What about money are you grateful for?

Remember you attract more of what you’re grateful for.

So let me start by sharing my top 5 reasons I’m grateful about money.

• Money allowed me to buy a home I love and not worry about rising rents

, especially in Silicon Valley, where rents are always increasing.

• Money allowed me to live a lifestyle that I love.
• Money allowed me to pay for insurance for myself and for my fur babies. Remember, you don’t want to not have insurance. Life happens and just think about how much it would cost you if you got coronavirus and you have to stay in the hospital for a while.
• Money allows me to send money to my family in the Philippines. My family may be considered poor by some people so I am grateful that when my mom needs money, I can gladly send it to her.
• Money allowed me to save enough in my emergency fund so I don’t have to panic during the next few months while the vaccination for Covid-19 is still being worked on.

So now it’s your turn, what are you grateful for money? What has money done for you? 
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Christine Teh is a personal finance coach who lives in Silicon Valley and serve clients virtually. She also offers tax preparation and consulting services and LinkedIn coaching as well.

Schedule a complimentary chat now to see if her financial coaching services are right for you!
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Is having credit cards bad?

Should we all just use cash and debit card?

I personally love using credit cards and my goal actually is for my clients to be able to use this responsibly unless they choose not to.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with credit cards. I don’t believe in just using cash and debit for the rest of your life. Credit cards are amazing if used appropriately and responsibly.

Like with money, it’s just a tool. If used appropriately, can give you lots of “rewards”.  Points, cash back, travel benefits to name a few...

On top of the rewards I listed, you also have protection. Just think about if you paid some stranger or store using cash or debit. Your money is gone and getting them back would be harder versus you calling your bank and disputing a charge on your credit card.

To me the safety protection I just mentioned above is the most important. I don’t have to ever worry when I make a transaction.

If someone steals my credit card number, I can always call and get another card. Hopefully that doesn’t happen too often but it has happened to me in the past.
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Again, I would never recommend or encourage anyone, much less my clients to use credit cards until they “graduated”. Graduated means they have built a strong relationship with money, they are confident to always be on positive cash flow and know how to handle the nuances and emergencies life throws at the  without freaking out and going negative and carrying balances on their card.
So what do you think?


Christine Teh is a personal finance coach who lives in Silicon Valley and serve clients virtually. She also offers tax preparation and consulting services and LinkedIn coaching as well.

Schedule a complimentary chat now to see if her financial coaching services are right for you!

There’s a difference between being frugal and being cheap.

The big thing they have in common is both love to save money.

Here is where they are different:

• Frugal people assess the bigger picture and have the patience to cash in on simple savings strategies
• Cheap people are driven by saving money regardless of cost
• Frugal people are driven by maximizing total value, including the value of their time
• Cheap people use price as a bottom line
• Frugal people use value as a bottom line

I used to be cheap until I transformed my relationship with money.

Time is valuable.

If I have to spend 2 hours to save $100 on a flight or walk half an hour just to save $10 on parking.

Do you think it's worth it?

I’m sure we all have a similar story to share. 😉

Also, pay attention to signs that you have gone from frugal to being cheap.

• When you constantly skip or scrimp on important events because of the cost. If you turn down events and use money as an excuse over personal relationships, then you have some rethinking to do.
• When you start insulting and judging your friends’ spending habits. How other people spend or save money is none of your business unless it directly affects you or if you happen to be their financial coach. 😉
• You drive across town to save a buck or you would walk 20 minutes to save on parking.
• You are constantly replacing broken items because you value cheap over quality.
• You’re a sucker for sales.
• You buy from Costco and return it after using it. Saw the news on people returning Christmas trees after the fact? 😒

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Christine Teh is a personal finance coach who lives in Silicon Valley and serve clients virtually. She also offers tax preparation and consulting services and LinkedIn coaching as well.

Schedule a complimentary chat now to see if her financial coaching services is right for you!

If you answered yes to any of the questions questions below.

There are some things you could still work on to improve your relationship with money.

• Are you scared to look at money?
• Does it make you feel stupid to look at it?
• Do you panic when you think of money?
• Does the thought of looking at your #debt frightened you?
• Does the thought of spending time with money freaked you out?
• Do you have trust issues around money?
• Does numbers make you cry?

You are not alone!

Almost all my clients experienced this to one degree or another.

When you’re in pain or have wounds, don’t you reach out to the doctor?

You can try to figure or counsel your way out of this but chances are it will take you longer, if at all possible.

Don’t be ashamed to reach out.


Christine Teh is a personal finance coach who lives in Silicon Valley and serve clients virtually. She also offers tax preparation and consulting services and LinkedIn coaching as well.

Schedule a complimentary chat now to see if my financial coaching service is right for you!

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Want to start practicing financial self-awareness and you don’t have a budget?

Print out your last month’s statements.

I want you to highlight one color those that you need and highlight another color those that you want.

Let's say you highlight pink those that you want and green those that you need.

Add them up after.

What color stands out more? Is it the pink or the green?
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How much did you end up spending on wants versus needs?

Were you able to afford all your wants?

Did you charge that on your credit card?

Were you able to pay off your credit card?

The key to having a great relationship with money is astute financial awareness.

This is the first step to building that awareness. Afraid to look? You might need a financial coach to help you through that. Perhaps you have some trauma or issues to work through and that's where I can help out.

If you haven’t learned how to budget yet, check out the affordable budgeting course I offer. 

Start now. This will cost you much more later.

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Christine Teh is a personal finance coach who lives in Silicon Valley and serve clients virtually. She also offers tax preparation and consulting services and LinkedIn coaching as well.

Schedule a complimentary chat now to see if my financial coaching service is right for you!
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