Christene Loweth - Health, Wealth and Happiness

🌱𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 – 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟭

𝗪𝗲'𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟭!
And I want to finish this challenge with something I've come to believe very strongly:

𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆.
It's about becoming more aware.

More resourceful.
More intentional.
Over these 21 days we've looked at money from lots of different angles.

We've talked about what we already have before we buy more.
We've looked at food waste and making meals from what's in the fridge.
We've talked about planning.
We've looked at the beliefs and habits we inherited.
We've talked about the hype that can influence our buying decisions.
We've looked at opportunities and concessions we may not even know are available.

And we've talked about making different choices.

But here's the thing...

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄.
You can start with one decision.

One habit.
One conversation.
One phone call.
One $5 saved.
One purchase you decide not to make.
One question you ask before spending:

"𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲?"

That is Grassroots Money Management.
It's the small, everyday choices that we make repeatedly.

Because those choices become habits.
Habits become patterns.
And patterns can influence the direction of our lives.

🌱 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲

Take a moment today and ask yourself:

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆, 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝟮𝟭 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱?

Write it down.

And then decide what you're going to do with that knowledge.
Because knowing is useful.
But 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 is where change begins.
Thank you for coming along with me for these 21 days.

I hope you've laughed at a few of my stories, found some practical ideas, challenged a few beliefs, and perhaps looked at your money a little differently.

And this isn't the end.

🌱𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 – 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆?

Yesterday we talked about awareness.

But awareness on its own doesn't change anything.

At some point, we have to make a choice and take action.

And here's where I think we can make things unnecessarily difficult.

We decide we need to completely overhaul our finances.

New budget.

New bank accounts.

Cut everything.

Save a huge amount.

Never buy anything unnecessary again!

And then a few weeks later...

We've crashed and burned.

So today I'm suggesting something much simpler.

𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Maybe you could:

🌱 Check your bank account once a week.

🌱 Put $5 or $10 into a savings account.

🌱 Cancel a subscription you're no longer using.

🌱 Plan your meals before you shop.

🌱 Wait 24 hours before making a non-essential purchase.

🌱 Research before committing to your next big purchase.

🌱 Make that phone call you've been putting off.

🌱 Find out what concessions or benefits you're entitled to.

It doesn't have to be dramatic.

It just has to be something you're genuinely willing to do.

Because small actions repeated consistently can create much bigger results than one huge burst of motivation.

𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲.

🌱 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲

Finish this sentence:

"𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝘀..."

Write it down.

Make it specific.

Then do it.

That's it.

🌱𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺

"𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴."

What is your one small change?

🌱 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 – 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟵

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳?

Over the past 18 days we've explored quite a few different aspects of money.

We've looked at saving around the home, using what we already have, food waste, planning, opportunities, the hype of buying, the choices available to us, and even the money habits we may have inherited from our parents or caregivers.

But underneath all of these is something incredibly important:

𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.
Because you can't change something you don't notice.

You may have discovered that you:

• Spend when you're stressed.
• Buy things because you don't want to miss out.
• Avoid looking at your bank account.
• Spend because that's what you saw growing up.
• Hold onto money because spending feels unsafe.
• Buy courses, books or programmes believing the next one will finally be the answer.

Or perhaps you've discovered that you're actually pretty good with money in some areas.

That's important too.

This isn't about beating yourself up or finding everything that's "wrong" with you.

It's about becoming curious.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗺 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴?

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲—a𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁?

Because awareness creates choice.

And once you can see a pattern, you have an opportunity to decide whether you want to continue it.

𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲

Take five minutes today and write down:

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘀...

Then ask:

𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽?

No judgement.

No fixing.

Just awareness.

Because sometimes the first step towards financial change isn't doing something differently.

It's finally 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴.

🌱 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺

"𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲. 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲."

I'd love to hear from you:

What have you become more aware of about yourself during this challenge?👇

🌱 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 – 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟕

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲?

A little while ago I decided to visit the New Zealand Parliament Buildings and take a tour of the Beehive.

Before I booked anything, I spent a few minutes planning.

By travelling after 9.00am with my SuperGold Card, I was able to travel into Wellington and back home again using the SuperGold transport concession. Even better, the guided tour of Parliament was also free.

It turned into a wonderful day out that cost me very little.

It reminded me that one of the best money-saving habits isn't always spending less...

It's 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.

How often do we rush into decisions without checking what's available?

Whether it's transport concessions, community events, museum entry, loyalty programmes, discount days, or special offers, a few minutes of research can save money without missing out on life's experiences.

I remember hearing this saying when I was growing up:

"𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬."

Today we might say:

"𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬."

🌱 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞

Spend ten minutes researching one benefit, concession, or discount you may be entitled to.

You might be surprised by what's available.

🌱 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦

"𝐴 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠."

💬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲-𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝? 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛—𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.

🌱 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 – 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟓

I've been preparing for a talk I'm giving this weekend at the𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞, and one message keeps coming back to me.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

It begins with a decision to think differently.

Many of us believe the biggest thing holding us back is money.

But what if it's actually the beliefs we've inherited about money?

The things we heard growing up.

The stories we've told ourselves.

The assumptions we've never questioned.

One of my favourite sayings is:
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬."

If we've only ever been exposed to one way of thinking, how can we expect to make different choices?

That's why learning, asking questions, reading books, listening to podcasts, and being curious are so important.

Every new perspective gives us another option.

And every new option gives us another choice.

🌱 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞

Take a few quiet moments today and ask yourself:

💭 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒?

Then ask an even more powerful question:

💭 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔?

Perhaps that's where your next breakthrough begins.

🌱 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦
"𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦—𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑑𝑜𝑚."

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬?