START WELL® Podcast Episode 9: How They Get You with Heather Sharp

What if many of the everyday spending decisions we make aren’t really as “random” as we think?

In this episode of START WELL®, Dawn Thomas is joined by Heather Sharp, Associate Adviser at The Wealth Designers, to review the book How They Get You by Chris Kohler.

Together, Dawn and Heather unpack the hidden psychology behind modern spending habits and the ways businesses, marketers, pricing systems and loyalty programs subtly influence consumer behaviour.

One of the things Dawn particularly enjoyed about this book was that it was written from an Australian perspective, making the examples feel highly relevant and current, especially in today’s environment of rising living costs, inflation pressures and conversations around tariffs and global economics.

Dawn listened to the audiobook version, while Heather read the e-book & listened to the audio book, leading to a great discussion on how the content translated across formats.

• Why How They Get You feels so timely for Australian households

• Whether the book is useful for parents, young adults and first-time earners

• The psychology behind everyday spending decisions

• How businesses encourage us to spend more without us noticing

• Whether loyalty schemes actually benefit consumers

• Fuel pricing and supermarket pricing tricks

• Why unit pricing matters more than flashy discounts

• Shopping across multiple supermarkets: practical or exhausting?

• Computer games, microtransactions and digital spending habits

• Superannuation and how financial systems are explained to everyday readers

• How tariffs and global economics impact household budgets

• Gift cards, rewards programs and consumer behaviour

• The importance of teaching young people to become more conscious consumers

This episode explores how awareness can become one of the most powerful financial literacy tools families can develop.

Rather than focusing only on budgeting or investing, this conversation looks at the behavioural side of money: the tiny nudges, habits and systems that quietly shape how we spend.

As always, START WELL® aims to help parents bring important money conversations back home to their kids in ways that feel practical, engaging and relatable.

Heather Sharp is an Associate Adviser at The Wealth Designers and works closely with clients to help them build confidence and clarity around their financial decisions.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it with a parent, educator or young person in your life, and help us continue building financially confident future generations.

General Advice

Warning – This Podcast contains general advice. The information, including tax information and any advice provided in this Podcast, does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of that, you should before acting on the advice, consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to those things. If the advice relates to a particular financial product, you should obtain the relevant Product DisclosureStatement for any product mentioned and consider its contents before making any decision. You should consider talking to a financial adviser before making a financial decision.  Dawn Thomas is a Senior Financial Adviser and is anauthorised representative of TWD Licensee Services Pty Ltd ABN 88 605 064 480 Australian Financial Services Licence No.475964 (TWD Licensee Services).