Everything BUT Money— Going Beyond the Budget
Welcome back to another instalment of Read The North- your non-fiction book pick of the month. This month we are reading: Everything But Money by Jessica Moorhouse.
Inside you will find:
A book recommendation
A hosting guide complete with a cookie
Discussion questions to dive deep into the book
“Shame keeps you broke”
You know that feeling when you have asked Google or Claude "how to save money" for the 47th time, downloaded your 6th budgeting app of the year, and somehow still have $11.43 left before payday? Yeah. This book is for you.
Everything But Money by Jessica Moorhouse is the personal finance book that finally has the audacity to say: the problem is not that you don't know what to do. You know. We all know. Spend less than you earn, invest the rest, don't buy the latte congratulations, you've just summarized every finance book ever written. And yet here we are, stress-shopping at midnight and telling ourselves it was a "necessity." She dives into financial shame and how it makes people avoid looking at their accounts, avoid conversations about money, and repeat cycles of debt because what we can't face, we can't fix.
Summary:
Everything But Money: The Hidden Barriers Between You and Financial Freedom is a "money therapy" book that goes beyond budgeting to get to the root of your relationship with money, written by Jessica Moorhouse an Accredited Financial Counsellor Canada and host of the popular More Money Podcast. The book guides readers to go beyond the budget, realize how past trauma shapes their negative relationship with money, unlearn harmful "truths" about money, recognize patterns and red flags that lead to poor financial decisions, and understand the institutions and systems that hold people back financially.
Perfect for readers...
Who are the cycle repeater: has paid off their debt, only to find themselves back in it again
Who knows what to do but just can't follow through
Who are constantly anxious about money and wonders will they ever have enough money
Who feels financial books are hard to understand and cannot see themselves
Your hosting guide
Most personal finance books are a plain digestive cookie. Dry. Functional. Gets the job done but leaves you feeling nothing. Everything But Money by Jessica Moorhouse is the double chocolate espresso version because it goes two layers deep into the thing everyone else only skims the surface of: your emotions around money.
Discussion questions
What is the earliest money memory you have and whose voice do you still hear when you make financial decisions today?
If money shame did not exist, what financial truth would you finally admit to yourself?
Have you ever used money to manage an emotion and if so, what feeling were you trying to fix?
What would it feel like to have "enough" and have you ever stopped to define what that number is?
How much of your financial situation is truly the result of personal choices and how much has been shaped by systems and circumstances outside your control?
If your finances never improve, what story about yourself would that confirm and where did that story come from?
Double Chocolate Espresso Cookie
And now— the perfect cookie to pair.
Ingredients
1 cup of unsalted butter - soft and slightly melted.
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup of packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. instant espresso powder
2 + 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 + 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large mixing bowl, with a mixer, beat butter with both sugars until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs and beat on medium speed until well combined.
3. Add the cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda, and instant espresso powder and beat until well combined and the batter is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Slowly add in the flour, 1 cup at a time. Then beat until the ingredients are fully incorporated. No need to overbeat.
5. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a small ice cream scoop, or rounded teaspoon, and drop cookie dough on the sheet, about 2 inches apart.
7. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until you see they slightly crack on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
yields: 30 to 40 cookies