Welcome!

Our brainwaves page has always been one of our most popular. I know it’s my mum, Sally’s favourite. And it’s one of mine too. I love hearing about clever tips that help family. Sam Ireland started working with back in the ‘90s when the mag was only a few years old. She was the friendly voice at the other end of the phone and the person who opened, and replied to, the many letters we received each week. Now, of course, it’s mainly emails that pour into the office. Sam left her full-time role at just before her now-teenaged son Xander was born. But luckily for us, she continued to work with us in all sorts of areas, and most recently as a feature writer. She’s also an average Aussie mum determined to uncover every money saving, budget friendly tip she can find! And from this week, she’ll be sharing those tips and strategies with readers. Her goal is for all of us to get into the best financial shape of our lives. I hope you are ready to join us – and Sam – on that journey! You’ll find the first column on page 61, where Sam writes about the amazing ‘power of half’. Turns out, many of us are literally throwing money down the drain simply by using too much soap, toothpaste, shampoo, and more. And on the topic of being smarter with our money, I’m delighted to let you know that over the next year, we and our sister magazines will be sharing with you lots of articles about financial health and wellbeing as part of our Financially Fit Females initiative.