Mint Coaching

This week marks 5 years since I qualified as a financial coach and set up Mint Coaching. Hooray!

Five years of helping people untangle not just their finances, but their feelings about money too.

Because money is never just money.

It’s stress. Freedom. Shame. Confidence. Choice. Security. Relationships. Identity. Possibility.

Over the last five years I’ve helped people organise the practical side of life:
👉 the forgotten pensions
👉 the many bank accounts
👉 the paperwork piles
👉 the “where does all my money actually go?” moments
👉 the savings goals
👉 the spending habits
👉 the planning for children, homes, retirement, divorce, and everything in between

But of course, it’s never only practical.

Almost everyone I work with arrives carrying some kind of shame around money.

“I should be better at this.”
“I should understand investing by now.”
“I earn well but still feel overwhelmed.”
“I should have sorted this years ago.”

So much of financial coaching is helping people move from shame and avoidance, to clarity and confidence.

And underneath all of it, is life.

Careers. Burnout. Relationships. Teenagers growing up. Parents growing older. Divorce. Identity. What matters now. What matters later.

That’s why I’ve always believed money coaching and life coaching go hand in hand.

Because ultimately, money matters because life matters.

Looking ahead, I’m excited to keep growing Mint Coaching, do more workplace financial wellbeing talks and workshops, improve my marketing skills (!), and continue helping people feel calmer, clearer, and more intentional with money.

Most importantly, I want people to know this:

You do not have to be 'good at maths' to get on top of your finances.
You do not have to carry shame forever.
You do not have to stay overwhelmed.

You can learn to manage your money, whatever your situation, and create a life that feels calmer, clearer, and more aligned with what truly matters to you.

If you’d like honest conversations and practical support around money, life, planning and confidence, you can sign up to my newsletter (link in the comments) or follow me on linkedin as I'm not great on FB!

Happy 5th birthday to my little company. I’m very proud of what’s been built so far - and excited for what comes next.

I have news!

I wanted to let you know that I’ve recently completed National Numeracy's training programme and I am now a fully CPD accredited Numeracy Champion.

This means that as well as the work I do within my financial coaching practice, I can also support you if you don’t feel confident with numbers or would like to improve your everyday maths. I can do this as part of our coaching together, or as a stand-alone session both for individuals and groups.

So, please get in touch if you’d like to:

• learn about resources you can access to improve your confidence with numbers as an adult,
• simply talk about how you feel about numbers or maths,
• find out about locally available free courses and provision.

If you are intrigued, but not sure if this is for you, why not have a go at the National Numeracy Challenge? It’s a free tool designed for adults who don’t always feel confident with numbers. You can have a go today using the link in the chat ⬇️⬇️

I really recommend it to anyone because however you feel about maths, you’re not alone.

Many, many people want to get better at everyday maths but are held back by feeling it's something that we can't improve.

And please don't feel you will be held back by your experience of maths in school.

This is about ensuring you are confident in real life situations where you need to use numbers.

Because being good with numbers isn’t a special talent, it’s something we can all learn.

If you are interested, please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to point you towards some of the brilliant resources available through the National Numeracy charity, or have a chat about ways I can help.

And don't forget to have a go at the challenge using the link in the comments ⤵️

Financial Freedom. Isn't it a lovely neat piece of alliteration?

A fabulous buzz phrase. But what does it really mean for you?

As I often emphasise to my clients, Financial Freedom is not merely about amassing wealth or achieving a certain income level.

Rather, it's the ability to live life on your own terms without being constrained by financial obligations.

For me this is a big deal.
It's about the dream.
But also about the reality.
Living life on our own terms.
Not what our friends think.
Not what our parents think.
Not what society (?!) thinks.
But what feels good for us.

And it involves a lot of travel. But more on that at another time! 🌄

Ultimately, each person's definition of financial freedom is unique, shaped by their values, goals, and circumstances.

Part of my role as a financial coach is to help you clarify what financial freedom means to you and develop a personalised plan to achieve it, empowering you to live a life aligned with you aspirations.

It's really, really exciting stuff! It's a journey, yes, but blimey it is most definitely a worthwhile one! 🩷

This week's blog (https://www.mint-coaching.com/post/interested-in-financial-freedom) explores my thoughts further 🌞.

Meanwhile ... have you taken time to think about what Financial Freedom looks like for you? Let me know in the comments below. ⬇️⬇️

Want to shift from Financial Fear to Financial Freedom?

I've just updated my FREE guide with 10 secrets to transform your relationship with money and help you achieve peace of mind and financial security for you and your family.

The link to the guide is below and in the comments. I hope you find it helpful!

Have a lovely evening!
Claire 💜

https://subscribepage.io/financial-freedom

"Don’t look for motivation. Find your WHY. Then no excuses come between you and your goals."

I launched my Financial Coaching business 3 years ago to ...

💜 Do a job that I love.
💜 Positively impact the people I work with.
💜 Be proud of what I do.
💜 Be a good role model for my children.
💜 To earn money with integrity.
💜 Be financially independent and contribute to our family wealth.
💜 Give me the freedom to spend more time with my family, doing the things we love to do.

I remind myself of these aspirations, my 'WHY', regularly.

Particularly the last one 💜

➡️ Whenever life takes me in a new direction, I think of my WHY.
➡️ Whenever things get me down, and I feel the overwhelm creeping in, I think of my WHY.
➡️ Whenever a change presents itself, or an avenue calls for exploration, I think of my WHY.
➡️ Whenever I need a push, to reset, and to encourage me back to my track, I think of my WHY.

My WHY gives me MOTIVATION when I hesitate,
It gives me STRENGTH to move forward when I'm uncomfortable,
It gives me CONFIDENCE when I feel like an imposter
And it gives me REASSURANCE when I’m reluctant.

My WHY supports me in feeling happy, positive and secure.

I chat about the significance and benefit of reminding yourself of your 'why' in my latest blog (https://www.mint-coaching.com/post/what-s-your-why).

What's your why? And how do you remind yourself of your why?

I love what I do.

I really do.

I love the transformations.

I love being trusted.

I love being supportive.

I love believing in what I offer and enjoying the integrity that comes with knowing that this sh*t works.

I love being there when someone is brave enough to be vulnerable with me, and brave enough to become empowered to make changes that make such an incredible, mind-blowing difference.

I love working with my gorgeous clients on their now, and their later, and their mindset, and their planning and their feelings of 'I can, will and must do this’.

I'm really lucky to do what I do.

And now and then, I hope it is ok to share a testimonial from an amazing person who has worked with me and made incredible changes by believing that they too can be transformed, because it was their time to believe in themselves and invest their future.

Thank you Lucy. You are utterly awesome.

Google review of Mint Coaching | Claire Saunders | Financial Coach by Lucy Wager ★★★★★ "Taking the decision to work with a financial coach wasn't something that came easy for me, it was confronting and frightening but something I knew I needed. I have just been through a 6 session coaching series with Claire and in our final session I thanked Claire wholeheartedly and ...

Did you grow up hearing phrases like:


🫰 "Time is money."
🫰 "Money is the root of all evil."
🫰 “Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
🫰 "It takes money to make money."
🫰 "Money is power."
🫰 "Money burns a hole in your pocket."

These seemingly innocent sayings actually shape your money mindset, often in far from useful ways. They contribute to the creation of your money story.

Understanding your money story is crucial. It's the personal belief and narrative you hold about money, formed from childhood experience.

Knowing your money story is the first step to changing your financial life.

I explore this further in my latest blog (https://www.mint-coaching.com/post/what-s-your-story).

➡️ Are there experiences, such as parental words, observed actions, or household dynamics, that you notice influences your financial decisions?

➡️ What phrases do you remember hearing and how have the affected you?

➡️ And what have you done to try to break any habits that were created by your money story?

➡️ What have you done to change your money story?

I am intrigued by this topic and am curious to know your thoughts ... 🤔⬇️⬇️

How often have you determinedly set yourself a goal ...... only to find that, some time later, you haven’t made any headway with it? Doh!

We can often be too vague when we set ourselves a goal. For example:

🤷‍♀️I want to save more money …
🤷‍♀️I am going to learn to speak Spanish ...
🤷‍♀️I am going to get fit …

Fab intentions, but they are just a bit wishy washy and under-defined.

If you want to goals that you can actually reach, the secret is to set S.M.A.R.T. goals.

SPECIFIC.
MEASURABLE.
ACHIEVABLE.
REALISTIC.
TIMEBOUND.

Ah, don’t you just love it when an acronym oh so conveniently spells out the meaning of its message? 😁

Check out my thoughts on S.M.A.R.T. goals in my latest blog (https://www.mint-coaching.com/post/here-s-the-secret-to-reaching-your-goals)

And let me know if you've ever set a S.M.A.R.T goal and what has worked (or not!) for you ⬇️⬇️

Do you and your family find it hard to talk about money together?

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. We are currently planning our summer travels. We will be away for a month and will travel by plane, car, ferry and bus staying in a variety of accommodation from basic to not-quite-so-basic.

We will be making approximately 9 stops and budget is obviously a huge consideration and influence on how this trip will go.

This is a family trip.

Travelling and seeing the world is of huge importance to us. Which means my husband and I, along with our children, need to be on the same page financially to make the trip into a reality, and a bloomin' good adventure.

And this means talking about money with my family.

😕 Not guessing.
😕 Not saying 'I'm sure there's enough'.
😕 Not saying 'We can't afford it'.
😕 Not ignoring it and hoping for the best.
😕 Not thinking that my family are mind-readers.

It means communicating and working together to budget towards a common goal.

But, as George Bernard Shaw said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

So how do we communicate with our nearest and dearest about money?

Check out my blog (https://www.mint-coaching.com/post/when-all-other-means-of-communication-fail-try-words) where I unpick this challenge. And do share any communication tips below!

As we make our way through the second month of the year (already!) we may become rather AWARE of how TRICKY it can be to make new, useful, well-intentioned HABITS STICK.

Are you noticing your New Year intentions are starting to slide? Do they appear less shiny? Is your motivation waning? Have they already 'slid'?!

It can be notoriously difficult to make new habits stick can't it?

So how best to train ourselves to make those gorgeous, useful, beneficial habits stick?

There are many ways … but the TRUE WINNER in my opinion is ...

🙌 HABIT STACKING 🙌

Habit stacking is simply the practice of attaching a new habit to a pre-existing one.

Check out this week's blog to discover how habit stacking can totally change the way you stick to your good, useful and marvellous habits! It's easy once you know how 😉

https://www.mint-coaching.com/blog