Money

How can you feel confident about money when it seems everyone else already has it figured out? In Money, journalist Laura Whateley argues that financial literacy is not about being rich or naturally gifted with numbers—it’s about understanding the everyday systems that shape your life: housing, debt, savings, taxes, and relationships. Whateley contends that money anxiety has become a defining feature of modern adulthood, particularly for millennials navigating an expensive world where salaries stagnate, housing prices soar, and social expectations still demand financial success.

This book offers what Whateley calls a ‘little guide’ she wishes she had ten years earlier—a practical, humane manual for learning how money actually works. Rather than focusing on complex financial theory, she translates the jargon and exposes the myths that keep people confused and embarrassed about their finances. At its heart, Money insists that financial competence is not innate, but learned; that being ‘bad with money’ is often the result of silence, shame, and misinformation rather than recklessness.

The Emotional Side of Money

Whateley opens by admitting her own ignorance when she began working at The Times just as the 2008 financial crash hit. The timing of her initiation into financial journalism becomes symbolic: the global collapse exposed that even the experts didn’t fully understand the system. She uses this to comfort the reader—if the people running the banks couldn’t always explain mortgages or credit scores, why should you feel ashamed for not knowing what an ISA is? She redefines financial education as an emotional process, one that depends on compassion and curiosity rather than calculation. Behavioral economics, the Nobel-prize-winning study of how people irrationally handle money, underpins much of her advice, reminding readers that psychological biases—fear, comparison, avoidance—shape most spending and saving behavior.

Money in Context: Millennials and the Legacy of Crisis

Whateley situates the personal finance struggles of her generation in the aftermath of the 2008 credit crunch. She explains how young people entered the workforce during a recession, faced unaffordable housing markets, and inherited stagnant wages combined with student debt. This context isn’t merely socioeconomic—it’s emotional. The “eye of the storm,” she writes, reshaped expectations of adulthood, leaving many unable to match their parents’ milestones. Owning a home, starting a family, or saving for retirement all became acts of near-mythic difficulty. Through anecdotes about peers, family, and readers she helps you see that financial frustration doesn’t reflect moral failure—it’s the product of systemic inequality.

A Three-Part Guide to Everyday Finance

The book unfolds in three parts. Part One lays out practical foundations: renting or buying property, managing debt, budgeting, saving, investing, understanding pensions, taxes, and bills. These chapters demonstrate that the day-to-day mechanics of money can be learned and optimized like any skill set. For example, Whateley walks readers through how letting agents overcharge tenants, or how a mortgage works in plain language, translating the intimidating into the actionable.

Part Two transitions to psychology—how money intertwines with love and mental health. Whateley examines how shame, secrecy, and imbalance can corrode relationships or self-worth, drawing on therapists’ and counselors’ insights. She guides couples toward transparent, fair communication and offers compassionate strategies for coping if money is worsening anxiety or depression. Finally, Part Three advocates for ethical and sustainable finance. Whateley encourages readers to align their values with their money, showing how to choose responsible banks, green energy providers, and ethical pensions that make a difference without sacrificing returns.

Why These Ideas Matter

Whateley’s mission is democratic: she insists everyone deserves to understand money. By demystifying banking systems and exposing how industries profit from consumer ignorance, she empowers you to stop being “mugged off by your bank.” Her advice helps you feel confident when making decisions—from managing bills to splitting rent with your partner—by knowing what’s fair and what’s predatory. This guide is more than technical instruction; it’s a manifesto for financial dignity. It argues that transparency, empathy, and literacy can transform your life, giving you control not only over your finances but your peace of mind.

One of Whateley’s most vivid themes is the generational housing crisis. She characterizes it as the defining money issue for people under forty: where can you afford to live? In 2017 she cites think tanks and statistics showing that house prices in London are fifteen times higher than average incomes for 25- to 34-year-olds—meaning that owning a home on a normal salary is nearly impossible. Renting, she explains, has become both necessity and lifestyle choice, yet navigating the rental market is often exploitative.

How to Rent Without Being Ripped Off

Whateley offers an honest guide to renting well in an unfair system. She warns about letting-agent fees, security deposits, and scams targeting students. She encourages you to challenge unnecessary charges—like ridiculous fees for cleaning “dust from skirting boards” or paying £100 for a new loo seat. Her tone is practical but empathetic: use email for everything so you have a paper trail, view properties in person to avoid scams, and always check an agent’s membership in a government redress scheme before signing anything.

Deposits, Repairs, and Tenancies Explained

Her step-by-step guidance demystifies legal jargon. Tenancy deposits must legally be kept in one of three official protection schemes—Deposit Protection Service, Tenancy Deposit Scheme, or My Deposits. She tells you to keep your repayment ID safe and explains exactly when landlords can deduct money, emphasizing that “wear and tear” isn't billable. She explains tenancy agreements, joint contracts, and rights to repairs under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Knowing these basics converts vulnerability into confidence.

The Bigger Picture

Beyond practical detail, Whateley situates housing as both financial and emotional stability. Constant moves, unsafe homes, and rent insecurity she describes as damaging to mental health, children’s schooling, and relationships. Renting, she concludes, shouldn’t mean being powerless. By understanding your rights and responsibilities, you reclaim dignity even within a broken system. Her advice for renters mirrors the book’s broader philosophy: informed decisions protect you against exploitation and anxiety.

Buying property is one of the most intimidating financial decisions. Whateley translates bank language into human language. She defines the basics: a mortgage is a loan secured against your house, meaning the bank owns part of it until you repay. The amount borrowed is measured by your Loan-to-Value ratio (LTV)—the percentage of your property’s price that’s financed by debt. The greater your deposit, the lower your LTV, and the cheaper your mortgage interest rate.

Preparing to Borrow

Before you even speak to a bank, Whateley suggests preparing at least six months in advance. Gather payslips, limit overdraft use, and avoid flashy spending—lenders will scrutinize your bank statements for signs of risk. She narrates real stories of buyers rejected because they applied for too many financial products at once or had a stray unpaid utility bill that damaged their credit score. Her insider tips—keep bills current, get on the electoral roll, and use credit cards sensibly—illustrate how small habits can save thousands later.

Mortgage Types and Traps

Whateley simplifies fixed-rate, variable, and tracker mortgages, comparing how they work when interest rates rise or fall. She warns of early repayment charges (ERCs) that can cost up to 5% of your loan and advises weighing arrangement fees against interest rates. Her practical “top tip”—aim for at least a 10% deposit, even if the bank advertises deals for 5%—underscores how the smallest increases in deposit size drastically lower costs. She details stress tests, self-employed challenges, and family mortgage innovations like Barclays’ Family Springboard, which let parents use savings as collateral without gifting cash.

Schemes That Help—or Hurt

Whateley evaluates Help to Buy and Shared Ownership schemes, balancing their advantages against hidden limits and rising risks. Help to Buy aids those with small deposits but ties buyers to new-builds and government equity stakes, while Shared Ownership offers partial ownership—with costly service charges. Her conclusion: know every clause before signing. Her narrative reframes home-buying from a mystical adult rite into a learnable negotiation, a mix of patience and paperwork rather than panic.

Whateley treats debt with nuance. She refuses moralizing language—borrowing isn’t inherently bad, but ignorance of the terms is. She begins with student loans, debunking panic myths that £50,000 debt equals lifelong burden. For most graduates, repayments function more like a tax: you pay only when your salary passes a threshold, and loans are wiped after thirty years. She uses examples inspired by Martin Lewis to explain why repaying early often wastes money unless you’re earning six figures, emphasizing it’s debt designed for fairness.

Dangerous Debts and Smart Borrowing

Next she categorizes debt types from benign to perilous: mortgages and student loans at the safe end; overdrafts, payday loans, and credit cards at the hazardous one. Payday loans she condemns outright: short-term, disguised fees, 1,500% APRs that trap rather than free. She reveals that some banks won’t lend to anyone who’s ever used one, showing their long shadow. In contrast, credit cards, when handled responsibly, can be efficient tools—offering 0% balance transfers to clear expensive debts or earning cash back for disciplined users.

Overdrafts and Car Finance

Whateley exposes how student-friendly overdrafts turn toxic once interest-free periods end, becoming stealth loans with 20% interest or daily fees. She compares overdrafts to payday loans—more socially acceptable but financially similar. With car finance, she breaks down complex terminology—PCP, hire purchase, balloon payments—showing how many customers “borrow their cars but never own them.” Her calculated examples on depreciation and mileage penalties translate automotive jargon into real human costs.

Learning to Borrow Well

Ultimately, her message is pragmatic: debt can be a tool, but only if used with awareness. The key lesson—borrow less than you think you can afford and prioritize clearing high-interest balances before saving. Understanding debt, she insists, is self-protection. Knowing your APRs is knowing your worth, and learning to question fees is financial maturity.

Whateley turns budgeting into a humane art form. Inspired by Japan’s Kakeibo tradition—a mindfulness-based notebook for daily spending—she reframes budgeting as a practice of awareness rather than deprivation. “Even monkeys fall from trees,” she quotes; everyone slips up, but balance comes from reflection. She encourages you to observe your spending like a scientist rather than judge it like a parent.

Building Your Budget System

Her method starts with mapping income versus fixed costs—rent, food, bills—then dividing what’s left between saving and living. The 50/20/30 rule (essentials/debt-savings/everything else) serves as a rough guide, but she adapts it for modern realities where housing costs devour more than half of income. She highlights how unexpected expenses—broken boilers, job loss—are the real culprits that push people into debt, urging everyone to maintain at least £1,000 emergency savings or ideally three months of essentials.

Tools and Habits

Whateley praises fintech innovations like Monzo, Starling, and Revolut for making budgeting automatic and visual. Their ‘pots,’ ‘coin-jar’ round-ups, and transaction categories turn saving into a reflex. She recommends apps like Yolt, Chip, or Emma that analyze spending and flag subscriptions, saving you from paying for forgotten gym memberships or streaming services. You learn to delegate discipline to design—let technology guard your wallet.

Know Yourself—Behavioral Economics 101

Whateley draws heavily on behavioral economics (Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow), explaining biases that sabotage savers: anchoring (over-valuing listed prices), loss aversion (hating losses more than loving gains), herd mentality (buying because everyone else is buying), and the endowment effect (overvaluing what we own). Recognizing these tendencies lets you design better habits—cool-off periods before shopping, limited-use cards, or spending caps. Budgeting, she shows, is less math and more mindfulness.

Few topics intimidate young adults more than saving and investing. Whateley demystifies both, starting with interest rates and inflation—the twin forces that define whether your money grows or shrinks. Saving in low-interest accounts during high inflation means losing purchasing power, she explains. She then outlines options: current accounts with bonuses, easy-access savers, fixed-rate bonds, and ISAs, showing how to maximize each while avoiding traps like expiring ‘bonus rates.’

Building a Safety Net

First priority: security. Keep emergency funds in easy-access accounts and use ISAs for larger, long-term savings. She celebrates government schemes like Help-to-Buy and Lifetime ISAs as rare instances of free money—but warns they’re layered with clauses. Understanding withdrawal penalties, limits, and eligibility avoids costly surprises. (Note: She considers Help-to-Buy a no-brainer for short-term buyers and LISA better for long-term home or retirement savings.)

Investing Isn’t Just for the Rich

Transitioning to investing, Whateley dispels stereotypes that it’s only for “Surrey golf club” types. She explains stocks, bonds, and funds with relatable examples—like her friend’s nut-butter startup—and shows how diversification protects you from risk. Mutual funds and index trackers like the FTSE 100 or S&P 500 make it possible to benefit from global markets without needing a finance degree. Her step-by-step overview of platforms, fees, and passive versus active funds gives a crash course in modern investing, echoing the ethos of The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins.

Grow Your Wealth Ethically

Finally, Whateley returns to ethics. She urges investing in funds that align with personal values—renewable energy, social enterprise, fair labor. Ethical investing, she argues, doesn’t mean sacrificing profit; many eco-conscious companies outperform traditional giants. Saving becomes not just self-care but planet care.

Money and relationships are inevitably intertwined. Drawing on counselors from Relate and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Whateley explores how secrecy, shame, and power imbalances around money spark conflict. Her anecdotes—from a girlfriend uncertain whether to pay rent to her homeowner boyfriend, to couples who let resentment fester over who earns more—illustrate how emotional sincerity matters as much as mathematical fairness.

Talking About Money

Money conversations, she says, should be intentional and non-judgmental: plan a time, keep it short, and frame it as collaboration, not confrontation. Counselors suggest creating ‘contracts’—written agreements about who pays what and when—especially for cohabiting couples. She encourages transparency about income, debts, and financial goals, pointing out that not knowing a partner’s earnings is surprisingly common and can breed insecurity.

Joint Finances and Cohabiting Realities

Whateley explains the risks of joint accounts, shared credit histories, and property ownership among unmarried partners. The myth of “common-law marriage,” she warns, leaves cohabiting couples unprotected. Through stories of readers who lost homes after breakups, she advocates for cohabitation agreements or declarations of trust to avoid legal chaos. Her own experience—saving the equivalent of her husband’s mortgage rather than paying him rent—humanizes these dilemmas.

Love Without Financial Secrets

The message: honesty and equality. Whether you split bills or merge accounts, every arrangement should reflect mutual respect and clarity. Talking openly about money, she argues, is as intimate as talking about sex—it builds trust and prevents power imbalances. This section reframes financial communication as emotional intelligence in action.

In one of her most compassionate chapters, Whateley confronts how money anxiety erodes mental health. She urges readers to practice financial self-care: recognizing fears and patterns, forgiving mistakes, and seeking help without shame. She cites research by Mental Health UK and the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, highlighting how debt is linked to depression and anxiety, particularly for under-forties. Her tone is empathetic yet practical—acknowledging emotions while offering concrete steps.

The Psychology of Debt

Whateley dismantles the guilt surrounding debt. Nobody is “bad with money,” she says; many simply weren’t taught. She encourages readers to view financial recovery like fitness training—with patience and repetition. Admitting mistakes isn’t weakness but beginning a cure. She outlines free resources like StepChange and Citizens Advice, urging debtors to understand “priority debts” such as rent and energy before less critical credit cards.

Money Self-Care Practices

Her advice overlaps mindfulness and money: schedule regular “finance check-ins,” track mood-to-spending links, and see choices as reflections of emotional states. She praises new tech that aids those with mental illness—freezing cards via Monzo or using apps like Squirrel to lock savings until reaching safe locations. Stories like her colleague Leah’s bipolar-induced overspending personalize how illness and debt intersect, inspiring empathy instead of judgment.

Hope and Healing

Whateley’s closing message is liberating: you can recover. No debt, mistake, or shame is permanent. Talking openly, seeking support, and building small wins—like organizing receipts or setting spending limits—rebuild emotional stability. Money health, she concludes, is a mirror of mental health: both require care, honesty, and persistence.

Whateley ends by showing how to make money a force for good. Your savings and pensions can support society rather than harm it. She exposes how typical workplace pensions invest in industries like fossil fuels and even firearms—companies linked to tragedies like the Parkland school shooting. Her argument is clear: if you have a pension or savings, you already have power; use it consciously.

Ethical and Impact Investing

She distinguishes traditional ethical investing—screening out “sin stocks” like tobacco—from newer “impact” investing that actively channels money into sustainable enterprises. Investment managers like EQ Investors or Legal & General’s “Girl Fund” prioritize environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals and gender equality. She notes that ethical funds often match or outperform mainstream ones, proving that morality and profit can coexist.

Everyday Ethical Choices

From switching energy suppliers to choosing banks like Triodos or Charity Bank, Whateley shows how simple decisions align finances with values. Ecology Building Society lends to eco-friendly construction, and green energy firms like Good Energy or Octopus invest in renewables. Even your mortgage can reflect sustainability with green home incentives. These actions require minor effort but create ripple effects—proof that ethics starts locally.

The Future of Money

Whateley ends optimistically: younger generations are reshaping capitalism. Research shows over half of millennials prefer sustainable investing. Ethical finance is not fringe—it’s becoming mainstream as awareness grows. Her call to action is simple yet profound: spend, save, and invest mindfully. Money is not just survival—it’s influence. Understanding it transforms both your life and the world around you.