Money Musings 💠The road ahead…
The Fiscal Femme started as a blog back in 2011 where on a challenge from my life coach, I started sharing about my own money journey on the internet.
Despite my fears, the response was very positive. Other personal finance websites asked me to write for them because they wanted to feature a young woman’s voice talking about money (which was very unique in 2011!). And people started reaching out asking me for help with their finances.
I ended up getting my coaching certification (via IPEC) because I was inspired by the work I was doing with my own coach and I had been drawn to behavior / mental health from a young age.
The coaching program recommended that I specialize as a coach and given the work I was doing, I decided to call myself a money coach. I swear I invented the term!
Many were confused about what a money coach was, but the people who resonated with my work and needed help found me. My coaching business started to grow.
Working with clients one-on-one I noticed trends in the challenges people were having. To help more people, I created The 30-Day Money Cleanse program as a course (first live and audio-only!). Five years later it went on to become my first book.
Long story short, the Fiscal Femme is now a feminist money platform where I share a bunch of free resources (downloadable tools / guides, newsletters, social content) and sell books and courses on all things personal finance.
Looking back, the evolution of the business seems very tidy, thoughtful and organized but as I was going through it, I had no idea where it was going.
Looking forward, I want to continue to learn and evolve with you, our incredible Fiscal Femme community.
I’d love your feedback on what you want next and what you’d like to see from this newsletter and me.
AND of course, you’ll get the chance to win a cash 💰 prize for sharing here!
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
CREATE A PLAN FOR GIVING.
Giving is one of the wonderful ways we can use our money to vote for our values and invest in the world we’d like to see. It’s a beautiful thing.
Despite our best of intentions, giving can work a lot like saving and it’s really easy to put it on the back burner.
We might wait to do it until there’s money leftover or until we have an overflow of money. Then, we end up waiting and waiting and waiting... I’m guilty of this too!
The cool thing is, we don’t have to give a lot to start the practice. Even setting up a small recurring contribution of $5 or $10 to an organization doing work that’s important to us is a great way to flex that muscle 💪 and make a difference.
And that way, when you have more to give, you are already a pro and in the practice of giving. You can turn it up from there!
Where are you giving or where do you want to give? I’d love to hear about your favorite organizations.
Here are some of the organizations experts I interviewed for Financial Adulting are giving to.
If you are not in a position to give, that’s okay too. Make sure you are taking care of yourself financially, first and foremost. Like they say, put your own oxygen mask on before helping others.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
NATIVE WOMEN’S EQUAL PAY DAY.
Today, November 30th, is Native Women’s Equal Pay Day. Native Women earn $0.50 for every $1 a white man earns. That means Native Women have to work eleven additional months into the year to earn what a white man earned during the previous year.
Even worse, the gap is going in the wrong direction and has widened an additional $0.10 (or 17%) since last year.
From AAUW:
More research and data are needed in this area, especially with respect to factors that cause and perpetuate the pay gap. We do know that Native people face high rates of unemployment, poverty and violence as well as limited access to education and health care, and Native women experience intersectional discrimination based on race and gender and other factors. There’s also a pay gap between Native men (who in turn have a pay gap compared with other men) and Native women.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified the inequalities Native women face. This is particularly true for those who live on reservations, where economic opportunities are often limited and rely heavily on casinos and public sector employment. Learn more about the state-by-state earnings for American Indian and Alaska Native women.
Want to do more? Here are more resources:
Rep. Deb Haaland: Native American women are paid far less than white men—here’s a way to fix it
Institute for Women’s Policy Research: A Decade with No Improvement: Native Women and the Wage Gap
Lean in: Native American women face a pay gap—and that’s part of a much bigger problem