Big life events

Leticia, one of our Senior Lending and Customer Service Specialists at Money Sweetspot recently had a big life event that caught her by surprise - her partner proposed out of the blue!

Leticia: My partner surprised me by proposing last June. I’m not the one for flashy items or being the centre of attention, and since we hadn't planned or saved for a wedding we discussed eloping overseas with our three children and turning our celebration into a family holiday which was more important to us than hosting a large wedding.

A little bit about Leticia:

I’ve never had the luxury of being raised in a wealthy home so, budgeting every dollar earned has become a life skill including raising my daughter on one income for the first 14 years of her life. But I’m proud to say that my daughter at nearly 18 years of age was recently accepted into AUT a year earlier than anticipated to undertake her studies in business and accounting. Guess, this career choice for her might have had a little to do with my career path and my relationship with money.

What were the biggest financial decisions you had to make to make when you got engaged? Were there any sacrifices or changes in your spending you made that helped you save?

The hard part for us was to choose between an expensive wedding which would take years to save for as we would have to cater for 80-90 people to be included in our celebration or be a little selfish and elope with just our kids which at the time we could afford to do from the savings we already had on hand.

Did you receive any great advice that helped you financially prepare?

My partner and I are very disciplined when it comes to money and making sure we always have funds set aside for a rainy day or when something unexpected might come up, but this has been decades of training to get us to this point as we both have had up’s and downs in life just like every other New Zealander.

Are there any smart money tips you think could help others planning their own big life events?

For us it was figuring out what is most important and then what is realistic. The best thing for us was making sure we didn’t start the next chapter in our lives in debt and we only spent what we could afford towards our small wedding celebration from our years of savings together.

What's next on the horizon for you? Do you have any big life goals and financial milestones you are striving to achieve?

What’s next? Wow, I feel like this journey with Money Sweetspot and the impact we can have to help Kiwis improve their financial situation has only just started and I’m looking forward to continuing to grow with this amazing company and working with as many people as we can helping one household at a time.

What inspired you to join Money Sweetspot?

I’ve worked in the finance industry for over 16 years with various lenders from Cash Converters, DTR, Avanti Finance etc and one thing I’ve learnt is that each person's life story and journey are all different based on so many different factors. However, we are all humans trying to enjoy life as it’s intended to be, but sometimes things happen and these bumps in the road can be life lessons and hurt or cost a lot and it doesn’t matter what journey you are on we should not be judged on certain life events but all should be treated equally and fairly.

This is why I had chosen to work alongside Sasha as I believed in her vision to help New Zealanders who need someone friendly on the other side of the phone to discuss their finances without being judged. In the two years of being with Money Sweetspot, have been able to achieve this as you would have seen in the kind words written by our clients and their experience with us.

What is the most motivating thing about the work you do?

It’s the people I work with from my work colleagues, everyone involved in MSS journey and of course, the clients – the most rewarding part is being able to help New Zealanders with their finances and offer them a financial reset that actually positively changes people's lives.