Morgan Housel has a new book out, The Art of Spending Money, so I picked up his old one first – The Psychology of Money.
At first glance, it doesn’t feel like a book for me. I’m the “good with money” one. The frugal one. The tight one. The stingy one.
Not a flex, just a fact. I’m awful at sleeping properly and keeping things tidy.
But I’m very good at not spending money.
About halfway through, it feels oddly familiar. Like someone took the inside of my head, edited it, and made it smarter.
I think my relationship with money started early. I grew up without much. No safety or disposable income. My mum worked steadily to pull us out of poverty.
So I saved. Early job. Saved. Uni job. Saved. Gap year. Somehow still saved.
I’ve never had a high income, but I’ve always had a high savings rate.
Housel puts it simply:
“Wealth is just the accumulated leftovers after you spend what you take in, and since you can build wealth without a high income, but have no chance of building wealth without a high savings rate, it’s clear which one matters more.”
Here’s the uncomfortable part. This post is not self-congratulatory.
I am by no means wealthy 😅 My money mostly just… sits there.
Not compounding. Not growing meaningfully. Just existing.
I have the discipline but not the mindset.
The same instinct that taught me restraint also taught me to avoid risk. And where I’m from, everyone talks about loans, overdrafts, mortgages – not investing, compounding, or letting money work over time.
So maybe I’m not actually that “good with money”.
Maybe I’m just good at not losing it.
