Most of us finished school without ever being taught how super works, or what gross versus net actually means on a payslip, or how compound interest plays out over ten years.

Fewer than two in ten young Australians (18%) felt they had learnt enough at school about how to manage money.

Source: ASIC Young People and Money Survey, 2021

That gap is exactly why so many young Australians go looking for a financial literacy course once real life, and real pay, actually starts.

Why isn’t financial literacy taught properly here?

It is touched on, but usually in theory. Budgeting worksheets in a classroom that don’t connect to your actual bank account, your actual HECS debt, or your actual payslip.

By the time it would matter, you’ve left school and you’re working it out on your own. Usually through trial and error, and usually the expensive way. That was certainly how I learned it.

So what should a good course actually cover?

A genuinely useful course goes a long way past “make a budget”. It should give you a real, applied system across a few key areas.

  • Your money mindset, and an honest read on where you actually stand right now
  • A money system with automatic transfers, so good habits don’t rely on willpower
  • How to spot debt traps and scams, and build a safety net before you need one
  • How to read your payslip, understand your tax, and find and grow your super
  • The basics of investing, so it stops feeling like a locked door

Live coaching or self-paced, what’s the difference?

Self-paced courses are cheaper and more flexible, but they rely entirely on you finishing them. Most people don’t, and that’s not a character flaw, it’s just what happens when nobody’s expecting you.

A live course, even a short one, builds in the accountability and the chance to ask a real question when something doesn’t make sense. That’s usually the difference between information you’ve watched once and a system you’ve actually applied.

Not sure where your own gaps are?

Before you spend anything, you’re welcome to do the Money Health Check. It’s ten questions about how your money actually works right now, it takes about three minutes, and at the end you’ll get a score out of 100 plus the one thing worth doing first. If it turns out you’re already sorted, I’ll tell you that.

Do my Money Health Check Free, and no card needed.

What does the course cover?

Our first course is called From Surviving to Thriving. It’s live, 5 weeks, one hour a week online, and it’s built for people in their 20s who are right at the start of this. Each week covers one module. Your money mindset, your money system, debt traps and your safety net, your pay and super, and finally investing plus your own 5-year plan. Every module comes with a worksheet or tracker that’s yours to keep.

It’s $197, with limited places so the group stays small enough that questions actually get answered.

This is financial education, not licensed advice, and I say that clearly every step of the way. What it gives you is what school didn’t. A practical system for your actual money, taught in plain English, with no jargon and no judgement.

Want a full system, not just an article?

Your Money Sorted – From Surviving to Thriving is a 5-week live course that turns this into a plan you actually stick to. $197, limited places, and a new cohort starts each month.

Lock in my spot

A few common questions

Moneysmart, run by the Australian government, has free tools and guides and is a good starting point. From Surviving to Thriving, our first course, goes further with a live 5-week structure and personal worksheets you keep, for $197.
From Surviving to Thriving is built for people in their 20s. People who are earning their own money and want a proper system, rather than school-age budgeting theory. You don’t need to be good with money already, and most people who join aren’t.
No. The course is built in plain English for people with no finance background at all. If you’re earning money and want a clearer system for it, that’s the only prerequisite.