It feels like we are living through a failing system.
Soaring rent, high inflation, and high interest rates making it expensive to borrow money are impairing financial prospects.
It makes it more important to take matters into our own hands and actively manage our money.
Here are 3 ways to take control, and steer towards a financially-free future.
1. Spend time with your money
Let me ask you. How much time do you spend watching Netflix each week? According to research, the average person spends just under 9 hours a week on Netflix.
How about your finances – how much time are you spending on this? Can you guess how much time the average person spends managing their money each week?
The most worrying thing about this question was that I couldn’t readily find data/statistics for this!
The closest I found to actual data stated that on average people are spending just 5 minutes a day managing their money! It’s time to redress this imbalance.
I’m a big fan of schedules – I put EVERYTHING in my calendar. Schedule time weekly to review your transactions in detail and understand how your money is coming and going. Review your budget and your upcoming expenses. Are you sticking to your budget?
Make a list of all your outstanding debt balances. Are you paying them down? In a previous newsletter I told you about the snowball vs avalanche repayment methods – which of those are you applying?
Check your credit cards and ensure the transactions are correct and aim to pay off your balance each month.
If you’re in the UK, sign up to Experian and or Equifax credit reporting agencies (also called credit reporting bureaus) to get a copy of your latest credit report. It’s free!
While you’re working through this every week, I want you to do one little thing – notice the feelings this exercise brings up for you.
We know that most of us procrastinate when it comes to our money, because we aren’t happy with the situation or are fearful about what’s coming. The better at facing this head-on you become, the more in control you will feel, and consequently, the more control you will have!
Write your feelings in a journal. Date each entry. See where you are in three months!
2. Talk about money
I’ve always been curious about why people, particularly women, don’t talk specific numbers when it comes to money. I have always been the nosy person apologising for wanting to know “what exactly did you get paid for that project” because I’m always trying to push the understanding of where my boundaries are.
Most people don’t talk about money because you’ve been taught it’s against social etiquette. Or perhaps you’ve been told to keep your business private and that money dealings should be secret. This happens with outsiders, but sadly it’s very common place amongst partners and loved ones.
This next step to escaping poverty is to talk numbers as often as you can – looking at your numbers alone isn’t going to magic some up. Have that conversation with your partner. Get on the same money page.
Find a trusted group and share your thoughts about money. Ask questions and learn/educate yourself. You can do this virtually as well. A lot of you will probably belong to groups or networks online – you might be able to have these conversations there. Also, you can search for websites that answer these questions.
You know at WBW we hammer on the importance of making more money. This isn’t reserved just to side-hustles or entrepreneurship. If you’re employed, you should be asking questions about higher pay, better bonuses commiserate to the value you provide. There are websites where you can see what others are being paid to do the job you do/want. Check-a-Salary and Glassdoor are a couple you can check out.
If you don’t want to do this for you, do it for your kids / next generation. To help them be better than we are, we must remove all fear, shame, and guilt around money.
3. Associate with people that are smarter than you
“I want more!”. “I want to change my life!”.
Then why are you hanging out with the same broken (note: not broke), stuck, small-minded people you’ve associated with in the past? You can’t build a future you can’t imagine.
Wealth goes beyond get-rich-schemes to allow you to buy the latest fashions and cars. True wealth is a state of mind. It’s being in your genius zone where you are a creator – here, nothing is ever permanently taken from you. It’s the state of mind that allows successful people to lose their money and rebuild.
Find the right people as role models. They are there in abundance – in your life, in your workplace, in your churches. They are on television and in books, on YouTube or Instagram.
The most important point here is to choose wisely. Not all that glitters is gold. Flash and ostentatiousness are red flags! People with lots of cash don’t care if you know they’re rich – they know they are.
So, I thought it would be more helpful to highlight people who point out investment/crypto/other scammers and how they exploit their victims. I recommend Coffeezilla who is highly entertaining and offers a healthy dose of scepticism in a time where you’ve got to question if you can or should believe your eyes/ears.
NEXT STEPS!
Learn the lessons and kick up your earnings – you won’t have enough to save or invest if you’re not earning enough to begin with.
I want to help.
Let me know what your goals are for the rest of the year. Even if you haven’t got the cash now, I want you to have a big vision for yourself.
Keep Thriving! 
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