A Game of Automation

Savings is not a noun its a verb.

It takes practice to put money away for something other than your present needs.

Here are 4 lies that get in the way:

• “i can’t afford to put money away”.
• (using savings for something menial) “I’ll pay myself back”
• “i’ll make up for it when it’s rolling in”
• “i’m going to be acting until i die so I don’t need savings (or a pension)”

We must practice savings.

If we don’t we could end up forcing the old folks we become to have to find work we can’t do.

If your back is bad, or your line learning is not what it use to be, and you look at your bank account and the only option is to start the job hunt again. At 76, that may not be up your street.

The solution: Start practicing savings now.

3 steps to practice saving:

1. Open a high interest savings account.​
2. Decide how much you can afford to save.
3. Set up a standing order (an automatic monthly deposit) from your current account to your savings account.

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A few things to note:

1. Start your savings deposit low – £1 a month is fine. Is your mind fucker still is saying – “you can’t afford even £1 you jerk!”. This is super normal, but let me tell you – you can.
2. Set up the standing order so that it goes at the beginning of the month.
3. The automatic nature means you won’t miss that £1. As you continue to play this game, you might start experimenting by raising that figure up and seeing how much you can really get away with (it’s always more than you think). If it’s gone at the beginning of the month, it just means you have a little less to play with by the end of it, that’s all.

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The easiest way to start practice savings is to automate them early. Get into the habit of seeing money leave and go to another (preferably untouchable) account. Then increase the amounts as you feel like challenging yourself.

The Hard Parts

Before this newsletter I wrote a blog, I still do sometimes. The following is from an entry I made to it a few years ago. I hope you don’t mind me reprinting it here, I could have done with it a few weeks ago:

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There are the hard parts of movies – the moments you flinch, you wince – you might pause the film (generally ¾ of the way through) and think, god this is painful. Maybe you walk away from it. Maybe you keep watching but you have a little check of your phone.

Whatever you do, your glass half full knows the truth: Once you get through the rough, it will probably end well.

But it still hurts. It’s still uncomfortable, it is still the hard part of the film.

When I was a kid, I remember skipping past these uncomfortable parts, the bits where the goody lets his friends down, or the couple break up. I would skip them and get right back on schedule with the good bits.

And boy, am I still tempted – today on the plane, I had to pause Jerry Maguire, at the tough part, look out the window, and wait until the wince had left my system.

In the hard, uncomfortable moments, it will get better, but that’s tricky to remember. It’s okay to pause, to take a breath to get through the pain.

But we are not children any more. Something deep down knows we can’t skip it. To skip it would be being dishonest. Would do us a disservice. We have to go through those uncomfortable moments to get to the good part.

In fact, the good part is not the good part until we’ve been through those moments.

Don’t skip them.

The good bits will cease to exist if you do.

Tiny Stories

If you love writing but you are low on time or inspiration

try oneword.com.

You click the button.

It gives you a word.

You have 60s to write about it.

It’s a great antidote to “everything i write is cack”-itus.

It forces you out of your head

And by the end of it you’ve written something.

And that’s something.

What I watched this week:

• Green Mile
• Weapons
• Death of Stalin
• Four Lions
• Some others (i can’t remember this week’s been a haze)

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I really mean it when I say you’re awesome.

See you next week x’