# The Real Cost of Bad Habits | Kristy & Andrew | CHANGING LIVES | Season 3 Ep 28

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 30 Sep 2025, 52 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/ht6li7631y3rm4h20ykcue9j.mp3

Episode Description: Kristy and Andrew went from living on credit cards, overspending on “stuff,” and barely making ends meet to paying off $140,000 in just 10 months — while also building a multi-million-dollar property portfolio. In this inspiring episode, they reveal: - The brutal honesty it took to admit their financial truth - How they cut unnecessary spending without sacrificing joy - The mindset shift that made discipline easier than they ever imagined - Why their daughter now sees money, and life, differently - This is a story of transformation, resilience, and the power of making one bold decision. 👉 Follow the link https://bit.ly/43V2jKN to watch the free webinar

## Transcript

[0:00] We never had a budget.
[0:01] Right.
[0:01] Like, that was so embarrassing.
[0:03] So you would just spend whatever you wanted?
[0:06] Yeah.
[0:06] Yeah, I shan't even make an excuse for it.
[0:09] It's quite sad when you think back at the money that we've, yeah.
[0:14] Just not wasted.
[0:15] We've had it.
[0:16] We've enjoyed.
[0:17] Day-to-day life, right?
[0:18] You might, you bite your rope on the way.
[0:20] Three years.
[0:20] Three boats in three years are a little bit fucked up.
[0:23] Three and three.
[0:25] Money isn't rude of all evil.
[0:26] The fucking lack of it is.
[0:27] Not money.
[0:28] The lack of understanding money.
[0:30] When I put that into emphasis, when I realized that psychological effect and how it hit our family, I FDB all the fucking way.
[0:36] You are now watching the Money Mentor Podcast with Graham Holm.
[0:40] Graham Holm.
[0:40] Graham Holm.
[0:41] Graham Holm.
[0:45] You're fucking gone.
[0:45] See ya.
[0:46] Welcome back to another episode of the Money Mentor and the Changing Lives Financially series.
[0:51] And we have two very special guests today.
[0:54] And I'm sure they're not nervous at all.
[0:56] A little bit?
[0:57] A little bit.
[0:58] A little bit.
[0:59] Welcome to the series, Christy and Andrew.
[1:01] How are we?
[1:02] Good, thank you.
[1:02] Yeah, fantastic.
[1:03] I like the shirt.
[1:04] Well, good decision on the shirt.
[1:06] Props.
[1:06] I wanted to give you a hat or something before you leave.
[1:09] That'd be nice.
[1:10] We've got new fancy ones.
[1:11] Yeah.
[1:11] Looks all right.
[1:12] Pretty good.
[1:13] Pretty good.
[1:14] Um, so welcome guys.
[1:15] And don't worry.
[1:16] It's my first time too.
[1:17] We'll just fucking figure it out as we go.
[1:18] If the team yell at us, we'll start again.
[1:21] Um, so it'll be really good to have a chat with you guys.
[1:25] You have done exceptionally well in a short space of time.
[1:31] Why do you think that is?
[1:34] That would be Andrew.
[1:35] Andrew is a go-getter.
[1:39] I'm the handbrake in the situation.
[1:41] I will be honest.
[1:43] Yeah, if he's in, he is in a thousand percent.
[1:46] In like the roller coaster at the Christmas party on the unit?
[1:49] Much, yeah.
[1:50] Until he rode backwards and felt very, very sick for a very long time.
[1:53] Very.
[1:53] Is that you I seen in the pot plant?
[1:55] No, it was bad.
[1:56] It was bad.
[1:58] Okay.
[1:58] So full on.
[1:59] So like, right, we're in this makes sense.
[2:01] We're going at it.
[2:02] Okay.
[2:03] Yeah.
[2:03] All right.
[2:04] Well, before we get into it too much, give us a bit of background on yourselves.
[2:07] Where you guys live or grew up, high school sweethearts I believe.
[2:11] We are.
[2:12] Very cute.
[2:13] From how old?
[2:15] About 16.
[2:16] Okay.
[2:16] Yeah.
[2:17] Yeah.
[2:17] About 16, just before we finished school down in Jarvis Bay.
[2:21] Okay.
[2:21] Down in my neck of the woods.
[2:23] Yeah.
[2:23] A little bit further, but yeah, pretty close.
[2:25] Yeah.
[2:26] Okay.
[2:26] Okay.
[2:27] Very, very cold winters.
[2:29] I don't miss the winters.
[2:30] I miss the southerly breezes.
[2:32] Yeah.
[2:33] There's not a lot of southerly breezes here on the Gold Coast.
[2:36] Unless you're very up high on a high rise and you've got a southerly river.
[2:39] Yeah.
[2:40] So tell us a little bit about this.
[2:41] So you grew up in Jarvis Bay.
[2:43] Where are you living now?
[2:46] Kids, pets, et cetera, work.
[2:48] Give us a bit of background.
[2:49] Yeah.
[2:49] Yeah, we both left school in year 10.
[2:52] We both had jobs.
[2:54] Half the year did.
[2:55] They ended up shutting classrooms in 95, 96 when we left.
[2:58] Really?
[2:59] Everyone just wanted to work.
[3:01] Yeah, okay.
[3:01] You know, if you want money, you have to work.
[3:04] It's pretty simple.
[3:05] Um, yeah, then we built our first house and moved in the day GST came in 2000.
[3:12] Right.
[3:13] So, uh, spent any cash we had under the pillow cause the world was going to end and, uh, we got knocked back by multiple banks back then.
[3:21] That was a tough time, tough time to even get that small amount we needed.
[3:24] Right.
[3:25] Um, yeah.
[3:26] Yeah, so then we built that house and worked hard and we were very social.
[3:31] Gave birth to our daughter down there.
[3:34] Got married a few hours before the daughter.
[3:37] Mm-hmm.
[3:38] Yeah, and then all of a sudden the work started to dry up in the area.
[3:41] We were a third-generation timber business in Nara.
[3:45] Yep.
[3:46] So, you know, we had to make a move to survive.
[3:48] Yeah.
[3:49] We did the business after 30 years.
[3:51] It just dried up.
[3:52] Okay.
[3:53] Yeah, so...
[3:54] We packed up the house, came up here, done some interviews overnight, landed some jobs to go back and think about, and came home and told Christy we move in four weeks, and we moved to Boxing Day.
[4:07] Wow.
[4:07] Yeah, ready to start new jobs January.
[4:09] Just a little bit all or nothing.
[4:11] Yes, that's it.
[4:12] A hundred percent.
[4:13] Yeah.
[4:13] Packed up the house, sent it up, had a little envelope of money and rented in a place we'd never heard of.
[4:21] And yeah, it was fantastic.
[4:23] Started all over again.
[4:24] Yeah.
[4:25] Yeah.
[4:25] Started again.
[4:26] Never look back.
[4:28] No.
[4:28] I did tell my mum when I left, I'll be back in a month.
[4:31] Oh, really?
[4:32] Two weeks later, I said, I'm never coming back.
[4:34] This place is amazing.
[4:36] So when you moved to the Gold Coast, what year was that?
[4:39] 2008.
[4:39] 2008.
[4:41] So GFC's sort of kicking off too.
[4:43] It's been an uncertain time.
[4:46] Okay.
[4:47] When you moved, do you keep the home down the coast?
[4:50] We did.
[4:50] So we rented in Hope Island for 10 months, I think, before we bought.
[4:54] Yeah.
[4:55] Very, very tough times because we still had our property down south.
[5:00] Yep.
[5:01] And we sort of bought up here.
[5:02] So, yeah.
[5:04] Okay.
[5:05] We were sort of scraping by for a few months.
[5:07] Yeah.
[5:08] Country town salaries are very different to city.
[5:11] Yeah.
[5:11] And then moving from country to city, you need a pretty big purse.
[5:15] Yeah.
[5:16] Yeah, so we rented.
[5:17] And we've still got this little joke today.
[5:21] We didn't have a barbecue at home, so we'd go to the communal area.
[5:24] Yeah, in the complex there.
[5:25] Yeah, and cook the barbecue and take it home.
[5:29] He couldn't afford to buy a barbecue.
[5:31] And then after about a year, we bought a $99 flat top barbecue and we celebrated like this Australian.
[5:36] Oh, no.
[5:38] You know, we thought we'd made it like the castle and we're still humbled by them days, which, you know, we think, geez, they were really tough.
[5:46] Really tough.
[5:47] Okay.
[5:48] You know, moving away knowing no one in a state.
[5:51] So no friends, no family, no... No, no.
[5:53] New jobs, new schools.
[5:55] Yeah.
[5:56] How old was...
[5:57] Kayleigh, our daughter, she was two.
[5:59] Two.
[6:00] Yeah.
[6:00] Okay.
[6:01] So, okay.
[6:01] So, no schools, but daycare, stuff like that.
[6:04] Yeah.
[6:05] Yeah.
[6:05] And so, that was 2008.
[6:07] And then at what point did you decide to sell the old home down the coast and start buying in Queensland?
[6:13] Yeah.
[6:14] It was only about 10 months after.
[6:15] Okay.
[6:16] We'd rented for 10 months and then in the complex, a unit come up for sale.
[6:21] So we sort of jumped in and sort of took the big loan out and at that time a big loan for us.
[6:27] Okay.
[6:28] Yeah.
[6:28] And we just wanted it.
[6:30] Yeah.
[6:30] We paid over.
[6:31] Yeah.
[6:32] But it was, I'm getting that.
[6:34] I'm going to beat.
[6:35] And you had your barbie now to cook on as well, right?
[6:38] You needed the actual house instead of the rental, right?
[6:40] Once you had the barbie, you made it.
[6:42] You've got to be a homeowner after that.
[6:44] In the same complex it was, it was only 15 doors down.
[6:47] So even the fridge, I ocky strapped it and put it on the back of the golf buggy to take it down.
[6:53] Oh dear.
[6:54] Okay.
[6:54] How good.
[6:55] Okay.
[6:57] So, and then you bought and sold a couple of properties in Queensland?
[7:00] Yeah, we sort of went from the townhouse to the house.
[7:03] Yeah.
[7:04] With our own pool and daughter.
[7:05] Preaked over.
[7:06] Yeah.
[7:07] Yeah.
[7:07] Just before COVID hit.
[7:08] I think we signed in the February of the COVID year.
[7:12] Right.
[7:12] So.
[7:13] Okay.
[7:13] A bit more space.
[7:15] Our daughter was 11 or 12 by then.
[7:19] So the townhouse was just a little small.
[7:22] Yeah, fair enough.
[7:23] Okay.
[7:23] Then we sold that one.
[7:26] Yep.
[7:27] Only about 13, 14 months ago.
[7:29] Yep.
[7:30] We did, and then moved into something less maintenance and only five years old.
[7:34] Okay.
[7:35] Yeah, nice here, local.
[7:36] Pretty easy to look after.
[7:38] Yeah, the pools down the road.
[7:39] Yep.
[7:40] Yeah.
[7:41] Good.
[7:41] Yeah.
[7:42] So why and when did you find Infinity?
[7:48] Who was instigating?
[7:49] Yeah, my great mate Craig.
[7:52] He knows I'm always a little left field and very competitive.
[7:57] And he said, look, we've seen this thing.
[7:59] Him and his sister are doing it.
[8:01] Yeah.
[8:02] He said, you have to, but you have to do it on your own to get there.
[8:06] So he set us up on the Tuesday night.
[8:10] You know, we watched that Then we'd done the weekend thing Thinking, you know, this is probably Craig just saying Just do it, just do it And then after we'd done the masterclass It was, alright, let's go to the top And you're competing with each other, aren't you?
[8:28] Yep Yep He rang me yesterday to tell me how many more I said, that's okay
[8:33] Yeah.
[8:34] I've still got him by 10 years.
[8:35] So yeah, we've always been competitive at golf and everything.
[8:40] Okay.
[8:41] So it's literally an introduction from a family friend.
[8:43] Yeah.
[8:44] Okay.
[8:45] So watch the free webinar, do the masterclass.
[8:47] Yeah.
[8:48] Okay.
[8:49] So is it purely the competitiveness that's driving that or what's the desire in there as a family to be like, right, we want to achieve ABC and we need someone to help.
[9:01] Yeah, I think so.
[9:02] I'm a bit like yourself.
[9:04] I grew up with a single mum.
[9:06] Really big struggles.
[9:08] Yeah.
[9:08] When we moved out of our family home, mum took the six kids and a suitcase each and Salvation Army furniture.
[9:17] Old tinfo.
[9:19] You betcha.
[9:19] You're at Franklin's or Jules.
[9:21] Yep.
[9:22] So I think it's just, not that I don't want to be like that, but I want to, I want security.
[9:30] Okay.
[9:30] I want, yeah.
[9:31] Okay.
[9:32] I want simple life, but secure.
[9:34] Okay.
[9:35] Yeah.
[9:35] Okay.
[9:36] Okay.
[9:37] Yeah, we're very simple people.
[9:38] Like, you know, we like to walk still along the beach.
[9:42] You know, we like to turn out.
[9:44] Yeah.
[9:44] You know, we've had the party days and we still have the odd party days, just not as many now.
[9:49] Yeah.
[9:50] It takes us a year to recover now.
[9:52] I know like any party ever, I'm like, oh, I never want to do that again.
[9:55] The fear of the hangover is too much.
[9:57] Yeah.
[9:57] Yeah.
[9:58] So coming into it, we had zero expectation, G. And I think coming in so open-minded where what you were saying, we had to understand.
[10:09] Yeah.
[10:09] They don't teach us at school.
[10:11] We wish they did.
[10:12] Yeah.
[10:12] We learned a whole lot of junk that means nothing to me except numbers.
[10:15] I still remember how to stop, drop and roll if I'm on fire.
[10:19] And can still play three blind mice on the recorder.
[10:22] Yeah, on the recorder.
[10:23] I've never been on fire.
[10:24] I've never had to play the recorder.
[10:26] I can play the triangle.
[10:27] I can play chopsticks on a...
[10:29] I've never used any of these skills in life, but no one taught me to balance a checkbook, so to speak, or taxes and...
[10:35] I mean, yeah, you get taught some basic shit, but you don't have any practical application of it that age.
[10:41] It's like, oh, here's compound interest.
[10:43] What am I going to do with that at 15 or 16?
[10:45] Yeah.
[10:46] That's meaningless.
[10:47] Yeah.
[10:47] And we've had these conversations with our teachers.
[10:49] I always did respect them and still do and get to see some when we head back to the hometown for an occasional beer.
[10:56] And we had these conversations.
[10:57] Yeah.
[10:58] And they say, what are you up to?
[10:59] And then you sort of tell them, they go, you, you of all people.
[11:03] You say, yeah, people.
[11:05] The socialite of the school.
[11:07] And you two, you're always going to head down that path.
[11:11] Yes, but they agree.
[11:13] You know, the curriculum should have included what we're only learning the last year.
[11:17] Okay.
[11:18] So very open-minded about it all, but a bit competitive.
[11:22] Want simple life, but want that stability and security.
[11:26] So when was it last year?
[11:28] Was it June, July you guys came, did the masterclass?
[11:32] July.
[11:32] July.
[11:33] Yeah.
[11:34] Okay.
[11:34] So July masterclass and then you did like a September or October real estate mastery event.
[11:40] I think we did a couple, didn't we?
[11:42] Yeah.
[11:42] Back to back.
[11:43] Yeah.
[11:43] We got to the September one and we were lucky enough to purchase a few properties before we arrived at that one.
[11:50] Okay.
[11:51] Cheeky.
[11:51] You got in early and just rocked up to have the experience.
[11:53] Luke.
[11:54] It's Luke.
[11:55] Okay, Luke.
[11:55] We'll have a chat later, Luke.
[11:57] One of the funny things was we were driving down to that REM.
[12:00] Yeah.
[12:00] And we got a phone call from our solicitor.
[12:03] And, you know, we're pretty pumped about REM.
[12:05] Yeah.
[12:05] You know, we were coming, we're coming.
[12:07] And he rings.
[12:07] He said, congratulations.
[12:08] I'm like, what for?
[12:09] He said, oh, you've just settled on your self-managed property selling it.
[12:13] Yeah, so you guys had a self-managed Superfund property prior to infinity.
[12:17] Yeah.
[12:17] That you'd bought.
[12:18] Yep.
[12:18] And then sold once you started talking to us and made a bit of money.
[12:21] Yeah, once we sold a masterclass.
[12:23] Yep.
[12:24] Gone within two weeks of that.
[12:25] Gotcha.
[12:26] And mine was made up.
[12:27] It's just quick.
[12:29] But he, he, we totally forgot we were settling that day because we're that focused on REM and what we're coming to.
[12:36] Right.
[12:36] You know, so we still remember on Smith Street where we were.
[12:39] Okay.
[12:40] Okay.
[12:41] Coming down the motorway.
[12:41] Yeah.
[12:42] Okay.
[12:42] All right.
[12:44] And then, okay, so got rid of that.
[12:45] And then what happened September, October, first REM or couple of REMs?
[12:49] How many properties do we have today?
[12:51] Okay.
[12:53] We've got one in South Australia that's tenanted for about three months now.
[12:57] Yeah.
[12:58] We've got one in Queensland.
[13:00] Yeah.
[13:01] It should be completed in a couple of months.
[13:03] Yeah.
[13:05] We've got another one in Queensland through Self-Managed Superfund.
[13:08] Hopefully the land will register soon.
[13:11] Yeah.
[13:12] And then a self-managed unit in Adelaide and a unit from us in Adelaide as well.
[13:19] So you've got one, two, three, four, four, four, five.
[13:24] It's five in total.
[13:25] Three in your personal name and two in super?
[13:27] Yeah.
[13:28] Yes.
[13:28] Yep.
[13:29] Five?
[13:30] Yes.
[13:31] All within before the second rem.
[13:34] Wow.
[13:34] Yeah.
[13:35] It's pretty good.
[13:36] Yeah.
[13:37] Yeah.
[13:38] So it makes me, and you've also got some money invested in a mortgage fund and that's paying about 12%.
[13:43] Yeah.
[13:45] So that gives you some money income every month because it's paid monthly.
[13:48] Um, but it makes me query, oh, actually before I jump into that, you also paid about $140,000 off your mortgage.
[13:56] Yeah.
[13:56] In 10 months.
[13:57] Yeah.
[13:58] In 10 months.
[13:59] Yeah.
[14:01] It's amazing, though.
[14:02] So quick.
[14:03] Where has all of our money gone?
[14:04] They've got to have huge incomes.
[14:07] We hadn't done that in 80 years before.
[14:09] I was going to say, and your loan was about 180 grand when we started around that sort of September or October, right?
[14:16] So you've only got about 40 grand left?
[14:18] 37.
[14:19] Excuse me, mate.
[14:21] Sorry, $37,000.
[14:23] So in 10 months, you've nearly eradicated.
[14:26] So really, within about, I don't know, 12, 16 months, you're going to have been debt-free on that $180,000.
[14:33] Yeah.
[14:34] Or maybe six months I'm banking on.
[14:36] Okay.
[14:37] I've got my, I know the Thai restaurant, I want to go and have yellow chicken curry out when I'm debt-free.
[14:42] Oh, that's my...
[14:43] Okay, I'm a green curry chicken kind of guy, but okay, yeah.
[14:46] I've already decided.
[14:47] That's my celebration dinner.
[14:48] I like that.
[14:49] I like that.
[14:50] So what were you spending your money on?
[14:54] Because you just said, oh, we didn't do that in the previous, I don't know how many years.
[14:59] Talk everyone at home through that so they understand because people are going to listen to this.
[15:03] They're going to relate.
[15:03] Some people are going to relate to you guys.
[15:04] We're like, that's us.
[15:06] Like we're trying to do the right thing.
[15:08] We've got this thing here.
[15:09] We've got an image, but we're just not really making ends meet.
[15:12] What was going on?
[15:14] Oh, where do we stay?
[15:15] We ate very well.
[15:16] Besides the $99 barbecue, I mean, that was massively breaking the budget.
[15:20] We were always in the, like, we lived near the bush there.
[15:23] So we'd always have four wheel drives, motorbikes.
[15:26] You want a second bike, you get another bike.
[15:28] You just keep adding it onto the mortgage.
[15:29] It was just so easy.
[15:31] The property would go up in value.
[15:33] You just, oh, another bike, another car, another tour.
[15:35] Right.
[15:35] And that's because of our group.
[15:38] We all done the same.
[15:39] We knew no different.
[15:40] Okay.
[15:42] So, yeah, we never really went without what we may think we need.
[15:48] Yeah.
[15:48] Even though we didn't.
[15:49] Yeah.
[15:49] Yeah.
[15:51] And then we just put a couple of disciplines in.
[15:52] Like we never had a budget.
[15:55] Right.
[15:55] Like that was so embarrassing.
[15:56] So you would just spend whatever you wanted?
[15:59] Yeah.
[16:00] Yeah, I can't even make an excuse.
[16:02] It's actually, it's quite sad when you think back at the money that we've, yeah.
[16:07] Just not waste it.
[16:08] We've enjoyed it.
[16:09] We've enjoyed it.
[16:10] It's a day-to-day life, right?
[16:11] So you might, you buy a boat on the way.
[16:13] Three years.
[16:14] Three boats in three is a little bit fucked up.
[16:16] Three in three?
[16:17] Three in three?
[16:18] Upgrading, upgrading.
[16:19] Fuck it, you're worse than me in cars.
[16:21] I have zero now.
[16:22] No, I'm missing it.
[16:24] I got friends with boats.
[16:25] Best boats are other people's boats.
[16:26] Like yours.
[16:27] Exactly.
[16:28] It's gone.
[16:28] I got rid of it.
[16:29] Yeah, right.
[16:29] Thank friggin' off.
[16:31] Okay, so was it, when we talk about the spending compared to now, was it just crap?
[16:37] Crap.
[16:38] Like coffees, lunches, takeaways.
[16:41] Pillow talk.
[16:42] Yep, okay.
[16:43] Clubs.
[16:43] Linen, towels.
[16:44] Cues.
[16:44] Just shit.
[16:45] Handbags, purses.
[16:46] Just shit.
[16:47] Yeah.
[16:47] Okay.
[16:48] Truly shit.
[16:48] What about family for kids or for daughters or like crap for kids or just for yourselves or?
[16:55] Oh, she had a great wife.
[16:56] Okay.
[16:57] Yeah.
[16:57] She probably, she's probably taken it the hardest out of the three of us.
[17:00] Oh, really?
[17:01] Yeah, but it took you while learning these lessons.
[17:04] Like, correctly.
[17:06] And you can't put a price on that.
[17:07] No, no.
[17:08] So she's seeing what we're doing.
[17:09] She's, you know, looking at the portfolio.
[17:12] She's, you know, we're going out for here today for lunch.
[17:15] I said, no, but next week we're having a really nice one.
[17:18] Yeah.
[17:18] Yeah, so just a little bit of discipline.
[17:20] So a bit of delayed gratification and a bit of discipline.
[17:22] Yeah.
[17:23] Yeah.
[17:23] How long did it take for the two of you?
[17:26] Cause you've done so well from, you know, okay.
[17:28] June, July masterclass, September ish, October, big event onboarding, lots of investments.
[17:34] How long did it take you from the setup, from the structure we give you to actually adapt to it, not fight it, like to adapt to it and see a result?
[17:43] Was it days, weeks, months?
[17:45] How long?
[17:46] I think it was pretty well straight away.
[17:47] I think when we first sat down and worked out what our FFF would be, we were like $950 a week because that's just what we were.
[17:56] Spending at the moment.
[17:58] Yeah.
[17:58] And that was even, that was bringing it in.
[18:00] Right.
[18:01] I think we're about 400 a week now.
[18:03] Really?
[18:03] Yes.
[18:04] So you started in the worksheet, you started at $950.
[18:07] Yeah.
[18:07] Oh, you're one of the people I yell at.
[18:10] Those fucker $52,000.
[18:13] That's where our money's gone.
[18:15] Netflix, everything, everything you listen is on our list.
[18:17] Okay.
[18:18] But now we're half of that.
[18:19] Yeah.
[18:20] And sometimes we've still got some left over.
[18:21] So family are free.
[18:22] Yeah.
[18:23] And you're doing how much a week now?
[18:26] 450.
[18:26] 450.
[18:27] Yeah.
[18:27] But generally there's about 50 to 70 left over.
[18:31] And that's just a normal conservative week we're talking here, right?
[18:33] So that's your groceries, your fuel, nothing much happens.
[18:36] It rains all week in winter, whatever.
[18:38] We go to work, go to school.
[18:39] Yeah, cool.
[18:40] Yeah.
[18:40] Okay.
[18:40] But then I heard you mention, in two weeks, we're going to go for a really nice dinner.
[18:44] Yeah.
[18:44] We're doing a family.
[18:46] So you're still being practical in the application of, okay, we're going to have some rewards and gratification along the way, just not every day on shit.
[18:55] Yes.
[18:56] Yeah.
[18:56] I think we've taken...
[18:58] At the start, the first couple of months, it felt like we had to, you know, release a lot.
[19:02] Yeah.
[19:03] But now we realise we've gained so much more.
[19:05] You know, like when dinners mean more when we sit down as a family of three once a fortnight than twice a week.
[19:10] I think you just appreciate.
[19:12] I was going to say, tell me, when you say you thought you'd lose, but you've gained more.
[19:16] Yeah, just appreciation for when you do spend money.
[19:19] So you're saying instead of drive-through takeaway or dining out every single night, now when you plan to have a meal, you actually all enjoy it.
[19:27] You actually communicate, you're present.
[19:29] Phones are away.
[19:30] Yeah.
[19:31] Yeah, right.
[19:32] All the stuff we didn't.
[19:33] Mm-hmm.
[19:34] And are you noticing that in your daughter as well or?
[19:37] Yeah.
[19:38] Yeah.
[19:38] Yeah.
[19:39] Yeah.
[19:39] No.
[19:39] So she works, um, she's got a job now.
[19:42] She works four days a week and she's doing uni.
[19:44] Okay.
[19:44] So yeah, she's, she's a lot more appreciative of if I do something, she's really appreciative of it.
[19:51] Right.
[19:51] Yeah.
[19:52] So she's aware of the journey.
[19:53] She understands it.
[19:55] Yeah.
[19:55] Okay.
[19:56] Okay.
[19:58] Now.
[19:58] Yeah.
[19:59] Given you did $140,000 of debt reduction in 10 months, how dishonest do you think you were being with yourselves about your spending prior?
[20:11] Oh, no argument.
[20:14] There was, yeah, there was no accountability.
[20:16] So was there no short-term trouble?
[20:18] No.
[20:18] If I wanted something, I got out my credit card and went, tap.
[20:22] Do you think that's...
[20:24] Common or uncommon today for Australian families?
[20:27] I think it's very common.
[20:28] Because it's just the norm?
[20:29] Get paid, spend it, get paid, spend it, wait till the next pay?
[20:32] Yeah, I think so.
[20:34] You know, if you'd asked us, we probably felt like we were doing good.
[20:36] Really?
[20:37] Really?
[20:38] Yeah, like at the time, like there's a lot of denial in the first couple of, you know, of listening to the masterclass.
[20:45] Yeah, there's a few other cuts in there.
[20:47] Yeah, but yeah, we really thought we were doing it okay, paying off $5,000 a year off the loan, driving a nice car, you know, grabbing a new boat each year to upgrade.
[21:00] Havoc Bice Holiday, having takeaway three times a week.
[21:04] We thought that was right, normal.
[21:06] Okay.
[21:07] You know?
[21:07] And I'm not here to say it's not, but I'm saying what works better for us as a, for our family.
[21:14] Everyone's got different setups.
[21:15] True.
[21:16] Yeah.
[21:16] So explain for someone listening at home, we go, oh yeah, we're a family.
[21:21] We've got one teenage daughter or son as well.
[21:24] We're spending everything.
[21:25] They're you a year ago, say.
[21:27] Mm-hmm.
[21:27] What could you say to them about a couple of, forget infinity for a second.
[21:32] What practical steps could they take to be really honest with themselves?
[21:36] Because I look at the people I see today, it's like not a worry in the world, crushing it, loans about to be zero, multiple, you look pretty happy.
[21:44] You're pretty comfortable.
[21:46] Whereas maybe two months before, you thought you were, but there's always that little niggle that you know you're not really doing well.
[21:53] So what tips could you give to people that are listening at home to go, oh,
[21:57] Like, I don't know, check your spending, look at your statements.
[22:00] But, you know, because people here budge and think, I'm not going on a diet.
[22:03] They think it means nothing.
[22:05] They don't think it means scheduled family dinner at a beautiful restaurant.
[22:09] You know, they think it means never go out to a restaurant.
[22:12] Yeah.
[22:13] What tips could you give people?
[22:15] Go through your credit card statement.
[22:17] Okay.
[22:18] And just add up food.
[22:20] Yeah.
[22:20] And yeah, go and have a look in your wardrobe.
[22:23] Yeah.
[22:23] And see what you actually wear, what you actually use.
[22:26] I did that exercise.
[22:27] I turned all the hangers backwards.
[22:29] Yep.
[22:29] I went through a process of what I was actually wearing.
[22:31] Yeah.
[22:32] The rest of it's all gone to Charmin.
[22:33] You could sell it online, but I just donated it all.
[22:35] But surprise, I only wear the same black shirts and the same bloody pairs of jeans.
[22:39] I don't know what all the other shit is in the wardrobe.
[22:41] I bought it sometime.
[22:43] I even go and look in your food cupboard and just see the amount of food that you've just got sitting there.
[22:48] And then they're probably still ordering Uber Eats anyway.
[22:50] Yeah.
[22:51] Takeaway.
[22:51] Yeah.
[22:52] But I think that's the biggest thing, to sit and go through your credit card statement.
[22:56] Okay.
[22:56] Because we lived off, we were a credit card.
[22:59] We just absolutely lived.
[23:01] Everything you put on the card.
[23:01] Everything.
[23:02] Do you think it was ever months where you, or did you know, did you ever spend more than you earned that month?
[23:07] No.
[23:08] Okay.
[23:08] No.
[23:09] And there were a couple, and when we did sort of transfer like a thousand to the mortgage, it was like, yay.
[23:15] Yeah.
[23:16] It was huge.
[23:17] Right.
[23:17] Because I really thought, hey, we're getting somewhere.
[23:20] We're doing something.
[23:21] Yep.
[23:22] But, yeah.
[23:22] But it all became too easy.
[23:24] And then, you know, we go from this credit card status to this one to this one.
[23:27] We ended up on the top card.
[23:29] Yep.
[23:29] Top card.
[23:30] You can pretty well flash it anywhere.
[23:31] And, you know, they'll pour you a cocktail because they know you've got sucker written all over your head.
[23:36] So, you know, now we look back.
[23:38] The cocktail was even called the sucker.
[23:40] Could be.
[23:42] Could be, but now we've learned how to, you know, work from our debit cards.
[23:46] We do not have a credit card.
[23:47] Yep.
[23:48] Uh, we don't have the need for one.
[23:50] And we were, we were pretty big spenders on the credit card, but, um.
[23:54] Did it take you long to adjust to the change?
[23:59] Yes.
[24:00] Deep side.
[24:00] There it is.
[24:01] Like four months, five months.
[24:04] There was more subscriptions we were forgetting about.
[24:06] Right.
[24:07] So we remember Spotify, Netflix.
[24:10] Yeah.
[24:10] Maybe you forgot about your tolls on your car.
[24:13] And even though that car doesn't drive tolls, but you still pay the $25 a year or whatever.
[24:19] So there was all these little things that kept coming in.
[24:20] We go,
[24:21] That's gone.
[24:22] That's gone.
[24:23] That's gone.
[24:23] So we were trimming like every time we would order.
[24:27] It took a few months to trim and adjust.
[24:29] Yeah.
[24:29] How long until you went nut credit cards gone?
[24:34] It was a couple of months till we cut them up until we sort of just had to get everything transferred.
[24:38] Yeah.
[24:39] Yeah, it was more hard and just getting the subscriptions and, you know, software and that aligned.
[24:44] But we took to it with the angle grinder and yeah, it was a metal one.
[24:48] I've seen that.
[24:49] That's a good video.
[24:51] It was a grinding spark.
[24:52] Did you enjoy it?
[24:55] Mixed motions at a time.
[24:56] We won't lie.
[24:58] But now, yeah, hell yeah.
[25:00] So, I mean, in fairness, you've got a portfolio now that's like probably over $5 million.
[25:07] Done really well.
[25:08] You're about to own your home all within a 10, 12-month period.
[25:14] That's wild.
[25:15] It is.
[25:15] Thank you.
[25:16] No, hey, all we do is give you the... Yeah, we've educated it.
[25:19] Yeah, but it's up to you to follow it.
[25:21] I mean, it'd be just as easy for you to look at the redraw today and go, oh, 140 grand.
[25:26] Oh, well, I'll go get a dirt bike or I'll go, let's go on a cruise.
[25:30] And I still think people should do certain things.
[25:33] Yeah.
[25:33] Yeah.
[25:34] But it's that practical application of having the conversation.
[25:37] Yeah, let's book a teenage daughter.
[25:40] Let's go spend some time overseas this year for Christmas before she doesn't want to hang with us.
[25:44] Turning 21, not next year, the year after.
[25:46] I'm actually not a teenager anymore.
[25:47] I want to take her to the States.
[25:49] I was going to say, you've got to do these practical because then they have their own partners and lives and, you know, so you definitely got to, um, you definitely got to still celebrate your wins and celebrate your successes.
[26:00] And that might be besides the yellow curry, curry chicken at Thai and a bottle of Saint Blanc or something, you know, that, that, that might also be the, Hey, we're going to put a deposit on a trip to America.
[26:10] Yeah.
[26:11] Yep.
[26:11] You know, her and I having three weeks in Japan in January in the snow.
[26:15] Oh, really?
[26:15] Like me.
[26:16] Yep.
[26:16] I don't do the cold.
[26:17] Oh, you don't do the cold.
[26:18] One of our affinity members has a nice house over there that we go to very each year.
[26:23] And yeah, yeah.
[26:25] So yeah, her and I go over there for three weeks, but we've budgeted for it.
[26:30] Good.
[26:31] So you're still doing overseas holidays, snow, you go to Merrig.
[26:35] Yeah.
[26:35] So what, okay.
[26:37] So I'm sitting at home and I'm listening to you right now.
[26:39] I know 140 grand.
[26:41] These guys are in hundreds of dollars.
[26:44] And you can't do that.
[26:46] Isn't it really a case of you just stop spending what you do earn on shit?
[26:49] Yes.
[26:50] That's it.
[26:51] Very much so.
[26:52] I'm assuming you're doing a grocery shop and it's either online or you only get what you need.
[26:57] You may be a click and collect.
[26:59] Do you do a meal?
[26:59] Are you meal prepping?
[27:00] Meal prep.
[27:01] Yes, we sit down on Sundays and go, what do we want for dinners this week?
[27:05] Right.
[27:05] Work it out.
[27:06] So you don't have to go to the shops every day.
[27:08] No, I used to do that.
[27:09] So these people that are so busy, but they go to fucking shop every day.
[27:13] They're so busy fucking around, right?
[27:15] And then they've got to cook every...
[27:16] But you just can maybe cook for two, three days and it's fresh and then you cook for two, three...
[27:21] So you're very structured.
[27:22] Very structured.
[27:23] You know, great.
[27:23] But you didn't have to go earn more money?
[27:25] No.
[27:26] No.
[27:27] Okay.
[27:27] You've just been very practical and simple.
[27:29] Yeah.
[27:29] Yeah.
[27:31] So there's no secret sauce...
[27:32] No, our circumstances financially haven't changed.
[27:36] Just your actions.
[27:37] Five years, just our, yeah, actions.
[27:39] Yeah, definitely.
[27:41] So imagine, yeah, if we'd pulled that cord a little sooner.
[27:46] But, you know, we think we'll be able to set it up, you know, so things are a lot more comfortable when we do hit 50 in sort of, it's coming quick, four years time.
[27:56] But, yeah, it's just so we've got that security for later on and have them beautiful trips away.
[28:02] Yeah.
[28:03] Well, now the home, the homeland's about to be gone shortly.
[28:05] So what do you do?
[28:07] We can start paying off the investments.
[28:08] We can invest in other things.
[28:10] We can travel a bit.
[28:11] Like that, that burden's gone.
[28:13] It's just the monkeys off the back.
[28:14] So who's going to win the competition?
[28:17] Perfect.
[28:19] Which comp?
[28:20] No.
[28:20] I don't know.
[28:21] There's a lot of competition.
[28:22] Oh, no.
[28:25] In the house build, Craig probably really is older.
[28:28] But, you know, we've always sort of got little competitions going, like to see who can buy less coffees each week or...
[28:36] Because we still have the odd one, but our, you know, we were spending a fortune on coffee a couple of times a day going out the window.
[28:42] Yeah.
[28:43] Our solution was we used some vouchers and bought a machine at home.
[28:46] So we still get our nice coffee.
[28:48] Yeah.
[28:48] We save time.
[28:49] Yeah.
[28:50] So there's always sort of competitions and even- But you really, it's like you're treating this as a sport.
[28:55] A little bit.
[28:56] A little?
[28:58] Could be a financial sport.
[28:59] Yeah.
[28:59] Something like Infinity Games.
[29:01] Yeah.
[29:02] Maybe we'll still be financially aroused.
[29:04] I don't know.
[29:04] Yeah.
[29:05] But, you know, it's really got us viewing everything different.
[29:10] Like even, you know, valuing people a lot more.
[29:16] There was a poor bugger there the other day.
[29:17] It was a cold day in Queensland.
[29:19] It hit 23.
[29:19] It's a cold.
[29:22] And he was shivering in the corner.
[29:23] But, you know, I'd filled up and I just said, mate, can I grab you a coffee?
[29:27] you know, I probably wasn't that guy a couple of years ago.
[29:33] No need not to be, but I wasn't aware of it.
[29:36] I was only looking at myself and not what's around me.
[29:38] So to give me that $2 coffee, it was over the moon.
[29:41] And I rang you at work.
[29:43] Like I felt really good.
[29:45] But here I am.
[29:45] It took me 46 years to do that.
[29:48] So that's new for you guys.
[29:49] Yeah.
[29:50] That was for me.
[29:51] Just a bit more present of your surroundings.
[29:53] Yeah, just to go bugger over there.
[29:55] You did the Kmart tree life.
[29:57] Yeah, yep.
[29:58] Just checking.
[29:58] You dropped presents at the door.
[29:59] Yeah, a lot.
[30:00] Because we're doing a lot more this year just to be warned.
[30:03] Yeah, the salvers fed me.
[30:04] I know where we came from.
[30:05] Yeah, so is that da?
[30:07] Just viewing things a lot differently.
[30:09] Right.
[30:09] And I'm still not saying there's a wrong, there's a right, but we feel it's making us a better person by being aware of everyone's situation.
[30:17] So what...
[30:19] And this is really intriguing to me because I find like if I knew the secret to this, I wouldn't have 4,000 families as clients.
[30:25] I'd have 40,000.
[30:27] Besides Craig's, oh, I have a look at this.
[30:30] Why that shift?
[30:31] What inside goes, shit, we're doing it wrong?
[30:36] Because we're all pretty proud.
[30:37] Oh, we're doing okay.
[30:38] And we've had a couple of homes.
[30:40] We all love to really lie to ourselves, right?
[30:43] That's the ego.
[30:44] All humans have ego.
[30:45] You know, human beings have ego.
[30:47] But overcoming that ego, we're not doing this right.
[30:51] These numbers are very different to these numbers.
[30:54] How, what happens to explain the switch?
[30:57] When does that?
[30:57] For me, it was seeing the numbers on the infinity dashboard.
[31:01] Right.
[31:01] So that lovely, uh, website breaks it all down.
[31:05] Yeah.
[31:05] Expenditure.
[31:07] And then we would wait for it to drop on the first of the month.
[31:10] So we could see how much we've, uh, we've paid off.
[31:12] So we were waiting.
[31:13] Yeah.
[31:14] Waiting for that.
[31:14] But go back a step for me to masterclass.
[31:16] Yep.
[31:17] Where was the trigger there to go?
[31:19] We're doing it wrong.
[31:21] I think.
[31:22] Is there a lot, is there an aha or an oh fuck or is there a moment?
[31:26] I think listening to normal people.
[31:28] Right.
[31:29] You know, I don't want to see a suit and tie, tell me how they've done it tough.
[31:33] Yeah.
[31:34] We're very simple country people still.
[31:36] Right.
[31:37] That connected with me to see that and hear those words.
[31:41] Right.
[31:41] It didn't need any sugar coating on it.
[31:43] You're not the sugar coating type.
[31:45] What's that?
[31:47] I'm not allowed sugar in my diet.
[31:48] I'm too chubby as it is.
[31:50] So that was probably, for me, listening to the people's story, their true journeys, you know, similar to this, catch up, you know, how they done it.
[32:00] Just grab the odd little thing out of there and budget.
[32:03] You know, that was, that was my light bulb.
[32:05] But what about you, Chris?
[32:07] I think just, we're obviously, we're getting a little bit older.
[32:10] Our daughter's 19.
[32:14] And I think I sort of looked and you look at the prices on the Gold Coast now and you think, is she going to live with us forever?
[32:21] Um, I love her.
[32:21] I love her.
[32:23] But, uh, and I think just, yeah, we've got to do something.
[32:26] Yeah.
[32:27] Otherwise we're just going to live in this same, we're just going to go round and round like the mouse in the wheel.
[32:31] Okay.
[32:32] And just keep going round and round and yeah.
[32:35] Well, if banker mum and dad want to chip in, they've just announced the 5% deposit law.
[32:39] Okay.
[32:40] But maybe not just yet, but it's worth exploring and even getting her to read up on it because they've come out and said, hey, 5% is all you need.
[32:49] Here's all the banks and the government will guarantee the other 15%.
[32:52] And there's no limit on income and there's no limit on property.
[32:56] I don't know how long that'll last, but I can tell you what it's going to do to the whole bottom middle end of the market.
[33:00] Yeah.
[33:01] It's going to drive it up.
[33:02] Yeah.
[33:02] Going to get even tougher for her.
[33:04] Yeah.
[33:04] Yeah.
[33:05] Um, but it means she can go buy a place for 800 grand and she only needs 40, so she only needs 40 grand.
[33:12] Yep.
[33:13] She might, mum and dad might help all this 40, she might live in it for 12 months and come back to mum and dad and rent it out.
[33:18] But.
[33:18] I think she's probably waiting for us to sell one of the dogs.
[33:21] Yeah.
[33:22] And buy two more and give one to her.
[33:24] I think that's more her style at the moment.
[33:27] Love it.
[33:27] For a 19-year-old, I think.
[33:28] Smart young lady.
[33:29] Smart young lady.
[33:30] Yeah.
[33:31] But you're right, it is getting tougher.
[33:33] It's getting really, really tough.
[33:35] Cost of living, deposits required.
[33:39] There really is a very big wealth disparity or class disparity that's starting to sadly occur in Australia through property ownership.
[33:48] But there's no other asset.
[33:50] I mean, people crypto this, that, the other shit, but it just continues to drive that wedge.
[33:55] So thankfully you guys are in it.
[33:57] That's for sure.
[33:58] And bricks and mortar is all we get.
[34:00] You know, I understand that and I've understood it since we were a kid.
[34:03] You know, we had three generations.
[34:04] Nan and Pop lived on top of the factory.
[34:07] Christy's family was all around building.
[34:08] We're still around building today in what we do.
[34:11] Yeah.
[34:11] So it's something we feel we know.
[34:14] Yep.
[34:15] We just needed someone to help us to get there.
[34:17] Okay.
[34:17] Okay.
[34:19] What was the hardest thing in the process for you guys?
[34:24] Was it eventually cutting the credit card up?
[34:26] Was it starting the budget at nine and getting it to six and five?
[34:31] What's some real hurdles people can expect if they go, no, we're going to sort our shit out?
[34:36] I think for me the only hurdle was my old bank.
[34:40] Right.
[34:40] I won't name them, but they start with theft.
[34:43] Theft pack.
[34:44] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[34:46] They would make it really tough, really tough.
[34:49] We're obviously a good client.
[34:52] They'd chuck on a sausage roll network night or something.
[34:54] You'd get called in and shake hands with a new branch manager each week.
[34:58] Each week, yeah.
[34:59] Go, go, go, go.
[35:00] So they made it really tough.
[35:02] They made it tough for our new one to talk to, to get it switched.
[35:06] Yeah.
[35:08] That process, unfortunately, due to their not wanting to let go.
[35:11] Yeah, they don't like to let you go and charge, yeah.
[35:13] Yeah, and then they kept saying, oh, what about if we do this, this, this?
[35:15] I say, well, you didn't in 20 years.
[35:18] Yeah.
[35:18] What's... All of a sudden.
[35:20] You know, you're gone.
[35:22] So that for me was about the only pain point.
[35:25] Everything else for me was okay.
[35:27] I bet you...
[35:28] Um, just the spending, just reeling the spending in.
[35:33] Yeah.
[35:33] It hurt.
[35:34] It hurt?
[35:35] It hurt a lot.
[35:37] Yeah.
[35:37] It was nothing for me to go to the shops and go to Pillow Talk and go, yeah, just go to Mimco and Oriton and yeah.
[35:46] So that's, I appreciate the honesty.
[35:47] How, cause it is, if you're a spender, you're a spender.
[35:50] I'm a spender.
[35:51] Yeah.
[35:52] How have you replaced, how do you fill that void?
[35:54] Yeah.
[35:57] I sort of, I think I just went back through my wardrobe and I realized what I had.
[36:02] And yeah, I just, when I go to the shops now, I look at it and I think, I just don't need it.
[36:06] Okay.
[36:06] I just don't need it.
[36:07] I want it.
[36:08] It took time.
[36:09] I want it, but it took, yeah, it took a good couple of months and it was sort of, you see people walking around the shopping center with the bags and yeah, a little bit of envy and frustration and few.
[36:22] Does your daughter a spindle?
[36:24] Yes.
[36:26] Okay.
[36:26] Okay.
[36:27] That's from me.
[36:28] But not as bad as she was.
[36:30] No.
[36:31] So.
[36:31] No, it's her own money.
[36:33] Yep.
[36:33] Yep.
[36:33] She realises the value of it.
[36:35] Right.
[36:36] Yeah.
[36:37] Okay.
[36:38] Okay.
[36:39] Well, yeah, they won't do what you say.
[36:41] They're going to do what they see and decide if they like it or not.
[36:44] Yeah.
[36:45] Okay.
[36:45] Okay.
[36:46] What's the overall goal?
[36:48] Where do you guys want to be in three, five, ten years?
[36:53] What's the big picture?
[36:54] You had this conversation this morning.
[36:56] Oh, great.
[36:57] I'll just sit back and have a drink and relax and let you tell me.
[37:00] Is it wrong that we don't agree?
[37:02] This is going to be even better.
[37:03] I've got platform and water.
[37:05] Let's go.
[37:07] Um, for me personally, it is, it's a security thing and a simple thing.
[37:14] I just want a little tiny house, two streets away.
[37:19] Are we specific?
[37:20] Yeah.
[37:21] Okay.
[37:21] Two streets away from B.
[37:22] Or a smell it, feel it, touch it.
[37:24] Yeah, good.
[37:25] With those little electric bikes that everyone's zipping up and down on the Gold Coast on.
[37:29] Okay.
[37:29] Until they're illegal.
[37:30] Yeah.
[37:30] Yeah.
[37:30] Don't cry.
[37:31] By this time.
[37:33] Yeah.
[37:33] And I just want to be able to get on my little bike, ride down and get a coffee.
[37:36] Yeah.
[37:36] Sit in the cafe and then ride back to my little sanctuary.
[37:40] And yeah.
[37:41] Just enjoy.
[37:42] Okay.
[37:43] Um.
[37:44] That's it.
[37:44] That's.
[37:45] I just want.
[37:45] Little cottage.
[37:46] Little cottage.
[37:46] Little cottage.
[37:47] A couple blocks back from the beach.
[37:49] Yep.
[37:50] Eastern side of the Gold Coast Highway.
[37:52] Yes.
[37:52] Yes.
[37:52] Thank you.
[37:53] Okay.
[37:53] Yeah.
[37:54] And that's it?
[37:55] That's it.
[37:55] That's all I want.
[37:56] And yeah, not to- And to be able to afford to buy one coffee a day.
[38:00] And just not stress, not stress.
[38:02] Own my house, have my own little sanctuary and just relax and just enjoy life.
[38:10] This is going to be interesting.
[38:11] Yeah.
[38:11] Here we go.
[38:12] What, are you smaller than me?
[38:14] I just think there's going to be polar opposites on this.
[38:18] What about a croissant with the coffee?
[38:21] No, just a coffee.
[38:22] I can go back and make coffee because I'm still on my FFF budget.
[38:25] Okay.
[38:26] Okay.
[38:27] He started with a golf simulator.
[38:29] Okay.
[38:29] Now we're talking.
[38:31] All right.
[38:31] Let's go.
[38:32] Let's go.
[38:32] So, yeah, we've got the water in common.
[38:36] We both want to be close to that.
[38:37] Close to the water, yeah.
[38:38] We both want one of them big tired bikes so we can ride around and pretend we're getting some exercise.
[38:44] Yeah.
[38:45] But then I want to be your neighbor.
[38:47] Yeah.
[38:47] My neighbour.
[38:48] Yeah, yeah.
[38:50] You know, big house on a...
[38:51] I just settled the house next door, actually.
[38:54] We bought the one next door.
[38:56] Oh, good.
[38:56] Yeah, I'm going to try to join them.
[38:58] I could, you know, see a boat out the back, see a golf simulator at a man bar underneath and pretend I've got more friends than I really do.
[39:07] But then again, I could easily adapt to Christie's simple lifestyle.
[39:11] Okay.
[39:12] So I think one's a dream and one's sort of what we need.
[39:16] And even the dream, it's not a need.
[39:20] It's just a passing thought and...
[39:23] So security is the main thing.
[39:26] Yeah.
[39:27] Correct me if I'm wrong.
[39:28] You guys have started a strategy and a structure that's going to achieve far greater than that little cottage a couple of blocks back from the beach and the electric bikes.
[39:41] We hope so.
[39:42] Well, we know from it.
[39:44] We know so.
[39:45] We know so.
[39:45] Based on data, we know so.
[39:49] Yeah, very realistic.
[39:50] So, you know.
[39:51] Okay.
[39:52] So everything's a bonus from there is what I'm hearing.
[39:54] Yeah.
[39:55] I guess so.
[39:56] Yeah.
[39:57] Ideally, it would also involve somehow helping our daughter.
[40:02] Okay.
[40:03] Not buy a house, but not buy it outright, but buy it and help her.
[40:07] I mean, that's pretty nice.
[40:10] Maybe it makes it a dispositive.
[40:11] Just to give her.
[40:12] So she's, yeah, it's not waiting until we're both gone until she's.
[40:15] Carol, uni fees or something to that effect, you know.
[40:18] Yeah.
[40:18] Yeah.
[40:19] There's some, still some more important family things that will come through in the next sort of five, 10 years.
[40:23] So to stay ahead of them and not wake up in the morning behind them is really important.
[40:29] Okay.
[40:30] So you're not really chasing too much?
[40:33] I'm not.
[40:33] No, I'd like a few more investment homes.
[40:35] Like I, I won't stop.
[40:37] Oh, step into my office.
[40:42] So, yeah, for us to keep adding to the portfolio as long as it keeps making sense in our economy and, you know, whatever country or wherever it leads us, you know, we'll go for the Jones.
[40:55] Is there a point there that that concerns you?
[40:58] Do you get scared of that?
[40:59] Like, oh, we'll keep building.
[41:01] Because, you know, I'm not hearing that you want to go that far.
[41:04] Well, no, I do.
[41:05] I'm always in the back seat.
[41:07] He's always driving.
[41:08] I think it stems back to we were brought up very differently.
[41:13] Yeah.
[41:14] Like I said, sort of where I come from, Andrew was, they ran a frame and trust business.
[41:19] So there was, we were the Westies on the west side of the...
[41:24] Of the town.
[41:25] Yeah, a little bit of trauma and sort of stuff growing up.
[41:30] And that's where my just stability and just...
[41:36] So not risk adverse, but just happy that like you're okay with it all, but don't want to necessarily chase it.
[41:43] I do to some degree.
[41:44] It just...
[41:47] Okay, that's what I was, well, I was checking, just pole stripping, okay, okay.
[41:51] Because at the moment there's a golf simulator in there, there's a decent little boat in there, all we've got to do is flip a couple of the assets and we're doing okay, so...
[42:00] Always, always up for new, if it's in our budget.
[42:04] Now that we've got one property going, at the start of it, when you've sort of, you're signing all this paperwork and you've got money going.
[42:12] Or can a loan.
[42:13] You've got no money coming in.
[42:16] Yeah.
[42:16] But now that we can, we've got tenants in a house, we've got an income that's coming in before it all goes out.
[42:24] Yeah.
[42:25] I can take a breath.
[42:25] I understand it, yeah.
[42:27] Whereas before it was, what do you call it?
[42:29] Sphinx to puffer.
[42:30] Sphinx to puffer.
[42:31] Yeah.
[42:32] Because you've got, you just, you can't see anything coming in.
[42:35] It's just all out.
[42:36] Polls out, payments out, solicitor's fees.
[42:39] And then sign here, you need to pay this.
[42:42] You've, yeah.
[42:43] It's a big process.
[42:44] It's a massive process.
[42:45] And she's done it once.
[42:47] That's what I mean.
[42:48] Now you're in the groove.
[42:49] Yeah.
[42:50] I remember this.
[42:50] It's like meeting at the pub for a beer.
[42:52] Yeah.
[42:52] You know.
[42:53] It flows that easily and you get it.
[42:57] Yeah.
[42:57] You know?
[42:58] Yeah.
[42:59] It was a lot of learning at the start.
[43:01] A lot.
[43:02] And we can now do it 10, 20, 30 times, couldn't we?
[43:05] Okay.
[43:08] I've got out of camera.
[43:10] Okay.
[43:11] Sure.
[43:12] Wasn't enough.
[43:15] She'll come on a pretty journey.
[43:16] I trust this man with my life and I know he will never, ever do anything.
[43:21] to lead me astray.
[43:22] Always calculated risk.
[43:23] That's right.
[43:24] Risk but calculated risk.
[43:26] Risk versus reward.
[43:26] Yeah.
[43:27] I think we've been lucky enough to be brought up, you know, even in the family business, again, every dollar is yours.
[43:34] Yeah.
[43:34] You know, you get one chance at that dollar.
[43:36] Yeah.
[43:37] You spend it wisely.
[43:38] You have to chase people for the money they may owe you.
[43:40] That's your dollar to get back.
[43:42] Yeah.
[43:42] So, um, you know, to hand over a dollar, um, you do everything you can to protect that dollar's future.
[43:49] And capitalise on it.
[43:50] Yeah.
[43:51] Yeah.
[43:52] Okay.
[43:53] Well, your results are wild.
[43:55] You should be super bloody proud.
[43:57] You should be really bloody proud.
[44:00] It's a phenomenal turnaround.
[44:03] And it's something that shouldn't be taken lightly because it's not like you've gone, oh, we're sort of half in and I'm still going to spend a bit this month and I'm not this month.
[44:13] You've just drawn a line in the sand.
[44:16] You've committed and you've smashed 140 grand off the line in 10 months.
[44:20] Mm-hmm.
[44:21] Amazing, huh?
[44:21] So you reckon this last 40,000 is going to be gone in?
[44:26] I'm going to, through hell or high water, it's going to be gone definitely by January.
[44:31] Just arc, huh?
[44:32] I was going to say, because Chrissy Party's 29th of November.
[44:36] Yeah.
[44:36] No, I don't think we can do that.
[44:38] Let's see what we do.
[44:40] Shall never say never.
[44:41] Never say never.
[44:42] Okay.
[44:44] We can go back through our handbags and see.
[44:46] You can move some.
[44:47] Like a couple on Facebook Marketplace or eBay.
[44:49] Yeah.
[44:50] Okay.
[44:50] You got your outfit sorted yet for the Christmas?
[44:53] We have.
[44:53] We have.
[44:54] Yeah.
[44:54] For Hotella.
[44:55] We're ready.
[44:56] Are you wearing nipple tussles?
[44:59] Uh, no.
[45:00] Oh, okay.
[45:00] Huh?
[45:03] I need some infinity ones.
[45:04] Yeah, I don't know about this festival vibe thing that we've come up with.
[45:07] I'm like, oh, I'm going to wear a potato sack.
[45:10] It's actually a lot easier than what I thought.
[45:12] It was.
[45:13] Really?
[45:13] Yeah, yeah.
[45:14] And we've been listening to our Cyril and learning the words.
[45:18] We've been listening to Scribe.
[45:19] Yeah.
[45:20] Yeah.
[45:20] We knew Scribe before.
[45:21] Okay.
[45:22] Yeah.
[45:22] Everyone knows Scribe.
[45:24] Yeah.
[45:25] So, yeah.
[45:26] So that's a singer love.
[45:27] Yeah.
[45:27] And Sav.
[45:27] And Joel.
[45:28] I've just listened to, what's the name?
[45:30] Cyril.
[45:30] Cyril.
[45:31] Yeah.
[45:31] Very impressed.
[45:32] Cyril blowing up at the moment.
[45:33] It's all, it's a lot I call a lot of old school remix stuff where.
[45:37] Proper music.
[45:37] Yeah.
[45:38] You know the song, you know the words, but it's got that new remix and beat to it.
[45:43] And that's big for Christy because she's like still in the air supply era.
[45:47] So for her to start listening to Cyril.
[45:49] There's a reason that I picked Cyril because I'm like, I know all the words to all of these songs.
[45:54] I like these songs.
[45:54] I can sing along to them, but they're cool and funky.
[45:57] Yeah.
[45:58] We're hip again.
[45:59] Yeah.
[45:59] I feel cool.
[46:00] Almost.
[46:01] Well, guys, I should be super proud of your results and efforts.
[46:04] And I appreciate you so, so much for sharing.
[46:06] Hopefully someone listening to this at home connects and is like, well, we could draw a line in the sand.
[46:11] We could go from spending everything to actually smashing our mortgage.
[46:14] So I really appreciate your sharing.
[46:16] But before we wrap up, what do you want to ask me?
[46:18] What do you want to pick my brain on?
[46:28] I was hoping there was some sort of AI sheet maybe that, so we create our own Excel spreadsheets.
[46:34] They keep track of everything per property.
[46:36] Yep.
[46:37] And that it'd be good to drag, and there may be something here to drag that invoice across and just tick pay a day and that.
[46:44] And then it's easy to pull down for your tax person, no matter which tax person we're using for our investment properties.
[46:51] They seem to all want it in the same format.
[46:52] Yep.
[46:54] I thought that would be good if we had one universal app or something that we could all use.
[47:00] We used to in the old client portal.
[47:02] Yep.
[47:03] So everything used to feed from the property manager into the client portal and we could give the accountant access to it.
[47:11] Um, but just with tech and cyber and all these things these days, it got super, super messy.
[47:16] So we just stopped it.
[47:17] But you typically with your property, you'll get an end of your financial year statement that lists every single transaction on it.
[47:24] Yeah.
[47:24] Yeah.
[47:25] So one document does the whole property in and outflow.
[47:28] Yeah.
[47:28] Then your rates notice, your insurance and your loans, the end of financial year loan statement.
[47:33] So it's actually pretty simple.
[47:35] You're right.
[47:36] We had a messy background because it was a changeover to just starting with Infinity and the new tax agents and that.
[47:44] Once you get it down the road, it's pretty simple.
[47:48] You've got your financial year statement for the property manager.
[47:51] You've got your loan financial year statement with all your interest on it, which the accountant will go through.
[47:56] And then you have any other expenses that aren't on those two statements, i.e.
[48:02] council rates, insurance.
[48:04] So there's two or three bills.
[48:06] When you actually distill it down, it's super, super simple.
[48:10] And even for me, I've got millions of properties where you just run a particular inbox for that.
[48:16] So everything's digital for us.
[48:18] It all goes where it needs to be.
[48:19] We just give it all to the accountant.
[48:21] It's pretty straightforward, but.
[48:22] It should be pretty simple, but the team can, the RMs and that can manage that for you.
[48:26] Yeah.
[48:27] Then one other thing that's popped up with the account and the PAYG tax withholding.
[48:33] Yeah.
[48:33] You know, the adjustment and that.
[48:34] Yeah.
[48:35] So it wasn't accepted.
[48:37] Yeah.
[48:37] It wasn't easy.
[48:38] And he said, look, not everyone does.
[48:40] We'll try it next year once you've got a second property.
[48:42] Yeah.
[48:44] That kind of like, because we have our strategy and then we sort of bank on.
[48:48] Yeah.
[48:48] Yeah.
[48:49] What should happen?
[48:50] Yeah, there's got to be enough benefit and a cost-benefit analysis.
[48:53] Okay.
[48:54] And depending on when you're lodging it in the financial year when they accept them, I don't know if there's a backlog right now with the ATO, to be honest, where some of them are just saying no because they're so backlogged on it.
[49:04] Okay.
[49:04] Because people are wising up to cost of living, deductions.
[49:07] Hey, it's my money.
[49:08] Why wait till the end of the year?
[49:10] Yeah.
[49:10] So if, for example, you get 10 grand at the end of the year, 200 bucks a week, you don't want to claim 10 grand in the variation.
[49:19] You probably want to claim seven.
[49:21] Yeah.
[49:21] If that makes sense.
[49:22] Yeah.
[49:23] And leave a buffer of three.
[49:24] And typically that will get approved pretty comfortably.
[49:27] Okay.
[49:28] Right.
[49:28] But if you go and ask for the whole 10 and the whole thing, they'll be like, oh, it could be a bit.
[49:33] And they're a bit funny about it, but there shouldn't be really any reason why it's declined unless they just got a backlog.
[49:38] They're being lazy.
[49:40] It was only tentative for eight weeks.
[49:42] Ah, that's, yeah.
[49:43] So, you know.
[49:45] And usually they're only done on a particular date each year as well.
[49:48] You usually lodge them in the same cycle.
[49:50] Okay.
[49:51] Yeah, which I can't remember if it's, it's not, it's not in line with the June, July.
[49:54] I think it's April or something.
[49:55] There's a particular timeframe for it.
[49:56] Okay.
[49:57] Well, next year it'll be three, so three properties.
[50:00] So that will flow, no problem.
[50:02] Yeah.
[50:03] And that'll help with cash flow.
[50:04] Yeah.
[50:05] Yeah.
[50:05] You have a question for John?
[50:07] No, I'm all good.
[50:07] Thank you.
[50:08] No question.
[50:08] You guys should be bloody proud of yourselves.
[50:11] Yeah.
[50:11] I don't think you realise what you're a team here.
[50:14] Yeah.
[50:14] Do you realise?
[50:15] No, not really.
[50:16] I think just- Want more?
[50:18] Want to do more.
[50:18] Because it's so, everything online these days, it's, yeah.
[50:22] I think you should take some time to either do something with your daughter for a night or a weekend or go away for a weekend together because you have the capacity.
[50:32] Yeah.
[50:33] Just take some time to sit there with the coffee in the morning at the holiday home by the beach somewhere in an air and just really take stock of what you've achieved.
[50:41] Because what you've achieved is the equivalent of 10 years of mortgage reduction for the average customer.
[50:47] Yeah.
[50:48] The average mortgage holder, not our customer.
[50:51] So you've done 10 years results in 10 months.
[50:54] Yeah.
[50:55] Really?
[50:56] That's insane.
[50:58] All right.
[50:58] So I'd suggest you reward yourself.
[51:02] Have a little weekend away or something.
[51:04] Cool.
[51:05] Do something together as a family because it is really, really important to take stock and be like, shoot, we worked hard for that.
[51:11] Yeah.
[51:11] We worked really hard and we deserve it.
[51:13] And then maybe go, cool, all right, well, what's next?
[51:15] We'll then plan that holiday.
[51:17] Yeah.
[51:18] Got the snow together.
[51:19] Yeah.
[51:19] Plan America together because the quicker you plan it, the cheaper the flights.
[51:23] I think I was right.
[51:24] Yeah.
[51:24] You want to get that locked in now anyway, but make sure you keep putting those little rewards in there along the way.
[51:31] Yeah.
[51:32] And yeah, we'll just keep adding to the portfolio as you want to, as it's appropriate.
[51:36] Yeah.
[51:37] Well done, guys.
[51:38] Thank you.
[51:38] Thank you very much.
[51:39] Congratulations.
[51:40] Excellent.
[51:40] Thank you.
[51:40] Cheers.
[51:41] Cheers.
[51:42] You're fucking gone.
[51:43] See ya.

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