MoneyBites: Getting young people talking about their finances

What can episodes of Brooklyn 99 and Destiny’s Child teach young people about money? A new podcast by Kate Crowhurst, a young financial literacy expert, uses pop culture to get other young people talking about their finances. 

From applying for jobs to understanding politics, there’s a whole list of life skills we wish we’d been taught at school. Just under half of Australian secondary school students wanted to learn more practical financial skills, such as how to budget, according to a UNICEF survey carried out in 2018. Not only secondary school children - but a “whole cross-section of young people” who are in their teens or university students are forgotten - when it comes to teaching financial literacy, Kate Crowhurst says. 

“We assume you’re going to transition from school to then having  everything worked out on your pathway to getting a house and being able to retire with enough money in the bank. However, unless you receive that education about money at school, are you meant to learn about it?.”

Crowhurst, a teacher in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, realised that although financial literacy is on the national curriculum, the reality was this subject wasn’t being made available consistently in schools and resources weren’t right for her students.

“It seemed very manufactured and like it came from people who already had the answers,” she says. “Not the young people who would be retiring and working in a different economy to their parents”.

She decided to do something about it. After a lot of research, Crowhurst started her own website - MoneyBites. The Money Bites blog covers those money questions we all want to ask but don’t always know where to get guidance on, including how to save money on your electricity bill; how different budgeting methods work; all about superannuation; and the pros and cons of house shares. These topics are delivered in bite-sized snippets, perfect for reading on your commute or lunch break.

Photo credit: MoneyBites

Now Crowhurst is taking the next step with a Money Bites podcast to have more in-depth conversations about money and using pop culture to kick-start these discussions. “Rather than preaching from a kind of ivory tower we are looking at a culture that’s already surrounding young people and breaking down what we can learn about money from that.”  Episode one uses a ‘Brooklyn 99’ analogy to tackle one of the biggest money questions: how to buy your own home. 

As well as using pop culture references and discussions with financial experts, the podcast features young people’s money stories. They share their unfiltered experiences with money - biggest mistakes, money wins, and the one lesson about money they want you to know.

Talking about money can be particularly challenging for people working in the social impact space. Crowhurst says, in the non-profit sector, money isn’t talked about enough and “that can be anything from not printing the salaries on job adverts to not talking about money because we feel that we shouldn’t, and that the cause should come first and the money should be secondary to that.”

But she emphasises it’s important to start talking about money as well as start seeing your relationship with money as a journey, rather than a ‘good or bad’ with money situation.

Given Crowhurst’s experience, she’s well placed to be sharing this advice on these issues. In 2018 she made the Forbes 30 Under 30, and attended the One Young World conference as one of three young leaders selected for their work on financial literacy. She also studied financial literacy at the University of Melbourne and University of Cambridge.

How to get involved in MoneyBites:

• You can read the blog and listen to the podcast here.

• MoneyBites is taking contributions from young people, get in touch via the website.

• Have a topic you want to be covered on MoneyBites, or know someone who would make a great interviewee for the podcast? Crowhurst is keen for young people to have their say in MoneyBites content. Get in touch with them here via their website.

WORDS: KATE CROWDHURST
PHOTOGRAPHY: MONEYBITES