November 13, 2025 • 33 mins
Most people think they’re “saving” — they’re really just parking cash and calling it progress. In this episode, Zeke and Oscar break down the six most common saving mistakes they see every week and show you how to fix each one fast. We cover separate banks for savings vs spending, a simple budgeting model that actually works, cash drag and inflation, “saving to spend” (holidays, cars), automation that removes willpower, and why you should clear high-interest debt before you “save”. We also hit DCA vs lump sum, lifestyle creep, emergency funds, and the small wins that keep you consistent.
You’ll learn:
- The separate-bank setup that stops impulse transfers
- 3-bucket budget (fixed / variable / discretionary)
- How to avoid cash drag and set a cash threshold
- Why “saving for a holiday” isn’t wealth building
- Quick automation wins (+$10/month growth buffer)
- A simple rule for debt vs investing decisions
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Disclaimer:
The information provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not constitute personal financial advice. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs. Asset Road Pty Ltd recommends you seek independent financial, legal, taxation or other advice as required. All investments carry risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Zeke Guenthroth (00:00):
Today we're going to be jumping into a bunch
of different savings issues.
Mistakes, accidents, problems,all of the above.
Any issue when it comes tosaving.
Oscar Don (00:11):
Exactly right.
This is one of the firstepisodes we actually did back in
the day, probably three and ahalf years ago.
So we're going to be touchingon around the six common
mistakes that we identified thenand as well now.
And kind of having our say onit and saying, how can you, if
you are living with thesemistakes, how can you avoid
these mistakes and actually getmoving forward?
Zeke Guenthroth (00:31):
Let's get into it.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Finance Bible Podcast.
Oscar Don (00:45):
Zeke here and your co-host and staff.
But before we get into it,please note that nothing in this
podcast should ever beconsidered as personal financial
advice.
Zeke Guenthroth (00:54):
Although if financial advice is what you are
seeking, let us know and we canget you in touch with the
correct team.
Oscar Don (00:59):
But for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
Let's get into it.
Zeke Guenthroth (01:08):
First of all, I just wanted to say an absolute
massive welcome back, Oscar.
It's been a while since you andI have been in the same room,
sitting down, recording apodcast where we're not getting
phone calls for work, we're nothaving to go do meetings, we're
not having to deal with this,that, and the other.
We'll put our phones on silent.
They are still on, they arestill in front of us.
We might get a text message andinterrupt the show.
Just flipped mine around,actually, put the screen on the
(01:29):
ground.
But mate, welcome back.
What a pleasure.
Oscar Don (01:36):
It is great to be back.
The funny thing is we alwayssay, saying I've moved back to
New South Wales, it's uh I'veactually seen you less than when
I was living in Victoria.
Can confirm that it's bonafine.
Yes, bona fide.
So this is the first time I'vebeen up here in your the new new
place.
And love what I see, we're justlistening to a bit of JB before
we're recording this podcast.
(01:57):
So bring back the good olddays.
There you go.
I guess nothing has changed.
Actually, it's bringing backthe old days, but we used to get
to the office at like 6 a.m.
to record like five episodesbefore work.
Yeah, that was good fun.
Good fun.
Great fun.
All on lunch break, just duckupstairs.
That is the boardroom, we canfilm slum.
We used to do that as well.
But jumping into it.
But yeah, today we're mate,we're unpacking the biggest
(02:19):
mistakes Australians make whensaving.
And Americans and Germans, GGand Worldwide, international.
And I guess the main thing iswe're we're gonna show you, and
we're not showing, we're gonnatell you because you're not you
can't see us how to fix themfast.
Zeke Guenthroth (02:35):
Yeah, and realistically, like common sense
applies.
Everyone knows, right, thatsaving is a good.
Like no one out there is like,oh, shouldn't save money.
Like everyone knows I'mserious, some people hate
saving.
Oscar Don (02:47):
Yeah, they'd rather invest though, like, which is
still a form of saving.
Oh, even with that, I know somepeople who just want to spend
everything spend money becausethey they're in their 20s and
they have to like your life liveyour life and actually you know
what's the word, likeexperience all these things and
spend money.
Much money's always gonna comeback.
It's like, yeah, but if youhave 50 grand right now and you
(03:07):
spend all the 50 grand, how soonis that 50 grand gonna come
back?
Zeke Guenthroth (03:10):
My favourite thing to do in that scenario is
pull up the old compoundinterest calculator and show
them if they did 50 bucks a weekfrom 20 to 30 and left it
versus doing that at 50 to 60.
Yes, the difference ends upbeing literally over a hundred
grand.
Like it's ridiculous.
Right.
Oscar Don (03:27):
That um that compound interest calculator is a lead
calc.
I plan that like probably atleast three times a week.
It's a great calculator.
Zeke Guenthroth (03:34):
Can confirm money smart, get on there, have
a little fiddle.
Oscar Don (03:37):
We've talked about it many times.
Zeke Guenthroth (03:38):
We've actually linked it in a couple weeks,
which I don't recall, but we'lldo it on this one anyway.
We will.
Yeah, well, I mean, in myopinion, most people, there is
an exception to every rule whenI talk, it's everything's a
generalization in life.
Like there's always ageneralization, there's going to
be minority that don't fallinto that category.
But generally speaking,everyone knows that saving is
good.
So I'm saying, generallyspeaking, everyone knows that
(04:00):
like murder is not good, right?
Yes.
Yes.
But there is those people thatwill do it.
Speaking of which, themurderers.
Gee, we're taking it.
We have taken a turn.
Well, that links directly intowhere I'm going with this, that
behavioral issues cause a bit ofissues with savings, you know.
Discipline, structure, thatkind of thing.
(04:20):
So a behavioural issue,murder's an extreme behavioral
issue.
The other one, very modern, abit of discipline and structure
in your life.
Like if you're looking to save,you need discipline, you need
structure, you need a fewdifferent things going.
And a common mental trap thatpeople have is just having one
account for everything, and theygo, Well, this is my account,
(04:41):
I'm saving because uh it's goingup in value every time I get
paid, but they're not actuallycommitting to a savings plan.
Oscar Don (04:48):
Well, if you have money in your bank account
anyway, not actually putting itinto an investment fund or even
just a very low compounding ETF,you are technically losing
money with inflation.
That's that is true.
That is 100%.
But it's funny with withsavings as well, it's you you're
correct, it's all aboutbehavioural, you know,
(05:08):
discipline and structuring andactually dividing where your
money's going because there'ssome people on 60 grand who are
really good savers, and thenthere's people on 200, 300 grand
who are horrible savers andjust burn through it.
So it's funny because you thinkgrowing up that if you have to
have a you have to have a largeincome to to save money, but a
lot of these people who've got ahefty amount of money just burn
(05:30):
it.
Zeke Guenthroth (05:31):
I'm I can attest to the fact and speak on
it.
I'll do it in front of a courtif I have to.
I'll put my hand up, hand onheart, and I'll tell the truth.
Oh.
I've seen some people on notgreat wages save more than I
know with people that are onreally good wages.
Yeah.
And I'm talking really good.
Oscar Don (05:46):
So it is a common thing because it in their mind
they think they're rich.
Yeah, that's right.
So it's like, oh good, I canspend money, I don't have to
stress.
It's like yes, you're rich, butyou're not wealthy.
Zeke Guenthroth (05:56):
Yeah, you go you gotta pull them aside and
go, listen here, no, no, you'rewrong.
Oscar Don (06:00):
A bit of a difference.
Zeke Guenthroth (06:01):
But that takes us on to our first lesson, which
is a big mistake.
Probably my favourite mistaketo talk about is using the same
bank account for savings andspending.
So like one account as in likedifferent buckets.
Number two different bucketbuckets.
Yeah, okay.
I'm talking income comes in,rent goes out, uh spending goes
(06:25):
out, gambling goes out, bills goout, everything.
So it's just like, oh yeah,this one account, it's going up
each week.
But it's really no way to trackyour growth and like anything
you want to hit because you'vegot the instant temptation, it's
like, okay, well, going to buysome beers or whatever.
Oh cool, I've got thirteenhundred dollars, I can spend it.
But that's all you have.
Oscar Don (06:45):
I think that's what I used to do.
Well, I think I remember when Iwas in like year ten or eleven,
I used to go out or early yeartwelve when I was eighteen.
Not sixteen.
Um used to go out and I had theone the one bank account.
I'd like a legal disclaimerthere.
Yeah, yeah, I was 18.
But I used to have the the onebank account.
And I used to slide and I hadmy savings and I just used to
(07:05):
transfer on the night, whichthat's a little bit different,
but even with your savings, Ithink you've got to completely
separate it.
Yeah, it's it is a huge trap.
Because I don't think Iactually grew in terms of my
savings balance for like twoyears because I just kept like
pulling it out on a night out.
I was like, oh, this is atleast I got extra money out of
friends.
Yeah, yeah.
Zeke Guenthroth (07:22):
But um, what I've noticed in today's age,
like when we were younger, is alittle bit easier because if we
had a different bank account,like as in if I had most of my
accounts with CBA and then I hada savings account with
Newcastle permanent, right?
And then I would if I was goingto transfer from Combank to
Newcastle, my savings account,and leave not much in my
(07:43):
spending account, which wasCommonwealth, then if I wanted
to send money back fromNewcastle to Commonwealth so I
could access it on a night outas an impossible decision, it
would take two or three days.
Yeah, it's good.
Now we've got Oscar, we've gotpay ID, you carry your card
everywhere, bing bong bang, ATM,gambles.
Oscar Don (07:58):
Well, you were saying one of your mates is um
transferring their money, their500 bucks a week to a another
friend that they can't getaccess to, which I think is very
smart.
Zeke Guenthroth (08:06):
That is very smart.
Oscar Don (08:08):
So that is also a way if you have an accountability
partner who you know, even likeyour parents or your friends or
someone you can't get the actthe money from quickly, do that
if you're struggling.
Zeke Guenthroth (08:18):
Yeah, there's many different ways.
I would I would personally doeither a an account that doesn't
have OSCO, like you know, adifferent financial institution,
maybe like HSBC or somethinglike that, and or make it so
they have to go to a bank to dowithdrawals, and or put a second
person on it where you bothhave to go to a bank to do
withdrawals, because then it'seventually impossible.
Oscar Don (08:38):
Yeah, this is like if you have no like willpower.
Yeah, it's addictions.
Yeah.
Like this is like most like formyself, I've got one bank
account, I gen, I just got likefour different accounts, and
savings is one of them, and Ijust don't touch it.
But there's other people whocan't do that and just have to
touch it.
Zeke Guenthroth (08:54):
Yeah, so for for those guys out there, I know
a few girlfriends that are outthere and they uh may or may not
get five different days ofgetting packages.
You know, they love an onlineshop, they love to spend money.
If you say, hey, we both got togo to the bank to uh withdraw
funds, you solve that problem.
And for the girls out therethat have boys that love a bit
of Uber Eats or DoorDash ormaybe a little bit of sports bet
(09:18):
here and there, common problem,I know.
Do the exact same thing and youcan hold each other
accountable.
It's way easier.
But if you are disciplined,just be good.
Have a separate account, don'ttransfer.
Oscar Don (09:29):
Just be good.
Zeke Guenthroth (09:29):
Yeah, just be good.
Easy as well.
Oscar Don (09:31):
Yeah, like behavior, good.
Yeah, that's um that's that'snumber one.
But I think that's the mostcommon mistake we've we've seen
in the past.
Yeah, absolutely.
But number two is we've spokenabout it quite a few times.
No structured budget.
So budgeting is is veryimportant, even just figuring
out where your pay is going togo, the money when you divide
it.
Obviously, if you're payingrent, you want to need to pay
(09:52):
your rent so you can havesomewhere to stay.
And then figure out how muchyou're saving, spend any saving
skills, etc.
But without actually havingyour budget and clarity, your
money literally will justdisappear overnight.
It's it's quite funny how thatactually happens.
And people overestimate whatthey should have left.
I think when we did thisepisode, we had a special guest,
actually talked us through histhree-part budgeting method.
(10:15):
Yes, yes, which we agreed onand were actually pretty much
using similarly as well.
So I think they had number onewas fixed non-discretionary, so
you know, your rent, insurancebills, things that you have to
spend your money on.
So these are non-negotiables.
And then you've got your yourvariable and non-discretionary,
so you know, your petrol, yourfood, your tolls, and then the
(10:39):
third part of your budgeting,you've got your discretionary.
So your fund spending, yoursocial spending, and all your
subscriptions.
Zeke Guenthroth (10:46):
Yes.
Oscar Don (10:47):
So they are the three main parts of a budget.
Zeke Guenthroth (10:51):
Yeah, so with that, you want to ultimately
figure out what portion of yourincome do you want to allocate
to each one.
Yeah.
But then also in that, what weneed to mention as well is a
part four of that budgetingmethod.
Non-discretionary, so what hasto happen?
You've got your variablenon-discretionary.
So again, what has to happen,but they vary per week, and then
your discretionary is you justhaving a bit of fun doing this,
(11:14):
that, and the other.
Um but part four is yoursavings, obviously.
Savingslash investments.
Yeah, so you need to figure outthen, okay, well, my fixed to
non-discretionary is X amount ofmy pay per week, break it down
weekly, fortnightly, monthly,however frequently you get paid
to make it easier for you toactually track for yourself.
But you want to figure out thatfirst and see if there's any
(11:36):
way you can reduce that.
Because if that's 70%, you'realready bugging.
So you want to drop that as lowas you can, but that is what it
is.
Then you want to look at yourvariable non-discretionary and
drop that as much as you can,but figure out how much that is
as well.
Now you might be at a combinedrate of say 60%.
So that's your housing, yourfood, your bills, insurance,
(11:56):
petrol, tolls, whatever it be.
And then you've got 40% leftfor your last two, which is
discretionary spending, all yourfun, partying, subscriptions,
Netflix, all of that kind ofthing, ice cream, all the fun
stuff.
And then savings.
So then you want to figure outokay, what portion do I want
going to each of them?
That's a you decision.
(12:16):
I personally, when I was goinghard in the savings and really
trying to get things going, Iwould do virtually no
discretionary spending.
Yeah, I'd partially puteverything into savings and I'd
put it straight in an investmentbecause then it's like, okay, I
actually can't do anything.
If I want it, I have to sellshares and I'm not going to sell
at a loss.
And it's going to take two daysto hit my account anyway.
(12:37):
So I guess I'm just stuckreally having no money.
There you go.
Oscar Don (12:41):
And that works great.
Yeah.
But I think a main factor withthis one when you are fearing
out, especially with yoursavings, automate these
transfers is probably theeasiest way because then it's a
consistent deposit coming toyour account.
So even if you there's so manydifferent share, like for
example, Comsec has ComsecPocket and you can do automated
transfers every week,fortnightly, or monthly.
(13:02):
So you could literally justput, you know, after playing
around with the compoundinterest calculator and figuring
out that you need to put $100 aweek to hit your goal in 20
years, you could just put $100 aweek automated into your
account.
And then all of a sudden youwon't even realize it's
happened.
And then three, four, fiveyears later, you look at it and
happy days.
You're you're you're hittingyour goals.
Yeah.
(13:22):
That's the same with alldifferent accounts, like your
savings, even your bills.
Make it easier for yourself soyou don't have to actually go
out of the way and you mightforget some weeks.
So if you said and forget,that's the easiest way to do it.
Zeke Guenthroth (13:36):
Yeah, exactly.
And if you're doing thatstrategy of getting investments
going, this isn't arecommendation on any form of
investment platform or anythinglike that.
We're not able to do such on apodcast.
However, back in the day when Iwas doing it, when I was
playing around with reallyminimum dollars, I used Comsec
Pocket because I think it waslike a $2 transaction fee.
(13:56):
And there's no minimum amount.
The minimum was $100.
Oscar Don (13:59):
Oh, well now I think it's I don't think there is.
Zeke Guenthroth (14:02):
Oh, okay.
But then when I started gettingto the bigger dollars, we're
talking, I was doing thousandsat a time or whatever, I moved
on to IG trading because theirbrokerage fee was only like $8 a
transaction, whereas Comsecback then I think was $20.
So double check all of that,but that's what I personally
did.
Before we get on to numberthree, I've actually just
received a ridiculous email thatI know we said we weren't going
(14:25):
to look at the phones, but thisis outrageous stuff, and you've
got to you've got you're gonnalove this.
Get it up.
So I've just had the the bankbill valuation on a client's
property, right?
Because yeah, refining andpurchasing some more property.
This was bought in 2023 at theepic, right?
Late 2023 for about 740k.
(14:46):
The valuation from threedifferent banks has just come
back at 1.2 million.
So in two years and what three,four months it's gone up.
The math on that is 60%.
Oscar Don (15:03):
That will be on our Instagram tonight.
That will be on our Instagramtonight.
I'm making a post after this.
60% capital growth in twoyears, basically.
Yeah, that is let's not have itoff you.
Yeah, if you're if you followthe property investment
industry, that is very, verygood numbers.
Well, exceptionally well.
And guys, that is that's whathappens when you have a dream
(15:24):
team.
We're talking investmentproperty consultants, talking
conveyances, brokers,accountants if need be.
If you're wanting to getsimilar results or get into the
property market, that's up.
Zeke Guenthroth (15:35):
Yeah, wow.
Well, that is what we do.
This is an episode on saving,and this is a kickstart up to
getting to a position whereyou've got the capital and the
savings and the investments totake that next leap, which is
getting the investment propertyor the family home.
So literally get this.
Oscar Don (15:51):
You could be on the how could you save like 400 to
500k in two years?
That's pretty much you justcan't.
I'm still processing that 50%of it.
That is insane.
Wow.
That's probably one of our bestactual performances, I think,
in a while.
Zeke Guenthroth (16:06):
That is outrageous.
That is we had two clients nextdoor to each other that both
get it.
Oscar Don (16:10):
Yeah.
So that's a that's a that's athat's a uh moment when you you
tap yourself on the back andsay, I'm I'm glad we did that.
Zeke Guenthroth (16:17):
Yeah, I'm gonna get a massage tonight, and the
whole time I'm gonna bethinking, wow, well done.
I think we'll go to the pocketno loss.
Why not do better?
Yeah, fair enough.
I don't even know if that's howyou pronounce it, but um just
picture me with a littlesombrero on on my head, the
mustache, a couple of pistols,yelling more chili.
I am now Mexican.
Oscar Don (16:35):
I love I I am on uh I was on day number 55 on
Duolingo for Spanish, and now Iuh on day three.
So I'll get back there.
That's uh yes, in terms ofMexican, I can speak speaking of
a little bit of discipline.
Zeke Guenthroth (16:48):
There you go, that's a discipline failure.
Yes.
Mistake number three leavingmoney idle in cash, as the Don
mentioned earlier.
If you don't have your moneyinvested in something, inflation
is going to erode it, destroyit, decimate it, pump it,
terminate it, and send it allthe way down to the grave.
It's just gonna go down anddown and down.
Oscar Don (17:09):
And you may be thinking, but my balance isn't
dropping.
Like your bank balance in yoursavings isn't going to actually
drop.
Like you're not gonna losemoney technically in your bank
account, but when you put itagainst inflation, for what it's
actually worth, that's whereyou lose the value of the money.
So you're better off.
Obviously, speak to financialadvisor or planner or um do your
(17:32):
own research because there's somany platforms online now where
you can figure out a safe youknow investment to shares, so
many different index ETFs tochoose from just to get your
money actually working for you.
And if you're uh if your goalis to purchase a property down
the track with your money, well,how can you fast track your
cash right now to propel youinto that?
(17:53):
Like physique, for example, weall know when he did his
property, he put all his moneyinto shares for a year or this
is just a year.
Well, yeah, I had my mystoryline was and then you made
a bit of money there and thenyou pushed it through to the
property.
Zeke Guenthroth (18:07):
Yeah, I I was saving from 16 to 18 because you
can't actually do anythingelse.
But my my timeline was I wasnot in a rush.
I didn't need a house, I didn'tneed anything, I was just big
chilling and just doing what Icould.
I was just getting them by.
Um I was out here being theboring guy.
So what I did was I saved forthose two years.
(18:30):
And if I were if I was doing itagain today, there's many
different ways I'd go, and I'llget into that shortly.
But I saved for two yearsbecause I wasn't 18 yet.
When I hit 18, I then startedinvesting in shares.
The reason I did that, I didn'thave anything coming up.
If I had something coming up in12 months, I probably wouldn't
have done that because yourtimeline is going to impact it.
(18:51):
Like if shares go down in sixmonths and I need that money in
twelve months, then I might beselling at a loss.
Yeah, you got it in a goodtime.
Yeah, I had unlimited time.
I could do whatever I wanted.
So I just pumped shares.
That probably happened forabout two, two and a half years
because COVID came and you know,had to be a bit smart about
that.
And then I pulled that out andthrew it in the property as a
(19:12):
deposit and so on.
But realistically, if you'redoing it today, and again, not
financial advice, but what youwant to do is take a look at
what are my goals and when arethey.
If you're on a short timeframe, then it may not be
appropriate to put it intoshares or crypto, for example,
because if in 12 months' time,if the shares go down or the
(19:32):
crypto goes down, you don't havethe time to recover it because
you need it at that point intime.
Like if you've got a a landsettlement coming up to build
your home, and you're like, Ineed this money for the deposit,
or to settle the land orwhatever it is, be dubbed the
week before.
Yeah, then you're gonna beshort, you're gonna get
settlement penalties, contractpenalties, termination
penalties, legal fees, and soon.
(19:54):
So you need to think aboutthat.
If it's longer term, likethree, five years, ten years,
then shares may be appropriate.
Again, they may not, it's up toyour financial advisor in that
circumstance.
But you need to figure out whatyou're doing because ultimately
inflation, let's call it threepercent per year.
If you're not making more thanthree percent per year on that
money, you're losing money.
(20:15):
Which most banks give youaround one percent, so you're
technically negative two.
Yeah, well, I mean it dependswhat you're doing.
If you're in a higher, higherinterest savings, you may get
like three, four, five, gettingsix, seven, eight virtually
non-existent.
But yeah, if even if you'regetting three percent, you
you're just sort of maintainingyour money.
You may as well just have acash sitting under your
mattress, like it's sort ofpointless.
(20:35):
So, yeah, not really useful.
I personally would be investingit, otherwise it's just
disappearing.
Yeah, that's all I've got tosay on the back.
Oscar Don (20:44):
Well, yeah, because I did it the other way around.
I um I had money going intoshares, but I was also saving
the majority of my cash in likemy bank account, which if I had
my time again, I wouldn't havedone.
I would have invested heavilyin shares when I was 18.
But that also shows as wellbecause I bought my property
what three, four years afteryou.
Yeah.
So, you know, you there's stilltwo ways, but definitely if you
(21:05):
do want to get in quicker, youneed to make your money work for
you.
Whatever that is, it's up toyou and who you speak to.
But but yeah, sitting in yourbank account and just cash is
not the best way to do it.
Zeke Guenthroth (21:17):
Well, it's like it's like that client.
I just preferred him as Mr.
Feathersword.
You know the one I'm talkingabout.
He uh feathersword.
I don't know why I went there,but it it I guess it sounds like
the name.
Yeah, that's uh yeah.
But he had like he he saved upfor his whole home.
Like I'm talking 700 grand overover like a 15-20 year period.
(21:40):
I'm like, bro, you would havelost literally so much money to
inflation if you had thatinvested in shares, like your
timeline would have been waybetter.
And even if you didn't buy theproperty, you just left it in
shares, it would be worth overtwo million now.
Oscar Don (21:54):
Like it's just crazy, like high sides, that's an
insane thing with what itespecially when it comes to
property.
Yeah, it's now yeah, it iscooked.
Zeke Guenthroth (22:01):
Yeah, and I I always, if I'm doing an an
investment plan and saving, Iwon't throw absolutely
everything into the investment.
Like I know I said I've got myspending account and I would
minimise that by putting it allinto the savings and shares, but
I would have a separate accountpurely of savings.
Didn't have like a three-monththreshold, like a rainy day
(22:23):
fund.
Oscar Don (22:23):
Yeah, I say and I've spoken about it on my my recent
solo episodes, how important arainy day fund is.
Exactly.
But this it moves on to numberfour, which saving for
consumption instead of wealth.
So, for example, saving for aholiday is not savings, it's
delayed spending.
It's as we used to say, it'skicking the tin down the road.
(22:43):
Remember that old saying?
I do.
So it's the same as like savingfor a new car, saving for you
know a shopping spree, justsaving for things which aren't
you know, investing in yourfuture or or gonna help you pay
you an income down the track.
It's purely for consumption andmaterialist materialistic
items.
Zeke Guenthroth (23:02):
So it's like when we meet a client, we go,
oh, how much are you saving peryear?
And we we know it's zerobecause their savings account is
zero.
And we're like, how much areyou save per year?
And they're like, Oh, you know,like 15 grand.
I'm like, so you're 40 yearsold.
You save 15 grand a year, yoursavings account's got $800 in
it.
Can you just explain that a bitfurther?
Yeah, how does that work?
(23:23):
Oh, yeah, we we went on aholiday this year, and last year
we bought a car, and the yearbefore that we went on a
holiday.
I'm like, okay, so you don'tactually save anything.
Oscar Don (23:30):
Yeah, like you spend it.
It's fine to have like goals tosave for a holiday, but have
different accounts like what wesaid earlier.
Have an actual wealth-buildingaccount where pure money goes
into for saving purposes foryour future you, and then maybe
have a little account forholidays or a new car.
But don't just put all yoursavings into a for a holiday or
a new car because as soon asthat holiday's finished, yeah,
(23:52):
you might have had a good time,but you get back to work and
it's you're back from you knowsquare one.
It's like a um I know a couplewho who's got married 12 months
ago and they literally took outloans for the whole wedding.
We're talking like six-figureloans.
And then they hadn't haven'tgot they didn't have any assets
(24:13):
or anything for that togethereither.
Oh no.
And then they're like, oh well,it may as well get another loan
out for the honeymoon.
I don't know how everyoneelse's money spending makes me
screwed.
Zeke Guenthroth (24:22):
So I I just took out all the um the edge,
WWE, about to do a spear, brushthe hair bucket over my face.
Oscar Don (24:28):
But they took out loan for the wedding and the
honeymoon, and then they getback to work, and all of a
sudden, starting from scratch.
Like, yeah, we're married, butwe're starting from zero.
That's crazy now.
What the hell?
I I felt sick.
Yeah.
And that that alone I thinkthat's a very extreme example
though.
Like that's I don't thinkthat's I don't think that's
(24:49):
often common.
I mean, it may be kind ofsurprised by that.
Zeke Guenthroth (24:53):
But that like even though I think about it
sometimes, don't get me wrong,I'm by no means like absolutely
silly with money.
Um you were gonna spend no, no,I would never spend that.
But if we're if we're goingalong like the train of figuring
out where money goes and thatkind of thing and how it builds
up.
Yes, obviously I save.
Yes, I have an idea of whatwe're doing financially and
(25:16):
stuff.
But even just thinking likemoney that I've spent on say
holidays or something, or like II bought my car in cash
obviously is like 50 grand orwhatever.
I didn't get a loan oranything, smart financial
decision.
But even I am in a mindsetwhere I think back to that,
which is like what two yearsago, three years ago, it's like
(25:37):
50 grand on a car, like yeah,sure, it's a brand new car, it's
gonna last me a long time.
I'm gonna run it into theground because I'm money savvy.
But that 50 grand invested intosay shares or something, when
I'm running a 46% return thisyear, like not even counting
last year, you know, that wouldbe worth at least 75 grand today
(25:59):
of that cash.
Then you throw in like what Ispent on say holidays or parties
or gifts to people or whatever,we'd be talking like a good
maybe 150, 200k all up that Icould have made in that time
frame.
And it's like I kick myselfabout it.
Yeah.
And so I mean, yeah, it's it'sridiculous.
(26:19):
You you don't realise I mean,you might, but when you think
about the level of money youactually spend, and then you
forward calculate that into whatit could be, like that it could
be that amount for me between150, 200 grand in a two-year
period.
So imagine three, four, five,imagine in 20 years, it'd be
like nearly a million.
Oscar Don (26:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway.
And then what can you do withthat million?
Cool.
There's a lot of things you cando.
Zeke Guenthroth (26:46):
Yeah, there is.
But realistically, the wholepoint of this one is saying,
cool, you can save up fortemporary happiness, holidays,
cars, whatever, but you alsoneed to be actually saving and
generating wealth.
You need to have that an actualsaving account.
Yeah.
Yeah, because saving for aholiday is not saving, it's
delaying spending.
Saving for wealth is saving.
(27:09):
Which brings us to number five.
A lack of automation.
We've kind of spoke about italready.
We have.
But real simple, we don'tactually need to talk about that
one.
Just split money up, automateit, have it go here and there
and there, know where it'sgoing, and let it run, let it
run its course.
Oscar Don (27:25):
Yeah, literally, like I was a few years ago, I always
found that for Christmas time,especially, I was spending so
much money when it came to itfor buying gifts for people that
might have been, you know, thewhole period I spent five, six
hundred bucks.
I love a gift.
Like getting them for people.
So do I.
But like, and then I getexcited and buy more, like, and
spend more money.
So I was like, I don't actuallyhave this money set aside.
(27:46):
So now, what I figured out isat the start of each year, I
figured out all right, I needaround 800 bucks for Christmas
time.
So divide that by how manyweeks in the year, and then I
just automate spending everysingle week into this Christmas
account, and then come Christmastime, I've got all the money
there.
So this Christmas gonna be abreeze.
I've got cash sitting there andjust ready to go.
Because the whole year it'sjust been automating my
(28:08):
deposits.
So happy days.
Zeke Guenthroth (28:10):
Yeah, this we're coming up on when Santa
comes around in about a monthand a bit.
And I haven't actually gotanyone anything yet.
True, literally is just over amonth.
Could this be the year that Ihold back?
December's gonna be a goodmonth.
Could I be a good man and getno one anything?
I highly doubt it.
Well, we're gonna have to waitand see.
Oscar Don (28:31):
Final big point.
Yep.
The final big point, ignoringdebt before you actually start
saving.
So common error is startingyour savings journey while
you're still carrying that high,hefty credit card debt that
you're struggling to pay off.
So if you're paying 18 to 20%on your credit card, and then
you're also trying to save,well, I hate to say it, but one,
(28:54):
you're probably not going to besaving much.
And two, you're probably notgoing to be paying off your debt
much because you can't jugglethe two.
Firstly, that the number onething you have to do if you do
have credit card debt is get ridof that as soon as possible.
You might, you know, if you'reputting aside 400 bucks a
fortnight into savings, pullthat into your credit card, make
(29:14):
extra repayments because youwant to be debt-free in terms of
bad debt, as like personalloans, credit cards, etc.,
before you do anything in termsof you know your savings.
And there's quite a fewdifferent methods to this in
terms of removing the debt oncredit cards, like a snowball
method and avalanche method.
We have spoken about thembefore, but definitely if you
(29:36):
have debt, even if it's athousand bucks or three or four
thousand, put a plan together toactually knock that out first.
Zeke Guenthroth (29:44):
Yeah, I mean, I don't have too much to add to
that.
I'm going to keep it verysimple on that point.
The way that I calculate whatdebt is going to be repaid for
people if we're looking atdifferent avenues of generating
money or saving money, repayingdebt, that kind of thing.
If your interest rate is higherthan what you can generate,
(30:05):
prioritize paying it off.
So for example, if a mortgageis 4% but shares can return 9%,
then 9% minus 4% is 5%.
You've got a 5% net gain fromthe shares in that aspect.
Whereas if it's a 12% interestrate on the debt, for example, a
credit card, and you can onlygenerate 8 or 9% with shares,
(30:29):
then the 12% is higher than theshares.
So it's going to cost you 3%more.
So that's a simple way ofcalculating it.
It's literally that easy.
Figure it out.
Do your own research, talk toplanners, and take the leap from
there.
There is a couple of additionallittle tips and tricks.
(30:51):
Or things to talk about.
Just to rattle off a couple,and we're not going to dive into
these because they're the mainones we wanted to talk about.
But lifestyle creep is a hugeissue.
Simply put, when your incomegoes up, your spending does not
need to go up with it.
Oscar Don (31:07):
Yep, that's a very common thing that happens.
Simple.
Then we got uh psychological.
So, you know, using mentalaccounting, naming accounts by
purpose increases yourcommitment.
So let's say you have a savingsaccount and you you go in 12 to
18 months to buy a house, youcan simply name that account
future house deposit.
And you know, if you areputting money aside for a
(31:28):
holiday, this can be yourholiday account.
So that will actually visualizeit for yourself as well and
give you a bit of urgency andwant you to keep saving because
at the end of the day, savingsis actually fun.
Yeah, small wins.
Zeke Guenthroth (31:40):
Celebrate them.
If you get to your first 1ksaved and you've saved nothing
ever, that's a huge win.
When you get to 5k, thenanother huge win.
And if you pump yourself up,like, oh yes, I reached my goal
of 1k, how good is that?
And you genuinely make yourselffeel good about it, you get up
and about, you you know, tellyour friends, your family, or
whatever, oh you know, I've justgot my first K saved or
(32:01):
whatever, or I've just got myfirst 5k, 10k.
If you're a big baller, itmight be 100k or whatever, 1
mil.
Yeah, then celebrate it.
That's how you keep propellingyourself to success.
If you just go, oh yeah, I'm at50k, like you're not gonna be
up and about.
Get up and about.
Oscar Don (32:17):
Agreed.
And then you know, we've got acategory for tools.
So this is where you there'sbudget-friendly apps out there
and websites.
And even if you just Googlebudget tools online, there'll be
plenty that come up, likeWineNab, Pocketbook, Money
Brilliant, heaps of differentpeople as well just give away
their Excel spreadsheets onlinefor free.
So you can download templates,that's what I've got, and you
(32:37):
just save a copy as your own andthen put your own numbers in.
But there's so many differentplatforms out there for you to
simplify your budget becauseit's not as complicated as it
sounds.
When you hear about budgeting,it does sound pretty intense,
but it's very easy.
So don't overcomplicate it.
Zeke Guenthroth (32:54):
Exactly.
And that's all of the savingschips we have for today.
But our next episode is goingto be a direct correlation.
So now that you understandsavings and how to do that and
start generating some investmentincome and that kind of thing,
the next one along in this quickseries is going to be compound
interest.
So, how do we take that savingamount and the savings you're
(33:14):
generating, and how do wecompound them into the next
episode after that, saving yourfirst hundred K.
So it's gonna be a step one,step two, step three.
We love it.
And you're really gonna startbuilding that income.
Keep tuned in, keep listening,keep growing, keep investing.
DALA.
See you next week.
Well, that is the end of theepisode.
(33:35):
We hope you enjoyed it, and ifyou did, you know exactly what
to do.
Oscar Don (33:39):
Hit that follow button, like button, subscribe,
share it to your friends,families, or even a coworker.
Zeke Guenthroth (33:45):
If you're really feeling generous, you
could send it off to an ex.
But catch you next time.
Hope you enjoyed it.
DALI.
Oscar Don (33:51):
Ciao.
Today we're going to be jumping into a bunch
of different savings issues.
Mistakes, accidents, problems,all of the above.
Any issue when it comes tosaving.
Oscar Don (00:11):
Exactly right.
This is one of the firstepisodes we actually did back in
the day, probably three and ahalf years ago.
So we're going to be touchingon around the six common
mistakes that we identified thenand as well now.
And kind of having our say onit and saying, how can you, if
you are living with thesemistakes, how can you avoid
these mistakes and actually getmoving forward?
Zeke Guenthroth (00:31):
Let's get into it.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Finance Bible Podcast.
Oscar Don (00:45):
Zeke here and your co-host and staff.
But before we get into it,please note that nothing in this
podcast should ever beconsidered as personal financial
advice.
Zeke Guenthroth (00:54):
Although if financial advice is what you are
seeking, let us know and we canget you in touch with the
correct team.
Oscar Don (00:59):
But for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
Let's get into it.
Zeke Guenthroth (01:08):
First of all, I just wanted to say an absolute
massive welcome back, Oscar.
It's been a while since you andI have been in the same room,
sitting down, recording apodcast where we're not getting
phone calls for work, we're nothaving to go do meetings, we're
not having to deal with this,that, and the other.
We'll put our phones on silent.
They are still on, they arestill in front of us.
We might get a text message andinterrupt the show.
Just flipped mine around,actually, put the screen on the
(01:29):
ground.
But mate, welcome back.
What a pleasure.
Oscar Don (01:36):
It is great to be back.
The funny thing is we alwayssay, saying I've moved back to
New South Wales, it's uh I'veactually seen you less than when
I was living in Victoria.
Can confirm that it's bonafine.
Yes, bona fide.
So this is the first time I'vebeen up here in your the new new
place.
And love what I see, we're justlistening to a bit of JB before
we're recording this podcast.
(01:57):
So bring back the good olddays.
There you go.
I guess nothing has changed.
Actually, it's bringing backthe old days, but we used to get
to the office at like 6 a.m.
to record like five episodesbefore work.
Yeah, that was good fun.
Good fun.
Great fun.
All on lunch break, just duckupstairs.
That is the boardroom, we canfilm slum.
We used to do that as well.
But jumping into it.
But yeah, today we're mate,we're unpacking the biggest
(02:19):
mistakes Australians make whensaving.
And Americans and Germans, GGand Worldwide, international.
And I guess the main thing iswe're we're gonna show you, and
we're not showing, we're gonnatell you because you're not you
can't see us how to fix themfast.
Zeke Guenthroth (02:35):
Yeah, and realistically, like common sense
applies.
Everyone knows, right, thatsaving is a good.
Like no one out there is like,oh, shouldn't save money.
Like everyone knows I'mserious, some people hate
saving.
Oscar Don (02:47):
Yeah, they'd rather invest though, like, which is
still a form of saving.
Oh, even with that, I know somepeople who just want to spend
everything spend money becausethey they're in their 20s and
they have to like your life liveyour life and actually you know
what's the word, likeexperience all these things and
spend money.
Much money's always gonna comeback.
It's like, yeah, but if youhave 50 grand right now and you
(03:07):
spend all the 50 grand, how soonis that 50 grand gonna come
back?
Zeke Guenthroth (03:10):
My favourite thing to do in that scenario is
pull up the old compoundinterest calculator and show
them if they did 50 bucks a weekfrom 20 to 30 and left it
versus doing that at 50 to 60.
Yes, the difference ends upbeing literally over a hundred
grand.
Like it's ridiculous.
Right.
Oscar Don (03:27):
That um that compound interest calculator is a lead
calc.
I plan that like probably atleast three times a week.
It's a great calculator.
Zeke Guenthroth (03:34):
Can confirm money smart, get on there, have
a little fiddle.
Oscar Don (03:37):
We've talked about it many times.
Zeke Guenthroth (03:38):
We've actually linked it in a couple weeks,
which I don't recall, but we'lldo it on this one anyway.
We will.
Yeah, well, I mean, in myopinion, most people, there is
an exception to every rule whenI talk, it's everything's a
generalization in life.
Like there's always ageneralization, there's going to
be minority that don't fallinto that category.
But generally speaking,everyone knows that saving is
good.
So I'm saying, generallyspeaking, everyone knows that
(04:00):
like murder is not good, right?
Yes.
Yes.
But there is those people thatwill do it.
Speaking of which, themurderers.
Gee, we're taking it.
We have taken a turn.
Well, that links directly intowhere I'm going with this, that
behavioral issues cause a bit ofissues with savings, you know.
Discipline, structure, thatkind of thing.
(04:20):
So a behavioural issue,murder's an extreme behavioral
issue.
The other one, very modern, abit of discipline and structure
in your life.
Like if you're looking to save,you need discipline, you need
structure, you need a fewdifferent things going.
And a common mental trap thatpeople have is just having one
account for everything, and theygo, Well, this is my account,
(04:41):
I'm saving because uh it's goingup in value every time I get
paid, but they're not actuallycommitting to a savings plan.
Oscar Don (04:48):
Well, if you have money in your bank account
anyway, not actually putting itinto an investment fund or even
just a very low compounding ETF,you are technically losing
money with inflation.
That's that is true.
That is 100%.
But it's funny with withsavings as well, it's you you're
correct, it's all aboutbehavioural, you know,
(05:08):
discipline and structuring andactually dividing where your
money's going because there'ssome people on 60 grand who are
really good savers, and thenthere's people on 200, 300 grand
who are horrible savers andjust burn through it.
So it's funny because you thinkgrowing up that if you have to
have a you have to have a largeincome to to save money, but a
lot of these people who've got ahefty amount of money just burn
(05:30):
it.
Zeke Guenthroth (05:31):
I'm I can attest to the fact and speak on
it.
I'll do it in front of a courtif I have to.
I'll put my hand up, hand onheart, and I'll tell the truth.
Oh.
I've seen some people on notgreat wages save more than I
know with people that are onreally good wages.
Yeah.
And I'm talking really good.
Oscar Don (05:46):
So it is a common thing because it in their mind
they think they're rich.
Yeah, that's right.
So it's like, oh good, I canspend money, I don't have to
stress.
It's like yes, you're rich, butyou're not wealthy.
Zeke Guenthroth (05:56):
Yeah, you go you gotta pull them aside and
go, listen here, no, no, you'rewrong.
Oscar Don (06:00):
A bit of a difference.
Zeke Guenthroth (06:01):
But that takes us on to our first lesson, which
is a big mistake.
Probably my favourite mistaketo talk about is using the same
bank account for savings andspending.
So like one account as in likedifferent buckets.
Number two different bucketbuckets.
Yeah, okay.
I'm talking income comes in,rent goes out, uh spending goes
(06:25):
out, gambling goes out, bills goout, everything.
So it's just like, oh yeah,this one account, it's going up
each week.
But it's really no way to trackyour growth and like anything
you want to hit because you'vegot the instant temptation, it's
like, okay, well, going to buysome beers or whatever.
Oh cool, I've got thirteenhundred dollars, I can spend it.
But that's all you have.
Oscar Don (06:45):
I think that's what I used to do.
Well, I think I remember when Iwas in like year ten or eleven,
I used to go out or early yeartwelve when I was eighteen.
Not sixteen.
Um used to go out and I had theone the one bank account.
I'd like a legal disclaimerthere.
Yeah, yeah, I was 18.
But I used to have the the onebank account.
And I used to slide and I hadmy savings and I just used to
(07:05):
transfer on the night, whichthat's a little bit different,
but even with your savings, Ithink you've got to completely
separate it.
Yeah, it's it is a huge trap.
Because I don't think Iactually grew in terms of my
savings balance for like twoyears because I just kept like
pulling it out on a night out.
I was like, oh, this is atleast I got extra money out of
friends.
Yeah, yeah.
Zeke Guenthroth (07:22):
But um, what I've noticed in today's age,
like when we were younger, is alittle bit easier because if we
had a different bank account,like as in if I had most of my
accounts with CBA and then I hada savings account with
Newcastle permanent, right?
And then I would if I was goingto transfer from Combank to
Newcastle, my savings account,and leave not much in my
(07:43):
spending account, which wasCommonwealth, then if I wanted
to send money back fromNewcastle to Commonwealth so I
could access it on a night outas an impossible decision, it
would take two or three days.
Yeah, it's good.
Now we've got Oscar, we've gotpay ID, you carry your card
everywhere, bing bong bang, ATM,gambles.
Oscar Don (07:58):
Well, you were saying one of your mates is um
transferring their money, their500 bucks a week to a another
friend that they can't getaccess to, which I think is very
smart.
Zeke Guenthroth (08:06):
That is very smart.
Oscar Don (08:08):
So that is also a way if you have an accountability
partner who you know, even likeyour parents or your friends or
someone you can't get the actthe money from quickly, do that
if you're struggling.
Zeke Guenthroth (08:18):
Yeah, there's many different ways.
I would I would personally doeither a an account that doesn't
have OSCO, like you know, adifferent financial institution,
maybe like HSBC or somethinglike that, and or make it so
they have to go to a bank to dowithdrawals, and or put a second
person on it where you bothhave to go to a bank to do
withdrawals, because then it'seventually impossible.
Oscar Don (08:38):
Yeah, this is like if you have no like willpower.
Yeah, it's addictions.
Yeah.
Like this is like most like formyself, I've got one bank
account, I gen, I just got likefour different accounts, and
savings is one of them, and Ijust don't touch it.
But there's other people whocan't do that and just have to
touch it.
Zeke Guenthroth (08:54):
Yeah, so for for those guys out there, I know
a few girlfriends that are outthere and they uh may or may not
get five different days ofgetting packages.
You know, they love an onlineshop, they love to spend money.
If you say, hey, we both got togo to the bank to uh withdraw
funds, you solve that problem.
And for the girls out therethat have boys that love a bit
of Uber Eats or DoorDash ormaybe a little bit of sports bet
(09:18):
here and there, common problem,I know.
Do the exact same thing and youcan hold each other
accountable.
It's way easier.
But if you are disciplined,just be good.
Have a separate account, don'ttransfer.
Oscar Don (09:29):
Just be good.
Zeke Guenthroth (09:29):
Yeah, just be good.
Easy as well.
Oscar Don (09:31):
Yeah, like behavior, good.
Yeah, that's um that's that'snumber one.
But I think that's the mostcommon mistake we've we've seen
in the past.
Yeah, absolutely.
But number two is we've spokenabout it quite a few times.
No structured budget.
So budgeting is is veryimportant, even just figuring
out where your pay is going togo, the money when you divide
it.
Obviously, if you're payingrent, you want to need to pay
(09:52):
your rent so you can havesomewhere to stay.
And then figure out how muchyou're saving, spend any saving
skills, etc.
But without actually havingyour budget and clarity, your
money literally will justdisappear overnight.
It's it's quite funny how thatactually happens.
And people overestimate whatthey should have left.
I think when we did thisepisode, we had a special guest,
actually talked us through histhree-part budgeting method.
(10:15):
Yes, yes, which we agreed onand were actually pretty much
using similarly as well.
So I think they had number onewas fixed non-discretionary, so
you know, your rent, insurancebills, things that you have to
spend your money on.
So these are non-negotiables.
And then you've got your yourvariable and non-discretionary,
so you know, your petrol, yourfood, your tolls, and then the
(10:39):
third part of your budgeting,you've got your discretionary.
So your fund spending, yoursocial spending, and all your
subscriptions.
Zeke Guenthroth (10:46):
Yes.
Oscar Don (10:47):
So they are the three main parts of a budget.
Zeke Guenthroth (10:51):
Yeah, so with that, you want to ultimately
figure out what portion of yourincome do you want to allocate
to each one.
Yeah.
But then also in that, what weneed to mention as well is a
part four of that budgetingmethod.
Non-discretionary, so what hasto happen?
You've got your variablenon-discretionary.
So again, what has to happen,but they vary per week, and then
your discretionary is you justhaving a bit of fun doing this,
(11:14):
that, and the other.
Um but part four is yoursavings, obviously.
Savingslash investments.
Yeah, so you need to figure outthen, okay, well, my fixed to
non-discretionary is X amount ofmy pay per week, break it down
weekly, fortnightly, monthly,however frequently you get paid
to make it easier for you toactually track for yourself.
But you want to figure out thatfirst and see if there's any
(11:36):
way you can reduce that.
Because if that's 70%, you'realready bugging.
So you want to drop that as lowas you can, but that is what it
is.
Then you want to look at yourvariable non-discretionary and
drop that as much as you can,but figure out how much that is
as well.
Now you might be at a combinedrate of say 60%.
So that's your housing, yourfood, your bills, insurance,
(11:56):
petrol, tolls, whatever it be.
And then you've got 40% leftfor your last two, which is
discretionary spending, all yourfun, partying, subscriptions,
Netflix, all of that kind ofthing, ice cream, all the fun
stuff.
And then savings.
So then you want to figure outokay, what portion do I want
going to each of them?
That's a you decision.
(12:16):
I personally, when I was goinghard in the savings and really
trying to get things going, Iwould do virtually no
discretionary spending.
Yeah, I'd partially puteverything into savings and I'd
put it straight in an investmentbecause then it's like, okay, I
actually can't do anything.
If I want it, I have to sellshares and I'm not going to sell
at a loss.
And it's going to take two daysto hit my account anyway.
(12:37):
So I guess I'm just stuckreally having no money.
There you go.
Oscar Don (12:41):
And that works great.
Yeah.
But I think a main factor withthis one when you are fearing
out, especially with yoursavings, automate these
transfers is probably theeasiest way because then it's a
consistent deposit coming toyour account.
So even if you there's so manydifferent share, like for
example, Comsec has ComsecPocket and you can do automated
transfers every week,fortnightly, or monthly.
(13:02):
So you could literally justput, you know, after playing
around with the compoundinterest calculator and figuring
out that you need to put $100 aweek to hit your goal in 20
years, you could just put $100 aweek automated into your
account.
And then all of a sudden youwon't even realize it's
happened.
And then three, four, fiveyears later, you look at it and
happy days.
You're you're you're hittingyour goals.
Yeah.
(13:22):
That's the same with alldifferent accounts, like your
savings, even your bills.
Make it easier for yourself soyou don't have to actually go
out of the way and you mightforget some weeks.
So if you said and forget,that's the easiest way to do it.
Zeke Guenthroth (13:36):
Yeah, exactly.
And if you're doing thatstrategy of getting investments
going, this isn't arecommendation on any form of
investment platform or anythinglike that.
We're not able to do such on apodcast.
However, back in the day when Iwas doing it, when I was
playing around with reallyminimum dollars, I used Comsec
Pocket because I think it waslike a $2 transaction fee.
(13:56):
And there's no minimum amount.
The minimum was $100.
Oscar Don (13:59):
Oh, well now I think it's I don't think there is.
Zeke Guenthroth (14:02):
Oh, okay.
But then when I started gettingto the bigger dollars, we're
talking, I was doing thousandsat a time or whatever, I moved
on to IG trading because theirbrokerage fee was only like $8 a
transaction, whereas Comsecback then I think was $20.
So double check all of that,but that's what I personally
did.
Before we get on to numberthree, I've actually just
received a ridiculous email thatI know we said we weren't going
(14:25):
to look at the phones, but thisis outrageous stuff, and you've
got to you've got you're gonnalove this.
Get it up.
So I've just had the the bankbill valuation on a client's
property, right?
Because yeah, refining andpurchasing some more property.
This was bought in 2023 at theepic, right?
Late 2023 for about 740k.
(14:46):
The valuation from threedifferent banks has just come
back at 1.2 million.
So in two years and what three,four months it's gone up.
The math on that is 60%.
Oscar Don (15:03):
That will be on our Instagram tonight.
That will be on our Instagramtonight.
I'm making a post after this.
60% capital growth in twoyears, basically.
Yeah, that is let's not have itoff you.
Yeah, if you're if you followthe property investment
industry, that is very, verygood numbers.
Well, exceptionally well.
And guys, that is that's whathappens when you have a dream
(15:24):
team.
We're talking investmentproperty consultants, talking
conveyances, brokers,accountants if need be.
If you're wanting to getsimilar results or get into the
property market, that's up.
Zeke Guenthroth (15:35):
Yeah, wow.
Well, that is what we do.
This is an episode on saving,and this is a kickstart up to
getting to a position whereyou've got the capital and the
savings and the investments totake that next leap, which is
getting the investment propertyor the family home.
So literally get this.
Oscar Don (15:51):
You could be on the how could you save like 400 to
500k in two years?
That's pretty much you justcan't.
I'm still processing that 50%of it.
That is insane.
Wow.
That's probably one of our bestactual performances, I think,
in a while.
Zeke Guenthroth (16:06):
That is outrageous.
That is we had two clients nextdoor to each other that both
get it.
Oscar Don (16:10):
Yeah.
So that's a that's a that's athat's a uh moment when you you
tap yourself on the back andsay, I'm I'm glad we did that.
Zeke Guenthroth (16:17):
Yeah, I'm gonna get a massage tonight, and the
whole time I'm gonna bethinking, wow, well done.
I think we'll go to the pocketno loss.
Why not do better?
Yeah, fair enough.
I don't even know if that's howyou pronounce it, but um just
picture me with a littlesombrero on on my head, the
mustache, a couple of pistols,yelling more chili.
I am now Mexican.
Oscar Don (16:35):
I love I I am on uh I was on day number 55 on
Duolingo for Spanish, and now Iuh on day three.
So I'll get back there.
That's uh yes, in terms ofMexican, I can speak speaking of
a little bit of discipline.
Zeke Guenthroth (16:48):
There you go, that's a discipline failure.
Yes.
Mistake number three leavingmoney idle in cash, as the Don
mentioned earlier.
If you don't have your moneyinvested in something, inflation
is going to erode it, destroyit, decimate it, pump it,
terminate it, and send it allthe way down to the grave.
It's just gonna go down anddown and down.
Oscar Don (17:09):
And you may be thinking, but my balance isn't
dropping.
Like your bank balance in yoursavings isn't going to actually
drop.
Like you're not gonna losemoney technically in your bank
account, but when you put itagainst inflation, for what it's
actually worth, that's whereyou lose the value of the money.
So you're better off.
Obviously, speak to financialadvisor or planner or um do your
(17:32):
own research because there's somany platforms online now where
you can figure out a safe youknow investment to shares, so
many different index ETFs tochoose from just to get your
money actually working for you.
And if you're uh if your goalis to purchase a property down
the track with your money, well,how can you fast track your
cash right now to propel youinto that?
(17:53):
Like physique, for example, weall know when he did his
property, he put all his moneyinto shares for a year or this
is just a year.
Well, yeah, I had my mystoryline was and then you made
a bit of money there and thenyou pushed it through to the
property.
Zeke Guenthroth (18:07):
Yeah, I I was saving from 16 to 18 because you
can't actually do anythingelse.
But my my timeline was I wasnot in a rush.
I didn't need a house, I didn'tneed anything, I was just big
chilling and just doing what Icould.
I was just getting them by.
Um I was out here being theboring guy.
So what I did was I saved forthose two years.
(18:30):
And if I were if I was doing itagain today, there's many
different ways I'd go, and I'llget into that shortly.
But I saved for two yearsbecause I wasn't 18 yet.
When I hit 18, I then startedinvesting in shares.
The reason I did that, I didn'thave anything coming up.
If I had something coming up in12 months, I probably wouldn't
have done that because yourtimeline is going to impact it.
(18:51):
Like if shares go down in sixmonths and I need that money in
twelve months, then I might beselling at a loss.
Yeah, you got it in a goodtime.
Yeah, I had unlimited time.
I could do whatever I wanted.
So I just pumped shares.
That probably happened forabout two, two and a half years
because COVID came and you know,had to be a bit smart about
that.
And then I pulled that out andthrew it in the property as a
(19:12):
deposit and so on.
But realistically, if you'redoing it today, and again, not
financial advice, but what youwant to do is take a look at
what are my goals and when arethey.
If you're on a short timeframe, then it may not be
appropriate to put it intoshares or crypto, for example,
because if in 12 months' time,if the shares go down or the
(19:32):
crypto goes down, you don't havethe time to recover it because
you need it at that point intime.
Like if you've got a a landsettlement coming up to build
your home, and you're like, Ineed this money for the deposit,
or to settle the land orwhatever it is, be dubbed the
week before.
Yeah, then you're gonna beshort, you're gonna get
settlement penalties, contractpenalties, termination
penalties, legal fees, and soon.
(19:54):
So you need to think aboutthat.
If it's longer term, likethree, five years, ten years,
then shares may be appropriate.
Again, they may not, it's up toyour financial advisor in that
circumstance.
But you need to figure out whatyou're doing because ultimately
inflation, let's call it threepercent per year.
If you're not making more thanthree percent per year on that
money, you're losing money.
(20:15):
Which most banks give youaround one percent, so you're
technically negative two.
Yeah, well, I mean it dependswhat you're doing.
If you're in a higher, higherinterest savings, you may get
like three, four, five, gettingsix, seven, eight virtually
non-existent.
But yeah, if even if you'regetting three percent, you
you're just sort of maintainingyour money.
You may as well just have acash sitting under your
mattress, like it's sort ofpointless.
(20:35):
So, yeah, not really useful.
I personally would be investingit, otherwise it's just
disappearing.
Yeah, that's all I've got tosay on the back.
Oscar Don (20:44):
Well, yeah, because I did it the other way around.
I um I had money going intoshares, but I was also saving
the majority of my cash in likemy bank account, which if I had
my time again, I wouldn't havedone.
I would have invested heavilyin shares when I was 18.
But that also shows as wellbecause I bought my property
what three, four years afteryou.
Yeah.
So, you know, you there's stilltwo ways, but definitely if you
(21:05):
do want to get in quicker, youneed to make your money work for
you.
Whatever that is, it's up toyou and who you speak to.
But but yeah, sitting in yourbank account and just cash is
not the best way to do it.
Zeke Guenthroth (21:17):
Well, it's like it's like that client.
I just preferred him as Mr.
Feathersword.
You know the one I'm talkingabout.
He uh feathersword.
I don't know why I went there,but it it I guess it sounds like
the name.
Yeah, that's uh yeah.
But he had like he he saved upfor his whole home.
Like I'm talking 700 grand overover like a 15-20 year period.
(21:40):
I'm like, bro, you would havelost literally so much money to
inflation if you had thatinvested in shares, like your
timeline would have been waybetter.
And even if you didn't buy theproperty, you just left it in
shares, it would be worth overtwo million now.
Oscar Don (21:54):
Like it's just crazy, like high sides, that's an
insane thing with what itespecially when it comes to
property.
Yeah, it's now yeah, it iscooked.
Zeke Guenthroth (22:01):
Yeah, and I I always, if I'm doing an an
investment plan and saving, Iwon't throw absolutely
everything into the investment.
Like I know I said I've got myspending account and I would
minimise that by putting it allinto the savings and shares, but
I would have a separate accountpurely of savings.
Didn't have like a three-monththreshold, like a rainy day
(22:23):
fund.
Oscar Don (22:23):
Yeah, I say and I've spoken about it on my my recent
solo episodes, how important arainy day fund is.
Exactly.
But this it moves on to numberfour, which saving for
consumption instead of wealth.
So, for example, saving for aholiday is not savings, it's
delayed spending.
It's as we used to say, it'skicking the tin down the road.
(22:43):
Remember that old saying?
I do.
So it's the same as like savingfor a new car, saving for you
know a shopping spree, justsaving for things which aren't
you know, investing in yourfuture or or gonna help you pay
you an income down the track.
It's purely for consumption andmaterialist materialistic
items.
Zeke Guenthroth (23:02):
So it's like when we meet a client, we go,
oh, how much are you saving peryear?
And we we know it's zerobecause their savings account is
zero.
And we're like, how much areyou save per year?
And they're like, Oh, you know,like 15 grand.
I'm like, so you're 40 yearsold.
You save 15 grand a year, yoursavings account's got $800 in
it.
Can you just explain that a bitfurther?
Yeah, how does that work?
(23:23):
Oh, yeah, we we went on aholiday this year, and last year
we bought a car, and the yearbefore that we went on a
holiday.
I'm like, okay, so you don'tactually save anything.
Oscar Don (23:30):
Yeah, like you spend it.
It's fine to have like goals tosave for a holiday, but have
different accounts like what wesaid earlier.
Have an actual wealth-buildingaccount where pure money goes
into for saving purposes foryour future you, and then maybe
have a little account forholidays or a new car.
But don't just put all yoursavings into a for a holiday or
a new car because as soon asthat holiday's finished, yeah,
(23:52):
you might have had a good time,but you get back to work and
it's you're back from you knowsquare one.
It's like a um I know a couplewho who's got married 12 months
ago and they literally took outloans for the whole wedding.
We're talking like six-figureloans.
And then they hadn't haven'tgot they didn't have any assets
(24:13):
or anything for that togethereither.
Oh no.
And then they're like, oh well,it may as well get another loan
out for the honeymoon.
I don't know how everyoneelse's money spending makes me
screwed.
Zeke Guenthroth (24:22):
So I I just took out all the um the edge,
WWE, about to do a spear, brushthe hair bucket over my face.
Oscar Don (24:28):
But they took out loan for the wedding and the
honeymoon, and then they getback to work, and all of a
sudden, starting from scratch.
Like, yeah, we're married, butwe're starting from zero.
That's crazy now.
What the hell?
I I felt sick.
Yeah.
And that that alone I thinkthat's a very extreme example
though.
Like that's I don't thinkthat's I don't think that's
(24:49):
often common.
I mean, it may be kind ofsurprised by that.
Zeke Guenthroth (24:53):
But that like even though I think about it
sometimes, don't get me wrong,I'm by no means like absolutely
silly with money.
Um you were gonna spend no, no,I would never spend that.
But if we're if we're goingalong like the train of figuring
out where money goes and thatkind of thing and how it builds
up.
Yes, obviously I save.
Yes, I have an idea of whatwe're doing financially and
(25:16):
stuff.
But even just thinking likemoney that I've spent on say
holidays or something, or like II bought my car in cash
obviously is like 50 grand orwhatever.
I didn't get a loan oranything, smart financial
decision.
But even I am in a mindsetwhere I think back to that,
which is like what two yearsago, three years ago, it's like
(25:37):
50 grand on a car, like yeah,sure, it's a brand new car, it's
gonna last me a long time.
I'm gonna run it into theground because I'm money savvy.
But that 50 grand invested intosay shares or something, when
I'm running a 46% return thisyear, like not even counting
last year, you know, that wouldbe worth at least 75 grand today
(25:59):
of that cash.
Then you throw in like what Ispent on say holidays or parties
or gifts to people or whatever,we'd be talking like a good
maybe 150, 200k all up that Icould have made in that time
frame.
And it's like I kick myselfabout it.
Yeah.
And so I mean, yeah, it's it'sridiculous.
(26:19):
You you don't realise I mean,you might, but when you think
about the level of money youactually spend, and then you
forward calculate that into whatit could be, like that it could
be that amount for me between150, 200 grand in a two-year
period.
So imagine three, four, five,imagine in 20 years, it'd be
like nearly a million.
Oscar Don (26:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway.
And then what can you do withthat million?
Cool.
There's a lot of things you cando.
Zeke Guenthroth (26:46):
Yeah, there is.
But realistically, the wholepoint of this one is saying,
cool, you can save up fortemporary happiness, holidays,
cars, whatever, but you alsoneed to be actually saving and
generating wealth.
You need to have that an actualsaving account.
Yeah.
Yeah, because saving for aholiday is not saving, it's
delaying spending.
Saving for wealth is saving.
(27:09):
Which brings us to number five.
A lack of automation.
We've kind of spoke about italready.
We have.
But real simple, we don'tactually need to talk about that
one.
Just split money up, automateit, have it go here and there
and there, know where it'sgoing, and let it run, let it
run its course.
Oscar Don (27:25):
Yeah, literally, like I was a few years ago, I always
found that for Christmas time,especially, I was spending so
much money when it came to itfor buying gifts for people that
might have been, you know, thewhole period I spent five, six
hundred bucks.
I love a gift.
Like getting them for people.
So do I.
But like, and then I getexcited and buy more, like, and
spend more money.
So I was like, I don't actuallyhave this money set aside.
(27:46):
So now, what I figured out isat the start of each year, I
figured out all right, I needaround 800 bucks for Christmas
time.
So divide that by how manyweeks in the year, and then I
just automate spending everysingle week into this Christmas
account, and then come Christmastime, I've got all the money
there.
So this Christmas gonna be abreeze.
I've got cash sitting there andjust ready to go.
Because the whole year it'sjust been automating my
(28:08):
deposits.
So happy days.
Zeke Guenthroth (28:10):
Yeah, this we're coming up on when Santa
comes around in about a monthand a bit.
And I haven't actually gotanyone anything yet.
True, literally is just over amonth.
Could this be the year that Ihold back?
December's gonna be a goodmonth.
Could I be a good man and getno one anything?
I highly doubt it.
Well, we're gonna have to waitand see.
Oscar Don (28:31):
Final big point.
Yep.
The final big point, ignoringdebt before you actually start
saving.
So common error is startingyour savings journey while
you're still carrying that high,hefty credit card debt that
you're struggling to pay off.
So if you're paying 18 to 20%on your credit card, and then
you're also trying to save,well, I hate to say it, but one,
(28:54):
you're probably not going to besaving much.
And two, you're probably notgoing to be paying off your debt
much because you can't jugglethe two.
Firstly, that the number onething you have to do if you do
have credit card debt is get ridof that as soon as possible.
You might, you know, if you'reputting aside 400 bucks a
fortnight into savings, pullthat into your credit card, make
(29:14):
extra repayments because youwant to be debt-free in terms of
bad debt, as like personalloans, credit cards, etc.,
before you do anything in termsof you know your savings.
And there's quite a fewdifferent methods to this in
terms of removing the debt oncredit cards, like a snowball
method and avalanche method.
We have spoken about thembefore, but definitely if you
(29:36):
have debt, even if it's athousand bucks or three or four
thousand, put a plan together toactually knock that out first.
Zeke Guenthroth (29:44):
Yeah, I mean, I don't have too much to add to
that.
I'm going to keep it verysimple on that point.
The way that I calculate whatdebt is going to be repaid for
people if we're looking atdifferent avenues of generating
money or saving money, repayingdebt, that kind of thing.
If your interest rate is higherthan what you can generate,
(30:05):
prioritize paying it off.
So for example, if a mortgageis 4% but shares can return 9%,
then 9% minus 4% is 5%.
You've got a 5% net gain fromthe shares in that aspect.
Whereas if it's a 12% interestrate on the debt, for example, a
credit card, and you can onlygenerate 8 or 9% with shares,
(30:29):
then the 12% is higher than theshares.
So it's going to cost you 3%more.
So that's a simple way ofcalculating it.
It's literally that easy.
Figure it out.
Do your own research, talk toplanners, and take the leap from
there.
There is a couple of additionallittle tips and tricks.
(30:51):
Or things to talk about.
Just to rattle off a couple,and we're not going to dive into
these because they're the mainones we wanted to talk about.
But lifestyle creep is a hugeissue.
Simply put, when your incomegoes up, your spending does not
need to go up with it.
Oscar Don (31:07):
Yep, that's a very common thing that happens.
Simple.
Then we got uh psychological.
So, you know, using mentalaccounting, naming accounts by
purpose increases yourcommitment.
So let's say you have a savingsaccount and you you go in 12 to
18 months to buy a house, youcan simply name that account
future house deposit.
And you know, if you areputting money aside for a
(31:28):
holiday, this can be yourholiday account.
So that will actually visualizeit for yourself as well and
give you a bit of urgency andwant you to keep saving because
at the end of the day, savingsis actually fun.
Yeah, small wins.
Zeke Guenthroth (31:40):
Celebrate them.
If you get to your first 1ksaved and you've saved nothing
ever, that's a huge win.
When you get to 5k, thenanother huge win.
And if you pump yourself up,like, oh yes, I reached my goal
of 1k, how good is that?
And you genuinely make yourselffeel good about it, you get up
and about, you you know, tellyour friends, your family, or
whatever, oh you know, I've justgot my first K saved or
(32:01):
whatever, or I've just got myfirst 5k, 10k.
If you're a big baller, itmight be 100k or whatever, 1
mil.
Yeah, then celebrate it.
That's how you keep propellingyourself to success.
If you just go, oh yeah, I'm at50k, like you're not gonna be
up and about.
Get up and about.
Oscar Don (32:17):
Agreed.
And then you know, we've got acategory for tools.
So this is where you there'sbudget-friendly apps out there
and websites.
And even if you just Googlebudget tools online, there'll be
plenty that come up, likeWineNab, Pocketbook, Money
Brilliant, heaps of differentpeople as well just give away
their Excel spreadsheets onlinefor free.
So you can download templates,that's what I've got, and you
(32:37):
just save a copy as your own andthen put your own numbers in.
But there's so many differentplatforms out there for you to
simplify your budget becauseit's not as complicated as it
sounds.
When you hear about budgeting,it does sound pretty intense,
but it's very easy.
So don't overcomplicate it.
Zeke Guenthroth (32:54):
Exactly.
And that's all of the savingschips we have for today.
But our next episode is goingto be a direct correlation.
So now that you understandsavings and how to do that and
start generating some investmentincome and that kind of thing,
the next one along in this quickseries is going to be compound
interest.
So, how do we take that savingamount and the savings you're
(33:14):
generating, and how do wecompound them into the next
episode after that, saving yourfirst hundred K.
So it's gonna be a step one,step two, step three.
We love it.
And you're really gonna startbuilding that income.
Keep tuned in, keep listening,keep growing, keep investing.
DALA.
See you next week.
Well, that is the end of theepisode.
(33:35):
We hope you enjoyed it, and ifyou did, you know exactly what
to do.
Oscar Don (33:39):
Hit that follow button, like button, subscribe,
share it to your friends,families, or even a coworker.
Zeke Guenthroth (33:45):
If you're really feeling generous, you
could send it off to an ex.
But catch you next time.
Hope you enjoyed it.
DALI.
Oscar Don (33:51):
Ciao.
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For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
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