# BONUS EP – Taylor with Mellanie | CHANGING LIVES | Series 4 Ep 13

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 4 Apr 2026, 22 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/jnvh7l3eos75h7cwrjq8f3fu.mp3

In this episode, Wealth Strategist Taylor sits down with Mellanie from the Sunshine Coast to share her journey with Infinity. As a mum of two, she reflects on what life and finances looked like before joining, and how being introduced through a best friend led her to take the leap in September last year. Since joining, one of her biggest milestones has been paying off a debt owed to her brother, bringing a huge sense of relief and freedom for her and her family. She shares the emotional impact of finding Infinity, and how the support extended beyond budgeting into bigger opportunities, including working with a broker and stepping into the process of buying a home. Mellanie opens up about how her approach to budgeting has changed, the positive shift in her family life after clearing that debt, and how it’s allowed them to start enjoying things like holidays again. This episode highlights the balance between financial progress and lifestyle, finishing with her advice for others considering the journey and what life can look like on the other side of structure and support. 👉 Watch the free webinar to start your journey: https://bit.ly/43V2jKN

## Transcript

[0:00] I was just mind blown, honestly.
[0:02] Like, the very best outcome I could have expected at that time was that, you know, I refinanced and was able to just...
[0:14] give money back to my brother.
[0:16] To be able to set up a self-managed super fund and get an investment property in that fund and then to also get an investment property in my own name, they're things that my dreams were made of, you know.
[0:28] Money isn't rude of all evil.
[0:29] The fucking lack of it is.
[0:31] Not money.
[0:32] The lack of understanding money.
[0:34] When I put that into emphasis, when I realised that psychological effect and how it hit our family, I FDB in the fucking way.
[0:40] You were now watching the money.
[0:42] with Graham Graham Graham Graham Graham you're fucking gone see ya
[0:50] Hi everyone, I'm Taylor Sachs.
[0:52] I'm a wealth strategist with Infinity and joining me today is our lovely client, Mel with a double L. Welcome, Mel.
[0:58] Hi, thanks, Taylor.
[0:59] Thanks for having me.
[1:00] Of course.
[1:01] I'm so glad you're here.
[1:02] And look, what we're going to do, you just had some awesome time with G, which is always really, really special, but this will be just a little bit of a bonus talking a bit about your strategy, how you got onboarded, and most importantly,
[1:14] how you got here and why and where we're going next, essentially.
[1:18] Sounds good.
[1:18] So to start, Mel, I'll just have you give a bit of background on yourself and talk about your path to finding infinity.
[1:25] Sure.
[1:26] So I'm 50 years old.
[1:28] I live at the Sunshine Coast and I have an 18-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old son.
[1:35] and I work in the building industry.
[1:38] So I came across Infinity through one of my best friends from high school.
[1:44] So I have this great group of friends from high school.
[1:47] We're still good friends.
[1:48] Which is not always normal, which is cool.
[1:50] No, yeah, I'm very lucky to have such people in my life.
[1:55] But, yeah, so one of my girlfriends is a member of the Infinity family and she was telling me,
[2:02] about, you know, how much she had managed to pay off her mortgage in the past 12 months.
[2:06] And at the time I was looking for some help.
[2:10] I have my own apartment, but my brother helped me with the deposit for that apartment.
[2:15] And I've been trying to find a way to pay him back that money.
[2:19] uh and it's been a struggle because the banks just wouldn't give me the money basically um so yeah so anyway I thought well hopefully infinity can help me uh so yeah I did the webinar and the master class and did all those things and I was very fortunate that infinity took me on as a client and uh
[2:40] They've been able to help me not only pay back my brother, but also they've set me up with a self-managed super fund, which I now have a property in.
[2:50] Well, I settle on that property in this week.
[2:54] And an investment property in my own name.
[2:58] It's just mind-blowing what they have managed to help me do just in six months.
[3:03] Not to mention also the money that I have in my redrawer.
[3:06] I didn't have anything in my redraw previously or savings or anything like that.
[3:10] So, yeah, I needed to take my dog to the vet last week and I was able to just take the dog to the vet.
[3:17] I didn't have to scratch around trying to borrow money from someone or trying to work out how I was going to pay for that.
[3:23] God, that's got to feel good.
[3:24] Oh, it's been, honestly, it's been life changing.
[3:27] It really has.
[3:28] In a relatively short period of time, because you came on board in September through the masterclass, whirlwind of admin, as we call it, right?
[3:37] Absolutely.
[3:37] To start everything.
[3:38] Absolutely.
[3:38] You're pretty good at that, though, right?
[3:40] Well, you've got your system done.
[3:41] Yeah.
[3:41] I mean, I have an accounting background, so I know, you know, what documents are.
[3:46] are going to be asked for and I have everything filed, you know, methodically.
[3:51] It's good.
[3:52] I had everything at hand, which I think helped the process.
[3:54] Well, I have to say, you've been a dream client, so that's been really nice.
[3:57] Thank you.
[3:58] I always say that on behalf of myself and Easter and Jerry, we're just so grateful to be a small part of your journey.
[4:04] And I think we talked about that in our first meeting too, of this all comes down to your hard work, right?
[4:10] Now you have the team behind you to help get there, but
[4:14] This is a lot of that foundation that you put in place, but just so excited to see masterclass in September, REM in November.
[4:22] And here we are in March, which is crazy to see that turnaround and really possibilities being endless.
[4:30] Absolutely.
[4:31] And yeah, I'm just, I can't express to you how grateful I am, especially to you for helping me to get that money to, to pay my brother back.
[4:42] Like it, it,
[4:44] I can't – yeah, I really don't have the words.
[4:46] It was such a big – it was an enormously kind gesture from him to give me the money.
[4:53] Absolutely.
[4:54] And to not be able to pay him back was a massive, massive burden to me because –
[4:59] I was at the point where I thought I was going to have to sell the apartment that he'd help me buy.
[5:03] I remember that.
[5:04] I remember that in our first meeting.
[5:05] And I have to say, too, for those starting as Infinity Clients, right, you do have quite a bit of meetings, right?
[5:12] Yes.
[5:12] There's no question there.
[5:14] And sometimes there is a bit of repeating here and there.
[5:17] But I don't think if you would have not already had that conversation when we got to ours to really be able to get to the bottom and say, yeah.
[5:25] not we have to figure this out right and we had a very candid conversation to say all right maybe it's that we have to wait a bit longer right in this area and then we push forward over here but i just really appreciated you being open as well to say okay we're gonna go figure this out and i i really appreciated that you could see what a burden it was to me and then you yeah helped make it happen it was like i said all three of you like you yeah i know right it's always we're not alone
[5:55] No, look, it's a really great background and to see where we've come from this.
[5:59] Now, during your time with Gia, I just want to dive a little bit more.
[6:02] You absolutely had sought advice in the past from both financial planners, from mortgage brokers.
[6:07] Tell me a little bit about that and what really discouraged you because really you felt a bit stuck from the time you got into that first property.
[6:14] Yeah.
[6:14] So I think it must have been around the same time that my brother had lent me the money and I was buying my place, my apartment.
[6:25] And he and I both had gone to see an accountant to talk about setting up a self-managed superannuation fund.
[6:32] And I think at the time we were sort of talking about doing that together, pooling his super and mine.
[6:39] But we were talking about buying investment property in it.
[6:41] And they just made it sound like it was going to be impossible.
[6:44] They were saying that, you know, the banks don't like to lend money for residential property.
[6:49] It would have to be a commercial property.
[6:51] And then I don't know anything about commercial property and nor does he.
[6:54] Um, so I think in the end it just became all too hard and it was going to be too expensive.
[7:01] Or they made it, they just made it sound like it was very expensive, very hard and very not worth it.
[7:06] So yeah, I sort of left that there.
[7:09] Um, and I've, I've left my money.
[7:11] I had at that point, sorry, I had left it in a, um, industry, industry fund, um, and
[7:20] But then during COVID, you know, there was that massive dip in the market and I just thought, oh, you know, it would have been so much nicer to have had that.
[7:32] money invested in property, especially given what's happened in the market from that time to now.
[7:38] Your experience in your current property.
[7:41] Yeah, kicking myself that I didn't know about infinity then.
[7:44] Hey, we always say onwards and upwards, right?
[7:46] Yeah, that's it.
[7:46] At the end of the day.
[7:47] And that's it.
[7:47] You just have to be resilient and go roll with the punches.
[7:51] Well, case in point here, right?
[7:54] You go out to the market, you're trying to seek advice, right?
[7:58] And some of what you're getting back may or may not be completely above board.
[8:03] But going back to that same theme, when you found infinity, right?
[8:08] You talked about your friend finally figuring out that that's real.
[8:11] It's pretty crazy.
[8:12] Then when you go talk to a financial planner, which is still third party to infinity, to say, wow, there is potentially...
[8:21] What was that feeling like?
[8:23] I was just mind blown, honestly.
[8:26] Like the very best outcome I could have expected at that time was that, you know, I refinanced and was able to just give money back to my brother.
[8:41] To be able to set up a self-managed super fund and get an investment property in that fund and then to also get an investment property in my own name and
[8:51] they're things that my dreams were made of you know I had always I guess you know when I was married and I had a dual income I'd always wanted to invest in property back at that point in time but it just wasn't something that my ex-husband and I had explored um but it was always it's always been in the back of my mind so yeah to come to infinity and to be able to do that is just yeah it really is mind-blowing yeah
[9:17] Absolutely.
[9:18] So let's talk a little bit more in the personal name too, because you had gone to a broker and said, look, I've done fairly well right out of the property that I'm in.
[9:28] Yeah.
[9:29] But it was just, I believe a couple of times.
[9:31] Talk to me about it.
[9:32] Yeah, I did.
[9:32] So I, I went and had a chat to the broker who had got me my loan in the first place.
[9:40] Cause even, even that was,
[9:41] a real struggle on my own to get the money to pay, even with the help from my brother, to get the money to pay from the bank was just, yeah, it took two and a bit months to get the money to the point where I had to go back to my real estate and said, I can't get the money.
[9:58] I'm going to have to cancel the contract.
[10:00] I'm really sorry.
[10:01] And she said, go and talk to this other broker.
[10:04] She's a friend of mine.
[10:05] And within 24 hours I had that money and I just thought,
[10:10] you know, the previous lender was one of the big four.
[10:12] I just thought, why?
[10:14] Anyway, I got the money.
[10:17] But it showed you that there can be something different, which is probably that first peel of the onion.
[10:21] Absolutely.
[10:21] I wasn't taking no for an answer.
[10:24] I really, really wanted this property and I just felt it in my bones that it had to be this property and this was my life now.
[10:30] I just need to do this.
[10:31] So, yeah, so when I went to go and refinance my –
[10:35] I had more equity in the property that I'm in.
[10:38] My salary had increased and they put the numbers together and he said, you can't service it.
[10:45] You know, your serviceability is not good.
[10:48] He said, you know, come back and we'll talk again in the future.
[10:52] And then as my son got older and he became not a dependent anymore.
[10:57] I don't know how to say that, but yes.
[11:00] Are they ever really nuts if anyone has got there?
[11:03] Yeah, no, they're not.
[11:06] But, yeah, so I thought with only one dependent, maybe the numbers will look better.
[11:10] But, yeah, so he told me again that, no, you still can't get the money.
[11:14] So, yeah, again, I just can't show you how grateful I am.
[11:21] I'm just, you know, she always has that saying persistence beats resistance.
[11:25] Right.
[11:25] And I, again, I'm just so grateful that you kept going and whether that is, you know, the journey that you've been on, which hasn't always been easy, Mel, right.
[11:34] In what you've been through and where you've gotten.
[11:35] But I'm just very grateful that you kept going and finding, finding a way.
[11:40] Right.
[11:40] Because at the end of the day, that's sometimes.
[11:42] Yeah.
[11:43] what it comes down to yeah which is really great I'm a little bit of an overachiever so I don't I don't take no I don't take no very well um yeah so sometimes when you get a no you just have to find a different direction till you find your yes I love it yeah I love it infinity was my yes
[12:02] So what advice would you give, right?
[12:05] And we've talked about your journey and being on this as a single, right?
[12:10] What advice would you give to people that have hit no's before in both sides of their strategy?
[12:17] What would you tell them?
[12:19] Probably the first thing would be just put a budget together.
[12:23] and start looking at the money that you're wasting.
[12:28] And, yeah, try and live on a budget, first of all, which obviously is good for the bank, you know, when you go to get your funding.
[12:36] They want to see that you're not wasting money on stuff that you don't need.
[12:40] But also, yeah, if one person tells you, no, don't just accept that, you know, don't just lay down and die.
[12:48] Just, yeah, go on to...
[12:51] yeah look for another opportunity or another avenue to do that and talk to people um who have been through the same thing and yeah they might be able to guide you in the right direction like that's great i think it's great advice now switching gears slightly now family's always been a big part of your journey and you know we've talked about your brother we've talked about your kids i just want to know i want you to describe when you told your brother i'm going
[13:21] What was that conversation like?
[13:22] You're going to make me cry.
[13:24] I really tried.
[13:25] Well, don't do it to me too.
[13:31] As soon as I had everything roll over into infinity and got the approval, I actually didn't tell him straight away.
[13:38] Luke, he usually comes up from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast to spend Christmas with the kids and I.
[13:45] So I waited until he came up last Christmas.
[13:49] Which you would have been holding that for about a month.
[13:52] Yes.
[13:52] Yeah.
[13:52] Yes.
[13:53] And it was hard, trust me.
[13:55] But, yeah, I brought out a glass of champagne and just sort of said, guess what?
[14:00] Huh.
[14:00] I'm transferring all this money to your bank account tomorrow.
[14:03] Whoa.
[14:05] And we just hugged and cried and went out and celebrated.
[14:09] Wow.
[14:11] Yeah, it was amazing.
[14:13] And, yeah, I mean, even to come to infinity, he helped me.
[14:19] do that as well, you know, because I was short.
[14:23] And, yeah, he's just so amazing.
[14:26] Like both of the brothers I grew up with, Luke and Clint, they are both just amazing people and they've been so amazingly supportive of me, especially since I've become a single parent.
[14:38] And, you know, they've been so good to my kids.
[14:41] And, you know, sorry, my sister-in-law is part of that as well.
[14:45] She's been part of the family for years.
[14:48] Over 15, 16 years.
[14:50] So she's been around since my kids were very little.
[14:53] Is this Luke's wife?
[14:54] Clint.
[14:54] Clint's wife, okay.
[14:55] Yeah, Luke's single.
[14:56] Single Pringles.
[14:57] Ladies, all the single Pringles out there.
[15:00] I know.
[15:00] I said, we might need to do like a speed dating thing.
[15:02] Yeah, he's pretty cute too.
[15:04] I have to bring him to a singles event.
[15:07] I know.
[15:08] Oh, wow.
[15:09] Yeah.
[15:09] So, yeah.
[15:11] Yeah, my whole family is amazing.
[15:12] They've just been so supportive.
[15:14] So...
[15:15] That is so lovely to hear, but I appreciate you sharing that because that was a big moment, a long time in waiting.
[15:22] It was a long time coming.
[15:23] And I, yeah, I just didn't think I was ever going to get there.
[15:26] I really didn't.
[15:27] So, yeah.
[15:29] Plus two properties, plus everything else.
[15:32] I'm so blessed.
[15:33] And that's why I put that post up on Facebook.
[15:36] on our fan band group because I just woke up one morning and I was just feeling all the love and all the gratitude and I just wanted to share you know and I wanted to share that with other people because I don't have a partner that I can go hey look how well I've done and look how amazing my life is now you know and
[15:57] telling other people, you know, like colleagues and that, they just don't understand.
[16:01] They don't understand the gravity of how much it means.
[16:07] And look, I know sometimes it sounds cheesy, but, you know, having these discussions and being able to get your story out, I absolutely think that it's going to inspire people.
[16:16] I mean, you've talked about
[16:17] you know, hearing from the Carrie Stevensons, you know, of the world and so on from that.
[16:23] Yeah.
[16:24] Like all those people.
[16:25] I mean, it's, it's to be able to pass that on.
[16:27] I think it's going to be really cool to see.
[16:29] And I can't wait to watch your full episode too.
[16:32] It's going to be, it's going to be pretty cool to show your resilience over time as well.
[16:37] I haven't told anybody that I'm, that I'm doing this.
[16:39] So when I go back to the group chat, I'm really going to be very excited for that.
[16:43] yes I know they're excited for all of us because it is a big thing for for one of the single Pringles to be chosen it absolutely is but I'm I'm so glad you shared that too because I mean and I know like I said on behalf of Jerry and Easter it's always good to to feel that too so um and we're just so proud as well thank you
[17:00] Um, look, I know that you have a pretty special trip coming up that, that we've talked about.
[17:05] Um, so just as we sort of bring this to a close, talk to me about being able to do everything, you know, that you have accomplished, but you are working hard and we can't discount that, right?
[17:17] You are sticking to your food, fuel, and fun.
[17:19] That's an inspiration in general to a lot of people of what you're sticking to week to week.
[17:24] But, um, just talk a little bit about how special that is to be able to share that with your daughter and.
[17:29] Yeah.
[17:29] yeah and what you're going to be doing it's going to be incredible 13 countries in four weeks plus a mediterranean cruise to boot we're just going to be kicking back on the cruise drinking cocktails i think that's very well timed towards the end of that trip that's i think is the best oh you know we planned it that way because we're like we're going to need to relax after four weeks of running through 13 countries so yeah that's going to be
[17:53] really amazing um sorry i forgot the first part of your question no just just what that means do to be able to achieve all this plus being able to you know those priorities and yeah so i mean we've been talking about you know my 50th and her 18th and my son turning 21 probably throughout the last three years and
[18:14] I always wanted to do a European trip from the age of 21 and life got in the way and it didn't happen for me.
[18:20] So probably about 18 months ago we were sitting there one day and I said to my daughter, I said, we need to stop talking about this and we just need to do it.
[18:31] We just need to book it.
[18:32] So we booked it.
[18:34] And we're like, you know, we'll just work out how we're going to make this happen.
[18:39] So fortunately we can pay this thing in three installments.
[18:44] So, yeah, we sort of sat down and we did work out how much are we going to actually need.
[18:49] But to be honest, if I hadn't have come to infinity, I don't know if I would have managed to get that money that I needed and also still be able to pay more.
[18:59] you know, everything else that I need to pay and still have money in my redraw facility.
[19:04] So, yeah, I guess though at the end of the day, it's just about making choices and being determined and, you know, just being really clear on what do you actually want.
[19:18] And I really want this trip to Europe, you know, because of my mum passing away so early and,
[19:27] you know, being able to celebrate just being 50, let alone being 50 and having this amazing life that I have.
[19:34] It's a bit of a surreal feeling.
[19:35] Yeah, it really is.
[19:36] So, yeah, it's just going to be the best thing ever and we're going to make so many amazing memories together.
[19:46] And, yeah, it saddens me that my son didn't want to come, but that's okay.
[19:51] We can do something another time.
[19:52] But, yeah, it'll be a really beautiful mother-daughter trip, though, for us to share.
[19:57] I'm so excited.
[19:58] Now, looking ahead, right, for the what's next, you're about to pay more off your mortgage on track in one year than you had in the past five years.
[20:08] Pretty crazy.
[20:09] Even that is just mind-blowing.
[20:12] And, yeah, and being able to go to Europe and all these other things on top of that, it just is crazy.
[20:20] It's a lot.
[20:21] It's kind of wild.
[20:22] It is.
[20:22] And it also makes me think, though, you know, I can't wait.
[20:28] to be back from that and then really hunker down and see what I can do.
[20:33] We can change that nine years to a little bit lower.
[20:37] Yeah.
[20:37] Again, I'm a high achiever, so I'll want to smash it down as quickly as I can.
[20:42] So then I can, you know, who knows, maybe get more investment properties or whatever.
[20:47] But the number one goal absolutely is to pay down that mortgage and pay
[20:52] be mortgage free because you know the last time I financed before I came to infinity I was looking at um working till I was uh gosh 70.
[21:03] See the math yeah 70 something.
[21:05] That's great.
[21:07] What kind of life would you be living at 70 years old having to pay a mortgage?
[21:13] No well that's not for me.
[21:16] Onwards, upwards.
[21:17] Here we go.
[21:18] Now, well, look, I'm so excited to see what the next year to two years are going to hold.
[21:22] And I know, as Gia already said, we'll probably be back here talking about what that next is.
[21:27] But so excited.
[21:28] It was so lovely having you here as well.
[21:31] And I just look forward to what's next for Mel with the double L. Thank you.
[21:35] Thank you so much.
[21:36] I really appreciate it.
[21:37] Thanks, Mel.
[21:38] Thanks.

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