Money Management and Creating a Positive Mindset About Money

Do you want to learn how to improve your money management skills and create a positive money mindset that supports you?

First of all, let me tell you that this is not a ‘How to be rich’ type of post. It’s a life skills post to help you create a positive mindset with regard to managing your money. I’ll be covering budgeting, savings and building a positive mindset about money.

Before I start this post, I’d like to share my own money story with you as I think this will help you to understand why creating a positive money mindset really does matter.

My Money Story

In 2010 I became a single mum, moved country with no furniture and no home of my own. I was a newly qualified Life Coach and Law of attraction practitioner with virtually no income.

My life had changed dramatically and although painful at the time, it was a very positive move. There was one big problem and that was that I knew I had a really terrible money mindset.

Over the next few years, I created a life I loved but not in my money area of life. I always managed to pay my bills, put food on the table and buy the essentials but that was about it and I wasn’t great at managing the money I had.

Over time I got myself into debt and I was almost constantly in panic mode around anything money-related.

Eventually, I hit my rock bottom money point and knew something big had to change. I knew I needed a different relationship with money and a new money mindset.

I’m not writing this post from a place of being a money expert now. I’m not. But what I have been able to do is shift my money mindset and my money management skills have improved big time. I now feel very happy in my relationship with money and that panic mode is long gone.

Today I want to share some of the things that really helped me.

If you’re in debt right now – Please also read 25 ways to save money and get out of debt.

The importance of an Emergency Fund

One of the very best things I did to shift my money mindset and take me out of that panic mode was to set up an emergency fund. I literally started off by putting just £5 into it every week.

I set up an automated payment so I didn’t miss it. Gradually I was able to increase those monthly payments.

I made it a priority to get it up to £1000 as quickly as possible. Even with just a few hundred in that Emergency Fund, I gave myself some breathing space.

I now know that if I have an unexpected emergency such as a car repair, I am calm and grateful that I have the money to sort it out.

If you’re in debt, I encourage you to pay the minimum and build your emergency fund as quickly as possible. This means that if an emergency does come up, you’re not going to be adding to your debt.

I don’t think £1000 is ultimately enough but it just gives you that breathing space whilst you focus on clearing your debt.

Once you have £1000 in your emergency fund, keep an automated payment going into the account weekly or monthly but increase your debt repayment to more than the minimum. Get your debt paid off as soon as possible.

Know where your money is going

I didn’t really know what was coming in or what was going out. I knew I was spending more than I was bringing in and when people suggested making a budget, it terrified me.

But when I eventually did it I was able to see exactly what was going where. Once I had my budget in place, I then looked at each individual expense and looked into whether I could reduce or stop the expense.

I was able to save myself quite a large amount of money by getting switching suppliers or asking to be on a lower tariff. I was also able to see where I was wasting money.

Get clear about the life you want and what’s really important to you

So many of us spend mindlessly but when you get really clear about what’s important to you you are less likely to spend on things that you don’t really value.

Try doing this exercise – How would you like your life to be in 5, 10, 15 years time? What are the expenses you need to plan for over the next year, 2, 3, 4, 5 years?

And write down the key things you want to do over the next 5 years and how much each of those things are likely to cost. For example, if you want to go on holiday, plan out how much that will cost including spending money whilst you’re there and budget for it in advance.

Look at what you’re currently spending on and ask “Is this really important to me?” – “Is this adding real value to my life?”

Tell your money where to go

Now you know what you want your life to be, tell your money where to go rather than getting to the end of the month and not having a clue where it’s all gone.

This is where the budget really comes in handy. For example, let’s say that you really want to own a particular car. By setting up a dedicated NEW CAR fund or maybe TESLA fund and setting up an automatic payment to that account, you are telling your money where to go and working toward those things that you really want.

If you’re spending £50 a week on eating out but you don’t actually enjoy it or value it, don’t budget for this, cut it out of your lifestyle.

Money goals

This ties into what I’ve just been saying. I encourage you to write down your money goals. Rather than having a goal to save £10,000, what will that £10,000 be used for?

Maybe that £10,000 sat in a savings account for emergencies gives you peace of mind and helps you to feel secure, that’s great but it’s important for you to know why you are saving that amount.

Respect your money

Take care of your money – When you do, you’ll have a much better money mindset.

I used to look at my bank account and feel dreadful. I almost hated everything money-related. My money energy was so negative and I believe that I was blocking money from coming to me and sticking around.

When you take care of your money and do the things I suggest in this post then your energy changes and you are more able to attract more money.

Create a budget that works for you

There are loads of apps, or maybe you’re a bit of a whizz with spreadsheets (I’m not). I simply write down all of my automated expenses, plus the expenses I pay cash for monthly and any other expenses such as food, petrol… I write everything down.

My income isn’t the same each month but I take the amount I can pretty much guarantee and work from that only. Any extra went to debt and then later to a savings account.

I will say that it took me 2 months to get all of my expenses down. In the first month, I thought I’d budgeted for all my expenses but I forgot about so many things such as the dog’s flea and worming tablets… and I definitely underestimated my petrol expenses. Just do your best and adjust as you go along.

Also, give yourself a spending budget. Try to do this even if you’re in debt, even if it’s just a few pounds a week.

That’s your money to do whatever you want with. I personally love the cinema, eating out and going to coffee shops. If I have money set aside for this in my “MY MONEY” fund, I can do it and really enjoy it and if I don’t have the money, it has to wait.

If you find you’re spending too much on your food shopping, check out these tips to SPEND LESS ON FOOD.

Essential savings accounts

I have a collection of instant access savings accounts. The essential ones are my Emergency Fund, yearly payments, car, home, Christmas & Birthdays, and others. I encourage you to pay a set amount into these accounts monthly on an automatic basis.

Read 4 essential savings accounts when money is tight

Yearly payments

This covers things like insurance, I also pay my car MOT, and service from this fund. This covers any payments that you pay once a year or twice a year (not a regular monthly payment).

I work out as best I can how much these expenses will be each year and divide by 12. Then I pay that amount into my account as an automatic payment.

I always round it up a bit to be on the safe side. So, let’s say I estimate that my yearly expenses are £2000. My monthly payments would need to be £166(ish). I would set up an automatic payment to the yearly payments account of at least £180. This allows for price increases from the previous year.

Car Fund

This will cover repairs and saving to buy a new car. Now some people might want to have separate funds for these but this works for me.

Home fund

This is for home repairs and anything I want to do in the house, such as buying new appliances, furniture, decorating…

Christmas and birthdays

These come around every year and Christmas especially can leave us in a mess financially. Budget for these expenses all year.

Other or miscellaneous

There are always going to be things that come up unexpectedly that are not emergencies and you haven’t budgeted for.

This can be things like a special event that comes up, a new outfit that you need, a present you need to buy, a school trip for one of the kids…

Add more if you’re out of debt

Once I was out of debt, I created more accounts, such as…

Holiday
Clothes
New Home
Fun Stuff…

Create a positive Money Mindset

Finally, I want to share some mindset techniques to help you create a really positive money mindset for much better money management.

Affirmations

Positive statements that support you in creating a great money mindset.

I have great money management skills now
I easily manage my money
Saving money for the life I want is really easy for me now
Sticking to a budget is easy for me now

Useful posts to read:

EFT

If you’re new to EFT, please read EFT – How to tap

Set-up: Tapping the side of the hand say “I release any money blocks and allow myself to be a good manager of my money now.” Repeat 3 times.

At each of the EFT points say “Money”

Top of the head
Forehead
Eyebrow
Side of the eye
Under the eye
Under the nose
Under the mouth
Collarbone
Under the arm
Side of the hand

This will help to release resistance and limiting beliefs as well as help you to feel really positive about money.

See EFT TAPPING WHEN MONEY IS TIGHT

Hypnosis

I love hypnosis and it really helps to change your way of thinking and create a positive mindset that supports you.

Please note that the link I’m about to share is an affiliate link and I will receive a payment if you buy using my link – I only ever recommend things I genuinely love and use myself. Check out the Manage Your Money Pack I think the packs are really good value and really help to change your mindset.

Visualize

Visualize managing your money really well. Imagine yourself being able to do the things you want knowing that you have the money and have planned for it.

Gratitude

Be grateful for all the money you have and all the money coming to you. Gratitude is your emotional superpower. I encourage you to use it often.

Here’s to your money-management – Money mindset journey

I really hope you’ve found this post helpful. When you learn to manage your money and create a positive money mindset this is a life skill that will serve you very well for life.

Please share this post wherever you can. Thank you so much.

Wendy

Money Mindset EFT Collection (download)

I’ve created a special Positive Money Mindset EFT collection which you can download from my ETSY SHOP