Women are 'prioritising laundry over financial security'

Ms Janssens, author of Wonder Woman's Guide to Money, told The Daily Advertiser, one of the reasons she wrote her book was to give women a "wake-up call".

"It's a bit of a call to action for Aussie women - Wagga women included - mainly because we are so busy looking after everyone else's needs. I know logically we know that we often tend to put ourselves last, but from a financial point of view, times have changed and women can no longer afford to ignore and take control of financial matters," Ms Janssens said.

"When women get into a committed relationship, without any conscious effort on anyone's part, we tend to slide into those subconscious stereotypical gender roles that are taught to us growing up.

"Quite often that means women are taking on the mental load and all the household chores and everything to do with looking after kids and family and all that stuff, and that means anything that's not a pressing matter right now, such as finances, tends to go by the wayside, so we are literally prioritising our laundry over things such as our super."

A former refugee who came to Australia alone at just 18, Ms Janssens said women often did not reach out for help until "something has gone wrong".

"That could be a relationship breakdown, that could be financial abuse or domestic violence, that could be illness or even the death of a spouse and at that point, everything starts to get overwhelming," she said.

"I'm here to say 'I get that you're busy, but we need to be prioritising our financial independence ahead of some of our household duties' and letting go of some of those stereotypical social pressures and letting people who are around us support and lift some of that load.

"I think the thing to keep in mind is even if you're making the decision to be a stay-at-home parent to recognise some of those risks that you might be facing and look at what are the ways you can protect yourself and what are the ways you can maintain your financial independence."

Ms Janssens will be speaking at a lunch in Wagga on Thursday. To book a spot, go to this website.