Source: Anastasia Barbuzzi
On this week’s Let’s Talk About… episode, Elise sits down with Anastasia Barbuzzi.
Anastasia Barbuzzi is a journalist and the creator/host of the podcast $HMONEY Radio. The idea for the podcast was born from Anastasia’s experience with a financial spiral that came after a life-threatening car accident. The incident put her in a position where she had to ask for financial support, and during that period, she began to wonder why it was so hard to ask. Why we pride ourselves on our financial status and more? The podcast, diverse range of high-profile guests has various backgrounds from traditional banking to beauty industry entrepreneurship.
Elise and Anastasia talk about her career, budgeting in tough times, and top tips from $hmoney.
“Especially when you’re in your twenties or thirties, you’re most likely going to be working full time and you want your revenue or income streams, at that stage, to be things that you don’t have to work hard for, You want them to be working for you.” Anastasia tells Elise on Let’s Talk About.
Check out the transcript below.
[00:00:00] Elise: Hi everyone and welcome. This week let’s talk about financial independence with Anastasia Barbuzzi of Shmoney. Shmoney is a media platform, digital network, community and podcast called Shmoney Radio. The idea for the podcast was born from Anastasia’s experience with a financial spiral that came after a life threatening car accident.
The incident put her in a position where to, she had to ask for financial support, and during that period, she began to wonder why it was so hard to ask for. Why we pride ourselves on our financial status and more. The podcast, diverse range of high profile guests has various backgrounds from traditional banking to beauty industry entrepreneurship.
They have collaborated with financial industry leaders such as well Simple and Nerd Wallet. And in 2021, Shmoney landed its first partnership with Montreal based FinTech Hard Bacon to help the company appeal to female millennial a. Hi Anastasia.
[00:00:56] Anastasia: Hi! It’s so nice to be here.
[00:00:58] Elise: It’s so nice to have you here.
So a little bit of background for everyone else listening. Anastasia actually used to work with us at Style Canada and she started this, I think when you were still on the team, right? Like it was kind of a ran a little around that time anyway, so. I was a guest on your podcast, excited to have you as a guest on our podcast here, and to really dive a little more into, you know, I know your story, but sharing with other people some of your background story of how this came to be.
And then as a, you know, young millennial woman, I know you’ve had a lot of life events that require some financial literacy and independence, and so kind of sharing your take on that, you’ve also had some wonderful. Um, and so I’m sure become quite a sponge for all this knowledge that you absorb. So lots to talk about today.
[00:01:51] Anastasia: Yes, lots to talk about. And thank you for having me here. Yeah, I’m really excited.
[00:01:55] Elise: Yeah. , I know it feels like we just spent like 20 minutes catching up as friends. So now we’ll get into, now we’ll get into the kind of meat of things here. So we do wanna keep note that, you know, you’re speaking about. As someone who’s had many conversations on this topic, you’re not necessarily the expert yourself, but in many ways, I think, you know, we kind of become experts in areas that maybe we didn’t know that we, that’s how the journey would take us.
Um, so in some ways, maybe not, you know, uh, a financial literacy, uh, guru that’s gone to school for this sort of thing, but definitely obtained a lot of knowledge in some of your conversations. Go ahead.
[00:02:36] Anastasia: Yeah, so, um, I do like to make that distinction between the fact that I am not a personal finance expert.
I’m not the expert on money. Rather, I’m a journalist who really took interest in this, subject because of certain events that happened in my life. And I am more person who like likes to do the dirty work for my audience and whatever topics that come up that we’re interested in, I go and find the perfect people to talk to.
So, yeah, I just like to make that distinction because whatever you know, I may say has been informed by what experts have told me I am. Definitely not the expert. I’m still learning every day, so .
[00:03:17] Elise: Yeah. But sometimes I think, and this is why we wanted you on, is number one, I think you can kind of give us high level of all your learnings versus, So I see this episode as here are all of the things, you know, we’re not just focusing on mortgages or budgeting or any one of those things.
We’re kind of like, what are, what’s the top level of, of the things that you’ve learned are the most interesting things that you’ve learned? To receive information, like things on financial, financial independence, financial literacy, sometimes. Your financial expert can talk at maybe a different level than the average person is speaking to.
And so I know, like I’ve gotten allotted of talking from friends that maybe have learned things. So I, I’m happy to have you on today because I think you can bring that, like, approachable way of talking to us about finance. Um, and yeah, it’s, it’s a little bit of a daunting subject. So why don’t we start though, first with your backstory.
I know I mentioned a little bit of in your bio, but how you got here today and on this subject.
[00:04:16] Anastasia: Right. So, um, like you said, I started, um, creating Shmoney the platform that it is when I was still working with Style Canada, and at the time I was doing a lot of just freelance work as a journalist. But this idea for the podcast and for the, you know, starting the, the platform itself really came from an incident that occurred when I was, I think I had just turned 21. And I was living in Toronto. I was living by myself, working multiple jobs. I was a full-time student, you know, as a lot of full-time students have to do now because just the cost of living, especially in a city like Toronto is astronomical. But nonetheless, it was where I wanted to be.
Um, and I was in journalism school. Ryerson University, which is now Toronto Metropolitan . For people who are listening, who listening to this, and they’re probably like, What’s Ryerson? We all forgot by now. But yeah, so, basically I was, you know, just like on the grind. Going through school and I went on a trip to New York.
This was probably about a week before Christmas and it was 2017. So I got back from this trip and, um, immediately like got in the car to head down to Windsor to visit my family, and spend the holidays with them. And I was actually getting in the car with, my sister’s boyfriend at the time. We had just so happened to like be traveling at the same time.
He was like, You can just hop in the car with me and we’ll go down together. So worked out perfectly cuz I didn’t have a car at this time either. on our way home, unfortunately it, we were involved in a, 12 car pile up on the 4 0 1 and, Like mysteriously, I mean, we still don’t know how this accident happened and I was the only one critically injured in this car accident.
I was airlifted from the scene and basically spent quite a bit of time in the hospital. Went through a number of like different surgeries and you know, it really took me like a couple years to get back on my feet fully. And this whole kind of incident also prompted me to eventually move back home.
I was done school and it just felt like, you know, after all of that, you kind of need a little bit of a break. Mm-hmm. , So, yeah, needless to say, I went through some health trials, definitely some mental health trials going through this whole thing. And a lot of that, quite honestly, was due to, financial stress.
All of a sudden I went from being this young girl who was always like, Grinding it out and working at least like two to three restaurant and bar gigs on top of, you know, whatever other part-time job I had at the time. And when all of a sudden you have this like constant flow of money coming in and it just completely stops, it’s really hard to know what to do and it’s really hard
to know how to ask for help because I think from a young age, I had been able to support myself. I mean, I, I’m very grateful to say that I had help, you know, paying for school and everything from my parents, but, To like sustain me every day and to live on my own. I had to come up with that somehow, you know?
So I think I took a lot of pride in that from a really young age. And all of a sudden when I had no source of income and I was physically incapable of moving, it was like, it was, it was like a panic for me, and it was really, really hard to come to that point. Knowing how to ask for assistance, especially financially.
So though all those thoughts kind of led me to this whole idea of shmoney and like why, first of all, why I didn’t have a lot of resources or knowledge about how to get out of my. Negative financial situation at that point. Why don’t we talk about these things? Why do I feel so pressured and anxious about asking for help or needing help?
Like why is this so still taboo? And I feel like saying it’s taboos a little cliche cuz you know, now we’re starting to have these talk or these conversations about money. But it’s still very much a thing that, especially as women, we do not. Discuss. So, um, yeah, that’s kind of how it all started. And I’m a bit of a perfectionist , so it took me a couple of years actually to like really come up with this whole concept and how I wanted it to look and how I wanted it to sound.
And I started the podcast in I think it was January 1st, 2021 that I published my first, episode. And here we are, almost two years later, and, I think we just talked about this before we started recording, but this week will be my 84th episode. so yeah. podcast is a big commitment.
Yeah, I will say that. .
[00:09:49] Elise: Yeah, but that’s, that’s how it happens. Congratulations on 84. It is a lot of work and so you do have to be very passionate about it. But I think, you know, clearly your passion came from being in that situation, right? And being confronted with it.
Like I think in life we’re confronted with these situations so that we can maybe, Some, Well, you hope something can come out of it that can maybe like make a little bit of a difference. Right. And, and for you, that happens to be like the financial piece of it. And, and I think that’s awesome because simultaneously when you were talking about this with me and we, I was always just at the same point in time, like, why aren’t we having these conversation as women?
Because I think I had maybe like just. Something big financial had just happened to me and that I, I feel like maybe it was like I just bought a house or there was something that had happened where I was like, No one’s talking about this. No one’s like breaking it down. And, you know, I know what you’re saying, that it’s become a little less taboo, but like, it hasn’t also, like, I feel like there’s still conversations that I’m having with girlfriends where like, no one’s, everyone’s thinking so like, discreet about their salaries or like discreet about how much they have saved.
I think sometimes when I talk about it, because I’m trying to like break down a little bit of those barriers, I’m like pretty upfront. I think sometimes it could co come off. Why is she telling us that? Like is it like a bragging thing? Is it like this, that thing? And in reality it’s just like, no, can we just have this conversation?
Cause for me, it comes from a point of almost wanting to know too, am I okay? Like, am I at the level I should be? Right? Like we’re all just trying to gather information when it comes to money to understand like, are we okay? You know, because it’s such a basic need of it. At least that’s maybe for me, but can you talk a little bit about.
What you found in that stigma, whether it’s through your personal relationships or maybe even with guests that you’ve had on mm-hmm. and what that looks
[00:11:56] Anastasia: like. Yeah, absolutely. And I think like you made some really good points there, which I definitely wanna comment on. But I think like I’m guilty of contributing to this stigma about money in the past because I think a lot of us grow up with this.
Mindset that, um, for example, I have, um, a parent that’s an immigrant who came to Canada with, you know, not a lot. Um, I have another parent who actually came up pretty like affluent. And I think we, these conversations about money, especially my parents’ generation, were very like stigmatized from the beginning.
Like you don’t talk about that with your parents. It’s all very like high level, top secret. And I think as a kid you kind of just observe your like familial so situation and you make guesses about what is happening with money. Like you don’t actually know because I think. My parents’ generation. Your parents’ generation.
I know your family’s Italian, so this is a big thing with Italians too, but like, it’s like it’s a pride point for them to just be able to provide at a certain level, right? Like it, they don’t want you to worry or know about any of that. So, um, like I think I grew up. With that and, um, contributed to that stigma, like subconsciously, like I, I thought, I used to think it was, you know, a little bit like showy to talk about money or it sounded like you were bragging like as a kid.
And then, you know, I also came up in this like, industry that’s very like competitive and independent work and you really have to like vouch for yourself financially. But it also, like our industry makes it even kind of harder to know or talk about money in general because it is so competitive. And I think that that goes for a lot of other industries that people are in.
But I think what another thing I’ve learned besides like, you know, these mindsets that we grow up with is that, The majority, I think of what the money conversation has been focused on, especially for women, has been on like career advancement and um, like entrepreneurship and that whole conversation is like very popular right now when in reality there is a huge difference between.
Like having conversations about just basic financial literacy and actually knowing what you’re doing with your money and. You know, you advancing your salary or increasing your salary. Like there’s a very hard line between like, you know, these like bigger ideas and just knowing what to do to get by every day, or like knowing and learning how to be financially independent.
Mm-hmm. and in my experience, especially with this podcast, I think to. Start these conversations and start having deeper conversations about this. It’s like we have to get to the root. Like we can’t just look at these very like top level things, you know, like, like how do we get from zero to a hundred kind of thing, right?
Like from the very basics of like budgeting to knowing how to like read your pay stub and knowing that. You should always have your own checking account. Like those are the root things that we need to talk about and make them appealing in some way. And that’s what I hope Shmoney can do and that’s what it’s proven to do.
Like these bigger ideas are obviously important to talk to talk about too, but. How are we ever gonna be successful at that like higher level of understanding, you know, your personal finances when the very basics are like what it’s rooted in, right? Mm-hmm. . So I would say that’s like, I hope that answers your question, but that’s No, it
[00:16:00] Elise: does.
Yeah, it does. And I think it’s just as you’re talking, I have so many thoughts going through my head because I think you’re, you’re right. I love that you said that early mindset. Um, and I think my parents weren’t immigrants, but my grandparents were. So I think that was like instilled in my parents and trickled down.
Right? So I relate to you on that. And then I also think it’s really interesting. You’re right, we’re always talking about. When we talk about women in finance, it has to do with salary and climbing the ladder, but like there’s lessons for women in their twenties just starting out that don’t necessarily have to do with career, right?
That just have to do with those basics that, that you mention. And so I kind of have two questions, so I’ll go to. The first one in that, and let’s keep going on the mindset idea. Cause I think when you talk about the starting point, it’s really that, and I, I, part of me wishes my sister was on this one too, cause she talks about it so great in terms of like how my dad drilled into us a, a certain mindset about money.
Um, but I’d love to start with how did you break out of that mindset? Um, because, and I’ll say, I’ll share my, my mindset was like, you know, This is the money coming in, this is the money going out. Like there’s only so much coming in. Like that’s how it was explained to me as a child. And so, you know, even though we had a nice, we had a very nice life, um, it was still that immigrant mentality.
And so you always kind of like, I don’t know if it was your scared of money or you like tried to like hold onto it really tightly. I’m not sure what it was, but I’d love for you to talk about how you broke out of that mindset that was instilled in you.
[00:17:36] Anastasia: Right. Yeah. I think
[00:17:38] Elise: honestly, unless you did, Cause it’s probably a work in progress, right?
[00:17:41] Anastasia: Yeah, a hundred percent. Like I still feel like a little cagey about some like topics when it comes to money and it’s all just, yeah, it is a process of getting over it. But I would say, Two things, honestly, like I think my mindset and my approach to even talking about personal finance really changed with starting this podcast.
I think a lot of our like. Good money advice or like, you know, sharing ways we’ve been successful. Like, we tend to hold those things like close to our chest and we tend to hold those like details, those like very minor details, let’s say, you know, like, I don’t know how much we put aside in, in a week or how much we make in a week.
Like we all hold those things very close to our chest. It’s very like much a pride point, but a very much an insecurity as well for a lot of people. To share that, especially with like their, you know, like close friends and family. But just starting to talk about it and being open to talking about it is one thing that really changed my mindset.
Cuz like once it’s out there and you’re talking about it, it really becomes less of like a. Like scary thing. Like why is this so hard to talk about? It shouldn’t be. It’s literally everyday things. Money is an everyday thing that we deal with from like the $2, I don’t know, bottle of water that you picked up the at the convenience store to like, I don’t know, going to cash your check at the end of the day.
Like it is something that we use and have to deal with every day. So like why should it be this? Secret subject, you know? Mm-hmm. . So that’s one thing. And then I would say through like some of my podcast guests and you know, just getting more involved in this world, this is a little bit of like a flight year idea.
Um, but it just really makes sense. Is adopting like an abundance mindset rather than a lack based mindset. Because I think especially, I’m sure if anyone is listening and they come from a family who has, you know, immigrated who maybe didn’t come from a lot, um, we tend to like automatically absorb or come up with these lack based mindsets where we think there’s never going to be enough.
Like we constantly have to save, save, save. Ho ho hoard. We think, you know, we’re without, when, if you tend to like, flip that on its head and start to think about like maybe the ways you spend money on things you value or, um, things that you’re already grateful for that, you know, maybe don’t cost you a thing or maybe cost you a little bit, but like, You, you could see that you have so much instead of like always being in this state of mind, that’s like coming from a place of lack, right?
Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . So I think that’s something that’s also really changed my mindset and my ideas about money because instead of looking at things through, you know, this perspective that. Uh, I’ll, I constantly have, have more. You’ll never be satisfied. Yeah. You know, so those are, I would say two things that have really like, changed my mindset.
[00:21:08] Elise: I love that you touched on that cuz even when I think of like the big financial decisions I’ve made we’re almost probably not there either. The uni the universe brought them into to me in a certain way, like they’re probably not decisions I would’ve. Logically made, if that makes sense. But because I just had my mind almost told, like I told myself I can do this or I had that.
I dunno if it was an abundance mentality necessarily, but I kind of like that visualized, materialized mentality. Anyway, they actually came to fruition and. Came out, you know, down the road looking back, some of them, you know, five, six years. I’m like, Oh, that was really smart. Mm-hmm. . And like, I didn’t really know it at the time, but had I approached it from a scarcity mindset, I would’ve never done it.
Right? Like, I would’ve never made those moves, but, Whatever it was. So that’s, I, I love that you touched on that. I feel like that’s a really kind of important thing. Not that it’s just all about your mindset, but like it can, it can help for sure. Mm-hmm. , and you talked a little bit, and we kind of touched on this idea of, you know, when you’re in school, actually no one talks to you about personal finances, which I, and I don’t know if that’s changed in the curriculum, but at least when I went through school, no one talked about it.
Don’t think it’s changed, but hopefully it, hopefully it’s changing for the better. But what is some of. You know, basic points for someone starting out in their twenties, right? Cause usually probably your finished school, um, you’re in your first career on your own and you’re really budgeting for yourself.
Um, what are some of those like, Best practices you think one should implement when they’re kind of transitioning from student to, to worker, I guess, or to, to providing for themselves anyway? Not to say that. I’m sure some people are also doing that during school, you know, in going to school. I know I worked during school, um, so I don’t know if you wanna take a step back to that and talk about budgeting.
You know, going through that process or going into your twenties, I’ll let you decide if you think they’re kind of similar or there’s different things to focus on in each of those situations.
[00:23:17] Anastasia: Right. Yeah, no, I, When I get there, I feel like I’ll be able to decide which way I’m gonna take it. But I just wanna preface this by saying, just as a reminder, again, I am not your like financial expert or like mba.
I am just, this is coming from what I’ve learned from other people and other methods, and I just think like, moving into your question, Um, it is also really important to acknowledge the fact that like, yes, like a lot of us were not taught very practical personal finance things in school. Like in high school I was like, we were like focusing on like, okay, like create your own company and do this and that.
And while all that’s very valuable, like, it’s like we weren’t being taught how to like, you know, maybe do, do our taxes a budget spreadsheet or do our taxes, right? Mm-hmm. again, like while saying, Like, Sure. We probably, most of us weren’t taught a lot about this, but I have had this conversation with my fiance who is a high school teacher and he’s taught business courses and everything.
And when I started money and we started discussing this very topic, he would like, he, he really made me realize like, okay, business teachers, for example, They’re not personal finance experts either. Mm-hmm. . So there’s this expectation that I think we have that. We should be learning about these things in, you know, like a business course or whatever we may take in high school or, sure, it would be great if there was a personal finance course in high school.
Um, but they’re not exactly like qualified to to that. Right. And. Some of them might not even be in like a great financial situation themselves. Mm-hmm. so they, you know, we might catch snippets here and there, but I think it’s important for us to just like manage our expectation in that way. And I’m not just being like protective over my husband cuz he is a teacher, but like , they’re, they are not like your financial advisor.
Right? So we have this expectation, but I really do think, yes, it would be great to have like a personal finance teaching in. High school. Right? Or And what
[00:25:30] Elise: I was, what? I was kind of thinking of that, Cause you touched on this whole, like the school does teach entrepreneurship. There was this program that I was a part of anyway that was called like Junior Achievement.
And they would go into grade six and they would teach kids about starting their own business. And I wonder like where is the like financial advisor? Whether it’s a bank, whatever it is that goes in and kind of had, it was a separate program from school, but like kind of goes in and starts to have some of these conversations.
Anyway, that’s probably a conversation for another day. Yes. But like I do, I do feel like there could be like a little more commingling of that. Um, but yeah. Is there, is there, you know, when you’re in those, let’s call it like you’re 18. Mid twenties. Right. What are some of the things that you’ve learned from your guests are good, like best practices to kind of put into play?
[00:26:19] Anastasia: Yeah, so, um, there’s quite a few I would say. Um, this is something I’ve kind of learned from guests, but also just from my personal experience. I think that when you’re young, Like young enough to be in, you know, starting university after high school or whatever. Um, don’t limit yourself to like potential job opportunities, because I think traditionally a lot of us go into, you know, like you get your first job and fast food or whatever, but like, think outside the box a little bit and think of careers or I guess, you know, like first jobs that you may be able to.
Provide for yourself more with, or earn more with, Right. Like I was, I feel like I’m pretty fortunate to say this, but um, and many of my guests were too, but like I started, um, working in a restaurant rather than like a McDonald’s. And not that you can’t like, you know, do well at McDonald’s. Um, you make tips when you work at a restaurant, right?
And there’s all these little things that you can kind of think about that like, okay, this could really add to my income and it could help me out. Having that cash on hand, you know, is like amazing when you’re in university and you’re running a class cause you’re hung over from the night before and you need a coffee desperately, and you can just pay with that with cash, you know?
Mm. You don’t have to worry about like, Oh, I’m missing my rent by five bucks. Like, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. So little things like that. I think like, those are just great starting points. Um, being able to like assess monthly, First of all, a budget is a budget is, yeah. It can be boring and it can be a little intimidating to like figure out, but even just writing down like in a spare notebook what you’re spending.
Weekly or after, you know, you buy that coffee, write the expense down and add that up at the end of the week or the end of the month, and just be able to assess like exactly how much you’re spending in relation to how much you’re making. Because if there’s. A negative number there, then maybe it’s time to reconsider some of your weekly habits.
Or maybe you just need to make a little more money, which I know can like be hard, a whole other tasks in in itself. But just being able to look at those numbers is like, Key.
[00:29:01] Elise: Um, and I was, I wanted, Can I interrupt you for one second? Cause there’s one app that I use and I actually, I don’t know if it was US based or Canadian based, but, Cause I was living in US at the time, but I think it was called I’m just, I just Googled it, clap it all I believe, and it round rounded up to what Have you heard of that?
I haven’t Q A P I T A L I believe that’s which one I was using, but, and I don’t, I, this is not endorsement for them. I don’t even know if it still exists right now. But what I liked about it is it did just that it, it like kind of put my expenses, I think it like connected my. Maybe my debit or my credit card to my savings account and my bank and it.
So I saw what I was spending, but it also would like round up to the next dollar and whatever it would round up, it would put into like a savings account. And that’s how I, I was actually able to save quite a bit of money from just doing that. But I think just the. What you’re kind of talking about too is just the visibility Yeah.
Of looking at your money, right? Mm-hmm. , like I know I try to each morning just kind of like go on to my banks, take a look at where I am, not cuz I need to action anything, but just be like, Okay, this is what mentally has gone out. This is what I have to pay, this is what’s coming in. Like just kind of having that touch point almost like I would say maybe even every other day for me, just puts money.
I’m, I’m aware of how I’m spending it, if nothing else.
[00:30:31] Anastasia: Right? Yeah, no. Being able to visualize that is definitely key because you, you know, like technically okay, you don’t, especially if you only have like a checkings account and you’re not checking it every day, like you really have no idea unless you’re adding it up.
Like, how much did I spend, How much is coming in? Like you need a visualization. Mm-hmm. you, you really do. Um,
[00:30:57] Elise: and I wasn’t good at writing it down, so for me, just like checking my bank account was like my check-in. So for people that are maybe not disciplined, cuz I wasn’t at like keeping track of it that way.
It was a good way for me to be like, whoa, you need to like pull back kind of thing. Right. Or, you know, you, you’re okay. You can get this. Yeah.
[00:31:15] Anastasia: And I would say that’s a great tip as well. Like if, you know you’re not gonna be disciplined with like writing out your expenses or, um, You know, putting them into a spreadsheet at the end of the month, there’s a lot of like free budget templates out there now that you can literally just download in like a Google sheet and fill it in.
Mm-hmm. , you don’t have to do any of the work setting it up. Um, if you’re not gonna be disciplined with that, you can. Like, just make sure you take a look at your, your online banking app every day and go, Okay, this is how much is in my account. And look at your expenses and like, okay, maybe it’s you don’t buy lunch that day.
You know, like it’s that simple. Right. Um, I think just two other quick things. Uh, saving obviously that can be hard when maybe, you know, you’re not making a lot of money, especially if you’re a student, but, Even if it’s like $50 a week that you’re putting in an account that you can get at, it really is like, Key to being able to not only maybe have a little bit of money to play with like later on in life, but also have in emergency.
Because just personally, I was in a situation where I did have a little money saved when I was in that car accident, but that, like, I went through that like that with like a month’s worth of expenses. And then now what? You know now what do you do? And you’re in a situation where you may need. Borrow, borrow money or ask for help.
So having that like slush fund or just like savings is really important. Um, and I think one of my podcast guests would tell you that. And then one thing that I learned personally, um, especially in my university years, and one thing that anyone on Shmoney radio will tell you too is to not be afraid of credit.
[00:33:18] Elise: Um, I was hoping you were gonna save credit. Yeah. Yes.
[00:33:21] Anastasia: So I was one of like those people who, like, I was always very careful with watching my money. I always liked to save as a kid, like leading up to that accident. I had always been what I thought was pretty good with money. Right. Um, and I was terrified at the same time of the risk of like taking on a credit card and potentially owing money to someone.
But the earlier that you can start building your own credit, the better. I mean, just like. As, as an example, uh, my fiance and I are quite a bit apart in, in age. Um, and like we were able to buy a house together and because I had, you know, good credit, I was able to like, contribute, you know, being that I’m almost like 11 years younger than he is.
So just in our situation, like right there, that’s an example of being able to just show that you’re good. to pay things back if you may need to, right? Mm-hmm. , And again, in an emergency situation, having a credit card is a very good thing to have. That way, you know, as long as you’re paying it back regularly, whatever you owe, you’re not having to borrow from someone else.
You’re not having anything like hanging over your head that way. You just have like a backup, you know? Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . And now I’m someone who like, you know, A lot of things go on a credit card, even like a simple like grocery purchase and you pay it off and you don’t have to worry about it. It would be like using your checking account, but you just gotta make sure you’re good to pay it off beforehand, Right?
Like Right. Able to build that good credit and getting in the practice of paying things off is like also super important. Mm-hmm. , those are some things that I would. The four things I would recommend to anyone who’s like younger in school just to start doing
[00:35:22] Elise: mm-hmm. . And I think I’m, I’m happy that you touched on all of those.
Credit was the one that came to mind for me personally, cuz I found myself in a similar situation in that. I was going to purchase a house and I had no credit in the US and so I had to spend like a good couple years building up that good credit score before I was gonna get loaned any money. Mm-hmm. . So the earlier you could kind of start doing that and the better credit history you have, obviously we’re talking about.
Credit in, like how to use it in the right way. Not not using it, you know, in a, in a, a way that goes above your means, but it can help you when it comes to getting those like bigger pieces like a mortgage or those bigger financial loans, like something like that. No, So I all think that’s all really great.
What you touched on for your twenties and. As you get into your thirties, I know there was something for me and then maybe you can kind of build on this, but someone who was in the world of finance I had, you know, not, it wasn’t, it was just kind of a contact through another business relationship, but had.
We had had lunch the one day and she was a really high powered executive in New York and she asked me, what are my revenue streams? And I was probably in my early thirties, maybe my, I was probably, yeah, it was probably early thirties, and I’m like, What are my revenue streams? I’m like, I have a job . And you know, I think that that was something that really changed when I think of like the most kind of important financial advice that I’ve gotten in my life.
And it wasn’t even advice, it was just a question, but that changed my mindset a lot about money and, you know, later in life made me able to like leave a corporate job and, and do things more in my career that were maybe more exploratory that I couldn’t do because. I had different revenue streams. Right.
And really what that means is like how, what are the different ways you have money coming into you? And so that could, one of those could be, you’re like full time nine to five. One of those could be a side hustle of like, for, for me it was, um, Like, I had like a little jewelry business at one point. Like the, the kind of little things.
Maybe it’s even something as simple as like babysitting. Maybe it is an owned your own business. Maybe it is a rental property that gives income. Like there, there was all these different ways that. You know, I hadn’t really thought of at the time, but I was like, Oh, that could be helpful. That could be helpful.
So that when it, you know, when I didn’t wanna be in the corporate world anymore, I was okay because had I not have had those other revenue streams set up, I would’ve never been able to make that transition. So for me, in my thirties, that was like a really important thing that came up. Have you found, through your conversations, anything in your thirties.
In that bracket of thirties or maybe even just beyond, I would imagine you start getting into like a little bit of retire, thinking about retirement, purchasing first home, any kind of pieces that have come up from conversations there.
[00:38:21] Anastasia: Yeah, I’m really glad you brought this up actually because, um, I recently did an episode, um, with my friend Rennie, who has a really great podcast and personal finance platform.
Um, she’s called re the resource on all social media, , if you wanna go find her. And she, her podcast is called How to Not Go Broke Trying. Um, and it’s really great. She’s super funny. And our episode on Money Radio together was actually called How to Not Go Broke Trying Building, Um, like different streams of income basically.
[00:38:54] Elise: Okay. Amazing to listen then to that one.
[00:38:57] Anastasia: Yeah. Yeah. It’s a really fun episode and, um, Yeah, we talk about how like from the simplest thing, like you said, in addition to like your full time job, maybe you babysit, or in re’s case she has had a ton of different, um, side little jobs or gigs, but her and her dad ran an Amazon store.
Mm-hmm. , um, You might have like investments and I think like moving, I mean, I’m 25 now and I feel like , like I think when you get like 25, when you turn 25, it’s like 30 seems like it’s like coming at you like full speed. Um, so I myself feel like the next thing, and I think moving into your thirties, what’s important to think about is.
Investments. Right? And that’s one revenue stream or income stream rather, that I think you’ve gotta do a little bit of work beforehand to be able to like invest even just a little bit of money into something. It’s important to do your research and it’s important to obviously have a little bit to like put into whatever you’re investing in.
Mm-hmm. . But I think that one is key because. Especially when you’re in your, like later twenties or thirties. And from what I’ve learned beyond, um, you’re most likely going to be working full time and you want your revenue or income streams, um, at that stage to be things that. You don’t have to work hard for, You want them to be like working for you.
Right? Right. So to be, to have registered investments, that can be like literally earning you money while you’re working. Your full-time job during the week is ideal, right? Like, you don’t have to do anything, but especially if you have like someone who is investing your money for you, which you know, you can pay someone to do that for you if you can afford that.
It all works out great, but I think that’s like, honestly, the one thing that I feel like is, according to all of my guests and my research on this topic, is what you really wanna look towards doing when you’re heading into your thirties.
[00:41:13] Elise: Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . I would second that as someone who was into their thirties.
Now that that was. And again, not an expert but personal experience, that was an absolute game changer. And I think my friends would even, you know, my friends that have maybe gone that path or or seen my path would say the same thing cuz like I wouldn’t have been able to like take those risks, had those other revenue streams, not.
Been already in place. Um, and it really, when you do get into your mid thirties, it is like, how am I making my money work for me? Not, you know, maybe grinding it out as much as I was in my early twenties. Right, Right. So there’s definitely like a shift that happens. Yeah. And then there’s, there’s one I know we’re kind of coming up to a lot of time.
We can probably talk about this forever, but there’s one other thing that I wanna chat about that I know that, um, you would’ve gone through personally. You mentioned buying a house with your fiance when it comes to, you know, merging your finances when, as a couple, right? Like what kind of learnings have come up for you, whether it’s personally or on the podcast, um, that you can maybe share with those?
Listen,
[00:42:20] Anastasia: Yeah. Um, well with this topic and the last topic on investing in particular, like, I do think it’s really important to understand that there are risks that come with any of these decisions, like if you’re choosing to merge your finances and to each their own. But if you’re choosing to merge your finances, I’m sorry,
[00:42:37] Elise: maybe I shouldn’t say mer. Maybe my question should be that they’re choosing to merge their finances, but just maybe you. Living together, you’re buying a home together or you’re moving in together. Yeah. And how, like, how, what’s some tools to navigate that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it could be emerging, but maybe some, and you know, one could not be kind of thing, but Yeah.
[00:42:54] Anastasia: Well, I, for one, I mean, since we’re like yeah, focusing a little bit more on non completely, um, I have always, and like wanted to and have always taken pride in being able to be like financially independent for myself. If anything, God forbid, were to happen like with me and my partner or you know, anything like else, or anyone, any, anything that I was invested in, if anything were to go, go wrong, I would want to be able to support myself completely.
And I think that’s very important for every person, but especially every woman, because historically we have. Found ourselves in situations a lot of the time where, you know, maybe you do buy a home with a partner, but your name’s not. You buy a home with a partner, go quote, but your name’s not on the mortgage or anything else.
And, um, you know, one person. Might work more or one person’s name is on all the bills and you don’t really know what’s going on with the finances. And historically that’s a pattern with women, especially in like hetero relationships. We do not have a lot of power financially, and we end up. Struggling to become financially independent if things go south.
Um, so I think for me, especially when in the process of buying house with my fiance, finances all of a sudden become like the hot topic of conversation because you’re really just both focused on like. How can we achieve what we wanna achieve here and how do we work together to do that? And from the beginning of our, you know, relationship, when we became serious about getting married, I had always made it really clear and wanted to make it, make sure he understood that I was important to me, that I always had my own financial independence.
We’ll always have my own, um, you know, like checkings and savings accounts apart from what we have together. I think no matter what, the most important thing is to know that like you have your own, apart from whatever you may share with your partner, but be honest about like what you personally. as well, right?
Like I don’t have any financial secrets from my fiance. We’re both very open about our personal financial situations and we’re both very open about like what we share together. Mm-hmm. . Um, so I think that was really an important part of like being able to buy our home together. Um, I don’t know if I’m getting off track here, but remind me.
[00:45:53] Elise: No, no, no. That was great. I think that’s a great. I think at the end of the day, obviously everyone approaches things in a slightly different way. But again, as someone that is now into their thirties and you know, has seen divorce happen and things like that, I think absolutely having, you know, your own separate men and women having your own separate finances or being able to at least.
Take care of yourself. Not everything has to be separate, but take care of yourself is critical because it, it could be your make or break if something changes in your lifestyle, right? Um, and so, yeah, I don’t know if there’s anything else to add to that, but I do think that that’s, That’s probably to your point, the number one thing.
Yeah. As you kind of come together at that, you know, as you get into that stage of your life and, and yeah.
[00:46:43] Anastasia: Coming together. Question again? You were asking, like buying was just,
[00:46:48] Elise: Yeah, if there was any, like, again, best practices as a couple, you know, that are moving in together or buying a home together.
Right. If there was anything. Whether it’s you did personally or I’ve heard from guests that you felt really helped you in that process.
[00:47:05] Anastasia: So I think like three really quick points, and these just like all popped into my head when you said, just working together to get that done. Like. Number one would probably probably be coming off my last point, constantly like reevaluating your situ situation together.
So like in the negotiation process or you know, just looking at homes and seeing the prices of them, like constantly coming together and being like, Okay, like here’s what we have, here’s what we maybe wanna save before we like, go ahead and make an offer. Constantly being in conversation about that I think is key.
Um, I would say do, doing your research together is really important. And obviously, you know, doing that separately is important too. But making sure you’re discussing like whatever you’re reading, whether it be like tips and tricks on how to get the best, like mortgage rate or how to negotiate with someone.
I think like being able to like, share those things with each other and discuss them. But most importantly, above all, doing your research before you step into doing anything like buying a house is um, another key tip and, um, My last one would be with yourself too, just in general, but in that like home buying process, being brutally honest about like what you can and can’t afford and what you want and what you don’t want, because I.
Think no one wants to be in a situation where like you are compromising, especially on something like a home, Like this is something you’re going to live in. This is something you’re going to be spending most likely your life savings on, especially if you’re, you know, my age or younger buying a home.
Mm-hmm. and, um, Just, yeah, just being completely honest and like laying it on the table. Like what, what can I actually afford here? And what do I want and what do I not want? Those would be like my other tips. Mm-hmm. .
[00:49:11] Elise: Mm-hmm. . No, that’s great. And I know on your website too, you have. A lot of awesome resources and articles, whether it’s like wedding planning or budgeting, all about, um, financial literacy.
And so do you wanna share with us just where everyone can find more on money?
[00:49:28] Anastasia: Yeah. Shmoney, you can find Shmoney almost anywhere on the internet or on social media, um, via Shmoney radio. So it is, it’s just a play on how Cardi B says sh money. I love the attitude that she gives it. Instead of saying money, she’s always says, Sh money.
So I thought it really suited it, but yeah, you can find sh money at, , At S H M O N E Y radio on basically any social media. And,, the website is sh money.club. And yeah, the podcast is available on almost any podcasting platform. So, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere really.
[00:50:12] Elise: Awesome. Awesome. And when do you release new episodes of the podcast?
It’s weekly.
[00:50:17] Anastasia: Weekly. But more recently I’ve been doing, um, like twice weekly. So on Mondays we have this series called the Homeier Habit Series, and those are more like, kind of daily like tips and tricks. They’re little bite size episodes on how to improve your financial literacy and lifestyle.
And then, um, Almost every Thursday or Friday, I have like a long form episode that is usually like an interview with, an expert on a different topic. So yeah, that’s kind of the schedule at the moment.
[00:50:49] Elise: lots of resources, which I love. Thank you so much for being here with us today and sharing some of your learnings and, and I feel like we got like the best of, is there any other, obviously yourself, but is there any other resources that you can recommend, um, to those listening when it comes to financial?
[00:51:08] Anastasia: Yes. Um, I would say all your, you know, reputable, uh, financial platforms like Nerd Wallet that just recently launched in Canada as well. Um, that’s a great resource Investipedia, Hard Bacon, which you mentioned earlier was. Sh Money’s first partner. Thank you. Hard Bacon. They are a great Canadian resource as well, and they, almost all their content and their entire website can also be translated into French, or actually it’s originally in French, so I think that’s like a great one for Canadians.
Um, and then. I love to support like all of the content creators, that, like I’ve interviewed for Money’s podcast too. So like I mentioned, Rennie is a great resource, no pun intended. And I mean, there’s just so many guests at this point, so I would recommend going to Sh Money’s website and checking that out.
[00:52:01] Elise: Yeah. And seeing what kind of topic is most valuable, I guess, or to those per that person looking. Yeah.
[00:52:08] Anastasia: And just as like a last, I guess, resource, I think. No matter what, do not be afraid to like approach your like financial advisor at a bank or someone like, you don’t even have to pay for financial advice.
I know it changed my life, especially when I was in that situation, and I think there’s someone you can trust. Um, so yeah, don’t be afraid to use them as a resource either.
[00:52:34] Elise: Awesome. Well thank you so much for sharing all that. Appreciate you being here.
[00:52:39] Anastasia: Thank you for having me.
