By Laura BennettFriday 13 Jul 2018Hope AfternoonsFinance and BusinessReading Time: 2 minutes
Two years ago journalist Emily Power admitted she was 33 and her parents were controlling her finances and giving her pocket money.
As a grown adult, you’d be forgiven for thinking that’s just downright bizarre, but after years as a journalist and fashion editor spending way too much to stay on trend, it was the only option Emily felt she had.
Wanting to get out of debt and save for a home deposit, Emily’s parents took complete control of her finances allocating the Melbourne local $200 a week to live off, using the rest of her wage for rent, utilities, bills, and saving.
Speaking with Hope 103.2’s Laura Bennett about her new book From Debt to a Deposit: How to Buy a Home, Emily says her pocket money method was “an aggressive way of saving up for a deposit, but I had stuffed up financially over the years… I overspent buying a lot of clothes, handbags, and shoes to make myself feel better. I thought if I looked good, then I would feel good about myself and others might like me more. Now I’m 35, and in retrospect I can see that was nonsense.”
Making some “enormous” lifestyle changes to stretch her allowance Emily says, “The $200 goes towards groceries, two coffees a week, $50 for entertainment – which might be a cheap meal with friends or brunch, and petrol, parking, and incidentals. I take a calculator to the supermarket and don’t spend any more than $80 a week on food.”
“… I’ve had to adjust my lifestyle in that I can’t just go out to a swish restaurant or buy concert tickets. I’ve sacrificed a lot of those things to rocket toward a deposit… but I will never go back to my old ways after this.”
Experiencing her own reality check about our need to live within our means, and adopt a mindset that realises that’s actually ok, Emily says, “You’ve got to get out of the mindset that it’s all too hard. Just make a start. A lot of people need to start seeing financial planners, talking to family or friends about money, or seeing a bank manager even before they’ve saved a dollar… Get a plan into place.”
Emily’s book ‘From Debt to a Deposit: How to Buy a Home’ is out now.