Mariam Mohammed, Co-founder MoneyGirl

"I grew up in Pakistan. A traditional household. A practising and conservative Muslim family of 7. I learnt some important money lessons early on, and they were reinforced throughout our childhood. To save vigorously. To spend mindfully. To live simply. To share, always, even if you didn’t have enough for yourself. Those values have shaped my money habits as an adult.

I never cared to keep up with the Joneses, and I can thank my Abu (father) for teaching us humility and simplicity. As soon as I started earning, I saved every penny that I could to put towards things I valued. I can thank my Abu for teaching me to spend mindfully, and my Ami (mother) for balancing that with, “don’t be a hoarder!” I have never believed the myth that you need to be wealthy before you give back to your community, and I can thank my religious upbringing for that, too.

I also learned that money is evil though. That has not been very helpful in my adult life. I learnt to not accumulate money, that it was the source of evil, that you should not talk about it because that is such a shallow thing to do. I know this is something my Muslim girlfriends struggle with. We’ve learnt all our life that if we invest our money to make more money then we’re evil – that’s money that we could have given away to help others. Instead, we’re putting it in the financial system which takes advantage of the very people we want to help. Your money shouldn’t make you money, you should work fair and square for a wage.

That is the hardest money value for me to untangle as an adult: that money is an objective medium of exchange. Money is not inherently good or bad. But people can place a value on it. That anyone can use a dollar for good or evil – but that dollar remains an objective medium of exchange.

That’s why, as an adult, I make sure my partner and I talk about money. I talk about money with my friends, my siblings, my nephews and nieces, even strangers - clearly! We’re open and frank and non-judgemental about it. We give each other saving tips, shopping tips, latest app suggestions. Because why the hell not! We're better off this way."