# BONUS EP – Chantal with Karen & Martin | CHANGING LIVES | Season 3 Ep 49

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 5 Dec 2025, 23 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/zi7bd30hrxcat1p68asu12c4.mp3

In this powerful episode of The Money Mentor Podcast, we sit down with Karen & Martin to unpack their incredible financial transformation, one built on teamwork, structure, and finally combining their finances and goals after years of operating separately. Before joining Infinity, Karen and Martin were doing well financially, but they weren’t aligned: Separate bank accounts, investment properties & spending habits, no clear budget, Martin splurged on a $103K AMG Mercedes, Karen spent heavily on renovations and carried a $580K home loan. They knew they wanted financial freedom, but not the stress or confusion. After joining Infinity in November 2024, everything shifted. Together, with a plan, structure, and accountability, they aligned their finances, simplified decisions, and executed with confidence. Since then, the results speak for themselves: Sold two investment properties strategically to reset their position, paid off their $580K mortgage in April 2025, purchased FIVE investment properties, including 2 in their SMSF, adopted a weekly FFF budget of $450. Karen & Martin’s story is a reminder that clarity and teamwork create momentum and when you follow the process, life expands. 👉 Watch the free webinar to start your own journey: https://bit.ly/43V2jKN

## Transcript

[0:00] Once we combined and sold a couple of properties and invested in others, we paid off the home loan.
[0:05] How much was the payment?
[0:08] When we actually did all the last minute, it was 580.
[0:11] So I had bought it in 2022 for about 650.
[0:13] And we paid it off in April of 24.
[0:22] Money isn't rude of all evil, the fucking lack of it is.
[0:25] Not money, the lack of understanding money.
[0:28] When I put that into emphasis, when I realise our psychological effect and how it hit our family, I have to be in the fucking way.
[0:34] You are now watching the Money Mentor Podcast with Graham Holm.
[0:38] Graham Holm.
[0:38] Graham Holm.
[0:39] Graham Holm.
[0:42] You're fucking gone.
[0:43] See ya.
[0:44] Hey, guys, I'm Chantal, team leader of the Relationship Managers here at Infinity, and I have the wonderful Karen and Martin here.
[0:52] Thank you guys for joining me.
[0:53] Good evening.
[0:54] How are you?
[0:54] Thanks for having us.
[0:55] How has your day been?
[0:56] You've had your chat with G?
[0:57] Yeah, it's been interesting, and I felt quite relaxed, which was good.
[1:03] We were a little bit unsure about that, but we were both made to feel very comfortable, weren't we?
[1:08] Yeah, and we survived.
[1:10] So did he, I think.
[1:11] Being as we're the last one of the day.
[1:13] Yeah.
[1:15] He's exactly as he comes across on the podcast and at REM and Masterclass.
[1:20] He's that same guy.
[1:21] So it's always good to get clients in front of him to understand.
[1:24] Yeah, yeah.
[1:26] It's good.
[1:27] Give me a little snapshot of who you are, sort of what life was like prior to Infinity.
[1:35] Well, we were both from our recently divorced.
[1:39] We both had our own finances.
[1:41] We came together, but not financially together.
[1:45] And I don't know where I'm going with that now.
[1:49] Lost my train.
[1:50] And we finally, after joining Infinity, we actually did join finances and some of our assets together.
[2:02] Yeah.
[2:03] So we both had properties.
[2:05] We both had investment properties.
[2:06] Yeah.
[2:08] And obviously you had your home loan.
[2:10] Yeah.
[2:12] And so we were just completely separate, weren't we, at that stage?
[2:17] And that was just because you hadn't had the conversation or it was just kind of the thought was, well, we'll just keep doing this.
[2:23] No, I think basically because we both come from separate marriages, we wanted to maintain our own control at that stage.
[2:32] And it wasn't until we realized that...
[2:34] That's not a good way of going forward.
[2:36] No.
[2:37] We need to combine, which is obviously Infinity have showed us, that you need to combine your incomes if you want to get ahead.
[2:44] Yeah.
[2:45] Just looking to maximise your opportunity.
[2:48] Yeah, absolutely.
[2:48] And combine.
[2:49] And to grow a lot quicker because individually...
[2:53] you know, it was going to take longer than I was probably going to live to actually pay all our debts down.
[3:02] That's what you were told, yeah.
[3:03] Yeah, so.
[3:05] And in that short time, we've paid the home loan off completely.
[3:09] Well, that's my follow-up question.
[3:11] Where are you guys at now?
[3:12] Okay, yeah.
[3:13] So once we combined and sold a couple of properties, invested in others, we paid off the home loan.
[3:19] How much was the home loan?
[3:20] $2.
[3:21] When we actually did all the last minute, it was 580.
[3:24] So I had bought it in 2022 for about 650.
[3:26] And we paid it off in April of 24, 580.
[3:27] Was it April 24?
[3:39] April 25?
[3:39] Because we are April 25?
[3:41] This year.
[3:42] April 25.
[3:43] 25, yeah, this year.
[3:44] Fantastic.
[3:45] I was wondering because you only joined November last year.
[3:48] Yeah, so it was a very short turnaround from joining to paying things off.
[3:54] So it goes to show the right structure, the right focus, what can be achieved in a small amount of time.
[4:01] So you both had investments prior to coming.
[4:03] Yes, that's right, yeah.
[4:05] I also might have read somewhere along the lines you had looked at borrowing together prior to coming to Infinity.
[4:11] What happened there?
[4:12] Well, I went through my normal broker.
[4:15] I'm not going to mention who they are, but I went to see her.
[4:17] I said, we want to buy this house.
[4:20] And she sat down and she went through.
[4:21] She said, Martin.
[4:22] I couldn't even get you the loans you've got now in 2020, late 2024.
[4:25] Yeah.
[4:26] Late 2024?
[4:28] Yeah, late 2024.
[4:29] Because of the interest rate rise.
[4:30] She said, I couldn't even get you what you've got now.
[4:32] So you can't buy that house.
[4:34] So that's a bit disappointing.
[4:36] Oh, well.
[4:37] But we've done our figures.
[4:38] So I was really frustrated.
[4:39] We knew we could afford it.
[4:40] And I think for us it was because the house was initially just in my name
[4:52] rent if you like.
[4:53] For me, the lodger.
[4:54] For me, the lodger.
[4:56] We wanted something.
[4:57] He wanted something together.
[4:58] We wanted something that we had together, that we chose together.
[5:02] And it was, that was actually really disheartening, really disheartening.
[5:06] I think it's quite a common story.
[5:08] So I really appreciate you sharing it because there's no doubt a lot of people in that situation and in that scenario.
[5:14] And no doubt it was a bit nerve-wracking at times.
[5:17] Yeah.
[5:17] Well, I'd say nerve wracking was so disappointing because we... All getting together, the finances.
[5:23] Pulling the finances together.
[5:25] Pulling the finances together.
[5:28] Well, I think we realised that it was a necessity.
[5:30] Because, well, along with you paying off your home, we were renovating it.
[5:36] So, you were spending money on that.
[5:37] So, you had a fund of money left over, which you pretty much exhausted.
[5:43] So, then we started to use my money and it came to the point where we might have just
[5:47] you know, after Infinity got involved, we managed to put it all together and make life a lot simpler really.
[5:55] And it allowed, opened up a huge, you know, massive pathways for moving forward.
[6:01] Well now you're bad debt free.
[6:03] And how many investments?
[6:05] We've got two in our super.
[6:07] We've got a self-managed super, which we've also set up since we've been with Infinity.
[6:12] And three others that are in our personal name.
[6:16] Five investments.
[6:17] Five investments.
[6:18] We are literally just approaching your 12-month month with Infinity.
[6:22] So that's incredible.
[6:23] So we've gone from being told we can't borrow any more money to buy the houses we've already got to paying that one off and having five.
[6:32] And we've paid all the deposits for our three investments we've paid down.
[6:39] Because we sold our other investments and got rid of those.
[6:42] Because they weren't good tax deductions, I found out.
[6:47] So I guess your prior investments that you had was the thought process, that old-fashioned buy and hold.
[6:54] Yes, absolutely.
[6:55] It's paying its way.
[6:56] It's paying its loan down.
[6:59] So it sounds like Infinity's kind of done a fair bit of work.
[7:03] And you guys, mindset.
[7:05] Yes.
[7:05] Mindset shift has been probably one of the biggest catalysts for the success and the results that you've got so far.
[7:12] 100%.
[7:13] Yeah, it's seeing...
[7:15] money in a different way and what you can actually do with your money to get the best outcome.
[7:25] Yeah.
[7:26] And realistically, you know, people say we were lucky because we had those investments, but we did the hard yards to get them.
[7:33] We did, yeah.
[7:34] And we'd been paying them off.
[7:35] But I suppose it's seeing them in a different light to actually realise that, yeah, actually pay your home loan.
[7:43] Yeah.
[7:44] because that's where you're potentially going to live and you don't want debt when you retire.
[7:48] Or you have no deductions.
[7:50] You have no deductions.
[7:51] For your principal place of residence.
[7:53] So, um, the...
[7:57] The fact that you were able to do that has helped and that's all wonderful, but you could have continued on not maximising.
[8:04] I think what we've been able to show you is that we can do more.
[8:10] Getting rid of some of those old ones, which, yep, fantastic, they serve their purpose, but we're no longer tax effective anymore.
[8:17] Apart from the two we've bought by combining our supers and stuff, but the other three, there's no chance that we would have ever got those with the way we were going.
[8:25] No, no.
[8:27] And by getting rid of those, they had good value because I did mine, I owned a good chunk of them.
[8:34] So it did give us a nice bit of capital, which obviously we paid into paying the home loan down.
[8:39] And then you sold yours as well, and that finished that off.
[8:41] And we still got to fund the money we saved for the renovation, finishing the renovations.
[8:45] So we still, and we still have cash in the bank and money where, cash that we're invested as well.
[8:54] Yeah.
[8:54] I think like it's all been such positive changes, but it's also opened up more opportunities for further investment.
[9:02] Yeah, well, that's right.
[9:03] As we were saying, because what you're saying, if you had us stuck with that, what you had, you would have been capped.
[9:07] Well, that's one of the things that came out today.
[9:09] Graham said he's going to look at the whole structure again and see what we can do, be more aggressive because we've got money sitting now in banks that, yeah, they're invested, but they're not going to make the money that you make in property.
[9:19] So he said, we'll look at it all again and see what we can do because we need to move on.
[9:23] The way his brain works, it's kind of terrifying.
[9:26] Limitless.
[9:27] That is.
[9:28] What about budget?
[9:29] Was there a budget in place prior to infinity?
[9:32] My budget was, if I want that, I'm buying it.
[9:36] I didn't go into debt for anything.
[9:37] I bought even the car, the expensive car, I bought it, paid cash for it.
[9:44] No, so I had no budget.
[9:45] All the time there was money in my offset.
[9:47] If I needed to buy something, I took it out of the offset and used it.
[9:49] A lot of it was for renovations, but I did use a lot on the renovations.
[9:53] So that money was dwindling down all the time.
[9:55] Not initially.
[9:56] Yeah, not initially.
[9:58] I'm probably a bit more structured.
[9:59] I was probably a little bit more structured.
[10:01] I probably still...
[10:03] I didn't have a set budget that said, this is how much money I have to spend for the fortnight.
[10:11] But I don't think, I wasn't as see it, buy it.
[10:16] I would actually think about things.
[10:18] I was a little bit more frugal.
[10:20] I've got some shoes, lots of shoes.
[10:21] It's very interesting the duality of people's couples and personalities.
[10:26] And one's the spender, one's the saver.
[10:29] As I say, because coming from my marriage with the children and that, and having nothing, you know, living hand to mouth, suddenly when you've got money,
[10:38] You sort of go a little bit wild, I think.
[10:39] You think, I can afford it.
[10:41] I can afford it.
[10:41] I'm going to buy it.
[10:43] The car was the worst thing.
[10:45] The car was, yes.
[10:46] Definitely the most expensive thing.
[10:48] So now we work with the FFF.
[10:50] Yes.
[10:50] How much is FFF?
[10:52] Started at $450.
[10:53] Started at $450.
[10:54] Then there was a challenge somewhere and you reduced it to $350.
[10:57] She didn't tell me this.
[10:58] And then she's doing $60 strong.
[11:00] Karen's doing $60 strong.
[11:01] Apparently, money has to come out of that as well.
[11:05] So I didn't know about that either.
[11:06] So we're still surviving.
[11:08] We're still eating.
[11:09] We're still surviving and thriving.
[11:10] Well, it's interesting because we encourage you always to look at your FFF every day if you need to, if you're going to spend money, like how much have I got?
[11:18] And what you can reassess and realize that you don't need to spend.
[11:23] And then understand that you can still have cash at the end of the week.
[11:26] Now, if you leave it there, you're likely to spend it.
[11:30] So to drop it $100 is considerable.
[11:33] So we're at about $350 now.
[11:35] Yeah.
[11:36] And we're paying for $60 strong out of it.
[11:37] Yeah, which is how much?
[11:40] I didn't make it very high.
[11:42] I only did like $5 a day.
[11:44] So that's, you know, that's still, you know, $35.
[11:48] That's still good numbers, guys.
[11:50] That's 10% of our budget.
[11:53] I might need to revisit this later.
[11:55] But that's good numbers.
[11:56] And, you know, going back 18 months ago to be spending $350 a week, you would just think it's not even possible.
[12:03] But are you missing out on anything?
[12:06] No, I don't think so.
[12:08] You know, we do think twice about buying coffees out and if we go out for dinner, we make it something a little bit more special because, you know, I'm not paying that amount of money for basically a bowl of rice.
[12:19] I can do that at home.
[12:20] So we think, you know, that's the way our mindset works now.
[12:23] So we don't go without anything, but we just really do focus on what we need to spend.
[12:29] And what would you say to people that might hear that and say, oh, yeah, but I work hard, I deserve it?
[12:34] Well, yeah, that's fair.
[12:37] But look at your home loan.
[12:38] Look at what you owe.
[12:40] And I would say I would definitely want to be paying that down first.
[12:43] Give yourself a budget.
[12:45] You can set it a little bit higher.
[12:46] And then, oh, we can achieve that quite easy and then reduce it down.
[12:51] Pay that money off your home loan.
[12:52] But I also think you've got to think, what am I doing to my family with that attitude?
[12:59] And I think that's a big thing.
[13:00] You know, you can be selfish and think, I deserve it because I worked.
[13:07] But what are your, what's your partner going to miss out on?
[13:10] What are your children going to miss out on in the future?
[13:14] And whether that's time, because you're not going to have time, because you're going to have to be working way, way beyond.
[13:21] You're not going to have money for holidays.
[13:23] You're not going to be able to create those memories because you're going to be on the hamster wheel, which I think for a lot of us, we don't realise we're on the hamster wheel
[13:33] working hard, achieving nothing.
[13:37] Just staying even.
[13:38] And we're staying even and sometimes even dropping down and then thinking, oh, how do I make that up again?
[13:43] So I think it's okay to think budget's a dirty word, but you have to think what do you actually want in life?
[13:52] Do you want to teach your children something?
[13:54] Do you want to give them something?
[13:56] Do you want to make memories?
[14:01] Great answer.
[14:02] I think one of the important things is if you're just a spender and you get your wage and you spend it, what are you teaching your kids?
[14:12] If you can teach, I mean we've both got adult children but we have been trying to encourage them, you need to budget.
[14:18] It
[14:23] a structure that will get them ahead too, right?
[14:25] And if they see you just spending money willy nilly, and I saw a thing on the news just this morning that credit card debt in Australia was the highest it's been for four years.
[14:34] Because people tend to go to the credit card, they're overspending over their means.
[14:39] They don't need to do that.
[14:41] You just got to set yourself a budget and work within it.
[14:43] It's not easy to get back from that point when you've got big credit card debt.
[14:46] Obviously we all know that, but you've got to start somewhere, right?
[14:50] Well, our structure and our process is not meant to be restrictive and miserable.
[14:56] And it isn't.
[14:56] And it's not.
[14:57] And I don't think I've sat in front of anyone today who said they've missed out on anything.
[15:02] You're still able to do all those things, but you're more purposeful with your money.
[15:06] That's right.
[15:07] In fact, so you've paid off your home loan.
[15:09] Yeah.
[15:11] You have reduced the budget and you've got five investment properties and I believe there might be a trip on the cards next year.
[15:17] Next year we're going back to Europe.
[15:18] We've got my nephew's wedding so we're going to do six weeks.
[15:22] As a result of being purposeful with your money, you can afford to do all these things.
[15:27] That's right.
[15:28] And even that we're doing.
[15:30] planning ahead and paying for flights early so that we're getting the best deal we can possibly get because everybody knows, especially long haul, if you leave it, the later you leave it, the more expensive it becomes.
[15:41] So we've already booked the flights, paid for the flights.
[15:43] Yeah, so...
[15:45] It's just changing the way you approach everything, I think.
[15:49] It's giving yourself more choice in life and I think that's what infinity is giving.
[15:54] It rewards you.
[15:55] You feel that you can see in your bank accounts, you can see the benefits of it.
[16:01] And what would be your most proud achievement of your time with Infinity?
[16:08] Well, as we just said, paying off our home loan.
[16:11] We've got five investment properties potentially that we wouldn't have had.
[16:17] And we would have been stuck with a couple that we already had, which were like non-tax deductible.
[16:24] And Karen said earlier she would have been paying it off.
[16:27] That's right.
[16:28] Beyond her working life anyway, really.
[16:30] And that's the thing.
[16:31] You went to a financial advisor.
[16:32] We did talk around this.
[16:34] And he basically told you, you're buggered.
[16:36] You're going to have to work well, but you're into your 65, 67.
[16:41] You need to pay more in every week or earn more.
[16:43] I had to earn more.
[16:44] more money or you're going to be, you'll have to sell, you won't even pay your home loan.
[16:48] I want you to do the pretty woman thing, walk into his office and say, look at what I have, you know?
[16:53] Yeah, like, yeah, look at me who apparently I was not, you know, I was buggered.
[16:59] But these people are out there giving people that advice.
[17:02] I mean, you know.
[17:04] Well, you know, they come from... Where does he get his...
[17:07] But they come from... All they go is based on the figures that are in front of them.
[17:12] And I think that's the beauty of Infinity and G having a team is that they look at you as individuals.
[17:20] They don't look at you like a number.
[17:25] And I think that's really important and that's one thing that I do see from Infinity is that
[17:30] I'm not just a number.
[17:31] Even though he's growing, you don't think, oh, my relationship manager doesn't know who I am.
[17:39] I can't ring my financial strategist.
[17:42] They know your figures when you ring.
[17:44] They know how to help you.
[17:46] And I think that's a big thing.
[17:47] You are an individual.
[17:49] And they look at you and re-look at you.
[17:52] It's not just here's what we are today.
[17:54] They will then, if you go to them and say, okay, something's changed in my life.
[17:59] Like, you know, you tell your relationship manager, oh, I've just spent having much on airfares.
[18:05] How do I make that happen?
[18:07] actually paid for it because it was such a good deal you know it's looking at okay well if you've done that this is what we now need to do how about we look at other strategies that we can do to help and give you the best experience that you have when you do go
[18:23] You go to any other financial institution and they'll sell you a product.
[18:27] And once you've walked out the door, you've got the product.
[18:29] That's done.
[18:30] They're not really going to give you any follow-up feedback or support without it.
[18:33] That's transactional.
[18:35] Yeah.
[18:35] That's exactly all you get.
[18:36] Infinity is not.
[18:37] No, we are transformational.
[18:38] Yeah.
[18:39] And I like you touched on it, Karen, that we'll keep reassessing.
[18:44] And, you know, okay, this is where you're at now and in another few months.
[18:47] Oh, right.
[18:48] Actually...
[18:50] Look at these opportunities that may have presented themselves and obviously your chat with G may have uncovered some of that as well.
[18:57] From what he was saying, I think it's looking pretty bright right now.
[19:01] Which is nice.
[19:02] It sounds fantastic.
[19:04] In a short period of time, things have changed very, very quickly.
[19:08] Yeah, for sure.
[19:10] So what would you say to clients who might be sitting on the fence, not sure about joining Infinity?
[19:17] What advice would you give them?
[19:19] I was sceptical about it at the beginning when Karen came to me with it.
[19:23] And you thought, because it looks to be, it can't be possible.
[19:28] That is not the case.
[19:30] It is definitely possible.
[19:31] And you should definitely pursue it.
[19:33] Anybody that's in a position that can, should.
[19:37] That's what I would say.
[19:39] I think the biggest thing is, the thing is you haven't got anything to lose, right?
[19:46] by investigating other than time.
[19:50] And realistically, your time's being wasted on that hamster wheel anyway.
[19:56] Give it the weekend, even the 45 minutes, because I even got something out of that short webinar.
[20:04] I stopped buying coffee at work.
[20:05] And it's amazing how much money I spent.
[20:08] And realistically, I don't miss it.
[20:11] I think some people may be a little bit, oh, I've got to pay a bigger amount of money
[20:16] But as Graham says, if I can't help you, I'll give you it back.
[20:20] It's a win-win.
[20:22] It's not like we take the money and we can't help you tough.
[20:26] I'll pay you back.
[20:27] But at the end of the day, you pay for service.
[20:29] You have to realise there is nowhere you go that you do not pay for a service.
[20:37] It is a service.
[20:38] It's a comprehensive service.
[20:40] Why would you not expect that you're going to get that for nothing?
[20:44] And, yes, you pay for the service, but then there's all the added extra community events.
[20:49] Well, there's so much, so much.
[20:51] It is a family environment.
[20:53] Even in the hotel, we meet people in the foyer.
[20:56] We'll start chatting, and it's just very inclusive.
[21:00] Have you lent into the community side, like the Facebook group sort of?
[21:04] Karen does the Facebook.
[21:05] I don't do Facebook.
[21:07] Yeah, I'm the one that's on the Facebook.
[21:09] I don't.
[21:10] I do...
[21:12] you know, follow people's stories.
[21:14] I listen to all the podcasts, do the Infinite Health one.
[21:22] We haven't really contributed a lot.
[21:25] We sort of stand back a little bit.
[21:26] That's the English in me.
[21:29] I love to see the stories.
[21:31] I love to hear how well people are doing.
[21:33] It is very motivational.
[21:35] There's a lot of people like yourselves who are a bit like, oh, I'm not going to, but you also have to understand that,
[21:42] there's so many people like you sharing that story is the little bit that they go, oh, look, these guys did it.
[21:50] We could do it too.
[21:51] It's that because you would have taken that from some people.
[21:53] Of course.
[21:54] The community is.
[21:55] And when we went to the REM, that's what really convinced me.
[21:58] Because up there, you know, up until that point, I was thinking, no, this could be a scam.
[22:02] You're paying money and what do you... And then we went to the REM and all the people on stage and I thought, right, I'm in now.
[22:08] And I said to you, no, I'm 100% in now.
[22:10] I understand.
[22:11] I believe.
[22:14] The proof is here.
[22:15] The proof is in front of me.
[22:15] You've paid your mortgage off completely.
[22:18] What a scam.
[22:19] What a terrible scam.
[22:19] Yeah, terrible, terrible.
[22:20] I don't know Home Run anymore.
[22:21] Terrible advice that was.
[22:22] Terrible.
[22:23] And I've got five investment properties.
[22:24] Yeah.
[22:25] Incredible.
[22:27] Well, thank you so much.
[22:27] I think your story will definitely help some other people who might be thinking, oh, you know, we want to keep us independent and you are proof that combining forces is going to accelerate and increase opportunities because...
[22:42] I mean, we're not here forever.
[22:44] We might as well get this done.
[22:46] Absolutely.
[22:47] Too true.
[22:48] Terrific.
[22:48] Awesome.
[22:48] Thank you for your time.
[22:49] Thank you so much.
[22:50] Thank you.
[22:51] You're fucking gone.
[22:52] See you.

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