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Personal finance expert Tammy Barton, shares life changing money stories and looks at how money can transform every aspect of daily life.
Erin 00:00
We are about you, and your money comes first, and we want you to be your best version of you. So there's no shame in calling. There's no you know, from whatever your financial background is, whether you're in a bit of trouble or you just want to, I guess, see where you can take it. I know what the service can do personally, and I see it every day in the appointments that we see from all of our clients. So just, just do it.
Tammy 00:24
Welcome to my money my story, where we chat to some amazing people about their money story and hear just how much money can really impact your life. And I'm your host. Tammy Barton, founder and director of my budget.
Danielle 00:39
We begin today by acknowledging the Ghana people, traditional custodians of the land on which we are recording our podcast today, we pay our respects to their elders past and present, and we would like to extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Tammy 00:54
Welcome Adam and Aaron to the My budget, my money, my story podcast. We're so excited to have you on today and to hear your story and to start I thought it could be good if you tell us a little bit about your backstory, how you met, how long you've been together, and we can go from there.
Erin 01:12
Perfect. Thanks so much for having us. Tammy, we're so excited to have a chat with you today. Adam and I have been together for six years. We met in South America, actually, on a work trip. Very exciting, yes, random place to meet somebody. People think that he's South American, but when they see him, they'll they'll see Yeah. So we Yeah, started seeing each other. A bit of back and forth. I was from Sydney, Adam from Adelaide. We did that for a few months, and we got tired of doing that, so somebody had to make the call. So I decided to move to Adelaide and continue on my journey in travel. And Adam was in travel, also with his job, yeah. And then we did that for what, another 12 months or so before COVID took 10 years of a travel career away, and it really just wasn't the same as you know, what we signed up for. It was a tough time for a lot of people in travel, so I was still working a couple of days a week, organizing the refunds and things for people you were stood down at home searching for something to try and fulfill. And then it was actually Adam that said, Actually, you'd be great at my budget. Tammy is amazing. You've got a spreadsheet. You know, you should apply. You
02:36
should go and see Tammy spreadsheet.
Erin 02:41
And so, yeah, I applied for the personal budgeting specialist role,
Erin 02:45
and I saw Laura in the office on the Tuesday, and then the Thursday, she rang me and said, Can you start Monday?
Tammy 02:52
Amazing, and you have been so wonderful to have on board. We are so very last lucky and blessed to have you as part of the my budget family, but also that you've embraced the service. And if you think back to that COVID time four years ago, I mean, travel was really one of those industries that got hit hard, and it was good for my budget because we picked up a few great people along the way from the travel industry. But really, when you look back, you know there were some tough times, being stood down, not knowing when you're going to be working again, earning an income, and it really was quite difficult. So you joined my budget as a team member, and what was your journey from there? As
Erin 03:35
soon as I started doing the training, I was like, wow, Tammy, spreadsheet is amazing, and mine is not so amazing. And I just was like, We need this. You know, we had managed during that COVID time, to go from the incomes we were on, which was great, you know, earning good commission and just, you know, reaping the rewards of building a client base of 10 years and 15 years for Adam, all of a sudden to be put down on job keeper, which was not a lot of money, like, I think, $700 a fortnight or something. It was a big shift. We really had to realign, okay, you know, our goals were to purchase our first apartment, and we didn't. We didn't want to move the goal post. We just needed to reassess. You know, how long it might take us to get there. So I knew, as soon as I started doing the training, this is how we get there. So, yeah, I convinced you, after a couple of months that we we need to do this, and then we haven't looked back. That's amazing.
Tammy 04:35
And Adam, how long were you out of work for? Well, or stood down for,
Adam 04:40
yeah, so I was pretty early on when COVID sort of started here in Australia in March 2020, and then it was about a week later that they, the government launched the jobkeeper scheme. So I was fortunate enough to go straight on to which my employer organized, and I was basically working on a. Part time basis under job keeper for most of 2020 Yeah, which is obviously quite a big change from earning your, you know, your normal full time income, to all of a sudden have most of that taken away and just have a trickle of finance coming through. Obviously, that was sort of really the first time that we kind of went this is going to be a big hit, and we need to make some big changes here. It was a big change to the income, so, yeah, it meant we needed to really shape up and take a bit of a magnifying glass over our finances and what we're spending. Yeah, and
Erin 05:32
we were really only probably a year into our relationship, and before COVID, we had our finances separate. We had kind of that shared bills, accounts and things like that. But it was the first time that we sat down open and honestly and went, all right, what do we need to do to make this work? We're both in this together. We're building this place. We don't want to give up our dream of, you know, getting into this apartment. How do we get there? And so that's kind of when the spreadsheet really just we lived out of that thing for about, yeah, what? Nine months until I started working at my budget, and it was yeah, a lot. We, we kind of Yeah. We it. It showed us, I guess, what had happened, and showed us, you know, what we should be doing, but there were so many gaps in it that we now, I realize,
Tammy 06:16
yeah, so maybe let's talk about that. So you had your spreadsheet, you felt relatively in control of your finances, and then you started working at my budget. And you thought, Well, maybe if we put our budget, my spreadsheet into the My budget, yeah, system and budgeting software, what will be the difference, absolutely and but I have to convince Adam first, pretty much, that's a good idea.
Adam 06:42
It didn't take too much convincing when she brought it home and showed me, you know, what, exactly what the system can do. And the big thing for me, that was a turning point, was that forward projection, you know, we can lay it all down on paper as to what's coming in and what's going out. We can make the, you know, the fine tuning and the adjustments. But for me, it was really seeing, you know, all eyes forward as to, here's what our net position is going to be in, one month time, three months time, you know, 12 months time, yeah, and, and during a period where it was obviously very volatile as to what our income was going to be. So it was just really, I guess, comforting, you know, to have that sort of product out there to go, right? This is where you're going to be. And that sort of, really, yeah, that was the next day, I think you went in, yeah, Sign us up.
Erin 07:29
Got the green light. I
Tammy 07:30
mean, that's the thing. You get, the visibility, yeah. And so then you can start to make good fun, not that you weren't making good financial decisions, but more informed financial decisions. And it gives you that peace of mind. That's
07:40
exactly what it was,
Erin 07:41
yeah. And it kind of showed us, you know, over a 12 month period, you know, what we were committing to, certain things, you know, could we be a bit more savvy with, you know, how much we spend on coffee? Could we are we prepared to sacrifice our long term goal of getting into this apartment because we're wanting to buy two or three coffees each a day. Yeah, you know, it wasn't that wasn't that wasn't affordable. It was just, you know, like, like you said, informed decisions, yeah, to see exactly what it's going to mean for you over a 12 month and more period. So yeah, and to be honest, it was little things that I was impressed with. And I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's Christmas we didn't have in our spreadsheet. Outrageous. Such a silly girl for not putting it in happens at the same time every year.
Tammy 08:26
But I think everyone always forgets Christmas is coming, even though it comes at the same time
Erin 08:30
every year, just the fact that it was in there and we have that set aside, we would have to dip into our what we named our empire, our savings kitty. We would have to dip into that. And for me, that's a really big pain point, like, I hate taking out of our savings unless it's for the thing that you're saving for. So to know that that's set up separate and you also it stopped us from going a bit too Lux, especially with each other, before the kids came along, we would kind of not outdo each other. I wouldn't say that we're competitive, but it kind of, it was like, no, let's keep a lid on this, because that's actually impacting what we actually want. Like, it's really lovely to give gifts.
Adam 09:10
And there were bigger goals that we had in sight that we kind of, once we laid it all out and saw, you know, over a year, what we were spending money on, yeah, could go actually maybe if we just half that amount, or, you know, just reduce a little bit. Look at how much, soon it'll get us to what we want to achieve. Yeah, and that was actually, that was a huge difference.
Tammy 09:29
And when you put it all into that budget, all those things that were maybe hidden expenses or that you didn't remember, and then you put it all in, you go, Holy Moly, we're spending all that money on this, and if we change it around, yeah, we can get to our goals faster, exactly, quicker. But I do always say, and I reiterate, it's not us, it's not the my budget system. It's our clients. Our clients like you guys, you made the decision to join. You made the decision to manage your money in a certain way to get to achieving. Your Goals, which we're going to, which we're going to get to about soon. Now, navigating the COVID changes. We talked about how your income had dropped, but I'm assuming then that means that your lifestyle, everything has to change, and then obviously, when you got working again, you're able to put that income back into the budget and see the changes. What was the big impact of of that on your life and those moments? Was there a particular moment where you went, this is not working for me, or it is, or talk about that, because I know a lot of people went through some difficult times, through COVID, yeah,
Adam 10:38
yeah. That probably started the year before, actually, when we put a deposit down on a new build in September 19. So we sort of had a goal, and we were on our way to that. And then obviously COVID came along in March, and that was probably the one thing that we were really concerned about, is how's that going to impact on a mortgage that's going to be starting, potentially by the end of this year,
Erin 11:05
and it's hard, because when you apply for a mortgage, you've obviously got three months of pre approval, being that this is a build, we've put the deposit down directly with the builder, but our pre approval has an expiry date of three months, and we were approved based on our previous incomes, we're now both on jobkeeper, and our build is nine months away. Who is going to give us a mortgage now that we're so different in terms of our joint income to where we originally were, so we were really lucky that we were able to engage with a broker that was able to help us great but our biggest concern was not dipping into the savings that we had during that time. So, yeah, it was, I think our what we now call our fun account, that's what, you know, all the things that we do that, you know, how we treat ourselves, how we, you know, enjoy life. I think we allocated a very small amount to that during COVID.
Adam 11:57
I guess the silver lining to that is we couldn't really go out and do much anyway? Yeah, the restaurants were closed, so we might go, let's allocate a two takeaways a week, or one takeaway week. And that's a bit of a splurge for us, rather than what we were doing with the previous year. And we got
Erin 12:11
a bit competitive with the grocery shop, like, if we got it under our allocated amount, then the rest could go into funds. I remember, like we saved $10 this week. We could go towards a pizza, and it all
Tammy 12:23
adds up, right? Totally, it really does. Now, did you end up going ahead and building the home and moving in and we'd get well done? Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, that's, that's, that's quite an effort through that difficult time. And get, like you said, getting the finance and and also even just the building industry during that time was going through some strange changes, and there
Erin 12:46
was a lot of delays for us during the build, but it all came together September 2020 I think we got into the apartment at the beginning of the month, and then I joined the service that same month. So it was a big month of changes, but it was exciting. I just felt like we're finally stepping forward, whereas we were kind of two steps forward, one step back for a little bit, yeah, but I just felt like we were actually getting some traction then, yeah,
Tammy 13:11
which is amazing. So let's go talking about the time when you or that period of time when you're setting up your budget, were there surprise moments or aha moments that you went through when you were going through that process with I mean, you obviously knew the process Erin from being a PBS yourself, but was there something where you went, Oh, wow, this is, this is going to be like a game changer for us,
Erin 13:38
I think for us. Like Adam said it was the forward projection, like in our spreadsheet, we kind of lived that fortnight to fortnight income, and so we had an idea of what we could save still during that time, at each fortnight, but we just didn't kind of see that full 12 month view, that full visibility, that allowed you to see exactly what you're spending on every single item, and then knowing that you can commit a particular amount to your savings, and it's committed like, it's not coming out for any other reason, other than you're choosing to pull it out like, so yeah, for us, it was the visibility. The other thing that I feel like was good was that we had a little bit of spending money for ourselves that we didn't feel like we had to justify to each other. There was times during COVID Where I'm going to get coffees for us. Is that okay? And that was we felt like we had to really make sure that we're we were okay to do that because we you didn't want to do something and jeopardize the team's goal, I guess. Yeah, so this really allowed us to do our own thing, like, you know, Adam's got his own spending. I've got my own spending. What we do with that is our business, you know, but it allowed us to kind of live our own and do it because we're, we're our own people. We're not one person. So that was great for us to be able to allocate that and know that that's not. Going to impact our team's goal of getting to the end, which is
Tammy 15:03
so nice, gives you that little bit of independence and freedom, yet, you know, you're not jeopardizing anything on the other side of that. You're still working towards your goals, which is, which is amazing. What were some of the immediate changes that you noticed when you started using the My budget service, because you were like I said, You were already had your own spreadsheet. You're already managing your money well and joining my budget I suppose, I guess I don't want to put words in your mouth, but takes it to the next level, yes, of visibility and support, staying on on track. So what were some of the immediate things that you notice, the difference between the way you were doing it previously and then using the using the service. I
Erin 15:47
guess it's probably the bills, right? Yeah, absolutely
Adam 15:50
it was. It was that peace of mind, really, that we knew how much we would be spending in each area of our lives. So whether it be utilities or, you know, living expenses, fuel, whatever it might be. It just created that clarity of, that's how much it's going to be allocated there. But we also
Erin 16:09
knew it was being paid, and we didn't have to do it ourselves. Don't have to worry about, it's wild to think, like three years and we haven't paid a bill, but I just think about how much time that would have that's given us over three years. Like to think that, you know, we would have been living in the spreadsheet, you know, every week, every day, then manually paying all of our bills. Yeah, for us, that's where the value is, especially now with kids, it's not Yeah, it's Yeah. I don't want to have to do that anymore.
Tammy 16:36
Yes, yes. And let's get to the kids. How exciting. Aaron and Adam have twins, yeah. So, and that's a big, I mean, having one baby is a big change for a lot of people, but throwing in another baby and having twins, you know, it's, it's double the expenses, it's double the size of your belly, yes. So, yeah. I mean, that's very exciting. Did you plan that, that whole journey? Plan the twins,
Adam 17:06
at least one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We knew that we wanted to start a family, particularly given the age that I'm getting at getting with a four in front of it, yeah, and that we had the apartment. And we knew, obviously, if we wanted to start a family, we would need to upsize, yeah. So we were in a position over, I think, about two years, yeah,
Erin 17:30
yes, yeah, yeah. Within two years, two years, yeah,
Adam 17:33
we're able to Yeah, using the service, we're able to put a deposit down on a new place to in from a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment, to a four bedroom, three bedroom house, a four bedroom and three bathroom house. So but yeah, we were able to do that and make educated choices based on the fact with the information that we had in front of us. we didn't realize that we would be able to keep the apartment as an investment, but that's obviously something that we've been able to do with so good and so, yeah,
Erin 17:57
that was kind of our big plan. If you get the house and then you have the kids, it just didn't happen. I guess, you know, the way that we thought, we thought, you know, we just kind of weren't falling pregnant, and we didn't realize why. Doctors really couldn't figure out. So they said, because, and I'm I hate saying this out loud, but the doctors say that when you have a baby after 35 year class as a geriatric Mother, how rude. So they basically said, Look, if you want to do this, let's, like, ensure put some insurance policy on it, and let's walk down that IVF path. So we thought they were going to have to do that. So yet again, we lent on the budget, right? Let's create this savings, because that's not cheap and and you know, for anybody that has gone through that, or is going through that, they know that it's not just the emotional side that is taxing, but it's expensive. Yes, and I really, I didn't want us to be in a position where we had to choose between what we wanted in starting a family and the finance to support it. So we really made sure that we were set up for that. We were so fortunate that the weekend that we were supposed to start the first round of IVF that we found that we were pregnant. Oh, wow. So that was really, really exciting. So we financially was awesome. We didn't have to go down that path, and then nine weeks later, of me couldn't hold down water, and so sick. I don't know how anybody in the office didn't realize they probably did that. They just didn't say anything. I was so, so ill. A friend of ours said, Are you sure there's not two? Like, you're really sick. Like, that's can be a sign. And I was like, surely the universe wouldn't do that to me. Like, first time mom, we've been on this journey, we wouldn't have twins. And sure enough, we had our first scan at nine weeks, and there was two little blobs on the screen. And I just grabbed Adam straight away, and I said, Let's do Mr. Practical straight away. Oh, that's all right. We're in the house. We've got four bedrooms. They'll fit in the car like so practical straight away. But, yeah, it was really exciting. And got, you know, about halfway through, and found out we're having a boy and a girl. Oh, how amazing.
Tammy 20:13
One pregnancy, two kids. I mean, that is the advantage, efficient. One pregnancy, yes. Albeit, you know, it sound like it was a bit of a challenging pregnancy. Yeah, feeling well, but you know, you only had to have one of them and not right? We're never doing it again.
Erin 20:28
I joked my obstacle.
Erin 20:32
I joked my obstetrician, and said, You know what, you can wheel him in on the table next to him and sort him out. Because we're like, we're done. No, I'm grateful, though they're amazing, but yeah, it's been a journey with two at once. But yes, it I guess that's our normal. So I don't realize, like people must say to us all the time, twins must be so hard. I'm sure, yes, it is, but I'm sure what their journey has got their own difficulties, and being a new mum is, in itself, is hard. So it's just our version of hard, I guess Exactly.
Tammy 21:02
And there's, I'm sure, so many advantages to having two at the same time. You know you're going through all of that at once. You're not then waiting another two years, and you're going through the nappy stage again, and that's riding on the walls again, all of that. You're getting it all just done
Erin 21:19
this all the time. Like, I actually think people that have a toddler and then go again, I actually think they're amazing, because I've got two that are two, and that's a lot I would I just could not think of being pregnant again, running around
Tammy 21:33
after, oh, how, yeah, which was me, because I had mine pretty quickly. Yeah. And then, you know, it's I feel for my son, because it's like it was a blur.
Tammy 21:46
I'd hardly remember. There's not that many photos.
Erin 21:50
I guess that's a positive. With two at once, they've all both got the same amount of photos as, yeah, my brother and sister. And I'm sure that the photos kind of the number goes down as the more siblings come along. So why is your book so big? Because I'm the first born. It's
Tammy 22:06
probably like that in all family. Yeah, yeah. So I'm sure there's lots of advantages, and you guys have achieved so much in such a short space of time, apartment, home, the babies you know, going on, mat leave, managing that, maybe talk to that, because, you know, there's a lot of people listening. I'm sure that, you know, it's hard to navigate dropping an income, or a part there of an income, to then manage your finances, and then you've got sleepless nights, and you're worrying about being the best parents that you can be, you know, and they're not getting sick, and all of there's a lot going on in people's lives, Googling,
Erin 22:40
can you die from
Erin 22:43
when you haven't slept
22:45
deprived, when you start Googling? Totally, yeah,
Erin 22:48
it look. I think it was super helpful. And I don't know how people do pregnancy and mat leave and childcare and everything that's I guess, comes along with starting your family without having financial support and physical support. You know, having a village around you is important, but knowing that our bills were paid were amazing. But being able to calculate, okay, how long could I actually take off from work with Adam's income supporting us? How long could I take without us having to then start to slide backwards? So knowing that confidently, I could say that, you know, I took nine months off, nine months to make them, nine months off with them, and then they were at daycare. And then again, that's another thing that we used it for, is we found an amazing daycare that we loved, that, you know, kids are now thriving in. We wanted to make sure that is that affordable, and that sweet spot of you know, I'm four days a week now, which I'm grateful that I'm able to do, and I love the balance of being managing the team now, of PBS is, I find is easier to do four days a week than going home and managing two.
Tammy 23:57
You have a break when you go down totally everyone's like,
Erin 23:59
Are you drinking a hot coffee? I'm like, I'm like, I'm living my best life right now, but being able to, you know, know that that is my sweet spot, of committing four days at daycare is affordable, and my income is not going to, you know, offset that. It's some sometimes, I mean, we see people coming through where they're just not sure, you know of what to do. And these are the tests, the four projections that you can do with the visibility. Like, you know, what? What does that scenario look like for me and my bottom line? And how does that affect my goals? So, yeah, throughout that time, we were able to, yeah, take that. I was able to take that time off with the kids, and we also saved for a little Fiji getaway before I came back to work.
Tammy 24:37
How good's Fiji for the kids? I just feel like the Fijian women were born to have children. Men were like, born to be like, you know, do manly stuff. But I also
Erin 24:47
find that all of the all of the men were big kids. They just had to play with the children I remember loving. They were, what were they six months and we took them over there little stop in Sydney to see my family and. Then over to Fiji. And as soon as we got off the plane, they were just like twins. And our kids names are Thomas and Charlotte, and so they, you know, we're a Charlotte, so beautiful and Tomasi. I mean, we've nicknamed him the spud. He is, is a like, he's a larger guy. He's my little koala bear, but he, he's a bit of a chunky guy. So that the guys came over. Some of the men came, Oh, Tom Marcy, you come play rugby for Fiji. And I was like, Oh my God, please don't my poor little boy. They loved him. They took him away and played with them without consent. Just, you know, yes, okay, bye, mommy and daddy. Can have a cocktail by the beach. They're great. Though. It's an amazing place. We'll definitely be back, but that was so nice to have that little kind of getaway as a family before I started my journey back into the workforce. Yeah?
Tammy 25:52
How amazing. Those family holidays, those memories, you'll have them forever, and you'll have the photos, yes, and you'll probably take them back at some point, and, you know, they'll get to experience it again. And this is what life's about, right? It's those it's those moments we work hard and we go through ups and downs, but ultimately, and I can see it in both your eyes, you know, it's all about the kids, yeah. And it's about, you know, setting them up to be great, little, successful humans, yes, and you know, having some beautiful moments along the way, which is what you guys have created. So you should be so very proud. And I know that you've got some more exciting things on the horizon. So what's what's next for you guys? Like, what are your goals? What are you going to be doing
Adam 26:38
about it? We've been probably stewing over for a little while now, quite a few months, just with we don't steal for too long, we've obviously had the apartment and we got the house, and we're sort of looking at what the next move is, and the opportunity for myself, personally to take up a position in Sydney or anywhere along The east coast, which I've accepted. So where we'll be moving to Sydney, of course, we crunched the numbers and worked how that's going to look with the budget, and it all came up green, and we're able to make the move. So we've fantastic, yeah, so we pop the house on the market. We're very fortunate to have a pretty short, you know, time on the market just three weeks, yeah, and then, yeah, we sold at auction. So fantastic,
Erin 27:25
exciting. And so basically, Sydney is where my family is, was where I'm originally from. And so we've kind of decided that that will be what we've named our gap year. We're going to go and stay and spend some time with my family. Yep, my dad will be 81 in January. My nana will be 100 in July, and my sisters had little baby girl, Matilda, 14 months ago. And my family really have seen our kids a very small amount of times, maybe two or three times each. Yeah. And so our ultimate goal was to get to Brisbane, but we thought, how cool would it be to take up the opportunity, because Adam's works got, kind of got an office in both Sydney and Brisbane, to kind of spend a year create some memories with my family while we build in Brisbane.
Tammy 28:12
So exciting. And did you keep the apartment as well? You're gonna keep that? Yeah, so that will be a future investment, yes. And then you'll go and you'll build in in Brisbane, yeah, organize all of that while you're in Sydney, yes, and then away you go. And how exciting. And of course, Aaron's going to be staying with my budget on the journey where we're a national company, and Brisbane is actually our biggest market, yes, believe it or not, so, which is fantastic. And Sydney is obviously a huge market, too. So that's so exciting for you guys in your short lives so far, even though you might be getting close to a four in your shot. Like, what are what are you most grateful for?
Erin 28:52
I mean, number one has to be the kids, right? But, yeah,
Adam 28:58
yeah. Sorry, Greg, yeah. Obviously, you know, finding each other and finding that, that common goal, you know, in that partner in life, that you both want to go and achieve the same things in life. And then when the kids come along, we're able to sink our energy and our our lives, you know, into into something that's that we want to share together. So that's been, you know, that's something that I'm really grateful for that's
Tammy 29:20
so nice. And then I mean, you know, finding the partner, like you said, where you're on the same page together, you're on the same journey, you have your same goals, you have your independence, so you can still be yourself and not be co dependent necessarily, and be on that journey together is just so beautiful, and it absolutely is something that you should be very grateful for. I'm very proud of as well, because I think most, most humans want that companionship in life and have that that life partner and those children, healthy children as well. So well done to you both. That is just amazing. And there always seems to be this theme of of gratitude. To throughout this podcast if you've listened to any of the episodes. And so we're coming to some of the, you know, the the questions that we ask all of our guests on the podcast. So, so if you had a billboard, what would be the message that you would want to put out to the world?
Erin 30:20
Oh, I think for me, and I think probably being that I now live and breathe everything to do with my budget. Now that, you know, I'm working for them, and I've managed the team of all of the personal budgeting specialists, our day is surrounded by changing people's lives. I guess the biggest drawback I find is people are scared to be vulnerable and scared to say, You know what, I would like somebody to have a look at this and see if I can do better. Don't let your pride get in front of you, achieving your goals and taking things to the next level. Everybody in this business is beautiful. You walk into the front door from the receptionist through to level three. Everybody says hello, everybody smiles. Everybody is so open and welcoming. And I just, I want people to know that that is going to be your experience from the very first time you call us through to, you know, changing things in your budget with your money coach. We are about you, and your money comes first, and we want you to be your best version of you. So there's no shame in calling. There's no you know from whatever your financial background is, whether you're in a bit of trouble or you just want to, I guess, see where you can take it. I know what the service can do personally, and I see it every day in the appointments that we see from all of our clients. So just, just do it. Just do
Tammy 31:39
it. So if we could summarize, so sorry about that, what would your billboard say?
Erin 31:45
I guess, don't be afraid to be vulnerable, because it could lead to your best success. Thank
Tammy 31:51
you so much for sharing that and saying that, because I think you're right. There are probably a lot of people who are genuinely scared to be vulnerable. They feel shame about their situation that they're in, but the worst thing you can do is bury your head. The best thing that you can do is be vulnerable, open up and look at the path forward, and people listening could be just like you guys you know, on the same path and on the same journey and trajectory that you guys are on. So thank you so much for sharing that. Aaron, what about yourself? Adam, what would your billboard say? We'd need a huge bill. So
Erin 32:26
sorry, and you can't tell the client facing.
Adam 32:32
I mean, our story is maybe a little bit different to everyone's situation. Everyone's got their own journey and their own path, and I guess a few people sort of might look at a position and go, but why do you need the service? Like, what? What for? And I kind of look at it like, well, it's, it's almost like a gym for your finances. You know, you could be a routine gym go and you're fit and healthy, but if you've got goals that you want to achieve, why not bring in a professional to help you get there. So that's probably why, I think
Erin 33:02
you said to somebody, you know, at a barbecue or dinner, you're like, Well, an athlete has a coach, like, Why do you take it? How do they take it to the elite level? This is what it is for us. So yeah, I agree
Tammy 33:13
it absolutely is. It's, it's like a personal trainer for your finances, yeah, or, you know, it's, it's exactly that. It's like having a business coach for your finances, or whatever it might be. I have people say to me regularly, well, do you use a service? And I say, of course, I've used the service from day one. I was a bit like yourself. Aaron, I used to write, this was before spreadsheets. Yes, I used to write a budget manually on a bit of paper every single week. You know, $20 for petrol. This put money away from my motor registration, and doing it manually was so the envelopes with the cash. Yeah, that's right, but that that system is actually quite hard to manage. That's why you need to automate it. So Aaron working at my budget in the personal budgeting consultant role, which is what you started in, and now you're managing that team. I know myself personally from seeing clients many years ago, how much that can profoundly impact you as a PPS, because you have the privilege of changing someone's life. Is there any specific story or some or a situation that you related to, or just something that had an impact on you personally or on your life. Yeah,
Erin 34:25
I guess probably the first time I met with a couple in the office in Adelaide, I was worried, I guess, starting the role coming from travel, that I wouldn't get that same joy of everything that travel did for me is, you know, providing these once in a lifetime experiences for people to be able to do, you know, the trip where they get engaged and then the wedding, and then the honeymoon, and then the baby moon, and that repeat clientele that, you know, just kept providing these amazing experiences. But I guess the first time that I felt like. Actually this is next level. Was when I met with a couple in the Adelaide office, they were sitting so far apart from each other. I was sat on one side of the desk, they were either side of the other, and there was just that you could tell that they're in a bad place with each other. I guess there was a lot of you did this, and we're in this for that, and he's doing this, and she's doing that, and they just were, yeah, there was a lot of fighting, and I could tell that that it had, it had been a lot for them to come in and sit the appointment. And I think maybe one had convinced the other one that we need to do this. But once we got it all on paper, after an hour sitting together, I could tell that it was almost like a therapy thing, where they, you know, they felt like they'd got it out on paper. And I said, right, guys, I need 30 minutes. Let me go and put this budget plan together. And I remember delivering their budget, their solution, and that their biggest fear was not being able to put their kids through the school that they wanted to, and they felt like each other was getting in the way of that, and we were able to maintain their mortgage repayments, put them in the school that they wanted to and I remember as they were going through the document with me, they were sat together, and he had his hand on her leg, and I could just tell that this was the right thing for them. They really just needed a place for everything to be clear and visible and to be on the same page, and I just felt like I was able to be a part of that journey where they realigned, and they realized that they could do this together. How
Tammy 36:27
amazing, because finances really can get in the way of so many things, but in particular of people's relationships, where there's arguments around money. And in actual fact, I didn't realize once, when I started my budget that that would be one of the benefits of using the My budget service. I thought people woul
Erin 00:00
We are about you, and your money comes first, and we want you to be your best version of you. So there's no shame in calling. There's no you know, from whatever your financial background is, whether you're in a bit of trouble or you just want to, I guess, see where you can take it. I know what the service can do personally, and I see it every day in the appointments that we see from all of our clients. So just, just do it.
Tammy 00:24
Welcome to my money my story, where we chat to some amazing people about their money story and hear just how much money can really impact your life. And I'm your host. Tammy Barton, founder and director of my budget.
Danielle 00:39
We begin today by acknowledging the Ghana people, traditional custodians of the land on which we are recording our podcast today, we pay our respects to their elders past and present, and we would like to extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Tammy 00:54
Welcome Adam and Aaron to the My budget, my money, my story podcast. We're so excited to have you on today and to hear your story and to start I thought it could be good if you tell us a little bit about your backstory, how you met, how long you've been together, and we can go from there.
Erin 01:12
Perfect. Thanks so much for having us. Tammy, we're so excited to have a chat with you today. Adam and I have been together for six years. We met in South America, actually, on a work trip. Very exciting, yes, random place to meet somebody. People think that he's South American, but when they see him, they'll they'll see Yeah. So we Yeah, started seeing each other. A bit of back and forth. I was from Sydney, Adam from Adelaide. We did that for a few months, and we got tired of doing that, so somebody had to make the call. So I decided to move to Adelaide and continue on my journey in travel. And Adam was in travel, also with his job, yeah. And then we did that for what, another 12 months or so before COVID took 10 years of a travel career away, and it really just wasn't the same as you know, what we signed up for. It was a tough time for a lot of people in travel, so I was still working a couple of days a week, organizing the refunds and things for people you were stood down at home searching for something to try and fulfill. And then it was actually Adam that said, Actually, you'd be great at my budget. Tammy is amazing. You've got a spreadsheet. You know, you should apply. You
02:36
should go and see Tammy spreadsheet.
Erin 02:41
And so, yeah, I applied for the personal budgeting specialist role,
Erin 02:45
and I saw Laura in the office on the Tuesday, and then the Thursday, she rang me and said, Can you start Monday?
Tammy 02:52
Amazing, and you have been so wonderful to have on board. We are so very last lucky and blessed to have you as part of the my budget family, but also that you've embraced the service. And if you think back to that COVID time four years ago, I mean, travel was really one of those industries that got hit hard, and it was good for my budget because we picked up a few great people along the way from the travel industry. But really, when you look back, you know there were some tough times, being stood down, not knowing when you're going to be working again, earning an income, and it really was quite difficult. So you joined my budget as a team member, and what was your journey from there? As
Erin 03:35
soon as I started doing the training, I was like, wow, Tammy, spreadsheet is amazing, and mine is not so amazing. And I just was like, We need this. You know, we had managed during that COVID time, to go from the incomes we were on, which was great, you know, earning good commission and just, you know, reaping the rewards of building a client base of 10 years and 15 years for Adam, all of a sudden to be put down on job keeper, which was not a lot of money, like, I think, $700 a fortnight or something. It was a big shift. We really had to realign, okay, you know, our goals were to purchase our first apartment, and we didn't. We didn't want to move the goal post. We just needed to reassess. You know, how long it might take us to get there. So I knew, as soon as I started doing the training, this is how we get there. So, yeah, I convinced you, after a couple of months that we we need to do this, and then we haven't looked back. That's amazing.
Tammy 04:35
And Adam, how long were you out of work for? Well, or stood down for,
Adam 04:40
yeah, so I was pretty early on when COVID sort of started here in Australia in March 2020, and then it was about a week later that they, the government launched the jobkeeper scheme. So I was fortunate enough to go straight on to which my employer organized, and I was basically working on a. Part time basis under job keeper for most of 2020 Yeah, which is obviously quite a big change from earning your, you know, your normal full time income, to all of a sudden have most of that taken away and just have a trickle of finance coming through. Obviously, that was sort of really the first time that we kind of went this is going to be a big hit, and we need to make some big changes here. It was a big change to the income, so, yeah, it meant we needed to really shape up and take a bit of a magnifying glass over our finances and what we're spending. Yeah, and
Erin 05:32
we were really only probably a year into our relationship, and before COVID, we had our finances separate. We had kind of that shared bills, accounts and things like that. But it was the first time that we sat down open and honestly and went, all right, what do we need to do to make this work? We're both in this together. We're building this place. We don't want to give up our dream of, you know, getting into this apartment. How do we get there? And so that's kind of when the spreadsheet really just we lived out of that thing for about, yeah, what? Nine months until I started working at my budget, and it was yeah, a lot. We, we kind of Yeah. We it. It showed us, I guess, what had happened, and showed us, you know, what we should be doing, but there were so many gaps in it that we now, I realize,
Tammy 06:16
yeah, so maybe let's talk about that. So you had your spreadsheet, you felt relatively in control of your finances, and then you started working at my budget. And you thought, Well, maybe if we put our budget, my spreadsheet into the My budget, yeah, system and budgeting software, what will be the difference, absolutely and but I have to convince Adam first, pretty much, that's a good idea. It
Adam 06:42
didn't take too much convincing when she brought it home and showed me, you know, what, exactly what the system can do. And the big thing for me, that was a turning point, was that forward projection, you know, we can lay it all down on paper as to what's coming in and what's going out. We can make the, you know, the fine tuning and the adjustments. But for me, it was really seeing, you know, all eyes forward as to, here's what our net position is going to be in, one month time, three months time, you know, 12 months time, yeah, and, and during a period where it was obviously very volatile as to what our income was going to be. So it was just really, I guess, comforting, you know, to have that sort of product out there to go, right? This is where you're going to be. And that sort of, really, yeah, that was the next day, I think you went in, yeah, Sign us up.
Erin 07:29
Got the green light. I
Tammy 07:30
mean, that's the thing. You get, the visibility, yeah. And so then you can start to make good fun, not that you weren't making good financial decisions, but more informed financial decisions. And it gives you that peace of mind. That's
07:40
exactly what it was,
Erin 07:41
yeah. And it kind of showed us, you know, over a 12 month period, you know, what we were committing to, certain things, you know, could we be a bit more savvy with, you know, how much we spend on coffee? Could we are we prepared to sacrifice our long term goal of getting into this apartment because we're wanting to buy two or three coffees each a day. Yeah, you know, it wasn't that wasn't that wasn't affordable. It was just, you know, like, like you said, informed decisions, yeah, to see exactly what it's going to mean for you over a 12 month and more period. So yeah, and to be honest, it was little things that I was impressed with. And I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's Christmas we didn't have in our spreadsheet. Outrageous. Such a silly girl for not putting it in happens at the same time every year.
Tammy 08:26
But I think everyone always forgets Christmas is coming, even though it comes at the same time
Erin 08:30
every year, just the fact that it was in there and we have that set aside, we would have to dip into our what we named our empire, our savings kitty. We would have to dip into that. And for me, that's a really big pain point, like, I hate taking out of our savings unless it's for the thing that you're saving for. So to know that that's set up separate and you also it stopped us from going a bit too Lux, especially with each other, before the kids came along, we would kind of not outdo each other. I wouldn't say that we're competitive, but it kind of, it was like, no, let's keep a lid on this, because that's actually impacting what we actually want. Like, it's really lovely to give gifts. And there
Adam 09:10
were bigger goals that we had in sight that we kind of, once we laid it all out and saw, you know, over a year, what we were spending money on, yeah, could go actually maybe if we just half that amount, or, you know, just reduce a little bit. Look at how much, soon it'll get us to what we want to achieve. Yeah, and that was actually, that was a huge difference.
Tammy 09:29
And when you put it all into that budget, all those things that were maybe hidden expenses or that you didn't remember, and then you put it all in, you go, Holy Moly, we're spending all that money on this, and if we change it around, yeah, we can get to our goals faster, exactly, quicker. But I do always say, and I reiterate, it's not us, it's not the my budget system. It's our clients. Our clients like you guys, you made the decision to join. You made the decision to manage your money in a certain way to get to achieving. Your Goals, which we're going to, which we're going to get to about soon. Now, navigating the COVID changes. We talked about how your income had dropped, but I'm assuming then that means that your lifestyle, everything has to change, and then obviously, when you got working again, you're able to put that income back into the budget and see the changes. What was the big impact of of that on your life and those moments? Was there a particular moment where you went, this is not working for me, or it is, or talk about that, because I know a lot of people went through some difficult times, through COVID, yeah,
Adam 10:38
yeah. That probably started the year before, actually, when we put a deposit down on a new build in September 19. So we sort of had a goal, and we were on our way to that. And then obviously COVID came along in March, and that was probably the one thing that we were really concerned about, is how's that going to impact on a mortgage that's going to be starting, potentially by the end of this year,
Erin 11:05
and it's hard, because when you apply for a mortgage, you've obviously got three months of pre approval, being that this is a build, we've put the deposit down directly with the builder, but our pre approval has an expiry date of three months, and we were approved based on our previous incomes, we're now both on jobkeeper, and our build is nine months away. Who is going to give us a mortgage now that we're so different in terms of our joint income to where we originally were, so we were really lucky that we were able to engage with a broker that was able to help us great but our biggest concern was not dipping into the savings that we had during that time. So, yeah, it was, I think our what we now call our fun account, that's what, you know, all the things that we do that, you know, how we treat ourselves, how we, you know, enjoy life. I think we allocated a very small amount to that during COVID.
Adam 11:57
I guess the silver lining to that is we couldn't really go out and do much anyway? Yeah, the restaurants were closed, so we might go, let's allocate a two takeaways a week, or one takeaway week. And that's a bit of a splurge for us, rather than what we were doing with the previous year. And we got
Erin 12:11
a bit competitive with the grocery shop, like, if we got it under our allocated amount, then the rest could go into funds. I remember, like we saved $10 this week. We
Erin 12:21
could go towards a pizza, and it all
Tammy 12:23
adds up, right? Totally, it really does. Now, did you end up going ahead and building the home and moving in and we'd get well done? Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, that's, that's, that's quite an effort through that difficult time. And get, like you said, getting the finance and and also even just the building industry during that time was going through some strange changes, and there
Erin 12:46
was a lot of delays for us during the build, but it all came together September 2020 I think we got into the apartment at the beginning of the month, and then I joined the service that same month. So it was a big month of changes, but it was exciting. I just felt like we're finally stepping forward, whereas we were kind of two steps forward, one step back for a little bit, yeah, but I just felt like we were actually getting some traction then, yeah,
Tammy 13:11
which is amazing. So let's go talking about the time when you or that period of time when you're setting up your budget, were there surprise moments or aha moments that you went through when you were going through that process with I mean, you obviously knew the process Aaron from being a PBS yourself, but was there something where you went, Oh, wow, this is, this is going to be like a game changer for us,
Erin 13:38
I think for us. Like Adam said it was the forward projection, like in our spreadsheet, we kind of lived that fortnight to fortnight income, and so we had an idea of what we could save still during that time, at each fortnight, but we just didn't kind of see that full 12 month view, that full visibility, that allowed you to see exactly what you're spending on every single item, and then knowing that you can commit a particular amount to your savings, and it's committed like, it's not coming out for any other reason, other than you're choosing to pull it out like, so yeah, for us, it was the visibility. The other thing that I feel like was good was that we had a little bit of spending money for ourselves that we didn't feel like we had to justify to each other. There was times during COVID Where I'm going to get coffees for us. Is that okay? And that was we felt like we had to really make sure that we're we were okay to do that because we you didn't want to do something and jeopardize the team's goal, I guess. Yeah, so this really allowed us to do our own thing, like, you know, Adam's got his own spending. I've got my own spending. What we do with that is our business, you know, but it allowed us to kind of live our own and do it because we're, we're our own people. We're not one person. So that was great for us to be able to allocate that and know that that's not. Going to impact our team's goal of getting to the end, which is
Tammy 15:03
so nice, gives you that little bit of independence and freedom, yet, you know, you're not jeopardizing anything on the other side of that. You're still working towards your goals, which is, which is amazing. What were some of the immediate changes that you noticed when you started using the My budget service, because you were like I said, You were already had your own spreadsheet. You're already managing your money well and joining my budget I suppose, I guess I don't want to put words in your mouth, but takes it to the next level, yes, of visibility and support, staying on on track. So what were some of the immediate things that you notice, the difference between the way you were doing it previously and then using the using the service. I
Erin 15:47
guess it's probably the bills, right? Yeah, absolutely
Adam 15:50
it was. It was that peace of mind, really, that we knew how much we would be spending in each area of our lives. So whether it be utilities or, you know, living expenses, fuel, whatever it might be. It just created that clarity of, that's how much it's going to be allocated there. But we also
Erin 16:09
knew it was being paid, and we didn't have to do it ourselves. Don't have to worry about, it's wild to think, like three years and we haven't paid a bill, but I just think about how much time that would have that's given us over three years. Like to think that, you know, we would have been living in the spreadsheet, you know, every week, every day, then manually paying all of our bills. Yeah, for us, that's where the value is, especially now with kids, it's not Yeah, it's Yeah. I don't want to have to do that anymore.
Tammy 16:36
Yes, yes. And let's get to the kids. How exciting. Aaron and Adam have twins, yeah. So, and that's a big, I mean, having one baby is a big change for a lot of people, but throwing in another baby and having twins, you know, it's, it's double the expenses, it's double the size of your belly, yes. So, yeah. I mean, that's very exciting. Did you plan that, that whole journey? Plan the twins,
Adam 17:06
at least one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We knew that we wanted to start a family, particularly given the age that I'm getting at getting with a four in front of it, yeah, and that we had the apartment. And we knew, obviously, if we wanted to start a family, we would need to upsize, yeah. So we were in a position over, I think, about two years, yeah,
Erin 17:30
yes, yeah, yeah. Within two years, two years, yeah,
Adam 17:33
we're able to Yeah, using the service, we're able to put a deposit down on a new place to in from a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment, to a four bedroom, three bedroom house, a four bedroom and three bathroom house. So but yeah, we were able to do that and make educated choices based on the fact with the information that we had in front of us. Yeah,
Erin 17:57
we didn't realize that we would be able to keep the apartment as an investment, but that's obviously something that we've been able to do with so good and so, yeah, that was kind of our big plan. If you get the house and then you have the kids, it just didn't happen. I guess, you know, the way that we thought, we thought, you know, we just kind of weren't falling pregnant, and we didn't realize why. Doctors really couldn't figure out. So they said, because, and I'm I hate saying this out loud, but the doctors say that when you have a baby after 35 year class as a geriatric Mother, how rude. So they basically said, Look, if you want to do this, let's, like, ensure put some insurance policy on it, and let's walk down that IVF path. So we thought they were going to have to do that. So yet again, we lent on the budget, right? Let's create this savings, because that's not cheap and and you know, for anybody that has gone through that, or is going through that, they know that it's not just the emotional side that is taxing, but it's expensive. Yes, and I really, I didn't want us to be in a position where we had to choose between what we wanted in starting a family and the finance to support it. So we really made sure that we were set up for that. We were so fortunate that the weekend that we were supposed to start the first round of IVF that we found that we were pregnant. Oh, wow. So that was really, really exciting. So we financially was awesome. We didn't have to go down that path, and then nine weeks later, of me couldn't hold down water, and so sick. I don't know how anybody in the office didn't realize they probably did that. They just didn't say anything. I was so, so ill. A friend of ours said, Are you sure there's not two? Like, you're really sick. Like, that's can be a sign. And I was like, surely the universe wouldn't do that to me. Like, first time mom, we've been on this journey, we wouldn't have twins. And sure enough, we had our first scan at nine weeks, and there was two little blobs on the screen. And I just grabbed Adam straight away, and I said, Let's do Mr. Practical straight away. Oh, that's all right. We're in the house. We've got four bedrooms. They'll fit in the car like so practical straight away. But, yeah, it was really exciting. And got, you know, about halfway through, and found out we're having a boy and a girl. Oh, how amazing.
Tammy 20:13
One pregnancy, two kids. I mean, that is the advantage, efficient. One pregnancy, yes. Albeit, you know, it sound like it was a bit of a challenging pregnancy. Yeah, feeling well, but you know, you only had to have one of them and not right? We're never doing it again.
Erin 20:28
I joked my obstacle.
Erin 20:32
I joked my obstetrician, and said, You know what, you can wheel him in on the table next to him and sort him out. Because we're like, we're done. No, I'm grateful, though they're amazing, but yeah, it's been a journey with two at once. But yes, it I guess that's our normal. So I don't realize, like people must say to us all the time, twins must be so hard. I'm sure, yes, it is, but I'm sure what their journey has got their own difficulties, and being a new mum is, in itself, is hard. So it's just our version of hard, I guess Exactly.
Tammy 21:02
And there's, I'm sure, so many advantages to having two at the same time. You know you're going through all of that at once. You're not then waiting another two years, and you're going through the nappy stage again, and that's riding on the walls again, all of that. You're getting it all just done
Erin 21:19
this all the time. Like, I actually think people that have a toddler and then go again, I actually think they're amazing, because I've got two that are two, and that's a lot I would I just could not think of being pregnant again, running around
Tammy 21:33
after, oh, how, yeah, which was me, because I had mine pretty quickly. Yeah. And then, you know, it's I feel for my son, because it's like it was a blur.
Tammy 21:46
I'd hardly remember. There's not that many photos.
Erin 21:50
I guess that's a positive. With two at once, they've all both got the same amount of photos as, yeah, my brother and sister. And I'm sure that the photos kind of the number goes down as the more siblings come along. So why is your book so big? Because I'm the first born. It's
Tammy 22:06
probably like that in all family. Yeah, yeah. So I'm sure there's lots of advantages, and you guys have achieved so much in such a short space of time, apartment, home, the babies you know, going on, mat leave, managing that, maybe talk to that, because, you know, there's a lot of people listening. I'm sure that, you know, it's hard to navigate dropping an income, or a part there of an income, to then manage your finances, and then you've got sleepless nights, and you're worrying about being the best parents that you can be, you know, and they're not getting sick, and all of there's a lot going on in people's lives, Googling,
Erin 22:40
can you die from
Erin 22:43
when you haven't slept
22:45
deprived, when you start Googling? Totally, yeah,
Erin 22:48
it look. I think it was super helpful. And I don't know how people do pregnancy and mat leave and childcare and everything that's I guess, comes along with starting your family without having financial support and physical support. You know, having a village around you is important, but knowing that our bills were paid were amazing. But being able to calculate, okay, how long could I actually take off from work with Adam's income supporting us? How long could I take without us having to then start to slide backwards? So knowing that confidently, I could say that, you know, I took nine months off, nine months to make them, nine months off with them, and then they were at daycare. And then again, that's another thing that we used it for, is we found an amazing daycare that we loved, that, you know, kids are now thriving in. We wanted to make sure that is that affordable, and that sweet spot of you know, I'm four days a week now, which I'm grateful that I'm able to do, and I love the balance of being managing the team now, of PBS is, I find is easier to do four days a week than going home and managing two.
Tammy 23:57
You have a break when you go down totally everyone's like,
Erin 23:59
Are you drinking a hot coffee? I'm like, I'm like, I'm living my best life right now, but being able to, you know, know that that is my sweet spot, of committing four days at daycare is affordable, and my income is not going to, you know, offset that. It's some sometimes, I mean, we see people coming through where they're just not sure, you know of what to do. And these are the tests, the four projections that you can do with the visibility. Like, you know, what? What does that scenario look like for me and my bottom line? And how does that affect my goals? So, yeah, throughout that time, we were able to, yeah, take that. I was able to take that time off with the kids, and we also saved for a little Fiji getaway before I came back to work.
Tammy 24:37
How good's Fiji for the kids? I just feel like the Fijian women were born to have children. Men were like, born to be like, you know, do manly stuff. But I also
Erin 24:47
find that all of the all of the men were big kids. They just had to play with the children I remember loving. They were, what were they six months and we took them over there little stop in Sydney to see my family and. Then over to Fiji. And as soon as we got off the plane, they were just like twins. And our kids names are Thomas and Charlotte, and so they, you know, we're a Charlotte, so beautiful and Tomasi. I mean, we've nicknamed him the spud. He is, is a like, he's a larger guy. He's my little koala bear, but he, he's a bit of a chunky guy. So that the guys came over. Some of the men came, Oh, Tom Marcy, you come play rugby for Fiji. And I was like, Oh my God, please don't my poor little boy. They loved him. They took him away and played with them without consent. Just, you know, yes, okay, bye, mommy and daddy. Can have a cocktail by the beach. They're great. Though. It's an amazing place. We'll definitely be back, but that was so nice to have that little kind of getaway as a family before I started my journey back into the workforce. Yeah?
Tammy 25:52
How amazing. Those family holidays, those memories, you'll have them forever, and you'll have the photos, yes, and you'll probably take them back at some point, and, you know, they'll get to experience it again. And this is what life's about, right? It's those it's those moments we work hard and we go through ups and downs, but ultimately, and I can see it in both your eyes, you know, it's all about the kids, yeah. And it's about, you know, setting them up to be great, little, successful humans, yes, and you know, having some beautiful moments along the way, which is what you guys have created. So you should be so very proud. And I know that you've got some more exciting things on the horizon. So what's what's next for you guys? Like, what are your goals? What are you going to be doing
Adam 26:38
about it? We've been probably stewing over for a little while now, quite a few months, just with we don't steal for too long, we've obviously had the apartment and we got the house, and we're sort of looking at what the next move is, and the opportunity for myself, personally to take up a position in Sydney or anywhere along The east coast, which I've accepted. So where we'll be moving to Sydney, of course, we crunched the numbers and worked how that's going to look with the budget, and it all came up green, and we're able to make the move. So we've fantastic, yeah, so we pop the house on the market. We're very fortunate to have a pretty short, you know, time on the market just three weeks, yeah, and then, yeah, we sold at auction. So fantastic,
Erin 27:25
exciting. And so basically, Sydney is where my family is, was where I'm originally from. And so we've kind of decided that that will be what we've named our gap year. We're going to go and stay and spend some time with my family. Yep, my dad will be 81 in January. My nana will be 100 in July, and my sisters had little baby girl, Matilda, 14 months ago. And my family really have seen our kids a very small amount of times, maybe two or three times each. Yeah. And so our ultimate goal was to get to Brisbane, but we thought, how cool would it be to take up the opportunity, because Adam's works got, kind of got an office in both Sydney and Brisbane, to kind of spend a year create some memories with my family while we build in Brisbane.
Tammy 28:12
So exciting. And did you keep the apartment as well? You're gonna keep that? Yeah, so that will be a future investment, yes. And then you'll go and you'll build in in Brisbane, yeah, organize all of that while you're in Sydney, yes, and then away you go. And how exciting. And of course, Aaron's going to be staying with my budget on the journey where we're a national company, and Brisbane is actually our biggest market, yes, believe it or not, so, which is fantastic. And Sydney is obviously a huge market, too. So that's so exciting for you guys in your short lives so far, even though you might be getting close to a four in your shot. Like, what are what are you most grateful for?
Erin 28:52
I mean, number one has to be the kids, right? But, yeah,
Adam 28:58
yeah. Sorry, Greg, yeah. Obviously, you know, finding each other and finding that, that common goal, you know, in that partner in life, that you both want to go and achieve the same things in life. And then when the kids come along, we're able to sink our energy and our our lives, you know, into into something that's that we want to share together. So that's been, you know, that's something that I'm really grateful for that's
Tammy 29:20
so nice. And then I mean, you know, finding the partner, like you said, where you're on the same page together, you're on the same journey, you have your same goals, you have your independence, so you can still be yourself and not be co dependent necessarily, and be on that journey together is just so beautiful, and it absolutely is something that you should be very grateful for. I'm very proud of as well, because I think most, most humans want that companionship in life and have that that life partner and those children, healthy children as well. So well done to you both. That is just amazing. And there always seems to be this theme of of gratitude. To throughout this podcast if you've listened to any of the episodes. And so we're coming to some of the, you know, the the questions that we ask all of our guests on the podcast. So, so if you had a billboard, what would be the message that you would want to put out to the world?
Erin 30:20
Oh, I think for me, and I think probably being that I now live and breathe everything to do with my budget. Now that, you know, I'm working for them, and I've managed the team of all of the personal budgeting specialists, our day is surrounded by changing people's lives. I guess the biggest drawback I find is people are scared to be vulnerable and scared to say, You know what, I would like somebody to have a look at this and see if I can do better. Don't let your pride get in front of you, achieving your goals and taking things to the next level. Everybody in this business is beautiful. You walk into the front door from the receptionist through to level three. Everybody says hello, everybody smiles. Everybody is so open and welcoming. And I just, I want people to know that that is going to be your experience from the very first time you call us through to, you know, changing things in your budget with your money coach. We are about you, and your money comes first, and we want you to be your best version of you. So there's no shame in calling. There's no you know from whatever your financial background is, whether you're in a bit of trouble or you just want to, I guess, see where you can take it. I know what the service can do personally, and I see it every day in the appointments that we see from all of our clients. So just, just do it. Just do
Tammy 31:39
it. So if we could summarize, so sorry about that, what would your billboard say?
Erin 31:45
I guess, don't be afraid to be vulnerable, because it could lead to your best success. Thank
Tammy 31:51
you so much for sharing that and saying that, because I think you're right. There are probably a lot of people who are genuinely scared to be vulnerable. They feel shame about their situation that they're in, but the worst thing you can do is bury your head. The best thing that you can do is be vulnerable, open up and look at the path forward, and people listening could be just like you guys you know, on the same path and on the same journey and trajectory that you guys are on. So thank you so much for sharing that. Aaron, what about yourself? Adam, what would your billboard say? We'd need a huge bill. So
Erin 32:26
sorry, and you can't tell the client facing.
Adam 32:32
I mean, our story is maybe a little bit different to everyone's situation. Everyone's got their own journey and their own path, and I guess a few people sort of might look at a position and go, but why do you need the service? Like, what? What for? And I kind of look at it like, well, it's, it's almost like a gym for your finances. You know, you could be a routine gym go and you're fit and healthy, but if you've got goals that you want to achieve, why not bring in a professional to help you get there. So that's probably why, I think
Erin 33:02
you said to somebody, you know, at a barbecue or dinner, you're like, Well, an athlete has a coach, like, Why do you take it? How do they take it to the elite level? This is what it is for us. So yeah, I agree
Tammy 33:13
it absolutely is. It's, it's like a personal trainer for your finances, yeah, or, you know, it's, it's exactly that. It's like having a business coach for your finances, or whatever it might be. I have people say to me regularly, well, do you use a service? And I say, of course, I've used the service from day one. I was a bit like yourself. Aaron, I used to write, this was before spreadsheets. Yes, I used to write a budget manually on a bit of paper every single week. You know, $20 for petrol. This put money away from my motor registration, and doing it manually was so the envelopes with the cash. Yeah, that's right, but that that system is actually quite hard to manage. That's why you need to automate it. So Aaron working at my budget in the personal budgeting consultant role, which is what you started in, and now you're managing that team. I know myself personally from seeing clients many years ago, how much that can profoundly impact you as a PPS, because you have the privilege of changing someone's life. Is there any specific story or some or a situation that you related to, or just something that had an impact on you personally or on your life. Yeah,
Erin 34:25
I guess probably the first time I met with a couple in the office in Adelaide, I was worried, I guess, starting the role coming from travel, that I wouldn't get that same joy of everything that travel did for me is, you know, providing these once in a lifetime experiences for people to be able to do, you know, the trip where they get engaged and then the wedding, and then the honeymoon, and then the baby moon, and that repeat clientele that, you know, just kept providing these amazing experiences. But I guess the first time that I felt like. Actually this is next level. Was when I met with a couple in the Adelaide office, they were sitting so far apart from each other. I was sat on one side of the desk, they were either side of the other, and there was just that you could tell that they're in a bad place with each other. I guess there was a lot of you did this, and we're in this for that, and he's doing this, and she's doing that, and they just were, yeah, there was a lot of fighting, and I could tell that that it had, it had been a lot for them to come in and sit the appointment. And I think maybe one had convinced the other one that we need to do this. But once we got it all on paper, after an hour sitting together, I could tell that it was almost like a therapy thing, where they, you know, they felt like they'd got it out on paper. And I said, right, guys, I need 30 minutes. Let me go and put this budget plan together. And I remember delivering their budget, their solution, and that their biggest fear was not being able to put their kids through the school that they wanted to, and they felt like each other was getting in the way of that, and we were able to maintain their mortgage repayments, put them in the school that they wanted to and I remember as they were going through the document with me, they were sat together, and he had his hand on her leg, and I could just tell that this was the right thing for them. They really just needed a plan in place for everything to be clear and visible and to be on the same page, and I just felt like I was able to be a part of that journey where they realigned, and they realized that they could do this together. How
Tammy 36:27
amazing, because finances really can get in the way of so many things, but in particular of people's relationships, where there's arguments around money. And in actual fact, I didn't realize once, when I started my budget that that would be one of the benefits of using the My budget service. I thought people would say, well, thanks for sorting out my finances, but it was actually, oh yeah, thanks for sorting out my finances. But my husband and I never fight about money anymore. My wife and I don't fight about money anymore. And I even had a client say to one of our PBS is, you guys got me my sex life back.
Erin 37:04
I love that. But you're right. There's so many times where you you can see the strain that it puts on people, not even just, you know partners, but you know family. They might have borrowed money from family or or things like that. They might be living with somebody that they're not paying their board on time. There's just so many little things that can impact your relationship. And you know, to be able to have something that just takes that away instantly, it's amazing. It's a privilege to do what we do.
Tammy 37:31
Thank you so much for sharing your journey and sharing your story. You are both genuinely inspiring, amazing human beings. I mean, you love your children. You're just top people. And I feel very proud to not only know you, but have the amazing Erin on our management team at my budget. I feel very fortunate about that, and of course, very fortunate for Erin that she's got such a wonderful partner, Adam. So thank you so much, guys. I really appreciate it. Thank you say, well, thanks for sorting out my finances, but it was actually, oh yeah, thanks for sorting out my finances. But my husband and I never fight about money anymore. My wife and I don't fight about money anymore. And I even had a client say to one of our PBS is, you guys got me my sex life back.
Erin 37:04
I love that. But you're right. There's so many times where you you can see the strain that it puts on people, not even just, you know partners, but you know family. They might have borrowed money from family or or things like that. They might be living with somebody that they're not paying their board on time. There's just so many little things that can impact your relationship. And you know, to be able to have something that just takes that away instantly, it's amazing. It's a privilege to do what we do.
Tammy 37:31
Thank you so much for sharing your journey and sharing your story. You are both genuinely inspiring, amazing human beings. I mean, you love your children. You're just top people. And I feel very proud to not only know you, but have the amazing Erin on our management team at my budget. I feel very fortunate about that, and of course, very fortunate for Erin that she's got such a wonderful partner, Adam.