When I was a kid, family was everything.

All of our holidays were together, we spent a lot of time with extended family, and we would be described as close knit. On holidays we played board games and played cards, doing puzzles and problem solving and hanging out with each other.

At the time, it was awesome, but looking back, I can see it was because we never had a lot of money. As a single income family we grew a lot of our own food, lived off the land (food grown on the farm) and made do with a lot of things. There were a lot of things we couldn’t do, but there was also a lot we did do, and nothing that was important was missed.

Holidays look a lot different now, with various different locations, accommodation and excursions, but when it comes down to it, our close-knit family unit is the most important thing to me.

My childhood taught me that you don’t need money to be happy.

What changed?

As an accountant for all types of people in Karratha over the years, I could see a lot of the money issues.

I saw the difficulties for families through the plentiful times of the mining booms, to the hard times of redundancies, market crashes and businesses struggling to keep their doors open. Businesses went broke and had to shut down as the last straw of not being able to pay staff, after they had already racked up debts to the ATO and were behind on rent and other debts.

Every time one of my clients had their heart broken by their finances, I could see that it affected their mental health. Not only for them, but also their family, extended families and colleagues. I have seen marriage breakdowns, suicides, people having to sell all their assets and start again, or even leave town with nothing.

My clients felt stuck and I didn’t know how to help them. The ripple effect throughout the community was huge.

People trust me with their money – and sometimes this is like being trusted with their hearts.

How can we do better with our money?

As I continue living my life I have learned these lessons:

– When you are feeling uncomfortable with something, listen to it to find out what’s going on to see what needs to change.
– When you feel stuck, it’s time to start thinking about the possibilities rather than dwelling on the negative current situation.
– Even if you think you are doing OK, there’s probably some small tweaks you can make that will make a huge difference.
– When you have a focus and something to aim for, there’s something in the future to look forward to, you can stop dwelling in the uncomfortable now, and start taking action.
– Action creates confidence. Many people aren’t confident with managing their money, and are stuck in the feast and famine cycle of getting paid and then spending it all immediately… and don’t know how to structure their finances so that some can be put aside for an emergency, or for investing in your future.
– Do something that you love each day, week and month, and build it into part of your budget so that you are living, investing and celebrating all of the time.
– Budgeting can be expansive (ie providing growth and abundance) not just restrictive.

Would you like to talk about it?

My mission is to help 200 families a year by providing the skills and resources to get couples on the same page. To help reduce mental health issues by giving couples the connection to each other, by understanding what’s important to each person in the relationship and giving them tools to set up the purpose for their funds to live a meaningful life together, where each person feels heard and valued.

If you are struggling to connect with your partner in regard to finances, then I’d love to have a quick chat to see what your first step could be. My hope for you is that you can enhance your relationships with your partner and your money, so that you can create your life just how you want it.
Book a quick chat here: https://calendly.com/intentionalmoney/15minzoom