Let’s talk about money!

Money seems to be something many of us make a taboo for ourselves. For some people, sex and sexuality is a taboo while many others who are pretty open about sex still have a squeezing feeling in our stomach when we think about sharing how much we earn, how much we have in our bank accounts, what we night have in investments, the debt we have and the inheritance we have received or stand to receive.

So one afternoon, I got the idea of writing a newsletter in which I tell you how I much earn and discuss the money in our organization, Honesty Europe. Where does the money go when you pay me €340 for a weekend workshop or €6 for a Lunchtime Honesty Hour session?

How are you with talking about money?

What do you notice in your body when thinking of sharing publicly your monthly income. How are you with the thought of telling friends and strangers alike how much or how little you have in your bank account and the worth of your total assets?

First, about my personal income. The company that Pete and I own pays me €3000 per month (and him €2500 per month as he works less than me). From that, after taxes, I receive about €2400.

I’m comfortable with this amount and somehow also feel good and think that I’m not earning €10,000 per month and “screwing the participants” with what I consider to be very high fees for workshops, coaching or therapy. I charge €100 per hour for private clients for therapy and coaching. I have concluded that individual and couples sessions take a lot of presence and energy and skills from me and that I don’t want to do them much cheaper. (At times, though, I do give discounts to people with lower incomes.) For me, it’s important that the exchange feels right: I give all I have to give and I receive the monetary exchange that feels right to me. 

At times earlier in my life, I earned a lot more money, around €10,000 a month. And to earn that money, I also experienced a lot more stress and increasing responsibility and less fun. I worked more hours and was expected to be available during evenings and weekends. While I’m glad that I had experienced all that, I don’t want that for myself anymore.

Our fixed costs include:

• website & email hosting and domains: €50
• various subscriptions (Zoom, Active Campaign newsletter provider program, MeetUp, some plugins for website): €300 per month
• Honesty Europe staff (Chelsea!), supporting us with social media, YouTube, newsletters, etc.: approx. €500 per month
• IT support: approx. €100 per month
• bookkeeper: €200 per month
• working space in Helsinki: €50 per month
• phone and Internet: around €200 per month
• my work supervision: €150 per month

Total: around €1350 per month

And we pay corporate taxes, plus 21% VAT on all workshop fees.

Some one-off costs have included building the website, building the web shop, etc.

From a workshop fee, the costs are: the 21% VAT, the fee for service providers for money transaction in the web shop, space rental, snacks, travels costs for me and/or Pete, and lodging and food if outside of Amsterdam/Helsinki and 10% payment of the income to Radical Honesty.

So what is the reason I talked about all these figures?

Am I wanting to justify the cost of a workshop or a coaching session? Maybe yes. And I also want to start to encourage you and me and everyone to talk about money. I judge numbers are just numbers. We make them mean something. Maybe self-worth or pride or shame or, in my case, the “right exchange” (appreciation) for my time and knowledge and skills.

Let’s talk about money!

Tell someone how much you earn who does not yet know. How does that feel in your body?

What is your relationship with money?

Love,
Tuulia and Pete

PS: Do you yearn for more honesty and time in nature? Then check our upcoming retreats in Finland!