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How to be your own financial coach

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How to be your own financial coach

A coach is someone who helps us create goals, overcome setbacks, and break through the barriers holding us back from those goals. They hold us accountable and are our biggest cheerleaders. Every time I’ve hired a coach for a specific goal, I immediately feel excited and more confident that I will actually achieve the goals I set out to accomplish.

A good financial coach is no different. A financial coach should help us get clear on what’s important to us, set goals that are aligned with our values, and then help us get there. They ask good questions. They create a judgment-free zone. They help us keep going when we fail or make mistakes.

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How to Plan for Maternity Leave When You are Self-employed

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How to Plan for Maternity Leave When You are Self-employed

Congrats! You are having a baby! As someone who’s self-employed, you not only have the normal parenting fears and questions like “will I ever sleep again?” but also the big question mark around parental leave. How much time can I take? How much time will I need and want? Will my business survive without me? And often the most concerning - how will I afford this?

I get it and so do many others. Here’s a step-by-step guide to navigating parental leave as an entrepreneur or freelancer.

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The Best Black-Owned Banks

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The Best Black-Owned Banks

Over and over again in the United States, the Black community has been stripped of wealth through policies, scandals, and even massacres. This has created and perpetuated a racial wealth gap. It will take 228 years for Black families to amass as much wealth as white families if current policies stay in place.

One of the institutions that have played a major role in the racial wealth gap and the United States’ racist past is banks. Due to racial discrimination, the Black community hasn’t had access to banking products and services at all or in the same way that white folx have.

Does it make sense to pay for childcare?

Does it make sense to pay for childcare?

The cost of childcare has risen dramatically in recent years. Since the 1990’s, the cost increases have doubled that of inflation, making it completely unaffordable for many families and a tremendous financial strain on others.

It makes sense that parents with two incomes question when it makes financial sense for one of them to take time away from their current job to work inside the home on childcare. Does it make financial sense to pay for childcare? Is the cost of childcare worth it?

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Budgeting for a Move

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Budgeting for a Move

Right now, there’s a lot of moving going on. Some are moving in with family in order to save on rent, some living in expensive cities with indefinite WFH plans are moving to cheaper locations, and others are pushing up their plans to move to the suburbs in order to have more space.

Regardless of why you’re moving, it’s never easy to move - and it’s expensive. Most of us don’t actually plan for the cost of moving and even when we do, we grossly underestimate what it will cost. This can cause us a lot of stress and affect our financial goals. If you are budgeting for a move in the near future, here’s how to do it

The Fiscal Femme Anonymous Spending Survey

The Fiscal Femme Anonymous Spending Survey

When I first started my money journey it was really helpful to see how much people were spending on certain things. Not because it was important to compare myself with others or that I should spend my money the same way. But more because it opened my eyes to what was possible and gave me a spending frame of reference.

I remember finding out that one of my friends spent a fraction of what I was spending on food and dining out. Yet, her life didn’t seem that much different from mine. It made me realize I had a lot of room for improvement.

Do Some Meal Planning to Save Money (and Time)

Do Some Meal Planning to Save Money (and Time)

Groceries have been in the spending spotlight the last few months as we’ve stockpiled (often marked-up) shelf stabilized goods and haven’t had the opportunity to dine out.

I noticed that being crunched for time with work and toddler, J and I turned to the same meals over and over. I got really sick of eating the same things and did a complete 180. I went too far in the other direction and started spending way too much precious evening time pinning Pinterest recipes that were complicated and time consuming and left me frustrated and ready to order pizza (again).

We’ve since found our groove. Here’s what’s worked for us as far as meal planning to save money and time.

How to Financially Prepare for Having a Baby

How to Financially Prepare for Having a Baby

Only 25% of the parents in the Fiscal Femme community felt financially prepared to have a child. Most reported that they didn’t really know how they were going to make it all work financially but they figured it out.

I share this because if you are ready to have kids but aren’t feeling prepared financially, you are not alone.

We hear kids are expensive (to say that least), but what does it even mean to prepare financially? What can we do to prepare ourselves for this big change? Is it worth delaying starting a family if we aren’t financially ready?

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Switch to an Ethical and Socially Responsible Bank

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Switch to an Ethical and Socially Responsible Bank

How and why to switch to an ethical, green, and socially responsible bank.

At the Fiscal Femme, we’re all about aligning our spending and investing with our values. Every time we make a spending decision, we’re voting with our values. In an ideal world, we should be able to look at our recent spending and have a good idea of what’s important to us.