About Alexander Whaley

My journey with money started like most people’s – I was absolutely terrible with it. After earning my degree in science and building a career in global sales, I found myself drowning in 200K of personal debt and staring at a 500K mortgage that felt impossible to conquer.

The irony? I was making good money, but I had no idea how to manage it. I thought wealth was about earning more. Turns out, it’s about what you do with what you earn – a lesson I learned the hard way through my own expensive mistakes.

I’m sharing my story because I remember exactly what it feels like to open credit card statements with shaking hands, to lie awake at night doing mental math that never adds up, and to wonder if I’m just bad with money while everyone else seems to have it figured out. Spoiler alert: most people are struggling just like I was.

My wake-up call came when I calculated that I would paying over 50% of my monthly salary just in to manage my debt. As someone who approaches problems like a scientist, I decided to turn my financial mess into a research project.

My sales background meant I already understood systems and processes – I just needed to apply that thinking to my finances. Through trial and error (mostly error at first), I began to see patterns. I discovered which strategies worked for my personality and lifestyle, and which ones felt like punishment I couldn’t sustain long-term.

Most importantly, I learned that money management isn’t about deprivation – it’s about alignment with what actually matters to you.

In my third year of this financial experiment, something clicked. The system I had been refining started working more consistently. My debt snowball was actually rolling. The budgeting methods I had adapted to fit my life weren’t just sustainable – they were becoming automatic.

More importantly, I had developed a framework that didn’t feel restrictive or complicated. It felt like I had finally learned to speak the language of money.

My professional life has always been about numbers and systems. As a global sales leader in the scientific industry, I learned how to break down complex processes into actionable steps. I spent years helping companies optimize their sales funnels and improve their bottom lines.

Turns out, the same analytical skills that helped me increase company profits also helped me optimize my personal finances. The systematic approach I used to improve church finances by 300% (volunteer work I did after getting my own house in order) is the same one I applied to my debt elimination journey.

Science taught me to test hypotheses and measure results. Sales taught me that human psychology matters as much as mathematics. Both disciplines shaped how I approach money management – with equal parts logic and understanding that we’re emotional beings making financial decisions.

I started Straight Fire Money in 2023 because I was tired of seeing good people feel bad about money. The financial advice industry often makes people feel stupid for struggling, or presents get-rich-quick schemes that prey on desperation.

After getting my own finances sorted, friends started asking questions. Then friends of friends. Eventually, I realized that the system I had developed for myself might help others who were in the same situation I had been in.

My goal is simply to share what I learned through my own expensive trial and error, in case it might help someone else avoid the same mistakes I made.