The future is not something I always thought I would have. I'm on the other side of it now - and that means it's possible.

Creating a garden is an act of hope for the future. And investing works the same way - you plant something today, you don't dig it up tomorrow to check, and over time, quietly, it grows.

Taking a step with your financial life is taking a step with your mental health. If the only reason you're doing it is because you're treating yourself like a pet - do that. You are worth it.

What exactly is HMRC - His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs? Let me explain basic financial concepts for you, simply and in fewer than 200 words!

Anxiety loves vagueness - it swirls around the unknown and makes it bigger and badder than it really is. A real, specific number might feel uncomfortable, but it is always less frightening than an imagined one.

What exactly is the FSCS Deposit Protection? Let me explain basic financial concepts for you, simply and in fewer than 200 words!

Money issues are rarely just money issues.

What exactly is a mortgage? Let me explain basic financial concepts for you, simply and in fewer than 200 words!

It could be worth reflecting on whether what you need is support and confidence rather than somebody to tell you the financially best thing to do with your money.

What exactly is a stock market? Let me explain basic financial concepts for you, simply and in fewer than 200 words!

I felt disheartened, I knew that in the grand scheme of things it wasn't a lot of money, but I also knew how hard I'd worked and what it represented.

What exactly is a fiduciary? Let me explain basic financial concepts for you, simply and in fewer than 200 words!

It's my favourite kind of financial step forward - the kind of thing you set up when you're feeling motivated, and then it's simply in place when you lose that oomph.

What exactly is the Big Mac Index? Let me explain basic financial concepts for you, simply and in fewer than 200 words!

Good personal finance is like a web that you build to support you. Lots of different layers and connections, where one single strand should not be the be all and end all.

What exactly is a Personal Savings Allowance (PSA)? Let me explain basic financial concepts for you, simply and in fewer than 200 words!

The cognitive shift it takes to decide to pay yourself first is absolutely key. It might feel silly at first, it might feel too little, or too selfish, or too serious - but it is none of those things. You take care of the things that you love.

Once you are happening to money, instead of it happening to you, your options open up. It allows you to poke around a bit, make some decisions, begin to use money as a tool for the life you want - instead of simply limiting the life you're in now.

What exactly are asset classes? Let me explain basic financial concepts for you, simply and in fewer than 200 words!

That forward motion leads me to do the dishes whilst I'm waiting for my kettle to boil and maybe take out the recycling so the kitchen is clear. Then I've got a spot to sit down and think about what I need to work on this week - and it reminds me that I wanted to repot my money plants. I feel brighter and I've got some momentum.

I always feel so excited and inspired when I think of this and when I watch people pull it off. To go from a tangled web of stress and anxiety which just compounds worse and worse to picking everything apart, formalising it, spending energy working out how we function as people to work out our method and then just simply, enacting it. Woof it does something to me!