Kim Monk said it took her months to "swallow her pride" and open up about the financial woes she and her family have faced since losing their dream farm to drought.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Now, with the courage to share her story, the mother of two hopes to inspire others to reach out for assistance as the current cost of living continues to worsen.
Mrs Monk, who grew up in Wagga Wagga in NSW's Riverina, said things on her husband's Rankins Springs farm were "going pretty good" until six years ago when widespread drought claimed their livelihoods.
"It was devastating because we were good. We were good farmers, and we saw these people with big farms around us just slide through," she said.
Mrs Monk and her two children moved into Wagga to stay with her mother after a fairly unsuccessful clearance sale.
Her husband relocated to South Australia to work for two and a half years and pay off their debts.
By the time her youngest child Zoe started school, Mrs Monk continued to fight a silent battle with her finances - going as far as to collect cans off the street for the 10-cent returns.
"Who'd think it, that 10 years ago, I'd be in this situation?" She said.
However, a presentation by a local The Smith Family representative at the school regarding the not-for-profit's dollar-for-dollar Super Plus program opened her eyes to the support available to her.
"I listened to it during a school assembly for the parents... it took me probably five months later to swallow my pride," she said.
She signed herself up for the financial literacy program, which has been helping everyday Australians since 2002.
Matthew Taylor, the National Program Manager for Saver Plus, explained it was the largest and longest-running program of its kind globally, with 90 per cent of participants completing all components successfully.
"What makes it so successful is that incentive of the match savings to join... but our research tells us that the funds that are rewarded aren't the most valuable thing people get out of the program," he said.
"One is the sense of achievement of reaching the goal that they've set, the second is the information and new skills that they learned from the workshops that we deliver as part of the program, and the third, which is so important, is that they have developed the savings habit."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Mrs Monk was set a saving goal of $12.50 a week for 10 months and following her success, she was awarded $500 on top of what she had saved, allowing the family to purchase a computer to support her children's education.
However, it was the savings and lifestyle techniques she acquired through the program that she now boasts about.
"It's about saving, it's about committing to something and putting the money away," she said.
"And it was really good because occasionally, when chaos was happening, I would get a text message from [The Saver Plus program] saying, 'Have you put the money in yet?'."
Following her success with the program, Mrs Monk's outlook on the future has become a lot brighter, and she has already begun advocating the benefits of the program to others.
The Smith Family's annual Winter Appeal is aiming to raise $5.4 million so that more families like the Monks can get the crucial support they need. They have $1.9 million left to raise nationally before June 30.