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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Guest Post: How to change your attitude to money.

I feel so honourned to have the lovely and extremely talented Kylie from Aspiring Millionaire and Kylieofiu.com to guest blog today. Kylie is not only a very talented blogger, but she is also a wife and mum, and the author of two books, 365 Ways to Make Money and 26 Ingredients.

How to Change Your Attitude To Money


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Our thoughts on money often stem from our childhoods, how our life was and our parents thoughts on money. This thought pattern is not easy to change. Since it is more common to grow up in a poor or middle class family than a wealthy family it is easy to have a more negative attitude to money or the “We can’t afford it” mentality.

I grew up in a poor to middle class family but instead of my parents constantly saying “We can’t afford it” (although, of course, on occasion they did say that) they generally tried to teach us about money and a more frugal way to live and would suggest “We do things xyz way instead”. My parents also taught me to aim high.

My husband on the other hand grew up in a pretty poor house where the ‘we are broke’ attitude was very obvious. He often had quite a fear of there not being enough money and would stress quite a lot even with all bills paid and plenty of money in the bank.

It might sound crazy, but one of the biggest things that helped us is visualising. We worked out what we wanted; what our goals were, set a budget and created a vision board. And nothing was too far out there or unrealistic for us to aim for.

Many books and financial professionals recommend visualising what you want. The thing is many people think they are visualising, when in actually fact they are just thinking.

Money is not a bad thing and you do not need to be broke for the rest of your life. If you look at your life, your income versus expenses and make a plan there is no reason you can’t be successful. The only thing holding you back is you.

Here are some steps to help you:

1.) Recognise your money attitude and situation
Do you feel like you are coasting along just fine despite being in huge amounts of debt? Or are you constantly worrying how you are going to pay for everything? Either scenario is not really a good one to have. You need to sit down and look at your finances. Does your income cover your expenses? Are there any ways you can cut back without feeling completely deprived? If your income covers your expenses and you have some left for savings you are doing well. But you still need to ensure you have a positive money attitude.

2.) Create a plan
Write out all your expenses and income, set a budget and if the income does not exceed expenses look at where you can cut back but also where you can create more wealth. The focus of creating more wealth helps steer your mind away from the we are so broke mindset as you have more money coming in versus focussing on scraping by. That said, even with extra money you still need control of your money.

3.) Work out what it is that you want Sit down and write out a wish list. Things such as financially free, a holiday to Hawaii, a particular car, whatever it is you want in your life, write it down. Next create a vision board. If you want to know how to make one I have written about mine here and an update on results here.

4.) Focus on the positive
This is easier said than done, but if you can focus on the money coming in, the fact you have paid xyz bills or you still have your mortgage this can help you a lot in changing the mindset from negative to positive. Look at your achievements and keep them in mind. You do need to be aware of your financial situation and there is no point ignoring things if you are in a financial mess, but congratulating yourself for even small money achievements helps create a positive vibe.

5.) Visualise
Create some affirmations for yourself such as “Money flows to me freely” or “I earn more than enough money for our family”, whatever it is that will help you. Say these affirmations to yourself a few times a day. As well as these affirmations create your fantasy in your mind. What is it you are striving for? Sit down, close your eyes and imagine it. What does it look like? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? Have it so accurate you can sense every part of it because it is real to you. It may take a while to be able to create your vision, but once you have it, visualise it regularly.


I can honestly say that since changing my attitude from scrimping and saving to how can I create more wealth? the opportunities have been amazing. I originally created my vision board with things I wanted to own, do and be. In just over 12 months I went from none to about 50% of them either bought, done or happening in my life. I expect the next 12 months to be much the same.

You don’t have to have a poor or negative money mindset. Whilst it is often more acceptable in a group setting to be similar and not discuss how well things are going, does not mean you should conform to the norm. Be your own positive self.


Kylie is the author of 365 Ways to Make Money. She blogs at www.kylieofiu.com about ways to make and save money.

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