Matty J learns how to ‘Budget like a Boss’

Matthew ‘Matty J’ Johnson has dropped the second episode in his six-part podcast series, The Penny Drops.

Presented by the Commonwealth Bank, The Penny Drops podcast sees Matty J explore and learn all about his finances – from selecting a super fund, to buying a home and investing money in the share market.

In the second episode, Budget like a Boss, Matty J speaks to both a financial planner and a person who managed to claw themselves out of significant credit card debt about the power of budgeting. 

Both interviewees speak to Matty J about the importance of having a good budget in place – one that is easy to follow and designed in a way that is unique to a person’s specific situation and goals.

As Matty J learns, a budget doesn’t need to be a complex document that leverages a bunch of different excel formulas. Instead, a budget can be as simple as a couple of dot points on a piece of paper. It just needs to clearly document all of a person’s unique incoming and outgoing expenses, their short, mid and long-term goals, and a realistic pathway to achieving those goals.

In wrapping up his learning’s from the second episode, Matty J said the first thing he is going to do is write down his goals.

“I need to write down all of my goals - my immediate, medium, and long-term. And, for those long term goals that I’m not sure about, I need to remember that savings are my enabler. If I have savings and something sparks my interest down the track, then I will be in a great position to take action,” he said.

“And, I need to write a budget – something I should have done a very long time ago – because this is going to give me a clear picture of my money coming in and my money going out. But, with this budget, I shouldn’t make it too stringent or try and base it off a certain formula, I need to make it realistic, as it has to work for me and my unique situation.”

Matty J also said it was clear from his conversation with Bryanna – a young woman who, at the age of 23, found herself in almost $30,000 of credit card debt – that getting out of debt all comes down to discipline and consistency.

“Hearing from someone who’s done it, who’s gotten themselves out of debt and is now financially flourishing is the sort of reality check we all need. Because sometimes, you just need a reminder that it’s achievable. But, it’s also becoming pretty clear that there isn’t a silver bullet or a quick fix, it’s consistency, it’s discipline and organisation – all of the things that I’ve been neglecting. But, it’s these small steps each day that really pay off,” he said.