Welcome to Good Money Vibes, the podcast where millennial women in the UK transform from being bad with money to becoming financial rock stars. Are you tired of feeling lost in the world of personal finance? Do you ever think I’m just not good with money? Well, fear not. You’re in the right place. Every Thursday we dive into the heart of money matters tailored just for you. Good Money Vibes isn’t your typical finance podcast. It’s a friendly and conversational journey into the world of money, mindset, intentional spending, behavioural finance and all things money education. I believe that being smart with money doesn’t have to be dull. It’s about understanding your financial behaviours, making purposeful decisions and most importantly, feeling good about where your money is going. The episodes are packed with practical tips, expert insights and relatable stories, all designed to empower you to take charge of your financial life with confidence and joy. Whether you’re sorting out your savings, tackling debt, or just curious about how to make your money work for you, Good Money Vibes is your go-to guide. We’re not just a podcast, we’re a community. After tuning in, don’t forget to join our Money Confidence Club on Facebook. It’s a space filled with supportive women just like you all on their journey to financial freedom. So grab a cuppa, hit play, and let’s turn those money woes into money wins. Welcome to good money vibes, where good money management meets great life choices.
This week in the Good Money Vibes podcast, we are talking about the psychology of saving. So what is going on in our brains when we’re saving money? How we can kind of trick our brains and build the habit of saving money. There’s so much that goes into the kind of mental state and the mental ability to save money, and manage money, but I think it’s only it’s important to dedicate a whole episode to it. So we’re going to cover eight kinds of parts in this podcast episode. So we’re going to understand the saving mindset. We’re going to look at the role of financial goals. We are going to look at emotional spending versus saving and the power of habit forming. We’ll also look at overcoming financial anxiety and the social influences, the impact of social influences on our ability to save money, as well as creating a positive relationship with money. And finally, practical tips for effective saving. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
Understanding the saving mindset. To understand the saving mindset, we need to talk about delayed gratification. Now, I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard of delayed gratification, but whether or not we’re all able to practice it or not is another issue. Delayed gratification is the ability to resist the temptation of an immediate reward in favour of larger, more significant rewards obtained after a delay or period of waiting. It involves exercising self-control and patience to achieve long-term goals, leading to greater satisfaction and success in various other areas of life. So you might have heard of something called the marshmallow effect, or the marshmallow experiment. I bought the book The Marshmallow Effect years ago before I even had anything to do with money. I am not great at practising delayed gratification, I’ll be honest. I think I probably got about a few chapters into the book. Felt a bit too called out and didn’t go back to it. But I have since learned a bit more about it. So let’s kind of summarise what the marshmallow experiment was.
So there was a study conducted in the late 1960s by psychologist Walter Mitchell and his colleagues. The experiment aimed to understand self-control and its impact on future success. Here’s a quick rundown. The setup: children, mostly around the age of four, were individually brought into a room with a marshmallow or other tempting treats. The researcher would then tell the child that they could either eat the treat immediately or wait a short period, usually around 15 minutes, and receive a second treat as a reward for waiting. The results. The fascinating part is what happened next. Some children couldn’t resist and ate the marshmallow right away. That would be me. While others managed to wait for the second treat.
Interestingly, follow-up studies have shown that the children who were able to delay gratification tended to have better life outcomes later on, including higher SAT stool scores, lower levels of substance abuse, better stress management, and generally higher levels of achievement. So what does this tell us? This experiment highlights the importance of delayed gratification by being able to resist immediate temptation, and await a larger reward. Individuals often achieve greater success in various aspects of their lives. It’s not just about the marshmallow, it’s about learning to control impulses and make decisions that benefit us in the long run. Now, I think a bit about this book, when I was reading about the study what annoyed me, was that part where it talks about, if you can delay gratification, you’re just going to do better in life. The next part of the book was about how they decided that, because they used such young children, they used the idea that there was an innate ability. I took that as being like, well, I just innately, like it is in my bones, that I cannot delay gratification. Therefore, it’s not something I can do. Therefore I didn’t need to read the book anymore. Done and dusted when, yes, it might be that some people kind of more predisposed, there are different personality traits we all have. That might mean it’s easier to delay gratification, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not something that we can teach ourselves. It’s all through kind of building the habit and relearning behaviours which will get into. So we need to cultivate a future-orientated mindset where long-term financial security is prioritised over immediate gratification, which can profoundly impact your ability to save money. Here’s how:
When you prioritise long-term financial security, you’re more likely to set clear, achievable goals for yourself, whether it’s building an emergency fund, saving for retirement, or buying a home. Having a specific objective in mind helps focus your efforts and motivate you to save. A future-orientated mindset encourages you to think twice before making impulse purchases. Instead of giving in to the temptation of buying something you want right now, you’re more likely to consider whether that expense aligns with your long-term financial goals. Long-term financial security often requires careful budgeting and planning. By prioritizing savings and allocating a portion of your income towards your financial goals, you create a roadmap for achieving those objectives over time. Saving for the future also involves preparing for unexpected expenses or financial emergencies. By prioritizing long-term financial security, you’re more likely to build an emergency fund, which provides a safety net during challenging times and reduces the need to rely on credit or loans and finally, investing for growth. A future-orientated mindset extends beyond saving to investing. Instead of simply hoarding cash, you recognize the importance of investing in assets and have the potential to grow your wealth over time, such as stocks, bonds, or real estate. This long-term perspective can help you build wealth and achieve your financial goals more effectively. Overall, prioritizing long-term financial security over immediate gratification requires discipline, patience, and a willingness to make sacrifices in the present for the sake of a brighter financial future. By adopting this mindset and consistently making choices that align with your long-term goals, you can significantly improve your ability to save and secure your financial future. This is why the work I do now focuses so heavily on values working out what that long-term financial future looks like, and making sure that not only is it aspirational enough, that it’s motivational enough, and also you have the belief that you’re going to be able to achieve it because without it being something you want enough and without having the confidence in yourself and your ability to achieve that goal, it’s going to seem hard to put in the work. And more often than not, you’re going to stop at some point when it gets too hard, the motivation won’t be there. So that is the key to creating this long-term mindset. And being able to delay gratification is thinking about that future, and having that future be so fucking exciting and be so believable and you’re so, like, ready and willing to go and get it. Then it becomes a no-brainer that you’re not going to impulsively buy this thing now and are going to, you know, put some money in your savings.
Let’s look at the role of financial goals. The neuroscience, which I love nerding out about, behind goal setting, offers fascinating insights into how our brains respond to specific, challenging financial goals, making saving more motivating. Several studies have delved into the area, shedding light on the brain’s decision-making processes and how they relate to gulp pursuits. So here’s a brief overview. When we set specific, challenging financial goals, such as saving a certain amount of money by a particular deadline, it activates the brain’s reward centres. These regions are associated with experiencing pleasure and motivation, and studies using neuroimaging techniques have shown increased activity in these areas when individuals anticipate achieving their goals. Next, dopamine. Dopamine often refers to the feel-good neurotransmitter, and it plays a crucial role in goal-directed behaviour. Research suggests that setting and working towards specific financial goals can lead to dopamine release in the brain, reinforcing positive behaviour and making saving more rewarding on a neurological level. And my fave, the prefrontal cortex. So the prefrontal cortex is implicated in executive functions such as planning, decision-making, and goal pursuits. Studies have found that when individuals engage in tasks related to achieving specific financial goals, there is increased activity in the prefrontal cortex indicating cognitive effort and strategic planning. Achieving specific, challenging financial goals activates the brain’s areas associated with feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction, such as the medial prefrontal cortex. This neural reinforcement reinforces the behaviour of saving and motivates individuals to continue pursuing their financial objectives. And temporal discounting. The brain’s response to specific, challenging financial goals can also counteract temporal discounting, the tendency to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed gratification by activating the brain’s decision-making areas and reward centres. Setting financial goals. Ambitious financial goals help you overcome the allure of immediate consumption and stay focused on long-term financial success. In summary, the neuroscience behind goal setting highlights how specific challenging financial goals can activate the brain’s decision-making areas and reward centres, making saving more motivating and reinforcing positive financial behaviours. Understanding these neural mechanisms can empower you to set meaningful goals and cultivate habits that lead to financial well-being. So, as I said, just because you might be innately 1s unable to delay gratification, such as myself, doesn’t mean you can’t learn it. You can’t like, train your brain and you can’t use tools like setting these specific motivational, exciting, or financial goals. Setting effective financial goals is crucial for achieving long-term financial success, and incorporating visualisation techniques can enhance the process by strengthening the neural pathways associated with saving.
So here are some tips to help you set and visualise your financial goals effectively. Be specific and measurable. Clearly define your financial goals in terms of specific outcomes and measurable targets. For example, instead of saying I want to save more money, specify how much you want to save and buy when. This clarity helps activate the brain’s decision-making areas by providing a clear target to aim for. To break down larger goals. If you have a big financial goal. Break them down into smaller, achievable milestones. This not only makes the goals more manageable but also provides opportunities for more frequent visualisations of progress, which reinforces positive saving behaviour.
Three. Use visualisation techniques. Visualise yourself achieving your financial goals in vivid detail. Close your eyes and imagine what it will feel like to have achieved your goals the sense of accomplishment, security, and freedom. Visualising success activates the same neural pathways associated with actually achieving the goal. Strengthening your motivation to save. And this is my favourite tip create a vision board. I was such a vision board sceptic until I did one. Let me just brief, brief interruption from science to talk about my vision board story. I created a vision board. 2020, 2021, I think. Um, I didn’t put much thought into it. I’d kind of heard about them. I did something on Canva. I put it as my iPad background context. I never used my iPad to the point where I pretty much forgot I had it, found it in the move, and now it’s Jim’s iPad for like when we’re doing long-distance train journeys. But when I found my iPad again, I looked at the background. What had happened was that I’d set images of certain things that I wanted, right? The goals I wanted to achieve. I’d achieved like five of them, and I hadn’t even realised. Now, this technically isn’t what vision is, but how you’re supposed to use vision boards because the idea is that you’re constantly visualising that goal, that future version of yourself. But what I’d done just by creating the vision board was setting that intention. I was going to go out and do those things. So I had a family. When I did that, I didn’t have a child. I had a picture of a wedding on the vision board. I was not engaged when I did the vision board. I had a picture of a house. I now have a house. Picture of a business. I run my own business. There are lots of different things that I like because I set the intention. I visualised what it would look like by putting pictures of other people doing those things. Proof that it’s possible to myself. My brain went out and put myself in the position to make those goals a reality. But let’s go back to science. So consider creating a vision board or digital collage that represents your financial goals visually. Include images that symbolise your aspirations, such as pictures of your dream home, travel destinations, or retirement activities. This is the key bit. Place your vision board in a prominent location where you’ll see it regularly to reinforce your commitment to saving. I have it as my phone background because I don’t know about you, but I pick up my phone probably about 50 times a day, so at least I see it 50 times a day.
Practice positive affirmations. This is another one of my favourites. Again, used to be an affirmation skeptic and now I am a pure convert. You use positive affirmations to reinforce your belief in your ability to achieve your financial goals. Repeat affirmations related to saving and financial success daily, such as I am capable of achieving my financial goals or I am disciplined with my money. Positive self-talk can help override negative thought patterns and strengthen your resolve to save. Regularly monitor your progress towards your financial goals and celebrate your achievements along the way. Tracking your progress provides tangible evidence of your success, reinforces the neural pathways associated with saving and motivates you to continue working towards your goal. By combining effective goal-setting techniques with visualisation practices, you can strengthen the neural pathways associated with saving and increase your likelihood of achieving financial success. Remember to stay focused, remain consistent with your efforts, and visualise your success regularly to keep your motivation high.
Next, I want to talk about emotional spending versus savings. So emotional spending, also known I guess as retail therapy, refers to the tendency to make purchases in response to emotional triggers rather than out of necessity or careful consideration. Several psychological triggers contribute to emotional spending, and research has shown that dopamine release plays a significant role in this behaviour. Emotional spending often occurs in response to various emotional states such as stress, boredom, sadness, or even happiness. Researchers found that individuals are more likely to engage in emotional spending when they experience negative emotions, and shopping can provide a temporary distraction or mood boost. Social factors such as peer pressure, societal norms, and advertising can also trigger emotional spending. For example, seeing friends or influencers, making purchases or being exposed to advertisements that evoke certain emotions can influence an individual’s spending behaviour. Emotional spending provides an immediate sense of gratification or pleasure as purchasing items contemporary alleviates negative emotions or fulfils desires. This should reward and reinforce the behaviour and can lead to a cycle of impulsive spending.
Research has shown that making purchases can lead to dopamine release in the brain’s reward centres. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward, and motivating motivation when individuals engage in emotional spending. The anticipation of acquiring something new or desirable can trigger a dopamine release, reinforcing the behaviour and creating a sense of pleasure or satisfaction. Emotional spending can also be driven by a desire to enhance one’s self-image or boost self-esteem. Purchasing items that are associated with status, success, or personal identity can provide a temporary ego boost or validation. Understanding these psychological triggers can help us recognize and address emotional spending tendencies. Strategies such as mindful spending, creating a budget, processing delayed gratification, and finding alternative ways to cope with emotions can help curb emotional spending and promote healthier financial habits.
Now I want to talk about the power of habit forming. Understanding the signs of habit formation, as explained by Charles Duhigg and other researchers, can shed light on how habits are created in the brain and how establishing automatic saving habits can lead to consistent savings. The habit loop. According to Charles Duhigg, I’m probably not saying that right. The research outlined in his book The Power of Habit Habits falls through a process known as the habit loop. The loop consists of three components cue, routine, and reward. The queue is a trigger that initiates the habit. It can be a specific time of day, a location an emotional state, or any other environmental or internal signal. The routine is the behaviour or action that follows the key, and it is the habitual response to the trigger. And the reward is the positive reinforcement that follows the routine. It satisfies a craving or provides a sense of pleasure, reinforcing the habit loop. Habit information primarily involves the basal ganglia, a region of the brain responsible for procedural learning and habit formation. When a behaviour becomes habitual, new neural pathways in the basal ganglia are strengthened, making the behavior more automatic and less reliant on conscious decision-making. By understanding the habit loop and the neuroscience of habit formation, you can intentionally cultivate saving habits to promote consistent savings. Start by identifying cues or triggers that can prompt saving behaviour. This could be receiving a paycheck, seeing a specific financial goal, or setting a regular savings schedule. Develop a routine for saving behaviour that follows the cue. This could involve automatically transferring a portion of each paycheck to a savings account, setting up recurring deposits, or using a budgeting app to track expenses and savings and associate a war of reward or positive reinforcement with the saving habit to reinforce that behaviour. This could be the satisfaction of seeing savings grow, achieving financial milestones, or treating yourself to a small reward for meeting a savings goal. Consistency and repetition are key to solidifying saving habits by consistently following the cue with the saving routine and experiencing the reward of increased financial security or progress towards your financial goals. It can strengthen the neural pathways associated with saving behaviour, making it more automatic and ingrained over time. By leveraging the principles of habit formation and understanding the neuroscience behind it. You can establish automatic saving habits that lead to consistent savings and long-term financial well-being. Building saving habits is essential for long-term financial goals.
Here are some practical tips to help you establish and maintain saving habits. Number one set up automatic transfers from your bank account to your savings account regularly, such as after each paycheck. This ensures that a portion of your income is consistently allocated toward savings without the need for manual intervention. Number two develop a budget that outlines your income, expenses, and savings goals. Allocate a specific amount of money toward saving each month and track your progress regularly to stay on target. Number three identifies short-term and long-term financial goals, such as building an emergency fund, saving for a holiday, or investing for retirement. Having a clear objective helps motivate you to save and provides direction for your saving efforts. Number four, create visual reminders of your financial goals to keep them top of mind. This could involve making a vision board with pictures of your goals, setting up reminders on your phone, or displaying a progress chart where you can track your savings milestones. Number five before making a purchase, especially for non-essential items, pause and consider whether it aligns with your financial goals. Ask yourself if the purchase is necessary or if the money could be better allocated towards savings or other priorities. Number six celebrate your savings milestones along the way to keep yourself motivated. Whether it’s reaching a specific saving target, paying off debt, or achieving a financial goal. Acknowledge your progress and reward yourself for your efforts. Number seven periodically review your savings habits and financial goals to ensure that they are still aligned with your priorities and circumstances. Make adjustments as needed to stay on track and continue making progress towards your goals. And finally, share your saving goals with a trusted friend, family member or financial coach who can provide support and accountability. Having someone to hold you accountable can help you stay motivated and committed to your saving habits by incorporating these practical tips into your routine.
You can build strong saving habits that lead to financial stability and success over time. Remember that consistency and discipline are key, and small steps taken consistently can lead to significant progress towards your financial goals.
Next, let’s talk about overcoming financial anxiety. Financial anxiety can have a significant impact on saving behaviour, as stress and worry can hinder financial decision-making in several ways. When you experience financial anxiety, your cognitive function can be impaired. Stress and worry consume mental bandwidth, making it difficult to focus, problem-solve, and make rational decisions. This can lead to impulsive or irrational financial choices such as overspending or avoiding saving altogether. Financial anxiety often leads to a heightened sense of risk aversion. You may become overly cautious and reluctant to take risks with your money, even if it could lead to potential growth or investment opportunities. This aversion to risk can prevent you from pursuing saving or investment strategies that could benefit you in the long run.
In response to financial anxiety, you may engage in avoidance behaviours such as ignoring bills, avoiding financial planning, or neglecting to save for the future. This avoidance only exacerbates financial stress and could lead to further financial problems to underline.
Financial anxiety tends to promote short-term focus, where you prioritise immediate relief from stress over long-term financial stability. This can manifest in behaviours such as impulse buying, using credit cards to cope with financial stress, or prioritizing instant gratification over saving for the future. Financial anxiety can also take a toll on mental health, contributing to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and overall psychological distress. These mental health issues can further impair financial decision-making and exacerbate the cycle of financial anxiety. Overall, addressing financial anxiety requires a holistic approach that combines practical strategies with emotional support.
Building financial confidence is essential for overcoming anxiety and making informed financial decisions. Here are some techniques to help you build your financial confidence. Take the time to learn about personal finance concepts such as budgeting, saving, investing, and debt management. There are many resources available, including books, websites, podcasts, and workshops that can help you gain a better understanding of financial topics and feel more empowered to manage your money effectively. Building financial confidence doesn’t happen overnight, so start small and gradually increase your financial skills and knowledge over time. Set achievable goals and take small steps towards improving your financial situation. Whether it’s creating a budget, opening a savings account, or paying off a credit card. 1s Keep track of your financial progress and celebrate your success along the way. Set specific saving milestones and celebrate when you reach them. Whether it’s saving a certain amount of money, paying off debt, or reaching a particular investment goal. Recognizing your achievements can help boost your confidence and motivate you to continue making progress. Cultivate a positive mindset and practice self-compassion as you work towards improving your financial situation. Instead of focusing on past mistakes or perceived shortcomings. Focus on the progress you’ve made and the steps you’re taking to move forward. Use positive affirmations to reinforce your belief in your ability to achieve your financial goals. And don’t be afraid to seek support and guidance from trusted sources such as friends, family members, or financial professionals. Surround yourself with people who can provide encouragement, advice and support as you navigate your financial journey. Consider working with a financial advisor or a financial coach who can help you develop a personalised financial plan and provide guidance along the way. Building financial confidence often involves taking calculated risks and learning from your mistakes. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. Whether it’s investing in the stock market, starting a side hustle, or negotiating a higher salad salary. Embrace failures as learning opportunities and use them to refine your approach and improve your financial skills. By incorporating these techniques into your financial journey. You can gradually build confidence in your ability to manage your money effectively and achieve your financial goals. Remember that building financial confidence is a process that takes time and effort to be patient with yourself and celebrate your progress along the way.
So now we come to the sixth part of the episode where we’ll talk about the impact of social influences. Societal and peer pressures can have a significant impact on your saving habits, often influencing behaviour and financial decisions in a subtle but profound way. Here’s how societal and peer pressures can affect saving habits, and why finding supportive financial communities is crucial. Society often promotes a consumer culture that prioritizes spending and instant gratification over saving and long-term financial security. Advertisement. Social media and cultural norms can create pressure to keep up with the latest trends and lifestyles, leading you to prioritize spending and oversleeping. Peer pressure and social influences can also affect saving habits. Seeing friends, family members, or colleagues spending money on luxury items or expensive experiences can create pressure to do the same, even if it’s not financially prudent. Social comparison can lead to feelings of inadequacy or FOMO, prompting you to spend beyond your means to fit in or keep up appearances. Societal norms and expectations around financial success and status can influence saving habits. There may be pressure to achieve certain milestones such as home ownership, luxury vacations, or expensive purchases, even if they’re not aligned with your financial goals or values. The fear of judgment or stigma can also impact saving habits. You may feel pressured to portray an image of financial success or stability to avoid judgment from others, leading you to prioritize spending over saving or to avoid seeking help or support when facing financial challenges. Finding supportive communities can help you counteract the negative effects of societal and peer pressure and cultivate healthier, saving habits. Joining a financial community allows you to connect with like-minded people who share similar values and goals around saving and financial well-being. This sense of shared purpose can provide encouragement, motivation, and accountability as individuals work towards their savings goals. In a supportive financial community, you can seek support, guidance, and encouragement from others who understand their financial challenges and goals. Whether it’s celebrating saving milestones, sharing tips or strategies, or offering empathy during difficult times. A supportive community can provide you with emotional support. Being part of a financial community creates a sense of accountability, as you’re more likely to stay on track with your saving goals when you know others are watching and cheering you on. Additionally, seeing others achieve success and making progress to reward their financial goals can inspire and motivate you to do the same. Financial communities often provide access to education, resources and tools to help individuals improve their financial literacy, develop saving habits, and make informed decisions. Whether it’s workshops, webinars, online forums, or educational materials, these resources can help you take control of your finances and achieve your savings goals. By finding supportive financial communities, you can navigate societal and peer pressures more effectively, cultivate healthier saving habits, and work towards achieving long-term financial well-being. Whether it’s through online forums, local meetups, or social media groups. Connecting with others who share similar values and gold can make a significant difference in one’s financial journey.
Personally, my biggest turnaround was from joining the debt-free community. So I created it first of all started following some in some kind of like content creators who talk about money. I followed one person in particular who documented her spending every night, and that got me thinking about doing the same for myself, in that it got me thinking, oh my God, I don’t want to do that because I don’t want to see what it has to say. But after following this person for a little while and seeing that they were sharing, um, other anonymous accounts, I thought about doing the same. So I created an anonymous account to pay off my debt. And if you search the hashtag on Instagram, debt-free community UK or UK debt-free community, you will find hundreds, if not thousands of active accounts that are all on a journey to paying off debt. Similarly, some add savings. Some are trying to save for a house like they are sharing their financial goals. Some are anonymous and some are public. You can also find groups on Facebook. Um, and I have my own Facebook group, which is kind of in a little fledgling stage. So if you’re listening to this and you want to help me build this safe and supportive community, then give the Facebook group a search. It’s called the Confident, the Money Confidence Club. So come over and have a look. But if you already follow me on Instagram and that is where you already are, then why not kind of join in? You can just follow the hashtag for a little bit and see what other people are doing, just so that you can keep yourself motivated. And if you want to join in, you can create your account, or you can just watch and use them for inspiration and motivation.
Next, let’s talk about creating a positive relationship with money. Fostering an abundance mindset and overcoming scarcity. Thinking is crucial for improving your relationship with money and achieving financial well-being. Here’s why it’s significant and how it can positively impact your financial outlook. Gase thinking is characterized by a fear of lack or shortage of leaders, leading you to hoard resources, avoid risks, and resist growth opportunities. In contrast, that abundance mindset is rooted in the belief that there are enough resources and opportunities available for everyone to thrive. By shifting from scarcity thinking to an abundance mindset, you can approach money with confidence and optimism, allowing you to take calculated risks, pursue opportunities, and make decisions from a place of abundance rather than fear. Scarcity thinking often leads to a narrow focus on limitations and constraints, making it difficult to see opportunities for growth and success. An abundance mindset, on the other hand, encourages you to focus on possibilities and potentials, opening your eyes to opportunities for financial abundance and prosperity. By adopting an abundance mindset, you can cultivate a sense of optimism and creativity, allowing you to explore new avenues for wealth creation and financial growth. Scarcity fosters a sense of competitiveness and comparison, leading you to hoard resources and view other’s success as a threat to your own. In contrast, an abundance mindset promotes generosity in gratitude, recognizing that there is enough to go around and celebrating other’s successes as well as your own. By embracing generosity and gratitude, you can cultivate positive relationships with money and experience greater fulfilment and satisfaction in your financial life.
The Law of Attraction suggests that what we focus on and believe in tends to manifest in our lives. By cultivating an abundance mindset and focusing on abundance rather than scarcity, you can attract success and prosperity into your life. When we believe in our ability to create wealth and abundance, we’re more likely to take actions that align with those beliefs, leading to greater financial success and fulfilment. Scarcity thinking often leads to stress, anxiety, and feelings of insecurity about money. By adopting an abundance mindset and trusting in the abundance of resources and opportunities available, you can reduce stress and anxiety related to finances. This sense of peace and security allows individuals to make clearer, more rational financial decisions and experience greater overall well-being. In summary, fostering an abundance mindset and overcoming scarcity thinking is essential for improving your relationship with money and achieving financial success by shifting from fear to confidence, focusing on opportunities, embracing generosity and gratitude, attracting success and prosperity, and reducing stress and anxiety. You can cultivate a positive and empowering relationship with money that leads to greater abundance and fulfilment in all areas of life.
Let’s let’s talk about NLP. You may have seen me mention recently that I have become a certified NLP practitioner, and let’s understand what that means. So it stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and it offers powerful techniques for reframing negative financial beliefs and reinforcing positive saving behaviours. Here are some NLP techniques that can help you improve your relationship with money. Anchoring involves associating a specific state or emotion with a particular stimulus or trigger. You can create an anchor for positive financial beliefs and behaviours by recalling past events or financial success or abundance and anchoring those feelings to a specific gesture, word, or visualization. When faced with financial challenges or negative beliefs, you can activate the anchor to access feelings of confidence, abundance, and empowerment. Reframing involves changing the meaning or interpretation of a situation to shift your perspective and emotions. You can use reframing to challenge and reframe negative financial beliefs by asking yourself questions such as what other interpretations or perspectives are possible? How can I view this situation in a more empowering way? And what lessons can I learn from this experience? By reframing negative beliefs into more positive and empowering interpretations, you can change your emotional responses and behaviours towards money.
Visualizations are also powerful, and they’re powerful tools for reprogramming the subconscious mind by reinforcing positive behaviours. You can use guided visualizations to imagine achieving your financial goals, experiencing abundance, and making wise financial decisions by repeatedly visualizing success and positive outcomes. You can create new neural pathways and beliefs that support your financial goals and aspirations. Language patterns in NLP can be used to reframe negative self-talk and beliefs about money. You can replace limiting language with more empowering and affirming statements such as I am capable of managing my finances effectively. I deserve to experience abundance and prosperity. I am committed to saving and investing for my future. By consciously choosing empowering language and affirmations, you can reinforce positive beliefs and behaviours related to money. Modelling involves studying and emulating the behaviours and beliefs of successful individuals in a particular area. You can identify role models who exhibit positive financial behaviours and beliefs, such as successful investors or financially savvy individuals and model their mindset and strategies by observing and adopting the habits and beliefs of successful role models, you can accelerate your financial success and transformation. Overall, NLP techniques offer powerful tools for reframing negative financial beliefs, overcoming limiting behaviours, and reinforcing positive saving behaviours. By incorporating these techniques into your daily practices, you can transform your relationship with money and create greater abundance and prosperity in your life. And the last section we’re going to talk about today is practical tips for saving. Improving your saving rate is a fantastic goal, and I’m happy to offer some actionable advice and strategies to help you get there.
So let’s dive in. Number one, create a budget. You knew it was coming, right? Start by tracking your income and expenses. You can use a spreadsheet, a budgeting app, or even good old-fashioned pen and paper. List all your sources of income and then track your expenses over a month. This will give you a clear picture of where your money is going and where you can make adjustments. Secondly, identify the areas to cut back. Once you have a clear view of your spending habits, identify areas where you can cut some things. Look for non-essential expenses that you can reduce or eliminate. This could include dining out less frequently, cancelling subscriptions you don’t use, or finding cheaper alternatives for your regular purchases. Thirdly, set savings goals. Having specific savings goals can help you motivate can help motivate you to save more. Whether you’re saving for a holiday, a down payment on a house or an emergency fund, set clear goals and with target amounts and timelines, break down your goals into smaller, achievable milestones to keep yourself on track. Number four automate your savings. Make saving a habit by automating the savings contributions. Set up an automatic transfer from your bank account to your savings account on payday. This way, you’ll be less tempted to spend the money before you save it. Number five explores high-interest savings offers. Look for savings accounts that offer high interest rates online. Banks often offer higher interest rates than traditional brick-and-mortar banks. Number six track your progress regularly review your budget and track your progress. Progress towards your savings goal. Celebrate your successes along the way and don’t get discouraged if you have setbacks. Just adjust your budget and savings plan as needed and stay on course. And lastly, stay consistent. Consistency is key when it comes to saving money. Make saving a priority and stick to your budgeting and saving plan. Remember that even small amounts saved regularly can add up over time. By implementing these strategies and staying committed to your savings goal, you’ll be well on your way to improving your savings rate and achieving financial security keep up the great work. If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please feel free to ask.
So that’s the end of the episode. We have covered a lot, so I’m going to give a summary of how you have got to this point in the end and you’re still listening. Just give yourself a round of applause because that was it was just a lot. Okay. Let’s summarize. Things are going on in your brain when you do certain things. When you enact a certain behaviour, your brain is either going to reward you or it’s going to have a negative reaction. Your brain has a negativity bias. It’s going to feel the negative more than it’s going to feel the positive. So when you kind of had these setbacks, it’s going to feel a lot more strongly than when you have these little wins. So it can be hard to stay motivated. But I find that being aware of how our brains work when it comes to saving money, we can start to allow ourselves that extra space by being like, it’s okay. Like, I know that my brain is wired this way to focus on the negatives rather than the positives. Also, we can look at building those habit loops reinforcing. And my favourite one of all is visualization. You’ll probably notice that throughout this episode, even though I’ve spoken about eight different points, certain things kept being brought up time and time again. Those are the things that you need to stay consistent on because they work. If I can talk about them in lots of different areas that help you build savings, then they’re the things that work. If you’re able to, you can go on to the website and you can look at the transcript for this episode. It might be a bit easier to read. I sometimes find reading information easier than listening to it. But if you’re here on a podcast, so you probably like listening anyway. But thank you for listening. I hope you found that interesting. I found it interesting when I was doing some of the research to write the script for this episode. I do apologise that it has been very scripted. I don’t like to be very scripted on the podcast. This one, just with the amount of information that I wanted to include, I needed to make sure, like all my points were, concise. Hopefully you found it useful. Please do let me know. Give me a tag on Instagram. Share on Instagram if you’re listening, let your friends and family know about the podcast and I will speak to you soon.
0 Comments