11 Habits To Become Financially Literate: How Sammie Ellard-King Built Wealth From £24k of Debt

This transcript is auto-generated and lightly edited for readability, it may contain errors.

[00:00] Sammie: If you’re watching this and you’re feeling like you are behind financially, that is okay. Genuinely, most people feel that way. We are not taught this stuff. Not at school, not at home, not at work. You’re just expected to figure this out. And then we wonder why so many people are stressed about money. 78% of adults think they’re financially literate, but 71% can’t actually explain how a savings account works, and only 23% pass the basic money test. So if you’re feeling like you’re behind, you’re not behind. The information just hasn’t been there. I didn’t study finance myself. I didn’t come from money. A decade ago, I was 24 grand in debt, credit cards, lifestyle, trying to look like I had my life together when I really didn’t. I’m not perfect. I’m still not perfect.

[00:46] Sammie: I’m definitely not perfect in any way, shape, or form, but definitely not perfect around money. I still impulse buy. I still have months where I think, where the hell did my money go? I’m not standing here as some financial guru who has cracked the code and trying to tell you that there’s some budgeting thing out there which is going to change your life. But what I have done is built habits and systems and small things which run in the background and stop me from getting in my own way. And those habits have completely changed my life financially. That’s what this episode is about. 11 habits that help me go from debt to building real wealth. And most of them have absolutely nothing to do with investing, although, yes, that does matter. Whether you’re just getting started out or you’ve been at this for a little while and you want to tighten things up, this episode of the Money Gains Podcast is for you.

[01:35] Sammie: Let’s get into it. Habit number one: treat your money like a business. Think of yourself as the CEO of your own finances. This is the mindset shift that really helped me. Your personal finances, they’re basically a small business and you are running it. A good CEO doesn’t just hope things work out. They look at the numbers, they plan ahead, they make decisions based on reality, not feelings. Most of us don’t do that with our money, though. Pay comes in, bills go out, whatever’s left over is what we’ve got. We’re not running anything, we’re just reacting. When I started thinking about my finances like I was a business that I was solely responsible for, even a messy one, it changed how I made decisions.

[02:22] Sammie: I still want things I can’t afford, right? I still get tempted, but now I’ve got a filter. If this was a business expense, would I sign it off? That one question alone has saved me thousands and thousands of pounds. So the action point for you this week on habit number one is I want you to try this for one single week: before you spend on something that isn’t an absolute necessity, just ask yourself, would I sign this off as a business expense? That’s it. Just see what changes. Okay, habit number two is know your numbers. You cannot fix what you cannot see. This is where the CEO mindset becomes practical. You need to know these three things to keep it super simple: what comes in every single month, what goes out every single month, and what’s left.

[03:10] Sammie: That’s your margin. And honestly, most of us don’t know. We know roughly what we earn, we have a vague idea of what goes out, but the actual number, no clue. 38% of adults do not feel confident managing their money. And among people who think they’re financially literate, a fifth still run out of money every single month. Although, yes, there are contributing factors to that, of course. But that number is a fact, right? That’s not a knowledge problem in most cases. That’s a visibility problem. Once you can actually see where your money goes, you start making better decisions almost automatically. So what are we tracking here? Well, we’re looking at our income, so our salary after tax, any side income, of course, anything that’s coming in. We’re looking at our fixed costs.

[03:57] Sammie: So rent, bills, insurance, subscriptions, debt repayments. Then we’re looking at the variable costs. We separate those out if we can. So things like food, transport, going out, clothes, and random purchases, you know, when you feel like splurging on ASOS on a random Sunday afternoon because you’re feeling sorry for yourself, right? These are all things that we need to look at. We’re not judging at this point, we’re just looking. The gap here is your income minus everything else. The gap is your wealth building number. That’s the one that matters. And if we haven’t got a gap, well, we’re going to be discussing some habits later on in this episode which can get you some more money coming through the door. One of the biggest traps is subscriptions. The average Brit spends £65.50 a month on subscriptions alone. That’s £786 a year.

[04:44] Sammie: And 17% don’t track their subscriptions. That’s £786 a year going out the door. And yes, of course, some of those things are useful. Don’t get me wrong about that. I know that. But most people don’t even realise that they’ve left their subscription going. I’ll tell you one now, I paid for Paramount+ for literally months. I think I’d signed up for a free trial because you know you can do it really easily on Amazon, right? I literally left it for months. It was like 45 quid just down the drain. I hadn’t watched one thing since. So, how do I track my subscriptions? Well, I actually have built an app called Gains, and one of the things that it does is it pulls all of your accounts, your personal, your joint, your savings, into one easy-to-manage dashboard. So you can see everything that’s going on in one place. It’s going to track your spending, showing you exactly where your money’s going in nice visual categories.

[05:33] Sammie: You can see it in graphs. You can go right into advanced mode and look at these right down to the day that you spent, where you spent it, and compare that to the last month if you really want to. It’s super intuitive. It’s going to show you exactly where your money is going, right? Plus what’s coming up, so those subscriptions as well. Not where you think you stand, where you actually stand. And it’s not going to judge you at all. You don’t have to use Gains if you don’t want to, because a spreadsheet does still work, yes, but if you want it on your phone and you want to track across multiple accounts, a spreadsheet is going to mean more work, right? And a notepad also works, you know, writing this down into columns. If you’re one of those people that you want to write it out, that locks it into your mind and want to spend a little bit more time, you can. But Gains is going to reduce that time down for you. That’s the point of this. You need to see your numbers. It doesn’t matter what you end up using, guys, whatever tool you use is totally fine.

[06:20] Sammie: And whatever works for you is fine. But I will drop a link to Gains in the description if you do want to check it out as well. So this week, the action point is to sit down and map out everything that you actually pay for monthly. Every subscription, every direct debit, everything, guys. You might be surprised what is slipping through the net. Because I like to look at this and go, oh my God, I have spent money over here on this thing on this day. What am I doing? Like it just puts that blocker in your head. And this is not about cutting back. This is just about awareness about where your money’s going. Am I spending over here? Because it’s so easy, right? We’ve got Apple Pay and it doesn’t feel like a transaction any more. It’s just a tap. We go away from it. Sometimes we just do it subconsciously and we don’t even think about it because we’ve been suckered into it. And you know, you go into that shop, it’s that three for two.

[07:07] Sammie: You just do it, right? And then that’s extra money that’s gone out the door. But when you have awareness around it, you ask yourself those questions. You ask yourself the CEO question, but you also ask the question about whether this actually provides you any value at that point. And that is the most important thing. So this is the foundation. Knowing your numbers isn’t enough if your spending grows every time your income does. So what do we do to stop that? Habit number three is watch out for lifestyle inflation. This one catches absolutely everyone, including me. I am no saint here. You get a pay rise, your business starts doing well, you upgrade your car, you get a nicer flat, you start eating out more. You deserve it, right? And yes, of course, we all deserve nice things, but this is the trap: lifestyle inflation.

[07:53] Sammie: And it’s the reason a lot of people never build wealth or never really get any savings locked away, no matter how much they earn, because they increase their lifestyle every time their income goes up. You’ve made zero progress when you’ve done that financially. Yes, you’ve got a few nice things, and perhaps a few good memories. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying don’t do anything at all. It’s just that if you get a five grand pay rise, don’t spend the entire five grand, right? You can edge up a touch here and there. I like to think of things like 33%, 33%, 33%. So what I do is, you know, 33% I’m okay to spend, 33% I’m okay to save, 33% I’m okay to invest, or pay off debts, or whatever that might well be. I just split that up. That’s my way of looking at this. What you’re doing is you’re running faster on the exact same treadmill when you’re lifestyle inflating.

[08:42] Sammie: Wealth isn’t really built on income, it’s built on the gap between what you earn and what you spend. Someone earning 35 grand who keeps their costs at 25 grand has much more wealth building potential than someone earning 80 grand who spends 78 grand. That’s a real thing right there. So the goal isn’t just to earn more, it’s to keep more of what you earn while still enjoying life along the way, too. So a few things that help with this: when you do get a pay rise, try not to touch your lifestyle for at least three months. Just let that money stack up and sink in. Feel what it’s actually like to have a bit of breathing room. So just have a think about how much your lifestyle has inflated over the last couple of years. This is the action point for this habit. Where did the extra money go? It’s not a judgment piece here, again, guys.

[09:29] Sammie: This is just awareness. So now you know your numbers, you’re protecting the gap, but how do you actually manage all of this without it becoming a full-time job? Now, habit number four is build systems, not willpower. This one has made the biggest difference for me financially. Because if you’re relying on discipline to manage your money, it’s going to be hard. Not because you are weak, but because that’s just how our brains work. Willpower runs out, right? We’re feeling different at different times of the day, and that has an effect on how we spend money. So the goal is to build a system that runs in the background, automating all of the good decisions around money so you don’t have to make them every single day. So I use something called the three bank system for managing my money.

[10:16] Sammie: And it’s honestly the simplest thing, and it’s made the biggest impact to my finances, and it’s so easy to set up, literally 15 minutes’ work. There are three different banks. So we have account number one, and yes, they are with different providers. I always get this question. That’s really important, right? You want to separate them out and you can put limits on them. So, for example, you could cut up the cards for some of the accounts and not the others, right? Your spending account, which we’ll get to. So, account number one, this is where you get paid into, your salary lands here. Now, some people do this differently. I do this where I keep my spending money in this account and I switch my money out to account number two. So all of that money goes into account number two, which is my rent, bills, my insurance, my subscriptions, and all of that gets automated out, right? Because we set up all the direct debits out and know your numbers, know what you need to move into that account, and then you are rocking and rolling.

[11:08] Sammie: All your bills are getting paid, and then what’s left in bank number one is yours to spend. Now, the key part here is account number three. Everything else goes into this account, whatever you can afford, and you set that number up. It’s that margin. How much can you save? What’s that gap that you can pop away? And whether that’s going to savings or investments or to your emergency fund or debt repayments, this is really important. This is off-limits money for daily spending, right? We want to separate this all out because then what we’re left with in bank number one is what we have for the month. This means you don’t have to have a real hard locked-in budget, right? It just makes sense. You can move all of that money out into your bills and subscriptions, all of those things are paid for, your savings are moving, and then this is what I have to spend.

[11:53] Sammie: And then that’s where you can try and budget down if you really want to. So, for example, right, you’re left with 800 quid in bank number one at the end of the month, and that’s for all your food and, you know, getting to work and all of that jazz, right? Now you know you’ve got 200 pounds a week, and that’s how much you spend. If you go slightly over, you might need to reduce that the next week. And it just puts things into a little bit more perspective without having to use a big spreadsheet to track every single penny if you don’t want to do that. So the action point for this habit is, if you don’t already have something set up like this, try setting up the three account system this month. Work out your fixed costs, set yourself a spending budget, and automate the transfer into your wealth account, your savings or investments, on payday. Once it’s running, you will barely think about most of it, right? And if you have a bill change, it’s very easy to do that.

[12:39] Sammie: And one question I get a lot as well is, what if I have variable bills? I like to work out what the average is and then pop a little bit more on top. So I’ve got a little bit of contingency in that account too. So, a big example on this, account number two: let’s say my bills are £1,700 a month. I don’t put exactly that amount in, so I don’t go overdrawn in that account. I pop a touch more just to make sure. If one of those bills kicks off randomly, or I forget about one random thing that’s changing in price, then it’s not going to throw my entire account into an overdraft. That’s really, really important. Okay. So now you’ve got a system running, but a system only works if you’re feeding it the right information. And most of us have gaps in what we actually know. So, habit number five is learn about money in blocks, not binges.

[13:29] Sammie: You do not need to know everything, you just need to know the next thing. Financial literacy isn’t a qualification. You don’t need to understand derivatives and hedge funds to manage your money well on a daily basis. The problem is people try to learn about everything all at once, get overwhelmed. It doesn’t work. I’ve messed up my budget this month, and they give up. I’ve done that. I’ve bought courses that I have never finished. And the better approach is just to break it right down into blocks, one concept at a time. Don’t try to drink from the fire hose and take it all in, because you’re going to throw up, right? It’s exactly the same with learning. So, what would I actually learn and what order would I put it in? Well, I would put it in this order.

[14:15] Sammie: So I would learn about savings accounts and cash ISAs first, right? How does that work? How does interest work around my savings? Then I’d look at, say, what a stocks and shares ISA is, what an index fund is, how does compound interest work, how does my workplace pension work, what credit scores are, and why do they actually matter? If you learn those six things, guys, I genuinely say you will be ahead of the vast majority of this country. So, how would you actually even go about learning that? Well, you’re on a really good podcast right now, if I do say so myself. But what I will say is that there are some fantastic other shows out there. You’ve got The Making Money podcast by Damien Talks Money, absolute banger, guy’s an absolute G. You’ve got The Meaningful Money podcast by Pete Matthews.

[15:01] Sammie: He’s a great guy too. You know, podcasts are great. One podcast a week will do the trick, right? There is actually a study on this by Moneybox that says if you spend 30 minutes on your finances a week, you end up with almost double the net worth over a lifetime, right? So 30 minutes a week, can you do that on a commute, right? Can you do that on a walk with the dog? I’m sure you can. And you can get so much back from it too. These are the small little steps that you can take, and it doesn’t take a long time as well. I’m talking like two, three months, and you will be rocking and rolling and vastly ahead in knowledge. And then it’s about action, right? Putting these things into play, these habits. So this is what I do, right? I like to put podcasts into play. It could be a money-related search on Google, you know, literally just, what is this thing?

[15:49] Sammie: A ChatGPT conversation. All of these things matter. The key is don’t binge a 12-hour course, because you’re going to take in such a tiny amount of information. Stacking small pieces of knowledge over time, it compounds just like interest. It really does. So the action point for this is pick one financial concept that you don’t fully understand yet. Google it today, and that is it. Just one thing. Okay, now you’re learning, you’ve got systems, you’re tracking your numbers. Now the big one. The habit that separates people who save from people who actually build wealth. Habit number six is prioritise investing as early as you can. Saving protects your money. It’s very, very important, but investing actually grows it. Now, most people think saving and investing are the same thing.

[16:37] Sammie: They really are not. And this tripped me up for a very long time. Savings means putting your money aside in cash. It’s safe, it’s sensible, and if you need it, you can go and get it. But after inflation, cash in a savings account potentially even stagnates, either loses money or makes a very, very tiny amount. We’ve covered this in previous episodes, but it’s very, very important. Investing means putting your money to work, buying assets that grow over time. Now, the key point here is make sure you’ve got your emergency fund sorted. Three to six months of expenses, whatever you feel comfortable with, and every spare pound after that is better off invested than sitting in a savings account earning 4% while inflation’s at 3%, for example. That’s only growing, in that case, by 1% in real value terms.

[17:26] Sammie: The money might be going up, but when you go to spend it, it’s worth less. And I get it, because investing feels scary if no one’s explained it to you, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. What to do, right? Emergency fund in a cash ISA or easy-access savings account. This is your safety net. Do not invest this. Everything above that, as long as you’re taking care of some of your short-term savings using sinking funds as well, I’ve done episodes about that too. Consider a stocks and shares ISA to get yourself started, a global index fund and a monthly contribution, even if it’s a pound. Even if it’s a pound, automate that as much as you possibly can. So that transaction goes out every single month using that three bank system. Now, I covered this in a previous episode that you can check out, I’ll leave a link in the show notes below. It’s called The One Thing You Need to Invest In.

[18:12] Sammie: I really recommend watching that if you haven’t yet. Okay, so the action point for today: if you’ve got your savings sitting above three to six months of emergency buffer, it might be worth looking at stocks and shares ISAs this week. Even a small start is going to count over the long term. I’ve left some links to some great stocks and shares ISAs below. Now, just to say, capital at risk when you invest, and past performance is not a future indicator of success. I do have to say that. Always do your own research when it comes to investing. But there are some fantastic tools out there which can help you with this. So investing is just one side of the equation, but there’s a limit to how much you can actually save. There’s no limit on how much you can actually earn, right? So habit number seven is increase your earning potential.

[19:00] Sammie: You can only cut costs so far, right? You can’t cut your rent to zero. You can’t stop eating just to increase the gap. But your income, that can keep growing if you’re intentional about it. A lot of people spend all their energy trying to save £50 a month when that same energy could go into earning a lot more, sometimes even hundreds of pounds more each month, right? Both matter, but one has much more upside. A few things to think about here, what we can do about this, right?

[20:16] Sammie: Number one is negotiate your salary. Most people never ask. I think it’s something like 65 to 67% have never asked for a pay rise. Look up your market rate. Have the conversation. The worst thing they can do is say no. And even then, you’ve planted a seed in your boss’s brain. Now, next up is build skills that pay. Right now, the number one skill you can learn on the planet is utilising AI, right? AI is coming for a lot of people’s jobs, and the people that understand it and know how to use it and know how to leverage it are way more valuable than the people that don’t. It’s just facts, guys. So, learnable skills around AI, there is tons of content online and on YouTube, which is free. There’s even, you know, courses on ChatGPT and Claude out there too, which are free.

[21:06] Sammie: You don’t have to pay any money. But they command real money in the real world when you start putting them into play. You’ll be faster, you’ll be better, and you’ll have a lot more in your arsenal. So, next up, start thinking about something on the side, right? And that could be a freelance service, a content channel like the one that you’re on right now. It could be a small product which you promote to your friends or to, you know, social media channels, for example. Something that earns you a little bit of money outside of your nine to five. And it could be as simple as sending a referral link to a few friends just to bring in a few bob here and there. Even if it’s just 50 quid a month, it’s going to make a massive, massive difference. So here’s the thing I want you to think about this week: what’s one thing you can do in the next 90 days to increase your income? A conversation with your boss, learning a new skill, starting a little side project.

[21:53] Sammie: Write it down. What’s top of mind for you right now? What’s the one thing that feels easy for you to go and do? And that is the first step. Right. So you’re earning more potentially now, you’re investing more, you’re spending with intention. We know our numbers, but when was the last time you actually looked at what you are paying for? So habit number eight is I like doing a spring and autumn clean around my finances. I think of this as like an MOT for the car, right, but for your money. Most people set up direct debits and subscriptions and then they never look at them again. I’ve done it, everyone does, right, and there is no getting around that. But this is how you end up paying for a gym that you haven’t been to since January. Insurance that you could get for way cheaper elsewhere. And three streaming services when you actually only watch one.

[22:39] Sammie: So what to look at? Subscriptions are a big one. Go through your bank statements, every recurring payment. Do you actually need to use it? Insurance, car, home, contents, life. When did you last compare what you are paying to a potentially different provider, right? Loyalty tax is real. Switching can save you hundreds of pounds and they give you deals for doing it. Sometimes cashback, sometimes an Amazon voucher, for example. All of these things can be put into play. Energy and broadband, same thing. Compare it annually. It generally takes around five to 10 minutes to do that. And you’re going to see the difference because new customers get better deals. Phone contracts, right? Are you still paying for a handset that you’ve already paid off, right? Are you still on £30 when actually you could get that down to 15 quid just by going on a sim only contract, right?

[23:28] Sammie: Debt interest rate, right? Could you move to a 0% balance transfer card? Are you paying interest for something that you do not need to be? Just checking all these things can put so much money into your pocket. Do this before summer, before the holidays get booked, before the expensive months hit. A sweep in April or May can free up so much cash and could fund your entire summer without going into debt. So the action point is block out one hour this weekend. I want you to go through everything and just look at it and be honest about what you’re actually using. Right. So you’ve freed up some cash and cut the stuff you don’t need. Now, here’s a habit most people get wrong because they’ve been taught that all debt is bad debt. Habit number nine is use debt as a tool. Now, I’ll caveat here, 24 grand in debt, credit cards and a few personal loans here and there, right.

[24:20] Sammie: I know how destructive debt can be. So when I say use debt as a tool, I’m not saying go and rack up credit cards. That would be very hypocritical of me. What I’m saying here is there’s a difference between bad debt and strategic debt. And once you understand that, it changes how you use financial products. Bad debt is the stuff that keeps you stuck. So, credit cards used as extra income, financing things you can’t actually afford, minimum payments and high interest balances, buy now pay later schemes on impulse purchases, and nearly half of all UK credit card accounts aren’t paid off monthly, meaning that they’re potentially racking up interest. Strategic debt: this is the stuff that can work in your favour, right, because credit card companies, they offer things like points and cashback.

[25:07] Sammie: And plus, they can be used to build up your credit score as well. So if you struggle with debt, one thing that I like doing is, once they’re cleared, right, get them right down to the point where you could potentially pop a bill or a subscription onto that credit card and then clear that back down monthly. That’s going to get you some nice cashback potentially on that credit card. And it’s also potentially a great way, if you can pay it off straight away, if you have the cash in the account, for credit cards’ purchase protection. Credit card purchases over £100 are protected by something called Section 75. So if something goes wrong, you are covered. Debit cards don’t give you that. But as long as you’re paying it off as well. Never spend more on a credit card than you don’t have in your bank account. And if you can’t pay it off in full at the end of the month and you simply cannot afford it, use it as that.

[25:52] Sammie: And it is very simple, right? Use it that way. Credit cards are a tool. Used in any other way, they are a trap. And I have been in that trap and it’s not somewhere where you want to be. And I know many of you guys will have used credit cards this way before. I’m not judging you in any way, shape, or form. If you have debt, please just write it all out and focus on the highest interest rates first. Focus on that one individual debt. Now, speaking of spending, you are already spending money every single month. What if some of that money came back to you? I’ve sort of hinted at it before in habit nine. Habit 10 is please start getting cashback on everything you spend. This is on money that you are already spending, and it’s going to put more money back in your pocket. There are two ways of doing this, right? You have something called online cashback, which is where you click a link on a website through someone like TopCashback or Quidco, and essentially that link takes you to the retailer which you’re already going to spend money on, and you get a discount for that retailer, right.

[26:49] Sammie: So that can be 10%, 5%, let’s say 10% in this case, and you’re spending £100 on nice new Nike trainers because, you know, you’re starting running, you’re getting back into running, all right? You’re buying yourself a £100 pair of trainers from Nike. That 10% is £10. Now that gets credited to your TopCashback or Quidco account in this example, and that happens over a few days, sometimes a few weeks, and sometimes even a few months, right, depending on the retailer. They have to wait for them to pay them and then they pay you. There is something else which we’ve built into Gains, and that’s called instant gift cards. You know, the gift cards that you would potentially buy someone when you don’t know what to buy them, or perhaps, you know, when you want to buy them something for a particular retailer but you don’t know what to buy them. So you buy them a gift card for ASOS, right, so they can spend it on something they like.

[27:34] Sammie: Whereas actually, gift cards can get you discounts as well, and instantly too. And that’s the difference with this. Let’s say, for example, you’re going to Tesco every single week, and you know you’re spending £100 on your weekly shop and you get 5%, for example, for Tesco. You buy an instant gift card, then you get that £5 back straight away, credited into your account on Gains, or there are other providers out there. I won’t lie, there are some brilliant other providers out there, but you know, obviously I think we’re building the best solution. Now that balance can build up over time and you can withdraw that. And that is a key action point. There are a couple of ways that I would do this. I would either let the balance build up, and then once the balance is built up, you might put it towards your weekly shop and pay off your weekly shop from cashback that you’ve earned. Or you can withdraw it periodically and put that money into a savings account so it’s earning interest for you and you build that up.

[28:24] Sammie: Or you can also build up that balance for a longer period of time and then take it out in one go to pay for something big, like Christmas, for example. An amazing way. And on average, you could put between £700 and £1,000 back, if you’re earning an average UK salary, if you’re putting this habit into place on everything you spend. So the action point for you is think about this: when you’re going to a retailer, can I get cashback? If I’m buying something online, can I use TopCashback or Quidco? If I’m going in store, can I use something like Gains, for example? It’s such an amazing way. And again, the link for Gains is in the description below. Habit number 11: know where you’re going, right. Everything else only works if you’ve actually got a direction.

[29:10] Sammie: Most people manage money day to day, bill to bill, month to month. They haven’t got an idea of the bigger picture. And I get it, right, when you’re just struggling to get through the month, thinking 10 years ahead feels like a bit of a luxury. But it doesn’t have to be a big thing. Even a rough idea of where you want to end up changes how you make decisions. So try this. Think about your life in 10 years’ time and actually picture it. Where do you live? What does your day look like? Do you work? Do you have choice with money? Are you stressed about money? What does your average Tuesday look like? Now ask, does the way that I’m handling money right now get me to that point? If not, that’s not a failure, it’s just useful information to trigger your brain.

[29:55] Sammie: Now run the numbers here. If you invested £200 a month and you got 8% returns, in 10 years’ time you’d have around £36,000. In 20 years, around £117,000. And in 30 years, around £298,000. Is that enough for the life that you pictured? If not, well, what needs to change? The contributions to the investments, the timeline, or the lifestyle expectations. This isn’t about obsessing over numbers, it’s about roughly knowing what direction you want to head in and then going after it. The goal that actually works here is being specific. “I want to save more” doesn’t give you anything to aim at. “I want to have £50,000 invested by the time I’m 35 or 45.”

[30:42] Sammie: Now you can work backwards from that. You can write them down. People who write their goals down are generally more likely to achieve them. It sounds simple, but it works. I have a vision board up on the wall right here. I redo it every single year. And guess what? Most of it comes true. Why? Because I see it every day and because I wrote it down. I believe it will happen. My mind subconsciously makes decisions for me, trying to get me to those goals. Honestly, put them on the fridge if you can, or if you’re a bit worried about them, put them somewhere where you can see them every single day. It really does make a massive difference, even if it’s just a trigger word. And you review these all the time. Once a year is good enough. Some people do it every few months. I’m not that guy. Once a year is more than enough for me. Why? Because life changes. Especially if, you know, your girlfriend gets pregnant, or one of the kids gets sick, or something along those lines, right?

[31:32] Sammie: Life will change for you. So your goals can’t be stuck done once and then that’s just it for your life, right? Because we all know that if we asked ourselves, would we be here five years ago, you wouldn’t say yes. No one would say yes. If you would say yes, please say it in the comments, I’d love to know, because I can’t believe that. I really can’t believe that for all aspects of your life. Okay, so the action point for this one is write down three financial goals. One for this year: what can I do this year that’s actually achievable? We know our numbers, we know what the gap is, right, we know where we can get to, and we know if we put a few little side hustles in or increase our income, where we could potentially get to. So maybe a fixed goal and maybe a little stretch target for yourself as well. One for five years, right, this is key because you can redo that any time, but it’s just giving you a little bit of something to aim towards, the bigger one, right.

[32:22] Sammie: And then the ultimate goal, put a number on each one, then work out what monthly contribution gets you there, even roughly. And it gives you something to aim for. Okay, so that’s been 11 habits. None of them require a finance degree, right, we’ve discussed them all. None of them require a big salary, and none of them require a superhuman level of discipline here. They are just systems, small little shifts that run in the background, and they massively compound over time, just like your money does. And honestly, this has been a massive pleasure, and the best episode to follow on from this is coming up on your screen now. Make sure you’re subscribed to the Money Gains Podcast. Share this with a friend that you think will need it, because it really does help to grow the show. We are putting so much effort into helping everybody, and also download Gains as well.

[33:11] Sammie: There’s a link in the description below. It’s been a real pleasure. Thank you so much, and I will catch you guys on the next one.