Money Musings 💭 Kamala, = pay 💰, and my breakdown 😩
Before we celebrate 🎉 the first woman of color VP nominee and I launch into my funny story, I have some exciting news. We are hosting our first themed Money Party… Student Loans Demystified. It’s going to be a (FREE) Money Party all about student loans. YES! 🙌
If you have student loans or plan on getting some in the near future, I highly recommend joining.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
What Kamala Harris’ nomination as the first woman of color VP and Black Women’s Equal Pay Day have in common. I’ve moved things around this week because we just got some big news - Joe Biden chose Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, making her the first woman of color nominated on a major party’s ticket. 🥳
Not only is Harris “more than fit for the job” (according to Barack Obama), leadership that represents the diversity of the people matters.
Ironically, tomorrow, August 13th is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. Black women earn $0.62 for every $1 a white, non-hispanic man earns. The date signifies how far into 2020 Black women have to work (7.5 months…) to earn what a white man took home the year before. Put another way, Black women have to work 19 months to earn what a white man earns in 12 months.
The pay gap for Black women is compounded by both discrimination based on race and sex, and is also perpetuated by the racial wealth gap Black families face. This gap not only affects Black women themselves but also their families. 80% of Black mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners of their families.
What can we do about it? Closing the tremendous pay gaps and wealth gaps BIPOC and womxn face will take major systemic changes. Changes that come from policy, leadership and our institutions. These changes start with our vote! ✊
REFLECTION FROM ASHLEY
Okay so if you want to laugh (mostly at me)... 🤣 A few days ago, I had one of those days where you just want to go to sleep and try again the next day. For me, they usually happen when I haven’t gotten enough sleep.
Right before we went to bed I broke down. I cried to J - “I have no idea how I’m going to make this all work.” I started rattling off everything on my plate - “ I’m 34 weeks pregnant, everything hurts, we’re taking care of E on our own while trying to work full-time, the apartment is a disaster, we’re never going to finish cleaning the kitchen...”
Now, don’t hate me. I know I sound like an a-hole. We are so privileged - we are lucky to have jobs, a home to clean, to be pregnant and live with an adorable toddler. Get some real problems Ashley. I know… it’s embarrassing. BUT it’s important to share for the context of the story.
J listened intently and then in the nicest way possible said - “I hear you - it’s a lot.” Then, he paused and said “maybe now is not the best time to deep clean the kitchen and reorganize the pantry?”
I started laughing hysterically. 🤣 Like uncontrollably laughing so hard I choked.
A few months ago J and I decided to clean 1-2 rooms of our apartment per weekend so it felt manageable but never got too gross. We were going strong until we got to the kitchen. It’s been four weekends and we’re not even halfway done cleaning it (don’t ask). 🤦♀️
The point is - deep cleaning the kitchen is an absolutely self-imposed goal that’s not important at all. And I’ve been torturing myself (really both of us! LOL) with it.
J gave me the sweet reminder that it’s actually okay and important to reassess our goals. With so many things changing and up in the air, not to mention new stressors and responsibilities during this pandemic, it’s only natural for our focus to change.
Can you relate? 🙋♀️ Have you ever done this? What goals are you holding on to that no longer make sense?
Maybe you’re punishing yourself for not reaching a financial goal you made at the beginning of 2020 that’s no longer realistic. Or maybe you’re torturing yourself with wildly optimistic expectations about what can get done in your new normal (like me).
Now is a great time to reassess and let go of the goals that no longer make sense. I feel a sigh of relief already.
If you want some accountability and inspiration around your reassessed money goals, join us in the Fiscal Femme Slack Community. We’re now 400 strong (and I mean STRONG). 👊
We are in there answering questions, supporting each other, holding each other accountable and sharing resources every day. 💚
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
Create a system for your passwords. When you sit down to have your Money Parties, one of the most annoying and time-consuming things can be logging into your accounts. You forget a password, have to reset it to something completely obscure because you’ve used up all of your typical password combos and then if you’re anything like me, you have no idea what the password is next time and the process happens all over again.
Add to this nuisance that fraud is on the rise. We want to have very strong passwords and dual authentication set up so that our logins are as secure as possible.
The answer is to come up with a system for your passwords. Create a code for yourself so you can easily remember or reference your passwords. It doesn’t have to be a system you pay for, just keeping track somewhere safe (and even using some code words) will do the trick. You can also save passwords when you sign in on your computer so that you don’t have to deal with finding them for a few months. I know this can seem like a hassle but saving ourselves 5-10 minutes every time we are working on something from our financial to-do list really adds up. And it will save you the pang of frustration as you go to reset your password, yet again.