The Money Medicine Clinic Podcast

Hello,

If you’re someone who is conscious of how your money is impacting on the planet, there’s no better place to start that your bank! It’s a simple way to start reducing your carbon footprint. Check out Dan's website: MyMotherTree.com and complete the carbon footprint calculator. Don’t forget to look out for switching deals so you can make money helping the environment too!

Hello!

It's time I let you know about a recent project I've been involved in.....

...I've helped write a book!! Woo hoo!

And it's all about one of my FAVOURITE SUBJECTS - Investing.

It's written for women, by women and is being released on International Women's Day by publishers Harriman House (who incidentally have also published next month's bookclub book - The Psychology of Money).

Why is this book both timely and essential?

>> A 2022 Bankrate study found women feel more financially stressed as 60% worry about emergency savings compared to 53% of men

>> According to finder.com, less than 30% of women in the UK invest

>> Despite fewer women investing, a 2018 three-year study of Barclays investors showed women outperform men by 1.8%.

Editor Amanda Taylor has brought together leading women from the world of investment and asks:

• What is the impact of rising living costs?

• Where to start with investing your money?

• How can your health affect your money?

• How can you make sure your money is being invested in alignment with your values?

• What psychological biases affect how well you invest?

I'm so excited about this... it's not my own book, but it's a stepping stone to my own book (which I'm aiming to publish in 2024 so watch this space). I'm so humbled to be a part of this and I'm looking forward to reading my own copy soon!

Hello!

With the cost of literally everything going up right now, it would be helpful to have some tech in your corner to help you out right?

Hello!

Money mindset is vitally important at every stage of the process in building wealth no matter which stage you're at or how much you earn. There is always something to work on.

And this episode completes the series on the steps to wealth! I hope you enjoyed it... if you missed the other episodes, look for 125, 126, 127 and 128. 

Hello!

Pillar 3 is an important piece of your wealth building journey. Without it, the process will certainly be a much harder one! Investing gives your money rollarskates, helping to speed up the process of growing your nest eggs.

Hello! 

In the 5-part series of "the steps to wealth", I'm talking about protecting your money in this one.

If you want money management, go to episode 126, and if you want an overview of the whole thing, go to episode 125. 

Hello!

This week's episode is all about the first foundational pillar of the steps to wealth. If you don't know what these are, check out episode 125 where I do a full overview of all 4 of them.

Hello! Welcome to season 4 -wow!!

I can’t believe that this is the fourth year of the money medicine clinic podcast.

It literally feels like yesterday that I started this.

Hello!

In this episode I'm talking with the fabulous Charlotte Jessop of the blog Looking After Your Pennies on how you can prepare your finances for pregnancy, a topic you chose as a community to learn more about. 

Hello!

In my work as a money coach, I’ve noticed a number of money management patterns among my clients. It’s incredible how similar we all are when it comes to our finances.

I’ve pulled out the top 10 money mistakes I see regularly with the aim of making you feel like you’re not alone in this.

So here goes...

Hello!

Our hormones are fascinating! Have you ever stopped to consider how your hormones can affect your finances? My background is in women’s health, and I’d never really thought about the idea that my money was affected by my menstrual cycle. But the more I read about it, the more I realise that our hormones could play a big part in how we manage our money.

Hello!

One of my favourite authors writing about money is Robert Kiosaki. In fact, the first book I ever read was Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It really opened my eyes to what was possible in life when it came to money, and it sparked my interest in this topic.

A while later, I read another of his books, The Cash-Flow Quadrant and I realised that building wealth involved needing to transform what I was doing with my money long term and how I was making money too.

Many people think is that starting a business is what they need to do to make money. This is partially true, but it is the way that you do it which holds the biggest key to success (and less stress!).

I’m going to talk through what I have learnt from this book, and perhaps you’ll want to check it out and read it yourself too!

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Examining your money mindset and beliefs is ESSENTIAL if you want to sort your money out. 80% of personal finance is about how you think about money, the other 20% is the nuts and bolts that you need to organise it.

Have you ever thought about your money mindset?

Feeling frustrated and like there is never "enough" money is a clue that there is some stuff going on.

I hope you find this episode helpful for examining your own blocks around money.

Hello!

Robert Kiyosaki calls them "doodads". Vicki Robin calls them "Gazingus Pins". Otherwise known as an unconscious spending weakness.

We all have them.

Be it books, journals, notebooks, scarves, shoes, bags, jewellery, makeup, watches (like my mum), toys for your kids, there will be SOMETHING you can’t resist spending money on.

For me its shoes.

Oh, and journals. I never seem to be able to resist a journal.

Now, in my world, there is nothing wrong with spending money on things we want.

I am ABSOLTELY all about rewarding yourself for a job well done or a goal reached. We celebrate people's wins often in my community.

But what does cause problems is if this celebrating is done without thought or planning. In other words, when we allow our unconscious emotions to guide our spending.

Enjoy my ramble on the subject!

Dr Nikki x

Hello!

I'm back with a new season and a new episode for 2022!

Here's the topic for today's discussion. Can money buy you happiness? Well, it’s a hotly debated topic. The thing is, I think a lot of people confuse money and happiness with the well-known phrase, “money is the root of all evil”. Personally, I think you can have both money and happiness, and here’s why.

Enjoy!

Nikki x

Hello!

It's time for another community question, and it's one I get asked a lot - "how much do I need in my emergency fund?".

An emergency fund is really important to help you out if you lost your job or had an unexpected major life event to deal with. But how much should you have, and where should you keep it? As with anything to do with personal finance – it depends. It’s very specific to who you are and your circumstances. 

It was one of the first goals I ever set myself when I started out on my money journey, and I will never forget the excitement when I managed to save my first £1000!

Hello!

For most people, buying their first house will be the biggest investment that they ever make. However, the worst thing you can do is get on the property ladder before you are ready.

Many people think that they’re “throwing money away” if they don’t buy a home, but actually, it may be the more savvy approach not to.

Today, there is so much pressure to own your own property, yet it is more difficult than ever before to do so. With that being said, read on to discover the key signs that you are ready to purchase a property.

Hello!

There are many forms of investing. Most people, when they think of investing, I’m sure will think of the “Wolf of Wallstreet”, or something similar; high aggression, testosterone-driven, swearing, sweaty, money-fueled madness.

But this is embellished reality – a story made all the more obscene to make a good film. Real investing is not like this. In fact, the kind of investing that is safe, secure and sustainable is decidedly unexciting. It involves due-dilligence, honest, emotionless appraisal, and playing the long-game. This is everything that the famous Warren Buffett stands for, and he is an excellent investing role-model for the rest of us. In fact, he also disliked the testosterone-fueled craziness that was going on in wall-street, and chose not to be part of it.

If you don’t know who this genius man is, he is the CEO of a major American share-holding company called Berkshire-Hathaway, and is known as the “Oracle of Omaha”. He is one of the richest men in America, building his wealth slowly over his lifetime. This is what he partially blames his amazing success on – his good genes and time spent actually investing.

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Hello!

Do you invest in the stock market? Gone are the days where you have to have huge sums of money and a fund manager to do it for you.

It might look confusing, but that is nothing that a bit of knowledge can't sort out. Investing is actually very rewarding - both in feeling accomplished in understanding how to do it, and of course financially for your longterm future.

More women than ever are branching out into the proactive side of money management. One of the reasons behind this is a wave of new technologies coming through that are making investing in stocks and shares easier and cheaper than ever.

But it's still not enough (yet).

According to HSBC UK, just 12% of women currently invest, vs. 19% of men.

Why is this a problem?

Because women on average live longer than men, yet our pensions are not matching this. Due to reduced income through the gender pay gap, and taking the greater share of childcare responsibilities, women are losing out on all fronts.

But investing doesn't have to be hard, or expensive!

Hello!

Whether you have kids or not, teaching children about money is a really important topic. It’s the only way we’re going to break the money blocks and limiting belief cycles that continue to hinder our success when it comes to personal finance. I truly believe that the more women there are educating each other about money, talking about it, discussing it with their children and demonstrating powerful ways of using it, we’ll all be much better off.

This is how you make your child wealthy.

I don’t have kids — but I do have a nephew and a goddaughter, and I like to take the time to make money an important subject in their lives. If you have children, I’ve outlined some ideas below for you to help them get involved with learning about money. Even if you don’t have kids, do pass this podcast on to someone who does and can benefit from it.

Hello!

According to marriage.com money is the number two cause of divorce.

So I wanted to focus this week on your relationship and how you handle money as a couple. Have you had the conversation with your other half yet, or are you both sweeping it under the rug?

Knowing how you’re going to manage your money together is essential before getting too deep into commitment. Here are some suggested questions to get the conversation flowing. Remember that talking about money can be difficult for some people (it certainly was for me), so take your time, and keep the atmosphere light and relaxed. Money conversations do not need to be stressful!

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When you’re keen to make some positive changes to your finances but your partner isn’t, how do you get them on board? This question is so common; many people in our community have the same concerns. There are some things that might help, which I’ll break down in this episode.

Hello!

The online community talks a lot about financial independence. The goal – one of mine too – is being so financially secure through assets like stocks and shares or property, that you’re in a position where you no longer have to work. But what I don’t see covered very often is the journey, how things can go wrong, and what measurements to put in place to protect yourself when things don’t go to plan.

Having money freedom involves getting to a stage where you can handle most situations that require money without having to stress. It’s not a state of financial independence where you can give up work, but rather a case of money no longer stressing you out because you know you are covered.

As a doctor I’ve seen lots of circumstances where patients are being caught out through illness, then struggling to cope with daily life. The aim is to make sure that you have things in place to avoid getting caught out financially in your time of most need. Here's my suggestion for what you can do.

Until next time,

Nikki x

Hello!

Being in debt can make you feel really isolated, but this question is one I’m asked frequently, by people who are worried and don’t know what to do or where to start. Ultimately, the debt isn’t going to go away — it’s something you’re just going to have to deal with. So, for now, here are some things you can do to get started.

It’s also very easy to trick ourselves, and not do the things we say we’re going to do. I’m just as guilty of this with things like exercise, weight loss and debt. So, I highly recommend getting an accountability buddy for those times you feel like things aren’t going so well.

Hello!

Money is intimately linked to our physical and mental health. It was one of the main reasons why I started my blog, The Female Money Doctor. It's also why I'm now a Financial Empowerment Coach for Women (as well as an NHS GP!).

I am on a mission to help as many women as possible with money stress, and help them feel in control of their finances.

In my doctor role, I regularly come across patients who get into financial difficulty, and are so stressed by it that they become anxious and depressed. Or they become unwell, and then get into financial problems, further adding to their health burden.

Financial instability is a big reason why people cannot take time off of work. It's why they often can't get the help they need and get back to full health quickly. Sleepless nights, poor eating habits, and poor coping strategies with drug and alcohol use all perpetuate and contribute to the problem.

Hello!

“I want to invest, but I’m scared of losing all my money. I know it’s a limiting belief, but I can’t seem to get around it. What can I do to get over my fear of investing?”

This is a really common question, one which I think many of you can identify with. There’s quite a lot to consider around this, so I’m going to break it down into 5 different parts; stocks, funds, investment amount, your risk tolerance and your mindset.

How Can I Overcome My Fear of Investing?

Fear of investing generally stems from stories of people losing fortunes. It’s hardly surprising; these are the stories that are creating headlines. But ultimately, the highs and lows of your investing journey depend on how you approach it.

Hello!

I talk often about "Money Freedom", which is the point at which you are free from worrying about money - it no longer stresses you out and you have a handle on how to manage it. It's where money supports you.

This is TOTALLY do-able!

But what if your goal is even more ambitious than that? What if you want to retire earlier than in your 60s for example?

Well you're not alone... 

There are many people who would love to be able to leave work earlier than traditional "retirement age", often not to "do nothing", but to gain the freedom to choose what they want to do in life. This is certainly my goal.

This is otherwise known as Financial Independence.

Hello!

This podcast episode was inspired by a question I was sent in:

“I try to save money every single month, but it never seems to work. I put money aside each time, but by the end of each month, I realise there’s something I still need to pay for, so the money has to come out of my savings again. What am I doing wrong? I am so frustrated; I feel like I’m never going to get what I want.” - Anon

I want you to know, it’s not just you!

This is a really common scenario that I see all over the internet in various different guises, and perhaps you’ve felt like this too? I certainly have; it was at the very start of my money journey, and I was really struggling, trying to do everything. So, I want to answer this as fully as I can, and I hope that the following suggestions will help you to move forward.

Hello!

So 2021 is The Female Money Doctor's 4th Year of business, and in celebration, I invited Emma Sutherland of Shine Development Coaching to ask whatever she wanted. 

In this episode she asks me about my money journey, why I started The Female Money Doctor community and some top tips to help you feel better about money RIGHT NOW. 

I hope you enjoy this episode. I would love to hear from you! Send me an email: info@thefemalemoneydoctor.com to let me know what you thought, and it would be awesome if you could leave me a review to help even more people find me.

Here's to the next 4 years! Thank you so much for your amazing support.

Nikki x

Hello!

Money management help isn’t limited to using a financial adviser. There are also money coaches, financial planners, accountants/bookkeepers, lawyers, solicitors, will writers, accountability buddies, life/business coaches, and counsellors.

There's a whole team of people that could potentially support you, and we’re going to look at some of these as a suggestion to help you throughout your money journey. It’s also important to ensure these people resonate with you and are in alignment with your goals and who you are so you can work seamlessly with them.

Hello,

We often neglect our own fun don’t we? I find it so easy to give to other people – but when it comes to spending on myself, I struggle.

So I am proposing that you take a look at your budget and you make a little room in there for some fun of your own – have a listen of this episode and you’ll see what I mean.

Hello!

There are many different budgeting methods out there, and what works for one person may not work for you. If you struggle with spreadsheets or writing things down and want the ease of using an app, I’ve put together a roundup of some budgeting apps you might like to try.

Hello!

Hello!

Today I wanted to share with you a fascinating piece of research from Aegon (pronounced, a-gon) that is looking into how confident we are about managing our money. It is so much more than the numbers!

I interviewed Steven Cameron from Aegon about this research.

Steven Cameron is Pensions Director at Aegon. He’s responsible for analysing future plans the Government or the financial regulators have for our pensions, savings and investments and helping shape these. You may well have seen him talking about these topics in the financial press. Right now, he’s taking an interest in how the Government will get the UK’s finances back on track post pandemic and what can be done to ensure people in the UK have a lifetime of financial security.

Hello!

Today I bring to you another awesome guest session. Emma is part of my abundance clinic membership and investing course, and she explains how being part of the community has helped her change her mindset around her finances.

Enjoy!

Hello!

Journaling is a powerful habit to get into and can make it easier to manage all areas of your life, including money. It’s something I’ve integrated gradually over time, and while some methods don’t work so well for me, there are others that I’ve adapted and used for myself. Personally, I try to use some form of journaling every day, and I want to share my suggestions and resources with you so that you can integrate it into your life, too.

Resources mentioned:

Hello!

Being surrounded by people who can support you in all areas of your life is really important to help things flow more easily. It’s a concept I learned from Dr. Joanna Martin, founder of One of Many, called Conscious Network Design.

It’s essential to have a network of people you can rely on for the day-to-day stuff; not simply when you’re faced with a crisis. Having this level of personal, practical support is just as important as being on top of your finances and having an emergency fund to get you out of a sticky spot. Examples might include support for promotions at work, or help looking after your children so that you and your other half can enjoy a much-needed date night together.

Being alone is no fun and makes everything so much harder. That’s why it’s so important to have a strong network of people around you — and it’s best to get this network in place now.

Who in your life right now is there to help you in all the different areas?

Nikki x

P.S. For help with all things money-mindset related, I’ll be opening the doors to my Money Mindset Reset course in just a few weeks’ time.

This course will help you to lift the lid on your limiting beliefs and clear them so you can get on the path to wealth and abundance. If you feel stuck around money, or would rather do anything but sort your finances out, then this course is definitely for you.

Hello! 

In this facebook live replay, I interview John Dionysiou (The Anti Marketer) to explain what cryptocurrency is, and how you can start to research coins yourself to prepare to start investing in them.   

Resources Mentioned:  

Hello!

Your inner critic is that voice inside your head that tells you, “You’re not good enough.” It’s the voice of doom, poised to tell you things are NOT going well for you right now.

“You’re not clever enough to learn how to invest - you'll lose it all”

“You’re too stupid ­­­— you’ll never be good with money. Your money management skills are RUBBISH.”

This internal voice is YOUR voice. It’s your inner critic, and it’s mean. But why do you let yourself speak to you like that when you wouldn’t treat your friends in this way?

Actually, your inner critic can be used to your advantage to help you grow, rather than to hold you back. This is something I’ve struggled with myself, but I’ve learned some tactics to “befriend” my inner critic and find out what’s going on. It’s not always easy, sometimes she’s in there before I’ve even noticed and she’s running the show, but it’s important to be aware so that we can get better at managing it.

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A money journey isn’t a linear, straightforward path. It’s very unlikely you’ll wake up one day, decide you’re going to get out of debt, and be done with it in six months. Life isn’t like that; we’re not robots. 

We face twists and turns, ladders and snakes, breakthroughs and dead ends. I speak from experience. I’ve taken three steps forward and five steps back. One to the left, five steps forward and three steps sideways. 

Yep, I’ve been there.

Dr Nikki x

Hello!

Today is my birthday and I love to reflect on how life is going for me, and where the next stage is heading. Getting older doesn't worry me, in fact, I've learned to embrace it, because as I get older, I learn more and I develop more as an individual. I feel more and more comfortable in my own skin and I can feel myself growing more confident everyday.

But of course it has taken me going through some pretty rough things sometimes to learn these things about myself and to learn how to adapt.

I'd like to share with you some lessons I have learnt in my 36 years, and my hope is that you can learn vicariously through my mistakes, rather than make them yourself, or if you have already made the same mistakes as me, feel better knowing someone else has done it too - you're not alone!

Enjoy...

Hello!

If you are selling anything, and you feel "icky" about it, then Catherine Watkin is your lady! She is the UK's leading expert in selling from the heart, and knows all too well the struggles that authentic people have with selling. 

Hello,

Have you ever noticed how when good things come your way, more follows? If you want to attract more, it’s really important to start paying attention to all of the amazing abundance coming into your life. It’s a really interesting concept, and I think it really does help you to see what’s going on. And when you do it for the first time, it can be a real eye-opener.

Here's how you can do it...

Hello!

I hope you enjoy Katie's interview, she is such an inspiration! Having come from a difficult background financially, she has worked through her limiting beliefs and is now doing amazing things in the world. 

She shares with you some of her tips for how to do the same. The biggest take away for me was to never, ever, ever, give up!

Enjoy!

Hello!

How often do you tell yourself that you can’t have money? I'm not saying that you're doing it deliberately. But what’s interesting is that often when we think about people with money, or those who manage it well, our preconceived ideas distort the truth.

While it’s not money related, a good example of this is from when I worked in the hospital, and I’d get asked when the doctor was coming. Usually, it was an older person who still believed that a doctor should be a white-haired man. I felt that because I’m female, it was always assumed I was the nurse. (There are also loads of male nurses, and I think all nurses are awesome and have supported me so many times over!)

It's the same thing with money. If you have a preconceived idea about what a wealthy person looks like and you don’t fit that ideal, it’s creating a limiting belief that you cannot be wealthy or have money. It’s really worth getting a journal out here and having a good think about this, because it can bring up so many limiting ideas. And if you have got these sneaky beliefs cemented in your subconscious, it's no wonder you find it difficult to save, get out of debt or grow wealth.

Hello!

In this episode I am interviewing one of my lovely community members Semone. She has an awesome money story to share and I hope you find it inspiring for your own money journey.