Week 5: Communicating about money
Week 5 is all about communicating about money with the people around you and working as a team on this stuff!
The three key elements we covered were...
1. How to communicate with the people around you about money
Everything you want in life is done with and through other people. With this in mind one of the most important things you can do is to work to understand your friends, your family and your partner if you have one. The better your communication around money the easier your progress will be.
One of the first elements we looked at was the differences in how we operate around money. We introduced four scales to highlight some of those differences. Homework alert.... team up with another human, mark where you are on these scales and discuss the answers:
The alignment levels give us a tool to be able to look at our own world or that of our family/partner and to discuss different issues we have. Most people try and solve issues they are having at the behaviour level (i.e. you are spending too much money, not tracking) and don't realise that the issue is at a different level such as identity (I am not good with money):
Practical things you can do in this area are:
This Mad Fientist interview shares Jill and Brandon's story of how they found alignment.
The pre-work money belief survey is an interesting exercise to do with your partner or family. Fill it in independently and compare your answers.
2. The monthly finance meeting
Each month we review our finances by updating our net worth spreadsheet and looking at our spending for the month. We ask ourselves these questions:
3. How to stay on track
Choose someone to do the monthly meetings with so that you can hold each other accountable. Schedule it in each month and make it fun! We like to do ours over a leisurely breakfast. How might you make it fun and exciting for everyone?! Post in the Facebook group if you want to find a Rebel Finance School buddy to do your monthly finance meetings with...
Week 5 homework
To get the most out of this course you must do the homework (plus homework is fun!)
So here is the homework for week 5...
Ask for help
Remember to reach out in the Facebook group with any questions you have or if you get stuck. Don't let confusion be an excuse for not progressing with this stuff. We are here to support you!
The three key elements we covered were...
1. How to communicate with the people around you about money
Everything you want in life is done with and through other people. With this in mind one of the most important things you can do is to work to understand your friends, your family and your partner if you have one. The better your communication around money the easier your progress will be.
One of the first elements we looked at was the differences in how we operate around money. We introduced four scales to highlight some of those differences. Homework alert.... team up with another human, mark where you are on these scales and discuss the answers:
- spender vs saver
- past focused/present focused/future focused
- towards motivated vs away motivated (the carrot and the stick)
- big picture vs detail
The alignment levels give us a tool to be able to look at our own world or that of our family/partner and to discuss different issues we have. Most people try and solve issues they are having at the behaviour level (i.e. you are spending too much money, not tracking) and don't realise that the issue is at a different level such as identity (I am not good with money):
- Mission / Vision - Where are you heading as a couple, family or individual? Do you have a vision for life in the future?
- Identity - who are you? Are you good with money? Do you enjoy maths and spreadsheets?
- Values/beliefs - what is important to you? What do you believe to be true?
- Capabilities - what skills do you have? Have you developed spreadsheet, investing or communication skills?
- Behaviours - what are your daily habits?
- Environment - where do you have your monthly finance meeting? Is the environment conducive to good conversation and focus? What type of people are you surrounding yourself with?
Practical things you can do in this area are:
- Develop a vision for your future. Share and discuss
- Work through the scales above and discuss
- Start conversations about money by asking questions
This Mad Fientist interview shares Jill and Brandon's story of how they found alignment.
The pre-work money belief survey is an interesting exercise to do with your partner or family. Fill it in independently and compare your answers.
2. The monthly finance meeting
Each month we review our finances by updating our net worth spreadsheet and looking at our spending for the month. We ask ourselves these questions:
- Any surprises? Where are you spending more or less than you realised?
- Is your spending in line with your values?
- Where could you spend less if you wanted to?
- Where could you spend more if you wanted to?
- What went well this month?
- What was a waste of money?
- Are we happy with the direction of our net-worth?
- How does spending compare to last month?
- How does savings rate compare to last month?
- Any wins to celebrate?
3. How to stay on track
Choose someone to do the monthly meetings with so that you can hold each other accountable. Schedule it in each month and make it fun! We like to do ours over a leisurely breakfast. How might you make it fun and exciting for everyone?! Post in the Facebook group if you want to find a Rebel Finance School buddy to do your monthly finance meetings with...
Week 5 homework
To get the most out of this course you must do the homework (plus homework is fun!)
So here is the homework for week 5...
- Choose who to do the finance meeting with
- Schedule the finance meeting for May
- Set up a recurring calendar invite to make sure it's set for future months
- Have a conversation about the future with your partner/family/friend
- Do the four scales exercise with another human and discuss your answers
Ask for help
Remember to reach out in the Facebook group with any questions you have or if you get stuck. Don't let confusion be an excuse for not progressing with this stuff. We are here to support you!
