Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of Money with Alpha. So this week, driven out of a conversation that I had the other day with somebody, and it's, there's a bit of a theme happening. So whenever, whenever I see and hear themes, I like to do a podcast episode on it because it might mean that it can help others as well, such as yourself. If you're listening to or watching this. So the beginning of the year, we, we do a lot of planning. I don't like to use the word resolutions. I think it's more just a natural time of year that we refle and we plan. So we look backwards and we look forwards and we start to set some goals. Whether it's, if you do it on a calendar year or even on a financial year, either way, a half year or a full year is a good opportunity to do some review with that. We generally up our goals because we want to grow and expand as business owners and as humans in general. Growth is just sort of part of our, our DNA. We want to be progressing and moving forwards and towards something. And so what happens then is if your goals are big than what you had last year, and if you're, what you're currently experiencing is actually bigger or you've made more money or there, there's more happening in your world, if there's more of something, then we need to plan better for that because we can't just keep doing the things that we've been doing. So in this episode, I wanted to go through a couple of steps to help you go, okay, well, if you're earning more money or you have a goal to earn more money, what are you going to do with that money? Because if you're going to continue doing what you've always done, it might not be enough. And what I've also, I've witnessed and experienced myself is if there's more money there and we haven't got a plan or a purpose for it, it tends to just kind of fall away. I had a client last year who, you know, they'd paid off a large amount of debt but they had less money left over at the end of every month because suddenly they're like, oh, I have more money. So you just sort of live a little bit differently, might take out a bit more, eat out a. Buy sort of more expensive foods buy, you know, just generally do more things without necessarily realizing that it's actually eating away into your money in a way that's more than what was before. Like I think back to the days when I was a a student. I was working part time. I didn't have much money. Oh my goodness. I saved probably almost, maybe not more than, than I do now, but on a percentage basis, yes, I was, I was so much savvy with money when I had to be. And so as we get older, we tend to get a little bit more relaxed about things. Plus, because we scrimp and save so much quite often, I am generalizing, when we're younger, we want to be able to relax a little bit more. Like, I don't, when I, when I travel now, I don't stay in hostels. I don't always. And I used to try and go for like, if I stayed in a hotel, it was like a three star hotel, whereas now it's probably more like a four star hotel or an Airbnb, because that didn't exist back when I was traveling around in my late teens and early twenties. So you know, I used to couch surf, which I suppose in a way was a little bit of, you know, precursor to Airbnb. But our, our lives sort of expand with us. And that's not to say that's a bad thing. We just need to be a bit more conscious and purposeful and intentional about that. So here are four things which I think can help you be a little bit more conscious about growing your money and your goals alongside each other. So the first one is purpose. That clarity of purpose of what you actually want the money to do for you is really important. And that then leads into the next one, which is conscious spending which is aligned to your purpose. I'll expand on these investing with a goal in mind for now and for your future, and then also to book in celebrations and fun. So I'll go back to the first one, and that purpose part is a big one. And you'll hear me hammering on about it, because I am. I really want this message to hone in on you. And I need to live it like it's something that we all need to do. And it's being purposeful, intentional. Just generally with life, I mean, we're talking specifically about money here, but a lot of these principles you can apply to other areas of your life, whether it's health, friendships, other relationships, business, you name it. Being clear on your purpose is very important because we will hit roadblocks, we will hit distractions, we will hit things we cannot control. You know, somebody will be taken ill or there'll be something that goes on or we even want to go on a holiday and things sort of shift and change and we have to make allowances for what will happen while we're away if we want to genuinely have a break. So having that clarity of purpose becomes really important. And sometimes it's necessary to actually write things down. I love pen and paper, like actually write it down. I have a vision board. I have, I have goals. I have my top five big goals in like priority order. So I've got the main three and then two in the wings because they're things that I would like to kind of have still ticking along. Then I've got all of the tasks and steps underneath each of them. And I know that sounds like, like very organized. And yes, while it is, it's also necessary to be clear so that at the beginning of every day when I sit down I go, okay, so what am I going to focus on first? Otherwise it just feels overwhelming when there's so many things that I want to do and I don't know what I need to do. I will do all of the little bits and pieces and procrastinate. And my house, I always find my house is the cleanest when I am not clear on what I need to do. When my house is dirty, I shouldn't dirty. But when it hasn't been like as thoroughly cleaned as usual or as often, then I know I'm like really in the groove. And I know that's a weird measure to have, but that's sort of how I tend to work. I like to be able to focus on something and really like grab hold of it. And if I'm not clear on what I'm grabbing hold of it, you know, I tend to find other things to do that aren't really going to shift the dial. So and actually help me achieve any of those goals that I want. So purpose is really, really important. Conscious spending that's aligned to your purpose. So I say conscious spending because it's not just about cutting things out and you know, not having that coffee every day that you absolutely love or, you know, not being able to, to buy. Like for instance, I have this chocolate that I absolutely love. It's, it doesn't have refined sugar in it. They use things like coconut blossom nectar. And it's, it's actually absolutely beautiful, but it is a bit more expensive. So I, you know, I might cut back. I mean obviously, you know, it's probably not a bad thing. Cut back a bit on the sweets anyway. But I like to try and Just be a bit more conscious or maybe I will do less of something and keep it. For instance, my husband and I like to do cheese fondues with proper Swiss cheese. And so we just do that maybe every few months. And then it stays special as well, so that when you have it, you really appreciate it. And it's not just something that's like, oh, yeah, we do this every week. Oh, you know, it's like a bit like date nights. And you're like, oh, I have to have a date night. I watched that movie Date Night recently with Tina Fey and Steve Carell, and it was kind of this, like, oh, we should go. We have a date night. The babysitter rocked up and they're like, they'd forgotten about it and they're like, oh, we should, we should, we should go. You know. Yeah, it's a little bit like that, that, you know, you kind of do things because you should do it, or, you know, it's just something else that you do rather than going, wow, I'm really enjoying this. And I'm savoring it because it may be not quite as usual as it may have been in the past. And it makes a bit more special. It's a bit like the, you know, the treats that you have every day. It's no longer really a treat, it's just part of the day. So that's how the chocolate had become for me, whereas now I like to make it a bit more of a treat. And I've started making my own chocolate again, which is great because I actually really like that chocolate. And I know it's super duper clean. All I put in it is, you know, maple syrup, cacao butter, and raw cacao powder, and sometimes I might add in some Dterra oils. That's it. So. And the other part of the conscious spending is looking at what your spending on, like, overall, like And if you do. If you have. If you pay for things monthly, like your insurances, I find it's harder to do that because it's just a thing that comes out every month. Even though it's a bigger hit financially, I prefer to plan for and then pay for things like that annually. A. You do save a little bit of money. But I also. It makes me more conscious because then the bill comes around and then I actually can have to review it and go, do I need all of this? What is actually included here? Is there another provider who's offering me something better? And I literally just did that with my car, house, and contents insurance. And Collectively I've saved $3,000 or actually $3,200. And so it's a tremendous amount of money which, and I review this stuff regularly. But we had a couple of incidents recently where I got a little bit jaded about it, and I thought, you know what, I need to investigate this on a deeper level than I have before. And that's what led to those big savings. And in the house, in the case of the house and contents insurance, the actual house insurance, we're now, you know, paying. We're covered for more with a lower excess, less exclusions, and we're paying less. Or I was just like, I should have done this a long time ago. So that's where you've just been conscious about what's going on. And now I don't have to do that for another year until that bill comes again. And I can, I can review it and go, is this still working? So that's, that's where the conscious spending kind of comes into it. And that also then feeds into your purpose, because then once you have your purpose and your aligned spending, you then will find you'll have a bit more money left over. So now you look at investing and saving with a purposeful goal in mind that's linked to your ultimate purpose and the lifestyle goals that you have. And what are you actually doing it for? It's not enough for me to say, oh, I want to have a comfortable retirement. What does that even mean? How much am I even saving at? What age do I need to have? What amount? That can be a bit of a bigger conversation or a bigger decision. And then you've got to figure that out. There are some tools and calculators that exist that if you're interested in knowing that in a bit more depth, just reach out and I can send them to you. But even for now, like, it's your. When I say now, I mean your, your present life. So if you're in your 40s, then retirement, and you maybe retirement will be in your 50s, maybe you'll be in your 60s. You've got to clarify that as well so that your goals can be aligned to that. Like, for me, I've set myself a goal that I want to hit a certain amount in my investment funds by the end of this calendar year. So then I was like, okay, what have I got now? What have I got there? And obviously the market will move and change, but I'm working with the information I have right now. I go, okay, well, there's A gap of this much I need to figure out on a monthly basis. How much do I need to contribute that to get from here to here. And so that's made me really clear. So for instance, even the other day when I was thinking of something, I was like, oh, well, I don't really need that right now, or I'm only going to buy like two of this thing at the supermarket rather than the normal five I would buy so that I have stock left over to try and manage my cash flow a little bit better. And I know that's micro, but it all adds up when you think of that collectively of everything that you're spending on. So it's, and it's. I cycle to places a bit more now so that maybe I don't use the car as much and save a bit on fuel. Its incremental things that make the biggest difference. They all add up. And if I'm clear on what I'm doing it for, it doesn't feel like I'm, you know, neglecting my needs and it doesn't feel like I'm denying myself anything. If anything, I feel empowered because I was like, I'm really clear. And I'm doing this because it, it fits in with the bigger goal that I want and I know I can achieve it because I've, I can see it, I can, I've planned for it and I know what I need to do to achieve it as well. And everything I'm doing is working towards that. So that momentum and that alignment and that synergy, that clarity is energizing and it helps project you forwards towards what you want rather than just sitting in inertia going, I don't know what I should do if I do this. What if that doesn't work? If I do this, what, it's the wrong thing. Like, it, it's. We get stuck in our head so much and it's like pulling ourselves out of that and just allowing the flow of energy to move us in the direction it needs to go. And hopefully that is going to be aligned then with our purpose and our goals. And if not, then we need to readjust as we go. It's not to say that we set these goals and that's it, not, not looking at them ever again. We need to, you know, test and measure adjust, figure out what we want, do some introspection, create time in our world to be able to do that introspection. Because without that we're just going day to day. It's just Wake up, do the thing. Collapse into bed. Wake up, do your thing. Collapse. Like, that's, that's not fun. Which is why my last step number four is to book in fun and to book in once you've achieved it, your celebration. So I have a few things listed on my list. Like if once I achieve some of these goals, I've listed out what my reward or fun is going to be, because I want to have something to look forward to. And there are things that I've always wanted to do, but they feel frivolous. So I was like, oh, well, you know, just as an example, one of them is going on a hot air balloon ride. I've always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride. I don't know why. It just looks so lovely and enchanting, especially over. I mean, I'd love to do it over Cappadocia and Turkey, but that's, that's probably. That's. That's a whole different ball game. So for now, I'll settle for over, maybe some vineyards in the Barossa or over the Gold coast hinterland, because that's closer to me. But one way or another, that's one of my, my rewards for achieving some of my goals. So I'd be like, okay, right, so I'm going to. I have this like, carrot. I really want to do this. And it'll feel so much sweeter being I can imagine myself standing in the basket of this hot air balloon, kind of looking down at the world and feeling this deep sense of pride and satisfaction that the reason I'm there is because I've achieved the goal that I set out to achieve. And then. So that's, that's one side of the, the sort of the celebration or reward side. But then it's also just still have fun. It's not about putting fun off until you've achieved everything or until you're. You've worked hard enough and you deserve the fun. Fun. It will actually help facilitate you doing things better. We need breaks. We need to be able to de stress and do things and laugh. Like, when is the last time you belly laughed? Like really, really laughed hard. And I noticed this over the Christmas break. There was. I can't even remember now the situation, but I just remember the laughter going, oh my gosh. I don't think I've laughed this hard to the point where I couldn't actually stop myself. I got. I'd like got the giggles part of laughter where it just kept going and going and going and I couldn't stop and I started tear up and I was just oh it was, it felt so good afterwards I was like, I mean it's a tummy workout as well but that's you know. But I was like oh my gosh, this feels so good like viscerally in my body. It felt so good to have that kind of laughing sort of exercise or you know, experience. It was just wonderful. So booking fun it doesn't have, you don't have to book in fun that's going to make you laugh like that. But if you do, that's a nice benefit too. But it's really, really important. So all of this stemmed from a conversation I've had with somebody about you know, they have these goals for their money and then like well what are they going to then do with that extra money? And that then led me down this whole path of what we spoke about in this, this podcast which I'm going to recap was first have clarity on your purpose. Secondly, conscious spending aligned to your purpose. Thirdly, invest and save with purpose for your now and your future. Have a reason and have a goal, have a, have a target that you're aiming for and then four book in fun, book in celebrations and rewards when you're approaching them. But fun is a is a non negotiable. So that's there. I hope this resonates with you and that it actually helps you. If it does, please you know, share it. Put in a review. Let me know if you have any questions or feedback your experiences as well. And if there are any other topics that you'd like me to cover too, please let me know. I've got some speakers coming up as well but I'm happy to, to pop in some extra topics. So and this year is ease, abundance, ease, calm. That's, that's my, my goal for this year and how I'd like it to play out. And I'm going to play more, work less, play more and just enjoy things and really focus on that helping aspect because that's what I love to do. So with that I hope it's planted a few seeds, has given you the space to be able to go. I have some thinking and some planning and some doing to do. And yeah, I will see you next week. Enjoy your week.
