Money Musings: small steps for the win

Money Musings 💭  small steps 👣 for the win

As a bit of a Type A person, I often go after goals in an aggressive way. 

An example: If I got inspired to reorganize my apartment after watching the Home Edit series on Netflix, I’d typically go all in for a weekend or two and just get it done. I might even clear some of my work schedule. 😂

With the current pandemic, having a second child and not having childcare, this wasn’t happening. Finding large chunks of time took major planning and maneuvering. 

Instead of giving up my projects completely during my maternity leave, I reset my expectations and decided to take small steps

5 minutes turned into a reorganized shelf. A couple minutes turned into 10 burpees so I could get some exercise. 20 minutes with the baby napping on my chest allowed me to organize a month of my photos. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t always productive. This burpee loving organizer also rewatched the entire Sex and the City series (who's excited for the reunion?! 🤗 ) and scrolled Instagram for more hours than I care to count while eating ice cream. 🍨 

BUT despite having very little time to dedicate to much of anything other than the kids, I was seeing real progress. And I was actually enjoying my projects MORE because they weren't so overwhelming or tedious. 

This also applies to our financial lives (c’mon, you know I can’t help going there). 

Yes, there’s a lot we can learn and optimize when it comes to our money. But that doesn’t mean we have to carve out full weekends and look at spreadsheets until our eyes hurt 😳  to make progress. 

We’re most likely to keep up with it, and see the best results, if we take it one step at a time. 

This is why I give you a ‘Money Move of the Week’ and this is why the Fiscal Femme $$$ School is 52 weeks long. A weekly action (or 2 hours per week) is all we need to get our financial sh*t together. 

And when we take it at this pace, the info and habits are much more likely to stay with us, we’ll actually enjoy it, and we’ll see the results we are looking for. 

I’d love for you to join me for the Fiscal Femme $$$ School. Enrollment closes Jan 27th so we can kick off February 1st. 

You can learn more and sign up here. ⬇️ 

 

MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK

Get a money buddy (or a group of money buddies). When we tell someone we are going to do something, we have a 65% chance of actually doing it. That goes up to 95% if we set a check-in date. I like those odds! 

And it makes sense! If you’ve ever had a gym buddy, you know that having one makes it more fun to work out and more likely that you’ll show up at the gym. The same goes for our money. Find a money buddy and complete our weekly ‘Money Move’ together. 

If you’d like some help finding your money buddy, we have you covered. Join our free Fiscal Femme Slack Community for an amazing group of feminist money buddies to hold you accountable, support you in your goals and answer your 💰 questions.

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS

The Hill We ClimbAt five past U.S. presidential inaugurations poets have read or recited poems (I learned there’s a difference) including Maya Angelou’s reading of "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's 1993 inaugural and Robert Frost’s reciting of "The Gift Outright" at John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural. 

At today’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Amanda Gorman will be reading her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” making her the youngest inaugural poet at 22. In this interview with NPR she shares that she was halfway through writing the poem when there was an insurrection at the Capitol. "I was like, 'Well, this is something we need to talk about." 

And in this interview with PopSugar she shares her plans to run for president in 2036 and her mantra to feel empowered - “I am the daughter of Black writers, we are descended from freedom fighters who broke their chains and changed the world. They call me."

Here’s an excerpt from her poem for today: 


We've seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed,

It can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith we trust.

For while we have our eyes on the future,

History has its eyes on us.

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