Money and all things related is one area that people are very cautious around sharing their experiences and this is something we need to get better at. It is a little like the tip of the iceberg; where what is visible on the surface may mask well what is happening below the surface, whether that be bad habits, poor understanding, poor experiences, or inherent bias.

Individuals don’t want to be judged and prefer to fly under the radar. 

Evident in our interactions, and quite often unnecessarily, people are very accepting of their existing position as their fate or set pathway.  Time and time again, we see this acceptance being disturbed when people have the knowledge and motivation to change their course or behaviours. The transformation and increased level of confidence can be significant.

When sharing money experiences and passing on lessons learned, some consistent themes emerge:

·         Review regularly what is important to you

·         Set goals connected to this

·         Get into the habit where you automate

·         Small and regular adds up to something bigger

·         Consistency of effort over a prolonged period will deliver reward

·         Monitor progress

Reward for effort is one that quite often comes up and we talk about the need to:

·         Awareness and education are a great place to start

·         But once we are aware then how do we maximise the people that act

·         Even when it is staring us in the face – why is it some of us just don’t take the step

·         Is it we are too proud?

Take the example of walking to the shops and finding some money on the ground.

If you spotted a 5-cent piece on the ground, would you take the time and pick it up?

If you spotted a 10-cent piece on the ground, would you take the time and pick it up?

If you spotted a 50-cent coin on the ground, would you take the time to pick it up?

If you spotted a gold coin $1 and or $2 coin on the ground, would you take the time to pick it up?

If you saw a $20 note on the ground, would you take the time to pick it up?

Most people, if asked, would take the time and effort to grab the gold coin or note as it is easily relatable to have sufficient perceived and actual value for them to do something with it on its own.

The other denominations are a bit more tricky with probably the first 2 falling into the option of why would I bother… 

What a lot of people fail to appreciate is that it takes many crumbs to make up a loaf of bread.  It takes many small pieces and time to create something of meaning. The same can be said for the many ways people can save on their spending. Most people can save in the order of $5,000, but many of the individual actions can be equated to the 5-cent piece which, when put together with other actions, can add up to something meaningful. But, by themselves, we can choose to ignore them….

For me I treat every small gain as a win, and I would be the first one to grab the coin regardless of denomination. I find it incredibly hard to walk away from any saving and I like to place it in a transparent savings jar so I can easily observe progress.

I am constantly on the search for ways to use minimal effort for maximum reward, but the short answer is always the same – it takes focused effort to make progress, and it takes discipline.

Being emotionally connected to the outcome puts you in a better position to stick with it, creating those small habits of banking every little piece no matter how small also helps. It gets easier each time as you need to think about it less.

From both of these examples the point is we can help improve literacy and confidence around money by creating a safe space to share stories that others can relate to and possibly learn from.