Wise Monkey Financial Coaching

Spring clean your finances

With the weather warming up and days getting longer, now's a perfect time to get yourself motivated to make some changes. So, here’s a simple springtime challenge for you...

Pick one of these 10 suggestions and decide to take action on it. If it helps find a friend or partner, pick a task you both need to do and do it together. Sit down one evening, open a bottle of Malbec and browse price comparison websites together. Or take turns to help sort each other’s paper mountains over a packet of chocolate biscuits.

Do whatever you need to do to make the tasks more palatable and then decide on one action - one small sweet step at a time. Never underestimate the power of doing what you say you’ll do…I guarantee it will put a spring in your step.

So, are you ready...?

Digital banks helping people manage money mindfully

Do the names Monzo, Starling, Chase and Revolut mean anything to you?

I often discuss with my clients how these type of digital banks help make money management more accessible and fun than a traditional bank by using your smart phone to track your spending.

These digital banks offer easy-to-use budgeting tools, instant notifications when you spend and straightforward ways to save. And this is all available at your fingertips, via your mobile phone.

They’re also helping to create conscious, mindful spending.

Seven ways to make 2020 the year you get your finances in order

There’s no better feeling than being in control of your money. However much or little of it you have, these 7 tips will help you get organised and plan for the year ahead. Don’t worry if it takes a couple of months to put it all into practice – try setting a goal of mastering a new money habit each week. By the time 2021 rolls around, you could have your money management totally nailed.

What’s your attitude to money teaching your kids?

If you want your kids to grow up with a healthy attitude to money, the first place to start is to look at your own habits and behaviour with money.

Our beliefs around money - both conscious and unconscious - are mostly informed by what we learn, experience and observe as we grow up. So how you deal with money will undoubtedly influence how your children manage their money as adults.

I’ve recently been working with a client, Sophie, on her money story and looking at how this feeds into her existing relationship with money. We explored her early experiences with money and began to gain insight into previously unconscious beliefs that had been getting in the way of the results she wants to achieve. Through this work, she slowly began to see how she'd been reinforcing old beliefs through some of the decisions and actions she'd taken.

As a child, Sophie's parents had gone from running a successful family business, with trappings of wealth, to being declared bankrupt. The family had to move out of the house they owned into rented accommodation. She was able to stay at the school she’d always attended but became increasingly aware of her different financial status compared to her peers.

She recalled one time the embarrassment of having to tell her teacher she wasn’t able to afford a school excursion. And another being ridiculed by other pupils for wearing her summer shoes for school in winter months.

Sophie's money story was one of scarcity and now, in adulthood, she found herself giving her children, aged six and nine, conflicting messages about money.

5 habits of successful savers

Some people are good savers. Regardless of how much they earn they always seem to have money set aside for special occasions and rainy days. Others, even when they have a good income, seem to be permanently broke and waiting for the next pay cheque. You probably recognise which you are.

This is a piece I wrote for Virgin Money Living.

sowing the seeds for financial success

This month our inboxes are overloaded with motivational messages, pinging at you like a hyperactive personal trainer: Lose weight! Get fit! Stop smoking! Start training! Write that book! Sort out your money! I'm advocating a calmer, gentler approach to achieving your financial goals; scaling down intentions to a manageable level. If you set yourself up to succeed, you'll be rewarded with an upward spiral of belief and trust in yourself.

“ISAs are now NISA”

The new version of Individual savings Accounts (ISAs) came out today and are now, imaginatively, called New ISAs or NISAs.

What is a NISA?

ISAs have always been a tax-efficient way of investing money either regularly or ...

Choosing a Cash ISA

The end of the tax year is fast approaching. There’s some last minute planning you can do to make full use of your allowances. If you haven’t yet used up your Cash ISA allowance, and want to do so before the tax year end this week, watch this video to find out how…

Smoothing your financial ride

Suddenly it’s December again and Christmas is coming hurtling towards us in a blur of sparkly lights and parties and last minute shopping, making excessive demands on our budgets. That’s how it often feels – to have come suddenly at us, even though December follows November each and every year.

One of my clients, Anna, is taking Advanced Driving lessons and her instructor had said that the most common word in accident reports was ‘suddenly’: ‘suddenly the van came hurtling round the corner’; ‘the car ahead braked suddenly’. Anna was learning that Advanced driving skills are all about anticipation - looking well ahead, adjusting your behaviour to ensure a smooth ride. Things rarely happen ‘suddenly’ if you’re anticipating well. She realised that ...

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