September 14, 2025 • 22 mins
We tackle the concept of "unexpected" bills that aren't actually unexpected at all, but rather irregular expenses we can and should plan for to avoid financial stress and debt.
• One in three Australians couldn't cover a $500 emergency without borrowing money
• The average Australian household spends over $1,200 annually on "unexpected" bills
• Car costs average $10,000 per year—nearly $200 weekly for registration, insurance, servicing, and fuel
• Health expenses average $4,000 per year for the typical Australian household
• Homeowners spend approximately $5,000 annually on repairs and maintenance
• Australians waste $660 yearly on unused subscriptions
• The average household spends $1,200 on Christmas each year
• Almost half of Australians have less than $3,000 in savings
• Creating dedicated savings "buckets" for each category transforms financial stress into confidence
• Automating just $20 weekly builds over $1,000 in 12 months for irregular expenses
Grab a notebook, write down five irregular expenses that have blindsided you in the past, then set up a dedicated fund for just one of them. Automate $10-20 weekly transfers to build your fund, then gradually add more categories over time to go from reactive to proactive with your finances.
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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 y
🎧 Enjoyed this episode?
Follow us on Instagram @zekeguenthrothofficial @oscardonproperty and @assetroad for daily insights, property breakdowns, and behind-the-scenes updates.
Explore more at www.assetroad.com.au
Top 10 Finance Podcasts in Australia on Feedspots ranking- https://podcast.feedspot.com/australian_personal_finance_podcasts/
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.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Did you know that one in three Australians couldn't
cover a $500 emergency withoutborrowing money, or that the
average household spends over$1.2k a year on unexpected bills
?
The truth is, they're notunexpected at all.
They're just irregular Car rego, dentist visits, christmas home
repairs.
They're guaranteed to happen,but most people never prepare
(00:23):
for them.
In this week's episode, I'mbreaking down the exact expenses
you should be saving for andhow to set up simple funds that
turn panic into peace of mind.
Stop letting bills control you.
Start preparing for them.
(00:50):
Welcome back to another episodeof the Finance Bible Podcast,
zeke here and your co-host,oscar.
But before we get into it,please note that nothing in this
podcast should ever beconsidered as personal financial
advice.
Of course, if that is what youare seeking, reach out.
We'll get you in touch with thecorrect professionals.
Get the job done properly.
Sit back, relax and enjoy theshow.
(01:13):
Let's get into it.
Let me ask you something.
When was the last time anunexpected bill absolutely
ruined your week?
Maybe your car rego landed inyour inbox and you weren't ready
for it.
Maybe your washing machinestopped working right when you
thought you were on top of yourbudget.
Or maybe Christmas came aroundpretty quick and you swore you'd
(01:36):
only spend a few hundred bucks,but somehow you ended up, you
know, two to $3,000 down.
Here's the truth.
Studies show one in threeAustralians would not be able to
cover a $500 emergency withoutborrowing money from someone or
using a credit card One in threepeople, which is ridiculous.
(01:57):
And the thing is, it's notbecause they're reckless, it's
because most of us don't planfor the irregular expenses that
we know are coming.
So today, this episode's allabout breaking down the expenses
that you must be saving for ifyou want to stop living in that
endless cycle of financialstress.
We'll talk about the mostimportant costs and probably the
(02:21):
most common costs, such as yourcar, if you have a car.
Your car costs your medicalbills, home repairs, all your
subscriptions in a world whereeveryone is obsessed with
technology and Netflix and Stan,all those streaming services,
but also life events and, ofcourse, the all-important
emergency fund, which we'vespoken about many times.
(02:44):
So I'm hoping, if you've beenlistening to this for three,
four years, hopefully by now youhave built an emergency fund
for these reasons.
And here's the thing Once youunderstand these categories and
start saving for them, moneystops being scary.
You'll pay those bills withconfidence, not with fear, and
(03:04):
you can move on in life.
It's as simple as that.
And it's such a simple shift,and when you do shift it and you
actually save these events,life becomes a lot easier for
yourself.
So, number one, what we'regoing to talk about is why
planning for expenses actuallymatters.
Here's the problem with mostbudgets they're too
(03:24):
short-sighted.
You might be budgeting for aweek, but it's not consistent.
You might know for a fact thatyou've overspent the last couple
of months and you put a budgettogether and, yeah, you might
have a couple good weeks, butthen all of a sudden, you get
invited to a friend's drinks andthen you get a bit carried away
, and then next weekend ithappens again.
Then you go out for dinner andthen your friends want to go on
(03:46):
a trip.
Then, all of a sudden, becauseyou've got a credit card, you
haven't really thought about theramifications and you've just
spent a lot of money that you donot have.
And then your bills come.
Your car rego is due next weekand then all of a sudden it's
creeping up and this bigsnowball of debt has begun and
now you need to start paying itdown.
So, as I mentioned, most peopleonly plan for what's due this
(04:08):
week or this month.
So you're talking about rent,groceries, utilities.
The problem is, life does notrun on a monthly cycle.
According to Finder, theaverage Australian forks out
more than 1.2k a year onunexpected bills, and 60% of
that and 60% admit they putthose costs straight on a credit
(04:32):
card because they do not havethe money set aside.
And the issue is if you don'thave a credit card, well, you
are not in luck, because how areyou going to pay for this bill
If you're not even putting moneyaside in your savings?
This is where people borrowmoney from loved ones and
friends, and it can get a bitmessy.
So just think about it.
For a second $1,000 or $1.2,000, that could be a holiday, an
(04:57):
interstate holiday could be toput towards investment or some
shares or your extra mortgagerepayments, but instead, because
people don't plan ahead, itbecomes debt and it's 1.2 grand
that you've just basicallywasted and given away.
If you reframe it, it canchange the way you look at
things.
Here's the reframe.
None of these are trulyunexpected, they're just
(05:20):
irregular, and if something isirregular but guaranteed, then
you can, and you also should,prepare for it.
Now the categories that you mustsave for can vary from
individual to individual, basedon if you have a car, if you
have TV subscriptions.
But this is just based on theaverage Australian, where a lot
of individuals do have cars andsubscriptions.
(05:43):
So, number one we'll talk aboutcar costs.
So cars are one of the biggestsilent budget killers.
It's pretty obvious Peopletreat car expenses like
surprises, which is crazy,because when you buy a car, you
should know that you're going topay your rego, your insurance,
your petrol, your diesel on aregular basis.
(06:03):
But, yeah, people treat these assurprises, as well as their car
insurance and servicing.
But they're all predictable assurprises.
Literally is the sun coming up.
So before you get a car, ifyou're thinking about getting a
car, you need to calculate toyour month or your fortnight or
the week that you get paid onyour pay cycle, how much to put
(06:25):
aside so that when your car regoor your insurance or your
service comes up, you can putmoney into it, as opposed to
using a credit card or borrowingmoney that you don't have.
Because here's a statistic theaverage Australian spends over
10 grand a year of just owningand running a car.
That's your fuel, your rego,your servicing, your insurance,
(06:47):
everything together and if youbreak the damn weekly, it's
nearly $200 a week.
So just on that alone and let'ssay 10 grand is the average so
you might be below that or alittle bit above it, but if
that's you, then it's simple.
You need to put aside at least$200 a week into a car account
to cover you in case anythingdoes happen to your car.
(07:10):
So why do we act shocked whenthe rego bill comes or when the
mechanic tells us you need newbrakes?
You subconsciously know it'scoming, so save for it.
Even ten dollars, twentydollars a week into a car fund
helps.
When you need to pay for theseexpenses, the more you put it
(07:30):
off if you can't afford it.
You know your car is slowlybreaking in a way, because if
you need a service ASAP and thenall of a sudden you can't
afford it for 12 months, wellyou're driving a car that's
overdue 12 months for a serviceand depending what car you have
and how old it is, this couldliterally make or break your car
.
So really think about it.
(07:52):
The second category that youmust save for is medical and
health costs.
According to the ABS, theaverage Australian household
spends about four grand a yearon health expenses.
That includes prescriptions, gpvisits, dentist bills, physios,
health insurance gaps, and youmight think, if you can't afford
these checkups, that skippingthe dentist seems like saving
(08:16):
money until it's not until youneed to get a filling, so
someone might avoid a $200checkup and then all of a sudden
they need the $2,000 root canal.
So these medical and healthcosts are so important,
especially when we're in a worldwhere, as our last episode Zeke
was talking about, had junkfoods now cheaper than actual
(08:37):
health foods like fruit andveggies, because everyone is
going to the junk food.
So this is where your healthbecomes so important to get
regular checkups.
Health costs are not inevitable, they're not emergencies,
they're life, they're part oflife.
You need to get checked up whenyou're not feeling well, when
you need antibiotics, when youneed to go to the dentist.
(08:57):
If you've got a sore knee fromsport, go to the physio.
You need to do it.
It is literally non-negotiable.
The third category are homeexpenses, because they are
brutal, because they can oftencome out of nowhere.
This is for individuals whohave a home.
A lot of Australians now arerenting because the barrier to
(09:21):
entry is so high at the moment,with the cost of living,
depending where you're wantingto buy.
So a lot of individuals arerentvesting, which we love.
But yeah, even when you'rerentvesting with your investment
property, some home expensesmay come up.
But if you're renting and youdon't have an investment, this
might not apply to you.
So for the homeowners, researchshows the average homeowner
(09:44):
spends around five grand a yearjust on repairs for their house.
So this is your hot watersystem, your roof might be
leaking, you might have a brokenair con unit.
The list can go on.
Literally can be anything.
And for renters, let's just putyou guys into the category.
Might look a little bitdifferent, but we might be
(10:06):
talking about furniturereplacement, moving fees if
you're moving, rentals, contentsinsurance, but yeah, they're
just as real as the homeownersspending the five grand.
This is not optional.
So when these expenses come up,let's say your hot water
system's broken.
This is not an optional thingto decide if you're going to fix
(10:27):
it or not.
You want to fix it, you need tofix it.
So this is why home expensesdeserves its own fund.
You need to have a fund forhome expenses deserves its own
fund.
You need to have a fund forhome expenses if you're a
homeowner and if you're a renterwho wants to move every 12
months, or even buying newfurniture, it's not silly to
have your own account as well.
(10:48):
Fourth category annualsubscriptions and memberships.
These fly under the radar, butthey add up very quickly.
You might see in your directdebits coming out every month or
fortnightly, $15, $20.
And at the time that's easy,that's not much happening at all
.
But if you've got five, six,seven, eight subscriptions
individually with $15, all of asudden you've got a hefty amount
(11:10):
of subscriptions.
So we're talking about gymmemberships, netflix, spotify,
amazon Prime, even software andprofessional memberships.
On average, australians spend$660 a year on unused
subscriptions alone Unused.
So these are subscriptions thatyou're forgetting you even have
.
For me, I found out the otherweek that I have still
(11:32):
subscribed to hey you.
I used to love watching a fewshows on hey you, but I haven't
watched that for probably 12months.
So I then yeah, I was caughtout by myself had to cancel this
subscription.
But that just shows that theydo go under the radar and I
might have more subscriptionsthat I'm not aware of, hence why
I keep looking when I've gotfree time.
(11:53):
But $660 a year on unusedsubscriptions is ridiculous.
So what I've been doing in thepast and what might help you is
put them in a calendar, add themto your budget and either
cancel what you don't use orplan for what you do.
It's as simple as that.
Number five this is something wespoke about at the start of the
(12:13):
year I think it was a Januaryepisode that I recorded and it's
about life events, presents,christmas presents, birthday
presents.
They're not surprises For theindividuals that you normally
get presents for.
You know that their birthdayhappens once a year.
You know Christmas is once ayear.
So, yeah, you need to planahead for these things.
(12:37):
The average Aussie householdspends around 1.2K on Christmas
each year, as mentioned before.
That's including, you know,your gifts, your food, your
travel, but every December,millions of people panic, max
out their credit cards literallyand spend the next three months
paying it off.
So you need to figure out,based on what you normally spend
(13:04):
per person in terms ofindividual's presents or
Christmas presents.
How much is it?
If it's $1,000 for the wholeyear, you need to put aside $20
a week, give or take.
If it's $2,000, you normallyput aside, you need to calculate
$38 to $40 a week for the wholeyear.
But you need to reversecalculate and put money aside.
(13:24):
So when you've got your account, let's say it's your Christmas
account, and when Christmascomes you might have the 1.2K
already in there or the twogrand.
So when you're actuallyspending the money it doesn't
hurt you and it doesn't actuallyfeel like you're using money
that you have because you haveplanned for this.
You knew that this was coming,so it's just reverse calculation
(13:45):
.
So this year, christmas time ifyou don't already have this
figure out how much money youare spending on gifts and then,
as soon as January turns aroundevery week, put money aside to
calculate up to that totalamount.
So when Christmas comes nextyear you are ready to go.
You're all good.
(14:06):
That's a really important one.
The last one of this topic isobviously the emergency fund.
This is the biggest one in myopinion, but almost half of
Australians have less than$3,000 in savings, which I don't
actually understand how thiscan happen.
Obviously, some people puttheir money into an offset
(14:27):
account or into a property orsome investments, so I'm
assuming this statistic is alsoputting in place that some
people have investments, but youneed money in your savings for
everyday emergencies.
Let's say you have a dog andsomething happens to him.
They get sick and you need togo to the emergency 24 hour vet.
(14:49):
You're probably spending atleast two to three grand alone
on surgery, especially if youdon't have insurance.
You're forking out a little bitmore.
So that means, let's say youonly have $3,000.
If you have to go to theemergency vet or the hospital,
that one visit wipes out yourwhole emergency fund.
So you need more than $3,000 inyour emergency.
(15:13):
Generally, the goal is three tosix months of your living
expenses, but don't let thatnumber scare you.
Three to six months of yourliving expenses, but don't let
that number scare you.
Even $3,000, $4,000 over time,that will give you breathing
room, but whatever gives youpeace of mind, that's the number
you want to hit.
So the question is and it'salways been brought up how do
(15:35):
you actually save for these?
So how do you do it?
Think of them as little bucketsof money for each category we
just talked about.
People who love personalfinance books have probably read
Scott Pape's the BarefootInvestor back in the day.
He talked about little bucketsas well.
That's how I got kind of intoit the ING accounts.
(15:57):
But the trick to all of this andto saving is automation.
So automate it, set upautomatic transfers each week.
You might want to put $10 here,$20 there.
It doesn't feel like much, butover time it definitely does
grow and you're not eventhinking about it.
You just need to make sure thatyour money from your pay goes
into the right account andyou've set it up accordingly.
(16:18):
If you save just $20 a weekinto one of these funds, you'll
have over $1,000 in 12 months.
Double it to $40 a week andthat's two grand.
That's a car, rego, yourdentist and your Christmas
cupboard without a single centof debt when you break it down.
It is so simple.
It is so simple, so easy and sotime efficient and just makes
(16:42):
life a lot easier and simplerfor yourself.
The main issue that we face as acountry and as a society, with
the increased amounts of socialmedia use and just doom
scrolling and a bit of brainrotting activities, is the shift
of your mindset.
(17:03):
That's the most important thing.
And if you can shift yourmindset to this and do it
accordingly, that you're excitedto actually put money aside and
you're excited to hit savingsgoals and you kind of think of
it as a game, that's where youare prepared, that's where it
becomes really enjoyable and yougrow not just individually but
(17:26):
financially, because that's howit starts.
I remember when I startedreally kind of getting into the
money side of things let's sayit was just during COVID or just
after COVID I was loving itputting money aside and seeing
the bank account move up per$1,000.
It started $1,000, $2,000, keptgoing up to $10,000.
(17:50):
And the numbers grew.
And then, when the numbers grew, you had a new goal you wanted
to hit and when you hit thatgoal you wanted to go again.
And then after that you wantedto use that money to invest into
something else.
So shift your mindset into thatand once you shift it, life gets
a lot easier and it's fun.
So you're saving for irregularexpenses won't stop the expenses
(18:12):
from happening.
That's the thing.
But instead of feelingblindsided, you will feel in
control if you put this moneyaside and you plan ahead.
And when you feel in control,control is freedom, because
money isn't about being rich.
If you see online about howpeople want to become rich and
(18:36):
famous, and then their life isgoing to be complete and they're
going to be happy and they'lldie happy.
But you speak to all thesemillionaires and billionaires.
There's so many of them who areconstantly depressed, anxious,
unfortunately committing suicide.
There's so many issuesdrug-related issues as well with
all these celebrities.
(18:56):
So having all this money andbeing rich isn't the end goal.
It's about not panicking whenlife happens.
That's the main thing.
It gives you freedom, control.
It gives you a sense ofcalmness when you know that
you've got the money there.
That's one of the best thingsabout the money side of things
and actually putting money aside, because it gives you time,
(19:20):
which is the most importantthing, and when you get older,
that's the thing you want back,which you can never have back.
So if you look after your money, you put it where you need to
put it, you don't get unexpectedbills and put you back six to
12 months in terms of yourfinance goals.
That's how you're going to growpersonally and financially and
(19:41):
actually hit your goals thatyou've been wanting to hit
forever.
Here's my challenge to you Grabyour notebook notes app on your
phone and write down fiveirregular expenses that in the
past, have blindsided you.
It might be last week, it mightbe yesterday or it might be six
(20:02):
years ago.
Then, from there, once you'vewritten those down, pick just
one of them only one and set upa fund for it.
I might have popped down thattwo years ago my car service
blindsided me when my car brokedown and if I picked that one
(20:23):
individually, I'd then set up anown car fund.
So automate $10 or $20 a weekto that new fund.
So then I'd set up for my pay.
Whenever my pay comes let's sayit's fortnightly then I'd put
20 bucks a fortnight or $40 afortnight, pending how much you
want to do weekly Over time thenyou can slowly add the others
(20:45):
to it.
So you might have, let's sayyou've got six different
blindsides your car, yourinsurance, your dentist, you
might have Christmas, your mom'sbirthday and we'll finish off
with your health insurance.
So over time do add all theothers, because that's how you
go from reactive to proactiveand that's how you go from
(21:09):
stressed to confident.
And remember the stats, becausethe stats are the most important
aspects and guiding point ofwhere you kind of don't want to
be.
That's the average.
You want to be above theaverage.
I'll talk about them againquickly.
One in three Australians cannotcover a $500 emergency.
Half of Australians have lessthan $3,000 saved.
(21:32):
We spend as a country over$1,200 a year each on unexpected
bills.
So do not let yourself be apart of those numbers.
Be the exception.
Prepare, plan and protectyourself, and remember that
money is about freedom, not fear, and freedom comes from
preparation.
(21:52):
But until next time, staydisciplined, stay focused and
keep building and achieving yourgoals.
We hope you enjoyed the episode.
As always, you know exactlywhat to do.
Hit that follow button,subscribe whatever platform you
listen to this podcast on.
Also share it to friends,family, co-workers, whoever you
(22:14):
think may benefit from it.
But unfortunately it's the endand we'll see you next week.
Did you know that one in three Australians couldn't
cover a $500 emergency withoutborrowing money, or that the
average household spends over$1.2k a year on unexpected bills
?
The truth is, they're notunexpected at all.
They're just irregular Car rego, dentist visits, christmas home
repairs.
They're guaranteed to happen,but most people never prepare
(00:23):
for them.
In this week's episode, I'mbreaking down the exact expenses
you should be saving for andhow to set up simple funds that
turn panic into peace of mind.
Stop letting bills control you.
Start preparing for them.
(00:50):
Welcome back to another episodeof the Finance Bible Podcast,
zeke here and your co-host,oscar.
But before we get into it,please note that nothing in this
podcast should ever beconsidered as personal financial
advice.
Of course, if that is what youare seeking, reach out.
We'll get you in touch with thecorrect professionals.
Get the job done properly.
Sit back, relax and enjoy theshow.
(01:13):
Let's get into it.
Let me ask you something.
When was the last time anunexpected bill absolutely
ruined your week?
Maybe your car rego landed inyour inbox and you weren't ready
for it.
Maybe your washing machinestopped working right when you
thought you were on top of yourbudget.
Or maybe Christmas came aroundpretty quick and you swore you'd
(01:36):
only spend a few hundred bucks,but somehow you ended up, you
know, two to $3,000 down.
Here's the truth.
Studies show one in threeAustralians would not be able to
cover a $500 emergency withoutborrowing money from someone or
using a credit card One in threepeople, which is ridiculous.
(01:57):
And the thing is, it's notbecause they're reckless, it's
because most of us don't planfor the irregular expenses that
we know are coming.
So today, this episode's allabout breaking down the expenses
that you must be saving for ifyou want to stop living in that
endless cycle of financialstress.
We'll talk about the mostimportant costs and probably the
(02:21):
most common costs, such as yourcar, if you have a car.
Your car costs your medicalbills, home repairs, all your
subscriptions in a world whereeveryone is obsessed with
technology and Netflix and Stan,all those streaming services,
but also life events and, ofcourse, the all-important
emergency fund, which we'vespoken about many times.
(02:44):
So I'm hoping, if you've beenlistening to this for three,
four years, hopefully by now youhave built an emergency fund
for these reasons.
And here's the thing Once youunderstand these categories and
start saving for them, moneystops being scary.
You'll pay those bills withconfidence, not with fear, and
(03:04):
you can move on in life.
It's as simple as that.
And it's such a simple shift,and when you do shift it and you
actually save these events,life becomes a lot easier for
yourself.
So, number one, what we'regoing to talk about is why
planning for expenses actuallymatters.
Here's the problem with mostbudgets they're too
(03:24):
short-sighted.
You might be budgeting for aweek, but it's not consistent.
You might know for a fact thatyou've overspent the last couple
of months and you put a budgettogether and, yeah, you might
have a couple good weeks, butthen all of a sudden, you get
invited to a friend's drinks andthen you get a bit carried away
, and then next weekend ithappens again.
Then you go out for dinner andthen your friends want to go on
(03:46):
a trip.
Then, all of a sudden, becauseyou've got a credit card, you
haven't really thought about theramifications and you've just
spent a lot of money that you donot have.
And then your bills come.
Your car rego is due next weekand then all of a sudden it's
creeping up and this bigsnowball of debt has begun and
now you need to start paying itdown.
So, as I mentioned, most peopleonly plan for what's due this
(04:08):
week or this month.
So you're talking about rent,groceries, utilities.
The problem is, life does notrun on a monthly cycle.
According to Finder, theaverage Australian forks out
more than 1.2k a year onunexpected bills, and 60% of
that and 60% admit they putthose costs straight on a credit
(04:32):
card because they do not havethe money set aside.
And the issue is if you don'thave a credit card, well, you
are not in luck, because how areyou going to pay for this bill
If you're not even putting moneyaside in your savings?
This is where people borrowmoney from loved ones and
friends, and it can get a bitmessy.
So just think about it.
For a second $1,000 or $1.2,000, that could be a holiday, an
(04:57):
interstate holiday could be toput towards investment or some
shares or your extra mortgagerepayments, but instead, because
people don't plan ahead, itbecomes debt and it's 1.2 grand
that you've just basicallywasted and given away.
If you reframe it, it canchange the way you look at
things.
Here's the reframe.
None of these are trulyunexpected, they're just
(05:20):
irregular, and if something isirregular but guaranteed, then
you can, and you also should,prepare for it.
Now the categories that you mustsave for can vary from
individual to individual, basedon if you have a car, if you
have TV subscriptions.
But this is just based on theaverage Australian, where a lot
of individuals do have cars andsubscriptions.
(05:43):
So, number one we'll talk aboutcar costs.
So cars are one of the biggestsilent budget killers.
It's pretty obvious Peopletreat car expenses like
surprises, which is crazy,because when you buy a car, you
should know that you're going topay your rego, your insurance,
your petrol, your diesel on aregular basis.
(06:03):
But, yeah, people treat these assurprises, as well as their car
insurance and servicing.
But they're all predictable assurprises.
Literally is the sun coming up.
So before you get a car, ifyou're thinking about getting a
car, you need to calculate toyour month or your fortnight or
the week that you get paid onyour pay cycle, how much to put
(06:25):
aside so that when your car regoor your insurance or your
service comes up, you can putmoney into it, as opposed to
using a credit card or borrowingmoney that you don't have.
Because here's a statistic theaverage Australian spends over
10 grand a year of just owningand running a car.
That's your fuel, your rego,your servicing, your insurance,
(06:47):
everything together and if youbreak the damn weekly, it's
nearly $200 a week.
So just on that alone and let'ssay 10 grand is the average so
you might be below that or alittle bit above it, but if
that's you, then it's simple.
You need to put aside at least$200 a week into a car account
to cover you in case anythingdoes happen to your car.
(07:10):
So why do we act shocked whenthe rego bill comes or when the
mechanic tells us you need newbrakes?
You subconsciously know it'scoming, so save for it.
Even ten dollars, twentydollars a week into a car fund
helps.
When you need to pay for theseexpenses, the more you put it
(07:30):
off if you can't afford it.
You know your car is slowlybreaking in a way, because if
you need a service ASAP and thenall of a sudden you can't
afford it for 12 months, wellyou're driving a car that's
overdue 12 months for a serviceand depending what car you have
and how old it is, this couldliterally make or break your car
.
So really think about it.
(07:52):
The second category that youmust save for is medical and
health costs.
According to the ABS, theaverage Australian household
spends about four grand a yearon health expenses.
That includes prescriptions, gpvisits, dentist bills, physios,
health insurance gaps, and youmight think, if you can't afford
these checkups, that skippingthe dentist seems like saving
(08:16):
money until it's not until youneed to get a filling, so
someone might avoid a $200checkup and then all of a sudden
they need the $2,000 root canal.
So these medical and healthcosts are so important,
especially when we're in a worldwhere, as our last episode Zeke
was talking about, had junkfoods now cheaper than actual
(08:37):
health foods like fruit andveggies, because everyone is
going to the junk food.
So this is where your healthbecomes so important to get
regular checkups.
Health costs are not inevitable, they're not emergencies,
they're life, they're part oflife.
You need to get checked up whenyou're not feeling well, when
you need antibiotics, when youneed to go to the dentist.
(08:57):
If you've got a sore knee fromsport, go to the physio.
You need to do it.
It is literally non-negotiable.
The third category are homeexpenses, because they are
brutal, because they can oftencome out of nowhere.
This is for individuals whohave a home.
A lot of Australians now arerenting because the barrier to
(09:21):
entry is so high at the moment,with the cost of living,
depending where you're wantingto buy.
So a lot of individuals arerentvesting, which we love.
But yeah, even when you'rerentvesting with your investment
property, some home expensesmay come up.
But if you're renting and youdon't have an investment, this
might not apply to you.
So for the homeowners, researchshows the average homeowner
(09:44):
spends around five grand a yearjust on repairs for their house.
So this is your hot watersystem, your roof might be
leaking, you might have a brokenair con unit.
The list can go on.
Literally can be anything.
And for renters, let's just putyou guys into the category.
Might look a little bitdifferent, but we might be
(10:06):
talking about furniturereplacement, moving fees if
you're moving, rentals, contentsinsurance, but yeah, they're
just as real as the homeownersspending the five grand.
This is not optional.
So when these expenses come up,let's say your hot water
system's broken.
This is not an optional thingto decide if you're going to fix
(10:27):
it or not.
You want to fix it, you need tofix it.
So this is why home expensesdeserves its own fund.
You need to have a fund forhome expenses deserves its own
fund.
You need to have a fund forhome expenses if you're a
homeowner and if you're a renterwho wants to move every 12
months, or even buying newfurniture, it's not silly to
have your own account as well.
(10:48):
Fourth category annualsubscriptions and memberships.
These fly under the radar, butthey add up very quickly.
You might see in your directdebits coming out every month or
fortnightly, $15, $20.
And at the time that's easy,that's not much happening at all
.
But if you've got five, six,seven, eight subscriptions
individually with $15, all of asudden you've got a hefty amount
(11:10):
of subscriptions.
So we're talking about gymmemberships, netflix, spotify,
amazon Prime, even software andprofessional memberships.
On average, australians spend$660 a year on unused
subscriptions alone Unused.
So these are subscriptions thatyou're forgetting you even have
.
For me, I found out the otherweek that I have still
(11:32):
subscribed to hey you.
I used to love watching a fewshows on hey you, but I haven't
watched that for probably 12months.
So I then yeah, I was caughtout by myself had to cancel this
subscription.
But that just shows that theydo go under the radar and I
might have more subscriptionsthat I'm not aware of, hence why
I keep looking when I've gotfree time.
(11:53):
But $660 a year on unusedsubscriptions is ridiculous.
So what I've been doing in thepast and what might help you is
put them in a calendar, add themto your budget and either
cancel what you don't use orplan for what you do.
It's as simple as that.
Number five this is something wespoke about at the start of the
(12:13):
year I think it was a Januaryepisode that I recorded and it's
about life events, presents,christmas presents, birthday
presents.
They're not surprises For theindividuals that you normally
get presents for.
You know that their birthdayhappens once a year.
You know Christmas is once ayear.
So, yeah, you need to planahead for these things.
(12:37):
The average Aussie householdspends around 1.2K on Christmas
each year, as mentioned before.
That's including, you know,your gifts, your food, your
travel, but every December,millions of people panic, max
out their credit cards literallyand spend the next three months
paying it off.
So you need to figure out,based on what you normally spend
(13:04):
per person in terms ofindividual's presents or
Christmas presents.
How much is it?
If it's $1,000 for the wholeyear, you need to put aside $20
a week, give or take.
If it's $2,000, you normallyput aside, you need to calculate
$38 to $40 a week for the wholeyear.
But you need to reversecalculate and put money aside.
(13:24):
So when you've got your account, let's say it's your Christmas
account, and when Christmascomes you might have the 1.2K
already in there or the twogrand.
So when you're actuallyspending the money it doesn't
hurt you and it doesn't actuallyfeel like you're using money
that you have because you haveplanned for this.
You knew that this was coming,so it's just reverse calculation
(13:45):
.
So this year, christmas time ifyou don't already have this
figure out how much money youare spending on gifts and then,
as soon as January turns aroundevery week, put money aside to
calculate up to that totalamount.
So when Christmas comes nextyear you are ready to go.
You're all good.
(14:06):
That's a really important one.
The last one of this topic isobviously the emergency fund.
This is the biggest one in myopinion, but almost half of
Australians have less than$3,000 in savings, which I don't
actually understand how thiscan happen.
Obviously, some people puttheir money into an offset
(14:27):
account or into a property orsome investments, so I'm
assuming this statistic is alsoputting in place that some
people have investments, but youneed money in your savings for
everyday emergencies.
Let's say you have a dog andsomething happens to him.
They get sick and you need togo to the emergency 24 hour vet.
(14:49):
You're probably spending atleast two to three grand alone
on surgery, especially if youdon't have insurance.
You're forking out a little bitmore.
So that means, let's say youonly have $3,000.
If you have to go to theemergency vet or the hospital,
that one visit wipes out yourwhole emergency fund.
So you need more than $3,000 inyour emergency.
(15:13):
Generally, the goal is three tosix months of your living
expenses, but don't let thatnumber scare you.
Three to six months of yourliving expenses, but don't let
that number scare you.
Even $3,000, $4,000 over time,that will give you breathing
room, but whatever gives youpeace of mind, that's the number
you want to hit.
So the question is and it'salways been brought up how do
(15:35):
you actually save for these?
So how do you do it?
Think of them as little bucketsof money for each category we
just talked about.
People who love personalfinance books have probably read
Scott Pape's the BarefootInvestor back in the day.
He talked about little bucketsas well.
That's how I got kind of intoit the ING accounts.
(15:57):
But the trick to all of this andto saving is automation.
So automate it, set upautomatic transfers each week.
You might want to put $10 here,$20 there.
It doesn't feel like much, butover time it definitely does
grow and you're not eventhinking about it.
You just need to make sure thatyour money from your pay goes
into the right account andyou've set it up accordingly.
(16:18):
If you save just $20 a weekinto one of these funds, you'll
have over $1,000 in 12 months.
Double it to $40 a week andthat's two grand.
That's a car, rego, yourdentist and your Christmas
cupboard without a single centof debt when you break it down.
It is so simple.
It is so simple, so easy and sotime efficient and just makes
(16:42):
life a lot easier and simplerfor yourself.
The main issue that we face as acountry and as a society, with
the increased amounts of socialmedia use and just doom
scrolling and a bit of brainrotting activities, is the shift
of your mindset.
(17:03):
That's the most important thing.
And if you can shift yourmindset to this and do it
accordingly, that you're excitedto actually put money aside and
you're excited to hit savingsgoals and you kind of think of
it as a game, that's where youare prepared, that's where it
becomes really enjoyable and yougrow not just individually but
(17:26):
financially, because that's howit starts.
I remember when I startedreally kind of getting into the
money side of things let's sayit was just during COVID or just
after COVID I was loving itputting money aside and seeing
the bank account move up per$1,000.
It started $1,000, $2,000, keptgoing up to $10,000.
(17:50):
And the numbers grew.
And then, when the numbers grew, you had a new goal you wanted
to hit and when you hit thatgoal you wanted to go again.
And then after that you wantedto use that money to invest into
something else.
So shift your mindset into thatand once you shift it, life gets
a lot easier and it's fun.
So you're saving for irregularexpenses won't stop the expenses
(18:12):
from happening.
That's the thing.
But instead of feelingblindsided, you will feel in
control if you put this moneyaside and you plan ahead.
And when you feel in control,control is freedom, because
money isn't about being rich.
If you see online about howpeople want to become rich and
(18:36):
famous, and then their life isgoing to be complete and they're
going to be happy and they'lldie happy.
But you speak to all thesemillionaires and billionaires.
There's so many of them who areconstantly depressed, anxious,
unfortunately committing suicide.
There's so many issuesdrug-related issues as well with
all these celebrities.
(18:56):
So having all this money andbeing rich isn't the end goal.
It's about not panicking whenlife happens.
That's the main thing.
It gives you freedom, control.
It gives you a sense ofcalmness when you know that
you've got the money there.
That's one of the best thingsabout the money side of things
and actually putting money aside, because it gives you time,
(19:20):
which is the most importantthing, and when you get older,
that's the thing you want back,which you can never have back.
So if you look after your money, you put it where you need to
put it, you don't get unexpectedbills and put you back six to
12 months in terms of yourfinance goals.
That's how you're going to growpersonally and financially and
(19:41):
actually hit your goals thatyou've been wanting to hit
forever.
Here's my challenge to you Grabyour notebook notes app on your
phone and write down fiveirregular expenses that in the
past, have blindsided you.
It might be last week, it mightbe yesterday or it might be six
(20:02):
years ago.
Then, from there, once you'vewritten those down, pick just
one of them only one and set upa fund for it.
I might have popped down thattwo years ago my car service
blindsided me when my car brokedown and if I picked that one
(20:23):
individually, I'd then set up anown car fund.
So automate $10 or $20 a weekto that new fund.
So then I'd set up for my pay.
Whenever my pay comes let's sayit's fortnightly then I'd put
20 bucks a fortnight or $40 afortnight, pending how much you
want to do weekly Over time thenyou can slowly add the others
(20:45):
to it.
So you might have, let's sayyou've got six different
blindsides your car, yourinsurance, your dentist, you
might have Christmas, your mom'sbirthday and we'll finish off
with your health insurance.
So over time do add all theothers, because that's how you
go from reactive to proactiveand that's how you go from
(21:09):
stressed to confident.
And remember the stats, becausethe stats are the most important
aspects and guiding point ofwhere you kind of don't want to
be.
That's the average.
You want to be above theaverage.
I'll talk about them againquickly.
One in three Australians cannotcover a $500 emergency.
Half of Australians have lessthan $3,000 saved.
(21:32):
We spend as a country over$1,200 a year each on unexpected
bills.
So do not let yourself be apart of those numbers.
Be the exception.
Prepare, plan and protectyourself, and remember that
money is about freedom, not fear, and freedom comes from
preparation.
(21:52):
But until next time, staydisciplined, stay focused and
keep building and achieving yourgoals.
We hope you enjoyed the episode.
As always, you know exactlywhat to do.
Hit that follow button,subscribe whatever platform you
listen to this podcast on.
Also share it to friends,family, co-workers, whoever you
(22:14):
think may benefit from it.
But unfortunately it's the endand we'll see you next week.
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