Today I am writing a bit more of a discussion post about the subject of the money taboo and the attitude towards talking about money in our society. I published a post a few weeks ago talking about saving money and how I am planning to save money for a house during this lockdown period and I put some exact figures in there. I didn’t have a problem with this and I haven’t received any negative reaction on social media or anything like that but it did get me thinking about the attitude that we have towards talking about money and whether that is particularly healthy or helpful in getting to grips with our finances. 

Obviously, as a money blogger, I don’t mind talking about money. I write about it quite a lot so that is a bit of a given but the rest of society don’t seem to feel the same way. Many people experience anxiety or embarrassment talking about money but this taboo against talking about it means that the anxiety facing it can’t really be dealt with. Not talking about money means that we can’t do positive things such as sharing the things that I write about on the blog with friends and sharing tips and better practices for money. Maybe it maintains the idea that we are happier if we have more money. This taboo maintains the mystery and difficulties surrounding finance which means that some people don’t learn about it and make more mistakes which leads to a vicious circle or being embarrassed and not wanting to talk about their money mistakes and so it continues. 

I started this blog to target people who are my age, graduates or young people who might feel overwhelmed by personal finances and budgeting and they don’t know where to start with getting control of their own finances. I want to help those people as I was once like them and I want to show people that saving is possible and buying a house, even in London and even on your own, is possible, with no help from parents! If I can do it based mainly on freelance work and side hustles that I have found myself, then there is no reason to hold other people back either. But I think talking about money does come as a part of this. If we can get more comfortable talking about money in a way that isn’t showing off or bragging but also not being embarrassed about your finances, then we can move forward and help each other. 

I really hope that reading some of the articles and advice on this blog and seeing my saving figures helps and inspires some people into believing that millennials can save for a house. There are so many media articles saying that ‘millenials can’t buy houses because they eat too much avocado’ and all that nonsense, but let’s show them that they are wrong! Let’s start by talking about money more and breaking the money taboo. It doesn’t have to be telling everyone you know how much you earn but just share those tips you have found or tell people about some money blogs you like and we can all become more educated about money and personal finance!