Wake up, Neo.

I loved The Matrix. I think I’ve seen it about thirty times. One of my best memories from university is a Matrix-themed house party I had in my final year. Epic.

So Neo had a choice: he could take the blue pill and remain normal, or take the red pill and enter a new world.

You have a choice too. You can take the blue pill and not learn more about how to set yourself up to be financially secure, or…

I got into travel hacking (air miles and hotel points) a few years ago. The basics are fairly easy, but it can get extremely convoluted if you want it to. At one point, I had a thought and asked some friends on Milepoint “wouldn’t it more effective to take all this time and just make more money instead of learning about airline tricks, and then use that money to buy plane tickets?”. 

That was the start of my journey into personal finance.

I still enjoy travelling slightly better using loyalty programs, but I think I was right: being more aware of money is a better investment of time.

My guest post on Retire by 40 is about the various stages we go through on our financial journey. Which stage are you at?