Joyce Ibitoye

That pound in your account fought to get there.

The early mornings. The tax taken before you saw it. The hours you won't get back.

Spend it on purpose.

Save this if money has been slipping through your hands lately.

When I first ran the numbers, my essentials were at 105%.

There was nothing left to save. Nothing left for life.

So I went line by line and brought it down. And kept going until I got to 27%.

50/30/20 isn't a rule. It's a compass. Your number right now isn't a verdict — it's a starting point.

Save this and run your own numbers.

I was raised to be optimistic.
Always look on the bright side.
Be tough and carry on, no matter what.
To be hurt was weakness. To break was a lack of faith.

But things have a habit of building up.
And the habit of bottling everything does damage.
At the very least, we lose ourselves.

I was lost. Not in a spiritual way, but in a calling way.
I could no longer hear my own voice.

So in 2021, I took off the mask.
I pressed the reset button.

I found calm. I found peace.
I gave myself permission to do the little things.
Learn to bake. Keep my plants alive.
Write the book I wish I'd had when I was struggling
with my finances.

So let me leave you with this:

If life ever gets too much —
permit yourself to hit that reset button.

What's one little thing you'd love to start, just for you?

Your phone makes spending too easy. That is the trap.
The wait between wanting and having is called friction. Remove it, money walks. Put it back, money stays.
Delete saved cards. Log out of shopping apps. Make yourself type the long number every time.
That small bit of hassle is the gap where saving actually happens.
Pick one friction step this week. Just one.
Follow for more.
Hashtags:

I waited for the big money before I would start saving. So I saved nothing.

But little beginnings are the training ground. You start small. You do it often. The muscle grows. The momentum builds. And before you know it, that small habit is carrying the life you once only dreamed of.

So if you've been waiting for the big money to arrive before you start — stop waiting.

Start with the little you have. Grow the muscle. The big money meets you ready.

👇 What's your small daily spend?

If you spend everything you earn, more money will not fix it.

It will just give you more to lose track of.

I learned this twice.

First — as a mortgage consultant, sitting across from the highest earners who could not tell me where thousands of pounds had gone every month.

Then — looking at my own spending and realising the leak was not the amount I was earning. It was the absence of a system.

So before you go chasing a second job or a bigger salary Grab a notebook.

Track every tap.
Every transfer.
Every cash spend.

Get your spending under control first.

Because earning more without tracking what you already have is like pouring water into a leaking bucket.
That is where this series starts.

Save this. Come back to it.

Follow for the rest of the series.

Clip credit: on Instagram. Used briefly under fair dealing for the purpose of commentary and financial education.

If you have spent years putting everyone else first and your finances got left behind — this page is for you.

I was in my forties. Drowning in debt. No savings. I work in finance and still got it spectacularly wrong.

In the middle of it I made a promise to God that if I got through it, I would spend my life teaching it.

I got through it. I kept the promise.

I am Joyce — chartered accountant, former banker, author of The Black Woman's Guide to Building Wealth. 25 years in finance. Still building.

It is not too late. Follow along.

Most people see their 9–5 as the thing holding them back.

But sometimes the salary, structure, pressure and experience are quietly preparing you for the freedom you say you want.

Not every job is a dream job on the surface.

But do not underestimate what you are learning while you are there.

Fix My Finances — Episode 7

Caption:

I thought getting a credit card meant I had finally “made it.”

But here is what we miss:
debt quietly delays wealth building.

Credit is so normalised that many people never stop to ask what it is costing them long term. Loans, overdrafts and credit cards can solve pressure today — but they can also reduce future choices if we are not careful.

When we are firefighting financially, the focus is usually survival now. The future feels far away. But every repayment with interest takes money away from future wealth building too.

Before borrowing money, ask yourself:
Will this increase my net worth or reduce it?

Fix My Finances — Episode 6.

I couldn't feed my children. And I was terrified of God on top of it.
That's what years of tithe pressure does to a person. It doesn't build faith. It builds fear. And fear dressed up as scripture is still manipulation.
The verse they quote at you was written to Israel. Not to you. And the New Testament couldn't be clearer — don't give under compulsion, guilt, or fear.
If someone in your circle is carrying guilt they were never meant to carry, share this with her.