Known as ‘Sensible Emily’ at the ABC, where she is an award-winning journalist specialising in business and finance, Emily Stewart released her first book in July 2025 – a clever piece of scheduling, as July is when many people start to panic about money as they start to work on their tax returns!
Emily championed the inclusion of personal finance content at the ABC, beginning with popular podcast The Pineapple Project which began in 2018, and runs the extremely popular newsletter Your Money Explained, with Sensible Emily.
Sensible Money is described as a “no-nonsense guide to making better money choices and gaining financial freedom” and promises a clear, relatable and straightforward approach to a subject that has been known to make a lot of people’s heads spin.
We caught up with Emily via email to chat about saving money, and potentially your peace of mind.
You’ve been doing content for the ABC about personal finance and understanding money for quite a number of years now, across various formats – what made you decide it was time to put your extremely sensible advice into a book?
As part of my job, I talk to people about their finances every day and it became clear to me that many Australians still struggle with the basics of financial literacy.
Of course, no one is born being good with money, you need to be taught (but unfortunately it’s not something many of us learnt at school). I felt there was a need for a book full of practical tips and tricks to help people get better at managing their money.
The book is divided into sections called ‘If you are surviving’ and ‘If you are thriving’, which I love – so many of the articles about saving money or about improving you attitude to saving assumes that you have extra cash and you’re just not looking after your finances correctly, but for many people that’s just not the case. What do you mean by ‘Surviving’ and ‘Thriving’ in this context?
When it comes to our finances, some people are struggling, while others might be more comfortable. I wanted all readers to be able to find information that was relevant to their stage in life. The ‘surviving’ section is about getting the basic foundations of money management right – doing a budget, cutting down expenses, getting out of debt etc. Then hopefully readers can start thinking beyond just getting by and concentrate on more complex issues; things like how to buy a house, investing or organising a will. By following the chapters in the book, hopefully readers can move from ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’ financially.
In the past decade, we’ve seen a lot of books about taking charge of your money, from The Barefoot Investor, to She’s on the Money and many more besides. What about your approach to this book sets it apart from other personal finance how-to guides?
Most money books tell readers exactly what to do (even down to which super fund or bank account to join). That’s not my money philosophy. I want to teach readers financial skills so they feel empowered to make their own financial decisions. For each topic I set out various options (with pros and cons) to help people understand what might suit them. Having the skills to make informed decisions means when circumstances change (like interest rates or fees for example) readers will know what to do.
From outright panic, to being in denial, to otherwise extremely smart people being completely unable to comprehend the basics, why is it that you think so many people have such a negative reaction to talking about finances or financial planning? What are some of the most out there reactions that you’ve seen people have to talking about money?
I think a lot of people feel overwhelmed when it comes to managing their money. We’re living in a very complex financial world! It means some people completely ignore their money, perhaps getting their partner to manage all the family finances. However, this comes with major risks as it can lead to financial abuse.
If you’re in debt, dealing with your money can feel crippling and I know one woman who wouldn’t even open the mail if she thought it might be another debt notice.
On the other hand, some people are really engaged and love a detailed spreadsheet!
You state in the introduction to your book that almost 20 percent of Australians have no financial literacy, with women having lower financial literacy than men, generally speaking. Why do you think that is still the case? What practical things do you think we should be learning, and where should we be learning them?
It’s worrying that so many Australians have low financial literacy, because it directly relates to economic outcomes. In general, women have had lower financial literacy than men because they may not have been taught about money by their parents or at school, girls are less likely to study related skills like maths and economics and perhaps their partner has managed the family finances.
Hopefully we can start to move the dial on those figures. To try and lift financial literacy across the board, it would be great to have more kids learning about finances at school, but also for parents to take an active role in teaching kids about the basics of money management.
You have no doubt interviewed hundreds of people about their relationships with money and finances over your twenty plus year career – and there are a number of anecdotes from some of these people throughout Sensible Money – what were some of the common themes and misconceptions that you’ve noticed a lot of people hold? Do you ever get surprised by some of the innovative tricks that people you interview teach you about how they manage their finances?
People often tell me they’re ‘bad with money’ but when you look how they’re managing things, they’re doing ok! Sure, there’s usually some tweaks they could make but we’re all learning as we move through different life stages.
That’s why I think talking about money is so important, everyone has different tips and tricks and we can all learn from each other. I am often impressed by how people make their money stretch further – whether it’s adding lentils to bulk up meals, to ringing the bank to get a better deal on their home loan to reading company financials to guide their investing.
What are some of the barriers that you see preventing people from getting ahead financially? Does the book offer any practical solutions to these, or are there some barriers that are going to take more than changing personal habits to breakdown?
Some people are in very difficult situations; they may be facing financial abuse, or homelessness or long-term unemployment or health issues. For these people, it’s usually not their spending that is the problem. These are really wider social and economic issues.
However, for most people who are struggling; perhaps they’re spending more than they earn, or they are in debt, there are plenty of practical solutions in Sensible Money to help them improve their financial situation.
What sorts of changes did you see in people’s spending and saving habits that might have come about as a result of recent events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in the global political landscape? Did Australian’s change their habits for better or worse?
Covid-19 and the economic aftermath essentially meant people tended to fall into two groups. For some the pandemic left them unemployed, or their businesses shut down and they had to rely on government support or they had to take money out of their super early just to pay their bills. For others, who kept their jobs, it was easier to save, because health restrictions meant there weren’t many places open to spend. In general, Australians saved a lot during the pandemic (the Reserve Bank reckons it added up to about $300 BILLION in excess savings!)
At the moment, there is a lot of discourse about the rising cost of living – most basic things that people need to buy are getting more expensive, but for many, wages aren’t really going up. Do you think there’s anything that people can be doing on an individual level to alleviate some of this pressure more generally, or at a community level? Or is it up to businesses and governments to solve this one? (After all, rising grocery shopping costs leave me a lot less money to buy books!)
You’re right, in recent years we’ve seen inflation go up (the inflation rate has come down now, but prices haven’t got any lower of course!) and wages haven’t gone up as high. The Reserve Bank can use blunt tools like moving the cash rate to influence inflation and the government can also change the amount its spending. However, these things take time.
So, on an individual level, when your budget gets tight, that’s when you’ve got to cut a lot of your spending on luxuries and just focus on the essentials. Try and remember the tough times won’t last forever.
What’s one thing you’d like to see every Australian do in order to improve their financial freedom (other than read this book, of course!)
Ha. I’d love to see everyone do a financial health check. This might involve sitting down for an hour and looking through your accounts to see where your money is going. You can then think about whether your spending aligns with your values and goals. If it does, that’s great, but if it doesn’t, it gives you an opportunity to change how you’re spending and improve your overall financial situation.
Emily, thank you so much for chatting to us about Sensible Money.
Sensible Money by Emily Stewart is available now from HarperCollins Australia. You can grab yourself a copy from your local bookshop HERE.
Header Image supplied by Emily Stewart
