# BONUS EP – Chantal with Michael & Violet | CHANGING LIVES | Season 3 Ep 53

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 12 Dec 2025, 29 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/eb5i7o4ui7zs7tb1ekngcyti.mp3

In this episode of Changing Lives Financially, we sit down with Michael & Violet to unpack their journey from high stress, no structure, and over $1 million in debt to becoming financially organised, clear-minded, and owners of three investment properties in under one year. Michael & Violet share how they discovered Infinity through work connections and how money was always a conversation in their life but never with strategy. From running a business, juggling tax decisions, and spending heavily on toys, vehicles and lifestyle purchases, they reached a point where their finances felt overwhelming and out of control.With a $1.07M home loan, no budget, no credit cards (by choice), and no investments, the pressure was at an all-time high. Everything shifted once they joined Infinity and started working closely with Chantal. By implementing a structured budget, setting an FFF of $450, and finally organising their finances with guidance and accountability, they reduced their home loan to $258,000, built over $206,000 in redraw, established three investment properties valued at $2.6M, and grew their super cash to $122,000 all in under a year. This episode dives into Michael & Violet’s financial transformation, their mindset breakthroughs, and the changes that helped them regain control of their future. 👉 Watch the free webinar to start your journey: https://bit.ly/43V2jKN

## Transcript

[0:00] Could you ever have thought this was possible in under a year?
[0:04] No.
[0:05] For you guys?
[0:06] No way.
[0:06] When we first signed up, we were like, okay, maybe by seven years we'll be able to pay off the mortgage.
[0:12] Holy moly, you're going to have that done in under two, I reckon.
[0:15] It's just, yeah.
[0:16] Hopefully Christmas next year.
[0:17] Yeah.
[0:18] Money isn't rude of all evil, the fucking lack of it is.
[0:20] Not money, the lack of understanding money.
[0:23] When I put that into emphasis, when I realised our psychological effect and how it hit our family, I FDB all the fucking way.
[0:30] You're now watching the Money Man Talk podcast.
[0:32] With Graham Holmes.
[0:33] Graham Holmes.
[0:34] Graham Holmes.
[0:35] You're fucking gone.
[0:39] See ya.
[0:40] Hi guys, I am here with Michael and Violet from Canberra.
[0:44] Welcome guys, how are you?
[0:45] Oh good, good to be here.
[0:47] Thank you for having us.
[0:48] Yeah, good.
[0:48] Pleasure, our pleasure.
[0:49] We love sharing stories of people who are, you know, doing really well and you guys are relatively new to us so we'll get into that a bit further.
[0:56] But before we start, tell us a bit about you.
[0:58] Who are you?
[0:59] Where are you from?
[1:00] Why did you join Infinity?
[1:02] So I'm Violet, I'm a GP, I'm from Canberra, grew up in Sydney and Michael is pest control.
[1:13] I grew up in Canberra, we live in Canberra and I do pest control.
[1:20] When I first left school I did a motorcycle mechanic apprenticeship.
[1:23] Did that.
[1:23] Dad had his own pest control business.
[1:25] Got back into that, obviously, because the money was a little bit better than being in Greece all day for $800 a week.
[1:30] So I got back into pest control the majority of my life.
[1:33] And yes, I've got my own company.
[1:35] He's such a nerd about it.
[1:36] He loves it.
[1:37] So I've got my own business now there, which is good.
[1:39] Work's really busy now.
[1:41] So the journey was the fun part.
[1:43] But when you get there, you're like, oh, now I've got to go to work every day.
[1:45] Now I've got to do it.
[1:47] So how we came to infinity was that we, I mean, we grew up with not much.
[1:55] We both had quite a simple life and managed to work ourselves hard enough to earn a good living.
[2:03] And we were just like, we don't have any understanding of what to do with this and how to, yeah, what's the best way that we can use this money?
[2:13] I guess we weren't getting a lot of happiness out of buying all the toys and doing all the things.
[2:21] So that's when we came across one of Michael's clients.
[2:25] Yeah, when Jeff White and Christine said, yeah.
[2:27] You know them well.
[2:28] Yeah.
[2:29] So he's a lovely man.
[2:30] So I went to his house and he, that was putting the house on the market.
[2:35] And then he was telling me the success and his story and where they're heading to and where they're going.
[2:39] I was like, wow.
[2:40] So he's like, mate, you got to listen to this.
[2:41] You got to get on board.
[2:43] I'll send you the Tuesday night free webinar.
[2:47] And so he sent me that link and it was a Tuesday.
[2:49] So we went home and logged on that night and watched the free webinar.
[2:52] Yeah.
[2:53] And it was mind blowing because it's just so simple.
[2:57] It takes a while to process, but it's so simple.
[3:00] And it's just like, all right, what have we been doing?
[3:03] We're just, we're getting effed over by the banks every day.
[3:08] And when Jay explains it and breaks it down and simplifies it,
[3:11] It just, yeah, it's just there.
[3:14] It's like, fuck, we've been just getting ripped.
[3:15] The numbers don't lie.
[3:16] And so we were just like, how quickly can we sign up to this?
[3:19] Yeah, we can.
[3:20] We're like, we do not want to give the banks another dollar.
[3:23] How quickly can we pay down our mortgage now?
[3:25] And once you learn that stuff, it's like you can't unlearn it.
[3:28] Exactly.
[3:29] Correct.
[3:29] It's crazy if you don't continue or do it yourselves or come on board because you're thinking, look at all this money going to the bank.
[3:37] Yeah.
[3:37] Exactly.
[3:38] And we'll pay minimum repayments and then it was just, yeah, we didn't realise how much minimum we were actually paying.
[3:43] It was like $8,000, $10,000 a year.
[3:45] Until we went to the master class and did the math and we were like, we're going to pay.
[3:49] Well, we're going to talk in a minute about how much you have paid down in less than a year, which is quite astounding.
[3:55] Yeah.
[3:56] But first, growing up, you said, you know, pretty simple, didn't have a lot.
[4:01] What was the talk about money in each of your households growing up?
[4:05] Yeah, I guess there wasn't much talk around the struggle, but it was just this feeling that we were – we just didn't have much and we had to think about what we would spend.
[4:18] But our dad really instilled in us the value of a good, hard, honest worker –
[4:24] And he just worked so hard.
[4:26] So he was migrant and just day and night worked.
[4:31] We hardly saw him.
[4:32] And yeah, pretty early on, we could see how much he valued someone who was also a good hard worker.
[4:38] And that's what he instilled in us.
[4:40] So that's where sort of that's where the, I guess, the value of money was through hard work.
[4:46] and nothing else.
[4:48] I guess outside of that, the concept of having more than what you need to pay your mortgage and your bills, it was just not a concept we understood.
[4:59] But I always remember feeling like, well, one day I want to make sure that I can repay Dad and all the hard work that he's done for us and our family.
[5:06] But we just, I didn't know how.
[5:08] I finally could see, oh, maybe we're actually getting there, but now what do we do?
[5:13] So yeah, that was, it was really cool to come across you guys and know that there's a way out.
[5:18] What about in your upbringing, Michael?
[5:19] Yeah, parents never spoke about finances in front of us.
[5:23] So nothing about money.
[5:24] And then especially when I went into business with no one, nothing besides doing the job.
[5:29] I learned a lot from other people that were just spending money on just crap to hide their money, to hide their taxes.
[5:37] So I didn't learn anything about what to do with money.
[5:41] So dad made money when he was younger in his business too, but he didn't know what to do with either.
[5:46] He bought us motorbikes and all that.
[5:49] So we didn't go without, but he just never set himself up.
[5:53] So he always had a plan where he wanted to retire at like 55.
[5:56] But then I think now this year I said to him, I said, well, you never had a plan in place, mate.
[6:01] You kept saying that you wanted to retire, but that was it.
[6:04] So I've realised I've learned a lot this year where, fuck, you need to have a structure in place, a plan in place and attack it.
[6:10] Don't just say it's not going to happen.
[6:12] I know that.
[6:13] Yeah.
[6:13] I saw some of your notes were that you wanted to make sure you're in a,
[6:17] better position than your parents ended up and it's not to say that they're in a terrible position But to be more set up.
[6:24] Yeah, and I also saw you feel like and I love the term you sandwiched Yeah between aging parents.
[6:31] Sorry mom and dad if you were gonna watch this Yeah, and obviously kids that you realize you're gonna have to help in the market I think I think that will resonate with a lot of people.
[6:39] Yeah, and
[6:40] It does feel tough because my mum still got a big mortgage.
[6:43] Her parents still have a mortgage and everyone around us is just, there's nothing, there's no inheritance.
[6:48] Yeah.
[6:49] So there's not a dollar.
[6:50] There's just a sense of struggle and everybody being stretched and then we look at our two kids and I just think when I look at my kids, I think of ourselves as children and I just think, okay, well, what can I do differently and how can I actually set them up
[7:07] either with an education or something to get them started because, wow, that would have made such a difference for us.
[7:15] But just a basic education around how they can get themselves there and a plan I think would be so amazing.
[7:23] And then to look at our parents and know that one day if they're in a situation where...
[7:29] they're struggling, then to know that we can help them and support them just like they did when we were younger as well and without having to stretch ourselves as well, without having to feel like we have to fall back too.
[7:41] So it's pretty amazing and I sleep so comfortably at night now.
[7:48] That's what I was trying to get at.
[7:49] Knowing that I can really, we can really, really help them.
[7:52] We just know.
[7:54] Setting yourself up.
[7:56] Yeah, we'll set ourselves up first at kids and then we'll help our parents out.
[8:00] But it still annoys me because, yes, we are working hard.
[8:03] We are sacrificing most of our time is at work at the moment still, which we want to scale back to spend time with the kids.
[8:09] And they're still young, three and one.
[8:11] But when they go to primary school, we want to be able to pick them up at three o'clock.
[8:15] So we've got to scale back work a bit.
[8:17] So I wish our parents, no one in our family talks about money.
[8:21] It's just taboo.
[8:23] So it still annoys me to this day.
[8:25] I'm very open about it because we all get out of bed and go to work for this reason.
[8:29] Let's talk about it so we can help each other.
[8:31] So that kind of still grinds my gears because they still don't want to sort of be on the same page or try come to the same table we're at.
[8:38] Sorry.
[8:39] That's quite what's so different about this community.
[8:43] It's just all numbers to us.
[8:45] So, you know, you meet people at RAM or at a community event and you can talk openly about your debt and your achievements, how much you've paid down.
[8:53] That's so taboo in most other settings.
[8:55] It's crazy, isn't it?
[8:56] But the reality is it's just a number and we're here to encourage people.
[9:00] each other's success yeah exactly and it helps it helps everybody yeah yeah so yes um meet their own success we'll definitely teach our kids but yeah first thing yeah we definitely try to set ourselves up and kids first yeah and then yeah so you touched on it a bit before you know the businesses making money weren't sure what to do with it yeah uh quite typical of australian business owners is to not have a profit yes not pay the tax man
[9:24] And have all these toys.
[9:26] Have all these toys.
[9:27] Yeah, that's what happened.
[9:29] Yeah, and I knew this is what we would see when we looked around and I looked at Mike and I was like, but you're actually spending money to save on tax, but you're spending more than you would have paid on tax.
[9:42] It doesn't make sense to me, but sure.
[9:44] But you don't know the alternative.
[9:46] Yeah, and then I'm like, but then we'd be blowing all this money off.
[9:50] on tax, which yes, it gives us lots of things, but also a lot of the things we don't really get a say in, and that's even us living in Canberra.
[9:59] So yeah, we kind of just didn't know, okay, what's the best strategy here.
[10:04] I saw a note that you had all the toys, but didn't have the time to use them.
[10:07] Exactly, also that.
[10:08] Yeah, so that's what every year the regos came up and I was like, oh shit, so.
[10:12] Pay rego for a thing that you don't even use.
[10:14] Yeah, I thought that was a normal, until we did the masterclass, and then yeah, the regos came up as well, and I was like,
[10:19] It doesn't make sense.
[10:21] The numbers just don't make sense.
[10:22] It's just slap yourself, give yourself a good uppercut and get rid of them.
[10:26] It just doesn't make sense.
[10:27] It's super common and, you know, we do come across it a lot.
[10:30] And until you know something, you know, you're living blindly, hoping you're doing something right and then it gets presented to you and you're like...
[10:39] It takes a while to admit it.
[10:42] You guys see it a lot where you probably get people where they go, I'm not going to sell this, but I'll do this, this, and this.
[10:46] And then eventually I'll bet you they come on board because the number's just there.
[10:50] You nailed it.
[10:51] And quite often what happens is within our community, someone will say, you know, we were really reluctant to sell this or sell that.
[10:58] And then now they've realised it makes so much sense because...
[11:02] they're dominoing their bad debt.
[11:05] So I wanted to know, cause you came to us with over a million dollars of bad debt.
[11:10] It was very scary, not mine.
[11:12] It was so scary.
[11:12] Because we were on the masterclass, everyone was putting in their comments.
[11:15] I got a 300, I got a 500, I got a 600, I got,
[11:18] we're the only ones with a million dollars.
[11:20] Yeah.
[11:20] You're not.
[11:21] I know, I know.
[11:22] That's what we kept seeing.
[11:22] It felt like it.
[11:23] Yeah, we were like, we're idiots.
[11:26] And you earn good money but we're just, you know, paying those minimum repayments because it's what you thought you should do.
[11:32] Yeah.
[11:34] So where are we now?
[11:36] Yeah, so we had a million dollars, $1,070,000 loan before we signed up with Infinity and now we're at $258,000.
[11:44] And you joined in January this year, 2025.
[11:48] It's currently December 2025.
[11:50] Yeah, it's crazy.
[11:51] Less than a year.
[11:51] I've got goosebumps.
[11:52] All right.
[11:53] I still don't believe.
[11:54] So is it magic?
[11:55] What happened?
[11:56] How did you possibly do that?
[11:58] Correct.
[11:58] And we thought it was magic too.
[11:59] We didn't believe it at first.
[12:00] So, yes, we sold.
[12:01] It was a lot of toys, dividends from the business.
[12:05] A bigger wage as well and we've had a bit of cash as well and I've still been getting cash from other jobs as well and that just goes all into the mortgage.
[12:14] But yeah, dividends, toys and a bit of cash.
[12:18] And I've gone back to work as well after having...
[12:21] And we didn't believe it as well, sorry, because we went to the accountant last week and we're like, all right, we want to do some tax planning.
[12:27] Because we listen to Graham's podcast all the time and we learn a lot on each one, even the both sides podcast.
[12:32] You learn so much.
[12:33] He's done some more.
[12:36] Yeah.
[12:36] And then a good one was like, you know, what's the point of going to your accountant at the end of the year?
[12:40] You know how much you've profited.
[12:41] You know how much you've spent.
[12:42] What the fuck?
[12:43] But you – So it makes sense.
[12:45] So tax planning.
[12:45] So we went last week and we actually learned a lot again because, you know, they can't give you questions or answers or whatever.
[12:51] They just sit there and do your paperwork for you.
[12:53] They can't tell you what to do.
[12:54] So we've got – But you've got to ask the right question.
[12:57] We've got a lot of questions at him and we've got a lot back.
[12:58] And we're like, oh, so we learned a lot more again last week about sort of business money and whatever.
[13:02] Yeah, so tax planning.
[13:04] So we learned it's like far out.
[13:05] So it was amazing.
[13:06] When we went and saw the accountant and actually looked at what's the sort of forecast for paying tax this next financial year, we realized actually that money that we've sort of put into the mortgage is fully there and we don't need to access that to pay off tax, et cetera.
[13:22] So it was then that it felt so real.
[13:24] That's the number.
[13:25] It's like 100%.
[13:26] I can only imagine that stress level because you were, I don't know, the terminology was sick with stress.
[13:34] So that's got to be so far down now.
[13:36] Yeah.
[13:37] It's huge.
[13:38] It hasn't completely fully sunk in yet because we're still busy at work.
[13:41] We haven't scaled back work yet.
[13:42] Probably won't for a while.
[13:43] No, I don't think we will.
[13:44] Yeah, definitely the stress is the shoulders feel a lot lighter.
[13:48] So it's just, it is.
[13:50] And I was thinking on the way up here on our flight on the way up here this morning,
[13:54] Like I never used to chuck a sticky on a Friday.
[13:58] And then now I'm not even thinking about work or money and just, you know, I'll just sort out a Monday.
[14:01] You know, if you lose a few customers, you don't, you won't.
[14:04] But that used to be in your head all the time.
[14:06] Got to take on all the work.
[14:07] Got to take this.
[14:08] If I lose one customer.
[14:09] It's a scarcity mindset.
[14:10] Yeah, it is.
[14:11] And it's really terrible to be in that pressure.
[14:12] And now you've got that comfort level that you are good.
[14:14] You've got...
[14:15] Correct.
[14:15] Money, should anything unforeseen happen, you are good to go.
[14:19] Correct.
[14:19] So you paid down this mortgage by hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
[14:24] Yeah.
[14:26] Yeah.
[14:26] And some investment properties.
[14:27] Yeah.
[14:28] Yeah.
[14:28] So we picked up three, which is amazing.
[14:30] We didn't believe it.
[14:30] We don't believe it.
[14:31] But yeah.
[14:33] But they're in our name.
[14:33] Three with our name.
[14:34] Oh, they definitely are.
[14:36] Yeah.
[14:36] Totally.
[14:37] Could you ever have thought this was possible in under a year?
[14:42] No.
[14:42] for you guys.
[14:43] No way.
[14:44] When we first signed up, we were like, okay, maybe by seven years, we'll be able to pay off the mortgage.
[14:50] Holy moly.
[14:51] You're going to have that done in under two, I reckon.
[14:53] It's just, yeah.
[14:54] Happy Christmas next year.
[14:55] Yeah.
[14:55] Happy Christmas next year.
[14:57] So, um,
[14:57] Yeah, now if you told us a year ago, you're gonna have a 200K mortgage, you're gonna have three investors, I would have laughed and just walked away.
[15:04] Yeah, good joke, this guy's a joke, this guy's a joke.
[15:06] I just wouldn't believe it.
[15:07] Yeah.
[15:08] So it's just, yeah, what you guys have shown and all the free- It's really shown that anyone can do it.
[15:14] Yes, we had a lot of toys and yes, we have a good income, but anyone really, if you had the right mindset and you were determined, you can absolutely do it.
[15:21] And the reality is- Correct.
[15:23] We gave you the recipe
[15:25] But you cooked.
[15:26] Yeah.
[15:26] You put this all together.
[15:28] It was your work.
[15:28] It was your decisions.
[15:30] It was you focusing and being purposeful with your money to get in this position, which is incredible.
[15:35] Yeah.
[15:36] So well done, you guys.
[15:37] That's amazing.
[15:38] Thank you.
[15:39] So talk to me about sort of budget week to week.
[15:43] How do you work your FFF?
[15:45] Because it's like $450 and you live in Canberra, which is not cheap.
[15:49] It's not cheap.
[15:49] Yeah.
[15:50] So I think that's...
[15:51] A pretty good figure.
[15:52] It's $4.50, but the fuel comes out of the company.
[15:55] So food, fun.
[15:57] We've got a three-year-old and a one-year-old.
[15:59] Most of our fun is parks.
[16:02] But then every now and again, yes, in Canberra, especially because it's cold during winter, we need subscriptions to indoor playgrounds.
[16:09] So it goes towards those, although that does come out of salary and bills, but you still need a pay entry and whatnot when you're there.
[16:15] You know, we manage it.
[16:16] The kids don't eat too much.
[16:17] Just the three-year-old, we're trying to throw food at him.
[16:20] He just won't eat.
[16:21] But, yeah, I think meal planning definitely helps.
[16:26] We've really got on board with doing lots of slow cooker meals now, which everyone loves because you can always just turn it into pasta and eat.
[16:32] Bulk meals.
[16:33] Both our kids love pasta.
[16:34] You know what else you can do?
[16:35] You can put that stuff into like a pie maker as well.
[16:39] Yes.
[16:39] Leftovers in a pie.
[16:41] And then I'm a bit of a health freak as well.
[16:44] So it's like doing things like –
[16:49] Tin beans and legumes.
[16:51] You can even buy dried legumes and soak them and, you know, you get your legumes.
[16:56] But they stretch to make so many meals as well throughout the week and they're so filling.
[17:01] Yeah, and awesome.
[17:03] So good.
[17:03] Yeah, it's pretty good.
[17:04] Our lifestyle hasn't changed.
[17:05] People think when you're on a budget...
[17:07] You probably hear all the time, lifestyle changes.
[17:09] Nothing's really changed for us.
[17:10] We still feel the same people.
[17:11] We're eating good, nutritious meals.
[17:13] We're not starving.
[17:14] I'm not losing weight.
[17:15] I wish I was.
[17:16] Nothing has changed.
[17:17] Was there any opposition to the thought of going onto a budget, being that self-confessed, buying all the toys, just probably spending money?
[17:26] Was there oppositions?
[17:27] at first there was yeah definitely it took a took a good few weeks to sort of sink in at first like shit so i used to buy lunches every day for work never used to pack my own lunch so and now i yeah he very quickly just pulled his head in yeah i think it's just realizing if i'm not doing that if i'm buying all my lunch requirements with my groceries and doing that little bit of prep i'm going to have
[17:50] all this extra money at the end of the month to sweep into my mortgage and how satisfying is that sweet oh they're so good yeah and being like we save this much on interest um which is yeah it's so amazing there's a cool um on google interest and calculator um interest and principle calculator thing on google it's so cool you just punch it in and you can just it just shows you all so
[18:12] Would you have ever done that?
[18:13] Never.
[18:14] 12 months ago.
[18:15] I'm on it once a day.
[18:16] I'm always on it going, if I do this, this and this, that's how I go.
[18:18] And then he comes home every day.
[18:19] He's like, why don't we do this?
[18:20] And what if we do this?
[18:22] And so it's really cool.
[18:23] It's kind of become a bit of a game.
[18:25] I think that's incredible because that is a massive mindset shift for you guys.
[18:29] I didn't know you before Infinity.
[18:31] But that goes to all the people that get to sit in that seat you're in.
[18:35] We kind of say to them, hey, you could maybe do this.
[18:39] And they're kind of like, no.
[18:40] No.
[18:40] nah, it's like this game.
[18:42] I'm going to get in there.
[18:42] What else can I do?
[18:44] You guys will be, no doubt, lining up for some more properties in the near future because no one ever really says, oh, one, two, three is enough.
[18:51] Yeah, no, we're hooked now, aren't we?
[18:53] I did though because I was scared at first.
[18:54] I was like, three is enough.
[18:55] But no, now I'm like, okay, how many more can we get?
[18:57] Yeah, no, we're hooked now.
[18:58] Now it becomes a game.
[19:00] And you know what the market's like nowadays as well.
[19:02] It's just, yeah.
[19:03] So we're excited to just keep.
[19:05] And I think too, like a lot of business owners, you kind of don't prioritize superannuation for yourself.
[19:11] So we're working on that too.
[19:12] We will be soon.
[19:13] Yeah, that's our next step after we pay off the mortgage is to start off a self-managed super fund and get into the market in there as well.
[19:20] It just makes sense.
[19:21] Correct.
[19:21] Because you hear a lot of stories, you know, 61-year-old, bowel cancer, got sucked from work, mortgage.
[19:27] You always hear stories and she hears it all the time at her work.
[19:30] Yeah.
[19:30] The biggest cause of stress is,
[19:32] Yeah, it's your mortgage.
[19:34] Not for you guys anymore.
[19:36] No, I know.
[19:37] And again, it's still hard to believe that there will be a day in the very near future that we can wake up and not even think about it, which is so wild.
[19:45] This is crazy.
[19:46] And just such a difference to where we were just a year ago.
[19:50] It was only a year ago.
[19:51] So you guys have definitely changed our lives.
[19:53] It's been amazing.
[19:54] Well, again, you did it.
[19:56] But thank you.
[19:58] We could not.
[19:58] Look, the team is here to guide you.
[20:00] Yeah.
[20:00] And without that, you would still kind of just be hoping you're doing an okay job.
[20:06] Yeah.
[20:06] And then when you see what is possible, you're like, whoa.
[20:09] Correct.
[20:09] And a lot of it makes sense.
[20:11] Yeah.
[20:11] Oh, it's all so simple.
[20:13] It makes sense.
[20:13] Yeah.
[20:14] The numbers just really don't lie.
[20:15] Yeah.
[20:16] And that's the thing that I would say is if you're ever in doubt, just do the math.
[20:20] Numbers don't lie.
[20:21] Yeah.
[20:21] Yeah.
[20:22] Exactly.
[20:23] Have there been any struggles along the way?
[20:26] We haven't found – no, we're happy with the budgeting, the FF account.
[20:29] No struggles.
[20:30] I think – no, you know, it's the conversation we had like a week ago is that I personally have always struggled to just spend money on myself and if I ever find myself with a little bit of spare cash in the budget, not like I wouldn't call it spare cash but something there to spend –
[20:46] I'm always thinking about, okay, well, who can I spend it on?
[20:49] And I was like, well, that's something that I need to work on and actually start spending my money.
[20:53] That's true because we're so focused on getting that mortgage number down.
[20:55] We don't want to even buy new clothes anymore or new shoes.
[20:58] So she's due for that.
[20:59] I can tell you that G would tell you 100% this is not about being super frugal.
[21:06] Yeah.
[21:07] No, definitely.
[21:08] You guys have done incredibly well and set little personal goals.
[21:12] Yes.
[21:12] Violet's obviously such an incredible person.
[21:15] You comment before about how can I pay dad back for working so hard.
[21:18] That's incredible and quite not so much of a surprise when you say that, but I promise you G wants you to celebrate
[21:28] Yeah.
[21:28] Your wins, you know.
[21:29] Yeah, definitely.
[21:30] Have a holiday.
[21:31] We don't mean 12-week honesty to Europe or anything.
[21:35] Oh, you don't?
[21:36] Okay.
[21:36] No.
[21:37] I can confirm and it's been recorded.
[21:40] No 12-week European honesty.
[21:42] But, you know, you guys have done – you're a long way ahead of potentially –
[21:48] You've done more than we thought you could in this short timeframe.
[21:51] Treat yourselves.
[21:52] Enjoy it because it's miserable otherwise.
[21:54] And that's an order.
[21:55] All right.
[21:56] Okay, done.
[21:57] We'll be drawn past with Jessica's in the back of the car.
[22:00] No more toys.
[22:01] Holy moly, have you learned anything?
[22:03] No, I'm going to go shopping.
[22:06] Yes, buy some new clothes.
[22:09] Go on the holidays.
[22:11] Have something beautiful for yourself.
[22:13] That was our one struggle last week we talked about.
[22:15] We are so – now it's become a good game.
[22:18] Yeah.
[22:18] That sometimes we can get a bit ahead of ourselves.
[22:21] Yeah.
[22:21] Yeah.
[22:22] I do hear that a lot too.
[22:23] It's almost like an obsession.
[22:25] Yeah.
[22:25] Correct.
[22:25] And we will and we do the relationship managers quite often like, yo, take a breather.
[22:31] Yeah.
[22:32] We're doing good.
[22:32] Yeah.
[22:33] It's good.
[22:34] It's good.
[22:35] So what would you say is the biggest win out of your journey with Infinity?
[22:38] Yeah.
[22:39] Just the stress, the stress.
[22:40] Yeah, a lot of pressure.
[22:42] And I think we've really been able to, because I guess something we were talking about recently is like how much our values when we first met.
[22:49] Because I don't know, I think looking from the outside, we seem like an unusual match if you think about our past, but our values are just so aligned from day one.
[22:58] I was like so drawn to Michael.
[23:01] And being able to manage the finances and know that we've got a plan and that's all sorted, it has been such a weight off our shoulders so we can really bring ourselves back to what our values are.
[23:12] We don't have to think about finances yet.
[23:14] Yeah.
[23:14] Because we always talk about – We work on our children and things.
[23:16] We always talked about we need to see a financial planner.
[23:18] We need to see – but we always – we didn't know who to trust and we didn't trust anyone.
[23:23] And so, yeah, we always were stressing about we need to see someone.
[23:25] We're making good money.
[23:26] We need to see someone.
[23:27] That was the end of the story.
[23:29] And you just didn't trust yourself.
[23:30] Yeah.
[23:31] Because you've got money to pay every bill that comes up.
[23:34] Yeah.
[23:34] The structure is so simple.
[23:36] What was your structure like?
[23:38] Was there any structure before visiting?
[23:41] It was a bit like the barefoot structure, get paid into this account which goes into that account and then that account.
[23:46] We had a shared account for bills but then we do our spending quite separately as well.
[23:51] Different accounts, yeah.
[23:52] No, I wasn't paying myself a proper wage.
[23:53] You weren't paying yourself a wage, yeah, and you were just buying toys.
[23:57] Well, I hope every business owner that listens to this gets the idea that, you know.
[24:02] Tax is not the devil.
[24:04] It's a success fee.
[24:06] It's really a way to unlock success.
[24:08] And it is.
[24:09] It makes a lot of sense.
[24:10] And it's taken the stress off us.
[24:11] Well, that is like one of the best answers that I could have got.
[24:16] Because like paying the mortgage is great.
[24:18] Investment properties are fantastic.
[24:20] But the stress.
[24:21] The stress.
[24:22] Yeah.
[24:22] Nothing can beat that.
[24:23] Nothing can beat that.
[24:24] Stress kills you.
[24:25] Stress is the number one killer, right?
[24:27] Can you tell me that, doctor?
[24:29] Exactly.
[24:30] It's a stress.
[24:32] And then you can be there with your kids too because when you, you know, come weekends with the kids, you're just thinking about, oh, work this, work that.
[24:37] Now just, nah, don't bother me, mate.
[24:39] Yeah.
[24:39] Don't need your money.
[24:40] I love that.
[24:41] That's great.
[24:42] Yeah.
[24:42] So it's good.
[24:44] So in sort of finishing up, if people were sitting on the fence not sure about joining Infinity, what would you say?
[24:51] Give yourself an uppercut and join.
[24:54] Why are you sitting down on the fence?
[24:56] Get your laptop and fun up.
[24:57] I know people sort of probably don't believe things at first.
[25:00] We're all sceptical.
[25:01] But crunch the numbers.
[25:03] It's so simple.
[25:04] There's apps on there.
[25:05] There's websites.
[25:06] There's calculators on your phone.
[25:08] Crunch the numbers.
[25:08] Just do the free webinar.
[25:09] You're not going to lose anything.
[25:12] You won't even lose your time.
[25:14] And you'll see how far you can get if you're smarter than us without having to sign up.
[25:20] But then you'll soon see.
[25:21] All the free advice Graham gives, I guess, and you hear all the success from the free advice.
[25:27] We're very time poor and we're stupid, so we need guidance.
[25:31] Yeah.
[25:32] But all the free advice he gives and all those podcasts, even the both side podcasts, so much advice.
[25:37] I've learned so much of those things.
[25:39] You can do a lot.
[25:39] There's a lot out there.
[25:40] Listen to podcasts first, if you aren't sure, and crunch the numbers and then give yourself another cut.
[25:47] You can always message Michael on Facebook.
[25:49] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[25:50] We'll hide his email below.
[25:53] I don't think we'll advertise that.
[25:56] It is true though.
[25:57] It's a very simple structure.
[25:58] It's just about being purposeful with your money.
[26:01] There's no frugality.
[26:02] It's being mindful about what's coming in and what's going out and resting assured that.
[26:07] there's a plan in place now yeah and everything can be accounted for including your fun which is cool absolutely and i guess the great thing also is the community you know so encouraging great ideas if you want some recipes if you want some ways to entertain the kids during the holidays all you've got to do is ask and you'll be flooded with um helpful suggestions
[26:30] It's amazing.
[26:30] You've never seen so much support.
[26:32] Yeah.
[26:32] Everyone's just on the same page and the support is amazing.
[26:35] Yeah.
[26:36] It's pretty – it's amazing.
[26:38] Have you guys come to a REM?
[26:39] Yeah, we had.
[26:40] First one of September.
[26:41] I was just going to say.
[26:42] What was the vibe like there?
[26:43] It was amazing, wasn't it?
[26:43] It was like very soon you just know the ins and outs of everyone's lives.
[26:46] There's nothing off the table, which is really so cool.
[26:49] And the reason that it's done is so that we can all help each other and learn from each other, which is so impressive.
[26:55] It's amazing.
[26:55] Yeah, the REM was amazing.
[26:56] And then just again with the Kmart and the Salvation Army Foundation, all the donations that the community were able to raise was just, again, a testament to how amazing it is.
[27:08] Absolutely astounding.
[27:09] Yeah.
[27:10] That's crazy.
[27:11] Imagine next year and the year after.
[27:12] I can't.
[27:13] I said that last year.
[27:14] Yeah, I know.
[27:15] How could we do more?
[27:16] And then we hit this December, this Christmas, and all of us as staff just were floored as well at what was raised and just the level of generosity from the whole community.
[27:27] It was incredible to be a part of.
[27:29] It gives you goosebumps, doesn't it?
[27:30] It really does.
[27:31] Yeah.
[27:31] It really does.
[27:32] Those lucky kids, some of those kids.
[27:34] Last question.
[27:35] Yes.
[27:35] Infinity made me realise I spent so much money on it.
[27:40] Yeah, just on shit, just on cars.
[27:43] That's easy.
[27:44] That's what I wanted because it's a common answer.
[27:47] Cars, yeah.
[27:47] I went through two different cars.
[27:49] They were both new at the time.
[27:50] But, yeah, just, you know, you see a new model come out, oh, I want that.
[27:54] And then, no, you got a bit of business money, oh, sell that, get the next car.
[27:57] So I wasted a lot of money on two different cars.
[28:00] So I do regret that big time.
[28:03] But, yeah, it's just cars.
[28:05] Cars are just – it's sat in the garage.
[28:07] It's just a Saturday, Sunday car, if lucky.
[28:09] Otherwise, it's one to one.
[28:11] It's a trading asset.
[28:11] It's not helping you build wealth.
[28:12] It was disgusting.
[28:13] So when people look at people drive their land cruisers and cars now, I was on that page and I was one of them.
[28:19] Now I look at them going, that's just disgusting.
[28:21] It just doesn't make sense.
[28:22] Oh, you're going to get some more hate mail.
[28:25] It makes you cringe.
[28:26] You're like, mate, through the numbers.
[28:28] Just think about what else you can do.
[28:29] Yeah, like if you're all paid off and your home loan's zero, by all means have some little indulgences, et cetera.
[28:36] But when you're in the trenches trying to get ahead for your family, you don't need all the big fancy stuff.
[28:43] It's hard to listen to the complaints about the cost of living when we're driving around.
[28:48] I was one of them.
[28:48] I own those cars.
[28:49] I was one of them.
[28:50] I thought it was cool at the time.
[28:51] And now I'm like, I look at those people driving like, no, mate, no, it's all for show.
[28:56] You're in debt.
[28:57] Yeah, that's fantastic.
[28:58] Yeah.
[28:59] Well, thank you so much for your time.
[29:00] You guys have been great to have a chat with.
[29:02] I'm sure we will see you again soon, maybe next December when we might be somewhat close to, I think we'll have to keep our eyes on you.
[29:09] Yeah.
[29:10] Thank you for having us.
[29:11] Thank you.
[29:12] Awesome.
[29:12] Thank you so much, guys.
[29:13] Thank you.
[29:13] Thanks.
[29:15] You fucking gone.
[29:16] See ya.

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