I have no doubt that making good money saving decisions can change your life.  Money can give you everything you want, or can make you totally miserable! Read on for tips from me and other money bloggers about how you can use money to change your life.

I think that money is awesome.

Why?

Because it allows us to have freedom. To have choices. To have all the things we really want. And to have lots of fun and adventures along the way.

Sadly, for many people money does give them any of this. Instead it causes them to feel stuck and imprisoned! To feel that they have no options in life. And to be simply existing rather than living life to the full.

I want to show you how taking control of your money is exciting, fun and empowering. And how clever money saving can allow you to have a more fulfilling and happy life.

Working lives

How many people do you know who are stuck in jobs that they are not enjoying, simply because they must bring in the money to pay the bills?

Imagine being able to choose to work part-time or not to work at all, and still have all the things you want in life. Making good money saving decisions, and making your money work for you can help you to do just that.

Are you feeling stuck in a job that you don’t enjoy, just so that you get paid at the end of the month? Do you feel that you work harder than ever, for very little financial reward? Are you feeling more stressed than ever before?  About work, about money, about life?

Do you wish that it could be different?

I remember feeling miserable about going to work. “Sunday night fear” had turned into “every bloody night fear” and I hated going into school. Having 3 young kids and school politics had made my life too difficult.

Thankfully, I had amazing colleagues, who lightened the pressure from management and made life bearable (almost!). But something had to give. I knew that if I didn’t change something in my life, then my mental health was going to be seriously damaged.

I have always been careful with money, so we were financially sound. We had low mortgage payments, no debt and a bit of money in savings. That gave me the freedom to complete my training and start my own business, while cutting my teaching down to 2 days.

My money management was good, allowing me to take the risk of reducing my income, knowing that we would still manage.  The difference that this made to my life is incredible. I am there for the kids before and after school on 3 days per week and my working life is just so much happier.

An unexpected bonus for me was that I now really love my teaching again. I feel refreshed when I go in on a Monday, looking forward to seeing all my classes and to hearing all the gossip in the staff base!

1 Get to know your money

If you are considering leaving your job, reducing your hours, or becoming self-employed like me, then good money management will help you in lots of ways.

Rebecca from Boost My Budget’s husband has recently become self-employed and she says making a budget and tracking their money is vital. “Our income varies massively month to month now. Without a good awareness of our financial situation, things would be a lot more stressful! Now we make sure to put aside lots of savings in the good months, so he can take time off when he needs to without worrying about money.”

It can be tempting to think that you have no choice, that other people are lucky or that you MUST keep working, because month after month you spend everything that you earn.

However, this is not the case. If you carefully track and examine your spending, you are likely to be able to identify areas where you could cut costs.

Get started today by downloading my fantastic freebies.

It’s not just about cutting costs though, you can find ways of increasing your income, to allow you to reach your dreams.

Michael of Foxy Monkey has been working hard to achieve financial independence. He says “….earn a side income doing something you love. Profitable hobby, blogging, renting our parking space or Airbnb our flat when on holidays.”  This is good advice if you want to speed up the process of achieving your dreams.

Emma Drew has a host of great ideas for increasing your income, including 10 that you can do while watching Netflix!

2 Empower yourself by saving

Sara Williams, who blogs at Debt Camel, is one of my favourite money bloggers, because she talks sense in every single post. Sara has always been a saver, because she feels that “Having money gives you options and control over your life. You can walk out of a job if it goes wrong or you just need a change.”

This is so true, and it makes you feel so powerful. You are not constrained by debts, or by large repayments, instead you are truly free to spend your money on the things that matter the most to you. You are free to make decisions that work best for you and your family.

3 Money saving to reduce outgoings

One blogger Lee Balders recently “realised that no matter how much there was coming in, it didn't matter if it was being spent at a ridiculous rate!” Lee examined her lifestyle, made some major changes in her life and now knows that “I'd rather be careful with my money and have to work fewer hours, than have more material things but at the cost of working more.”

Lee feels much happier now that she has “learned how to live contentedly, with little materially.” You can read more about Lee’s story at Homelyeconomics.com

Making good financial decisions early in life, can really pay off as the years pass.

Faith Archer now says “I am glad we didn't over-extend ourselves on our mortgage, as it meant we could afford to live on my husband's income after the children were born, so I could go freelance rather than returning to a full-time job.”

Faith, from Much More with Less, realised that “Making the most of our money gave us the freedom to make the best choices for us as a family” This allowed the family to make massive and exciting life changes, that many people only ever dream about. “Later, we were able to make the big leap of moving to the country, even though my husband didn't have a new job lined up, because we'd cleared any debt and built up savings.”

4 Invest the savings wisely

Another person who has used money well to be able to make a huge and exciting change to their life is Thrifty Lesley. “When we were both earning well, I had a subsided mortgage through my job (when interest rates were high). Rather than just spending the extra we decided to invest it and built up enough income from property for both of us to be able to leave salaried jobs after three years.”

Just imagine the feeling of building an income from other sources, so that you are then able to leave work completely – just awesome!

Lesley achieved this by being “...focused on that goal of financial freedom and prioritised it over other things. Being able to leave salaried work was the most life changing thing I've ever done.”

It's alright for some

These moves are NOT only for other people!

They are available to each and every one of us. But only IF we are motivated to set exciting goals, and prepared to take the daily actions that will move us one step closer to that dream.

A great place to start is by adding up your monthly expenditure and working out where you can start to make savings TODAY. I bet that you could create a spending plan that would easily shave a hundred quid off your monthly spending.

Why not get started right now?

These downloads will help you to make simple changes to your finances, that will allow you to get started working towards your goal.

However, that's only the beginning

Once you have some success with the simple changes, it is then time to start looking at the BIG changes that can make a REAL difference to your life.

That’s where I can help.  Find out more today.

It’s awesome. It’s exciting. And it will change your life.

Hi, I’m Eileen Adamson, Your Money Sorted coach, helping female teachers to become happier, healthier and wealthier. By showing you how to make small, sustainable changes, I can help you create the time, freedom and financial security you deserve.

For more information on how I can help you, please see my coaching courses, my favourite products and services, my Etsy shop or my Amazon shop.