Real Student Projects

See how our students transform their financial understanding through hands-on budgeting projects and practical money management challenges.

Explore Our Program

Featured Student Work

These projects represent real achievements from our students who've tackled complex budgeting scenarios and built sustainable financial habits.

Student budget tracking spreadsheet with detailed expense categories

Monthly Budget Overhaul

Sarah rebuilt her entire approach to tracking expenses, creating a system that helped her identify $340 in monthly savings opportunities she'd never noticed before.

Financial goal planning chart showing debt reduction progress

Debt Reduction Strategy

Marcus developed a practical debt payoff plan that balanced his mortgage, car loan, and credit cards while maintaining his quality of life.

Emergency fund calculator and savings plan visualization

Emergency Fund Calculator

Jenny built a personalized emergency fund strategy that fits her irregular freelance income, with automatic adjustments for seasonal work patterns.

The Learning Journey

Every student starts somewhere different, but they all follow a similar path toward financial confidence.

Week 1-2: Financial Foundation

Students begin by mapping their current financial picture. No judgment, no pressure — just honest assessment of where money comes from and where it goes. Most discover they're not as bad off as they thought.

Week 3-6: Building Systems

This is where the real work happens. Students create their first proper budget, set up tracking systems, and start making small adjustments. It's messy at first, but that's completely normal.

Week 7-10: Handling Challenges

Real life happens — unexpected expenses, income changes, family emergencies. Students learn to adapt their budgets without abandoning them entirely. This flexibility becomes their biggest strength.

Week 11-12: Long-term Planning

With solid monthly habits in place, students start thinking bigger picture. Emergency funds, goal setting, debt strategies — the stuff that actually changes lives over time.

Portrait of financial mentor David Thorne

Meet Your Mentor

David Thorne, Program Lead

David has been helping Australians sort out their money for over eight years. He's not interested in get-rich-quick schemes or complicated investment strategies — just practical budgeting that actually works for real people with real lives.

"The best budget is one you'll actually use. I've seen too many people create these perfect spreadsheets that they abandon after two weeks. We focus on building habits that stick, even when life gets messy."