The average Australian woman spends $3700 every year on beauty products with men following closely behind with a yearly average of $2928. Instagram money afficianado @Moneywithmaddie joins us to talk beauty on a budget - how to save on everyday personal hygiene items so it doesn't put such a big dent in your bank account. Maybe she's born with it? Maybe she follows @moneywithmaddie's hacks to save big on beauty.
Follow @moneywithmaddie for more beauty hacks & personal finance education.
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Disclaimer
We Talk Cents is not a financial advisor and the information provided is general in nature and was prepared for information purposes only. This podcast should not be considered to constitute financial advice. Accordingly, reliance should not be placed on the podcast as the basis for making an investment, financial or other decision. This information does not take into account your investment objectives, particular needs or financial situation.
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Blaize Pengilly 00:09
Personal Finance budgeting cash flow and investing don't have to be scary words. The We Talk Cents podcast is here to help you learn more about money and take control of your personal finances.
Blaize Pengilly 00:26
We Talk Cents podcast is not a financial advisor. This podcast is made for entertainment and educational purposes only. All information shared is of a general nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate for your needs and where appropriate seek professional advice from a financial advisor.
Dan Jovevski 00:45
For more information please check out wemoney.com au slash disclaimer.
Blaize Pengilly 00:51
Can I get a welcome to Episode 28 of We Talk Cents We Talk Cents is a personal finance podcast produced by WeMoney. My name is Blaize I'm a millennial who knows. Absolutely almost next to nothing about money. And we're joined by Dan our finance expert Dan How are you?
Dan Jovevski 01:09
I'm great. Blaize How are you?
Blaize Pengilly 01:10
I am at pretty chipper today. Question for you. Did you get your beauty sleep last night?
Dan Jovevski 01:16
I did. I operate now in about six hours sleep and it's okay anything at a six. I feel a little bit grumpy in the morning. And everything more than eight I kind of feel like just sleeping for the whole day.
Blaize Pengilly 01:28
Well that's like a your your a lean mean sleeping machine six is probably on the lower end of the scale for me. I'm more of a seven to eight girls six will leave me wanting having about four coffeesn the day that I'm asking about beauty sleep because today's topic is beauty not just limited to cosmetics. But beauty hacks with our special guests money with Maddie, there is something for everyone in this chat. It's not just those wanting to get their nails, eyelashes and makeup done. Maddie covers topics of wellness and gym memberships, and how to save on haircuts. And she's saved a pretty incredible amount of money by implementing several hacks to really cut down her budget when it comes to beauty. Dan, before we get into the actual news, why I suppose this is actually nice. We have some exciting news of our own. Would you like to Would you like to share the news about WeMoney? Absolutely.
Dan Jovevski 02:23
I'm very proud to announce and thanks to all we many members that we've been nominated for a Finnies Award. Now if you don't know what a finish is, it's the equivalent of like a logiesfor TV. It's equivalent of the Oscars of financial services, particularly FinTech companies. It doesn't include, you know, big, large financial institution, it's small and coming fintechs that are helping people get ahead in their life all across consumer and also other businesses as well. Well, I really want to thank our audience and also WeMoney members ease thank them for this achievement, whilst the WeMoney team has worked hard to deliver a an amazing experience. That's all come from the WeMoney community that's helped us squash bugs, provide feedback on certain features and improve we money for every single other member. So the real people that we want to thank today. Are you the way money member that helps us in our journey to provide the best possible financial experience for you. The team has talked about applies and thank you to you as well for helping spread the word they aren't We Talk Cents.
Blaize Pengilly 03:31
Thanks, Dan. The category we were nominated for is emerging FinTech organization of the year is very exciting. And I think it's one or two months away when the finalists and well were a finalist when the actual the category winners are announced. So we'll keep you updated on the pod as to if we make it Fingers crossed. news headlines, what money news Have you been checking out this week?
Dan Jovevski 04:00
Always one that's really caught my attention is a article in The Sydney Morning Herald talking about the rise of influencers that this may be no surprise to our listeners. But what we have seen is an explosion of individuals go out there and give financial hints and tips to others in certain communities online. And the article covers a lady by the name of Kirsty and Crum, who was a stock market novice, the pandemic got some creative juices flowing for Kristen, where she ended up giving hints and tips on platforms like Twitter and tik tok, and cause that now a stock market obsession and so to her fans as well, she's amassed a five figure portfolio and I think her situation is like many out there who are trawling Instagram and Reddit and other popular locations with the giving hints and tips to other people. And I think this is an awesome revolution where folks everyday ordinary people are learning more about money and imparting that knowledge to more and more folks. So all super interesting.
Blaize Pengilly 04:56
Yeah influences You know, we've had a lot of influences financial impact It says on the show before we've had just inventory that was the money man, Tasha, invest Captain fine, Emily, the Aussie debt free girl drop by. It's just I think it's really cool to see how popular well I guess cool money is becoming and that we can learn from different platforms. I'd much rather sit down with a cup of coffee on my couch and scroll through Instagram and learn about personal finance, then go to some seminar or read some textbook and learn in a stuffy, outdated kind of way. So, pretty cool article, one that I saw Dan is and I mean Dogecoin What the heck is happening with those coin right? I wish I I have so many regrets if I could turn back time and buy Dogecoin when Ilan musk tweeted about Dogecoin earlier this year. I wish I could have this article on Yahoo Finance, talks about how the cryptocurrency that started as a joke has hit an all time high this week. And it was started as a joke. And now it's the fourth most valued coin in the whole crypto market, which is just insane. And take a look. Take a listen to this, Dan. This is the opening line of the article and it just makes me shake my head and wonder where the world is going. It took Amazon 13 years to deliver a 10,000% return to investors. It has now taken Dogecoin five months, five months for a choice or for something that started as a joke. I wish I had better comedy because my occasional pun is not making me 10,000% return in five months like Dogecoin What am I doing wrong?
Dan Jovevski 06:40
Dan replies I'm gonna join your camp. I did not invest in Dogecoin off it was a joke even up until the time that Ilan last talked about it. Look, I think Doge has become a religion now especially amongst younger people who, kneeling at the altar of Doge and Papa Ilan, endless tweet storms about this crypto currency. I don't know where it's going to end Blaize I hopefully it remains to this level. But this is uncharted territory. I don't know what Dogecoin does. Or you can trade for Dogecoin but it seems like it doesn't matter.
Blaize Pengilly 07:10
Check out this tweet from Zakat Guzman. If you invested $1,000 in the following on January 2021, you'd have had this match as of May for so if you invested $1,000 in Tesla, you'd have $907 at the amendment. If you invested $1,000 in GameStop there was a whole mess of GameStop saga, you'd have $8,990 if you invested in Bitcoin, you'd have $191,946 but if you invested $1,000 into Dogecoin the joke coin coin, you would have $103,703 that is absurd. And Time Machine Time Machine adventures Where are you getting contact because I have some regrets about not listening to Mr. Musk's tweets.
Dan Jovevski 08:00
Alright, so now we have our guest money with Maddie who's going to talk all about PBX
Blaize Pengilly 08:12
Dan as a man that loves loves his skincare regime and not cutting his hair for six months. We work from home so I understand cut your hair in six months. But I would like to know you know we all spend money on beauty and everyday items all the time and you know things like personal hygiene and whatnot. Dan, have you got a beauty hack?
Dan Jovevski 08:39
I do I do blaze it's very complicated. involved. Here we go. involves going into Costco and buying the trust in a bulk 1.18 liter conditioner and shampoo bundle chucking that in the shower and then getting over your day but I'll tell you what, I am impartial when it's on sale is getting the Old Spice shower gel. Love that stuff. And it is on the expensive side sometimes that sometimes it catches on sale we'll lose five bucks and I'll pick up a few but that that's the extent of my my beauty regimen and the lack of a haircut. Whilst I'd love to say I'm frugal is probably just due to laziness more than anything else. Much of my wife says no, how about you boys?
Blaize Pengilly 09:23
First of all, I am impressed that you get the shampoo and conditioner bundle and that you haven't gone for like a five liter three and one like so. What is it the doctor brothers way? It's everything all in one which is actually awesome. But yeah, beauty hacks mine is one's really simple, I guess cut open tubes of things that I haven't finished. It's not I don't I don't know if it's really a hack. Maybe it's just me going I want my money's worth. But I hate when you get to the end of a tube and you can't squeeze it out. So I'd take scissors to it and make sure I'm really using the last drop of everything but That's, you know two very simple tips I suppose. And today we have a special guest joining us to share her ways to save money everyday ways to save money and live frugally, whether it be related to beauty or fashion or anything in the realm of everyday items. So joining us from the Gold Coast is a woman who has always been a lover of personal finance and has become the phone a friend lifeline for all of our friends and family when they have money related questions. She's 23 years old and runs a personal finance Instagram where she says where she shares savings, property investing and budgeting tips. Joining us now via the internet, right from the sunny Gold Coast is Maddie from money with muddy muddy How you going?
Money with Maddie 10:47
Hi, guys. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Blaize Pengilly 10:50
So happy to have you here. Maddie, what did you think of Dan's tip of the 1.8 liter Costco bargain pack?
Money with Maddie 10:57
I'm not gonna lie. I'm pretty impressed. You know, you only see like the 500 mil packs that were so 1.8 liters. That's definitely getting a bang for your buck. So
Blaize Pengilly 11:05
I'm very excited to hear the tips that you have. But But before we start, we've we've talked about this on the show before according to research, accommodation or housing is Australia's biggest expense. And I know after that, that groceries and you know, food to get by is Australia's second biggest expense. But you know, we all wash our hair. Well, I hope we will wash our hair. I hope we're all showering regularly. Do you have any information on how much money we are forking out each year or each month on on bt?
Money with Maddie 11:39
Yeah, it's actually crazy when I looked into this, and it got me interested in this area of how to live frugally in the beauty space. I didn't realize how much that I spent personally my friend spend personally. But actually on average, an Australian woman spends about $313 per month on their appearance. And that's about $3,700 a year. And if you equate that over 40 years, that's $225,000 in their lifetime.
Blaize Pengilly 12:07
Oh, amazing, my
Money with Maddie 12:10
insane and that's mainly with women that's to do with facials, and haircuts, makeup and manicures mainly to do with beauty rituals instead of just simple products, like 1.8 liter treads and a bundle packs. But I mean men are far behind, they spent about $175,000 in their lifetime on beauty products. So more to do with facial moisturizers and gym memberships. You know, that also equates to beauty and hand cream, shaving products, supplements, that ends up being about $244 a month. So you're not far behind boys.
Dan Jovevski 12:49
Well, there we go.
Blaize Pengilly 12:51
That is phenomenal. I knew it would be a fairly large amount. But that's you know, that's average, there are some people that probably spend close to zero and then be some people spending 1000s of dollars. I mean, imagine seeing how much a drag queen would spend on makeup and beauty treatments each month. You know, that would be an extortionate bill, no doubt, for sure. Let's get into it. How do you go about saving and living frugally when it comes to beauty and hygiene and everyday items. And also I just want to make a note, if you're out there listening to this and going off beauty or saving money on makeup or shampoo, I'm not interested, I think you should stay tuned because from what I've seen on your Instagram many you do a lot of research and you really cover cover everything off for everybody. And I think the information will be relevant for more than just someone like myself who does have a guilty facial and getting my nails done and you know, buying excessive amounts of makeup for myself.
Money with Maddie 13:49
Yeah, and I feel like not just because you're frugal doesn't mean you have to be cheap and not get good quality products, I feel my one of my big values is skincare. And even though I do spend a fair bit of money on it, you can bet that I will get as much as I can out of that product. And I'll make sure it's really good for me too. So yeah, you don't have to just be frugal and be cheap and think that these products are good for you or these hacks are good for you. It's it's so worth it just to be a little bit more conscious environmentally, and also of yourself and what you're putting on your body.
Blaize Pengilly 14:24
Yeah, I agree completely. Or Maddie what's your tip kick us off? How can we do it?
Money with Maddie 14:30
Yeah, so I mean, I'll start with what really got me into it was when I was 18. I was a lover of eyelash extensions and nails and pedicures, manicures, all of that and you just go through your bank statements and realize that is a lot of money to be spending every two to three weeks. That is just you can't justify it by any means. And I thought there has to be a better way around this that I have to sacrifice what I love and still, you know, keep within a budget, but Cuz I have a lot of financial goals I'm trying to stick to now but I don't want to. Yeah, sacrifice, the my life, my lifestyle and what I love. So one of my biggest ones I love is Facebook groups. There are so many Facebook groups out there in every single region, capital city even obviously, Gold Coast isn't a capital city. But yeah, we've got Facebook groups for for men for women, especially to do with beauty treatments. So, you know, hair cuts, hair color, nails, massages, brows lashes, so many because there's a lot of apprentices and TAFE around that need volunteers to help practice and to do their final exams. So if you can sign up to those Facebook groups, they're free to join. There are so many everyday people asking for volunteers just to give up their time for some free treatments, which is where I get all of my brows done my nails done, I get pedicures, massages, I got my hair done full head of foils, then instead of paying $450 I paid $0 and I just gave up some of my time for them to do their training on me and take some photos for their Instagram and I can tell you I'm pretty happy with it. So yeah,
Dan Jovevski 16:16
Amazing.
Blaize Pengilly 16:17
I haven't considered the Facebook group option of finding cheaper deals, but I remember many years ago I am I volunteered for a trainee hairdresser. And I got a perm. I think it was about 16 Yeah, no regrets they're free perm and now I have curly hair and I didn't beforehand so I don't know if it's stuck around or something changed in my jeans maybe
Money with Maddie 16:44
you might say yes, that's
Blaize Pengilly 16:45
probably it.
Money with Maddie 16:47
Yeah, so you can just look up on Facebook just free beauty treatments and then the area you live in. So for me it was Gold Coast. And that's the same for Sydney, Melbourne, Perth that all around everywhere because wherever there is a need for it trust me there's going to be a Facebook group for it too. So and also you can even look up for female businesses in your area so the one close to me is Gold Coast girls in business and that's where I found in got my free head on as well and that was by a hairdresser that she'd been a hairdresser for 10 years so I had someone quite experienced do my hair for free which was awesome.
Dan Jovevski 17:21
That's amazing. Maybe I'm trying to relate to this conversation as much as I can and my sister is a makeup artist here in town and I every time I get a house I have to navigate the cars that are parked in front where people are dressing up and going to balls and weddings and whatnot but talk to me about some some other ways that we could save some money on on our beauty treatments and no one for the for the blocks here as well but one thing that I've just seen I'm not sure if you see this Maddie but my mum she's absolutely in on the groupons she loves I think she goes to everything was a lot of her does Groupon so away from treatment and treatment. What do you reckon of that? Is that part of part of one of your hacks
Money with Maddie 18:02
100% that awesome groupons and even if I go through cash awards and shop back to go onto Groupon to get even more discounts so yeah, you don't buy anything full price people
Blaize Pengilly 18:15
Maddie you are speaking my language. I have a such a hardcore shop back and cash rewards van. And yeah, you can get Groupon and then there's always the discount. So by the time you buy an already heavily discounted product on Groupon, you've got the shop back and you're getting the you're earning your money back. So I'm so for finding deals upon deals upon deals, and then hopefully a nice set of brows or a nice haircut by the end of it.
Money with Maddie 18:43
100% I totally agree. It's so good. But yeah, another one just to keep going. I also do product testing. So you can do this as a male as well. Because skincare regimes out there, like your resumes, and your shaving products and everything. So you don't have to just be a female to do this. They need males as well. But basically you can become a product trust tester and try and review products for free. They'll send you products to your home to try and then you just have to leave an honest review on the website. So the one of the ones the biggest ones in Australia is called the beauty crew. And it's called the review crew and you can sign up and they'll send you products depending on the demographic, the male female what you like, and then you can just leave them honest review obviously How do you get all those reviews on those websites like so for our makeup, there's so many reviews on there and that's how they get them so really, really cool. Another way is by doing market research for any beauty products, and they will pay you to try and review it and also they'll send it to you at home so you can do it. So two weeks ago I did it for fake Tim they sent me a bottle, I tried it and I gave them you and I got paid 90 bucks for that. That was awesome.
Blaize Pengilly 19:55
What that's so you're getting the free product and you're making money.
Money with Maddie 20:00
Yeah, yeah. So there is options where you just review the product and then leave a review online, and you just get the free product for that. But if you do market research, you can also get paid for it, which is what I like more.
Blaize Pengilly 20:13
So if you're doing the market research, how are you finding? Is he going directly to like your L'Oreal's or your buddy shops he lashes? Or is it a different company? How do you get into testing products for market research?
Money with Maddie 20:27
So market research, it's quite big. And it used to be a lot bigger before COVID. Because there's obviously in product testing, they send things to your home as well. It's actually my own side hustle that I do market research. There's a lot of companies out there in Australia, the big ones that I use, and I find I'm really successful on real time research, focus people, foreign research, research connections, chitchat research, there's so many out there. And if you actually go onto my Instagram page, I have a post just on my market research side hustle, I make about at least $1,000 a month, I try and aim for $500 a month, but I make about $1,000 a month out of that. Yes, $1,000. If you wanted to go have a look. Yeah. If you want to go have a look, you can go onto my Instagram and find my posts. It's my side hustle is market research. And I absolutely love it.
Blaize Pengilly 21:20
Anything where I'm getting something free and making money on top of I am 100% down for that sounds like the ultimate way to be to be getting these beauty products. It's so good outside of market research and testing products and free free items. How else can you live frugally in this area?
Money with Maddie 21:41
Yeah. So another way that we actually touched on before is using using apps like Shopback cash rewards and honey, you can also fill your basket with the products that you want. And then you can close the tab and leave the site. And guaranteed a day later, you if you sign up to their emails already, you most likely will receive a discount in an email encouraging you to complete the purchase so that I get a lot of the time. So you know, the word delayed gratification is really a thing and it does pay off in this area. So if you clear the cookies and internet history as well before browsing online, that's a really big one that I've found because the sites will increase the prices knowing what you're looking for. And it happens to me all the time, they jumped up the price by $10, when I looked when I looked on my computer compared to my phone, so it's something you've really got to look out for because cookies will get you
Dan Jovevski 22:40
as fascinating. I've heard always rumors about if you're an iPhone, if you're an iPhone user, people that have iPhones are deemed to be more affluent. And therefore the prices for certain goods are actually more expensive. It's amazing how people are dynamically pricing products based on your browsing history, or the price you look at that sounds quite, quite unfair really does.
Money with Maddie 23:04
Scary. I mean, it's great marketing tactics. But it's when I realized it because I went on my phone, I looked up a product. And then I cleared my cookies went onto my computer and was $10 cheaper. And I was like same website, same everything, it was insane. And yeah, really important to clear those cookies, if you do want to get a little bit cheaper. Another one that I have is using a uni days discount. If you are at uni, you can get at least 10% off so many products. And another one is stocking up on what's on sale products as well. So Priceline often every couple of months have 50% off makeup and skincare. But also Sephora has 20% off every April and November. So if you look out for those months, and just keep up with their emails, because there's always so many things you can get for free that sometimes you don't even get discounts on at all. So yeah, so far we'll have 20% of everything. That's pretty big for them. So
Blaize Pengilly 23:58
yeah, so keeping your eye on the sales and keeping aware of the times that the Priceline sale is something that I've definitely fallen victim to. But yeah, if you're stocking up for the future, then it's it's good. It's just making sure you have enough enough space and you're not doing an extreme couponing move like they do in America and fill up their entire garages with like 3000 different types of the same software. For sure,
Money with Maddie 24:21
that's another thing I'm guilty of. But another thing that I love is when I do go to those sales, I always ask for free makeup samples as well or skincare samples. If I am buying something I'll make sure to get something free along with it that I am wanting to try. So always ask for free samples before you're purchasing the actual product or ask for a free gift for your purchase. There's never any harm in trying and I've been lucky enough to get that as well. You also get free samples on your birthday and if you wait for World days so like world lipstick day for instance, Mac last year gave a free full size lipstick with a free with a purchase of a lipstick So you can get 50% off or buy one get one free, you just got to keep an eye out for those days as well. Awesome.
Blaize Pengilly 25:07
Mary, what about when it comes to all of this stuff that so there's the thing with beauty or anything really, especially groceries, that frustrates me is a lot of the packaging, and whether or not something is sustainable, or whether it's, you know, good for the environment to buy because I don't want to be getting lots of I love free samples. But if I'm relying on free samples, then I feel guilty about you know, that all of the packaging and whatnot, I go through what how can important is sustainability to you? And is there anything that you do to make sure that what you're doing is sustainable as well as frugal?
Money with Maddie 25:44
Yeah, I feel like it's so important to me. I mean, especially in this day and age, a lot of millennials and Gen Z we are so ethically and environmentally conscious, and I definitely um, as well. Big Thing is, I do like companies that will pay you back in a free products just for returning your packaging. So like Mac has a back to Mac where you get a free lipstick when you return six empty packages of lipstick. Also lush has a five part program where you get a free face mask when you bring back five empty pots. Another thing I do is I when I make my coffee at home with the grinds left over, I'll add honey and some essential oils to make my own face scrub or face mask, depending on how much money you make with it. Another one I do is I purchased my shampoo and conditioner and bars from lush now instead of bottles. You also get more use out of the product as well. And you don't have to cut the bottle and try and scrape out the rest of it too. I absolutely love that zero waste is a really big thing to me. But two in one products as we were talking about the start, they actually do work really well. So you've got some moisturizer for face as well as hands, shampoo and conditioners and one especially the men I know they love that. But there's also a cleansing oil that he can get that I have is from the botanical Republic. No, no sponsor anything just absolutely love it. It's a cleansing oil that acts as a makeup remover, a facial cleanser, a skin hydrator and a shaving oil on one bottle. So has four actions and use of all four. And it works perfectly for everything. It's awesome. And it's quite cheap as well.
Blaize Pengilly 27:23
Yeah. Nice. That Can we talk about hand cream for a moment? Because what is body? Like my face is on my body? Can I not just use the same cream? Is it literally just the title that they change on the packaging? Is it kind of like the pink tax where you know, typically, products that that advertise for women are a bit more expensive? Because we're paying this unnecessary pink tax on them? Why is it? What's the deal with hand cream is what I would like to know face buddy, how can it be used? Surely it's just not the same thing, right? Like completely out of the park.
Money with Maddie 27:57
Yes and No, I mean, moisturize is all the same, essentially. But the skin on your face is very delicate and has different oils that it produces compared to the rest of your body. I feel like hands and the rest of your body. They're all the same. I mean, there's nothing special about that. But that's just my opinion. But face moisturizer is completely different. They have to balance out the oils in our face. And you could break out if you put body lotion on your face. And there's a lot of different layers and different things that go on with your face that don't go on to the rest of your body, which is why you know, you won't get pimples and things on your legs. And you won't get rashes or other things and stuff like that. You might sometimes not but yeah, they are different. They are different types of skin. So you have to treat them differently, I guess. But you want to be extra frugal, you can which I'm guessing Dan.
Dan Jovevski 28:49
Well, alright, so I'm not going to be using GIF for a face scrub. Is that right? Yeah.
Money with Maddie 29:00
No, that's the thing. Pink Tex really is a thing. And it kind of leads into how I buy men's products as well. So I buy men's Shavers because there's five legs compared to three. And they're usually half the price compared to the men's. If you see a blue razor, compared to a pink razor, the pink razor will be at least a couple of dollars more the pink tax is a real thing, sadly. And that's why I love men's products because they're just not marketed as highly because women just pay so much more for beauty products. It's ridiculous. And going on to the back of that with men. There's so many things that I think you can do as a man to be more frugal in the area as well. So you could look into subscription based grooming products for ease of delivery. It's cheap, a higher quality product. So for instance, the Dollar Shave Club. I use that myself, I absolutely love it and they don't send you all the extra packaging. Their packaging is actually a recyclable cardboard which I love. So I get delivered every four months different razor blades and shaving cream, which is awesome. And it just reduces my, my packaging. And you know, I hate plastic and they don't use any of that they use cardboard, which is awesome. But if you're not really into that, I also love looking at safety razors. So my shaving your face with a multi blade razor, if you're a man, you're scraping a skin with so many blades. And that can lead to skin irritation and more ingrown hairs. So by swapping to a double edge safety razor don't need to worry about buying or throwing away plastic cartridges. And they're also quite inexpensive and can be recycled to so you can reduce your environmental impact as well.
Blaize Pengilly 30:40
That's also Maddie Is there any other topics, or any other hacks that you haven't gone through that we can ask you about?
Money with Maddie 30:46
a thing I love to tell people about is looking at the annual ethical fashion report, this report labor rights and environmental manage environmental management systems in companies in the fashion industry. So even though it's not to do with beauty products, specifically, it's just to do about companies and how they treat their workers. So ethics doesn't have to just be about what's inside the product. But how the company protects workers rights in the supply chain. So they grade companies on their policies, transparency, auditing, and worker empowerment and environmental management. So that's important to me as well, I don't want there to be slaves making things in China for 50 cents a day. It's just to me, ethics doesn't just come down to what's actually in my hand. It's about how to mate as well. So that's another big one. And it stopped me using a lot of products. So I definitely recommend looking that up is it 2021 and 2020 2019. You can see how they've progressed over the years as well, or declined. But they can't hide from that fashion report, which is really interesting. So it's great to look into
Dan Jovevski 31:53
a lot of the websites now many I was looking at buying a pair of sneakers the other day, and I had a look at a few websites. And I've just noticed a lot of those seals now appear at the bottom of the website. So people were actually talking about the bona fides in the ethical way they source materials and the way they produce the goods as well, which is really something that we, you know, I certainly hadn't seen last year, the year before, since it's really new and probably for the better, that consumers are now aware about how they're getting their their goods.
Money with Maddie 32:23
I think it's so important. And for me, especially and I know for a lot of my friends and my generation, we do look for those seals and ticks of approval when it comes to ethical or environmental impacts. So I'll always pay a little bit more knowing that I am doing something better for the environment. And also for labor and working rights, I think it's really important than something that is a big value of mine. And I'll definitely splurge a little bit of extra cash to make sure I'm doing the right thing. And I'm not contributing to waste pollution and also a lot of issues to do with workers.
Blaize Pengilly 32:59
I think that's a really, that's, that's an awesome thing that you do it. And it's it's a good reminder that you know, just because something, not everything that is super cheap is an is necessarily made in an ethical way. Like, like you mentioned before, with the subscription services, a lot of these companies that do offer subscription services are offering a premium product, but at a better price. And usually they're quite ethical as well. So I think definitely pay, it pays to do your research, when it comes to anything. And especially, you know, products that you're using every day, day in day out to amplify or maintain your appearance.
Money with Maddie 33:35
For sure, would the amount we spend, I feel like if we just did a little bit more research, and even if we spent the same amount, but on better quality products, and better management and have a better environment, environmental impact, you know, it can go a long way. And
Blaize Pengilly 33:50
Maddie, before we wrap up for today, I do have a question. How much do you think you've saved? Or do you think you save by doing all of these hacks versus someone who just goes out and buys normally and occasionally find something on sale? Is there a way that you could quantify how much you think you're saving by doing by doing all of this?
Money with Maddie 34:12
Well, I actually do track my spending in a spreadsheet. So I have quite a complex spreadsheet that I absolutely love. And I've tracked that for about two, three years now. And it's back from three years ago, which is what really made me want to do this and be a little bit more frugal with my beauty regime. I used to spend about maybe at least 15 $100 a quarter every three months. So $500 a month just on skincare, eyelash extensions, nails, and all of that because I loved it and I didn't really even look at the price tag. I was just like, yep, I'm a female. I guess I have to do this. This is just what I do and keeping up with you know, hair and everything. So I spend about $500 a month and now I'm down to about 50 If that so? And oh, yeah. Yes, sir, that it's really big for me I've Yeah, you know, 10% of what I used to spend is what I spend. Now, I have to attribute that to a lot of free services that I get. So, haircuts, hair colors, as I said, massages, I don't get eyelash extensions anymore, I just use a lash serum and occasionally get a lash lift and tint. I also don't get my nails done anymore. I paint them myself, you know, my sister will do it for me all the time we do each other's usually siblings, they help. But also, yes, I'm going to buy $50. But if I don't spend that $50 per month, I put that in my, my beauty funds, my skincare funds, and whatever I don't spend, usually they'll keep growing. And then I spend that on my six months or yearly top of makeup or skincare products. So I don't have to be cheap. I just don't spend as much as I do anymore. And I'm a little bit more conscious and intentional with my money around this space. And yeah, I definitely spend a lot lower than the average now. But I definitely would have been over the average three years ago.
Blaize Pengilly 36:10
50 down to 50 is just incredible,
Dan Jovevski 36:14
that he always stalking your Instagram profile and hadn't thought and you were quite new to Instagram. And you've had a quite a meteoric rise in the content you created. I just wanted to know how did you get involved in Instagram? Because you're almost at 3000 followers so far, and you have some really good content. But how did that whole journey start for you? You've obviously been frequently mine for quite some time. And now you're taking it online. How did this journey start for you?
Money with Maddie 36:39
Yeah, so this silence I around the end of last year, I was talking to my partner going well, I don't really have a hobby. What do I absolutely love and what do I really want to do with my time and he was like you all you ever talk about and all you ever want to do is help people with your finances you You're the number one go to person with your friends, your family when it comes to budgeting tips investing, learning how to be a bit more frugal, but more intentional with your money. Why don't you help other people do too and I was like, that's actually a really good point. And I realized that personal finance is my hobby, and it might sound really lame, but it is something that I absolutely love.
Blaize Pengilly 37:18
Mary, I think you are doing a fantastic job of de stigmatizing the chatter around money. Something we are super passionate about. Here We Talk Cents as well. you've placed so much amazing content. I mean, Today we've just discussed beauty hacks. But if you want to learn more about Maddie, her Instagram is money with Maddie, you should definitely check it out. There's everything from how to start your emergency fund what you should do with $10,000. And what that could end up what what that could end up being the power of time the power of compound interest, different budgeting methods, there is so much incredibly valuable information on your Instagram. So thank you, Maddie for enlightening us today with your beauty hacks. And yet, thanks for joining us on the show with sexual pleasure to have you
Money with Madie 38:04
Thanks so much for having me. I've absolutely loved it.
Dan Jovevski 38:06
Great to have you on buddy.
Blaize Pengilly 38:07
See you later. We Talk Cents podcast is produced by way money we money is a smart money app. Dan, you've got some news about the way money at what's happened this week. I
Dan Jovevski 38:18
do plays if we recall about weekend a bit ago, we had released a new credit score. So users of WeMoney could get access to their Equifax credit files, which gives them a better understanding of their credit health. But now what we've also released is a new feature called a savings calculator. If you're a person that has a personal loan, a home loan, and would like to see, hey, if I were to switch my personal loan or my home loan to another provider, how much could I potentially be saving? What WeMoney does is it automatically picks up what interest rate you are currently paying with your current financial institution allows you to understand the balance of the term remaining. And then compare that to a broad range of offers. What you can consider, hey, how much I'm going to be saving this year. For example, for a home loan, you could be saving quite a bit of money. If you're moving from a rate of say three and a half percent down to a rate, say as low as 2.5%, which could save you additional money each and every single year that you can put forward to do things like pay down more debt saving for a holiday or that emergency fund. It's an awesome feature. And I can't wait to see how many people use it in the coming months. Dan, it
Blaize Pengilly 39:27
sounds like this feature is helping people avoid paying the loyalty cap tax, which we talked about last week.
Dan Jovevski 39:33
Absolutely Blaize. I think it's very true and the more friction that people could remove to understand how much they could be saving, but more importantly, how they can also be eligible for certain offers. I think people will be pleasantly surprised. So go check it out, hits the WeMoney app and give it a go.
Blaize Pengilly 39:51
If you'd like to give the WeMoney app a try. It's free to download from the Apple and Google Play stores and if you use the code word podcast, you'll get $5 on sign up
Dan Jovevski 40:03
Thanks for listening to We Talk Cents. We'll be back again next week for another installment of money news.
Blaize Pengilly 40:08
If you'd like to get in touch, please reach out to us via socials. We love getting DMS from you. We are an Instagram at get WeMoney. And I'll Chuck a link to that in the show notes.
Dan Jovevski 40:18
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Blaize Pengilly 40:30
That's all from us this week. We will catch you next time. Have a lovely week ahead. See ya. Bye
Disclaimer:
The author is not a financial advisor and the information provided is general in nature and was prepared for information purposes only. This article should not be considered to constitute financial advice. Accordingly, reliance should not be placed on this article as the basis for making an investment, financial or other decision. This information does not take into account your investment objectives, particular needs or financial situation