Key Takeaways
1. Acknowledge External Pressures on Spending
The very first step to becoming Good With Money is to give yourself a fucking break.
External factors influence spending. Modern society bombards individuals with messages that promote consumption, from advertising and social media to diet culture and impossible standards. These external pressures can significantly impact financial behavior, making it difficult to be "Good With Money."
Diet culture and media. The constant emphasis on appearance and the pursuit of thinness, fueled by diet culture and media portrayals, diverts attention and resources away from financial well-being. Similarly, unrealistic lifestyles depicted in TV shows and movies create false expectations about affordability and financial norms.
Social media and e-commerce. The rise of social media and e-commerce has created a "playground of consumption," where opportunities to spend are ever-present and easily accessible. Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services and targeted advertising further exacerbate this issue, making it easier to overspend and accumulate debt.
2. Understand Your Emotional Relationship with Money
Money gets its meaning from the emotional transfer that happens when we interact with it.
Money is emotional. Our brains are not naturally wired for optimal money management. Emotions, shaped by upbringing, experiences, and societal influences, play a significant role in financial decisions. Recognizing these emotional connections is crucial for changing financial behavior.
Financial flashpoints. Major life events, such as family breakdown or financial windfalls, can create lasting "financial flashpoints" that shape our beliefs and behaviors around money. These flashpoints can lead to both positive and negative financial patterns.
Internal creative director. Our "internal creative director" crafts stories about money, influencing how we perceive its value and our worthiness to possess it. These stories can lead to emotional spending, self-sabotage, and other irrational financial behaviors.
3. Rewrite Limiting Financial Beliefs
It’s not so much what you experienced, but how you experienced it.
Beliefs shape financial behavior. Our financial beliefs, formed early in life, significantly impact our financial behavior. These beliefs, rather than the actual financial circumstances of our upbringing, determine our attitudes towards saving, spending, and managing money.
Challenge negative self-talk. Many individuals harbor negative self-talk about their financial abilities, labeling themselves as "bad with money" or "irresponsible." Challenging these labels and cultivating a more positive self-image is essential for building financial confidence.
Expand your financial window. Expose yourself to different financial realities and success stories to broaden your perspective and challenge limiting beliefs. This can involve reading books, listening to podcasts, or connecting with individuals who have achieved financial well-being.
4. Reclaim Intentional Spending
Being Good With Money is about taking control and getting in the driver’s seat of not just your money, but your life.
Shift from passive to active. Reclaiming financial decisions involves shifting from passive, reactive spending to active, intentional money management. This requires awareness of spending triggers, conscious decision-making, and a commitment to aligning spending with values.
The activation, decision, and reflection zones. Understand the three zones of spending: the activation zone (where the desire to spend arises), the decision zone (where the purchase is made), and the reflection zone (where the consequences are evaluated). By becoming aware of these zones, individuals can interrupt negative spending patterns.
Implement strategies for intentionality. Slow down decision-making by installing barriers to impulsive spending, such as waiting periods or removing saved payment information. Practice delayed gratification and focus on the long-term benefits of saving and mindful spending.
5. Build a Personalized Financial Ecosystem
Managing money is spreading your money out across different areas of your life.
Create a financial ecosystem. A financial ecosystem is a personalized system for managing money that aligns with individual values, goals, and lifestyle. This system involves prioritizing essential expenses, allocating funds to savings and investments, and creating spending categories that reflect personal priorities.
Streamline expenses. Simplify bill payments by consolidating expenses into a single, predictable amount. This involves setting up automatic payments and creating sinking funds for irregular expenses, such as car registration or insurance premiums.
Pay yourself first. Prioritize saving by allocating a portion of each paycheck to savings goals before allocating funds to discretionary spending. This ensures that savings goals are consistently met.
6. Prioritize Values-Based Financial Decisions
You don’t need to stop buying things you want; you need to stop buying things you don’t want.
Align spending with values. Values-based spending involves making conscious decisions to spend money on things that align with personal values and priorities. This requires identifying core values and evaluating potential purchases against those values.
ROI-based thinking. Evaluate potential purchases based on their return on investment (ROI), considering both financial and lifestyle benefits. This involves asking questions such as:
- How does this add value to my life?
- What else could I be spending this money on?
- Am I happy to make that trade-off?
The Ultimate Mission. Embark on a quest to find the "ultimate" version of desired items, rather than settling for cheaper, less satisfying alternatives. This encourages thoughtful consideration and reduces the likelihood of impulse purchases.
7. Cultivate a Positive Money Mindset
If you don’t know where you are going, all paths will get you there.
Connect emotionally to financial goals. Develop a strong emotional connection to financial goals by visualizing the future and understanding the impact that money can have on achieving those goals. This can involve creating a vision board or writing a letter to your future self.
Challenge negative self-talk. Identify and challenge negative self-talk about money, replacing it with more positive and empowering affirmations. This can involve reframing negative thoughts and focusing on strengths and abilities.
Practice self-compassion. Treat yourself with kindness and understanding when making financial mistakes. Avoid self-criticism and focus on learning from errors and moving forward.
8. Prepare for a Financially Empowered Future
The aim of Good With Money is to give you the reddest, hottest crack at making the most of this one wonderful life that you get to lead.
Embrace ongoing learning. Getting "Good With Money" is an ongoing journey, not a destination. Commit to continuous learning and self-improvement by reading books, attending workshops, and seeking advice from financial professionals.
Adapt to life changes. Be prepared to adjust your financial ecosystem as life circumstances change. This may involve re-evaluating your values, setting new goals, and making adjustments to your spending and saving habits.
Redefine the role of money. Shift your perspective on money from a source of stress and anxiety to a tool for creating a fulfilling and meaningful life. Use money to support your passions, build strong relationships, and contribute to causes you care about.
Last updated:
FAQ
What is Good With Money by Emma Edwards about?
- Holistic money mindset guide: The book explores both the emotional and practical sides of personal finance, helping readers understand and transform their relationship with money.
- Personal transformation journey: Emma Edwards shares her own story of moving from financial chaos to confidence, making the advice relatable and authentic.
- Focus on self-discovery: Readers are guided to uncover the psychological and societal factors influencing their financial habits, with the goal of building sustainable, intentional money management systems.
- Actionable framework: The book is structured into clear parts, offering a blend of behavioral finance, financial psychology, and practical exercises for lifelong financial resilience.
Why should I read Good With Money by Emma Edwards?
- Empathetic and relatable approach: Emma Edwards writes from personal experience, addressing the shame and confusion many feel about money with compassion and understanding.
- Goes beyond numbers: The book tackles the emotional, psychological, and societal influences on money behavior, not just budgeting and saving.
- Actionable tools and mindset shifts: Readers receive practical exercises, reflections, and frameworks to build financial confidence and reclaim control over their finances.
- Addresses systemic and personal factors: While acknowledging systemic inequities, the book empowers readers to focus on what they can control.
What are the key takeaways from Good With Money by Emma Edwards?
- Financial confidence is achievable: Anyone can become Good With Money, regardless of income, debt, or past mistakes, by building awareness and intentional habits.
- Emotions drive money behavior: Understanding and addressing emotional and subconscious influences is crucial for lasting change.
- Intentionality over deprivation: The goal is not frugality or perfection, but making money decisions that align with your values and bring joy.
- Practical systems matter: Building a personalized financial ecosystem and using tools like the CJI framework help make good habits stick.
What does being "Good With Money" mean according to Emma Edwards?
- Not about frugality or wealth: It’s not about how much you save or being a financial expert, but about understanding your motivations and making money work for you.
- Personalized financial control: Being Good With Money means feeling in control, making intentional decisions, and balancing present enjoyment with future security.
- Inclusive and realistic: Anyone can be Good With Money, regardless of their starting point, by taking an active role and aligning decisions with their values.
- Focus on confidence, not perfection: The aim is to build financial confidence and resilience, not to achieve flawless money management.
How does Good With Money by Emma Edwards explain the impact of social media, advertising, and culture on spending habits?
- Culture of constant consumption: Social media and e-commerce create endless opportunities and temptations to spend, often unconsciously.
- Comparison and deprivation: Exposure to curated lifestyles online can lead to feelings of inadequacy and drive spending to "keep up."
- Manipulative marketing tactics: The book details strategies like scarcity marketing, ownership bias, and the Diderot Effect, which exploit emotions to encourage spending.
- Awareness as defense: Recognizing these external influences is the first step to making more intentional financial choices.
What role do emotions and subconscious beliefs play in financial behavior, according to Good With Money?
- Irrational brain wiring: The emotional brain often overrides rational thinking, especially under stress, leading to impulsive or self-sabotaging financial decisions.
- Stories we tell ourselves: Personal narratives about money shape spending and saving habits, often distorting reality and reinforcing unhelpful patterns.
- Early money beliefs: Childhood experiences and "financial flashpoints" set foundational beliefs that influence adult behavior, often unconsciously.
- Change requires deep work: Addressing and rewriting these beliefs is essential for sustainable financial change.
What are the common "inner villains" that sabotage financial success in Good With Money by Emma Edwards?
- Change Your Life Charlie: Promotes impulsive spending tied to new goals or life changes, often leading to regret.
- Makeover Margaret: Encourages buying things to "fix" yourself, keeping you stuck in cycles of emotional spending.
- What’s The Point Wanda: Uses systemic frustrations as an excuse to give up on financial improvement, leading to consolation spending.
- Other villains: Characters like Keep Up Kara, Hamster Wheel Harriet, and Tight-hold Tina represent various self-sabotaging behaviors, from comparison-driven spending to excessive hoarding.
What is the CJI framework in Good With Money and how does it help manage finances?
- Categorisation: Review and sort transactions into essential and non-essential, then further break down non-essentials by category.
- Joy ranking: Assign a score to each non-essential purchase based on the joy or value it brought, helping identify low-value spending.
- Intentionality audit: Mark transactions as intentional or passive, aiming to increase planned, regret-free spending.
- Builds awareness and control: This framework helps identify money leaks and supports more conscious, values-aligned spending.
How does Good With Money by Emma Edwards address the challenge of sticking to budgets and savings goals?
- Budgeting pitfalls: Many struggle because budgets are often unrealistic or based on an idealized version of themselves, leading to cycles of failure.
- Emotional spending triggers: Savings are often raided due to emotional needs, poor organization, or lack of clear priorities.
- Focus on sustainable habits: The book emphasizes self-forgiveness, realistic goal-setting, and building habits that last, rather than quick fixes.
- Practical strategies: Tools like behavioral audits and the CJI framework help make budgeting and saving more effective and less stressful.
What is the Good With Money financial ecosystem method introduced by Emma Edwards?
- Top-down money management: Treat your income as a "cloud" and systematically allocate funds to essentials, spending, and savings.
- Streamline expenses: Calculate annual costs and divide by pay periods to set aside consistent amounts, reducing financial stress.
- Compartmentalize with "pots": Create specific accounts or categories for different spending and savings goals, aligning money with your values.
- Personalized and flexible: The system is designed to fit your lifestyle and priorities, making it easier to maintain.
How does Good With Money by Emma Edwards suggest building a positive relationship with money?
- Treat money as a partner: Give your finances attention and respect, making intentional plans rather than ignoring or blaming money.
- Work on self-relationship: Self-acceptance and compassion are foundational; improving self-worth leads to better financial habits.
- Broaden your financial window: Expose yourself to diverse financial stories and realities to expand your sense of what's possible.
- Shift from stress to trust: The goal is to move from seeing money as a source of anxiety to a trusted resource for your goals.
What practical exercises and tools does Good With Money by Emma Edwards offer to improve financial habits and mindset?
- Purchase Pathway Reflection (PPR): Trace the triggers and influences behind recent purchases to intercept impulsive spending.
- Regret analysis: Reflect on past regretted purchases to uncover emotional needs and patterns.
- Life timeline and Then and Now: Map out money memories from childhood to present to identify and rewrite limiting beliefs.
- Behavioral sabotage audit and no-spend challenges: Identify self-sabotaging behaviors and experiment with no-spend periods to build awareness.
- CJI framework: Use categorization, joy ranking, and intentionality audits to identify and eliminate low-value expenses.
How does Good With Money by Emma Edwards define values-based spending and wealth-building?
- Values-based spending: Focus on purchases that truly add value and align with your personal priorities, rather than mindless or emotionally driven spending.
- Quantify your values: Assign dollar amounts to your values to guide spending decisions and ensure money is used intentionally.
- Wealth as freedom and choice: Wealth is defined not just by accumulation, but by the freedom, opportunity, and alignment with your life vision it provides.
- Foundation before investing: Clear debt, build emergency savings, and establish good habits before moving on to investing and wealth-building strategies.
Review Summary
Good With Money receives mostly positive reviews, with readers praising its accessible approach to personal finance. Many appreciate the author's relatable tone and focus on psychology and mindset. The book is particularly well-received by millennials and women, who find its practical tips and empowering message helpful. Some reviewers note that the advice may be basic for those already financially savvy, but overall, it's considered a refreshing take on money management that addresses emotional aspects of spending and saving.
Similar Books
Download PDF
Download EPUB
.epub digital book format is ideal for reading ebooks on phones, tablets, and e-readers.
