It's Pay Day! The ABC's new column where we ask Australians the money questions we don't like to talk about. We aim to demystify personal finance and normalise conversations about what we earn and how we save it — or spend it.
Naarah is an actor, singer, radio presenter, and Tasmania's Young Australian of the Year. She previously starred in the hit Australian television series Deadloch, and for the past year has been living in London studying at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music. She was also the recent winner of the National NAIDOC Creative Talent Award for 2024.
For Pay Day, she discusses the reality of being an Australian student living overseas, why she's happy to invest in a fancy dinner, and why she doesn't want to know how much of her money goes to subscriptions.
How would you describe your financial situation right now?
It's so ever-changing as an artist. No two days are the same in what I do for work, which means no weeks are the same between pay days.
Because my work is so inconsistent, there can be some great gigs but then there's also a lot of waiting time and auditions. It's all over the shop. I've just finished up 10 months as a student on a great scholarship, which was really incredible. It's a lot of money in Australian dollars, but obviously, now that I live in London, it's about half of that. For every dollar, it's basically 50 pence, because the cost of living crisis in London is at an absolute high.
So money's been tight. I've been really good at budgeting and cutting some things down and not having some things at all. I got my last scholarship payment recently, so I'm very much on the last couple of 100 pounds up until my next gig in a few weeks.
How was money spoken about in your house growing up?
Money was a really open conversation. I didn't grow up in a well-to-do family, but we never went without. Dad was really hard-working, and Mum would do everything she could to support Dad in all of his work. Dad was self-employed and there was a time when he was unwell for a couple of months so we really felt that. Money was such an open topic though, and it taught me to save from a really young age.
What's your guilty splurge?
I love a nice dinner. I love quality time over great quality food. I think my splurge would be going for a nice dinner and a nice bottle of wine. You could eat for $5 or $500, but I think it's definitely a splurge because you can always save money on food. I do a lot of meal prep in London, especially as a student — but I really enjoy spending quality time with great people and great food.
Have you ever kept a secret about money?
I went to a house inspection once as a teenager where the person had just died. And they had this bag of old coins sitting open, so I grabbed one on a whim. It sat with me for a couple of months, and this house was around the corner from mine and I remember walking into school one day, doing a detour, going back to the house and throwing the coin back.
I don't know where it landed, just somewhere in the house. I felt the guilt, I couldn't do it anymore!
How much was the last loaf of bread you bought?
My last loaf of bread would have been about £3 ($5). It was a late-night shop, so it wasn't even a good, fresh loaf. But I love investing in good quality bread, butter and milk. The staples!
Cash or card?
Look, there is a purpose for both but I must be honest and say that I can't remember the last time I had cash on me.
How many bank accounts do you have? How do you organise your money?
This is really funny because it is insane at the moment. I have accounts with several different banks which is mind-blowing, but one has my day-to-day spending, it also has my super and my home loan. Another had my house savings for the majority of my life and I couldn't touch it so I didn't have the password to that (which is how I was able to save my house deposit).
I've also got my international bank account as well, but I do need to open up another one as I'll soon be a legitimate working actor in London and need it to get paid.
What's the biggest lie you tell yourself about money?
I think my biggest issue is subscriptions. I think, "Oh, it's only £6 ($11), it'll be fine". But then there are so many subscriptions sitting in my account that I really don't need or use. The subscription format we have in today's society — paying money consistently for something on demand — is a really tricky thing.
I have subscriptions to apps and if I was to add them up it would be quite scary. But I really think I do need to look in the mirror a bit more when it comes to which ones I actually need.
What's your biggest financial achievement?
Definitely buying my first house. That was really important for me, I think realising that not touching those savings over many years really did get me somewhere.
I always wanted that money there to buy a house one day, and my dad always said the first thing to do with my savings is to buy a house. It was an opportunity that definitely came earlier in my life than I thought it would have. Because buying a house in your 20s — let's face it — is almost impossible.
But saving that $2 a week from a young age — I never stopped doing that. And when I earned a bit more I would throw more in. I bought a house in a small Aboriginal community in the Kimberley, so it's definitely a renovator's dream! And my mum and dad live there currently, which is really funny because they're now my tenants. I'm really proud of that.
If you could tell 18-year-old you one thing about money, what would it be?
You don't need a consistent job to be successful. I think a big part of me learning to be an artist was learning to let go of the consistent work mindset. I grew up in a world only seeing people who work traditional jobs ... I don't think we see enough of arts workers making a living for themselves.
It's a very hard industry to crack, don't get me wrong. But I think I would tell myself as an 18-year-old that I need to, you know, allow myself to be in the freedom of that lifestyle and to know that I don't need to always work full-time jobs.
I think if you really want it, you can get it. I really proved to myself over a couple of years that I can work in the arts and that there are so many different ways of making money, whether it be a gig on a Friday night for a couple of hours or working in the theatre.
You can find out more about Naarah and her work here. Some answers have been edited for clarity.