What does it mean to be ‘good with money?’ It’s a question that financial behaviour specialist Emma Edwards addresses in her new book, where she seeks to help millennials navigate their personal finances. By unpacking an individual’s relationship with money and their spending habits, Edwards resolutely leads the reader to explore how money can serve and support their individual pursuits while also contributing to a more secure financial future. Her approach is holistic and provides a personal and empathetic pathway to money management. 

For people overwhelmed with the belief that they simply don’t understand money or perhaps feeling like they have lost control over their finances, Edwards’ book offers some comfort as she removes the shame that comes with making unfavourable financial choices by explaining that systemic pressures complicate our money-related decisions. Detailing aspects of her own journey where she managed to turn around her own financial ‘hot mess’, Edwards’ makes the subject of personal finance, which can be somewhat taboo, a little less daunting. Divided into five parts, the book is easy to read and written in a conversational tone, without judgement. 

Edwards starts by situating financial decision making within a wider context, where societal changes have contributed to the way we are influenced to spend. She recognises the impact that impossible expectations have in conditioning people, particularly women, to spend money and maintain the status quo. Combined with our new digital lifestyle where we are encouraged to consume 24/7 and buy now, pay later schemes feed our obsession with instant gratification and social media sells aspiration lifestyles, Edwards lays out all the ways that modern living hampers our ability to make prudent financial decisions. 

While she recognises that not much can be done about systemic pressures affecting individual finances, Edwards gives practical advice to help readers develop strategies that will help them to take control of their money. She starts by unpacking some of the psychological factors that contribute to our spending habits. Edwards encourages readers to understand their relationship with money by connecting issues such as emotional spending, past experiences, and sense of identity to a description of common financial profiles. This recognition of one’s personal spending profile draws the reader to recognise their own spending triggers, laying the foundation for readers to take control of their own finances.  

Edwards encourages readers to adjust past attitudes and to let go of any financial regrets they may have. Instead, the focus is placed on the opportunities that may present themselves with greater financially awareness. Her book is peppered with set tasks for the reader to complete, encouraging them to link the advice that is offered to their own lives,  re-program their spending habits in the process and reclaiming control over their money. By advocating for the prioritisation of values-based spending, Edwards reinforces that being good with money is about choosing to spend on value adding purchases, while consciously stopping consumption that doesn’t honour what is important to that individual. 

Edwards offers some principles of money management that readers can adapt to their personal circumstances. She explains how to streamline expenses, set up sinking funds and compartmentalise both spending and saving channels. The advice is clear and practical. While she recognises that such systems only work if the individual is committed, Edwards encourages the reader to build financial competence by offering tips to stay on track so that new money habits become more intuitive and therefore, more likely to stick. This positive approach encourages reader to believe that they can become better with money and build financial resilience to support a brighter financial future.