Fearless Finance

Daniel Britton

Helping you to change your mind about money. Join Financial Well-being Coach Daniel Britton in fun, financial conversations designed to lighten your mood and weigh down your wallet. Helping you build a winning Money Mindset, Master your Emotions, Deal with Debt and Build a Brighter Financial Future.

  1. 22/03/2022

    Build a Winning Money Mindset

    I hope you will enjoy this week’s episode as part of my series on the 7 Pillars of Financial Wellbeing “You become what you think about most of the time” - James Allen Are your thoughts mainly on opportunity, prosperity and gratitude? Or do you focus on fear, lack and frustration? If your thoughts are on a high vibration, gratitude, optimism joy and so on, you are more attractive to money. Specifically, more likely to recognise opportunities and take action towards attaining them. If the opposite is true and you find yourself in a funk, worried about debt or how you can pay the rent this month, then those low vibrational states will continue to attract feelings of worry and lack, leading to their physical manifestation – thoughts become things. On a more practical level you will not notice opportunities to improve your financial situation or lack the belief and confidence to take action. Maybe there is a promotion on offer at work or you want to apply for a higher paying job elsewhere. From a low energetic state you will likely either let the opportunity pass or not do yourself justice in an application or interview. Your subconscious will be limiting your ability to fully engage with the process. It's useful to start by examining where our beliefs come from. For may they are formed in childhood before the age of 7. Overhearing our parents fight about money, negative influences on TV, our culture and religion all have a powerful impact on our developing young minds. Next time you watch a movie, notice whether the bad guy is rich. You’ll be amazed how often this plot line is used. Think about the phrases you heard about money growing up. Chances are that most of them were negative: “Money doesn’t grow on trees”, “Money is the root of all evil”, or my Mum’s favourite “A fool and his money are soon parted”. This last one has influenced me decades later to shop around for bargains and avoid impulsive buys, irrespective of how much money I have at the time. Thing is as an adult do you want your 7 year old self running your life? No matter how well intentioned your parents were, their financial situation is not the same as yours today. Chances are high that they inherited their beliefs from their parents and grandparents before that. Factor in shortages caused by World War 2 and even the Great Depression and its easy to trace where generational beliefs of worry and lack came from. How do we shift our mindset? The first step is uncovering these limiting beliefs and bringing them into the light. You can do this with some self-reflection or with the help of a coach or therapist. Make a list of the things you learned about money growing up. For the ones which are negative, re-write them as a positive. For example, “Money is the root of all evil” could become “money is a source of freedom and joy”. Let’s dig deeper. Which of these statements is absolute truth? Both of them, neither of them? If neither is completely true, and neither completely false, why not choose the more empowering one? If you don’t accept it right now that money is a source of freedom and joy, that’s because you have spent decades believing the opposite. It is going to take some time and repetition to accept the new belief. Techniques such as NLP, hypnotherapy and tapping can help uncover and install new beliefs. Many people use affirmations, where you repeat empowering statements, or use visualisation to reinforce new beliefs. Get in touch If you have any comments or questions please get in touch via our social media channels or be kind enough to leave a review with your podcast host. Resources mentioned  As a Man Thinketh - James Allen Mindset - Carol Dweck

    7 min
  2. 01/03/2022

    The 7 Pillars of Financial Wellbeing - #2 Build A Money Management System

    A definition of financial wellbeing I have been using refers to a feeling of certainty and empowerment around your money, both now and for the future. Setting up an effective money management system is certainly one way of helping achieve that and gaining valuable peace of mind. This episode outlines how you can better manage your money with a simple yet effective system. 1. Additional Bank Accounts - Opening an additional bank account can be easily achieved by either contacting your existing provider or perhaps opening a new one with one of the online banks such as Revolut or Starling in the UK. I suggest having 2 current accounts plus a savings account. 2. Pay Yourself First - Regular listeners will know that this is a recurring theme on the podcast, but it’s an important principal so it bears repeating. Rather than waiting until the end of the month and hoping there is a little money left to move to savings, after all the bills and everyone else has been paid, make yourself a priority. I am going to ask you to set up an automated transfer for two amounts. The first is for savings, the second for Walking Around Money. Let’s concentrate on savings first. Take a proportion of your income and move it to a new or existing savings account. How much, well that depends on your circumstances. In some ways the habit is more important than the actual amount. Because you are showing yourself and the universe that you are now taking control of your finances and honouring your financial future by paying yourself first. As a rule of thumb aim for 10% of your monthly income, more if you can but less is ok if that is what your current circumstances will allow. The second transfer is for your Walking Around Money, or WAM. This is discretionary income which is not already allocated for bills, food or credit card repayments for example. Again, knowing your numbers is crucial here because by understanding how much you need to cover your monthly costs, you will also know how much you have left to spend as you please. You can transfer your WAM either monthly or weekly to your newly minted second bank account. Then only use this account for your day to day spending, secure in the knowledge that it will be topped up again at the end of the week. 3. Using Your Primary Bank Account -  Your original bank account is used to receive your monthly salary and from it you pay all your bills and regular expenses. You feel secure knowing that all your expenses are covered and automated. Then you can leave that account to happily run along in the background, with just the occasional check to make sure you have included everything and there is always a small positive balance. Meanwhile you have a growing savings account thanks to your regular contributions and a weekly allowance which you are free to spend as you like. Don't miss out on the other episodes in the series by subscribing. Visit our website fearlessfinance.co for a free download of the 7 Steps to Financial Wellbeing and follow us on our social channels

    7 min

About

Helping you to change your mind about money. Join Financial Well-being Coach Daniel Britton in fun, financial conversations designed to lighten your mood and weigh down your wallet. Helping you build a winning Money Mindset, Master your Emotions, Deal with Debt and Build a Brighter Financial Future.