Not all Dollars are Created Equal

If you happen to have cash in your wallet right now, take out a note and have a look at it.  It’s just a piece of paper.  It has a picture of someone famous on it, a few words and a number.  That’s what money is. 

In real terms, it is a medium of exchange created because bartering got a bit tricky, e.g. how do you value your cow when you want to swop it for a sack of grain.  But, as you will see, not all dollars are equal!

Sounds all very rational doesn’t it and it kept the economists happy.  But the economists forgot a very important point.  We aren’t rational!  So, when we see the piece of paper with pictures and numbers on it, we see a lot more than a symbol to buy stuff.  We see all sorts of emotions and meanings and it’s different for men & women.

The Q&A Forum #5

Hi, welcome back.

This is the 5th video in our Q&S series where you get to ask the questions!

This week we have two questions, Monica asks, – I love going out but I always seem to spend too much money. What can I do about it?

Then Stacey’s question is, – I have a lot of small debts, should I consolidate then into one?

There is one more video in this series, so don’t be shy, send in your question, nothing is too small.

All questions will be answered by email. So, send any query you have to hello@moneymentalist.com

What’s Holding You Back from Financial Freedom?

What’s holding you back from achieving your financial dreams – your Financial Freedom?  Do you even know?  Well, it is time to find out and to do something about it.

What I would like you to do is to write down (has to be on paper, not computer) a list of 20 things that are holding you back from achieving financial freedom.

Once you have done that, take a break, have a coffee/juice/water and walk around the block, or whatever it is you do to clear your head.  Then come back and have another look at the list.

When to Teach Children Financial Literacy

Financial literacy for children is a hot topic.  Start them young so they learn to save not spend, is one school of thought.  But what if as a parent, you are struggling with your own financial literacy, can you be a positive role model?

Children and money is always a very interesting topic of conversation.

The question of what to teach children about money and when to start is something we are asked quite frequently.

We really like Rob Stocks article Cents and Financial Sensibility , his 10 point checklist, while somewhat tongue in cheek, does have a few gems in it.

Why is it so Easy to Spend Money?

While this sounds a really simple question, the answer isn’t as straight forward as we would probably like it to be.

This simple question actually has two parts to it.

The first is why do we spend money and the second is what makes it so easy.  So, let’s look at these two components in isolation and put them back together.

The first question: Why do we spend money?

Three Critical Rules of Money Management

Happy New Year!  We hope that you have had a fantastic time over the Christmas/New Year period and enjoyed a least a few days off.

It’s (late) January, a time for reflection about last year and looking ahead at self-improvement for this year.  Once you have worked through the diet and exercise goals (they always seem to be fairly near the top of my list), there’s the money planning for the year.

Here are the Three Critical Rules of Money Management that you need to incorporate into your planning.

Anchoring; how it impacts on our spending behaviour

At some time or other we have all been anchored.  This tends to happen more often when we are purchasing a product or service that we don’t know too much about.  Here’s how it works.

I was happily driving my car when it developed a bit of a shudder through the steering wheel.  I didn’t think it was a major so I took it to my local Tyre shop, thinking my wheels just needed balancing. (That is about the extent of my technical knowledge of tyres).  I left my car in the serviceman’s capable hands and headed off to my appointment.

Within 10 minutes my phone rang – never a good sign.  It was the tyre shop, the problem was somewhat more serious than balancing.  I needed a new tyre as this one was falling apart (apparently I was lucky I made it to the tyre shop without having a serious accident).  Not only did I need one new tyre, the others were looking quite worn so I really needed to replace all four.  Not what I wanted to hear, but safety comes first so I took a deep breath and asked for some prices.

This is what I was told.

Money Beliefs, where do they come from?

Our beliefs, or our view of the world starts with our early childhood memories.  We learn from our parents, our environment and form our own beliefs from those observations.  So what are your earliest memory’s of money? How do you think that has impacted on how you relate to money now in your adult life?

My earliest memories of money revolve around the word ‘No’.  No I couldn’t have the umbrella with the pink frill; the must have winter fashion accessory for a 4 year old.  No, I couldn’t have a Barbie doll, they were too expensive, so I got the imitation one instead.

My parents were (and still are) very careful with their money, they were quite frugal in day to day expenditure but that meant that there was money set aside for our holidays and should any emergency crop up.

Their goal was to be mortgage free, as they hated any sort of debt and over the years they achieved that goal.

As a child, what is your earliest memory of money?

Our beliefs, not just about money, but on how we use language, our view of the world all starts with our early childhood memories and the beliefs we formed from those observations.  So what is your earliest memory of money, and how do you think that has impacted on how you relate to money now in your adult life?

My earliest memories of money revolve around the word ‘No’.  No I couldn’t have the pink umbrella with the pink frill the must have winter fashion accessory for a 4 year old.  No, I couldn’t have a Barbie doll, they were too expensive, and so I got the imitation one instead.

My parents goal was to own their own home mortgage free, and to their credit they achieved that.  But it did mean we moved house a lot and each time we traded down, so the mortgage kept getting smaller.  By the time I was at university they were debt free and have been ever since.