Finance Group Interview #1

I had a great time at this interview.  It was so fun to talk about FFC and starting our women's finance group!

Money Babies at the Car Lot

 

This billboard is on the edge of our car lot.  (It kindly gives us some positive advertising without even knowing it.)

  

I finally looked up www.feedthepig.org and recommend it to everyone as a good resource for getting fiscally fit.  It is fun, interactive, and even has a Tween site.  You should check it out!

Dishes + Documentaries= $$

This past month I have noticed how much the media I watch/listen/read effects my spending and savings habits.

Sometimes I indulge myself in reality shows.  ( I particularly like Million Dollar Listing, Selling New York, and Selling LA.)  These reality shows have an unnatural lure for me to want to buy gigantic homes while wearing high heels and tight skirts.  A lot of the time I comment on how crazy the agents are or how terrible the buyers are, and pretty much every time I end up wanting to have more.

This week I had an interesting 'about face' when I finished an episode of Million Dollar Listing and then tackled the dishes.  Dishes, laundry, and making meals used to feel like a tedious time waste for me, but now I often watch Netflix on a tablet device or listen to books on CD while working on these chores.  I immediately found a documentary called I Am on Netflix.  I remembered hearing an NPR interview with the documentary creator, Tom Shadyac.  He is the famous director of movies like Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty, and Nutty Professor.  What I heard from the interview was that he sold his huge Hollywood mansion and now lives in a mobile home.  I was curious why he did it, especially since I had just watched a show making me salivate for one of those Hollywood mega-houses.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

Inspired by the message of what we can do to change the world, I completely flipped my thoughts from 2 hours earlier and wanted to start selling all my belongings, build my savings, and serve others.  (Bonus- I also got the dishes done, bathroom clean, dinner made and floor swept.)

For our October FFC (Fiscally Fit Chicks) meeting we will be focusing on the concept of allowing media to shape our spending and saving habits.  I think it will be a great discussion on how we can use the media technology for our financial gain, or our financial failure.

I invite you to explore your media emotions as well.  It has been pretty eye-opening for me.

Self Reliance

"Are you financially self-reliant?"

 

This week I had a couple of discussions with other ladies about self reliance. 

In our conversations all the women agreed that being self-reliant meant we needed to educate ourselves enough to provide for ourselves and our families in all facets of life.  Interestingly, when I asked the women if they felt self-reliant in their family finances, many shoulders shrugged and eyes turned downward in embarrassment.   

In my case, I bring in very little money for my family every month.  I could easily assume that my role is to care for the home and family, but money should be my husband's responsibility because he is the one who makes it.  That type of thinking is the opposite of being self-reliant. 

The ladies I spoke with all agreed that they needed to educate themselves more on their finances, but it is so much easier trusting their spouse with all of it!  I know it is not always fun and it takes a little more time to face the finance world, but the end result is peace of mind and confidence. 

So if you want to work on financial self-reliance this month, start with 3 easy to reach goals:

1.  With a notebook in hand, ask your spouse or find out yourself how much money you have in your accounts.
2.  Write down what bills are paid every month and HOW they get paid (via credit card, online, paper, checking, etc.)
3.  Buy a safe and put your notebook -that you will continue to write in as you go- inside it.

Easy steps that will start you on your way to self reliance. 

 

No Soliciting

About a month ago, I had yet another solicitor successfully rope me into buying a $75 children's book that I have absolutely zero desire to own.  (I still haven't received the book.)  The minute after the young woman in search of a better life where she can support her daughter and live in a safe environment left my home, I had instant buyer's remorse.

"Are you kidding me?  How did I let that just happen?  And I'm suppose to be a strong, confident, woman?"

So, I typed this sign up on my computer and as you can see, very beautifully taped it to my front door with duct tape.

I left it on for a week or so and realized why I was truly upset with myself.

In our last finance meeting, we had just read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO.  She writes inspiring words about being strong women and speaking up in life.  I loved the book and felt motivated to be even stronger in my conversations and views in personal and professional life.  Putting the No Solicitors! sign on my door was a crutch to make it so I wouldn't have to face an uncomfortable experience that gave me the opportunity to stand up for myself.  I was not "Leaning In"  I was being a coward and "backing up".

So I ripped the sign down (it was also very tacky to have yellow duct tape be the eye catcher for my house).  I vowed to be stronger- and be prepared for circumstances that might push me out of my comfort zones and require me to speak up. 

We'll see how it goes.

Goal!

"You've got to have goals."

...Zig Ziglar

Growing up, Zig Ziglar's southern drawl was a familiar voice on all of our cross country trips.  Dad would put his cassette tape in the 15 passenger van stereo and all of us kids would be forced to listen to Zig Ziglar give supreme advice about business and sales and motivation. 

As a Fiscally Fit Chick, we live by Mr. Ziglar's statement.

The key to financial success with a finance group, is to set goals and then hold each other accountable at the next meeting.  In our meetings we start the year with one BIG goal.  

Example:  Pay off the entire balance of a credit card.  or Our entire group set a goal that we would have our Wills and Trusts together by Dec. 31st.

The due date for that goal is one year from that date. 

The key to reaching the BIG one is setting (and reaching) smaller monthly goals.

For example:  1.  Pay $25 extra to my CC balance.   

                      2.  Talk to my husband about who would take the kids if something happened to us.

                      3.  Call 2 lawyers and get quotes for putting together an estate plan.

These are reachable, small, easy to accomplish goals.  At my next meeting I would report my fantastic success at setting and reaching these goals and my friends would give me praise and cheers- 

"You did it!"

"So Awesome!" 

"An inspiration..."  and so on.

I often hear BIG financial advice that says, "all debt must be paid in full", "IRA's and 401K's must be fully funded", "College savings should have started in utero," "etc."

I believe this advice is very good, but very scary too.  

Setting these small, reachable goals every month with friends that want to see you succeed is the best way to accomplish the BIG stuff.  

Your First Meeting

September has just begun!

Back to school means back to an actual schedule and is a FANTASTIC time to start shaping up financially. (Another perk, kids are in school.  Therefore background noise, whining, and interruptions are decreased by 1/2 for your finance meetings.  You may think you are in heaven instead of at a kitchen table!  Enjoy it.)

So, call some of your friends and invite them to join you in becoming the hottest coupon shopping, college-saving, stock investing, organized, DIY ladies in town.

Keeping your lovely group to about a 7 person max, you will want to have your charter meeting and lay it all out.

Here is an example of what we discussed at our charter meeting.  (Quick sidebar- you may soon realize that your drive to become the best looking billionaire in Forbes magazine may not be the same drive as many of the ladies you spoke to.  Therefore, remind them to come to your first meeting and keep smiling when only one shows up.  It will get better.)

Agenda:

Welcome Everyone!  What were the best and worst financial events that happened to you last month? (This is the time that friends can cheer on successes and sympathize with one another for our failures.)
 Example:

• Best- I did not buy the Crate and Barrel outdoor chaise lounge that was on sale for $999, instead found an entire set of clearance Home Depot outdoor furniture for only $400!
• Worst-  I took that $400 out of my grocery cash budget and therefore only have $300 to last me the entire month of September. 

What are some topics we want to cover in our meetings?
Some of our Favorites:

• Organizing financial paperwork (annoying but so super important)
• Happiness and Money
• Wills and Trusts
• College Savings Plans
• Negotiating (with sales people, bosses, yard sale attendees, etc.)
• Real Estate
• Savings Tips
• Debt
•  Women and Business
• To coupon or not to coupon
• Review a great book!  Check out the Books We Reviewed link at the top of the page, there are a ton of goodies and I still need to add more.

What should we name our group?

What are some ground rules?
Some of ours:

• We only share the personal financial information our spouses would be comfortable with us sharing.
• We do not share our group members financial woes with people outside of the group. 
• We only meet at zero cost locations.
• If you host a meeting, you can not buy refreshments for the group that day- you have to already have it in your pantry.

What should we cover next month?

What 3 goals will you set this month? Make them small and easily reachable.
Examples:

• Keep track of all of my spending.
• Buy a file box to start organizing my paperwork.
• Put $50 in my kids savings account.

When should we meet next month?

Adjourned.

You now have popcorn strewn across your home, toys on the floor by every toy box and possible crayon on your walls, but no matter.  You have just burned hundreds of financial calories by taking the first big step in changing your fiscally fit future.  You are awesome and you have awesome friends.