‘I’ve written a book’ says woman who has, in fact, written a book.

This is going to change your 2025.

Nov 19, 2024

Hello toast soldiers,

I once gave a talk at a conference and said that my two favourite dinner party conversations are shame and superannuation – and that if you want to lose friends and alienate people, those are two topics that will get you there very quickly.

One of my deepest passions in life is for everyone to have a good relationship with their money, to have confidence to make money decisions that work for them, and to ask questions and learn about money without shame.

At a societal level, we often talk about financial literacy – having the skills to understand and engage with financial ‘skills’ like budgeting, saving and borrowing.

There are so many financial literacy resources in Australia. Banking apps, government websites, courses, books and podcasts. The vast majority of these resources are mighty GOOD. Trust me, I’ve read, used and recommended many of them myself.

And yet, financial literacy levels in Australia have been falling, especially in young people and women. Why?

My view is that we are missing a step. Actually, two steps.

But first, let me take a step back.

When I was a financial counsellor and coach, I generally found the way someone was feeling about their money situation was a far harder thing to tackle than the actual money situation itself. The situations themselves varied in urgency and impact – it could be anything from a client feeling like their spending was ‘out of control’ to a client whose house was at risk of repossession. But the underlying feelings – fear, guilt, and above all, shame – were almost always the same.

As someone who witnessed these emotions, my response could either help that person heal those feelings or it could cause those feelings to be embedded in that person for the rest of their life.

I’d like to share with you what I often told my financial counselling and coaching clients.

Money is one of those strange things. We’re all expected to be good at it and have a good relationship with it. We’re supposed to know how tax, super and investing works, how to save, how to budget, how to only have ‘good debt’, and how to make good money decisions.

We blink after high school and all of a sudden everyone around us seems to know what’s going on, and we’ve somehow missed some of the important lessons.

We find ourselves talking less about our money decisions and asking less questions around money, because the train has left the station with everyone else on it, and we don’t want anyone to know we’re still standing at the station. So, we muddle along as best we can, do what we can, and try not to worry about the things we don’t quite understand or aren’t quite confident in. Sometimes those things are big, and sometimes they’re small. But whatever they are, we put careful blocks around them, and hope no one finds out.

The reason financial literacy is declining is because we’re missing the work that comes before it – financial curiosity and financial confidence.

Financial curiosity is exactly that, allowing people to be curious about their money, without feeling like they are late to the party. Supporting people to realise that actually the majority of people around them also have ‘money stuff’ – things they don’t understand or aren’t good at. Financial curiosity is being able to ask questions and embrace a learner’s mindset about our money and our relationship to it.

After financial curiosity comes financial confidence. While financial literacy is the ability to understand and engage with skills, financial confidence is about understanding and accepting who we are, and how our current relationship with money came to be. It’s the quiet self-resolve to ‘have a go’, through the framework of what we know about ourselves and why we do certain things and make certain decisions.

Once we have that, we have the foundation. Then we can engage with the financial literacy skills that suit our personality, our history and our learning style, while moving past things that don’t suit our style without guilt or shame.

How do we support ourselves and others to build financial curiosity and confidence?

Well, I’ve written a book on it.

Isn’t this cover by Alissa Dinallo simply gorgeous?

My book, Know Your Worth, comes out December 31, 2024.

This book will change the way you see your money and yourself. It talks about how trauma impacts our money. How the way we grew up affects our money. How our mental and physical health impact our money. How our relationships affect our money.

This book has everything. It has case studies, diagrams, unhinged metaphors, and personal stories from people from all different situations and circumstances. What it doesn’t have is judgement and criticism. This book is kind, fun, and the tiniest bit chaotic.

To be frank with you, it’s the bloody vibe. You’ll love it.

PRE-ORDER KNOW YOUR WORTH

When you release a book, there’s a really important stage in the process, and that stage is the pre-order stage. For authors, the pre-orders are a huge part of the book’s success. They help you launch with strong sales in your opening week and tell the market there is appetite for your book, which can in turn lead to bookstores stocking more copies on their shelves so others can discover it too.

Whether this book sounds like something for you, or for someone you know (or both), I would be so grateful if you pre-ordered the book.

I have an affiliate link for Readings (independent, Melbourne-based retailer) that you can use, and it will make its way to you as soon as it’s released.

In the meantime, we’ll be chatting some more about what went into this book to get you as excited as I am about it being in your hands.

Yours in chaos (and much excitement),

Don’t quote me on it

‘Yeah, I’m about to leave mine. He’s annoying me.’

- woman on phone to girlfriend, Queenstown airport.

Keep the best for the middle

If you look closely, you can actually see her claws puncturing the wrapper.

Bookshelf

Gosh, it’s been a while since I fell into Jack Reacher’s strange behaviour - and this was as good as Lee Child has ever been. There’s a sequel that follows directly after this one ends, too. Can’t wait.

Obsession Confession

Ticking off a 10 year bucket list item (hot air ballooning) in a 8 year old jacket that’s survived many a trip and many a weight fluctuation. It’s giving ‘priorities‘ at 6500ft.

LOVEYOUBYE.

Read previous chaos here.