Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, The Minimalists, created the 'packing party' method as a way to help people figure out what possessions are essential. What is a packing party? A packing party involves packing up all of your possessions as if you're moving home. As you go about your routine, you gradually unpack items as you use them. By the end of a set period (e.g. a month, a season) you donate or sell what's left in the boxes. Why [...]
How to Stop Keeping Up With the Joneses
Why do we sometimes feel bad when our friends do well? Natural selection. Evolution. Feeling inadequate when one of our friends upgrades to a bigger house is just the start of our envy. In doing so, we’re participating in ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. Keeping up with the Joneses was first referred to in a comic in 1913 which depicts the social climbing McGinis family, who struggle to ‘keep up’ with their neighbours, the Joneses. Competition can [...]
One Way to Make Paying Bills Easier
As a child, I noticed that my parents dreaded bills. As a student, I noticed that my flatmates dreaded bills. As an adult, I still notice that people, whether rich or poor, dread bills. Like many of us, when we’re surrounded with a certain mindset, it becomes automatic to adopt it. It’s part of our natural desire to fit in. When I left home, I knew exactly how to respond to bills: I dreaded them. Why do we hate bills? Bills hurt for a number of r [...]
Track what you spend
In 2015, I ran my first personal finance workshop, “Let’s Talk About Money” to a group of individuals who were looking to get out of debt, start building their savings and learn more about pensions. The workshop was an informal session held in a function room of a cafe in East London. The idea was to get people together to help them talk about money in a non-judgemental environment, but also to provide them with valuable insights from mine and my [...]
What is Squirrel?
Banking online or by app has become the leading way to manage finances. New research from CACI for the BBA shows that customers moved £2.9 billion a week using banking apps in 2015 - up from £2 billion in 2014. It’s no surprise then that many of us have turned to apps to helps us manage and grow our savings. In the last decade, we’ve seen the rise of peer-to-peer lending involving 100% management of your investment online with platforms like Zopa [...]
Why meditate
Meditation was first documented around 1500 years ago in ancient India. In 1958, Jack Kerouac published The Dharma Burns, which explored his early experience with Buddhism and increased interest and curiosity in meditation. Up until the early 2010s, meditation was still considered too "new age" for the everyday person. In 2016, everybody seems to be talking about meditation - more specifically mindfulness meditation. Even in the daily craziness [...]
Is property a good investment?
In 2016, UK house prices are now nine times average incomes. Since the 1990’s, property has become a mainstream investment. The 1990’s property crash provided a great opportunity for any potential property investors, not just because of the low cost of housing, but because mortgages were more accessible with more than one mortgage provider offering 100% loan-to-value mortgages (the first buy-to-let mortgages became available in 1996). The Telegra [...]
Online resources to boost your productivity
What I love about the internet is how easy it is to find resources to improve your day and your productivity. I'm often reading blog posts and listening to podcasts where I pick up recommendations for apps and websites that can help me get more stuff done, improve my habits and help me conquer my health goals. Over the last few years I've kept track of these resources and today I share them with you. I hope you find them helpful. Add your own res [...]
How to make your New Year's resolution stick
As 2015 draws to a close and the hangover from Christmas Day subsides, you may already have a list of resolutions ready for January 1. But since 1 in 3 of us will ditch our resolutions by the end of January because we’re ‘too busy’ we’ve put together a list of tips to help you succeed in 2016. Make just one New Year’s resolution. It’d be great to lose 5 pounds, drink less alcohol, eat more vegetables and save more money but anyone who tries to ta [...]
What is Funding Circle?
Funding Circle is an online platform that enables individuals to lend money to small UK businesses for a fixed rate of interest. Similar to crowdfunding for equity, individual investors lend money through the platform as loan parts which are assembled as loans to businesses. Using loan parts helps investors spread the risk of their investment e.g. when investing £1000 an investor does not have to lend that amount to just one business but can use [...]