122. Atomic Money Habits 2

After the success of episode 70 (Atomic Habits for Money) we thought we should revisit  actionable strategies for managing and reducing spending, highlighting the power of small changes in achieving big financial goals. Here are some key takeaways from the episode:

- Reviewing Amazon orders and subscriptions to cut unnecessary expenses
- Cancelling unused subscriptions and keeping track of family shared expenses
- Celebrating financial wins by allocating a small amount for treats or charitable donations
- Breaking big financial goals into small, achievable habits
- Creating a money calendar to keep track of financial commitments and important dates
- Using cashback sites and comparison websites like QuickCo to save costs
- Monitoring automated saving pots and using apps for various saving purposes
- Using Credit Karma to check credit score and receive notifications for any changes
- Changing environment to prevent impulsive spending
- Incorporating color and creativity into daily routine for better financial management


YOUR HOST

Julie Flynn is an experienced independent financial adviser and financial coach. Justice and equality drive Julie. Which is why she’s spent years studying and researching how stress affects our financial decision making.

Julie is best known for her work with women who have lost their partner and coaching financial services business who want to implement fair and transparent charges.
Ebb & Flow Financial Coaching | Bree Wealth & Tax | Instagram


CO-HOSTS
Emily Pool is a Financial Planner and Will Writer. She is passionate about empowering people to invest their wealth (pensions and savings) sustainably and in line with their personal values.


Michelle Lambell  started her career in financial services as a Stockbroker in 1999 undertaking both advisory and discretionary investment management. Today she is a Chartered Financial Planner, specialising in retirement planning advice, pensions and investments and a Certified Financial Coach. 

Sara Walker is a financial planner and financial coach with 33 years’ experience in financial services. She wants all women to feel financially confident and uses her professional and life experiences to support and educate women over 40 so they in turn feel able to support and be role models for the younger women in their lives.

Jennifer O'Neil is a mortgage and protection specialist and director of Athena Mortgages. Having been in the industry since 2014 Jennifer decided to set up a company in 2020 that suited her core values as a broker – integrity, service, honesty and continuous improvement.
LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook

Transcript

Welcome back to this episode of the Women and Money Cafe. Now back in March 2023, episode 70, if you're interested, Cheryl and I shared with you some atomic habits for your Money. And it turns out that episode is one of the most downloaded episodes that we've ever done. So we thought, oh, I wonder if we can come up with Atomic Habits 2 for your money. So we put our thinking caps on, and we did actually come up with some extra ideas for you on how to get those quick wins with your money. So I'm joined today by Michelle.

Michelle [00:00:56]:

Hi, Julie.

Julie [00:00:57]:

Hello there. And I've got Emily with me as well. Hello, ladies. Alright. So we have we've got we've got put our thinking caps on. We've tried to come up with our best ideas on some quick wins to help people build good money havers. But I think probably be a good place to start with. Michelle, what inspired us to do this in the first place?

Michelle [00:01:21]:

I think just how powerful atomic habits can be because they're small. That's the reason why, you know, their atomic habits, but their effects can be huge, absolutely massive, and I think small changes can have big effects. So the fact that the first, you know, podcast was one of the most successful does show people are looking for those small habits. So if we can give them some more, all the better.

Julie [00:01:48]:

Alright. Fantastic. Alright. So I'm thinking who would like to kick us off today. Emily, do you want to go first with Money of the habits you want to share with people that's going to make their life just a little bit easier? Okay. Or maybe we want to go to Michelle instead.

Michelle [00:02:10]:

So in terms of habits, I was trying to have a sort of think about, you know, where we sort of start from. And I suppose my first thing rather than a specific small habit is we all have big goals. We have big objectives and big goals that we want to happen, and that can take many little atomic habits to get to that big goal, and it's just trying to explain to people that that big goal can seem really unachievable, and they don't get the, you know, the attention they deserve sometimes because we get caught up every day with what we're doing. And then sometimes those things that we need to achieve in the long term, we have to give up things in the short term and human nature is we don't want to do that. So by breaking them down into the small habits, we can start working towards it and then it's a smaller amount of pain than the large amount of pain when you leave it too long.

Julie [00:03:01]:

Alright. Can you give me an example of that then, please?

Michelle [00:03:06]:

So I guess actually, probably in our world, we see this the most with retirement. So we think I'd like a lovely retirement. I would like to live on this much a year, and I would like to be able to do all the things I'd love to do and actually I need a lump sum of x. And you go, okay. But at the moment my lump sum is y. So for years you go this is what I want, this is what I want to do but you don't do any small habits to get there and you're not working towards it. And then you get to 55 and you go, I'd like to retire in the next 5, 7 years. Oh, but I didn't do all of those little small savings of money that I could have done over the years that probably wouldn't have noticed if I'm honest.

Michelle [00:03:48]:

Now I've got to put huge amounts of Money, you know, depending on how much you need or large amounts of monies, which can actually, you know, affect your standard of living for the next 5 years, should we say, or you have to extend retirement. But if we'd gone back right at the beginning and just put little bits of money away, so a little habit, little bit of money all the time, wouldn't be in that position.

Julie [00:04:11]:

Alright. I think that's a really good example. And the message I'm taking away from that is if somebody's sitting here listening and they do have some kind of goal, Let's say it's a it's a sizable one. Michelle's tip is basically just bloody star. Yeah. Really? Slightly more polite than me. Michelle suggested that you start with small amounts. I'm translating it to just bloody start.

Julie [00:04:35]:

So whatever the thing is that you're sitting there, you're going, one day, I would like but have you taken any action to make that thing happen? If not, then just let's pick one little thing and start today. Alright. Fantastic. Thank you for that, Michelle. Emily, how's your make behaving itself now?

Emily [00:04:52]:

Yes. Sorry about that. Can you hear me now?

Julie [00:04:54]:

I can. Yeah.

Emily [00:04:55]:

Literally went to say something, and I thought, no. There's nothing there. Sorry about that. Right. Yeah. So it's sort of on the same subject as pensions because it's another long term thing. It's something that somebody people always tend to put off and it's making a will. It's boring.

Emily [00:05:14]:

It's horrible. It's depressing. The thought that, yes, you too might someday die. You're no different to anyone else. Everybody dies. It's a natural thing. Like birth, death is just there. It's waiting to happen.

Emily [00:05:25]:

Hopefully not soon, but let's prepare for it. So make sure you've done a will, but it doesn't stop there. Once you have done that will, why not just, you know, on New Year's Day or, you know, choose a Money day a year, stick it in your calendar, take out your will, read it, and say to yourself, does this still work? Or, you know, has someone upset me this year? Am I going to take them out? Or have I met someone amazing? You know, somebody new in your life. Or, you know, maybe you've got grandchildren suddenly popped into your into your life or maybe children. So, yeah, think about whether or not it still works for you and whether or not there's any changes you need to make, and go and make those changes. Go speak to a will writer or a sister. But, you know, the most important thing is that you do you do need to make those changes just in case something terrible happens.

Julie [00:06:16]:

I think that's a really good one actually, Emily, because even if you have made a will, right, well Money, but if you think about how many major life events happen in your life, I think I just know that since I made my will, since then, we've moved to a different country. So English law does not apply in Scotland, so need a new well. Brian and I technically separated. Probably need to revisit the well. Owen's a lot older than when we first made it. Probably need to revisit the well. So I think that is a good reminder for all of us. Thank you for that.

Julie [00:06:49]:

Okay. So my first top tip for you is and before we started recording, I was asking Michelle, does your calendar look like mine? Like and I'm asking you listeners, does your calendar look like mine? We've got all different coloured entries on it. Right? So, like, the family calendar's yellow. Like, my work one's lilac. In this just means red. So I've got all these different calendars. But my top tip for you is to build yourself a money calendar. So when you finish listening to this, go and grab a bit of paper and a pen and make a list of all the dates that money happens throughout the year.

Julie [00:07:21]:

So things that I've got on Money is I've got a calendar entry for when the house insurance is due for renewal, car insurance, when my broadband deals up, when my Sky's up, my mobile contract. I've got all sorts in there. And I have a reminder set for, like, a month before. So, like, Women car insurance and the house insurance, it gives me a month to go and research those things. Top tip for you. I will go and use somewhere like Quidco or Topcashback. So I will do all the Martin Lewis comparison sites, and then I'll go buy Quidco because I'll generally get about £50 cash back on top of the price as well. The other thing I've got in my money calendar is like, so I've had I had a loan for the car that I paid off last year.

Julie [00:08:06]:

So I had an entry to point out to me that that that payment is finished so I can go and reallocate that money to something more fun. The other thing I've got in there is a reminder, like, 2 months before May. May is crazy birthday Money. So I'll make sure I've got extra money stashed aside for crazy birthday month. So get yourself a money calendar. That's my tip. Any thoughts, ladies?

Michelle [00:08:32]:

I love that one because a birthday month we all have a birthday month. Mine's April. But, no, I think it just helps to realign your thinking and actually it becomes part of your normal daily routine. And if you have got a colour coded calendar a bit like that, you know, there's no difference. You're not doing anything different out of the Money. You are just doing what you do every day and have a look, So, no, I love that one.

Emily [00:08:57]:

Jennifer first started talking about that calendar, I was thinking, oh, Julia's so grown up. She's such an adult about these things. What would you say to the people, the listeners, who are sort of thinking, oh, no. That's just not what I want to be doing with my time and don't want to be using all these money saving websites to find the best deals. What would you say to them, Julie?

Julie [00:09:20]:

I would say well, first of all, make a note of the dates anyway when these things are due. So like, sort of, your car insurance. If you go and take out your new car insurance let's say you go and look at it the day before your car insurance is due up, the cost goes up. Whereas if you look at your current insurance, the renewal before then so I think it's something like 5 weeks before, you get a lower price. And I don't know the actual thinking about this, but I think actuaries maybe think people that leave it to last minute might be slightly higher risk. So even if you don't want to do all the comparison websites like I do, just doing it a month before may help keep the cost of things down.

Michelle [00:10:05]:

Mhmm.

Emily [00:10:05]:

And also, I do think that in the spirit of getting women talking about these things, I know it's not the most exciting subject, but, actually, you don't want to sit for ages on Google or Money Supermarket. There's no harm in just saying to your friend, you know, my car insurance is up next month. Who are you with? Is it any good? And just, I think, opening your mind to other options rather than always just signing again with the same company for the hell of a bit and because you've run out of time.

Julie [00:10:34]:

Alright. Hang on. I'm having heart palpitations at the thought of auto renewing. Yeah. Right. No. No. No.

Julie [00:10:40]:

No. No. No. No. No. No. I know that people from the Glasgow Girls Club Facebook group listen to this podcast. I know you do because I keep dropping links in there.

Julie [00:10:48]:

And this question comes in all the time. All my car insurance is due up, and it's coming at double the price. Who should I use? The thing is everybody's circumstances are going to be different. So who likes me might not like you, Emily, just because we live in different parts of the country. So whatever you do, do not auto renew. And if you really can't be fast with using lot Michelle's having a giggle because she knows what I wanted to say. You can't be arsed with faffing about with all the comparison websites. Right? Just go on to something like Quidco who will do one comparison for you, and that trolls lots of the sites.

Julie [00:11:24]:

So these are quick, easy wins. But you made me say arse.

Michelle [00:11:32]:

I knew that's what you wanted to say. You hesitated too long.

Julie [00:11:35]:

I was behaving myself because Emily called me a grown up.

Emily [00:11:40]:

Oh, I'm very impressed.

Julie [00:11:43]:

Alright. So moving on. Moving on. Michelle, have you got any other quick easy wins or habits that you want to share with the listeners?

Michelle [00:11:53]:

So this one comes from actually, Julie and I, we recorded a podcast, a week or so ago with one of our guests, JC Cox. And I can't actually remember if this was in the podcast, if it was actually in the conversation after. It might have been after. But we were talking about the word try, I will try and do something. And I think it was Josie that said, don't use the word try.

Julie [00:12:18]:

It was Katie? Oh, yes. It was Katie. Crooks is episode 121, I think. Yes.

Michelle [00:12:27]:

And it was just amazing. It really landed with me because actually if you use the word try, you're setting yourself up for the fact that you could fail or you might not do it. Then that's okay because you've left yourself a bit of space to not do it. So no. I Poole. I got the name wrong. Sorry.

Julie [00:12:46]:

That's alright. So what were you previously going to try and do that you are now actually going to do?

Michelle [00:12:53]:

So, actually, it came into my head. So on a personal basis, my business year is up and I have to give my accounts to my accountant. So there's 2 things that come in here. 1, I still do everything by spreadsheet because I'm a bit of a control freak and that's the way I do it. And secondly, he would like them soon. So it was a case of I will try to get them to you by this Money. And again that just leaves a window where I can maybe not. And then the other thing was the automation of things because, actually, I should be doing it electronically.

Michelle [00:13:25]:

I should be using, you know, one of the services you can do where it's all automated, and it's much easier than me then having to go back in and try and finish off the spreadsheet to make sure everything's in there. So there's 2 things that came from that, but the try thing really hit me because that came just after we'd sort of done the podcast. And I heard myself saying it and then wanted to sort of slap myself and not say it, and then these 2 other things sort of came up. We actually have just given myself a window to say no, and I do need to automate something because I've now got work to do.

Julie [00:13:59]:

Mhmm. I hate to

Emily [00:13:59]:

My husband sorry. My husband does the accounts for my for his aunt, and it's all in a handwritten ledger. I'm just saying you've got to talk to her about 0. I'm very Dickensian. I know. Other packages are available, but definitely use the same bank account and link it up to a software accounting software package. That would be my advice.

Julie [00:14:20]:

Right. I think I love that, Michelle, bringing the Katie's hack of eliminating the word try from your vocabulary. Because oddly enough, after we spoke with Katie, okay, there were some things that I had intentions to do that previously I might have tried to do, and now I know not to try them because I'm just going to bloody do them. So things that I've been doing since we spoke to Katie, I have been meditating every day. I have been exercising every day. I have been drinking water every day. So this is the power of catching yourself when you use the word try and just get it out that sentence. It doesn't belong there.

Julie [00:15:00]:

It's not helping you.

Emily [00:15:02]:

The word try has got a very negative attachment to it at the moment for me as well, Julie.

Julie [00:15:07]:

What are you what are you trying?

Emily [00:15:09]:

No. It's after that dreadful rugby match at the weekend. You rugby fans who watched it. Let's not talk about lack of England

Julie [00:15:17]:

tribe. I don't actually follow rugby, and I've got no idea what you're talking about. But I'm aware it was the Calcutta Cup. It was. Okay. It didn't go well, I take it.

Emily [00:15:27]:

No. For you, it went okay, I think.

Emily [00:15:37]:

This is when I say I am half Scottish.

Julie [00:15:41]:

Alright. So, I guess that's listeners, this catch yourself. Watch out for using that word try. Yeah. Alright. Because if you can spot it and then you can consciously change it to a different sentence, Michelle and I are living proof of the changes that you can see. Alright. That's fantastic.

Julie [00:15:59]:

So, Emily, have you got another atomic habit for money for me?

Emily [00:16:03]:

Yeah. So I'm lucky enough to get paid weekly, but whether you're paid weekly, monthly, whatever, I think it's a very good idea to do certain things the moment that that money hits your account. So either it's automated or if, like me, you get a different amount of money every week, and I have to have some sort of manual input into it. I do recommend that you go in and you make sure, that your saving pots within your banking app are properly funded. So, yeah, if it's automated, you might want to just check that that's gone in okay. And if it's not automated, you need to sort of swipe and send that money over to the right savings pots that you've set out in your, your savings plan. And, you know, just have a little check that there are no, pots that are not needed anymore that you can delete, or maybe you want to add new pots, it's time just to have a little think about whether or not that's set up. And I do that actually on a fairly frequent basis, and do a little tot up just to check that, I've got the right amount of money in each pot, really.

Julie [00:17:12]:

Yep. I think that's a really good tip. And do you know why? It's because I've got too many pots on the go, Emily. So I've got a lit my little Starling Poole, which kind of manage me on a monthly basis. But then for longer term things, like a couple of months up to a year, I use Zopa because I don't actually look at that because the money just buys over there. And I'll you know, I'll only go to a that's where the Buffet money lives, the Christmas money lives, or the car insurance money lives. I only go there when I need it. So I'll go I went in a couple of weeks ago, and there was a pot of money there that hadn't been used from last year.

Julie [00:17:44]:

And I was like, oh, bonus money. So, yeah, do an audit of your savings. I love that. I love that. I've got one that is it's not the most exciting one. Alright? I'll be honest. But it's super, super, super easy and mega quick. And that is I've got an app on my phone and it's Credit Karma.

Julie [00:18:06]:

Other apps are available. It's a way of just checking your credit score. So I will pop into Credit Karma once a month just to check that there's nothing screwy going on in my credit file. And also it's just a nice way to track progress. So it's dead easy to download the app and set it up. And it's just, you know, there are so many scams that go on nowadays and so much fraud that goes on. It's just it's a fail safe to make sure that no one is messing with your money. So not the most exciting, but it is mega easy to do.

Julie [00:18:36]:

It'll take you literally once you've got it set up, it's like 2 seconds. Pop in the app. Nobody's worth throwing money. Leave the app.

Michelle [00:18:44]:

See, I love that one. I've actually got Credit Karma as well. And one thing I don't know whether you have on yours, Judy, is I have allowed notifications by Emily. And what it does is if there's a new credit report or something coming up on my name, it emails me to tell me.

Julie [00:19:00]:

Yeah. I get

Michelle [00:19:01]:

that. Then I have a panic and wonder what I've Money, and then I go in and realize, but and that's fine. But it I do love that because in the mid month, you may not think about having a look.

Julie [00:19:11]:

Yep. No. I've got the little notifications as well. I haven't once a week, it notifies me telling me to go and have a look. But I'm like, even I can't bother doing that. Once a month will do. Once a month will do. Alright.

Julie [00:19:25]:

Michelle, have you got any other ones for us?

Michelle [00:19:27]:

So I've got another one which is change your environment. So this probably links to spending. And I think we were sort of talking, before we started recording and things like credit cards, you know, cards that you don't want to use very much. So I actually have a credit card which is not linked to my Apple Pay. It is not, on my phone so I can't pay using it on my phone. I obviously have the physical card but that generally lives in a in a purse that I have at home and don't take out with me every day because following a lot of battering from my children, I knew that do now tend to pay using my phone. Took them a while to get there, but I do. But what it does mean is if I'm going to pay on my credit card or I know, I consciously have to make the effort to take it with me, the actual card.

Michelle [00:20:18]:

So if I'm out and I impulsively want to buy something and I don't have the card, I can't. I'd actually have to go home, go and find the card, and go back out to where I want. And if I really want it, then I would. But it does give you that stop gap to think. So it's changing your environment really. I had a friend who also said to me, same similar thing, and she sort of hidden hers at home, which means it's not easily accessible all the time. And in the same sort of vein, even on websites, I never save my credit card details. So my bank normal bank card, I will do because I'm more aware of what the balance is and what's happening with that all the time, so I can spend on that.

Michelle [00:21:00]:

The credit card I will never save on any website because it's far too easy to think, oh, I'll just stick it on there and I'm not going to worry about it. It's just far too easy, and I'd rather that was out of my reach.

Emily [00:21:13]:

Alright.

Julie [00:21:13]:

No. I like that. And it's I think that kind of ties them with I don't know if we covered this Flynn in the original episode in episode 70. Just in Cafe, I'm going to say it again. And it's that idea about environment. So you've talked about making it harder, so that's adding friction. And I think a lot of people listen to this, like, sorting your money out, it's not fun and I can't be bothered, which is what I should have said earlier, folks. But one of the things that I do is Sunday morning is my morning where I sort money stuff out.

Julie [00:21:46]:

And to make it nice, that's when I get my cost of coffee. So it's that environment I get I get peace. Nobody's allowed to disturb me. So I've got time to myself, and I've got a nice cup of coffee. So it's like, if this is old stuff, you're like, oh, that sounds good, but I can't be bothered. I don't really want to do that. It's like, what can you do to incentivize yourself or to make it a more pleasant experience to actually sit down and sort some of your money out? So it could be just like, well, maybe you're afraid tonight and I'm going to have a glass of wine kind of person rather than a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee kind of person? What what's going to make it easy or rewarding for you to do? So I like the environment one. Thanks, Michelle.

Emily [00:22:25]:

I'm going to have a Capri's cream egg. Capri's Creme Egg.

Julie [00:22:29]:

Okay. That's going to help you out for the next month or so. After that, I don't know how you're going to do it, incentivize yourself.

Emily [00:22:36]:

They sell them all year round, I think. Yeah. Do they? Yeah. Yeah.

Julie [00:22:40]:

Really?

Emily [00:22:42]:

Yeah.

Michelle [00:22:42]:

Yeah. Because I like them too.

Julie [00:22:45]:

This is news to me. I did not know this. Okay. What else have we got? Have you got anything else for

Emily [00:22:53]:

us, Emily? I've just got one that popped into my head that wasn't in our pre discussion. But what about every now and then or, you know, once a month, whenever you do your month your money stuff, going and having a look at what you're spending your money on in in on Amazon? Oh. If Amazon is your buys, which I think it is for a lot of us, what about just flicking through your orders and then they're just totting up how much you've spent that Money?

Michelle [00:23:19]:

Just to

Emily [00:23:19]:

see how you feel.

Julie [00:23:21]:

Oh, that's a good one.

Emily [00:23:23]:

I help.

Julie [00:23:24]:

I like that because since I cancelled Amazon Prime back in August, which was like a really big move for me, it was like I don't know what was harder. Splitting up with my last girlfriend or leaving Amazon Prime. I don't know. It was, you know, it's a close call. But since I've left Amazon Prime, my Amazon spending has dropped off drastically, and that's making me feel really good about it. So I'm happy about that. I think my next top tip for people is kind of along with you know, we're talking about Amazon, which is a bit like a subscription, and we've probably covered this before in the podcast. I'm going to bring it up again now because there's a little tip in here as well, and that is do an order of all your subscriptions.

Julie [00:24:07]:

So if you've got an iPhone, if you go into the App Store and then click your profile, then there'll be a subscriptions tab in there. You can go in and see what you've subscribed to. Michelle, you've shared with us in the past that banks do it as well. They have a subscriptions tab in your own Internet banking. I think what pop made this pop into my head is, I've got the Sky app. And if you've got Sky, go into the Sky app every now and again because it gives you free stuff. And because I've been with Sky for so long, it was giving me a free subscription to Apple TV. So I've got 6 months' worth of Apple TV, But, obviously, I've added it to my Money diary that Cafe June, my Apple TV thing is up.

Julie [00:24:48]:

So I need to go and cancel that subscription. So go and do a little order of all the small subscriptions that you've got and just make sure, are you actually using them? Do you actually want them, or can you bin them?

Emily [00:24:59]:

And for goodness' sake, if you don't use your gym membership, just can it? Because gym memberships can be expensive. And I have a friend who has 2, and she doesn't use either of them.

Julie [00:25:09]:

Why would you need 2 gym memberships?

Emily [00:25:13]:

I don't know. Especially for somebody who barely runs or, you know, she barely uses her trainers.

Julie [00:25:21]:

Easy now, Emily. Easy. Okay. So oh, so it's just I guess that ties in with what you were saying. Let just take 5 minutes to have a look at what you've been spending your money on and ask yourself, is that really is that really what I wanted to do with that cash? Okay. Have we got anything else?

Michelle [00:25:41]:

On the same vein of what you were just saying about the subscriptions, so something just popped into my head. So we have family sharing on our phone on Apple, and I am the main family member.

Julie [00:25:56]:

That means you pay

Michelle [00:25:57]:

the Money and the one with the bank account linked to it. And it's very easy sometimes because you get notifications and things happen that you don't really Julie realize quite what has been spent on there because it just little bits pop out of your account. So I would just say sort of check what other people in your family may be spending on things that's going through your bank account because of the family sharing. And also, when they become of the right age, you allow them to maybe pay for it themselves. And it was something actually a friend of mine didn't realize that's by setting up the family sharing that actually it was all coming out of her account when her children would come and say, oh I've just bought this or I've just bought that, you know. We've got past the age where there's passwords to buy things, which is what we used to have because they're sort of adults now in Canon. And I think she was quite astonished when she went back and had a look all the little, you know, 79p199, all of those things, how much they added up to. So it's definitely worth having a look at those as well.

Julie [00:26:58]:

Alright. That's fantastic. I think I've got Money. Is anybody else going they want to add?

Emily [00:27:06]:

I've got quite a boring one.

Julie [00:27:08]:

Oh, god. It's not your boredom when Emily sell it to me.

Emily [00:27:11]:

My boring one is, if you're a self assessment taxpayer, think about just logging on to that self assessment tax portal every now and then, you know, maybe once a quarter or something. Just have a dig around and look at the correspondence because they don't send it directly to you. They put it in the portal. And you don't want to find out that you've had a demand for payment for something that you'd forgotten about, and then they start charging you penalty interest, etcetera. So just, yeah, keep on top of that. And then it won't be a massive big shock to you come January when you've got to submit your return and pay the bill.

Julie [00:27:47]:

Alright. Thank you very much for that.

Emily [00:27:50]:

Sorry for being boring.

Julie [00:27:51]:

Nope. It's important. It's important. Now I'm going to be honest. I'm going to own up here. Right? I asked ChatGPT for ideas, and they weren't very good. I didn't like any of them, except 1. And chat came back with 1, and it was to celebrate your wins.

Julie [00:28:09]:

So I was asking it for, like, what are small habits that can help people become better and more comfortable with Money. And I said celebrate your wins. And that is, like, allocate a small amount towards a treat. Commence it with the financial win that you've had. The other thing it came up with was having a win wall. So Women you stick up post it notes or images of the that are related to the financial goal that you're achieving, which I quite liked. And then the last Money, I thought I really like this one, is the whatever the goal was when you've achieved it and you've got a bit of money, you how you use the money, align it with your goals. So if charities well, your values rather.

Julie [00:28:51]:

So if charity is something that's important to you, make a charitable donation. If education is something that's important to you, go and buy a book. So I just like that because I think it's too easy sometimes to overlook stopping in the moment when you realize that you've achieved something and celebrating that and mark now. So thanks chat GBD.

Michelle [00:29:10]:

Yeah. And that's really good because often we move on to what the next goal is. We seem to forget that we've got that far and we've actually achieved something.

Julie [00:29:17]:

Uh-huh. So, Michelle, go on reminders for people that haven't listened to episode 70. How do you how do you mark progress and achievements?

Michelle [00:29:27]:

Well, because as you know, I'm math phobic, and I quite clearly said that in the first one too. Yeah. I like to tick things off or colour little boxes in to make myself a list, then I'll tick them off. And actually, I still do it work wise now. Sometimes I'll write stuff on that I've done that day just so I can cross it out.

Emily [00:29:44]:

I do that.

Michelle [00:29:45]:

It just makes me feel better. But if I can evolve colour or anything creative as part of that process,

Julie [00:29:53]:

I'm all good.

Emily [00:29:54]:

When I have a really bad day and I've got this big, long list of to do things, and I get to the end of the day and I realized I've achieved none of them, but I did do a lot of other stuff. I have to quickly write it on and tick it off.

Julie [00:30:07]:

You know the hack I've got for this? I use Todoist for my to do list. And it never ends, the to do list. But I have it set so that as long as I achieve 3 things a day, it pings.

Michelle [00:30:20]:

Oh, so you get a reward.

Julie [00:30:22]:

Uh-huh. So I get it pings at me, and it get it flashes up with a little celebration because I did my 3 things. Doesn't matter that there's 50 things on my to do list. I did 3.

Emily [00:30:31]:

I like that. I'm going to look at that one.

Julie [00:30:33]:

Oh, so to do list. Alright. Well, look. Thank you very much to both of you for coming up with these wins and tips and habits. And thank you for listening. I hope that you can take something away from this that you can go and implement. Do let us know what you do. If you've liked this and you didn't catch the original Atomic Habits for Your Money episode 1, It's number 70, and I'll put a link to it in the show notes.

Julie [00:30:59]:

But until next time, please do take care of yourselves.