Spending smarter, family finances and making money fun: a conversation with Mat Megens

In this week’s episode of the Investing Insiders Podcast, we were joined by the founder of HyperJar and award-winning author Mat Megens.

His recently published book “10 Things I Love About Money” scooped the Investing Insiders Best Book for Personal Finance (Gold) Award in 2025.

During the episode, he took us back to how growing up in a large family in Canada shaped his approach to finance.

Top tips that parents can use to help their children learn about money.

And his strategy to help us become smarter spenders and save more money.

Here’s a roundup of some of his best bits:

Growing up in Canada
“Money was quite openly discussed in our family, and I was always close to my dad. It was something that was very much top of his mind. As I mention in the book, he absolutely hated debt. All debt was bad, really bad, to the point that he paid off his mortgage within just a few years.

If they had a credit card, it was purely for practical reasons, maybe to book a hotel room or something, but it was never used to carry debt. So I was always taught that mindset. And actually, I think it was a really good lesson, because debt is one of the biggest problems facing young people today, whether that’s buy now pay later schemes or credit cards becoming extensions of trying to live a certain lifestyle.

None of my siblings have ever had debt issues, so from that perspective, we all learned those lessons well. One of the biggest things from my childhood was that openness around talking about money and addressing things before they became problems.

That’s something I’ve carried into my own family. With my kids, we’ve always talked about money and been open about it, even when there is stress involved.”

Becoming a savvy spender
“DON is your daily one number. It’s your daily surplus or deficit. Every single day, you are either spending in surplus or in deficit. A tiny surplus over time can lead to a great financial future, while a tiny deficit can lead to a really difficult one.

And that’s something most people do not quite understand. Most people have no idea what their daily surplus or deficit actually is.”

Make finances fun
“There is always a trade-off in life, and some of those trade-offs need to be okay. You might decide, ‘I am going to sacrifice this consumption today because I want to invest in my future.’

In my book, I try to get across the idea that saving and accumulation can actually be fun, because once you get into it, it really is. It is enjoyable to watch something grow. You want to try and gamify it.

This is also where I think FinTech has a big opportunity, to gamify saving and investing and make it as fun as spending. Spending gives you that dopamine rush, and often people will buy something today and then buy something again tomorrow because the rush from yesterday has already gone.”

Want to hear more? Check out the full episode of the Investing Insiders Podcast.