Ironically enough, not talking about money is one of the main reasons that so many of us continue to struggle with it. I’m a huge advocate for being open about your personal failures to help others learn from your mistakes, and money is no exception.
Everyone makes mistakes with their money. But whether your mistakes are lessons you learn from and share with others, or lessons you let haunt you for the rest of your life is up to you.
I can’t tell you the number of nights I remember crying, slumped over my math homework at the dining room table. My feelings on the subject were crystal clear: I hate math.
The truth? I wasn’t good at math. But math is a skill that can be learned and developed over time. Overcoming the mindset of “I hate math” to get more involved in my personal finances proved to be much harder. Luckily, I found a community of women who were getting real about their personal experiences to learn about money and grow their wealth.
Clever Girl Finance, one of the top personal finance websites for women, offers online finance courses to help women pay off debt, save money and build real wealth.
CEO and Founder, Bola Sokunbi, has been praised by Glamour, Money, The Chicago Tribune, and many others for her approach to personal finance that actually makes sense.
Although I wasn’t joining because I needed to pay off a mortgage faster or save for my future kids’ college funds, I got the opportunity to read so many stories of how others struggled with these things. The most helpful resource for me? Getting to hear the mistakes others made and the things they wish they had known sooner.
I’ll be honest, the “no-spend” challenges are tough! But I love that there’s an entire community to help hold you accountable.
One of my favorite things is Bola’s 26-week savings challenge, which helps you stash away over $1,000 without even realizing it. Since I started over the summer, I love that I’ll have extra $ just in time for the holidays.
While I may hate math, your girl loooves to read. Bola’s book recommendations and her podcast helped lead to my light-bulb moment: the reason I’ve always hated math is probably because I wasn’t naturally good at it. Boom.
The more I’ve read and listened and talked about money, the more confident I feel about my personal finance, business, and investing decisions. Shocker, right?
Let’s all agree on something: we’re not supposed to be experts at everything. But once you realize that there’s something you’re not naturally good at? Find someone else who is and let them be your guide.
But please don’t stop there. Think about what you are naturally good at too – one day someone else will need your guidance.
