Frugal Spender

4 phrases that will help you on your financial journey...

They might just be words, but they all have profound impact on your ability to manage your money, be debt free and build wealth.

➡️ Choose your partner wisely.
You don't both have to be interested in personal finance, but you both do need to be on the same page. There is a reason the majority of divorces end as a result of money.

➡️ Money is more about emotion than intelligence.
Being smart doesn't mean you are good with money. You might even know somebody that works in the financial industry, yet is useless with their own money! Remember, control your emotion as much as possible and results will come.

➡️ Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world.
Famous words by Albert Einstein, but boy was he right. The power of compounding your investments requires time- so stop procrastinating and start now.

➡️ Don't underestimate an emergency fund.
You will never feel financial peace like having 3-6 months worth of expenses just sitting in your account, waiting for bad s**t to happen. You will feel money anxiety much less when your emergency fund is in place.

Do you tell yourself/live by these phrases? Let me know in the comments!

The feeling that you are only worth what you currently earn is in your head!

Changing your mindset so that you realise there is no limit to how much you can earn is the first step.

It's funny how once you feel like you are worth more, money just happens to find its way to you.

I have always struggled with lack mindset/imposter syndrome, what about you?,

Take advantage of compound interest 💹

It might seem like a long time away, but avoiding saving & investing to live solely in the NOW will only come back to hurt you.

Get your financial situation in order and start building wealth.

You pay all your bills with direct debits/standing orders but have you ever wondered why? Because they will ALWAYS GET PAID. Do it for yourself too...

Automation takes away the pain and friction. You make a decision once and it continues to happen with minimal to no effort.

➡️Pay yourself first! Don't do what everyone else does and wait to see if you have any money left over at the end of the month before you save/invest. Set up a payment to come out the day after pay-day.

➡️Set up auto-payments into sinking funds to save for known expenses (Christmas/holiday/etc)

➡️Set up a standing order/payment each month into your investments, making use of Dollar Cost Averaging!

Focus on the basics, the rest will follow!

Sorting out your finances for most people is relatively simple, but that does not mean it is easy!

Following a systematic approach is often the best way for most because you don't end up getting off course.

If you feel you need to get your finances in order, follow these steps.

There is no perfect time, the best time to start is now.

Whether it is investing, dieting or anything you want to get better at- just start now and start small. Building the habit is the most important thing, so go on, get started.

Looking cooler than I am in the beautiful Sicily ☀️

Freedom means having the ability spend a few days midweek in a hot country to celebrate a friends wedding.

Life is to be enjoyed in the now as well as the future, so make sure you are prepared for both.

You rarely see all the hard work that goes in to people's success, but you often compare yourself to them based on what you see today (and what you think you know).

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, last week, last year. Aim for improvement in all aspects of your life, but remember it is okay to just stop or go slowly sometimes.

Make this the year you change your finances, your health and your mindset for the better.

Don't be normal, because that will get you normal results.

When the stock market takes a downturn like it is now- it is an opportunity to buy stock at a discount. Don't panic and act on emotion and impulse.

Automate your investing and cost average. If you are struggling to cope with volatility, check out the latest episode of The Frugal Spender Podcast, where I have 3 tips to help with this!

Health & Wealth!

2 of the components of the trifecta that I think can help you live a more meaningful/fulfilling life (the other being freedom).

They are so innately linked, we often don't even think about it!

➡️Budgeting/Calorie counting.
The concept income vs expenditure rings true for both your personal finances and also what you eat. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight and if you spend more than you earn you will get poorer or go into debt.

➡️ Delayed gratification/thinking long term.
This in my opinion is potentially the biggest mindset shift that is required for anyone to succeed with both their health and wealth. The idea that sacrificing what seems like enjoyment now will give you greater joy and reward in the future.

➡️Incremental progress.
Small, unnoticeable improvements done often will amount to huge changes over time. From increasing the weight on the bar at the gym to upping your investments slowly.

➡️Without health, you can’t build wealth.
What is the point in having money if you aren’t fit enough to enjoy it?

➡️Wealthy people are more healthy and healthy people are more wealthy.
Now this might be those ‘what came first the chicken or the egg’ or correlation doesn’t equate causation topics, but the evidence shows that being healthier causes you to be wealthier.

Check out my podcast episode on this subject to hear more on the subject! (link in bio)

You don't have to be the best, you just need to be consistent 💪

When it comes to managing your money, consistency is key. Showing up every month to budget, save money for the short-term and invest for the long-term, takes dedication.

A lot of this can be automated by setting up direct debits/auto-payments and with a regular review can save you a ton of time and help you stay consistent.

This is the bread and butter of long-term investing, dollar cost averaging. Committing to buying stocks EVERY MONTH, regardless of the price!

The 'talented' investors that think they can time the market may get a hit every now and again, but the evidence shows consistent investors win over time.

Pick a target and aim at it 🎯

It is very easy to become overwhelmed by all the self-help books (and financial space), so picking a couple of areas that are the most important to you and focusing heavily on them will help.

I get very obsessed when I learn something new and want to learn everything about it- this is a positive and a negative, because I try to learn multiple things at the same time and eventually something suffers-making me feel guilty.

I am slowly learning that it is okay not to do everything, but to do a few things really well.

If you are in debt- focus on paying it off with all your energy. If you need to build an emergency fund- sell what you can, pick up overtime and get it done. If you are new to investing, consume as much content as you can about it until you get a fundamental understanding!

Can you relate or is it just me? 🤣

People are often deterred from investing because of the 'risk' of potentially losing their money.

While your capital is at risk and you could get back less than you put in to the market, over time the stock market has ALWAYS gone up over time.

You know what has consistently guaranteed that people to lose the value of their money? Leaving there money in a bank account and not investing.

Learn about investing, regardless of whether it is in stocks, property, commodities or even crypto- make an educated decision to grow your money over time.

Don't just keep doing what hasn't worked! 🚫

Picking up a personal finance book and being open to learning was the single most important change for my freedom!

We often don't think about how money effects us in so many ways, from our stress/happiness levels to the very reason we have food and water.

By focusing (even if it is for a short period) on getting your finances in order and instilling strong habits, you will experience a new type of freedom.

Never budgeted or can't seem to get the hand of it? 👀

Do not fear, it is a skill that needs to be practised!

The good news is that once you do it consistently for a couple of months- you will get much better and it should only take you 5-10 minutes each month.

I personally use and advocate a 'zero-based budget', which is a fancy word for allocating every single penny of your income, intentionally.

Follow these simple steps to get going:

➡A few days before you get paid- Work out (to the penny) what your monthly (household) income is. This is from everywhere, including any benefits/pensions etc. Make note of this number.

➡Now work out what you will be spending for the month. Look back through 3 months worth of bank statements (only first month) to get accurate and realistic numbers of where you are spending. Make note of this number.

➡Split your expenses into three sections, needs/wants/saving using either a spreadsheet or on a piece of paper! Try and stick to the 50/30/20 rule respectively, but remember this is a target. If the numbers are out of whack, identify the problem and work on a solution! ***Remember to allocate money for fun!

➡Get your theoretical balance to zero. This will feel strange to start with but once you get used to it, the satisfaction of knowing exactly what is happening is soo worth it!

Any questions, let me know in the comments!

It isn't different now 🤷🏼‍♂️

Your feed (and the news) needs to come up with interesting stories to keep you interested. They will always make it seem like there have never been stock market crashes like this before.

The truth is, over time, the stock market has ALWAYS been up. If you ever feel fearful, just zoom out on the stock market graphs.

Continue cost averaging, future you will be grateful!

Know the feeling? 🤣

Don't panic, use this time to become resilient and remember that you are an investor- not a day trader.

STOP LOOKING AT YOUR INVESTMENT APP! 👀

Remember, traders think short term- investors think long term.

Stop watching the news or YouTube videos telling you about further crashes and trying to predict the future, becauase nobody knows.

Just dollar cost average like you initially planned- and keep going. Future you will thank you.

8 Episodes in...

I don't know about you, but I consume a lot of content via audio- mainly in podcast form. I find that being able to learn whilst doing other, often mundane things, you can maximise your effeciency (or just for entertainment).

So when I started my journey of content creation in the personal finance space, I definitely didn't think I would haved created my own podcast- but I am very glad I have.

I really enjoy the process and I like that it forces me to think outside the box and distill my own ideas in a way that is understandable! I urge anyone who is passionate about something to consider starting one!!

As of next week I am going to begin having conversations with guests as well as continue to put out informative episodes (both short & long)

If you think we could have an interesting discussion that listeners would benefit from (or know someone else), please let me know!

I hope you enjoy the podcast, and if you do, please remember to subscribe on whatever platform you use (I think I am now on all of them!) and a 5 star review would always help too! 🙌🏼

Time IN the market beats TIMING the market

Automate your investing and make sure you do it every month, without fail. Start small and build your amount invested over time.

Don't overcomplicate it!

Knowledge that isn't applied is useless. This applies to many things, including personal finance.

Focus on GOOD HABITS.

Yes, knowledge is important but it is not good knowing how to be good with money theoretically, yet not actually doing it!

Here are a couple of good habits to get you started:

✅Budget every month before payday (set a reminder in your calendar)

✅ Automate your saving and investments by setting up direct debits

✅ Talk to your partner/friends/family about money so that it becomes the norm.

Getting started! 🏃

Starting to invest can be intimidating because it just seems so complicated. The best way to get around this is to dip your toes in the water and start with small amounts.

You will gradually increase this amount over time, but just start building that investing muscle!

STOP IMPULSE BUYING! 💰

Impulse buying is something that so many people struggle with. That feeling that you just need to buy something with money sitting in your account. Many of us are just chasing that endorphin hit that disappears so very quickly.

Here are 4 tips to help stop you from falling in to the trap!

1. Do a budget

By doing a zero-based budget, you will plan every penny that comes into your life, so there will be no room to impulse buy.

2. Have 'fun money'

This tip leads on from the first, in your budget you need to allocate 'fun money' to do whatever it is you want with! Guilt free spending!

3. Leave items in basket for 24 hours

A little hack that has worked for me is to leave any purchases that are clearly impulse buys in the online basket for 24 hours. Sleep on it and if you still feel you need it tomorrow- make room in the budget.

4. Leave emotion at the door

Just like you shouldn't go food shopping when you are hungry, you should not do online shopping (or in store) when you are emotional. You WILL spend more.

GET RID OF BAD DEBT!

There is a difference between 'bad debt' and 'good debt'.

Bad debt - High interest loans/credit used to buy things that go down in value.

Good debt - Low interest loan to buy things that go up in value (like a mortgage/business loan)

I am a huge advocate of everybody investing, however you should be free of all bad debt first.

Make sure you are in good habits before you begin building wealth for your future.

PENSIONER NET WORTH 💵

As of 2022, according to the Wealth & Assets survey done by the ONS, across physical wealth, property and a pension- the net worth of a 65 year old is £467,000.

Now it is important to remember this is a median, so 50% will have more and 50% will have less.

Even with that being said, I still feel like this number is very high & even if it is accurate- I think the majority of this generation have their wealth locked up in their residential property.

What are your thoughts on this stat?? ⬇️

YES, YOU! 👈

If you have never created a plan for your pay, today is the day. If you have just been paid or about to be paid- you are in the best position to write a plan for what you are going to be doing next month.

Just the act of intentionally writing down all of your outgoings will make you feel more in control.

Get the balance down to zero and be sure to include 'fun money' too. Remember, budgets are restrictive- they are freeing.

Strive for FREEDOM 🙌

When people say 'money doesn't make you happy', it is often in protest of wealth. It can be a justification for not striving/wanting to be 'rich'.

Instead, remind yourself that money gives you freedom, and use that as your motivation to become wealthy.

Three words that can justify almost anything.

I hear the words 'I deserve it' A LOT. This is in the context of buying something (usually extravagant) for yourself, usually with the justification that 'I work hard'.

It is important to remember that this justification can be used for pretty much anything as it is subjective and does not rely on any objective standards.

These words can be a slippery slope to a world of debt and a spiralling cycle of never really being financially stable.

Once you have your financial foundations in place (debt free, emergency fund in place and are working towards wealth) then you should definitely spoil yourself. Remember, this should NEVER EVER mean putting yourself into a position where you borrow more than you can afford.

Don't focus on if you can afford the monthly payments, think ab9out whether the total amount of what you are buying as a reasonable percentage of your yearly income.

For example, buying a £40,000 brand new car on finance when you earn £25,000 a year is clearly not reasonable. Buying a £10,000 good second hand car outright makes more sense, objectively. Almost double your yearly income VS one quarter.

Thoughts?