Life Mind Money | Debt | Health | Wealth

Rules of Money! 👇

The order I'd follow with money, start to finish: 1. A small emergency fund 2. Clear the high-interest debt 3. Build that fund up to a few months of costs 4. Invest for the long term (ISA, pension) Skip a step and you usually end up doing it twice. Just an order, not advice.

Phones away at dinner. One of the cheapest family rules there is. Twenty minutes where nobody's scrolling, and the kids talk far more than you'd expect. The early years go quickly. Be there for them.

Everyone starts from a different place. So don't compare your year one with someone else's year ten. Compare yourself with who you were last year. That's the only race you're actually in.

Tomorrow the Bank of England sets Bank Rate. It's 3.75% now. With the inflation increase and recent Budget speech, do we think it will go up, down or stay the same?

Cooking at home four nights a week is one of the few habits that's good for your health and your bank balance at the same time. Nothing fancy. Either same five meals on rotation or pre-plan your meals each week. The real win is not having to decide what's for dinner at 6pm, when the takeaway app always wins.

UK house prices rose just 0.5% in the year to October. The weakest growth since January 2024 (Nationwide). The average home is now £273,566. Higher mortgage rates mean fewer buyers. Fewer buyers means less room for sellers on price. Supply and demand, as ever.

US tech shares lost nearly $1tn in value on Friday (Guardian). If you're investing for 20 years, days like that come with the deal. Check the plan, not the price. If the plan still makes sense, leave it alone.

53,400 mortgages were approved to buy a home in September. The fewest since December 2023 (Bank of England). The average new mortgage rate edged up to 4.63%. When nobody knows what rates will do next, people wait. Thursday's Bank Rate decision is the next thing to watch.

Sunday rule in our house: 20 minutes on the money, the rest of the day on the people. Check the balances, look at the week ahead, done. Money is there to buy time with your family, not to eat it.

"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." Warren Buffett The £25 a month you start now is the shade for you in 20 years. Or for your kids. Nobody plants a tree and checks it the next morning.

School taught me algebra. Nobody taught me how a payslip works. What's one money lesson you'd teach every 16-year-old? Mine: interest works for you or against you. Pick your side early.

If your debt was gone tomorrow, what's the first thing you'd do with the money that freed up?

Two Budget changes for savers, side by side. From April 2027, savings interest above your personal savings allowance is taxed at 24% for basic-rate taxpayers, up from 20%. The cash ISA limit stays at £20,000 for everyone. Inside an ISA, that tax doesn't apply.

The cheapest investment you'll ever make is learning a skill someone will pay you for. One that can create income, open doors, and grow in value over time.

On Monday I said your first £1,000 of side hustle income is tax-free. Wednesday's Budget triples it. From 6 April 2027 the trading allowance goes to £3,000 (HMRC). Until then it's still £1,000. Dog walking, crafts, a bit of freelance: it all counts towards the same allowance.

Dark before 5pm now. This is the time of year I stop moving without noticing. Car, desk, sofa, bed. So the walk moves to lunchtime while it's still light. 15 minutes. Free, and I come back thinking straighter.

What's one skill you learned that paid you back more than any investment? I'd say sales. Being able to talk to people properly helps in every job, every business and every relationship.

Good debt vs bad debt. Good debt buys something that grows in value or raises what you earn: a sensible mortgage, a course that gets you a pay rise. Bad debt buys things that lose value, often at 20%+ interest. Before you borrow, ask which one it is.

10 pages a day doesn't sound like much. It's 3,650 pages a year. Roughly a dozen books. Start with one on money and one on health. A year from now you'll think differently about both.

£10 Billion for Ukraine and £100 for 20 million British households off their energy bills. How does that make sense? #Budget2026