It's all about the money... Mindset!
A bunch of free resources to improve your money mindset
I don’t know why, but this past month has been all about the money at Productive Happiness HQ. It all started when Ramit Sethi came up with a new show on Netflix that I was very eager to watch. And down the rabbit hole I went.
How to Get Rich with Ramit Sethi
I’ve been a lifelong follower of Sethi’s acclaimed blog and book, aptly named I will teach you to be rich. I used the framework in his book in my mid-twenties to turn my life around from highly indebted to financially savvy, with months of expenses saved up. It was quite a transformation!
His new Netflix show is more Reality TV than documentary and I was skeptical at first, but it was a good show and a good intro to personal finances. After I watched, of course, the algorithm proposed something similar to watch :
Get Smart with Money
I was very intrigued by this second show, knowing that another personal finance guru I follow participated in the show (Mr. Money Mustache). This one was more focused on the actual strategies to build financial freedom, was more concrete and less sensational. I learned a good deal from it. Out of the 3 I’m recommending today, this one is my favourite.
Money Explained
I watched a few of these Netflix original documentaries on various subjects. One of my favourites was The Mind Explained, all about neuroscience, but easy to comprehend. When I found out that they made a series about money, you know I had to watch!
Each mini-episode features one side of the money game. Credit cards, gambling, student loans, and the list goes on. I got introduced to a credit card hacker Youtuber called Brian Jung, who teaches us how to get the most out of our credit card perks. Another rabbit hole!
Money mindset, in book form
As you may know if you have been following Productive Happiness for a while, I am an avid reader. Bookworm. Crazy book lady. Whatever you wanna call it.
Following Ali Abdaal on Youtube, I got introduced to 2 books about money, but not on managing our finances, something I can humbly say I am pretty good at, but more about the way we think and feel about money.
The Psychology of Money
The premise of this book is that doing well with money has little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave. And behaviour is hard to teach, even to really smart people. I got a few good takeaways from this book, mainly that knowing when enough is enough is the key point to being satisfied with your finances. Striving for more and more is just a highway to disappointment.
I greatly appreciated Morgan Housel (the author)'s focus on freedom. Money, in the end, is meant to help you achieve freedom, doing what you want with your most scarce resource, your time. (Productivity enthusiasts get this, don’t we?)
The Soul of Money
This one is a little bit different. Author Lynne Twist used to be a major fundraiser to eradicate world hunger. Having met with ultra-wealthy as well as some of the poorest populations on earth, she comes to us with the mindset of scarcity and abundance. Everyone in this day and age can fulfill their needs with the resources available, it’s just a question of asset allocation. Realizing that most of us already have enough is her main key point.
It’s an interesting read, and it certainly makes me realize how privileged I am while so many in our world are suffering from extreme lack. A good kick in the perspective!
And last but not least, a bonus!
Your money or your life
This whole foray into the money rabbit hole has brought back fond memories of a national park outing I took with my ex-fiancé while reading this book. We encountered a giant moose eating leaves next to our picnic table at pitch dark. We could barely make out the contours of his panache, 2 meters wide!
What was my biggest takeaway from Your Money or Your Life was the simple calculation of how much time of my life some meaningless purchases would take. For example, buying that new fancy purse would mean 100 hrs of work! Am I willing to sacrifice 100 hrs of my life for something that I would only carry to special events? Or would I rather invest my hard-earned money into something more lasting, like a trip, or a course that would get me a promotion? That had me rethink even the smallest financial decision.
So here’s my glimpse into the rabbit hole for you! Now your turn, what are your favourite money resources? Care to share them with me in the comments?