Growing up in the big city of London I was always a big spender; cinema, theatres, nights out, restaurants, you name it, I paid for it. And it was never a problem, because I lived by one motto and one motto alone; “money is no problem”. And truth be told, it really wasn’t. I think it had a lot to do with my upbringing; I was an only child. This obviously not only meant I was spoilt; extremely so. It also meant I was I always got whatever it is that I wanted. If after I’d set my envious eyes on it I wanted it, then I had to have it. Without a shadow of a doubt.
In primary school I was known among my friends as ‘Daddy’s boy’. My first day of joining my new school I was brought in by my dad. I walked into my classroom and the first thing I noticed was a Scooby-Doo lunch box that one of my classmates had. It caught my attention immediately and I had to have it. The next day I came to school with a shiny brand new Scooby-Doo lunch box and backpack set; my dad had paid a visit to our local shopping centre and made the purchase for me. Spoilt, yes, but as the only child what do you expect? My classmate and I had were the only ones who had that specific lunchbox, but of course mine was the best. Simply because it was mine, and also because it was much newer and therefore fresher than his.
During my teenage years whilst in secondary school my extravagance worsened. I was no longer known as the ‘Daddy’s boy’ because I had outgrown that name, and also because I had a new set of friends now. I was now known as ‘Mr Party’; a name that almost all teenagers would be very proud to be known as. I had this name because I threw the best parties that my whole school had ever seen. Every year I had two parties without fail; one in April for my birthday, and one in December for Christmas, and every year I had a full house. These parties were all expenses paid, no holds barred and everything goes. To say I spent £2000 per party was an understatement; a sum which is incredibly high for a teenager. But when you have a father who was as rich and successful as mine was, then the motto “money is no problem” is indeed more than a motto; it becomes a way of life. That is how I was brought up to live my life and I loved every minute of it. I grew up in an era where money dictated everything; from the type of friends one had, to the type of school you went. If you had money but didn’t spend it, then you might as well not have any money because you will be treated as such. Money spoke, so I always made sure mine shouted.
This expensive attitude of mine followed me throughout my childhood and subsequently into my adult life. You know those people who will go into a shop, walk past an item because the price is very low, but then purchase another item of equal or sometimes inferior quality just because it is expensive? Yep, I’m one of those people. Well I say ‘am’; more like I used to be. See, even though my expensive habits followed me into my adult life, they didn’t stay there, because they just possibly couldn’t. I could afford to waste money when I was younger because I was irresponsible. Not just that, but mainly because the money was not coming out of my own pocket, but rather my dad’s, so I really didn’t care how I spent it. And evidently neither did he. After I grew up and started earning my own money and had my own responsibilities, I began to truly appreciate the real value of money. Yes, I still had expensive tastes and looked for the finer things in life, but the difference this time round is the fact that I applied a lot of wisdom to my monthly outgoings. Or so I thought. Unfortunately for me whenever I received my monthly payment, the money just literally disappeared; nowhere to be found. I thought I had control of my expenses, but slowly and surely my old childhood habits kept creeping into my lifestyle gradually. If only I had someone, or even something to keep tabs on my finances for me, I’d have a complete piece of mind. I thought long and hard about employing a bank manager, or even a personal accountant. But then in the end I decided that I might as well stop working and starve myself every day because if I were to employ someone like that all my salary would end up going towards their salaries, ultimately defeating the purpose of their existence in my life. Luckily for me, I didn’t need to go that far. A friend of mine recommended this app for me; Expense Manager HandWallet. Not only did this amazing app change my spending patterns, it completely revolutionised the way I spend my money. It’s so much easier to spend all the money you have when you’re not keeping a close eye on things. The worst thing is being under the impression that you have enough money in your account, only to find out that it’s a lot lower than you anticipated; all because you kept spending without keeping a close rein on it. Well with the Expense Manager app you don’t need to, because it’ll all be done for you automatically. Not only did it allow me to monitor my cash flow, it also has interactive graphical charts of expense and income, and changes automatically with each spend as well as deposit made into bank account. With the Expense Manager app on my phone, it’s like having a bank manager and accountant all in one. The only difference being that the service is absolutely free. Whoever said there’s nothing like a free lunch has obviously never come in contact with the Expense Manager HandWallet yet!
In primary school I was known among my friends as ‘Daddy’s boy’. My first day of joining my new school I was brought in by my dad. I walked into my classroom and the first thing I noticed was a Scooby-Doo lunch box that one of my classmates had. It caught my attention immediately and I had to have it. The next day I came to school with a shiny brand new Scooby-Doo lunch box and backpack set; my dad had paid a visit to our local shopping centre and made the purchase for me. Spoilt, yes, but as the only child what do you expect? My classmate and I had were the only ones who had that specific lunchbox, but of course mine was the best. Simply because it was mine, and also because it was much newer and therefore fresher than his.
During my teenage years whilst in secondary school my extravagance worsened. I was no longer known as the ‘Daddy’s boy’ because I had outgrown that name, and also because I had a new set of friends now. I was now known as ‘Mr Party’; a name that almost all teenagers would be very proud to be known as. I had this name because I threw the best parties that my whole school had ever seen. Every year I had two parties without fail; one in April for my birthday, and one in December for Christmas, and every year I had a full house. These parties were all expenses paid, no holds barred and everything goes. To say I spent £2000 per party was an understatement; a sum which is incredibly high for a teenager. But when you have a father who was as rich and successful as mine was, then the motto “money is no problem” is indeed more than a motto; it becomes a way of life. That is how I was brought up to live my life and I loved every minute of it. I grew up in an era where money dictated everything; from the type of friends one had, to the type of school you went. If you had money but didn’t spend it, then you might as well not have any money because you will be treated as such. Money spoke, so I always made sure mine shouted.
This expensive attitude of mine followed me throughout my childhood and subsequently into my adult life. You know those people who will go into a shop, walk past an item because the price is very low, but then purchase another item of equal or sometimes inferior quality just because it is expensive? Yep, I’m one of those people. Well I say ‘am’; more like I used to be. See, even though my expensive habits followed me into my adult life, they didn’t stay there, because they just possibly couldn’t. I could afford to waste money when I was younger because I was irresponsible. Not just that, but mainly because the money was not coming out of my own pocket, but rather my dad’s, so I really didn’t care how I spent it. And evidently neither did he. After I grew up and started earning my own money and had my own responsibilities, I began to truly appreciate the real value of money. Yes, I still had expensive tastes and looked for the finer things in life, but the difference this time round is the fact that I applied a lot of wisdom to my monthly outgoings. Or so I thought. Unfortunately for me whenever I received my monthly payment, the money just literally disappeared; nowhere to be found. I thought I had control of my expenses, but slowly and surely my old childhood habits kept creeping into my lifestyle gradually. If only I had someone, or even something to keep tabs on my finances for me, I’d have a complete piece of mind. I thought long and hard about employing a bank manager, or even a personal accountant. But then in the end I decided that I might as well stop working and starve myself every day because if I were to employ someone like that all my salary would end up going towards their salaries, ultimately defeating the purpose of their existence in my life. Luckily for me, I didn’t need to go that far. A friend of mine recommended this app for me; Expense Manager HandWallet. Not only did this amazing app change my spending patterns, it completely revolutionised the way I spend my money. It’s so much easier to spend all the money you have when you’re not keeping a close eye on things. The worst thing is being under the impression that you have enough money in your account, only to find out that it’s a lot lower than you anticipated; all because you kept spending without keeping a close rein on it. Well with the Expense Manager app you don’t need to, because it’ll all be done for you automatically. Not only did it allow me to monitor my cash flow, it also has interactive graphical charts of expense and income, and changes automatically with each spend as well as deposit made into bank account. With the Expense Manager app on my phone, it’s like having a bank manager and accountant all in one. The only difference being that the service is absolutely free. Whoever said there’s nothing like a free lunch has obviously never come in contact with the Expense Manager HandWallet yet!