# BONUS EP - RM Kat with Garth | Series 4 Ep 39

An episode of [Money Mentor Podcast™](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632604767), 6 May 2026, 15 min.

Audio: https://episode.flightcast.com/n422l0oaijsy5kx9bed11kun.mp3

In this episode, Kat sits down with Garth to unpack his journey from managing money across 16 different accounts to creating a simple, structured system that ultimately led to becoming mortgage free. Despite earning well, money was constantly disappearing, until they realised it wasn’t income holding them back, but a lack of clarity and control. Garth shares the mindset shift that changed everything: understanding that money isn’t the problem, the way you manage it is. By simplifying their finances, combining accounts, and assigning purpose to every dollar, they were able to reduce waste, stay consistent, and build real momentum. He also highlights the power of accountability through a relationship manager, helping them stay disciplined and accelerate their debt reduction. This episode is a powerful reminder that financial freedom doesn’t come from earning more, it comes from taking control of what you already have. 👉 Watch the free webinar to start your journey: https://bit.ly/43V2jKN

## Transcript

[0:00] I didn't even like talking about money, sir, but I really didn't appreciate what budgeting was about at the time.
[0:06] Yeah, money was there.
[0:08] So, yeah, if you had a bill to pay, you'd have to wait till the money was there and then you'd pay the bill and then whatever was left over was...
[0:17] okay to spend as long as as long as the mortgage got paid and and rates got paid and um yes some weeks were i was a lot more generous to myself and than others and after joining we sort of refocused and re-understood where money was getting wasted the easiest way of putting we were just wasting far too much
[0:39] Money isn't rude of all evil, the fucking lack of it is.
[0:41] Not money, the lack of understanding money.
[0:44] When I put that into emphasis, when I realise that psychological effect and how it hit our family, I have to be in the fucking way.
[0:50] You are now watching the Money Mentor Podcast.
[0:53] With Graham Holm.
[0:54] Graham Holm.
[0:55] Graham Holm.
[0:55] Graham Holm.
[0:56] You're fucking gone.
[1:00] See ya.
[1:01] Hi, my name is Kat.
[1:02] I'm the relationship manager to Garth.
[1:03] We've been working together for about two years.
[1:06] So to kick everything all off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your family?
[1:11] So I'm married.
[1:14] I've got Gemma who couldn't be here today.
[1:17] I have a six-year-old puppy at home.
[1:20] It's really just us.
[1:22] I have an 18-year-old son from a previous family.
[1:28] relationship, but generally it's just us and whoever sort of drops by at home.
[1:35] But we're sort of a very small sort of family unit for us.
[1:43] And so can you describe what was life like financially for you?
[1:47] For us, before Infinity, we had...
[1:55] buckets of money everywhere.
[1:57] So we did, sorry, let me rephrase that.
[2:00] We didn't have buckets of money.
[2:01] We had buckets that had money everywhere.
[2:07] So we had a joint account, but I also had an investment property and obviously some financial commitments with my son around child support.
[2:21] So I also had sort of,
[2:24] my money on the side there and Gem had her money on the side there.
[2:29] And so we just sort of managed our own things and then combined with some money just to manage the day-to-day finance of our household.
[2:41] So you had multiple accounts everywhere?
[2:44] To be honest, I think when in our first financial strategy meeting, we had 16 accounts.
[2:54] Not including superannuation.
[2:56] So how do you find things now that it's a lot more streamlined?
[3:01] well, everything's ours.
[3:03] Everything's our money now.
[3:04] We don't have yours, mine, and the joint.
[3:10] Just everything's ours.
[3:12] And we never think about where the bill's getting paid from just because we know that there's enough money there to cover whatever bill's coming in that month over the next three months.
[3:25] So everything is just simple.
[3:28] We have our...
[3:30] budget um and so we know where our day-to-day sort of spending and um petrol and groceries and um and all of that's coming out of and then yeah just managing what's going across uh into paying off the investments from there just making sure that sweep's getting done but everything is simple
[3:53] Yeah.
[3:54] So describe a little bit about your FFF.
[3:59] We've had a couple of goes at Sinau Budget.
[4:04] We were certainly probably fairly generous when we, a lot more generous than we needed to be when we first joined.
[4:13] I think we were at $720 per week.
[4:14] We've...
[4:20] probably mainly due to myself like we managed to spend over that a couple of times when we first first joined but then we really sort of got control of how it works and and what we do and from there we were able to fine-tune it and i think we
[4:40] got it down to maybe there was one point there where we got it down to maybe 450 a week.
[4:48] But Doc, I was lucky enough to have a maintained company vehicle at the time.
[4:56] So there wasn't that expenses going, coming out and, and yeah, also there's a lot of other things.
[5:05] Yeah.
[5:06] that we were sort of lucky at that time that we didn't have to spend.
[5:12] So we were able to fine tune that.
[5:14] Now we've sort of come back up comfortably to 600 a week.
[5:20] Obviously fuel's a little bit more expensive now than what it was.
[5:23] But yeah, we get by fairly comfortably.
[5:27] We still have money left over most weeks to sort of splurge every now and then.
[5:35] Yeah.
[5:37] So can you describe what it's like having a relationship manager and what's it like having a team behind you?
[5:42] Having a relationship manager is like having a big stick.
[5:53] It's like having – no, it's been good.
[5:59] So I had no concept of financial discipline.
[6:06] before joining.
[6:08] Obviously had done okay, but that was just a byproduct of sort of having an okay income.
[6:17] But certainly there was weeks on end where, yeah, like I'd be, whatever was coming in was going out and we didn't have...
[6:28] didn't have those again we didn't have the um joint accounts working really well so having the financial this sorry the relationship managers is certainly a helps us keep accountable for make sure we were on track when we're going through that debt reduction process uh and then having a point of contact just being able to send a text message when we've got a question
[6:53] about something or an email, just whatever works for us.
[7:00] That side of it is just being just like an extra person on the team.
[7:05] It certainly makes it a lot easier to deal with and just makes things so much more comfortable.
[7:14] Yeah.
[7:15] And do you find that the accountability part helps you to stay focused?
[7:18] Yeah.
[7:20] Well, I've got a boss at home who goes through the transactions every couple of weeks.
[7:27] So I sort of certainly help support those endeavours to stay on top of things.
[7:36] But absolutely, it's between that and what do we, there was one point there where we're nearly talking every month there for a short period.
[7:47] period of time while we're really settling in and trying to get control of things.
[7:55] But, yeah, about every three months we really touch base and sit down and have a good meeting.
[8:02] But obviously any questions in between then are fine.
[8:06] But the accountability process has been probably the biggest thing because it's like Gem certainly doesn't like...
[8:15] Being asked questions where she feels like she's done something wrong.
[8:19] So this certainly helps avoid those.
[8:25] Yeah.
[8:25] So would you say that your habits or your mindset around money has changed since working with the relationship manager?
[8:32] Absolutely.
[8:33] Yeah.
[8:40] I didn't even like talking about money, but I really didn't appreciate what budgeting was about at the time.
[8:48] Yeah, money was there.
[8:50] So, yeah, if you had a bill to pay, you'd have to wait till the money was there and then you'd pay the bill and then whatever was left over was...
[8:59] okay to spend as long as, as long as the mortgage got paid and, and rates got paid.
[9:04] And, um, yes, some weeks were, I was a lot more generous to myself and than others.
[9:10] And, um, certainly after, um,
[9:16] After joining, we sort of refocused and re-understood where money was getting wasted.
[9:22] It's probably the easiest way of putting it.
[9:27] We were just wasting far too much.
[9:29] And we don't go without it now.
[9:34] We just re-prioritize what we need to.
[9:38] Yeah.
[9:39] And so what were some of the biggest changes you noticed after joining Infinity?
[9:44] Um, the immediate biggest change once we got our, um, finance strategy in place and the debt reduction, um, process in place was just how quickly the mortgage come down and, uh,
[10:03] just the big skips.
[10:04] I think in the first month we had paid off more than we had in the four years previously.
[10:13] And seeing that come down, it's just so motivating, just so makes you just want to keep going on with the process.
[10:22] And then you get to a point where you trust the process and,
[10:28] and you just don't question what someone might come up with or might suggest to you, even when they've seen sort of beyond what you can comprehend as being possible, you just go, yeah, okay, we'll give that a go.
[10:47] Yeah.
[10:47] We'll try that.
[10:50] And so what's it like being part of the Infinity community?
[10:54] Yeah.
[10:56] It's great.
[10:56] It's the, just seeing the feeds come through and just seeing what other people are able to achieve and other people's success keeps, well certainly keeps us motivated to keep going and keep pushing forward with, with the process.
[11:22] Obviously, I,
[11:23] We've been lucky enough to pay off our mortgage and that opens up other avenues, but you just, you kind of feel,
[11:35] so happy when you see someone else's been able to hit that goal um and you hear about those stories and it's it's really grand yeah it's awesome and then the events on top of that they're just they've only been to a couple but they're next level and um what's it like being debt-free
[12:01] what we had said before is it's certainly the, the smile that, that day that we transferred the funds and had everything, um, paid off, uh, from our, um, principal place of residence.
[12:18] And, and,
[12:19] And the smile that we had had coming up to that was big, but we carried that smile for at least a week through there.
[12:32] It was just such a relief, just not having that stress.
[12:36] It was just a bill that we didn't have to think about,
[12:42] And that's like the biggest bill that you've got.
[12:45] Yeah.
[12:46] Typically.
[12:47] And so not having to think about it was just one less thing that I have to worry about going forward.
[12:54] And if anything, we knew it would be in a safe place no matter what happens from that point forward.
[13:06] And there was a period in time too where, you know, you weren't working.
[13:13] Describe what was that like, knowing that you had paid off that bill, that mortgage.
[13:17] So what it allowed me was it,
[13:21] time to look for the right opportunity for me.
[13:27] So, yeah, obviously I was without work, but I wasn't in a rush to take whatever was available.
[13:36] I couldn't.
[13:38] And I didn't sit back and it certainly still takes time, but there was never a thought about, oh shit, how are we going to make this mortgage repayments now?
[13:49] Because beyond not having that mortgage there, you still have that salary and bills buffer.
[13:56] Absolutely.
[13:57] And, um, yeah.
[13:59] and you just, you tighten up for a few weeks, especially when you haven't got additional work expenses and outgoings to have to worry about.
[14:08] So you tighten up for a few more, a few weeks there.
[14:12] But to be honest, I think it was maybe five weeks I was out of work for.
[14:18] And I don't think at any point during that time did I ever worry about, um,
[14:24] Having to make mortgage repayments.
[14:25] Having to make a mortgage repayment or how I was going to pay bills or anything like that.
[14:30] It was just easy.
[14:32] And I was definitely grateful that we were in a position where I could afford that luxury.
[14:40] Yeah.
[14:41] Yeah.
[14:42] Well, thank you so much.
[14:43] I am so incredibly proud of you both.
[14:46] Thank you.
[14:47] Thank you very much for coming in today.
[14:48] That's awesome.
[14:49] Thanks.
[14:49] You're welcome.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.