Lorna Deng, DivTal Co-founder & HR Professional

"I would describe my journey with money as a bit of a rollercoaster.

My parents fled Sudan when the civil war broke out and escaped to neighbouring country Kenya where I was born. A few years later, we moved to Botswana after my dad got a job opportunity and stayed there for almost 8 years. We were safe in Botswana but didn’t have stability. In search for a place to call home, we migrated to Australia.

I saw my parents work really hard to make ends meets. They were raising me and my 3 siblings whilst also supporting relatives back home. We had money for the essentials in life, but never for much more – so I grew up with the idea that money was scarce and that you had to work really hard to earn it.

I was determined to start working as soon as possible and at 13 I got my first job as a newspaper deliverer. It enabled me to buy the things that my parents couldn’t buy for me – like magazines, clothes and junk food. I worked casual jobs throughout my teens and early twenties and all the money I got was spent on whatever I needed or wanted at the time.

My biggest money lesson came in my mid 20’s. I graduated from University and soon after got my first full time corporate job where my income had almost doubled. Shortly after I moved into a new apartment, went into debt furnishing it, went on overseas holidays, ate out at restaurants and bought a brand-new wardrobe. I just spent and spent and spent.

I remember coming into work one day and being pulled into a room with my entire team. We got told that our team was being made redundant. My entire world stopped. I had been living pay check to pay check and had basically no savings. I remember being stricken with the fear that I was potentially about to lose everything.

That was my turning point. I knew I needed to change things. I was one of the few in my team to fortunately secure a job, but I knew that next time I probably wouldn’t be so lucky.

I started researching ‘money management tips’ and came across financial guru Dave Ramsey who completely changed my outlook about money. For the first time in my life I was learning the fundamentals about personal finances and more importantly the behavioural aspect of managing it.

I added up all my debt (which was so confronting to see the total figure), created a budget, adopted a minimalist lifestyle, cut down my spending drastically and started paying off my debt. It wasn’t easy at all, but I was so determined to never ever feel the fear I felt when I thought I was about to lose my job. Fast forward to two years, I paid off all my debt (including my HECS), saved an emergency fund and even bought a car outright!

Being debt free is the most liberating feeling. We live in a society where we’re constantly being told to buy more, get bigger and better and as a result we’re made to try “keep up with Jones”. We’re spending all this money that we don’t have and are the most stressed we’ve ever been.

True wealth to me means having freedom and peace of mind, which you can have irrespective of how much money you make. Looking back and knowing what I know now, my biggest advice to anyone wanting to turn their finances around would be to firstly define your values and what’s important to you in life, then set financial goals, create a plan and work to achieve it.

At 30, my focus is to continue to be debt-free, grow my nest egg and find ways to be more generous. I plan to continue to progress within my career as a Human Resource professional, and also launch my social enterprise DivTal, which will be an online job platform that connects organisations with culturally diverse talent. Migrants come here with so much hope and promise, but unfortunately are not always provided with the right opportunities - my goal is that DivTal can help improve employment prospects for migrants."