and bills,
education, food, health,lifestyle, transport,
professional fees, that's allyour loans and credit cards and
(08:34):
stuff which thankfully I don'thave a lot in that category and
gifts and donations.
So they're sort of my maincategories for everything.
So you can categorize like thatand have subcategories, which I
also do.
So like under food, for example, I've got groceries, takeaway
supplements and any like healththings like that I've got
actually under the food categorybecause if I'm having like a
(08:55):
meal replacement, it's kind oflike the food rather than a
health thing.
So it's really up to you howyou categorize and do everything
.
But it is important to trackevery cent.
So even that $4 coffee that youbought one day when you were
out at a place that you don'tnormally go to but you were just
there for that day still trackit down.
(09:18):
So I have a spreadsheet that Ihave from Smart Women Society
and it is fantastic theirultimate wealth dashboard, I
think it's called so good valueand you get so much out of it.
I'm not an affiliate oranything like that.
I really just love theirspreadsheet.
(09:38):
It is comprehensive but supersimple and easy to use and
they've got categories alreadyin there so you could use that
if you wanted to.
I have found to be reallyhelpful, particularly for those
that are starting out and reallyneed to have a clear overview
of what you're spending, becauseyou can set your budget, but
(09:58):
you can also see what you areactually spending against that
budget as well, and prettygraphs and all that kind of
stuff as well.
So I would encourage you to getruthless, get real with your
numbers and not leave anythingout.
Be really clear, and then youcan see an average of what
you're spending on things, andyou might be spending money on
(10:19):
something that you hadn't evenaccounted for, but when you look
at it you go well, actually itis something I need for my
mental health or whatever it is,and you don't want to cut it
out, and that's totally fine.
But then there might be otherthings.
You're like I actually probablydon't need that, that doesn't
serve me, I don't care enoughabout it, I'm happy to let that
go, and that's fine too.
(10:40):
So we'll get to that part lateranyway.
But the next part is building asafety net.
So do that before you starttackling any debt.
So you need to work out howmuch money you've got coming in.
So, whether it's from your job,from dividends, from investment
properties and otherinvestments, any government
(11:04):
payments, whatever it is.
Work out your income, all themoney coming in, and then you
also need to work out all yourdebts, all your liabilities and
all your ongoing expenses,things working out which we
started to cover some of thoseexpenses with your food and
health and all that kind ofstuff previously.
So you really need to get aclear view of money coming in,
(11:24):
money coming out, but the numberone thing you need to do is to
stop adding to your debt.
So from now on, we need to avoidusing credit cards unless
you're paying for them in fullevery month and you're really
getting that value out of it.
Paying for them in full everymonth and you're really getting
(11:45):
that value out of it.
Credit cards are not really agreat thing to have.
So I know some people.
They are really disciplinedwith the credit cards and
they're paying it off full everymonth and they're really
maximizing the points and thebenefits.
That's fine if it's you, but ifthat's not, you then don't have
a credit card.
I knew that, in theory, what Ineeded to do, but then one month
this is many years ago then onemonth, life got a bit hard and
(12:08):
we couldn't pay it in full thatmonth and then the next month
and the next month and it gotharder and harder to keep on top
of and it was really, reallystressful and I just didn't want
it.
I did not want it anymore andso I needed to stop adding to
that debt, and I did.
Now people say, cut it up, allthat kind of stuff.
I didn't feel comfortablecutting it up to begin with.
(12:29):
I was scared, but I put it in adrawer and hid it.
It was not in my wallet, it didnot come out at the shops or
anything like that.
I did not use it anymore.
I put a stop to it.
So a lot of the time you cantoggle things off online.
Now you can switch it off, sortof lock it or things like that.
(12:50):
So do that.
Stop it from being used.
Ideally, cancel it if you can.
It can be really scary nothaving it to begin with, but it
is important.
It is important to stop addingto this debt.
But before you start paying offthat debt, before you even start
paying off that credit card,now put in the minimum, put in
(13:12):
what you need to.
You do not want to wreck yourratings and scores and have debt
collectors on your tail.
Put in what you need to, butbefore doing any more than that,
build up your emergency buffer,your emergency rainy day fund,
whatever you call it.
Build that up and kind of likewith Dave Ramsey with his baby
(13:34):
steps he talks about a lot ofthese.
It's a pretty good method, buthave a one to two K buffer in
there to begin with with, andonce you've got enough in there
that you're comfortable, if thecar breaks down or something
goes wrong and unexpected, youcan cover it without having to
use a debt for it, then afterthat you can start paying down
your debt.
(13:55):
And you might as well startclearing your debt before you
build any more savings.
Just because generally theinterest rates on credit cards
could be 20%, some more, someless.
Loans can be pretty high all ofthat as well and generally it's
a lot higher than anything youwould get from a savings account
or from offsetting a mortgageor anything like that.
(14:17):
So we want to try and clear thedebt first, because it's
costing you more than anythingyou can potentially save, and
then, once you start doing that,we want to obviously clear down
the debt and continue to buildup your savings, and then we
move from the savings intoinvestments down the track after
all, because just keeping yourmoney in the bank you're still
(14:39):
losing in the long run.
So you do need to look atinvestments and all that down
the track too, which that can bea whole nother rabbit hole in
learning if you are not toofamiliar with it, but definitely
worth you learning once you'reat that stage.
So I know that you're probablythinking, oh but Mal, you're not
(15:00):
even in a very good financialposition right now.
And yeah, that's true.
But could you imagine how muchworse I would have been if I
didn't have any savings at all?
I would have needed to take outloans and debt.
I honestly I could not havestarted this business.
But I also know my family'slife would have had to have
(15:22):
drastically changed for me toget through that season.
That even now that season isdone and over and I'm back to
work and things are moving on,that still would have impacted
them now, like I would have hadto pull the kids out of school
and all this kind of stuff.
That that has a long-termimpact.
So I'm glad that we had thesavings there.
That was the whole point, andit took a long time to have that
(15:45):
and be able to use it.
But we did.
Now hopefully we can build itback up again and I know that.
I know the plan, I know thesteps, done it before we can do
it again and we can slowly buildit up and move forward from
there.
So the third one is cut back,but the smart way.
You don't want to feel deprived.
You don't want to cut out allthe things that actually mean
(16:08):
something to you and make youhappy as well, like, yes, you've
got to pay bills and you've gotto cover the things that are
necessary to keep a roof overyour head and all of that.
First, that's important, butyou also want to have some
luxuries in there for you.
But you need to work out whatthat is and stick to the don't
go.
Oh, having a coffee is reallyimportant to me every day on the
(16:29):
way to work, but then I alsowant to go out on a Friday night
and I want to do this and havethat, and then, before you
realize it, you've spenthundreds of dollars every week
on things for yourself.
You have to be careful.
If you're not in a position tobe doing that right now because
you need to get aheadfinancially, then you really
need to be picking one or twocost-effective things that you
(16:53):
can still have.
That's still important to you.
Maybe you can keep that coffeein, but maybe we don't go out
every Friday night or buy thosethings online the moment we see
it.
There are many ways to be ableto overcome that.
So we need to look at yourspending and ask where am I
overspending, without evenrealizing the things that my
(17:15):
money is going towards?
That I didn't even notice,because maybe it's just a few
dollars here or there, but it'sreally added up across the month
.
And that $3 here, $5 there.
All of a sudden I'm hundreds ofdollars down at the end of the
month and I just didn't realizeit was making such a big impact.
And look at what's not servingyou and that you're happy to let
(17:37):
go of.
So I mentioned that at thestart.
So what?
What is actually in there?
Maybe you're subscribed tosomething like a tv subscription
thing and you only use it oncea month and you're like well,
actually I could probably letthat go.
And you only use it once amonth and you're like well,
actually I could probably letthat go, and if I use it more
down the track then I'll take itup then.
So look what you're happy tolet go of.
(17:58):
But also I have the 4D filteryou would have heard me say it
plenty of times and you can usethat for your expenses as well.
So the first day is delete.
So is there anything you canremove completely from this
budget moving forward thatyou're happy to let go of?
But there's possibly also a fewthings that you might be a bit
(18:20):
reluctant to.
But you know you need to to getout of this season.
Then delete.
Second one is delegate.
Now that is going to be trickyfor some people, but there might
be some of you that've gotadult children still living at
home, got a partner who's maybenot contributing fairly it
(18:42):
doesn't need to be equal, butfairly to some of the expenses
if you keep them separate.
So is there someone else thatcan pay or share the cost?
But also, are there vouchersout there?
Are there incentives orgovernment schemes or anything
like that that help pay forcertain things you're just not
(19:04):
aware of that you're entitled to.
So delegate, see if someoneelse can pick up some of this
cost.
The third one is delay.
Now, as much as we would alllove to have the subscriptions
to everything and the luxurylifestyle and all of that.
If you are trying to get out ofdebt and you're trying to move
forward and build up somesavings, there's some things
(19:27):
you're going to need to put offfor now.
It doesn't mean it's forever.
It might mean waiting untilyour kids move out.
It might just mean waitinguntil you go back to work after
having your baby and finishingmaternity leave.
It could be any number ofthings and it could be a short
wait, it could be a long wait,but look at what is adding to
(19:48):
the pressure in the season andwhat can be pushed back, and you
can wait for another time tohelp free up funds for now.
And then the fourth one is dodifferently.
So is there a cheaper orsmarter way to go about things
Now for me?
My kids love pizza.
I would eat it every night ifthey could, if I allowed them.
(20:10):
Kids love pizza.
I would eat it every night ifthey could, if I allowed them.
But we have only bought propertakeaway pizza once this year
and that was for an actualbirthday event which costs an
arm and a leg when you've got 20other people over.
But my kids love pizza and theywill have it at least every
fortnight, sometimes weekly.
But we have the frozen pizzasfrom Woolies, which is the shop
(20:32):
here in Australia.
It's cheap stuff.
I don't particularly like thetaste of it but the kids love it
and it's a fraction of the costof buying freshly made pizza
from a pizza shop.
So there are different ways youcan go about still being able
to have pizza than finding acheaper version.
Or one that I love is gettingthe wraps and you get your
(20:56):
tomato paste and you get all theingredients and stuff and you
chuck it all in there and youput it in the oven and you're
like they're very thin,obviously, on a wrap, but that
can be super cheap and a lot offun too.
So there's different ways to dothe same thing or a similar
thing that gets you through forthe season, and it could be a
matter of even meal prepping inadvance, so you're not resorting
(21:20):
to takeaway on those nightswhen you've worked later.
Things are a bit out of control.
You need a meal quickly and allthat kind of stuff.
So see what you can do.
That can help free up some ofthese expenses, but you still
don't necessarily miss out onlife.
Now I know that I've had to gothrough the budget lately and
(21:43):
really pair things back here andwe are having a lot more beans
and rice than normal.
But the funny thing is my kidslove it because I make the chili
con carne and they will eat itevery single night if I can.
My husband is over it.
He does not like it.
I don't mind it, but the kidslove it and they think that they
(22:08):
are getting the meal that theywant.
But the kids love it and theythink that they are getting the
meal that they want and reallyit's just a real budget-friendly
meal at the moment.
And so you might even look atthings and go, okay, my kids
really love spaghetti or theylove these things.
And yes, it might not be thehealthiest option right now, but
(22:29):
you also need to weigh up thebalance of what they'll eat a
bit of the health side of things, but also the budget.
And if it can mean gettingthrough and out of this season
so you can then afford to havebetter meals down the track,
then just see it as this seasonthis time.
It's not a forever thing, butit gets you through.
(22:52):
You do what you got to do.
You might even just add a saladto the side or make a few
tweaks and adjustments to stillmake it as healthy as possible.
But there is ways to eathealthy and on a budget, there's
ways to be entertained on abudget.
There's ways to go abouteducation, housing, clothing,
(23:16):
all these kind of things on agood budget.
And when you're on a budget, itdoesn't necessarily mean that
you're poor or you've got nomoney.
People that are wealthy have abudget of some sort.
In fact, the people that arewealthy are usually the ones
that started with nothing and,through smart choices with their
money, built their way towealth.
(23:38):
But they know that a budget'simportant.
You need to know what's comingin and what's going out, and
that's pretty much the crux ofit.
So I hope that some of thesetips and ideas have helped you
get started.
And even if you know all ofthese things, it's more
reminding you that today isprobably a good time to get
(23:59):
started and review and moveforward with the budget again if
you have put that off for awhile.
But if you do need someone totalk to, you need maybe a bit of
help going through your budget.
Anything like that more thanwelcome to book in a session
with me.
Links are in the description.
I've also got a number ofresources and mini courses in
(24:21):
that on budgeting and thingslike that inside the she's
Organized hub.
The details again are in thedescription for you and, yeah,
there is so much in there thatcan help you moving forward as
well, even to suit your currentfinancial situation.
It is pretty well pricedconsidering the things you're
(24:41):
going to learn, and you will endup saving a lot more money than
what it's costing you to be inthere.
So that is also another thingto check out.
But if you need anything morefrom me, you can reach me by
email.
You can send a text.
The link is in the description.
Everything is always in thedescription.
I'm always saying to go to thedescription, but if you've got
(25:05):
questions and you have aspecific question you'd like to
have on the show, please reachout and I'm more than happy to
help you and have your questionson here and answer your
questions as well.
If you have anything more thatyou want to know on finances
moving forward, I'm more thanhappy to create more episodes
helping you with the financialpillar of living a more balanced
(25:27):
life.
If you loved this episode,don't forget to hit subscribe so
you don't miss what's comingnext.
And if you want to continue theconversation, you can connect
with me on Instagram at @shes.
organised, or for some freeresources, head over to
beyondorganised.
com/ toolkit.
Remember, organising is a toolto live the purposeful life
(25:47):
beyond it.
See you next time.
Welcome to Beyond Organised , the podcast that helps you
simplify your life and amplifyyour purpose.
I'm Mel Schenker, life coach,speaker, founder of She's
Organised and, more importantly,a wife and mom of four little
kids.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed, like you're constantly
juggling everything but neverquite catching up, this is the
place for you.
Here we go beyond just thetidying up and creating systems.
(00:42):
We're talking about real lifestrategies that bring order to
your life, but also we talkabout the things beyond the
organising, the things thatreally matter, like the
parenting relationships and somuch more.
So grab your coffee and let'sdive in.
This episode, I want to talkabout finances and getting your
(01:04):
finances in order Now.
I will just give you a quickdisclaimer.
I am not a financial advisorand nothing in this episode is
financial advice, so pleasespeak to a qualified
professional for tailored adviceto do with your situation.
This is simply what has workedfor me and what I share with
(01:26):
clients, and it's just givingyou a starting point when it
comes to budgeting.
So how do we get your financesin order Now?
You may have heard recently, ina previous episode, been
talking about my business andhow, financially, things are
(01:47):
pretty tough right now.
We've eaten through all oursavings and we're starting to
build it up again.
And, as much as I hate nothaving a buffer, I've been in a
position where I had the massivecredit card debts I had really
bad money management and wecleared all of them and we built
(02:10):
our emergency funds and savingsand all that stuff.
And we've done that before.
I know I can do it again andit's happening.
We're moving forward again.
It's just I knew that theseason that I was in with not
working with the baby, startinga business, all of that that we
would be going backwards and itwas all planned.
Unfortunately, it was plannedto go backwards but that's why
(02:34):
we had the savings there and westill got through it and we
still did everything we needed.
And there's just no way I couldhave even started this business
let alone get through and havetime off with my baby and that
if I wasn't good with managingmoney.
So I've helped a number ofwomen now with their budgets and
(02:54):
getting forward.
I know it's incredibly personaland it can be really attached to
someone's identity and valuewhen it comes to money and how
they manage money.
And I just want to start bysaying if you're not great at
managing money.
You're really not alone.
There is so many people outthere that look like they've got
(03:19):
their life together and are sobad with managing their money.
And there's others that mightbe driving the old car and
having really cheap meals, nevereat out, all that kind of stuff
that you think are doing reallypoorly and they're actually
doing really well with money.
So you just don't know.
You don't know, looking atsomeone really, where their
(03:42):
finances are at, and it is apretty personal thing.
But I want to, I guess, talkabout it today and make it not
so taboo, and there is plenty ofgreat experts and stuff out
there that can help with thesethings.
But I'm really just going toput it in a nutshell the things
that I find the most helpful toget you learning and moving
(04:06):
forward with your money.
Now there's three key areas thatI'm going to cover here.
So the first one is know whereyou're really at, to get a full
view of your finances.
Two is building a safety net.
And three is cut back the smartway.
So if we go through the firstpart knowing where you're really
(04:29):
at this one was hard for mewhen I first started out with
finances, as I've mentioned.
I think even in the firstepisode or two it was because of
money that really got me intothe organizing side of things.
To begin with, I wanted tolearn how to manage money better
and it took years to finallyget on top of our money and to
(04:53):
clear credit cards and debt andto finally be free.
In that sense.
It took a very long time, butwe also were not looking too
good and it wasn't anything thatmy husband did, it was pretty
much all me.
It was me not knowing how tomanage money very well, making
poor choices, impulse spending,all of that kind of stuff, and
(05:15):
we've had some very difficultconversations over those early
years because I was the problem,I was the main problem, and I
also want to encourage a lot ofyou.
You are with partners who arethe problem.
You are the ones that arepretty good at saving or doing
things well with money, but youmight have partners that really
(05:37):
struggle with impulse spendingor anything like that, and I
want to encourage you, assomeone who was that person,
that they can change.
They really can.
They have to want it, but it ispossible, and I did like a full
180, completely different whenit comes to money.
Now I still have my momentswhen I impulse, buy or things
(05:58):
like that and, you know, snapback into reality.
But it is possible to changeand no matter where you're at or
your partner or anything likethat, it is possible.
So the first point is know whereyou're at, so don't bury your
head in the sand.
Know your numbers, share whereyou're at with your partner as
(06:22):
well.
So if you're married, it isgood to really be transparent,
have joint accounts, things likethat.
But I know a lot of you do haveyour own separate accounts and
it's really up to you how youwant to manage your money.
I do think it's better inrelationship to have joint
accounts, but even then, myhusband and I we still have our
own individual account that weput our own discretionary money
(06:45):
into that I can spend onwhatever I want and he can spend
on whatever he wants.
It's a very small allocationeach week, but it is still ours
and we can do what we like andI've gotten better at not
spending it each week andactually saving up for some
bigger things which I could tellyou I would never have had a
cent left at the end of the week.
(07:05):
I used to be that bad.
But anyway, it is possible, nomatter how bad your numbers look
right now, to get out of thebad situation, and if your
numbers are looking good, thengreat, we can make it look even
better.
But I encourage you to go backthrough your bank statements,
credit card statements, whereveryou spend money even buy now,
(07:29):
pay later all that kind of stuffGo through at least the last
three months and have a look atevery single expense that you've
got Now.
You could break it up into anumber of different ways.
You could have, like a fixedexpense category, variable
expense category.
So the fixed you might haveyour rent or mortgage,
(07:51):
insurances and subscriptions oranything like that, and then the
variable category might havegroceries, utilities, petrols,
things that can change frommonth to month, and you can list
it all out that way.
So then you kind of know thethings that you can either
reduce or you might have to cutout completely, depending on
whether it's fixed or variable.
I have some categories.
(08:13):
I may have touched on this in aprevious episode.
I'm struggling to remember now,but some of the main categories
I include are housing and bills.
Some of the main categories Iinclude are housing and bills,
education, food, health,lifestyle, transport,
professional fees, that's allyour loans and credit cards and
(08:34):
stuff which thankfully I don'thave a lot in that category and
gifts and donations.
So they're sort of my maincategories for everything.
So you can categorize like thatand have subcategories, which I
also do.
So like under food, for example, I've got groceries, takeaway
supplements and any like healththings like that I've got
actually under the food categorybecause if I'm having like a
(08:55):
meal replacement, it's kind oflike the food rather than a
health thing.
So it's really up to you howyou categorize and do everything
.
But it is important to trackevery cent.
So even that $4 coffee that youbought one day when you were
out at a place that you don'tnormally go to but you were just
there for that day still trackit down.
(09:18):
So I have a spreadsheet that Ihave from Smart Women Society
and it is fantastic theirultimate wealth dashboard, I
think it's called so good valueand you get so much out of it.
I'm not an affiliate oranything like that.
I really just love theirspreadsheet.
(09:38):
It is comprehensive but supersimple and easy to use and
they've got categories alreadyin there so you could use that
if you wanted to.
I have found to be reallyhelpful, particularly for those
that are starting out and reallyneed to have a clear overview
of what you're spending, becauseyou can set your budget, but
(09:58):
you can also see what you areactually spending against that
budget as well, and prettygraphs and all that kind of
stuff as well.
So I would encourage you to getruthless, get real with your
numbers and not leave anythingout.
Be really clear, and then youcan see an average of what
you're spending on things, andyou might be spending money on
(10:19):
something that you hadn't evenaccounted for, but when you look
at it you go well, actually itis something I need for my
mental health or whatever it is,and you don't want to cut it
out, and that's totally fine.
But then there might be otherthings.
You're like I actually probablydon't need that, that doesn't
serve me, I don't care enoughabout it, I'm happy to let that
go, and that's fine too.
(10:40):
So we'll get to that part lateranyway.
But the next part is building asafety net.
So do that before you starttackling any debt.
So you need to work out howmuch money you've got coming in.
So, whether it's from your job,from dividends, from investment
properties and otherinvestments, any government
(11:04):
payments, whatever it is.
Work out your income, all themoney coming in, and then you
also need to work out all yourdebts, all your liabilities and
all your ongoing expenses,things working out which we
started to cover some of thoseexpenses with your food and
health and all that kind ofstuff previously.
So you really need to get aclear view of money coming in,
(11:24):
money coming out, but the numberone thing you need to do is to
stop adding to your debt.
So from now on, we need to avoidusing credit cards unless
you're paying for them in fullevery month and you're really
getting that value out of it.
Paying for them in full everymonth and you're really getting
(11:45):
that value out of it.
Credit cards are not really agreat thing to have.
So I know some people.
They are really disciplinedwith the credit cards and
they're paying it off full everymonth and they're really
maximizing the points and thebenefits.
That's fine if it's you, but ifthat's not, you then don't have
a credit card.
I knew that, in theory, what Ineeded to do, but then one month
this is many years ago then onemonth, life got a bit hard and
(12:08):
we couldn't pay it in full thatmonth and then the next month
and the next month and it gotharder and harder to keep on top
of and it was really, reallystressful and I just didn't want
it.
I did not want it anymore andso I needed to stop adding to
that debt, and I did.
Now people say, cut it up, allthat kind of stuff.
I didn't feel comfortablecutting it up to begin with.
(12:29):
I was scared, but I put it in adrawer and hid it.
It was not in my wallet, it didnot come out at the shops or
anything like that.
I did not use it anymore.
I put a stop to it.
So a lot of the time you cantoggle things off online.
Now you can switch it off, sortof lock it or things like that.
(12:50):
So do that.
Stop it from being used.
Ideally, cancel it if you can.
It can be really scary nothaving it to begin with, but it
is important.
It is important to stop addingto this debt.
But before you start paying offthat debt, before you even start
paying off that credit card,now put in the minimum, put in
(13:12):
what you need to.
You do not want to wreck yourratings and scores and have debt
collectors on your tail.
Put in what you need to, butbefore doing any more than that,
build up your emergency buffer,your emergency rainy day fund,
whatever you call it.
Build that up and kind of likewith Dave Ramsey with his baby
(13:34):
steps he talks about a lot ofthese.
It's a pretty good method, buthave a one to two K buffer in
there to begin with with, andonce you've got enough in there
that you're comfortable, if thecar breaks down or something
goes wrong and unexpected, youcan cover it without having to
use a debt for it, then afterthat you can start paying down
your debt.
(13:55):
And you might as well startclearing your debt before you
build any more savings.
Just because generally theinterest rates on credit cards
could be 20%, some more, someless.
Loans can be pretty high all ofthat as well and generally it's
a lot higher than anything youwould get from a savings account
or from offsetting a mortgageor anything like that.
(14:17):
So we want to try and clear thedebt first, because it's
costing you more than anythingyou can potentially save, and
then, once you start doing that,we want to obviously clear down
the debt and continue to buildup your savings, and then we
move from the savings intoinvestments down the track after
all, because just keeping yourmoney in the bank you're still
(14:39):
losing in the long run.
So you do need to look atinvestments and all that down
the track too, which that can bea whole nother rabbit hole in
learning if you are not toofamiliar with it, but definitely
worth you learning once you'reat that stage.
So I know that you're probablythinking, oh but Mal, you're not
(15:00):
even in a very good financialposition right now.
And yeah, that's true.
But could you imagine how muchworse I would have been if I
didn't have any savings at all?
I would have needed to take outloans and debt.
I honestly I could not havestarted this business.
But I also know my family'slife would have had to have
(15:22):
drastically changed for me toget through that season.
That even now that season isdone and over and I'm back to
work and things are moving on,that still would have impacted
them now, like I would have hadto pull the kids out of school
and all this kind of stuff.
That that has a long-termimpact.
So I'm glad that we had thesavings there.
That was the whole point, andit took a long time to have that
(15:45):
and be able to use it.
But we did.
Now hopefully we can build itback up again and I know that.
I know the plan, I know thesteps, done it before we can do
it again and we can slowly buildit up and move forward from
there.
So the third one is cut back,but the smart way.
You don't want to feel deprived.
You don't want to cut out allthe things that actually mean
(16:08):
something to you and make youhappy as well, like, yes, you've
got to pay bills and you've gotto cover the things that are
necessary to keep a roof overyour head and all of that.
First, that's important, butyou also want to have some
luxuries in there for you.
But you need to work out whatthat is and stick to the don't
go.
Oh, having a coffee is reallyimportant to me every day on the
(16:29):
way to work, but then I alsowant to go out on a Friday night
and I want to do this and havethat, and then, before you
realize it, you've spenthundreds of dollars every week
on things for yourself.
You have to be careful.
If you're not in a position tobe doing that right now because
you need to get aheadfinancially, then you really
need to be picking one or twocost-effective things that you
(16:53):
can still have.
That's still important to you.
Maybe you can keep that coffeein, but maybe we don't go out
every Friday night or buy thosethings online the moment we see
it.
There are many ways to be ableto overcome that.
So we need to look at yourspending and ask where am I
overspending, without evenrealizing the things that my
(17:15):
money is going towards?
That I didn't even notice,because maybe it's just a few
dollars here or there, but it'sreally added up across the month
.
And that $3 here, $5 there.
All of a sudden I'm hundreds ofdollars down at the end of the
month and I just didn't realizeit was making such a big impact.
And look at what's not servingyou and that you're happy to let
(17:37):
go of.
So I mentioned that at thestart.
So what?
What is actually in there?
Maybe you're subscribed tosomething like a tv subscription
thing and you only use it oncea month and you're like well,
actually I could probably letthat go.
And you only use it once amonth and you're like well,
actually I could probably letthat go, and if I use it more
down the track then I'll take itup then.
So look what you're happy tolet go of.
(17:58):
But also I have the 4D filteryou would have heard me say it
plenty of times and you can usethat for your expenses as well.
So the first day is delete.
So is there anything you canremove completely from this
budget moving forward thatyou're happy to let go of?
But there's possibly also a fewthings that you might be a bit
(18:20):
reluctant to.
But you know you need to to getout of this season.
Then delete.
Second one is delegate.
Now that is going to be trickyfor some people, but there might
be some of you that've gotadult children still living at
home, got a partner who's maybenot contributing fairly it
(18:42):
doesn't need to be equal, butfairly to some of the expenses
if you keep them separate.
So is there someone else thatcan pay or share the cost?
But also, are there vouchersout there?
Are there incentives orgovernment schemes or anything
like that that help pay forcertain things you're just not
(19:04):
aware of that you're entitled to.
So delegate, see if someoneelse can pick up some of this
cost.
The third one is delay.
Now, as much as we would alllove to have the subscriptions
to everything and the luxurylifestyle and all of that.
If you are trying to get out ofdebt and you're trying to move
forward and build up somesavings, there's some things
(19:27):
you're going to need to put offfor now.
It doesn't mean it's forever.
It might mean waiting untilyour kids move out.
It might just mean waitinguntil you go back to work after
having your baby and finishingmaternity leave.
It could be any number ofthings and it could be a short
wait, it could be a long wait,but look at what is adding to
(19:48):
the pressure in the season andwhat can be pushed back, and you
can wait for another time tohelp free up funds for now.
And then the fourth one is dodifferently.
So is there a cheaper orsmarter way to go about things
Now for me?
My kids love pizza.
I would eat it every night ifthey could, if I allowed them.
(20:10):
Kids love pizza.
I would eat it every night ifthey could, if I allowed them.
But we have only bought propertakeaway pizza once this year
and that was for an actualbirthday event which costs an
arm and a leg when you've got 20other people over.
But my kids love pizza and theywill have it at least every
fortnight, sometimes weekly.
But we have the frozen pizzasfrom Woolies, which is the shop
(20:32):
here in Australia.
It's cheap stuff.
I don't particularly like thetaste of it but the kids love it
and it's a fraction of the costof buying freshly made pizza
from a pizza shop.
So there are different ways youcan go about still being able
to have pizza than finding acheaper version.
Or one that I love is gettingthe wraps and you get your
(20:56):
tomato paste and you get all theingredients and stuff and you
chuck it all in there and youput it in the oven and you're
like they're very thin,obviously, on a wrap, but that
can be super cheap and a lot offun too.
So there's different ways to dothe same thing or a similar
thing that gets you through forthe season, and it could be a
matter of even meal prepping inadvance, so you're not resorting
(21:20):
to takeaway on those nightswhen you've worked later.
Things are a bit out of control.
You need a meal quickly and allthat kind of stuff.
So see what you can do.
That can help free up some ofthese expenses, but you still
don't necessarily miss out onlife.
Now I know that I've had to gothrough the budget lately and
(21:43):
really pair things back here andwe are having a lot more beans
and rice than normal.
But the funny thing is my kidslove it because I make the chili
con carne and they will eat itevery single night if I can.
My husband is over it.
He does not like it.
I don't mind it, but the kidslove it and they think that they
(22:08):
are getting the meal that theywant.
But the kids love it and theythink that they are getting the
meal that they want and reallyit's just a real budget-friendly
meal at the moment.
And so you might even look atthings and go, okay, my kids
really love spaghetti or theylove these things.
And yes, it might not be thehealthiest option right now, but
(22:29):
you also need to weigh up thebalance of what they'll eat a
bit of the health side of things, but also the budget.
And if it can mean gettingthrough and out of this season
so you can then afford to havebetter meals down the track,
then just see it as this seasonthis time.
It's not a forever thing, butit gets you through.
(22:52):
You do what you got to do.
You might even just add a saladto the side or make a few
tweaks and adjustments to stillmake it as healthy as possible.
But there is ways to eathealthy and on a budget, there's
ways to be entertained on abudget.
There's ways to go abouteducation, housing, clothing,
(23:16):
all these kind of things on agood budget.
And when you're on a budget, itdoesn't necessarily mean that
you're poor or you've got nomoney.
People that are wealthy have abudget of some sort.
In fact, the people that arewealthy are usually the ones
that started with nothing and,through smart choices with their
money, built their way towealth.
(23:38):
But they know that a budget'simportant.
You need to know what's comingin and what's going out, and
that's pretty much the crux ofit.
So I hope that some of thesetips and ideas have helped you
get started.
And even if you know all ofthese things, it's more
reminding you that today isprobably a good time to get
(23:59):
started and review and moveforward with the budget again if
you have put that off for awhile.
But if you do need someone totalk to, you need maybe a bit of
help going through your budget.
Anything like that more thanwelcome to book in a session
with me.
Links are in the description.
I've also got a number ofresources and mini courses in
(24:21):
that on budgeting and thingslike that inside the she's
Organized hub.
The details again are in thedescription for you and, yeah,
there is so much in there thatcan help you moving forward as
well, even to suit your currentfinancial situation.
It is pretty well pricedconsidering the things you're
(24:41):
going to learn, and you will endup saving a lot more money than
what it's costing you to be inthere.
So that is also another thingto check out.
But if you need anything morefrom me, you can reach me by
email.
You can send a text.
The link is in the description.
Everything is always in thedescription.
I'm always saying to go to thedescription, but if you've got
(25:05):
questions and you have aspecific question you'd like to
have on the show, please reachout and I'm more than happy to
help you and have your questionson here and answer your
questions as well.
If you have anything more thatyou want to know on finances
moving forward, I'm more thanhappy to create more episodes
helping you with the financialpillar of living a more balanced
(25:27):
life.
If you loved this episode,don't forget to hit subscribe so
you don't miss what's comingnext.
And if you want to continue theconversation, you can connect
with me on Instagram at @shes.
organised, or for some freeresources, head over to
beyondorganised.
com/ toolkit.
Remember, organising is a toolto live the purposeful life
(25:47):
beyond it.
See you next time.
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