Don't fear money

The method I used to embrace my finances

There was a time when money terrified me.

Working a 9-5 job on a £22k salary, I was barely scraping by after the rent was paid. Saving more than £150 a month seemed impossible.

Spending was my escape—a way to feel good, to feel in control. 

But who was I kidding? Every time I thought about my money, my chest got tight. 

Any attempt to take control left me so overwhelmed I’d just get angry and shove the whole problem aside. 

I know I'm not alone in this.

No one teaches us how to manage our money, let alone make us feel good about it.

Capitalism thrives on this feeling. It wants you in debt. It wants you to feel like managing money is something only “financially savvy” people can do.

But if you want to be an entrepreneur and start making more, you have to work on how you perceive money.

Money is a currency. It flows. In and out. 

You spend to support others and you in turn receive the flow of currency to support yourself.

Not only to support yourself, but to invest in yourself.

There’s no way around this—if you want to provide quality services to the economy at large, you either need to upskill or have the ability to produce good work;

both of which require software, courses, books, templates and above all time… and these things come at a cost.

Face the numbers

The first step to anything is meeting reality where it is. Not where you want it to be.

Money was the number one issue that caused disagreements with my wife. One of us always had to drag the other kicking screaming into doing our bill payments and think about savings (or lack of). Not fun.

Luckily, technology has come to our rescue. 

The first thing we did was put a limited amount of funds onto a prepaid Monzo current account, which automatically tracks spending and organizes it into easy-to-read categories or “buckets.” 

Every purchase is sorted so, at the beginning of each month, we can clearly see where our money is going. No stress.

Set a monthly routine

Auto-tracking is great but you need to internalize that knowledge for it to have an impact

At the start of each month, I’d put a recurring task in Asana to review my expenses using my financial tracking spreadsheet and update my income, expenses, and savings.

If you have a partner, do this with them. Your joint finances need to be a group effort.

After about two months, this will no longer feel like a chore; it will become a moment of reflection—a time to be proud of decisions made out of clarity, not panic.

(I won't lie, it’s hell at the beginning - but stick with it!)

Personal Finance Tracker

Ready to start taking control? 

I'm giving you my personal finance tracker.

Filling this in at the start of every month (right after payday) is the first step in seeing how much more you need to make every month through entrepreneurship (more on that next Sunday).