Built From Real Budget Struggles
We started Arionixa because we lived through the paycheck-to-paycheck stress ourselves
Back in 2019, after watching too many friends miss rent payments despite working full-time jobs, we knew something had to shift. Traditional monthly budgeting wasn't cutting it for people with irregular incomes or weekly expenses.
A Kitchen Table Solution That Grew
Arionixa didn't start in some fancy office. It started at Rhiannon's kitchen table in Geelong, with spreadsheets, frustrated sighs, and way too much instant coffee. She'd been helping mates sort out their finances on weekends, and kept seeing the same pattern—people earning decent money but always running out before Friday.
The breakthrough came when she switched from monthly planning to weekly cycles. Suddenly, bills aligned with actual pay dates. Groceries got bought when needed, not whenever money appeared. By early 2020, fifteen people were using her system and actually saving money for the first time in years.
Fast forward to 2025, and we've refined that kitchen table method into structured courses that work for real Australian households. Not theory from textbooks—practical stuff tested by people managing actual tight budgets.
What Drives Everything We Do
These aren't corporate values printed on posters. They're the principles we learned from our students, from their struggles, and from what actually works when rent's due tomorrow.
Weekly Reality Check
Most Aussies get paid weekly or fortnightly, so why do traditional budgets focus on months? We teach systems that match how money actually flows through your life—rent due dates, grocery shopping patterns, the inevitable car rego surprise.
No Shame, Just Numbers
Financial stress is real and it's exhausting. Our courses don't lecture you about lattes or avocado toast. We look at your actual spending, find the patterns you didn't notice, and build a system that gives you breathing room without feeling deprived.
Small Wins Matter
Forget the advice about saving six months of expenses when you can't save six dollars. We celebrate the first emergency fund. The week you didn't overdraft. The moment you chose to meal prep instead of ordering Uber Eats because you had a plan, not because you felt guilty.
Tested By Real People
Every technique in our courses has been used by someone working shift work, raising kids alone, managing ADHD, or juggling casual employment. We don't teach theories—we teach methods that survived contact with real Australian lives and actually stuck.
Meet Our Founder
Rhiannon Callaghan
Founder & Financial Educator
Rhiannon spent seven years working in community financial counseling before starting Arionixa. She's the person who'll tell you that budgeting apps are useless if you don't understand your spending triggers first. Her teaching style is part spreadsheet nerd, part brutally honest friend who won't let you make excuses. She's trained over 4,000 people directly and built the curriculum that powers all Arionixa courses. Outside of work, she's usually hiking around the You Yangs or arguing about the best coffee roasters in Geelong.
- Certified Financial Counselor (2016)
- Guest speaker, Financial Literacy Week 2024
- Developed 12-week Budget Transformation program