Your twenties are an important time for learning a lot of life’s lessons. You’re not a teenager anymore, you’re suddenly an adult and expected to be able to manage all aspects of your life…by yourself. So what now? There are many things that I wish I knew earlier about money and how exactly to manage it. We’re *usually* not taught these lessons in school and if you happen to have parents who aren’t the best with their money, then you might not be either. There are several things that I wish I learnt sooner! Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way. Note – I live in Australia so sections of t ..read more

I often struggle to put into words how much you mean to me and how much you have changed my life for the better but one night while holding you the words just flowed… I never thought the day would come.That I would hear somebody call me 'mum'.I always felt that something was missing in my soul.And you are the one, who has made me feel whole.A year has passed, how time has flown.I can't believe just how much you've grown.I remember the day I first saw your tiny heart beat.And the day I first felt you kick your feet.Now you are crawling, climbing and talking.Soon I'll be chasing after you, when ..read more

When it comes to our monthly budgets, we often have good intentions towards our food spend. When it comes to actually grocery shopping or meal planning, we often don’t follow through on those good intentions. Many of us regularly spend money on unnecessary takeaway food or our daily barista-made coffee. Whether our spending is an emotional response, boredom, overwhelm or simply laziness, many of us could be doing more to control our food spending. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), our grocery bill is our second-biggest category of household spending, only behind housing c ..read more

It’s been several months since I’ve written on this blog, or written at all for that matter. I haven’t even written for my side hustles since January. This year has been pretty crazy already…there’s been bushfires in Australia and now COVID-19. If that wasn’t enough I’ve miraculously managed to give myself more stress (but for the best reason)…by falling pregnant The journey to now has been long and hard. Below I give you the story of my trying to conceive journey. Deciding to ‘go it alone’ I have never hidden the fact that I wanted a child or that I was trying. It might not have been spoken ..read more

Almost half of all Aussies spend the entirety of their wage, according to a whitepaper produced by MLC. You might think this is unique to those with low incomes, but surprisingly, one in four (27%) households earning $150,000-$199,000 also confessed to living pay to pay. Even more shocking: one in five (22%) of those earning $200,000 or more are still living pay to pay. It seems regardless of where you sit on the income spectrum, finances can be a struggle. So how can you stop living pay to pay? Below you’ll find our top tips to help you finally break the cycle and set yourself up for a bright ..read more

Welcome to November’s report. Where has the year gone? Soon I’ll be wrapping up the entire year in the yearly report. For those of you who are new– welcome, I do these reports each month as a way for me to track all of my financials and see how I’m progressing. Inadvertently they also hold me to account to all of you. Each report contains the following sections and you can skip to any of them by clicking the links below. Spending | Savings & Investments | Credit Score | Superannuation | Side Hustling For last months report see here. Spending Below is the breakdown of my spending by categor ..read more

This time last year I was moving home! It’s crazy to think I’ve been here for a year now. Whether you’re wanting to understand the cost of moving out of home for the first time or just more generally, this article can help you understand what sneaky costs you might find the next time you move house.  Moving can be a stressful time, but if you start planning early, then you can be ready for when the time comes. Remember, these costs will be different for each situation. If you’re moving interstate, for example, you can expect higher costs than if you’re m ..read more

I don’t need to tell you that it’s almost summer, if you’re in Australia you’ve probably felt it already. Hotter weather means beach days, shorter dresses and swimwear. If you’re not yet ‘summer ready’ then you might be considering getting a gym membership. As many as 30% of Australians have a gym membership, but 44% of us don’t actually use it often enough for it to be worth it, resulting in over $1.8 billion of wasted money on fees. Getting fit and healthy can come with large expenses. So if you want to get healthy and fit, but you’re on a budget (like me), then read on for some tips. Find a ..read more

Welcome to October’s report. Where have the last 10 months gone? I can’t believe there’s only 2 months left of this decade….and only 6 more Fridays until Christmas. I’ll just let that sink in for a minute… For those of you who are new– welcome, I do these reports each month as a way for me to track all of my financials and see how I’m progressing. Inadvertently they also hold me to account to all of you. Each report contains the following sections and you can skip to any of them by clicking the links below. Spending | Savings & Investments | Credit Score | Superannuation | Side Hustling Fo ..read more

With the recent Kon Mari craze and Spring cleaning well underway, charity stores all across Australia are struggling to keep up with the number of donated items coming through their doors. If you’ve recently done a big declutter, Mari Kondo style, or you just don’t know where to take that item to properly recycle or re-purpose it, read on. Note: This article is focused on Australian locations and companies. Click on any title below to go directly to that section. A Aerosol Cans | Aluminium Cans| Asbestos B Baby Clothes & Equipment | Batteries | Beverage Cartons | Books C Cars | Car Batteri ..read more