Growing up, this week’s Money Diarist knew there was no money. She’s a First Nations woman who grew up surrounded by domestic violence, gambling, alcoholism and financial hardship. At nine, she escaped with her mum and brother, quite literally leaving with a backpack and hiding until it was safe to come home. She watched her mum rebuild from absolutely nothing. But while that showed her incredible resilience, it didn’t magically teach her how to manage money. She started working at 14 and spent every dollar she earned. At 19 she became pregnant, at 20 she became a mum, and by 22 she was raising her son alone and studying nursing, determined that life could look different. It wasn’t an overnight transformation. There were years of living paycheck to paycheck, impulsive spending and high-interest loans. Even when she and her now-husband both started earning more, they realised something pretty confronting: more money hadn’t actually changed their financial position. So they changed their habits instead. Now she earns just under $150,000 in nursing leadership, has completed her master’s, has gone from five debts to two in the space of a year, is preparing to build her family’s first home and has started investing for all three of her children. Because they’re small. But her children are growing up talking about investing, saving, bills and what things actually cost. Things she was never taught herself.