Is Being Called a Tight Arse by a Client Actually a Good Thing?

Earlier this week, I was chatting with a client about the holiday my wife and I had recently in the Whitsundays. I made an offhand comment about how expensive it was, which, to be fair, it absolutely was.

Without missing a beat, he laughed and told me I was just being a tight arse and should sit back, relax and enjoy the experience. And you know what? He was spot on. As the younger crowd would say, he was 100% right.

But it did get me thinking.

The first $100,000 is the hardest

In the Financial Review that same morning, there was an article quoting the late Charlie Munger, one of the world’s best investors and Warren Buffett’s long-time business partner.

Munger once said that saving your first $100,000 is the hardest financial hurdle you’ll ever face. Why? Because by the time you pay for life’s basics like rent, groceries, or for many young professionals, their HECS debt, there’s just not much left over. Throw in a holiday or two and suddenly that “savings” line in the budget shrinks even more.

Why side hustles actually work

Nearly 30 years ago, Munger talked about the idea of getting a second job to speed up the savings process, what we now call a side hustle.

Funnily enough, this came up again on our very expensive Whitsundays trip. I was speaking to a young couple with pretty modest goals but plenty of opportunity to lift their income.

One of them had recently retrained into a higher-paying field in IT. Like a lot of IT folks, he also had skills that could easily be turned into cash on the side. For example, he’d helped a few people set up those frustrating home security cameras. Most of us don’t want to figure out the fiddly wiring or software, we’d rather pay someone a couple hundred bucks to do it. For him, it might only take an hour or two.

That’s exactly what platforms like Airtasker have been built around. Two quick jobs a month might mean an extra $400. That’s $5,000 over a year, just for giving up a couple of Saturday mornings.

When I was young, it was pubs not platforms

Back when I was trying to get ahead, this stuff didn’t exist. I did the traditional slog: working in a pub until one in the morning, then dragging myself back into the office on a Friday. It only lasted about six months, but it got me out of a tight spot and helped me save enough for a deposit on my first apartment.

There’s something else people don’t often mention about side hustles. The very act of working means you’re not spending. Anyone with mates who pick up refereeing gigs on the weekend knows this: you get paid and you’re not at the bar blowing $150.

So a side hustle doesn’t have to be all-consuming. It might be one or two hours a week. The trick is to take that extra money, add it to your regular savings, and repeat. Try not to let lifestyle creep eat it up.

The annoying parallel with exercise

Personal finance is frustratingly similar to exercise.

It’s not a single big event that transforms your future (unless you hit Powerball), but rather a structured, consistent approach over time.

It’s like going to the gym. One four-hour workout won’t change your health. But small, steady efforts build strength and set you up for a more secure, enjoyable life later on.

I know it’s hard to care about that when you’re 25 and feel bulletproof. But setting small financial goals, hitting them, then setting the next slightly bigger goal is the surest way I’ve seen to get there.

Final thought

So yes, maybe being a bit of a tight arse isn’t the worst thing in the world. It might be exactly the mindset that helps you reach that first $100,000. And after that? Everything starts to get easier.

If you’d like to figure out your own path to that first big milestone, whether that’s finding ways to earn more, save smarter, or just get your money working harder for you, I offer complimentary 20-minute sessions. No jargon. No lecture. Just a chance to look at your numbers and map out some practical next steps.

Book your session today and start turning that tight arse reputation into a financial advantage.

Related reading

• The True Cost of Buying Your First Home: What Most Budgets Miss

• How to Tackle Your HECS Debt and Still Build a Solid Home Deposit by Your Mid-30s

By Brett Tarlington