TM People
Meet Shantanu
Shantanu was in Grade 10 when he was given the opportunity to leave his small town and family and go to school in the big city – Pune, India. Here he lived independently from his parents and studied for his final years of high school.
Brought up in a much smaller city, and reliant on parents for staples – shelter, security, food, Shantanu was facing quite a challenge. But he was given a fixed amount of ‘income’ per month by his parents to live on in the big city. The money was deposited into his account at the beginning of every month.
Imagine it, a 16-year old boy first time in a big city, lump sums of cash.
Shantanu was forced to learn how to manage his own funds (among other things a 16-year old boy doesn’t know how to do). Unless he wanted to be eating plain rice 3 times a day for the last week of every month, he had to learn how to budget. And fast. It was a matter of survival.
These foundations gave Shantanu a leg-up as a fully-grown, income-earning adult. With his budgeting skills sharpened, Shantanu had purchased his first property (in India) in his early twenties. He lived in this property for a short amount of time before moving to Australia for work in 2010.
Shantanu now resides in Melbourne with his wife and 2 children. A graduate of engineering with an MBA, the now 36-year old says of his forced early start to budgeting, 2 decades ago,
“It was invaluable, and set me up for a lifetime.”
True is that. Shantanu and his wife still own the property in India, which they use as a base when they travel home to visit family. And they are now building their own dream home for their family in Point Cook.
The property, which was helped acquire through finance secured by TMFG is under construction and the family are very excited to move in.
Shantanu found Belinda through HashChing, and was very glad to have opted for a mortgage broker to help with his homeloan.
“Belinda knew the market, all the options and was very helpful. She cut out a lot of the research time for us, and every conversation with her was clear and concise we never felt in the dark.”
It seems the hardest thing for Shantanu and his wife when it came to securing a homeloan with TMFG was saving for the deposit – and even that wasn’t hard for this old hat budgeter!
What’s Shantanu’s biggest spending vice? He hasn’t got one. Shantanu only spends what he can afford, removing any financial anxiety at all.
“Save first, spend next,” Is the advice Shantanu would give any budding homeowner.
Great advice we think. And it seems to be working for Shantanu and his family, lovers of travel, they manage a holiday a few times a year.
“We love visiting places within Victoria, but our recent trip to New Zealand was a truly unforgettable experience for the family!”
The lesson? Start early, budget, and holiday often.
Because if you are making the right moves in finance, who says you can’t have it all?!