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She became a mum straight out of Year 12. Four years later, she had her second son and was raising two boys on her own. Money was tight. Really tight. She used to keep a Word document mapping out six weeks of expenses because she needed to know exactly what was coming in and exactly what had to go out. Some weeks, once the rent was paid, there was food in the cupboard and petrol in the car, she had $20 left. So they got hot chips. They camped in the backyard. Ate breakfast on the trampoline. Had treasure hunts around the house with a bowl of lollies waiting at the end. Years later, she asked her son whether he remembered growing up feeling like they had no money. He said no. He remembered having the best childhood ever.

I think that tells you quite a lot about this Money Diarist. Today, at 44, those boys are adults and she’s in a completely different season of her financial life. She runs her own building design business, which turned over $220,000 last financial year. She’s put $50,000 into shares, has hit $200,000 in super and is preparing to buy into a home with her new partner. But she’s also trying to make up for lost time without treating the present like a waiting room for retirement. Because after spending so much of her life making sure everyone else was okay, she’s now working out what it looks like to build wealth, travel, enjoy her money and create the future she wants. Turns out, you can start later and still build something pretty bloody incredible.

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Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.

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