Money Talk Matters: Why Talking About Money Can Help You Learn Financial Literacy

When you read the title of this post, how did you react? Did you nod your head in agreement, or did you start to squirm? We all have different attitudes about money, and different attitudes about talking about it. Although it’s culturally considered a taboo to talk about money, I believe it’s important.

Whether it be with our friends, children, family members, or neighbors, there are many reasons why talking about money candidly can positively impact both you and those you discuss it with. Here are my top 5 reasons to talk about money more.

Gain Financial Knowledge & Skills

Everyone has a different perspective on money. Everyone grew up with different attitudes and assumptions around it, so everyone has different strategies and tools for working with it. This means that the more conversations you start with others about money, the more you will naturally learn about different money styles. This can also be a great way to stay in the know about current financial issues.

Ensure You’re Valuing Your Work

Whether you are self-employed or an employee at a larger company, it pays to talk about how much you make. For self-employed people, it can be very important to learn what other people in your industry are charging and making. This helps you get a better sense of your industry and what you can charge for your products or services. Many people, especially new business owners, have a tendency to undervalue their work. Talking about money with other small business owners can help you avoid this pitfall.

If you’re an employee of a business, talk with your coworkers to ensure you’re not getting underpaid for your work. This can help you gather the information you need to ask for a raise or seek a higher-paying position.

In either situation, I highly recommend reading my article, “To Increase Your Earnings, Take Action” to help inspire your next steps.

Find an Accountability Buddy

Talking about money goals and spending plans with others can help you stay on track with your financial aspirations. Similarly, you can help provide a level of financial accountability to whoever you talk money with. This is one of many great things you can do with a money buddy. Many people are highly motivated by social accountability, so you may find that this works well for you.

Lower Stress & Anxiety

Talking about money with others can release a lot of emotional burdens. You might have the chance to unpack some shame around your finances, find out that your conditions are normal compared to your peers, or get recommendations for resources that can help you along your financial path. Many people find their stress levels elevate when they think about money. Thinking and talking about it with others can reduce your stress.

Ease Your Relationships

Money can affect your relationships. Talking about money with those close to us in an open, honest way is a skill that pays dividends. You may find that the more you are able to open up and talk calmly about finances, the more at ease your relationships feel.

If you enjoyed this article, you might like to grab your free copy of 9 Secrets to Financial Self Care! Click here or below. Enjoy!

By |2023-02-15T18:14:53-08:00February 15th, 2023|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Why Getting Financial Education is Key to Success

 

Managing your finances, whether business or personal, is a skill. It’s something we need to hone, not just something we might be naturally good at. To grow this skill, we need education!

Financial education has so many benefits to our financial lives. Here are my top 3 for you:

Increasing Your Longterm Wealth

When we hear the phrase “return on investment”, this is the first thing most of us probably think of. Financial education does indeed have a great financial return, especially in the longterm. No matter what type of financial education you pursue, if you implement what you learn, you will increase your longterm wealth.

The knowledge you apply to your financial life will change and improve how you handle money. You may find yourself more capable of making decisions around saving, spending, and investing. Over time this can have compounding positive effects.

This is true both in the case of business and personal finances, by the way! Even just the way that financial education can make you more aware of your money tends to have positive effects on both areas. When you pay more attention to your money, it’s more likely to flourish.

Acquiring Relevant Skills

The skills you learn when you invest in financial education will always be relevant to your life. As far as I know, most of us need to manage our money throughout the course of our lives.

If you are a business owner, the money skills you acquire will be helpful not only to your business, but may also be helpful to your business peers and any people you want to hire or mentor in the future. Money skills really do keep on giving!

A Sense of Peace with Money

In my opinion, this one may be the best of all the benefits. The peace of mind and clarity that come along with getting the financial skills you need to manage your money well are absolutely amazing.

I’ve witnessed many clients experience a great reduction in their stress levels after a few sessions together. Money is one of the leading causes of stress in the U.S. Especially for those managing debt, gaining the financial skills to recover and surmount it can be deeply emotionally healing.

Where Can I Get Financial Education?

In this article, the term “financial education” refers to any resource that helps you better understand your finances. Whether this is a podcast, a YouTube channel, a workshop or class series, or working with a coach or bookkeeper, anything you find helpful in this arena counts!

If you’d like some ideas about finding financial education resources that meet your personal needs, I have a couple articles on finding the best financial education resources for you:

And of course, if you liked this article, you’ll probably love my e-Book, 9 Secrets of Financial Self Care! It walks you through 9 different ways to upgrade your financial life and add self care to your routine. Download it free here.

This post was originally published in July 2021.

By |2022-06-15T09:14:06-07:00June 15th, 2022|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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5 Steps to Educate Yourself to Financial Success

#1 Consider Your Values, Goals, & Dreams

How do you want financial success to feel in your life? To answer this question, consider your values. These are the touchstones that will remind you of your desired feelings.

Now, let’s consider: What are your life goals? To quote my free e-Book Reach Your Life Goals: A Business Owner’s Guide, “they are not only possible, they are financeable.” And the more you know about money and how to use it, the more easily you can reach those goals.

For more ideas on this step, check out my article “Why Your Should Always Base Your Goals on Your Values.”

Once you’re clear on your goals, winnow them down by asking the question at the crux of Gary Keller’s book, The One Thing: “What’s the one thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else is easier or unnecessary?” This question will help point you in the direction you want to go.

#2 Choose a Learning Objective

Once you’ve considered all the above questions, you’ll likely have an idea of where you’re headed in life, and what financial steps you’ll need to take to get there. Based on your ONE big goal, choose a learning objective to focus your financial education efforts on.

For example, if you decide your one big goal is buying a house for you and your family, then your financial learning objective would be learning everything you can about home-buying. From here, you can resolve to research mortgage types, savings strategies, etc.

If you have clear life goals but are unsure what financial moves you need to get savvy on, make figuring this out your first learning objective. Start by researching financial strategies of people who have done what you want to do, talking to a money buddy about your goals, or speaking with experts to get some resources.

#3 Set Up Some Weekly Financial Learning Time

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, then you know that I advocate for doing a weekly money check-in. Not only is this strategy a great way to get tuned into your money and start making better financial decisions, it’s also a my #1 strategy for achieving financial goals.

Why? Because if you set up a system to make time for something, you will accomplish it. The key is setting aside that time regularly and protecting it.

#4 Optional: Make a Timeline

Depending on your learning objective or the style of goal-setting you prefer, you may or may not feel called to do this. I’m including it as an option because making a timeline can be especially helpful in cases where things are time sensitive, such as in the case of contributing to an IRA.

Or, perhaps you’re the type of person who does better with finite timelines. It’s absolutely true that many of us do better with deadlines or milestones ahead of us. I work in 3- and 6-month coaching engagements with people in part because sometimes commitment to drastic financial change feels more possible over a shorter span of time.

If you know this about yourself, you might like to investigate setting 12-week learning goals. This idea comes from the book The 12-Week Year by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington, and might be worth checking out.

#5 Gather Your Resources and Begin!

This is the fun part! Start gathering your learning resources, and then get going. I have a couple recommendations to start you off:

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll almost certainly like reading my free e-Book, Reach Your Life Goals: A Business Owner’s Guide. Click here to download.

By |2022-06-09T17:01:46-07:00June 9th, 2022|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
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My #1 System for Achieving Financial Goals

You reach your goals if you work on them regularly. Things happen one day, one week, one month at a time. So, it might come as no surprise to you that my #1 system for achieving financial goals is making regular time for financial self care. I’ve seen this work with many clients and know that in personal experience, this is what works best for me. This approach is backed by many achievement experts, like Gary Keller. In The One Thing, he suggests setting a single goal and then suggests scheduling focused time to work on it into your calendar and protecting it.

Make financial self care a habit! I frequently suggest checking in with your finances on a weekly basis, but another time interval might work well for you too. Since we’re thinking about self care, consider your weekly financial check-in a part of your overall self care routine. Just like you manage your time and your physical health with self care, your money is a resource to manage and use to your best advantage. Use your regular “money time” to work towards your financial goal. 

Here are a couple suggestions of things to do:

  • check in on your spending for the month to see where you’re at with your spending plan
  • check in with your financial goal for the month
  • talk to your money mentor or your partner
  • spend time learning about finances
  • do any finance-related admin work you need (paying off bills, sending off IOU’s, billing clients, etc.)

Most importantly, make sure this time is enjoyable so you can keep coming back to it every week. Try to limit the amount of time you spend, so that you finish off your money time by completing a task. I suggest starting with twenty or thirty minutes and slowly increasing the amount as your finances become more interesting for you to work with. Pro tip: when you end on a high note, it’s easier to keep the habit going. And don’t forget to reward yourself for sticking with this habit!

If you liked this article, you’ll probably like my free e-Book, 9 Secrets to Financial Self Care. Click here to download.

By |2022-01-28T13:23:15-08:00January 27th, 2022|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Why Financial Education is One of the Best Investments

When we evaluate whether an investment is worth making, one of the most important considerations is what type of return it offers. Financial education boasts an excellent return. This is true in the context of your business and your personal finances. Below, I go on to list the top three benefits of investing in financial education of any kind!

Increasing Your Longterm Wealth

When we hear the phrase “return on investment”, this is the first thing most of us probably think of. Financial education does indeed have a great financial return, especially in the longterm. No matter what type of financial education you pursue, if you implement what you learn, you will increase your longterm wealth. The knowledge you apply to your financial life will change and improve how you handle money. You may find yourself more capable of making decisions around saving, spending, and investing. Over time this can have compounding positive effects.

This is true both in the case of business and personal finances, by the way! Even just the way that financial education can make you more aware of your money tends to have positive effects on both areas. When you pay more attention to your money, it’s more likely to flourish.

Acquiring Relevant Skills

The skills you learn when you invest in financial education will always be relevant to your life. As far as I know, most of us need to manage our money throughout the course of our lives. If you are a business owner, the money skills you acquire will be helpful not only to your business, but may also be helpful to your business peers and any people you want to hire or mentor in the future. Money skills really do keep on giving!

A Sense of Peace with Money

In my opinion, this one may be the best of all the benefits. The peace of mind and clarity that come along with getting the financial skills you need to manage your money well are absolutely amazing. I’ve witnessed many clients experience a great reduction in their stress levels after a few sessions together. Money is one of the leading causes of stress in the U.S. Especially for those managing debt, gaining the financial skills to recover and surmount it can be deeply emotionally healing.

Where Can I Get Financial Education?

In this article, the term “financial education” refers to any resource that helps you better understand your finances. Whether this is a podcast, a YouTube channel, a workshop or class series, or working with a coach or bookkeeper, anything you find helpful in this arena counts!

If you’d like some ideas about finding financial education resources that meet your personal needs, I have a couple articles on finding the best financial education resources for you. This article discusses why it’s important to find resources that cater to your personal vision of what wealth and success look like, while this article breaks down a couple red and green flags when it comes to evaluating a financial education resource. You can also take a look at some of my favorite financial education resources.

If you want to take a look at more of my content for some financial education resources, check out my library of free e-books (scroll down on the page) and my episodes of Financial Self Care Friday! You can also check out my services and book a free Financial Self Care Consultation!

☮

Angela

Image: Keren Levand

By |2021-07-26T10:36:43-07:00July 26th, 2021|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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What You Can Learn From a Money Crush

There’s nothing like having a crush. You can spend hours admiring them. You love to watch them do things. I experience crushes regularly – money crushes, that is! Today we’ll talk about what a money crush is and why they’re helpful, how to find yours, and a couple of mine. Let’s dive in:

What’s a Money Crush and Why Would I Want One?

A money crush is a playful term for someone you know, or know of, who handles their finances in a way you admire. This could be somebody you know personally who has the kind of financial setup you want. It could be someone who writes or speaks about money in a way that inspires you. A money crush is essentially somebody who models the things you want for your own financial life.

The benefits of having a money crush are pretty simple; these role models inspire you take your own steps towards emulating what they embody in their finances. They give you someone to look up to, someone whose actions you can study. Your money crush can help breathe life into the vision of your own ideal financial situation.

Finding Someone Crush-Worthy

So, how do you find a money crush? Money crushes can be found in all types of places – in your friend circle, at an industry gathering for your profession, or on the web. Take a couple minutes to reflect – have you ever encountered someone whose way of doing things around money really inspired you? If yes, they’re money-crush material. I’ve written before about money buddies and business mentors. If the person you have in mind is someone you know, consider establishing a relationship like that where you can feel free to talk about money and pick their brain.

If the person you’re thinking of is an author, blogger, or other public figure, you’ll probably take a different approach. First, search out all their material. They’ve likely produced more than whatever book or article introduced you to them. See what else they’ve got – maybe it will be something you love! You might consider reaching out and writing them an email of thanks, too.

Lastly, I’d like to recommend my articles on finding good financial advice. A Brief Guide to Finding the Right Financial Advice breaks down tips that can help you find financial advice tailored to your vision of financial success. Financial Advice: How to Avoid the Bad and Find the Good lays out some red flags to look for when searching for financial wisdom, as well as some green flags that tell you you’re in the right place. Finally, Find Good Financial Advice During COVID-19 gives you some tips on avoiding financial gurus who rely on fear tactics. These articles may help inspire your search for a money crush!

A Few of My Money Crushes!

I want to introduce you to a couple people of whom I am a not-so-secret admirer! They might become your money crushes too:

  • Megan deBoer of Tended Wealth is a constant inspiration – I love her thoughtful posts on Instagram and the way she really invites people to imagine thriving financially.
  • Lynne Twist is the author of The Soul of Money, and her writing encapsulates my favorite way to think about money.
  • Karen McCall of the Financial Recovery Institute is an inspiration and a mentor of mine. I first fell in love with her book, Financial Recovery, before seeking out her training!
  • Vicki Robin is one of the authors of the well-known book, Your Money or Your Life. I especially love the way she thinks about how our finances have to do with satisfaction, and finding our “Enough” point.
  • Hadassah Damien has a plethora of resources dedicated to helping marginalized people learn about money and how to handle it well. She’s also a motorcyclist!

Could I be your next money crush? If this post has inspired you to do some digging around my resources, I encourage you to check out my free e-Book, 9 Secrets to Financial Self Care! It’s packed with tips and helps you think about ways you can work financial self care into your work routine.

Happy crushing!

☮

Angela

Image by:  Sharon McCutcheon

By |2021-03-09T11:37:31-08:00February 22nd, 2021|Categories: Financial Clarity|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
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3 Simple Tips to Infuse Financial Self Care Into Your Routine

When you first decide you want to put effort and intention into your finances, it can be hard to know where to start. Especially as a business owner, you already wear many hats. You have a lot to do, and whatever you add to your plate needs to be simple. I’ve got you covered. Here are three ideas for infusing some financial self care into your work routine.

Organize Your Passwords

If you want to look at your accounts regularly, organize your passwords for easier access! I am a huge advocate for looking at your numbers on a weekly basis. The more you’re checked in with where you and your business are at financially, the better. Taking some time to do this step will simplify the process of working on your finances, and take away some of the hesitation.

Find a Financial Education Resource You Love

…and then stick with it! Whether it’s a podcast, a book, or a YouTube channel, financial education comes in all formats these days. Find a person or resource who really resonates with you. Then, dive deep into what they have to say, and try to integrate that into your life. If you want some guidance around finding sound financial advice, read my guides on some things to look for and how to steer clear of the not-so-helpful stuff.  You can also check out my favorite educational resources. Here’s a list of some of my faves from other sites, and a list of my best educational blog posts.

List Some Action Items

You know your business and personal finances best. Chances are, there are probably already some to-do list items in the realm of your finances. Try jogging your memory for those and writing them down. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to try creating a money map for yourself. Maybe you want to automate all your bill payments. Identify those action items and write them down somewhere you can revisit them.

Next, strategize. How can you get these done? What resources or assistance do you need to do so? Can you divide the tasks into bite-size chunks and work on them piece by piece? Your financial wellbeing is something you can handle – sometimes it just takes some strategy and awareness.

9 Secrets to Financial Self Care Book Cover

I hope you’ve enjoyed these quick tips for financial self care. You might also be interested in downloading my free e-Book, 9 Secrets to Financial Self Care. In this e-Book, I go in-depth into 9 different steps you can take to build a solid financial self care routine for yourself. Try it out by clicking the link above!

☮

Angela

Image by Siora Photography

By |2021-04-08T14:00:54-07:00December 23rd, 2020|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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How to Find Good Financial Advice During COVID-19

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic ripple effects, there’s been a lot of discussion and advice about what business owners should do. I’ve added my own voice to the mix, with a recent article and a full-length guide accompanied by a video series. Along with the variety of advice out there right now, there are also differing tones and points of view. Whether you’re looking to speak with others about money in the time of pandemic, or just hoping to find a way to navigate through all the guides, resources, and economic commentary, here are a couple things to pay attention to.

Nix the Shame and Guilt

Right now, I’m seeing a lot of people writing about this from a point of view that places a lot of shame and guilt on readers feeling unprepared and surprised by the economic fallout that’s occurred. Some are claiming that people’s lack of savings or inability to save for these types of emergencies is the ultimate source of their misfortune during this time. While saving up an emergency fund is of course a great idea, I do want to make sure that we recognize we are in the midst of a global emergency.

If you have lost money and don’t have enough saved to cover that loss, please don’t internalize that as your own fault. Sources that are encouraging you to do so or blaming those in need of unemployment benefits and other assistance are best avoided. If you are experiencing shame and guilt, take some time to process these feelings, but don’t make any decisions based on them. This might be a great time to do some mindset work.

Bye, Fear Tactics

While there’s certainly been an uptick in economic uncertainty, I’d advise you to steer clear of anyone leading a business pitch to you with this information. There are some coaches and other financial professionals who are currently using fear tactics to draw more clientele. Here’s a good litmus test to avoid people like this: don’t sign up for anything or listen to anyone who makes you feel more scared and activated than you were prior to hearing from them.

What We Really Need


Instead of fear tactics and guilt-tripping, we need to listen for messages that are factual. Resources that speak in practical terms and outline solutions are your best friend right now. Additionally, guides that approach the current economic situation from a growth mindset which stimulate your creativity and promote problem-solving, are good resources. If you have a public platform, keep all this in mind. People need guidance right now. The more we spread messages that are empowering and hopeful, the more we can contribute to the wellbeing of our communities.

If you’d like more thoughts about navigating all the financial advice out there, check out my articles on the topic:

☮

Angela

Image by: Fa Barboza

By |2020-04-30T12:53:19-07:00April 30th, 2020|Categories: Financial Clarity, Money Mindset, Small Business, solopreneurs|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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