Review on “She’s on the Money”
Speaking about money is not as easy or frequent as it should or could be. Starting a conversation with others or with ourselves about it can instill powerful feelings that relate directly to what Victoria Devine calls “our money story”. This is the starting point of an incredibly enriching book where Devine shares with us a holistic understanding of finances. “She’s on the Money” is particularly addressing women, but it’s a great material for everyone who wants to get on top of their money.
One of the opening lines of the book explains that the way in which we approach financial topics, consciously or unconsciously, has to do with our beliefs, values and past experiences. In general terms, this refers to the assumptions that we have about money, for example, “Is it hard or easy to obtain?”, “Should money in a marriage be separate or shared?”, as well as the things that we value the most, for instance, education, going out with friends, grabbing a coffee every day, paying a mortgage. As you can see this approach is extremely personal and we shouldn’t be harsh on ourselves about the decisions we’ve made so far. Nonetheless, there’s always room for improvement and it is an act of self-love to be in charge of your life whether that means adjusting some behaviours or radically changing others.
One of the biggest lessons that this book explores is: You cannot save without sacrifice. This short sentence has an enormous truth behind it: we can have (or aim to have) many things, but maybe not all at once. That’s why we need to understand our beliefs, values and past experiences, so we can identify what we can and want to sacrifice now in order to achieve the goals of our “Future self”. In this regard, Victoria advises to make the most out of the technology we have available, for example, by setting automatic transfers to cover our bills, as well as analysing our expenses, income and defining our financial goals. The truth is that everyone can save money, regardless of how much we make. It’s more about tweaking our habits and being truthful to our future goals than about the amount of income we make per month.
Another great idea that Victoria maintains through all the book is the fact that: being proactive about our finances allows us to achieve financial independence which comes with a whole lot of other freedoms! Independence! Thanks to this empowering mindset we can say “No” to any situation that we don’t want to be involved in, relationships or jobs, for example, but it can also bring us the peace of mind of being able to face emergencies without a lot of stress.
Insurance, investment, real estate, budget planning, superannuation funds, loans, debt, all of these are topics that Victoria addresses in search of allowing us to become the bigger, better version of our financial self. No matter how big or how small the changes, it is never too late to be on the money!
-Silvia R for “Gals en Australia” — https://medium.com/@silviarp
