Emma Edwards

There is this whole pre-contemplation stage where you are contemplating making change.

It's been studied in smokers and people changing their diet and exercise habits and that kind of thing.

And it's true for all kinds of behavior change.

You are in several stages before you actually make the change.

And I think in that contemplation and pre-contemplation stage, you firstly need to make the link between

how you feel about everything, but money and your money.

Um, because often, you know, we don't think that we think that's cause there's not enough.

It's cause I've got kids.

It's cause I am on a low salary.

It's because I live in London or I live in Melbourne or I live in Sydney, you know, and we kind of have these, um, explanations, not excuses, but explanations for why our money is the way it is.

And we don't ever connect it to anything else.

So I think firstly making that link and looking at where your money is and where your money is going.

how much is coming in and how much is going out.

Sounds basic, but not just how much you're spending, but where it's actually going and, you know, going a bit deeper and, you know, okay, you bought a top.

Okay, was it just a top or were you trying to achieve something or feel a certain way?

Or are you always spending at five o'clock on a Friday because you hate your job and you're drinking yourself into oblivion to forget about it?

Like it's common for a lot of people.

And doing that when you live in a capital city is really expensive.

And I mean, I had this experience.

I had a job that made me quite unhappy.