Uncensored Money

Your New Year's resolutions were never going to work, and it's not because you're lazy. You made them drunk on champagne and optimism, on behalf of a version of you with far more bandwidth than you actually have on a wet Tuesday in February. 

So if those January money goals quietly died months ago? Good. Let them. 

Because it's the first of July. New financial year. New payslips, fresh tax year, super statements landing, and twelve months of real numbers you can finally look at instead of guess at. This , not January,  is the reset that actually has machinery behind it. 

In this episode, Mel walks through five things worth doing this new financial year: how to find more cash by looking at both sides of the ledger (not just the lattes), how to clear the bad debt and choose not to reach for it again, why a five-minute conversation about your mortgage could save you more than a year of skipped coffees, how to set one ridiculously specific goal instead of five vague ones, and the cup-of-tea's worth of admin that matters more than almost anything else: checking your super. Plus a bonus for anyone running a business. 

No hype. No shame. Just what to actually do next. 

What Mel covers in this episode: 

Why the new financial year beats New Year's resolutions every time 


Finding more cash by asking two questions at once: where can I cut, and where can I bring more in 


The four types of debt (bear trap, quicksand, bridge, fast car) and what to do with each 


Why clearing debt is only half the job and how to make it stick 


The loyalty tax on your mortgage, and how a broker does the shopping for you 


How to set one goal so specific a ten-year-old could grade you on it 


Your new-financial-year super checklist: find it, consolidate it, check the fees, and the super-splitting conversation to have if you've taken a career break 


A bonus for business owners: reviewing last year honestly, and being willing to let go of what's no longer working 


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General Advice Warning: This podcast contains general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances, objectives or needs. Mel Browne Money Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd (AFSL: 563 907). Please consider whether the information is appropriate for you, and speak to a licensed financial adviser, accountant or tax professional before making any financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. 


Links mentioned in the episode are below:

Mel's Secret Business Club 9 spots left and starss 28 July: https://www.melissabrowne.com.au/msbc
My Financial Adulting Plan – final round ever starts 21 July: https://www.melissabrowne.com.au/financialadulting

20+ ways to find 10k in 12 months link: melissabrowne.com.au/find$10kin12months 
For more tips and resources, visit us at melissabrowne.com.au, on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok @MelBrowne.Money or send us an email at hello@melissabrowne.com.au. 
Finally, if you love this episode please make sure you subscribe, share it with a friend and leave us a review.

Nobody in finance talks about this. 
How trauma responses — freeze, flight, fight, fawn — show up in your financial decisions. And what they're actually costing you. 
In this episode I share something personal: I have PTSD from experiences in my teenage years. And for a long time I didn't connect that to my finances. 
Looking back — it was there in everything. 
This episode covers: 
— What a trauma response actually is (and why it's not what most people think) 
— How freeze, flight, fight and fawn show up specifically in financial behaviour 
— The fawn response — the one that costs women the most and gets talked about the least 
— Three practical financial steps to take alongside therapy 
— Why you cannot separate your nervous system from your bank account 
If you're working through difficult experiences, please reach out to a qualified therapist. 
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General Advice Warning: This podcast contains general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances, objectives or needs. Mel Browne Money Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd (AFSL: 563 907). Please consider whether the information is appropriate for you, and speak to a licensed financial adviser, accountant or tax professional before making any financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. 
For more tips and resources, visit us at melissabrowne.com.au, on Facebook or Instagram @MelBrowne.Money or send us an email at hello@melissabrowne.com.au. 

Finally, if you love this episode please make sure you subscribe, share it with a friend and leave us a review.

You know the ick. That tiny thing someone does that you just can't unsee. Turns out money has them too. 

This week Mel and Lawsie rate 10 financial icks out of 10  and then, because they can't help themselves, they flip every single one over to show what it's actually hiding underneath. Because here's the thing: nobody does the icky money stuff because they're a bad person. They do it because of a story. 

It's funny. It's a little bit savage. And it ends somewhere that actually matters. 

In this episode: 

The Calculator at Dinner — boundaries vs the surprise audit 


The Bargain Brag — why a discount quietly hijacks your brain 


The $40 Afterpay — how the drip-feed hides the price 


The Points Evangelist — who's really winning the points game (spoiler: not you) 


The Leased Lifestyle — why real wealth is mostly invisible 


"I Forgot My Wallet" (again) — avoidance vs cashflow shame 


"Investing is just gambling" — fear dressed up as principle 


"I'm just hopeless with money" — the badge so many women wear, and why it isn't true 


"I've made 7 figures in my business" — revenue vs profit, and the numbers women aren't asked enough 


"My partner handles all of that" — the one Mel will go to the wall on 


Pick the one that stung the most. That's the one to start with. Not all ten. One.
Want more?
Monday Money Hacks (free weekly): https://www.melissabrowne.com.au/subscribe 
Mel's Secret Business Club (MSBC): https://www.melissabrowne.com.au/msbc
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General Advice Warning: This podcast contains general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances, objectives or needs. Mel Browne Money Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Rask Licensing Pty Ltd (AFSL: 563 907). Please consider whether the information is appropriate for you, and speak to a licensed financial adviser, accountant or tax professional before making any financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. 


For more tips and resources, visit us at melissabrowne.com.au, on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok @MelBrowne.Money or send us an email at hello@melissabrowne.com.au. 

Finally, if you love this episode please make sure you subscribe, share it with a friend and leave us a review.

Content warning: This episode discusses financial abuse, coercive control, and intimate partner violence. Support services are listed at the end of these notes, including 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. If anything in this episode is distressing, please reach out. 

In New South Wales, on 1 July 2024, coercive control became a criminal offence in intimate partner relationships. Queensland followed in May 2025. In 2026, the federal family law reform formally recognised financial abuse for the first time in Australian history. Which means a lot of the behaviours we've spent decades calling "a controlling marriage" or "he's just careful with money" are now, in a pattern — illegal.  

In this episode, Mel and Lawsie walk through the six signs of financial coercive control. Some you'll recognise. Some you'll have lived through and never had a word for. All of them are named in the legislation, the BOCSAR research, or both.  

The six signs covered 

The six signs of financial coercive control: 1. A lack of control over your own income — or a strict, often small, allowance that is tracked  

2. Sabotaging your career or education to keep you financially reliant  

3. Surveillance of every dollar you spend — big or small  

4. Pressuring or tricking you into signing for loans and credit in your name 5. His money pays for him; your money pays for the kids, the groceries, and the essentials 6. Keeping you in the dark about household finances, debt, and investments 

Plus: Mel reclaims the term sexually transmitted debt: and explains why it's never been more relevant. Including the three things every Australian woman needs in her own name, no matter her relationship status.  

Save this episode, send it to a woman in your life, and we'll see you next week. 

For more tips and resources, visit us at melissabrowne.com.au, on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok @MelBrowne.Money or send us an email at hello@melissabrowne.com.au. 

Links mentioned in the episode are below
https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts/what-the-finance/sexually-transmitted-debt/ 

1800RESPECTNational sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. 24/7, free, confidential. 1800 737 732 1800respect.org.au 

National Debt HelplineFree, independent financial counsellors. Specialists in financial abuse. 1800 007 007 ndh.org.au 

Centre for Women's Economic SafetyNational charity focused on economic abuse. Runs free Money Clinics — one-on-one sessions with a trauma-informed female financial counsellor. Bookable online from anywhere in Australia. cwes.org.au · financialsafety.org.au 

Lifeline24/7 crisis support. 13 11 14 lifeline.org.au 


Your bank's DV teamEvery major Australian bank has a specialist domestic and family violence assistance team. Call your bank's main customer service line and ask to be referred — they will help with account separation, hardship arrangements, and credit reporting. 

Finally, if you love this episode please make sure you subscribe, share it with a friend and leave us a review.

After more than a decade, 6,000+ women and many of their partners, and more financial transformations than we can count, Mel is closing the My Financial Adulting Plan. For good. 
Yes, she's closing rather than selling her continuing her 7 figure business. 
You might think she's crazy (she does a little too, that's OK.) 
But in this episode, Lawsie turns the microphone around and asks Mel the questions everyone has been too polite to ask. Why? What did it cost her personally to keep going? Was there a moment she almost changed her mind? And what does she hope the 6,000+ women who've been through MFAP actually walk away with? 
This is an honest, unscripted conversation between two people who built something together and are figuring out in real time what it means to close it. No sales script. No polished answers. Just Mel and Lawsie the way you love them. 
If MFAP has ever been on your radar, there are two rounds left. This conversation is the best reason to stop waiting. You can check out MFAP here: https://www.melissabrowne.com.au/financialadulting  
For more tips and resources, visit us at melissabrowne.com.au, on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok @MelBrowne.Money or send us an email at hello@melissabrowne.com.au. 

Links mentioned in the episode are below
My Financial Adulting Plan can be found at  melissabrowne.com.au/financialadulting 

Finally, if you love this episode please make sure you subscribe, share it with a friend and leave us a review.