From every copy sold, the authors will donate 50 cents to Good Return.

Breaking the poverty cycle starts with awareness of your attitude to money.

Good Return helps people build pathways out of poverty through access to responsible finance, financial education and business skills.

For more information, visit goodreturn.org.au

adjective. Your attitude to money.

Those with good spenditude end up with more financial security and peace of mind.

I'd like to thank my three beautiful sons, Ben, Liam and Marcus, for their inspiration and creative support. They make me proud every day.

A final thank you to my dear dad who has been a great inspiration all my life.

— Paul

There is no greater anchor in my life than my husband, Bow, whom I adore. We have a busy life with three young kids and you put my desire to write this book first. Thank you.

I hope that this book can inspire our children, Hugh, Ned and Elise — to have great spenditude and to pursue their own purpose. All my love.

— Janine

Are some people just smarter than others when it comes to money? Or is it more that they found some secret formula early and have stuck with it? Is it habits, willpower or ego? What's the secret formula, please? I want what they're having!

Basically, spenditude has nothing to do with your age, your stage in life or your income. The secret is more about re-training your brain to think differently about money. Simple to say, but trickier to do. Until now!

This book explores the formula for financial wellbeing — money and purpose — and describes how we can rewire our brain to significantly enhance our overall sense that ‘we will be okay'.

‘I have peace of mind because I consider the future'; ‘I can make choices'; ‘I am free to create the life I want'.

Everyone has their own version of financial freedom and choice. Doors close on us. Life changes and the stress of living in this fast-paced, crazy twenty-first century all get in the way. Only about one in five of us experience financial freedom — so what are the rest of us doing wrong?

We'll describe how people who are ‘good with money' have formed their habits and rituals, which is what delivers their financial outcomes. This is not about get-rich-quick tactics, but about exploring attitudes to money. We want to provide you with evidence that your financial future is absolutely in your hands. It's not about doing things differently; it's about thinking things differently. We want you to tell your brain not to listen to your old money story.

We also acknowledge that everyone has a different purpose and that money means very different things to all of us. So we won't be encouraging you to become wealthy or savvy. We'll encourage you to connect your brain with your purpose. Money is simply an enabler, not the main game.

A big thanks to all the people we interviewed who have shared their expertise, their personal stories and their aspirations and dreams. You helped us to confirm our hypothesis: that our spenditude is not based on our parents, our age or stage of life. We are all very different and our life stories are unique. Each case study in the book is a true story of life events, money, motivation and purpose. Our experts have generously shared their knowledge and wisdom. Thank you again.

Our wish for this book is twofold. First, for you to find the formula that will flick that switch inside your brain. Second, that the book gets shared around with those you love so they can flick their own switch.

Janine and Paul

Health warning: Do not change any of your money habits until you have read the whole book. Keep spending. If you try to change your spenditude along the way, it won't work.

Have you ever tried to delete an app on your phone and observed how all the apps start to shake?

Imagine those shaking apps as representing the different parts of your life … out of control and wobbling away.

Now think of the main three apps on your home screen as the most important aspects of your life. They represent health, money and relationships. If all three are wobbling, you're in trouble. You can hit the ‘reset' button — but deep inside you know they're still wobbling.

The aim of this book is to stabilise your money app, which will hopefully have a positive impact on your health and relationships. Stabilising your money app means changing old habits, and to successfully change your behaviour you need to have a goal, a reward or some form of incentive — and we're not talking about greed. Greed lacks purpose. We believe the best incentive is the desire to create a life that provides you with greater peace of mind, the ability to make good decisions, the freedom of choice, and a sense that your effort is rewarded and that your loved ones will be okay financially. Our premise is that it's your attitude to money that has the greatest impact on your financial outcome. Change what's within and the external world reflects it. A New Reality.

So what can you do to stop your money app from shaking?

Do you think some people are ‘better with money'? That they appear to have a good feel for it and make better financial decisions?

Is it genetics, parental upbringing, good habits or just good luck?

We believe it's none of these things and all of these things.

Your behaviour towards money is formed when you're young (under 10) and develops as you experience life.

By 20 most of us have a default setting for our attitude to money. This isn't particularly apparent to us; however, it drives your spending and saving decisions from an early age.

Parents have some impact as they're our largest influence in the early years, but it's not just them. Genetics plays a part, although it's not the main influence. Having good habits is a by-product of your attitude to money. And good luck seems to happen when people put themselves in a position to receive it.

The three questions to ask are:

1. What is my attitude to money?
2. Can I re-shape it to serve me better (because I feel I can do a lot better)?
3. Is it too late?

These are the questions we'll focus on. We'll delve into your brain to work out why you're the way you are and how you could change.

We'll then start to explore behaviour-changing habits and techniques that will enhance your financial wellbeing.

Is it too late? Never. Most of us will live well into old age, so the sooner you start changing your habits the better.

We'll learn from real people — experts in their field who have kindly shared their knowledge.

So strap yourself in for a habit-changing experience with two differences. The first difference is we don't want you to change anything until you've finished reading the book; and the second difference is we won't focus on greed.

We'll concentrate on resetting your money app (your spenditude) so you can enjoy more freedom, choice and contentment.

We'll focus on habit change so you can live a more fulfilled life. If greed is your bag, then you'll also benefit from being better with money.

We've unearthed a set of New Realities that will lay out a path for you to make the habit changes that will empower you to live the life you want.

Why bother changing? To answer that question, you need to ask yourself one simple question: ‘In your life right now, what could possibly go wrong?'

Think hard. It's not a trick question.

Once you've answered that question we know you'll be keen to read on. But first we'd like to acquaint you with the steps you'll be taking through this book.