The Money Reset, How to Start 2026 Without Going Broke by Feb with Gemma Mitchell 

It’s the start of a new year, which makes it the perfect time to reset your money, without the unrealistic January pressure.

We’re not talking extreme budgeting, never ordering Uber Eats again, or building the world’s most perfect spreadsheet.

In this episode, I’m joined by Gemma Mitchell to walk you through a simple, step-by-step money stocktake that gives you clarity, not guilt.

We cover how to:
✔️ Reset your money after life changes (or that quiet “something’s off” feeling)
✔️ Figure out exactly where you’re at, without overwhelm
✔️ Build realistic habits you can actually stick to past February

This is a calm, practical reset designed for real life, not perfection.

🎧 If you want your money to feel clearer, calmer, and more aligned in 2026, this episode is your starting point.

This episode is brought to you by InvestorKit, Australia’s #1 Buyers Agency for 2023 and 2024. They specialise in helping investors find high-growth properties utilising industry leading AI and data driven research process across Australia. 70%+ of the properties they purchase are off-market and they have consistently outperformed national average capital growth rates by over 49%. Whether you’re looking to build your property portfolio or secure your first investment. Check them out here.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Welcome to Get Rich
00:01 – New Year Money Reset
00:02 – Meet Gemma Mitchell
00:04 – Set Realistic Money Goals
00:06 – Money Stocktake Basics
00:08 – Budgeting for Variable Income
00:10 – Track Spending Without Overwhelm
00:11 – Grocery Spend Tracking Hack
00:13 – Money Mindset Reset
00:15 – Net Worth Check
00:18 – Emergency Fund Plan
00:21 – Debt Payoff Strategy
00:25 – How to Earn More
00:26 – Property Goals Check-in
00:28 – Insurance and Wills
00:32 – Superannuation Check-up
00:35 – Compare Super Fees and Returns
00:37 – Gemma’s Book and Resources
00:38 – Wrap Up

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Money Reset (Book by Gemma Mitchell): https://www.gemmamitchell.com.au/themoneyreset
WeMoney Budgeting App: https://www.wemoney.com.au/
Billroo Budgeting App: https://billroo.com/
realestate.com.au Property Valuation Tool: https://www.realestate.com.au/

CONNECT WITH GEMMA MITCHELL

Website: https://cultiverfc.com.au/
Website: https://www.rask.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gemmamitchell.finance/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gemma-mitchell/

CONNECT WITH LADIES FINANCE CLUB

Join our free Facebook group - Ladies Finance Club Money Chat
Website: https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladiesfinanceclub/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladies-finance-club/

TAKEAWAYS

• The book targets individuals reassessing their financial habits.
• Life events can trigger a financial awakening.
• Self-reflection is crucial in evaluating money management.
• Many people manage money without questioning their methods.
• Divorce, job loss, and health scares can prompt financial reevaluation.
• It's important to ask if current financial practices are effective.
• Awareness of habits can lead to better financial decisions.
• The conversation encourages questioning established financial behaviors.
• Understanding personal finance is a journey, not a destination.
• The book serves as a guide for those seeking financial clarity.

SOUND BITES

"you might've gone through something like a divorce, a job loss, a health scare"
"the whole purpose of the book is kind of for the person that has been going through life"
"just questioning if you're doing the right thing"

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Molly: Welcome to Get Rich, the podcast that helps you do just that. Get rich and stay rich. Hey, I'm Molly Benjamin. I'm the founder of Ladies Finance Club, one of Australia's largest financial education platforms for women. But before I started helping thousands of women take control with their money, I was a hot financial mess when it came to my own finances and not the fun kind of hot, more like crying in a supermarket, wondering where all my money went kind of hot.

[00:00:29] But here's the thing, if I can go from financial mess to owning a share portfolio, investing in property, and building wealth. Then you can too. My mission is simple to make women rich because when we have financial freedom, we have choices, confidence, and control over our future. Every week on Get Rich, I sit down with some of the best experts in the industry to break down how we can all start investing, growing our money, and creating long-term financial security without the jargon, boring bits or overwhelm.

[00:01:02] Because when women get rich, we don't just change our lives. We change the world. So if you're ready to start making some smart money moves, hit that subscribe button and let's get rich together.

[00:01:16] Happy New Year ladies. Isn't it funny? January has this way of making us feel like we've gotta become a completely different person. Overnight, new Year, new rules, new budget, new me, but. Life doesn't really work like that. And in this episode of Get Rich, we are slowing things right down. We're not talking extreme budgeting here.

[00:01:33] No guilt, no pretending. You're never gonna order Uber Eats again. And I'm joined by Gemma Mitchell to walk through a simple step-by-step money stock. Take that kind that gives you clarity instead of shame and judgment. I think the new year is a perfect time to do this stock take to set out some goals, some really realistic goals that you know you can actually stick to and that you really wanna achieve with your money.

[00:01:57] It's also great to give yourself an overall picture of where you are sitting financially, so you've got clarity on your next best steps. And remember, if you're struggling with this, you don't have to do it alone. We are gonna be opening up our doors to new members on the 13th of January, but. Also, we've got some amazing financial ambassadors who we really recommend you check out and work with.

[00:02:19] Everything from money coaches to mortgage brokers and financial advisors. So just reach out to us if you wanna connect with one of them. All right, let's make 2026 your best year yet, and get on with today's episode, Gemma Mitchell, one of fcs favorite finance ladies, welcome back to the Get Rich podcast.

[00:02:39] Thank you so much

[00:02:39] Gemma: for having me. Always a pleasure.

[00:02:41] Molly: So you've bought out a book, which is very exciting. Congratulations. I know how hard it is to do a book.

[00:02:48] Gemma: It is so much harder. It was so much harder than I thought it was gonna be. So at this stage I'm like, never again. But it might be like children and renovations that once you're done you're like, ah, I could probably go again.

[00:02:59] So, so it's called The Financial

[00:03:02] Molly: Reset and what can we learn about in the book? It's called the Money Reset, and what can we learn about in the book?

[00:03:09] Gemma: The whole purpose of the book is kind of for the person that has been going through life, and maybe things have been going really, really well, or you just really haven't thought of it, but you've got all these behaviors, these habits, you're managing money somewhere, and you've just got to this stage where it's either not working for you.

[00:03:24] Now, you might've gone through something like a divorce, a job loss, a health scare or something. Or it might have just been this internal awakening of like. What am I doing with my money? Just questioning if you're doing the right thing, if what you've been doing works for you. So it's about just stripping back to basics.

[00:03:41] So call it the reset because it's just like these steps that we have to go to to kind of unpack what we've been doing and then build it up again. And if you come to the same conclusion either with your goals or the way you manage money. Great, but at least you're not just going through the motions hoping for the best.

[00:03:57] Yeah. It's kind of like, let's actually just strip it back and question why we do the things that we do. Uh, so my research came from going through a divorce, but like it could be anything. And I, I've been a financial advisor that has helped people in the retirement space for like 15 years. And honestly, for all of us, a reset, a money reset in retirement happens for all of us the way that we manage our money.

[00:04:19] Doesn't work the same. So everyone needs a reset at some point in your life. Mine just came at 38. That's awesome. And I thought

[00:04:28] Molly: what we could do, today's episode is do a bit of a, it's the start of a new year, so a bit of a financial reset. So obviously a new year happens and we all have like these really high hopes for ourselves.

[00:04:40] We're like, oh my gosh, I'm never gonna. Spend again, or we have like quite unrealistic expectations of ourselves. But again, I guess what is a good way to kind of set some of those money goals and money habits going forward into the new year, which are, and I think the key word here is realistic.

[00:05:01] Gemma: Yes.

[00:05:01] Realistic and sustainable. Yeah. Guys, we are not gonna wake up on January 1st and be a totally different person. Right. I would love that. I think that with my fitness goals and things, but realistically, we're not going to. So I think easing yourself into it and just making sure that things are realistic and sustainable, like this is not about overhauling everything in week 1st of January and then being so burnt out that you don't want to.

[00:05:28] Pick up the crazy spreadsheet you built, you know? Yeah. It's about just making small, consistent steps. And that's actually why the book's actually in 12 steps. So there is a different step and you go through them. It might be that you actually pick a different one depending on what you're stressed at at the moment, but ideally, if you're gonna do a reset, you kind of go from one to 12, which we can go through and.

[00:05:48] Designed to just like, let's just look at one thing at a time. Yeah. So don't actually think about, Hey, I need to get from absolutely zero money knowledge to Warren Buffett. Yeah. Like, let's just go, this is the one thing that I need to concentrate on. So I think a great starting point for people if they're not gonna get the book is just working out, I would say.

[00:06:08] Think of this one thing in your life, your money life that is stressing you the most. Mm-hmm. You, it might like what's keeping you up at night. It might be that you have lots of different debts. It might be that your income isn't enough for your expenses. It might be a financial goal. You know, buying your first home.

[00:06:24] What's the area that you're most stressed at? And that's a really good place to start. Yeah. Because once we get some progress there. You can start looking at the other ones, but ideally, I think it always starts with a stock take where you're at right now, and you have to get pretty real with yourself.

[00:06:41] It's easy for us to bury our head in the sand. Yeah. But it starts with stock take. What do you own? What do you owe? What do you earn? What do you spend? Yeah. Just start there. And it could be on a napkin. Yeah. In the back of, you know, some mail. It doesn't have to be. A crazy spreadsheet.

[00:06:58] Molly: Yeah, I mean, I personally like keeping everything on a Google Sheets because it's harder to lose, but if you are listening to this right now and you're like, oh, I don't know how to use Google sheets, or I'm not in my computer, just go get a notepad and pen.

[00:07:11] At the top, like do like, you know, one line, two lines. So you've got four squares. Just put, what do you own, what do you owe? What comes in and what goes out? And we're looking at this high level. So what do you own? That might be cash in the bank, that might be money in your super fund. That might be the value of any property you have.

[00:07:33] What do you owe? That is your liabilities. So what's costing you money? Do you have credit card debt? Do you have a car loan? Do you have a mortgage? So again, remember the what you own, so the value of your property that would go there, and then your mortgage would go in what you owe. And any buy now pay later as well.

[00:07:50] Gemma: Yeah, and like loans to friends and family, that stuff like just get really clear on where you're at right now. And if you've gone through a big shift or things have gone a bit pear shaped like a divorce, it might actually look very different to how it did a few years ago. Yeah. And I say to people like, don't think of it like as this scary kind of thing.

[00:08:08] Just know, like knowing your starting point, there's something so well like you now hold the reins. Like there's something so empowering about that. So just getting clear on those things. I think you should. See it, like reframe it in. This is now your starting line, not, ugh, look at where I am kind of thing.

[00:08:24] Molly: Yeah. And then what's coming in, and for people who have lumpy salaries, so like they might get bonuses or their, their money might be quite chunky or their freelancers, I've always say, like, when people always ask me that question, they're like, well, how much do I actually use to, you know, budget off? Or how do I actually know?

[00:08:44] So you can kind of base it on the lowest amount and then kind of work out. What that looks like over a period of time, what would you say? Yeah, I think that's

[00:08:52] Gemma: the safest. Yeah. So budgeting, and people hate the word budget, but a budget's literally just a plan for your money, telling it where to go, understanding where it goes rather than wondering where it goes.

[00:09:03] So I would start with trying to get all of your needs, like all of your expenses, your fixed expenses and things, the things that are non-negotiables to fit in your base, like the lowest pay possible. And then I talk to people about this kind of. Priority kind of budget. And it's like, well, what are the other things that you want?

[00:09:20] And maybe that's travel or to pay debt, or whatever it is for you. You could then put them in priority order. So if more money flows into your life from a bonus, a tax refund, whatever it is, you know exactly where that money's gonna go. 'cause the worst thing is when more money comes into our lives, we tend to just up our lifestyle to fit it.

[00:09:38] Yeah. But if you know exactly where that money's gonna go and why it's important to you when it comes in, you can put it into those areas.

[00:09:45] Molly: Yeah, and I love here you've just made a note, like when we're doing our stock take, it's not about judgment. It's not about going, oh my God, how did I get into this situation?

[00:09:55] If you're not happy with where you're at, it's just like, okay, this is my starting point, and now. I know where I'm at and it's such a good one to do at the start of the year. And so when you're looking at what money is going out as well, I know this can really overwhelm people and they're like, oh God, like I literally can't think of anything worse than looking at my past spending.

[00:10:13] I've got a few hacks, but do you have any hacks for people how they can actually do this and not feel that overwhelm?

[00:10:19] Gemma: Yeah, so there's two kind of approaches that I think, and I'm very much a line in the sand kind of person. So I go going forward, what is my rent or my mortgage payment, my expense? And sometimes you'll have to look back at your bank statement, like if you're not sure what your rates or insurance or whatever is.

[00:10:36] But I kind of like going, you know, let's just list out everything that we expect to spend. And maybe for those. Areas that you're already spending in, like groceries, that's one that you really wanna look back in. Yeah. 'cause I find that when people do a budget, that is usually the place where they go, I'm spending 300 a week, but really it's 500, a hundred percent.

[00:10:54] Yeah. Yeah. Like if you can just ballpark or guess and make it as easy on yourself as possible. But some of these ones that are crucial, that are absolutely gonna trip you up, it's good to go back and have a bit of a look.

[00:11:06] Molly: Yeah, and if you use multiple bank accounts, ladies, so if you've got like, I don't know, you're with ING, with nab, you're with UP bank, Eubank, me Bank, whatever bank it is, and you are spending on all the different areas and you're just like, oh, I don't actually know how much I'm spending on groceries each week.

[00:11:21] A little hack that I like is just do a search for like the places you know, you shop like Kohl's, Woolworths, Audi, Harris, mom, whatever it is. For you. And then what I do with that data is I take it from the different bank accounts and then I upload it to chat GPT, and I go work out how much I'm spending on average for the last six months on groceries.

[00:11:42] Because if you look at one month or two month, you know, if you look at December, that's gonna look quite different to February or March because it's Christmas. We're spending more on food. So actually getting a really good understanding and you can just start small like that. So you just go, okay, well what am I spending on groceries?

[00:11:59] Let's work it out. And Gemma, I'm, I have multiple conversations with women where they'll be like about a hundred dollars a week and it actually is more like $350 a week. Yeah.

[00:12:08] Gemma: Because that's like their big shop, but then they've gone and just tapped away. I do it exactly the same thing. So like I think people, when they think about budgeting, they think they have to then track every dollar.

[00:12:18] No, and I don't think you do. I think you need to work out which is the area that might be the problem, like. Food, maybe online shopping, maybe eating out or, or takeaway and like build a system around that. So for clients that I are trying to get their budget together, I might get them to put a piece of paper on the fridge and literally every time they've spent money on groceries, they have to write it down because like there's something about tapping that.

[00:12:41] It just doesn't register. We just don't remember it. So if you don't wanna troll through your bank account statements, or you wanna just be really present and aware of your spending, pick the area. Maybe you have it on your front door, like as you're walk in or leaving and you write it down, and then after a week or a month, you can kind of have a look at it.

[00:12:57] But just pick one area. You don't have to track your spending on all areas. This isn't about like overhauling everything. Yeah. Just let's kind of pick some problem areas maybe and focus on them. That could be a focus for 2026.

[00:13:10] Molly: And that feels really

[00:13:11] Gemma: doable.

[00:13:12] Molly: If you do just use the one bank. A lot of the banks now have your spending, so they'll actually have that already, um, divided for you.

[00:13:20] I'm pretty sure they all do it except for ING. And so if you are with a bank that doesn't do it, you can always look at a budgeting app as well. So there's We Money, there's Bill Ru, there's. A whole bunch of them. Awesome. Okay, so we have taken stock. We know where we are. We've looked at what we owe, what we own, what comes in and what goes out.

[00:13:41] Now that is the stock take. What about having a bit of a mindset reset?

[00:13:47] Gemma: I think mindset is so important, and we can probably wrap this up into a few of the kind of steps in the money reset. So mindset, goal setting and knowing your kind of like safety nets I think is really, really important. But this is kind of like, you know, we know that mindset well.

[00:14:03] We hear a lot more these days. That mindset is so important for us to achieve our goals, the way we, you know, the habits and being aware of that. But again, with mindset, like if you identify, if you do some, some of the tools and things that are available, you know, like this amazing podcast, this is such a deep area to get into.

[00:14:20] But if you identify that you have one particular story you tell yourself about money or one dominant behavior around money, you know, maybe it's a bit of a scarcity fear that there's never enough, or maybe it's a YOLO kind of today, always live in the moment. You can have several different mindsets and behaviors around money.

[00:14:40] And they are all kind of like, they can have good and bad elements. So it's not about rewriting it overnight and going, well, I have a scarcity. I need to be abundant. Yeah. It's about going. How does that then create a behavior in me? And then what's the outcome? Because it might be a good or a bad outcome.

[00:14:56] So just understanding that. So I get people to put, you know, notes in their phone or maybe it's a piece of paper and it's just being about awareness, not needing to override it. And maybe that's, um, you wanna jot down how you felt about a bill coming into your inbox. Did you panic? Did you go, oh great, I've been putting money aside for that.

[00:15:14] How did you feel? You know, all of those types of things. 'cause that's gonna help you identify some patterns with your behavior and that's where mindset comes in. And then. We can build some habits around it, some guardrails that help you support that. But yeah, I think mindset that really helps with goal setting when you understand your values and then you can go, Hey, these are my non-negotiables and what I want to build my safety, what I need to feel safe and secure around.

[00:15:41] Molly: And every January we do a 21 day abundance challenge. So if you are feeling like, oh, I'm feeling a bit like my mindset's around like scarcity, like I'm gonna run outta money. There's never enough. You have to work really hard to make money, all those kinds of beliefs, then you might wanna check out that 21 day abundance challenge.

[00:16:02] And I have to do it all the time as well. For me, I have scarcity around, like I'm gonna run out of money. So, you know, and that's why doing that net worth check in I find is so helpful. And I know some of our members as well, they won't have it, but their partner will. And so then their partner wants to see all the money in one account 'cause they wanna see it.

[00:16:23] Like they wanna see it like abundantly there, but then they're like, well, I'm trying to manage the day-to-day spending. And that makes it really confusing. Especially we teach at Ladies Finance Club, we teach the Glen James spending plan, and that's just not gonna work if you've got someone in the family who, who wants to see it all in one pile.

[00:16:39] So that's why I always encourage them actually sit down together and actually do that net worth together so you can see, oh my gosh, look how good we've got. Money.

[00:16:50] Gemma: Yeah. At a minimum you wanna be doing that every year because we, you are. Right? Like we get so focused on one thing, and it might be that even if you are, you know, single, maybe you are focusing on building a savings account or you've just got a mortgage and if you fixate on one area, it can feel like you're not making a lot of progress.

[00:17:07] Whereas if you put it in a net. Worth tracker, you'll see the pie moving, the needle moving. But we get so fixated on one area and I love when people do that because then they put their superannuation in it. And for a lot of people, they don't consider it their money until they actually see it in that. So I think that's a very healthy thing to be doing at least once a year, is putting all that in and seeing, um, yeah, how things are shifting, the overall pie, not just the area that you are really focused on working on.

[00:17:35] Molly: And if you dunno what if you own a property and you dunno what your property is worth currently, look it up, you know, there. And you can use like, you know, obviously you can either go to a evaluator or you can just use one of the online valuation tools and you know, it might not be exact, but it's gonna give you a pretty good

[00:17:50] Gemma: ballpark.

[00:17:50] Ballpark. Yeah. So for mine, I'll go like realestate.com or same usually show there's on the house. Yeah, and I just kind of like, if there's a variance, I'll just pick a more conservative, 'cause I always wanna be more conservative. And on my net worth tracker down the bottom you can put some notes. So I can just be like, oh, this is where I got that valuation, or the house up the road that's really similar.

[00:18:11] Sold for this. This is why I put it in just as a like a little, um, earmark. You know?

[00:18:15] Molly: Or just get the local real estate agent, they'll be more than happy to give you a valuation for sure. Yes. And

[00:18:20] Gemma: then they do the report on all like the comms in the area and things. So I think once a year.

[00:18:25] Molly: Yeah, I think that's healthy.

[00:18:27] Yeah, sorry. And just the last thing on that, I've actually set up an alert. So I think it's like every month I get an update with what my property is at Worth, which is quite handy as well. 'cause I just updated in my net worth tracker. Okay, so, okay, we going from the top, we've gone. Okay. We've taken stock of what we've got.

[00:18:44] We're rechecking in with our mindset, your safety net. Now I call these OMG funds. But we've got here your safety net. So gem, we both know how important having an emergency fund is, but would you say if people are listening and they don't have that set up, this has gotta be the priority for 2026?

[00:19:06] Gemma: I definitely think so.

[00:19:07] And it like, I know you have the same approach that it could be, um, like a thousand dollars to get started. I know when we talk about emergency funds, the. Most financial educators will be like three to six months of your expenses. Now, importantly, this is not of your income, it's of your expenses, and it could be your bare minimum baseline.

[00:19:26] That makes me feel comfortable. Three to six months, but just start with a thousand dollars. Absolutely. And then you are gonna see some traction and then, you know, maybe then you balance it with building an emergency fund, paying off debt, whatever your other priorities are. But I think just getting to that point is really, really important.

[00:19:42] Yeah. And I

[00:19:42] Molly: always say gem as well. Like for us, you know, we go save a thousand dollars, but if you've never saved a thousand dollars before, that is a huge feat because it's not just about saving the thousand dollars, it's actually about changing your behavior, changing your mindset, and that is the hardest thing to do.

[00:20:01] That's why I think actually. Getting to that first a thousand dollars can be a real challenge for some of us. So, you know, even if it means that you set up an automatic transfer the day you get paid, so that money goes into an emergency fund, and it might be for now a bank account that you don't have oversight of.

[00:20:20] So it's not part of your day-to-day spending. It's in a separate account. Fee free, high interest. Let's just like work on getting to that a thousand dollars. And my life changed when I put that a thousand dollars in. Like I was like hot financial mess. And then I've saved my first amount of money ever.

[00:20:38] And I did this in my thirties. So if you are listening to this and you still haven't done it, don't you worry like no judgment.

[00:20:46] Gemma: Yeah, and maybe it's that you've canceled a subscription, so instead of just letting that money go, you've now you're putting that in there. Maybe you've sold some things around the home or Yeah.

[00:20:54] You know, there's lots of ways that you can kind of just go, right, I'm just gonna hustle till I get to that, and then I'm gonna set up like a regular thing. I think that's really important, but also in the book I, in this safety net chapter is there's so much more than just an emergency fund. So I have the sleep at night test.

[00:21:10] And that's like a series of questions you ask yourself to decide if you are scared of something because you shouldn't be doing it, it's totally wrong for you, or if it's just growth and that's a bit uncomfortable and how you can kind of just test that. Yeah, should you be making this decision or not? So I call that a sleep at night test.

[00:21:27] And that absolutely goes in there. And then there's the non-negotiables. And when we talk about non-negotiables, yes, there's expense non-negotiables, but there's also like life non-negotiables. Like I had a client the other day who in their retirement planning was like, we will never go into a nursing home.

[00:21:43] We need to afford in-house care. It's a non-negotiable. So we're like, okay. We need to build around that. A non-negotiable for me is I always have a house that I can live in, like the kids can live, even though if it doesn't suit us, it's not the ideal. I need that safety and security. So then I know that I need to be able to fund a mortgage, I need to have income protection, and it kind of just is this knock on effect of you going, that is bare minimum.

[00:22:05] I won't allow that to not happen. So what do I create around that? Love it.

[00:22:11] Molly: And let's just touch on debt as well. So you've said here like, not all debt is equal. So we've got, sometimes we've got helpful debt and harmful debt. So when we are thinking about, okay, it's the new year, we're doing a reset, what should we thinking in terms of debt and getting rid of debt?

[00:22:31] Gemma: Yeah, so I think this is the perfect time. If you are getting really motivated about your finances for January, this is a big one that you wanna start with as well. And if you've done that stock take, you are gonna have a list of all those debts. Now, I am the type of person that loves a quick win if I've done something on my list that it wasn't on there.

[00:22:50] I will write it just so I can cross it off. So that's how my brain works. But you need to find what works for you. So you can then identify if you're a snowball method person or an avalanche. But like I would be going quick wins, like let's just tidy stuff off. If there's some small debts there, some things looming, like maybe you list them out in order of their size and you start knocking them out that way.

[00:23:12] But to do a depth. Strategy to do an investment strategy, anything you need to know your budget and your cash flow so that you know is so important. 'cause then you can identify, well, what is surplus that can go to debt? And when I do get rid of that debt, what's then surplus? And it just has that kind of knock on effect.

[00:23:30] So it always comes back to knowing your stock take. But having a debt plan for 2026, I think is really important. You know, just knowing how you're gonna get out of that, but also changing the behavior. So many people will go, I'm gonna do a credit card, trans balance transfer to get interest free, or I'm gonna do a consolidation loan.

[00:23:49] And they're really convenient, but a lot of the time, the reason they don't work is because the behavior hasn't changed. Changed. So, yeah, making sure, just getting really honest with yourself. How did these debts come about? Was it because I bought an asset? Did I have to leave an unsafe or unhealthy situation?

[00:24:06] Was I just not really thinking about it and it was not something I'd do? Again, just be really honest with yourself about how they came about so that then you can go, right, if that comes up again, would I act the same? How else would I, you know, we really want to change behavior if we're gonna be able to move forwards.

[00:24:22] Molly: Yeah, and without moving like your credit cards onto a zero balance transfer, I heard someone's call at once. They're like, that can be like moving the deck chairs on the Titanic. You're not changing, like you've still got a big problem, but you're just trying to like cover it up. So again. With the snowball method, that's kind of when you list out all your debts, smallest to largest, and then you focus all your, you pay your minimum spend on all of them, but you're focusing on getting rid of that smallest one.

[00:24:53] It might be a credit card, it might be a buy now pay later. It might be 30 bucks. You owe a friend. It's like getting rid of that smallest debt first and then moving on to the next one. The avalanche method is when you focus on the biggest. Interest rate first. What the, I guess psychologists have said is the snowball works because we get those quick wins, we're more likely to stay motivated, but again, it'll come down to what works for you.

[00:25:17] Yeah, definitely.

[00:25:18] Gemma: And I think we've touched on budget a lot, and I think when most people are trying to reset their money budget, you know, your cash flow is really, really important. But the other thing we wanna identify is income. Mm-hmm. And maybe it's a goal for you in 2026 to be working towards. Earning more income because there's only so much we can cut out of our expenses.

[00:25:37] There is a baseline that all of us need to live by. So I think a great time for January, like January is a great time for you to be going. What do I earn now and what are the opportunities to earn more? Whether that's a pay rise, taking on extra duties changing. Like employers or, or whatever, and just seeing what capacity you have.

[00:25:55] And this doesn't have to be like anything, a quick win. It's not like I thought of it today. I'm going to ask for it tomorrow. Yeah, start working throughout the year on how you set that up, but potentially that's one of your biggest leavers for 2026 will be like by the end of the year, I want to be earning more income.

[00:26:12] Molly: On our last 90 day action plan with our members, a lot of them were getting pay rises. And I was like, guys, this is great. How are you doing it? And they were actually moving companies, 'cause that's where they were seeing the biggest jump. So that was interesting. But as you said, it's not like they just handed in their re resignation.

[00:26:30] It was a process. And it was something they had been working towards for months and months and months. So definitely if that's on your agenda for 2026, come up with a plan or check out one of our past sessions we've done on salary renegotiation. All righty. What should we be thinking about re property when it comes to our money reset?

[00:26:53] Gemma: Yeah, property's a tricky one, and I always. Well, it's tricky because it's such an emotional thing for so many people. You know, as Australians we put a lot of, well, safety, security, but also like our self worth and things. You know, it's a bit of a status symbol. So I think properties a, a really important one for us to think of what it means to us.

[00:27:12] At the start of the year, that's probably a great time for you to be getting clear on your goals. Are you in a property and is debt a focus? Are you trying to get into a property? What property will that be an investment? And what are the things that you need to do in this year? Because it might be that this isn't the year that you're going to buy the property.

[00:27:29] It's just more of those steps. It's increasing your income, it's getting the deposit together. So I think getting clear at the start of the year, 'cause realistically in Australia, property is gonna be part of your journey. At some point, right? It like our retirement system is set up for people to be a homeowner and have their, their debt paid off.

[00:27:50] Yeah. So I think just each year, having that check in and going, what is property to me? Is it part of my strategy yet? Will it be in the future? And then you can set goals around it.

[00:27:58] Molly: Yeah, absolutely love that. And look, if you own a property and you haven't remortgaged, and that is on the agenda, you know, put your goals next to what it is for your property as well.

[00:28:11] Awesome. Okay. Let's talk about protecting our future, because when it comes to protection, I do notice a lot of us are underinsured. We haven't done our will or our estate plan. So maybe this is something else we could just chat about and to maybe pop it onto that list, that reset list for 2026.

[00:28:33] Gemma: Yeah, for sure.

[00:28:34] Like the protection element of the money reset has so many layers. So it's like, yes, it's insurance, it's your estate planning, it's those types of things, you know, and emergency fund, all those things kind of fall into that as well. But it's also about how you protect yourself. So I talk a lot about. You know, divorce in the, the book and then, you know, if you've rebuilt and created all this financial independence yourself, how do you then go into a relationship with keeping your independence but having a healthy relationship work as a team.

[00:29:05] But I think the lessons from that, it's all around communication. And we can apply that now if we are in a relationship. Like it's never too late to change how you manage money together. And I see that as a really important part of protection is not just insurance and estate planning, but it's.

[00:29:21] Protecting yourself and how you work as a team and all of those types of things. So it's quite a bit more than that, but the practical side of it to get started. Absolutely knowing your insurance, because if you're underinsured. Things could go pear shaped very quickly and you can't afford to then build and build wealth if you're over-insured to eating away at money.

[00:29:41] That could be, you know, left in your retirement account invested or, or whatever. So I think having a bit of a stock take on what insurance you have, what it does, why you have it, and if people are thinking, I don't have insurance, check your super. Because a lot of the time people say to me. Oh, my super is so expensive.

[00:29:57] The fees are huge, and when we look at it, it's actually that insurance that's coming out of it, those premiums. And you wanna right size your insurance. You wanna make sure it's the amount that you need, it's right for your occupation and things. So you're not paying for anything. You don't need to be paying for.

[00:30:12] Molly: Yeah, so I looked the other day in my super insurances 'cause I was re, I'm redoing my insurances and I'm redoing them with my partner. I found out my partner has zero insurance. So we're like, we need to change that asap. And then I'm covered only for two years for income protection, whereas I thought I was covered up till I was 65 years old.

[00:30:30] So it's actually checking in and going, well, what I had. Is that gonna be enough? If something was to happen to me? And I know no one ever wants to think about worst case scenario, but fortunately the stats don't lie. So we know that the likelihood of it happening is low, but it's not never. So we wanna make sure you have the right in place and you do not have to do this by yourself.

[00:30:50] If you're like, well, yeah, don't even know where to look or where to start, connect with us. We. I connected with so many incredible women and men in the finance space. We will find you someone awesome for you to work with, whether that's a financial advisor, an insurance broker, so just reach out to us.

[00:31:07] Gemma: Yeah, I think this is one area you cannot DIY, like, so if you think of a mortgage broker, so we know a mortgage broker goes and helps you look at all of the different loans available and which is the right one for you. So think of getting insurance advice exactly the same. You are going to like a broker who has access to all these policies that can then determine which is going to be the best one for you.

[00:31:29] And I think also having a bit of a plan around it. So a lot of the time that people. Initially get a quote or something for insurance. They'll go, oh, it's huge. You know, I don't want that. It's not like it's gonna be that forever. The, you can have an exit plan. So as your assets increase, as your super increases, your mortgage goes down, you can keep right sizing this insurance.

[00:31:48] So it's not forever, but it's while you actually need it.

[00:31:51] Molly: And that's exactly what our broker told us the other day, and they're like, this won't be forever. You know, as you get older and closer to that retirement age, we can start removing things, which was great to know as well. But from someone who, you know, whose sister has been through the cancer journey, who never thought they were ever gonna get cancer and then didn't have the right insurances in place.

[00:32:13] You wanna make sure if something bad happens, you money is not an issue, you have the right things in place. Alright? And so on those insurances as well, I'm just gonna add in, make sure you have updated your will or estate plan. Again, if you don't know where to start, just reach out to us who work with some amazing women and men in.

[00:32:33] Space. It's just a piece of life admin that you just need to do once and then check in like every few years. Alright, now let's just finish up on super. So Gem, you've done some incredible sessions for Ladies Finance Club on Super. You run our Get Ready to Retire program. What's a good check in with our Super Elise?

[00:32:53] Kind of like that Once a year.

[00:32:55] Gemma: Yes. This is a big one. Super's one of my favorite things as we know. Uh, so I think. I actually think the perfect time. So if we are thinking like January your, like we've just said this whole time, like you don't have to overhaul everything, but I think if one of your tasks is to get on top of your super for 2026, if I was you, I would put a note, like a diary event in your calendar.

[00:33:18] For May, June. I think that is the perfect time to be checking on your super. So if you wanna check on it in January, that would be great. But if you've got a bit on your plate with all these other things, let's do it May, June. Why I really like that time is you still have a whole month to then action anything that's in the same financial year.

[00:33:37] So, you know, maybe you talk to your financial advisor or maybe. You just engage with your super fund and they have some intra fund financial advice, maybe they go, Hey, for your income, you could put this contribution in. You still have like 30 days to do it. So I think, and based on that, you've already worked, you know, 10, 11 months of the year so you know what your income's gonna be.

[00:33:57] So it's a really good time to check in. A lot of us only. See our accountant when the financial year's done. We only look at our super balance when the statement comes out in August and you can't do anything for that year. So I really like the idea of doing it before the financial year ends, but the things that you wanna look at every single year is, and my details up to date, like, do they have my correct address and date of birth?

[00:34:18] The amount of times I've. People with wrong date of birth that just cause a nightmare. Just check all of these things. Do you have insurance? Do you have a beneficiary? And I'd say every three to five years is a good kind of rule for looking at the product. Like, should I be with Australian Super or Host or whoever I'm with?

[00:34:33] Yeah, has something changed there? Should my investment strategy be changing? I don't think that's something you need to look at every single year. That's a big job. But I would say definitely housekeeping on. Is your beneficiary up to date, is your address up to date, that kind of stuff every single year.

[00:34:47] And then those bigger things, three to five years or when something big changes like you are having a baby, you got married, you know, that type of stuff.

[00:34:54] Molly: Yeah. And just really quickly on that, so when we are doing those bigger kind of overhauls, when we are looking at fees and then investment options, what do we have to compare it to?

[00:35:03] Like a lot of. The time, people will be like, well, what is a reasonable super fee?

[00:35:08] Gemma: Mm. It really, really depends. Like we used to have this blanket rule. I think that it was kinda like anything under about point A is pretty good, which I would still say, but now we have so many more investment options, index options, and different things.

[00:35:22] So it is really hard to kind of go blanket rule, this is what you should be paying. I think it's all relevant to the performance and all of the other bells and whistles that you get with it. So some funds, you know, offer that. Free, like intra fund financial advice, others don't like, what do you value in a super fund?

[00:35:39] Has to come down to it. Like, into it, sorry. Mm-hmm. But I think when you are comparing, you want to make sure you're comparing apples and apples. So you need to compare the investment options that have a similar. Asset allocation. 'cause if you are comparing like a conservative and a growth fund, the fees are gonna be really different.

[00:35:58] Mm-hmm. So you wanna make sure that you're comparing really similar assets and you can get all that information on their website. Yeah, like the fund's website and also comparing. Performance.

[00:36:08] Molly: Yes. And that's what I was gonna say. I guess if you are looking at the performance and you're looking at a balanced fund versus a high growth fund, that will probably look quite different.

[00:36:16] So again, you wanna be comparing the same things. 'cause I actually didn't realize this for so long, that even though you are with Host Plus or Australian Super or Aware. There's different options of funds. You can be within that super fund. It's not just like one fund, you know, just

[00:36:31] Gemma: with them. Yeah, so think of them like, think of your super fund, kind of like the grocery store, right?

[00:36:36] They're housing everything. They're paying for the electricity, they've got the cash registers, but within that you've got lots of different things, kinda like a menu at a restaurant, you can pick what you invest in. And the crazy thing about super funds is they'll all have an investment called balance.

[00:36:52] Or growth. But if you actually look at the split, there's not a mandatory, so they're not all like, oh, well every balance fund has 60% growth assets. They all vary a lot. So you actually have to kind of have a look at that. And this it, it sounds a lot, but you can just get this information on the website. So you wanna look at the fee, the asset allocation, and then compare the same period of time and ideally.

[00:37:14] We wanna go as long as possible. We don't care who was the shiniest and the best for that year 'cause it just hasn't told us enough. You know, there hasn't been different market cycles. So ideally, kind of like a 10 year is a great one to be comparing. Absolutely.

[00:37:27] Molly: And don't get overwhelmed by this. As DMA said, this is something you can put in the calendar for like.

[00:37:32] You know, may like this doesn't have to happen straight away in January. And again, you don't have to do it by yourself. There's amazing people like Gemma out there who will actually help you. I think it's a great time to get a copy of your book. Where can people find it?

[00:37:50] Gemma: So you can get really any good bookstores.

[00:37:53] I love people sending me photos of the airports when they go through and they see it. Amazon, I think it's the cheapest. It's also on Booktopia, but yeah, perfect time to be getting a gift or even just a gift for yourself, right? To make 2026 your best financial year yet. And that

[00:38:09] Molly: is the money reset. And ladies, do me a favor.

[00:38:11] If you do sit in the airport, just take over the whole shelf with it. Just put them all up.

[00:38:16] Gemma: I do that when I see friends books, I'm like, rearranging.

[00:38:19] Molly: Yes, that is my mom. Um, but thank you Gemma's. So much that's been so helpful. Very thorough as well. So I will pop all the links in the chat, in the show notes where people can get your book and can learn more.

[00:38:35] And also Gemma does an awesome Get Ready to Retire program with Ladies Finance Club. So definitely join the wait list if you wanna learn more about that as well. All right. Thanks so much, Gemma.

[00:38:45] Gemma: Thanks so much for having me. Bye.

KEYWORDS

financial awakening, money management, personal finance, habits, life changes, self-reflection