Beginners Guide to Financial Management
Over the past 12-18 months I have had quite a few clients ask me whether I had read the well publicized Australian book called “The Barefoot Investor“.
My intention was to write a blog covering off on some of the financial management themes that Scott Pape has written about, from my perspective, however being time poor and busy running my business, I could not seem to get the traction involved to start this project. Along came Phoebe Butler, a young University student studying Journalism who has been doing some casual work for us for a few months.
I asked Phoebe whether she would consider working with me on this project and she enthusiastically jumped at the opportunity. So our aim is to cover off on a chapter a month.
It is important for me to allow Phoebe to share her own views, taking both the book and my experiences into account. I hope you will enjoy this journey. I am definitely looking forward to it.
Hamish Ferguson
Over to you Phoebe…
Financial planning, I have learned, is the management of everything to do with money – your daily spending, income and savings – and using this information to plan to save for your future and help you to stay on top of your finances. Money can cause stress for a lot of people so learning how to manage it is a step in the right direction.
You may not think you need financial planning, but you might want it after reading our monthly blogs. They are for sharing the building blocks of financial management through the highly recommended Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape and the wisdom of Hamish Ferguson at Vision Property and Finance. Together, these savvy financial brains should help to ease your mind about money.
And no, you should not stop reading because this is something you don’t want to even think about right now. If thinking about budgeting and savings gives you hives and makes you hyperventilate, then you have come to the right place. As I learn more about financial management and share that knowledge with you, the breathing should even out and the hives become a faint itch. But the stress about money is very normal and we are going to try and make it less intense one step at a time.
Believe me, at eighteen I did not expect to have moved out and away from my family and have become (mostly) financially independent. I moved from Sydney to Newcastle by myself. I pay rent with the lease under my name. I bought and pay to run my own car. I am a full time university student with two jobs. I have a lot on my plate, definitely including financial struggles. Every time I think about my bank account, my blood pressure shoots through the roof.
My parents support me in any way they can but they have had their own financial struggles, which I am trying to learn from and avoid. They always promoted financial independence and were as excited as I was when I moved out and started supporting myself. Especially because it was before my two older siblings.
But being young and naive, I had not saved up enough money to comfortably carry me through and my struggle to find a job for the first three months made this all the more stressful. I am also an impulsive spender and have weak self control when it comes to swiping my card. Working minimum wage jobs and trying to pay expenses has been really hard but I have to do it.
Hopefully the tips and tricks I will learn from The Barefoot Investor and Hamish’s experience will help me to stay on my feet, relieve my stress and help me on my way to investing in my future. My trials and errors of using this book and getting (free!) advice from a financial planner means I can do all the hard work for you and give you the best tips that have worked for me.
When Hamish approached me to write this blog and write about my own experiences with money, I was apprehensive. I am in no position to be giving financial advice and have very limited knowledge, if any, when it comes to financial planning.
But the purpose of this is to learn, take advice and use that advice. And I will pass that along and hopefully it will help you too.
The purpose of these blogs is to share wisdom that you wouldn’t normally find and build a solid foundation for a financially stable future. Good luck to us both!
Until next time,
Phoebe
Phoebe Butler
