Welcome to Money Bites, a slice of bite-size financial literacy

What does money mean to you?

Money might be the bus fare you pay to get to your job. It could be the debit card you tap to get your coffee each morning. It might be the buy now pay later scheme you use to buy new clothes with while waiting for payday.

Money is essential to our daily lives and yet we’re don’t talk about it.

If you were lucky enough to get taught about money in school, you are the exception. Most of us are taught about money from what we pick up about finances from our parents. That means that what we know about money is up to the parent and postcode lottery.

Because money isn’t taught consistently and equitably in schools, we don’t have the language to talk about it. And that means many of us simply don’t talk about money or have the opportunity to learn about it. We all know money is important but what are the barriers to talking about money?

Here’s 5 reasons why we don’t talk about money:  

1. We consider money a taboo topic

Most people learn about money from what gets discussed at home. However, Suncorp research found that more than half of parents in Australia do not talk to their kids about their finances. This can lead to money becoming a taboo topic at home growing up, training us not to talk about it. That can become a problem as we grow up and need to talk about it in the workplace or with our future partner, as we avoid conversations about money.

2. It’s rude to talk about money

When you’re raised to consider money as taboo, bringing it up in conversation is considered rude. This means we judge other people as rude for asking us about our salary or how much rent we pay. The problem with this is that we don’t initiate conversations about money for fear of being seen as rude. That can result in us being paid different salaries at work or paying too much for services because we can’t talk to those in the same situation to compare our finances.

3. Financial information is boring

A lot of financial information exists on the web. However, it is difficult to understand, with complex finance terms making money only understandable to those who possess a finance degree. Likewise, online content often feels like you’re being lectured by your accountant or pandered to as if you’re an infant. This can turn us off learning about money because it makes us hit the snooze button rather than engaging us in the conversation.

4. It’s way too hard to talk about finance

It’s easy to be on autopilot when we start earning money. As teens, we use our money to buy the things we want. That spending behaviour then continues into our 20s, with the added pressures of rent or mortgage repayments. We know we could get a better deal on our power bills but it’s hard to talk about and take action. We know we should research superannuation or retirement accounts but it feels too hard to read through product disclosure statements at the weekend when we should be relaxing. Money and finances are built up as something it’s hard to talk about and address.

5. There’s no safe space to talk about money

If you venture into online spaces to talk about money, it’s difficult to know where to go. Many social media groups are dominated by people who shame people for their choices. They can also judge people unfairly who are just beginning to learn more about money. We can feel weird talking to our friends, family and partners about money without the language to have this conversation. Having these conversations requires practice, supported by building up our knowledge about money through bite-size financial literacy.

That’s where Money Bites comes in.

Money Bites aims to provide a juicy bite-size slice of financial literacy so that money becomes easier to talk about. Our podcast is a great way to hear this approach in action. Money affects us all and our bite-size approach to money includes more people in the conversation so that we can all learn about money, no finance degree required. Together, we’ll make money easy to talk about and bite-size.