Money Musings 💭 This is a little embarrassing 🙈
Okay, are you ready to laugh?
In my first job, I had the opportunity to invest in a 401(k). Magic. ✨ I’d heard that’s a good thing and it was important to sign up. (Yes, yes! I’m cheering 22-year-old Ashley on!). 👏
Signing up sounded simple enough but when I went to actually do it, it wasn’t quite so straightforward. Did I want to contribute to a Roth or Traditional 401(k)? There were 25 investment options. Which should I choose?
Well, I had heard diversification was a good thing, so I invested half in the Roth and half in the Traditional.
Then decided to invest in EVERY investment option (ALL 25) in both accounts. That meant I invested 2% of my portfolio in each of the investment options in both the Roth and Traditional accounts.
Needless to say, there was a lot going on in there!
The truth is, even though my account was much more complicated than it needed to be, it was MUCH better that I got started than not. If I waited until I knew more, I would have been waiting a long time.
It would have been 3-4 years of missed retirement investing (and matching!) until I started actively pursuing my money journey.
Also, the wild thing is, this was my experience when I had a company 401(k) plan. There are even more investing options when you open up your own IRA or are a business owner navigating retirement plans. 🤪
Long story short, just get started! It doesn’t have to be perfect. You’ll notice this is a theme of mine across all personal finance topics.
And if you want more info, check out chapters 7 and 8 in my most recent book Financial Adulting as well as my free investing guide.
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
PARTY WITH YOUR MONEY SERIES - PART 2: HOW WILL YOU MAKE IT FUN?
You scheduled your Money Party, now onto the fun part. 😉
I call them money parties for a reason. How will you make yours fun? Pour your favorite beverage, put on a money party playlist, light a candle, or get in your comfiest clothes.
If you’re not sure what will make your money party fun, it’s okay to experiment. Try different things to see what has you look forward to your money parties.
I also recommend a reward system. ✨It might sound silly, but rewarding ourselves really works. Is there something you can give yourself as a reward for completing your money party? It could be as simple as crossing it off your to-do list (so rewarding!) or watching your favorite show guilt-free.
Always follow through and give yourself the reward you decide on. If you don’t, you’ll start to learn it’s not coming. This can derail your motivation.
How will you make your money party fun?
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
YOUR FAVORITE SUMMER FRUGAL JOYS.
Frugal joys are free or inexpensive things and experiences that make us happy. 😃
The best part about them is that we can add more of them to our lives without increasing our expenses. We can also use them to replace more expensive things and reduce our spending (without losing the joy in our lives).
Frugal joys are true win-wins.
Summer is my favorite frugal joy season because there are so many options when the weather is warm. I polled you - the Fiscal Femme community - to hear about your favorite frugal joys. I’m excited to try many of these out myself!
If you missed the poll on Instagram, hit reply and let me know here and I’ll add your recs to the list!
MY TRAVEL JOURNEY
SAVVY-ISH PACKING.
When we were getting down to the wire for our trip, I was thinking a lot about packing. 🧳 I’m the kind of person who always forgets something even when I have an organized list so I take packing pretty seriously.
I also know that more luggage means more hassle so I wanted to manage the inevitably tremendous amount of stuff we would be traveling with.
Here’s how I thought about it:
We only brought 5 sets of everything (shirts, shorts, socks, etc.) for the kids. We will do laundry a lot but it seems like no matter how much we bring we usually do anyway 😆
For things that run out, I didn't pack a supply for the entire trip. Buying things like sunscreen, soap, toothpaste, etc. will be part of our world as locals. This definitely lightens the load!
Kids carried their own backpacks. 🎒 This is a newbie for us and it has made a big difference. Kids had their own snacks and toys at the ready so we don’t have to overstuff the diaper bag
We brought a travel stroller that folds up small and a kickstand so both kids could ride
I was very tempted to bring the kids’ scooters and helmets but the helmets are quite bulky and I got a tidbit nervous thinking about them scooting across busy streets. I didn't regret this!
We didn't bring a travel crib because my youngest jumps out of them and we thought he'd be okay with the bed, but we ended up buying one in Madrid for everyone's happiness 🤪
We brought 2 travel carseats for easy transport to and from airports and for when we wanted to hop in a taxi
For the flight back, we have unlimited luggage so I packed an empty duffle in case we want to do a bit of shopping at our last stop
We ended up with 2 checked suitcases (one medium and one large), the stroller, 2 travel car seats, 2 kid backpacks, the diaper bag and my purse. Not too shabby, right?!
your weekly money wins
Here are all the amazing money moves you made this week
Amy S: Started my HSA and will max out my contributions by year end
Dzenana: Made a budget for my vacation
Doga: Checked the cost of soy sauce, coffee, vitamins, and sunscreen beforehand and saved $67
Danielle A: Rolled an old retirement account into my Roth IRA
Ali D: Caught an overcharge on my internet bill and fixed it - with an actual human!
Valerie P: My HSA hit $3,000 and I invested a portion!
Ariel F: I ate at home!
Phoenix: Not feeling guilt over using savings for an emergency that came up
Dionne R: had enough money in funds to get 2 wisdom teeth out!
Sarah G: My student loans are approved for forgiveness through PSLF finally!
Jessica: Going to buy 3 boxes of contacts online so I get 10% off and 10% cash back via Rakuten