A Real Girl's Guide To Money

From Converse To Louboutins

How can she afford that? Where the hell is my money going? Will I ever be able to afford a home?

A Real Girl's Guide to Money: From Converse to Louboutins is the money book for every woman who has that voice in her head.

Financial commentator and Money editor Effie Zahos answers these questions and more in this step-by-step guide to money, sharing practical tips along with her own personal experiences with everything from overspending to surprise pregnancy.

And it couldn't come at a better time.

"One in three Aussie women retire with no superannuation, leaving them facing poverty," Zahos says. "As the mother of a teenage daughter, I want to equip women to take control of their finances."

"In the book I tackle each stage in life, from getting your first job and falling in (and out) of love and starting a family to planning for those golden years."

A Real Girl's Guide To Money Includes:
Your three-bucket approach to successful budgeting
Five spending triggers and fixes
Mix-and-match strategies to get that home deposit
Your guide to shares, ETFs, funds, property and fixed interest
10 ways to boost your super without putting in an extra cent
Parenting: from prams to P-plates and everything in between
Five fiscal date nights you must go on
How to deal with divorce with a clear head, not a broken heart
1+2+3 = your retirement plan
26-week money makeover with weekly challenges to kickstart your finances

Effie Zahos is one of Australia's leading personal finance commentators. As editor of Money, Australia's longest running personal finance magazine, she has a knack for making money matters simple. She is also a regular money expert on Channel 9's Today show and on radio around Australia.

After completing a degree in economics from the University of Queensland, she moved to Sydney in her mid-20s (still a Maroons supporter though!).

She is married and is the proud mother of two children who are reformed spenders, thanks to Effie's children's book, The Great $20 Adventure, a story designed to teach young ones the value of money.

A Real Girl's Guide To Money
Bauer Media Books
Author: Effie Zahos
ISBN: 9781925695854
RRP: $24.99

Interview with Effie Zahos

Question: What inspired you to write A Real Girl's Guide To Money?

Effie Zahos: My publisher Sally Eagle, had been hounding me for some time to write a book but one afternoon she waltzed into my office in one of her amazing ensembles, pregnant with her fourth child and wondering how hell she was going to juggle everything and at that moment it clicked with me that there was a need for a girl's guide to money.

I thought about the chats with my girlfriends, women I have met when presenting at seminars about money and even conversations I have had with other school mums and realised we all have that little voice in our head asking questions like "I earn a good income so where the hell is my money going?", "How can she afford that?", "Will I ever be able to afford a home?" and "Who's got spare cash to contribute to super?"

As the mother of a teenage daughter, I want to equip women to take control of their finances and help them find solutions to the questions their money woes.


Question: What is included in A Real Girl's Guide To Money?

Effie Zahos: I tackle each stage in life, from getting your first job and falling in (and out) of love and starting a family to planning for those golden years.

Each chapter tackles a real question and offers a solution and includes my own personal stories and experiences.

Topics include a three-bucket approach to help you budget and save, the five triggers that cause you to spend and the fixes as well as the 1+2+3 = retirement plan.

There's also a 26-week makeover challenge. Each week you pick one saving or money-making tip. You have seven days to complete the. You get to pick which tip you want to act on each week. There is no specific order.


Question: What financial advice would you give to your 18 year old self?

Effie Zahos: Start salary sacrificing into super as soon as you get your first job! By starting early I would have benefited more from the magic of compound interest. A quick play around on the superguru.com.au calculator shows that putting an extra $50 a fortnight into super will make a difference of $103,925 at retirement.


Question: Can you share a couple of the practical saving tips we could follow to buy our first home?

Effie Zahos: • Work out how much you can regularly save towards a deposit. $100 per week over 10 years at just 3%pa will see you have $60,555 in your online saver. Double that and you'll have more than enough to put a 20% deposit on a $500,000 home. Where are you going to find $200 a week? Bring your lunch to work, skip dining out on Saturday nights. Also look for ways to fatten up your cash flow using the share economy. For example Run some errands, shift some furniture or do a delivery – and earn up to $5000 each month doing odd jobs with Airtasker or put your car to work by signing up as an Uber driver, or rent out your car for others to drive through the likes of DriveMyCar.

• Choose where you'll grow savings. Mix and match between an online savings account and higher-return options like exchange traded funds, managed funds and/or the First Home Super Saver scheme.

• Talk to your family about how they can help. They might be able to offer you a cash gift or act as a guarantor.

• If you can't afford to buy on your own, think about co-buying with a friend or relative. It will boost your buying power and make the costs more manageable.

• Consider rentvesting if you can't afford to buy in the area you want to live in. Rentvesting involves buying an investment property that you rent out while you pay rent where you live.


Question: What is your favourite fiscal date night?

Effie Zahos: Of the five fiscal date nights I talk about in my book my favourite has to be role play night. It's not what you're thinking but it can be just as much fun. The idea is you ask each other questions such as "If you won $1million what would you do with it?" If they answer "First-class tickets to Las Vegas, Mercedes-Benz SLC convertible, Ducati and pool for the kids," then you're dealing with a spender. But what if they answered: "I'd give most of it to my mum and dad – after all they raised me!" Will that cause a problem? You'll be surprised at what comes out of role play nights.
Interview by Brooke Hunter

A Real Girl's Guide To Money
Bauer Media Books
Author: Effie Zahos
ISBN: 9781925695854
RRP: $24.99