The Penny Pal helps millennials level up their finances. Through the social platforms, I aim to make personal finance education and self development accessible; quite often, financial data or messaging can sometimes be mind-meltingly complex, I simplifying this with infographics and bite size posts.
The USP with The Penny Pal is that the education is designed to be as digestible and interesting as possible. The Penny Pal blog has been created to be engaging as the market is full of financial advice and content that is (for lack of a better word) boring!
I am the creator and community manager of the Penny Pal. After I finished my first year of university I realised that I knew nothing about managing money and neither did my peers.
My interest in personal finance grew from there and I was determined to share the knowledge I had learnt to ensure others didn’t find themselves in the same position that I did. Using my self-taught graphic design skills I created a blog that made learning about personal finance fun.
I want to provide educational resources for those who struggle to learn via traditional methods
I hope you find my blog interesting, and if you’re ever looking for help or you have any questions, please contact sade@thepennypal.com
F.A.Q
What are 3 things people may not know about you?
1) It’s 2020 and I still watch every episode of Catfish
2) I used to be a tailor at Levis
3) I booked tickets to see JLS this year (if you judge me after reading that I completely understand)
What motivated / inspired you to start talking about personal finance online?
I have always been a creative person, subjects like maths and business never really interested me during school because I couldn’t imagine anything worse than reading a textbook that had not been updated in 10 years. Then after my first year of university I realised that I knew nothing about managing money and neither did my peers. My interest in personal finance grew from there and I was determined to share the knowledge I had learnt to ensure others didn’t find themselves in the same position that I did.
What is the one piece of advice that you’d give to people who want to ask for a pay rise?
Speaking openly about salaries in the workplace is definitely something that is looked down upon by higher ups and the reason for this is because if there is complete transparency, people will probably get paid what their worth instead of what the company has budgeted for.
We’ve probably known someone who has a slap on the wrist for speaking openly about their salary. But we actually have the legal right to discuss pay if we wish to. However, if you like your job and aren’t bothered by the legal stuff and would just like to have an open talk about being fairly paid, tread carefully.
Yes, you are legally allowed to ask a colleague how much they earn but they are not obliged to disclose. Also, consider if you are willing to share you salary before asking others, it’s not fair to expect others to be open while you are a closed book.
Lastly, make sure that you are comparing you are taking into consideration job role, experience and responsibilities as these all contribute to the pay you receive.
If you believe you are not being paid you worth, speak to your line manager. Speaking about money can be awkward but if you believe you are not being paid your worth or inline with your co-workers who do a similar job then just try and overcome the discomfort that society has made you feel around this topic!
Do you have any mentors or people that you follow that have influenced you to be financially educated?
Before university, not really. I come from a single parent household and so money wasn’t something that we had in abundance and there wasn’t really anyone that I looked up to. However, During my first year of uni I read a book called ‘La Simplicite’ which discussed only having what was necessary and using what you have, the ideas brought up in this book helped me control my spending and manage other aspects of my finances such as saving.
What do you hope to accomplish by speaking about money online?
I want to provide educational resources for those who struggle to learn via traditional methods. There is so much information out there and I want to be able to pick out the important bits and share them through info graphics.
If you were given £500k, what would you do with it?
Firstly, I would buy a wardrobe full of good quality basics. I hate thinking about what to wear and I like being comfortable 24/7 so this will solve a massive first world problem for me.
Secondly, I would max out my sisters ISA allowance in a Lifetime ISA account. She is Generation Z so a two bed flat will probably cost 800k by the time she can purchase one and every little helps.
I would visit Necker Island which is the island resort owned by Richard Branson. It is £77k a night and will probably be the most stupid thing I spend my money on but…I live for experiences not regrets!
I love seeing business growth so I would find a start up business that I really believe in and invest into it, whether that be my own or someone else’s.
I would then be sensible with whatever is left, investing in premium bonds and the technology stock market. I think I have overestimated how much 500k can get me, but that is what I would like to think that I could do.
Share a link to your favourite source of money advice:
https://www.thebalance.com/ and https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/