Money Musings 💭 A money mindset secret
I’m thrilled to have Ayana, founder of @millennialmoney.guide, writing today’s Money Musing as our final takeover for Women’s History Month. 🤗
AYANA’S REFLECTION
Ayana here from 🙋🏾♀️ 💸 Millennial Money Guide! Can I let you in a little secret?
Even the most perfect budget spreadsheet, savings strategies, and debt payoff plans can't fix a broken money mindset 🤭
Tackling your relationship with money and how you think about it is foundational work on the road to financial success.
And part of this journey requires overcoming limiting beliefs aka those negative thoughts and feelings that keep us from moving forward.
Let’s see if these sound familiar to you:
❌ I’m so broke
❌ I’m going to die with this debt
❌ Money is the root of all evil
❌ I’m just bad with money
These beliefs are sneaky, creep in slowly over time, and if left unaddressed, they can influence every money move you make (or don’t make).
👎 You never build healthy savings habits or invest for the future because you think you’ll always be broke
👎 You never start your debt-free journey because it feels pointless
👎 You don’t pursue new job opportunities or business ideas because you fear that having too much money is evil or leads to corruption
👎 You never attempt to manage your money well because you believe being bad with money is just a part of your DNA
See how that works?
How to Fix Limiting Beliefs
One of the best ways to let go of limiting beliefs is by giving yourself new positive affirmations to cling to instead.
What Are Affirmations?
Affirmations are powerful statements that help you gain control of your conscious thoughts. These statements influence your actions which become what shape your reality.
Do They Really Work?
Yes, but only if you do! The truth is reciting affirmations won’t flip a magic switch and automatically change your reality. But affirmations can:
✨ Boost your mood
✨ Improve your outlook
✨ Clarify your goals-driven focus
✨ Motivate intentional action
All of which are important and necessary on the road to winning with your money.
Do This Now
1️⃣ CREATE powerful present-tense affirmations that speak to the reality you envision for yourself.
2️⃣ WRITE them down and place them in a highly visible area such as on your bathroom mirror or nightstand. You want to see them every day.
3️⃣ RECITE them daily out loud. Whether it’s first thing in the morning, during your lunch break, or right before bed, vocalizing your affirmations is super important.
Improving your money mindset won't happen overnight but I hope these tips inspire you to take the first step!
P.S. Money mindset is just one of the many topics we dive into during 💸 🙌 👩🎓Money Goals Academy, my 10-week group coaching program designed to equip you with the knowledge, tools, and accountability you need to successfully and CONFIDENTLY manage your financial life!
The next round starts May 2021! Want to see if this program is the right fit for you? I’d love to tell you all about it on a FREE DISCOVERY CALL.
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
Understand key tax terms. The tax deadline has been extended to May 17th 🎉 but we'll still eventually have to file our taxes. Thanks to tax companies like TurboTax (owned by Intuit) and H&R Block who lobby millions of dollars to keep us from switching to a simple and free tax filing system, we have to navigate a complex and arduous tax process each year. 😡 I wrote more about that here.
That being said, if you earn under $72K, under the Free File Act of 2016 you might qualify to have your taxes done for free . And if you are looking to hire an accountant, check our Accountants of Color's directory of accountants.
Unfortunately, regardless of who does our taxes, we’re responsible for the outcome so we want to have an understanding of what’s going on. I like this list of ten key tax terms to give you the lay of the land.
P.S. I'm SO excited to be hosting a FREE Tax Prep Q&A event with Accountants of Color on March 26th at 1 pm EST. Sign up here.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Equal Pay Day for women. ICYMI, today is Equal Pay Day — the day that women have to work to in order to earn the same amount that their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts did in the previous year. Ugh. That’s an extra three months. Or as EqualPayDayToday.org put it, "if you look at a typical 9:00-5:00 work day, women start working for free at 2:40 p.m."
Women earn $0.82 for every $1.00 a white, non-Hispanic male earns, meaning that we worked until March 24, 2021 to earn what a white man earned in 2020.
It’s very important to note that this stat is an average for all women. BIPOC-women earn far less. Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is on August 3rd ($0.63 for every dollar), Native American Women’s Equal Pay Day is on September 8th ($0.60 for every dollar), and Latina’s Equal Pay Day is on October 21st ($0.55 for every dollar).
If you’re sick of earning less for doing the same job or you’re just sick of hearing about this, here's what needs to happen to close the gap.