YOUR GUIDE TO LIVING MONEY MINDFULLY
EVERY DAY Daily interaction with your finances, even when you don’t want to think about them, will go a long way to creating a better relationship with your money. ‘Commit to one action that will enhance your financial wellbeing every day,’ says business mentor Ruth Kudzi. ‘This could be having a conversation about managing your money, reading an article or commenting on a forum. It’s all about making small steps.’
EVERY WEEK Practise money visualisation. ‘Five minutes of visualising your debt getting smaller or your savings increasing so that you can afford that dream family holiday actually changes your neural pathways,’ says Sarupa Shah from thesoulagentblog.com. ‘The brain doesn’t know the difference between actually doing and visualising so, when you visualise, your brain chemistry creates neural messages that this must be “done”. Make sure you include lots of details and make it exciting. Building these new neural pathways will help you create positive associations around money and prevent you from continuing to make the same mistakes around your finances that stem from childhood experiences.’
EVERY MONTH Carry out a money cleanse. Take time to go through your bank statement or the transactions on your banking app, looking out for payments that you don’t recognise or for services you no longer use. Then, if you have time, go a step further and check your regular bills, such as your mobile phone, energy and broadband. If you’ve been with the same provider a while, you may find a cheaper deal elsewhere. Check comparison sites to see if you could save.
EVERY YEAR Set and review your financial goals. ‘Thinking about specific objectives that you want to achieve will help keep you on track,’ says Greg Harris, financial planner from Unividual. ‘Make sure your objectives are specific and relate to what you want to get out of life. So instead of saying, “I want my bank balance to be higher,” say, “I want to have an extra £100 each month that I can spend on activities with my family.” That way, you can hold yourself to them.’