Aussie earning over $400,000 says it is ‘expensive to be poor’

A 29-year-old Aussie earning more than $400,00 a year has revealed why it is much cheaper to be rich and why splashing your cash saves you money.

Nova Hawthorne didn’t comprehend the true cost of being poor in Australia until she became rich.

Ms Hawthorne, 29, resides in Melbourne and makes $440,000 a year, but she wasn’t raised wealthy.

“Money was for needs. We had to be careful with it,” she told news.com.au.

The Melbourne local was raised by a single mum in public housing alongside her two siblings.

Ms Hawthorne stressed that she had a loving and supportive childhood and a doting mum who ran herself ragged to provide for them, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.

“My attitude to money growing up was to be grateful for what we had,” she said.

Nova grew up in government housing. Picture: Instagram/NovaHawthorne

She's now making more than $400,000 a year. Picture: Instagram/NovaHawthorne

She remembers a great Christmas when she was thrilled to receive her first iPod, but she also remembers having to work and save up for her own school trips.

It wasn’t that she felt unlucky, it was just that money dominated the decisions they could and couldn’t make as a family.

When she got her first ever pay cheque from her part-time high school job, she gave her mum $50 to help replace a microwave.

Now, she’s making almost half a million a year by creating X-rated content online, which has made her realise how difficult it really was to be poor.

“It’s expensive to be poor. Now that I have funds behind me, I can splash the money on things that will save me in the long run,” she said.

Ms Hawthorne pointed out that wealth comes with having the ability to buy things that are more expensive, better quality and last longer.

“Buying clothes and shoes that will last a long time, and furniture that isn’t going to fall apart after two years,” she said.

The young Aussie said that she’s learned that “investing” in more quality items can save you so much money in the long run, but when you don’t have the money in the first place, you’re stuck with lower-quality items and have to replace them.

“Buying cheap means buying it twice,” she said.

She's learned how to invest her money. Picture: Instagram/NovaHawthorne

She's said buying cheap is buying twice. Picture: Instagram/NovaHawthorne

But it goes beyond just everyday items. She believes that the whole system is skewed so rich people win and poor people don’t.

“I’ve also learnt that the system is built to keep the wealthy rich. When it comes to taxation, company law, trust law, and so on, they are designed to entrench entitlement,” she said.

Ms Hawthorne said getting the best out of your money requires hiring people to manage it, which you can’t afford if you’re struggling.

“I’ve learned these systems are complex to navigate and you need experts to help guide you through them, which costs money. So once again, money begets money,” she said.

Sarah Megginson, money expert at comparison website Finder, said Ms Hawthorne’s assertions are valid, and paying less upfront can cost people more in the long term.

“It can be more expensive to make your way through life when you can’t afford good quality items,” she said.

“This is where those with less disposable income can end up paying the cheaper tax. You pay less upfront, but you end up spending more in the longer term.”

Earning big money has also been such a learning curve for Ms Hawthorne.

“It is hard to break out of that scarcity mindset,” she admitted.

Learning how to manage her money was also overwhelming in the beginning. It wasn’t like she had a family blueprint to follow. She knew how to scrimp and save, not how to manage wealth.

“The biggest mistake I have made was banking my money without having a plan of what I wanted to do with it. It took some time for me to understand the concept of spending money to make money and what my investment options were,” she explained.

She's had to learn how to manage her money. Picture: Instagram/NovaHawthorne

She needed to learn how to make her money work for her.

“I have had to learn how to manage these funds, not just hold on to them but also how to spend them. I know it sounds silly that I had to learn how to spend money on myself, but it’s true,” she said.

She once got so overwhelmed shopping in a fancy store for the first time that she had a panic attack.

“I felt I was an impostor in this store that everyone could see I didn’t belong. And that’s how I felt in this new money space, that I was a fraud and not deserving of the fruits of my efforts. I felt a strange sense of guilt when spending money on myself. It took a long time to be more comfortable with this,” she said.

“I still hesitate and deliberate on many purchases, but I had to have a slow mindset shift. I had to convince myself that I am worthy of nice things, and yes, I can actually afford these things.”

It goes beyond affording nice handbags and clothes. For Mr Hawthorne, earning big money means she can help her entire family in small and big ways.

“Money for small things, like groceries, winter clothes for my niece, to take the family to the pool, fill the car with fuel so they can spend the day out. I never mind these requests, especially knowing how much they help my family,” she said.

“I actively try to assist with these types of things. I wish growing up we had more money, and I do now, so I feel if I can help improve their quality of life, I definitely should.”