Financial matters are brought back to earth

ALICIA BRIDGES

Alicia Bridges © Financial matters are brought back to earth

A Kununurra financial counsellor has written a book using comparisons to animal characteristics to help people understand budgeting concepts.

Cherie McAdam is employed by Wunan to provide financial advice under the National Australia Bank Indigenous Money Mentors program.

Through her work she gives people advice on how to adapt their lifestyles to meet their budget. Ms McAdam said the first step to helping people change the way they manage their money was to identify how they can improve their finances.

Recognising a need to offer financial advice which was relevant to Aboriginal people on a cultural level, she started using her spare time to work on a book.

“Aboriginal people, we relate to animals and landscape,” she said.

“If I’m talking about bank accounts (I tell people) that if you have got one bank account it’s like you’ve got one waterhole … if you were to spread that water around it would green up the rest of your life – other areas of your financial world.”

Her book, Moneybird, outlines the traits of five birds in relation to money management characteristics, then gives the reader advice based on which bird they identify with.

She credited her father for helping her develop the idea.

“I rang him this morning and I said ‘thank you dad, you helped me plant the seed and now it’s starting to grow into a tree and it’s getting interest everywhere’,” Ms McAdam said.

“It’s not only crossed over into my race of people, it is speaking a language the whole world understands.”

The book is now being distributed through Xlibris Publishing and can be purchased online from Amazon and others.

Ms McAdam said she was thrilled the concept resonated with so many people. She plans to continue the series with books about education and gambling.