What helped me feel safe around money

I feel lucky. In the middle of an economic storm, I’m able to experience relative financial stability. But this didn’t happen by accident, and it definitely didn’t happen overnight.

If you’ve ever felt like money uncertainty sends your nervous system into a spiral, you’re not alone. And even worse, when we’re in survival mode, we start to overspend, over-consume, and overwork. Our finances get out of control. We become like hamsters running on a wheel: panicked, but never arriving anywhere secure.

I know that feeling well.

Years ago, I was nearly homeless, with £0 to my name, no possessions, and no real sense of safety. I wasn’t in a good place mentally either. At some point I realised: I need safety!

From there, things started to change. I got a part time job and focused on getting education. I decided I wanted to earn the most I could for my time, and to do that, I needed to be seen as an expert. I wanted to stop chasing jobs and start attracting them. I started saving up a little.

Somewhere along the line, I worked on a financial education product building an app for “struggling savers”. And working on that project gave all of us on the team a wake-up call. We were building something for others, but realised… we weren’t where we should be financially either. That was another turning point for me. I set a goal to save up more and buy a flat.

And when I finally did, it changed me.

Owning that space provided grounding, stability, and safety. It was one of the most healing decisions I’ve ever made. My nervous system could finally breathe. I will always be grateful to my 30-something self for that move.

At some point, I started dreaming about freedom. About sailing. Living on a boat. I watched hours of videos of people living off-grid, moving with the wind.One of them was an older guy. He talked a lot about financial freedom and how he dealt with money. He talked about the FIRE philosophy. Financial Independence Retire Early.

It’s a simple philosophy which propose that with the right financial strategies one can retire within 10 years. It follows simple principles of saving and investing, which capitalise on compound interest (the fact that the interest grows exponentially over longer periods of time).

I got hooked on the possibility of freedom.

But I didn’t just change my money habits, I also started regulating my nervous system and became more intentional with my spending. I explored minimalism. I took a course in mindful consuming that helped me understand the emotional reasons I over-shopped. Slowly but steadily I gained control over my money.

Along my FIRE journey I had many responses. Some joked that I joined a pyramid scheme, some said they could never live without their luxuries, some where maybe a little envious and shake their head with the “let’s be realistic”…

Fast forward eight years. After finishing my PhD, I just decided to semi-retire. With low expenses, small mortgage payments, and my investments compounding, I now only need to work about two days a week to cover my needs.

This path won’t look like this for everyone. This is just where I personally landed after years of experimenting, learning, messing up, and finding the approaches that worked for me.

At this point, you might be thinking, “But Aleks, that’s such a long-term plan. I want to get rich fast!”

And I get it. This isn’t a quick fix. But I’ve found something more sustainable.Today, when money anxiety creeps in, and my nervous system starts spinning, I just go, look at my money, count a little and I realise I’m doing ok. No need to worry. I breathe. I remember that I’m safe. My body relaxes.

That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned about money: It’s not about getting rich!

It’s about building enoughness and creating a life where your nervous system isn’t always under threat.

I’m not a financial expert. I’m just someone who’s been on the hamster wheel, and found a calmer way forward. And if you’re somewhere on that path too, I see you.

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PS: Want to explore this together?

If you’re looking for a way to feel calmer about money, there are gentle, grounded paths forward. You don’t have to figure it out alone.

I’ve taken everything I’ve learned in my own journey, from navigating financial chaos and career shifts to healing my nervous system and learning how to save, invest, and rest, and poured it into a masterclass.

A 3-hour live session designed to help you break free from financial survival mode and create more internal and external stability.

We’ll be working with somatic tools, simple financial principles, and three intuitive archetypes, the Hamster 🐹, the Squirrel 🐿, and the Tiger 🐅, to help you build a new relationship with money that’s grounded in safety, not fear.

You don’t need to be “good with money” or have any experience with nervous system work. This space is for anyone who’s ready to feel a little more safe, spacious, and steady, no matter where you’re starting from.

You can find out more and join HERE