SCHOOL GOES BACK LATE JANUARY. THE COSTS ARRIVE THAT WEEK. THE FOUNDING INTAKE CLOSES SUNDAY 8 NOVEMBER AT 5PM SO YOU CAN JOIN BOTH LIVE SESSIONS AND HAVE THE CONVERSATION BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR.
The Good Conversation · Sharing children's costs after separation
The next time a cost lands, your stomach does nothing at all.
Right now, when a new cost lands, it lands on you. Quietly, without a decision, every time, and raising it feels like the start of a fight. The Good Conversation gives you the numbers, the reasons and the words to approach that conversation differently, with a clear proposal, fair options and a plan for what happens next.
YES, I WANT TO BE READY FOR A GOOD CONVERSATION →
Your child's teacher suggests tutoring. Gymnastics just became Nationals. The school shoes won't be making it past Term 3.
You don't need to look up what it costs. You already know, and your stomach has already done the calculation.
If I raise this, there'll be a fight, and if I don't raise it, I'll be paying for it myself.
So you pay for it yourself. And the arrangement gets a little more permanent.
You already know what it costs. Now they will, too.
Your spending stops being invisible.
You could recite half these costs from memory. But when expenses are scattered across receipts, messages and bank statements, it's difficult to see the whole picture, and that's what lets each one get waved away as an extra. The budget you'll build puts the real cost of childhood on a single page, by child and by category. It gives you and the other parent something concrete to work from, so it reads as what it is: the running of your children's lives.
Every line gets a reason that's about your child, not about you.
Swimming lessons stop being money you're owed and become "we both want her confident and safe in the water." When you explain what a cost means for your child, the conversation can move beyond the dollar amount to why it's important and how you might share it. That gives the other parent something meaningful to consider, rather than simply a bill to accept or refuse.
You'll run the conversation instead of surviving it.
This is negotiation, properly prepared with several fair ways the costs could be shared, rather than one demand to accept or refuse. The words to open the conversation and keep it moving when it stalls. A clear head about what happens if you don't agree, which is what lets you stay calm and stay firm. And a written process for every new expense that comes up afterwards, so the same fight doesn't return every term.
“I wasn't derailed as I feared I would be by the other parent because I had taken the time to reflect and list my reasons for my decisions.
This clarity, reinforced by my notes, helped me avoid agreeing to something I wasn't comfortable with."
– ERIN
YOUR FIRST WIN
You'll have something real by tonight.
Your first tool has you put the real costs of your children's lives on a single page, by child and by category, with weekly, monthly, yearly views. The first version takes about 60 minutes. It's the first time the full number has been written down anywhere other than in your head, and everything in the program is built on it.
Built for a busy parent. Practical, mediator-tested tools that organise your numbers and your words so you walk into the conversation prepared and ready.
Complete privacy to focus on your progress. Join two live group sessions with your camera off. Get expert guidance when you want it.
You don't need the other parent on board to get organised. Build a persuasive proposal on your own terms before you initiate the conversation.
Have the good conversation
Picture the next form that comes home in the school bag. This time there’s a plan for it, and you know exactly what to say.
That’s what The Good Conversation is for. Short videos and practical tools take you from the costs you carry in your head to a written proposal you’d be willing to send, and then into the conversation itself, with the words to open it and keep it moving when it stalls.
You won’t be doing it on your own. It starts with a private welcome call with me, and then two live group sessions take you through the parts where parents can flounder, so you finish with a plan you can both live with.
WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH
One finished plan, built step by step.
- The real costs spreadsheet. Every cost, including the ones everyone forgets. This is a reusable spreadsheet you'll use to track expenses and update for years to come.
- The reason behind every line. Each cost tied to what you both want for your child, so it reads as part of raising them.
- Several ways to share the costs. Real options to put forward, so the conversation starts with good choices.
- Your written proposal. Ready to send or to talk through.
- Your conversation plan. Words to open the conversation and the words to keep it moving when it stalls.
- Your plan for "we'll see" and for "no". You'll know what to do if you don't agree, which is what lets you stay calm and stay firm.
- Your new expense process. How future costs get shared.
Short videos get you moving.
A welcome strategy call and two live sessions get it done.
- Your Welcome Call
Have your private call with me early on, so I know who you are and what you're facing, and you know you have a real person in your corner.
- The Build Clinic
When your budget and proposal are half-built, and the questions are real. Bring yours as far as you've got it. I'll work through the sticking points, the categories everyone forgets and what a finished proposal looks like.
- The Walkthrough
Before you have the conversation, watch me have it. I'll pressure-test proposals the way the other parent might, show you what "we'll see" sounds like and how to answer it, and walk through the moments when conversations stall.
Both are live group sessions and your privacy is protected by design. Camera off if you prefer, first name only, and questions submitted in advance. Nobody is ever asked to share their situation. If you can't make it, the teaching is recorded for you to watch later. The recording will only show me.
Is this you?
You pay for almost everything. You've carried the activities, the school costs and the medical bills for a long time, and each one makes the arrangement a little more permanent.
Your children are older and the costs are getting bigger. Driving lessons, phones, orthodontics, university. These are easier to agree before they arrive.
Mediation is on the horizon. You've been asked to try talking first, or you know that a parent who arrives with numbers and options gets further.
If one of these sounds like you, this was built for you.
JOIN THE FOUNDING INTAKE →
“I feel like I'm getting my old self back!
Your frameworks of preparing proposals and options got things changed. Getting your guidance has just been completely and utterly invaluable.”
– CELIA, MOTHER OF 3
Let's do the maths
Add up what you pay each year for your children that their other parent doesn't share. Activities, maths tutoring, specialist appointments, devices, all of it. Say that comes to $7,000. If the other parent's fair share is half, that's $3,500 a year, every year until your children are grown.
The Good Conversation is $375.
Some parents bring in a lawyer to get a binding child support agreement over the line. That can cost $5,000 or more, and it still needs the other parent to agree. A clear budget and a fair proposal give everyone, including any lawyer or mediator you use later, something concrete to work from.
Why join the founding intake
Founding members get,
- Founding pricing of $375 for this year's intake only,
- A one-on-one welcome strategy call with me,
- Both live group sessions in November: The Build Clinic and The Walkthrough,
- Work through the modules, bring your numbers to The Build Clinic, and I'll make sure you finish with a written proposal you'd actually be willing to send.
Investment
The founding intake closes Sunday 8 November at 5pm
PAY IN FULL
One Payment of
$375.00
AUD
✓ Every tool and video.
✓ Your welcome call and both live sessions.
JOIN NOW →PAYMENT PLAN
Two Payments of
$187.50
AUD
✓ Pay half today and half next month.
✓ Everything else is the same.
JOIN NOW →
What happens next
When you join,
- You'll receive immediate email confirmation that a seat in the founding intake is yours and your login to start the videos and download the tools.
- You'll start where the method starts, with the real cost of your children's lives on one page and the reason behind every line of it.
- You'll book your one-on-one welcome strategy call with me in your first week.
- You'll move your way through the sharing models, the proposal, the conversation and the negotiation planning.
- The Build Clinic and The Walkthrough, our live group sessions, are in November. I'll be checking with you when you're available. Both are recorded.
You'll be the prepared party in the conversation. Their answer is still theirs. Everything that improves the odds of a "yes" is yours.
From Marnie
FAMILY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PRACTITIONER · AMDRAS ACCREDITED MEDIATOR
I'm Marnie Cooper, owner of The Upspring, where I mediate parenting arrangements and property settlements.
I've been a mediator for six years and have worked with hundreds of families through this very conversation.
When we're preparing for parenting mediation, there's usually a parent who knows what everything costs because they've been quietly managing and paying for all of it, and who dreads the money conversation because it always turns into a fight.
The parents who do well in that conversation are prepared. They have the numbers, the rationale, real options to put on the table, and a clear head for negotiating a solid plan. I built this program to teach you that preparation so you can do it yourself and get on with enjoying your children.
If that's you, come and join the founding intake. I'd love to have you in here.
I'll talk to you soon, Marnie
FAQs
Can I do this on my own without the other parent?
I already track every cent, do I need the budget part?
Who else is at the live sessions, and do I have to speak?
But what about when the other parent says child support covers everything already?
Is this legal advice?
What if the other parent says no?
How much time will it take?
How long do I have access?
I’m already in a legal process. Is this still for me?
Can I pay in instalments?
JOIN ME IN HERE
Your children shouldn't lose out on the things they love doing because there isn't a fair plan for sharing the costs.
And you shouldn't have to fund a whole childhood alone just to keep the peace.
There will be another activity next term. There will be a teacher with a suggestion, or a form in a school bag, or a pair of boots that don't fit anymore.
You can meet it the way you met the last one. Or you can meet it with a negotiation strategy and turn a stressful topic into a good conversation.
I'll talk to you soon,
Marnie
START THE GOOD CONVERSATION →