Women & Money: The Shit We Don't Talk About!
Women & Money: The Shit We Don't Talk About!
Small Steps, Big Financial Gains with Barb and Maggie
Ever feel like financial freedom is a distant dream? Think again!
In this episode of Women and Money: The Shit We Don't Talk About, we uncover how tiny, consistent actions can lead to significant financial progress. We kick things off by reflecting on the remarkable Women's History Month event, highlighting the importance of honoring our favorite women in history who got us here. We discuss the practical, everyday steps you can take- like budgeting smarter, negotiating your salary, and automating your savings.
You'll also hear about the power of building strong support networks and advocating for equal pay. By the end of this episode, you'll understand how meaningful, small steps can create substantial financial change. Don't miss out on these actionable tips and inspiring stories that can help turn your financial dreams into reality!
00:00 Intro
00:16 Reflections on Women's History Month Event
01:31 The Power of Small, Consistent Actions
06:22 Practical Financial Tips and Strategies
13:29 Highlights from Women's History Month Webinar
19:48 Supporting Women-Owned Businesses and Equal Pay
23:37 Weekly Money Talk Series
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[00:00:00] Gloria Steinem once said, we will never solve the feminization of power until we solve the masculinity of wealth. Barbara Provost and Maggie Nielsen are the team at purse strings that will help you navigate the ins and outs of financial independence so that you can be financially fearless. This is women in money, the shit we don't talk about.
Maggie: Welcome to another episode of Women and Money: the shit we don't talk about. Today, it's just you and me, mom. Having this conversation about these small, consistent actions that lead to financial progress. I feel like we're all about the small little things. We're gonna talk about that and some of the reflections from our Women's History Month event.
That was pretty great if I do say so myself.
Barb: Yeah, it was pretty fantastic. Got great feedback, [00:01:00] people that I've talked to after the event were so excited about it. Glad they came, we made a great donation to and rise from all of the people who came. They made a donation, so it was a win-win win all the way around. Women helping women. I was so happy.
We were kind of high fiving each other all the way around, and all of the work and effort that went into it was worth it. And it warmed my heart because how often do we take that opportunity to really reflect on the women in history that worked so damn hard to help us to where we got today, and really honor them, and remember them, and talk about them, and share what their lives were like and how they got us to where we are today.
Maggie: Yeah. 'cause we know going through the trenches, you don't think at that time like, this is gonna be history and everyone's gonna be talking about me. That's not usually your goal either. But it's, you gotta recognize it when it's due, and more transparently, you and I both took a fat nap [00:02:00] afterwards.
Barb: True.
Maggie: We were exhausted.
We were.
But first we wanna dive into some of those, like how, taking some of these tiny steps really adds up and like kind of that momentum and how it's really helpful. And I always think this is like something we say all the time, but it's just so not as sexy because you're just doing the grind day in, day out.
And so it just kind of becomes part of your routine. There's never like a bam wow.
Barb: I've been thinking about this a lot because the tiny steps that we take on a day by day basis. Adds up to where we are today. And one time I'll never forget, I mean, I think about this all the time. One time years ago I thought I should write a book called 20 Minutes a Day.
Because if you spent 20 minutes a day on one thing, you'd be an expert. And now you see all these self-help books on things.
Maggie: I was like, okay, Mel Robbins
Barb: I know, right? I should have wrote that years ago. But, I remember this colleague of mine saying, oh, I'm thinking about getting my master's. It's two years and all this stuff.
And I'm like, Hey, you know [00:03:00] that two years is gonna pass whether you're in school or not, so why not go for it if it's something you wanna do, right? You just work it into your schedule. If it's something you're passionate about, and wanna do, I mean, time goes by. How do you wanna invest that time and
you can sit on the couch and if that's your choosing, go for it. If you'd rather spend that time learning how to crochet and crochet blankets for babies in the nicu, go for it. But like, how do you spend your time? And it doesn't have to be so all in all the time, it can just be simple steps consistently
day by day. And it's amazing when you look back how far you've come and we say this a lot as entrepreneurs, right? We're like, Ugh, the grind, the day by day. It's really hard and it's an ebb and flow all the time. And we have to say, yeah. The gap in the [00:04:00] gain, right? We always are looking.
There's a gap where there's still a gap that we're trying to fill, but we really need to look at how far we've come, look at the gain that we've had.
Maggie: Yeah, and it's just like you said, that time's gonna go by either way. And so like I was at this new program at the gym and then all of a sudden I.
looked up and like, I've been doing it for six months, And I was like. Where did that time go? Like I feel like I just started it or even when you start some things, you realize how sucked in you get. I was doing like a sewing project and like even 10 minutes every day started to be like an hour every day just 'cause I kind of got sucked in.
So sometimes it is just about starting and then you realize what you like to do and other times is just we gotta get 10 minutes in, get the rep done, and keep moving forward. 'cause it's not something we love to do every day.
Barb: I think the way. That's what successful people do is, and I heard someone say this yesterday, is they're very consistent in their processes. They get up at a certain time, they eat a certain food, they are very regular in what they do and how they do it, they read certain [00:05:00] books, they eat certain foods, they work out at certain times,
they go to sleep at certain times. They are consistent because they're packing a lot of things into their day. They're really leveraging their time wisely. We all have the same amount of time in the day, and it's really how you choose to spend it.
Maggie: I feel like sometimes it's decision fatigue sometimes. So it's easier to know like just what you're gonna do and when you're gonna do it, because otherwise there's like a thousand options for everything these days. I mean, you're gonna go do something and it's like, should I listen to something?
Should I not? Should it be an audio book? Should I listen to a new podcast? Whose podcast should I listen to music, who's new album? It's like there's so many decisions where it's like. I just know this is what I'm gonna do. I've already set it up to hit this goal and that's just the way I'm gonna do it, which like, I feel that decision fatigue, especially as a business owner, by the end of the day, I am like, I can't decide anything else.
So I need that routine just so I stay on track with those other items. Because otherwise it's like, should I do it? Should I not do it? Should I go here? Should I be [00:06:00] outside? Should I go inside? It's like we're just doing it. This is what's set, and just do it. Get it done.
Barb: Yeah, don't overthink it.
Maggie: Yeah.
Barb: Make sure you're clear on your goal, I think is what I'm hearing you say too. Make sure what the end goal is. Like we say with finances, like people are like, oh, I need to save, I need to start either retirement or paying down my bills or whatever.
You need to commit to something small on a regular basis and you will be surprised if you on a consistent and regular basis. Either make an extra payment, put SOC money away to an emergency fund, set it and forget it on a regular basis. Get started listening to our podcast and learn about money, coming to our money talks, whatever it might be.
Consistently put that on your calendar and start learning and you'll be like this super cool. I look at all this stuff I've learned, so consistent and regular actions add up and they make positive change.
Maggie: So I wanna dive into some examples of small steps people can take. One of 'em is always like tracking your spending [00:07:00] and seeing where your money is going, which, I've always been doing, but I've hitting more of like a zero based budget. So making sure like every dollar has something, which has been really interesting.
'cause sometimes I would get, like, if you have low money at the end of the month, you get anxious. But I was like, lower money at the end of the month and I was like but that's exactly what I wanted. 'cause I put every dollar somewhere, so I was like, actually I charted it just fine. And I've never been so excited to see like less money in there.
But I knew that it went to the debt, it went to the high yield savings account. It went to the retirement, it went to the bills. You know what I mean? And I was like, look at that budgeting. We did it.
Barb: Wow.
And you didn't do that right out of the gate. I mean, that's a strategy that even you had to learn, even though people think, oh, you're in Purse Strings. You probably know it all. We still have to, strengthen our own muscles around a lot of this as well.
Maggie: There's a thousand ways people want you to budget, and so we talk about all these different ways and you have to find kind of what works for you. That takes a couple months to flush out because it's not like you do a month feels like a long time sometimes when you're doing this and you're like, okay, did that plan work?
Did I [00:08:00] not work the plan? So it takes some time to really feel like, which one works the best for me as well
which takes time. Give yourself some grace.
Barb: Yeah. Awesome Maggie. Good for you. High five. Ready to go.
Maggie: Let's talk about some other small actions that people can do just, day to day. And one of those is it's not always like a smaller one, but like having that negotiation conversation right when you get your job and like consistently negotiating your salary. It is just one day, one conversation, and it seems scary, but that can launch you forward.
I mean, those thousands of dollars, those matches, all those different things, I mean, that sets your base level of pay and then, it just grows from there. It's a huge way just to make huge financial gain and like really at the end of the day, it's 20 minute conversation.
Barb: Yeah, and I would say around that topic is, really looking at are there certifications you can earn to bump up your pay scale to say, oh, I'm at this pay scale, but I know if I get this certain certification, I can bump up my earnings because they will pay me more for this. What are ways that you [00:09:00] can take on more projects, get another certification,
make a lateral or increased move or something, but make sure you know what the pay ranges are. You're having those open and honest conversations and that you're talking about your pay with your HR or with your leadership because those are conversations that you need to start having so that you are negotiating and you are aware of what the pay scales and the pay ranges are, so you can negotiate accordingly.
Maggie: So I think some other ones we just wanna talk about is automate savings always easy just, and some people you can get your paycheck to just go straight to your savings or part of it so you don't even have to look about it or think about it. Tracking your spending or using an app just so you know where your money's going or reviewing some of those subscriptions, because we always have something we don't pay for.
I know that sounds a little repetitive as everyone says that, but when did you actually take the action and look?
Barb: And it's easy to do right on your iPhone because that's usually where people buy 'em off of your iPhone. There's an easy place just to go at all the subscriptions and they'll tell you when they're due and you can [00:10:00] easily cancel it, boop, just by pressing a button.
Maggie: When we go over, like our business monthly bills every month, we've had one thing where we're like, oh, we need to go in and cancel that, or we didn't know we were getting charged. Every month it's been something new, which it's like, how are these getting added?
Barb: I know we had a huge bill from a company that charged us like $1,300, and the bill was supposed to be 22 bucks, and if we hadn't gone over the bill. That would've just been paid.
And even one of our accounts, our ongoing accounts, was charging us like 80 bucks a month that we just thought that was probably the renewal fee for what we pay for the application that we use a lot.
And we went in and thought, you know what? That's more than what we needed to pay and we got 50 bucks a month knocked off while, some might say big whip, but you know what? It adds up. Why not put that 50 bucks in our pocket instead of someone else's pocket?
Maggie: For five minutes, I mean,
that's worth it. Five minutes for 50 bucks. I could do that.
Barb: And that's why I say for people, every year you should [00:11:00] call your telephone company and go over your bill with them and say, Hey,
either I'm on a fixed income or this seems really high to me. Can we go over it together and see where I can get some savings? Same with your auto and homeowners insurance. As your car ages or your home ages and things change. You want to be not underinsured or over-insured, but you wanna be insured at the right place.
So you wanna have those conversations as well. So those are places where you might be able to save yourself some money.
Maggie: And then I told you about this, how at my brother he called about the house insurance and he was paying the PMI. Yeah. So since the house value went up. It was kinda like he had more invested, so he just called them and they do the like, let me check to see if I have a code.
Oh, I have a code.
Barb: Yeah.
Maggie: And they just took it off and it was like, alright, so that's saving me like 150 bucks a month. What if I called three months earlier? You know.
Have I just been spending money on this because they told me I needed it and they like didn't tell me that I should just call and take it off.
So you just gotta keep asking questions, even if it seems silly, like why am I paying [00:12:00] this? They'd be like, oh, I have a code. Nevermind. You don't pay it.
Barb: It's crazy. That's why we always say, know your numbers. Be on top of the bills that you're paying. Don't be afraid to call these people and just go over your statements with 'em and see what you're paying because you can save yourself probably a couple hundred bucks a month now and then
Maggie: Yep. And the last part I want to touch on is about tracking things. I was working with my therapist to track something else that I wanted to improve on. And it's always interesting 'cause I use the same thing we kind of use with budgeting of it's just data, right? So we want good data in is good data out, but then it's like, ooh, why is that data making you feel some kind of way, right?
Like then that's what you talk about, right? ' cause it's either like you're happy with it or you wanna improve it or like you see some of those results. But I was just trying to get the data, like we tell people to do with budgeting and then I was like, Ooh, I'm feeling some kind of way about it.
Like I don't love it. And it's great. Now we know what to do with that information, but you have to gather it first. And even like collecting it, I was like, okay, why is this making me, not [00:13:00] so happy? And I was like clearly it's what I'm working on, right? But it was just interesting how these things just apply so much in life.
We talked about it so much in budgeting, but whatever you do, if you do track it and put the good information in, you can be like, ah, I hit the gym five times this week. Or it's like, okay. So I actually went twice and it's just I don't know. It's always interesting to me. So you can always apply in other parts of life.
Barb: Yeah. We always say financially conscious, but what I think has opened my eyes so much as we've worked through Purse Strings is all the money mindset and how deeply rooted that is woven into our being and how it's not just in our money mindset, but it's in everything that we do and everything that we are, that we really have to be so conscientious of our kind of knee jerk reactions and feelings and emotions when we're talking about certain things that emotions come up for us.
And one thing that is very emotional is money.
Maggie: Always.
But I think this, were good. Some good. Small takeaways, quick actions people could [00:14:00] take just to get thinking. I want to touch on our Women's History Month webinar 'cause we had some really good takeaways from that as well.
Barb: Oh yeah. I was so happy with it because like I said at the beginning, I was just excited to honor so many women in history. We didn't even barely scratch the surface of all the women that, we touched on some of the more, I would say popular women, but there are so many other women that we really need to give thanks to an honor. And then there's some women who are still here in our lives today that are really still waving the flag and really doing great things around women and around equality and around fighting for our rights, and really providing education and knowledge and skill just like we are at Purse Strings, really getting out there and giving women the tools and resources that they need as well.
We were so happy to have three of our fantastic coaches as our panel members, providing their excellent skills, knowledge and sharing their [00:15:00] wisdom. With our group that came, there were about 50 women on the call.
Maggie: Yeah. And so the first one was Jenna and she really talked about the importance of owning your authority, we're not waiting for permission, we're not asking for a seat at the table, we're bringing our own chair. And if we have to bring the table too, we can do that.
But that confidence, that advocacy, showing your worth is a non-negotiable. And I think that's just such a refreshing thing to hear again. And it's something we need to hear over and over and over to get drilled into our heads because we've had the opposite messages.
Barb: Yeah, don't wait for permission anymore.
RBG.
Maggie: RBG? Yeah, She'd never waited for permission in a good way,
Barb: yeah, she had all the permission. I mean, she was a Supreme Court justice and she as tiny as she was, as a little tiny lady, she really got up there and really led with a powerful voice for women.
Maggie: Then after that we had Lauren come on, which was great. And that was really about designing the life that you want, not waiting for the perfect [00:16:00] moment or saying, someday I hope to get this, but about crystal clear on what you want and really creating that roadmap to make it happen on your own terms, making work smarter, not harder, which is kind of what cameo got into. But the thing with Lauren is, she really did that vision board and how much of her vision board came to life. And even afterwards I went to a networking meeting and one lady who was on the call, she's like, oh, I knew I had to go create another vision board.
I wanna get everyone together and do it, which I think would be so fun. But what you focus on does grow. Like you see a red car, then you see red cars everywhere. It's that same thing.
Barb: Yeah. And it gives you purpose for the work that you're doing. It gives you direction. It gives you meaning like, why am I saving this money? Why am I working so hard? What is it that I want out of life? And what is your own unique individual wants and goals that's unique and different from the other women that are around me?
And you need to put that up in front and center so you have a direction that you're going and a way to get there. So [00:17:00] I loved it. I think it's fantastic. And what I love about the way Lauren does it, and we've been doing this with Lauren before, is it doesn't have to be, a three hour process.
You can do it in 15 minutes. Really be clear. Don't overthink it, know what you wanna do, and then boom, pull it together. Then if you need to swap a few things out, swap a few things out. But do it. Just don't overthink it. Just make it happen. Focus on it. Don't overcomplicate it.
And clarify your vision on why you're working so hard.
Maggie: Yeah. 'cause we used to go to our friend's house every New Year's day and she'd have magazines, it'd be posters and it'd be a whole afternoon of cutting and pasting, which was always fun. But go on Canva and crap, a couple images. We have so much technology, we don't need to let the craftiness get in the way,
Barb: and mine's on my phone. So every time I look at my phone, there it is right in front of me.
Maggie: Mine's on my phone screen too.
Barb: Cool.
Maggie: And then she talked to Amelia Earhart, who flying plane around the world. I mean, that's a vision. I still don't even have that vision. That would be crazy.
Barb: [00:18:00] Yeah.
Maggie: And then we had cameo who really talked about working smarter, not harder, and how
burnout is not a badge of honor. Success does not mean grinding yourself to exhaustion. But smart systems and strategies really allow you to achieve more while doing less. And, I'm all about this 'cause I love like a good system and like business and things like that. But it's also about having, kind of like we said before, a good system in everyday life.
You get up at this time, you do this at this time, just kind of these repeatable routines that way, everything's covered and everything's. All i's are dotted and t's are crossed.
Barb: But also needing a good network around you. And women do this, and I always say this, women build
Maggie: Webs.
Barb: Webs, right? Not hierarchies. We reach out to one another when we need something and women are always lending a hand no matter what's going on. Somebody is sick, somebody needs a ride, whatever it might be, women are like, yeah, what do you need?
Whatever you need. I got it for you. Not so much competition as, as much as collaboration. And so it's about [00:19:00] building really strong networks and it's about give to get, it's giving first and it's about really making those strong networks, both in personal as well as in business and putting those processes in place so that those networks are really strong.
Maggie: And then she talked to Madam CJ Walker, which was the female millionaire.
That was like back in the day. So that was like a million dollars, was like a lot. And she did that making her own beauty line. I think it was hair and skin, at least hair for sure. For African American women. And like just the barriers she must have broke.
And the network you have to create that business, to sell that business. No social media, no advocacy, no one letting you loan money at the bank. None of these things. And it's still super successful.
Barb: Crazy and wow. It's jaw dropping and it is hard today as an entrepreneur to do any one of those things as women, but we do have to look back and say, look, those women did it and they did something probably every single day in their life, had a vision articulated what their [00:20:00] goal was,
really put one foot in front of the other and, had a great support system, and made it happen.
Maggie: So even though Women's History Month is over. That just means March is over. That doesn't mean we're done celebrating and we want to keep this momentum going. I want to just talk about some intentional actions that we can really continue to make that impact.
One of those things always is just, supporting women-owned businesses and we both do this so much of really spending with our values and making sure that we can buy almost everything that we have from a women-owned business because that is so important to us.
Barb: Yeah, and you can do something even simpler than that. Like their Instagram page, like their Facebook, if they have a great post, repost it for them. If they have an ask, simply do that. In fact, I was in a networking group yesterday, all women, and my ask was, Hey, if you wanna learn more about Purse Strings, just open your phone right now.
Go to our Purse Strings Instagram page and just follow us. That way [00:21:00] you'll just start to learn more and more about Purse Strings. I mean, it was easy for them to do. They were at networking. They all had their phones with them, and that was the best way for them to honor us by following us on Instagram.
It was easy for them. And now we have a good follower and they can learn more about Purse Strings. It didn't cost them anything. And it was so great for us. Now they can learn more about Purse Strings. Those are very simple things to really help small businesses. There's a place in town that I love to buy gifts from.
She's a great small business. There are other small businesses that I love to celebrate, share, tell others about. I always tell women, make sure you're buying from small businesses. It's so important.
Maggie: And then we did just pass equal payday, it's not a celebration. No, it's bottom line pay Is not equal. And so one of those things is, advocating for that equal
pay at work. Whether that be, conversations with hr, whether that be calling up your, constituents whether that be having open conversations with your coworkers about [00:22:00] what everyone's getting paid.
But opening up these conversations with someone, maybe even just discussing it with your girlfriends to get started, just something to kind of crack that door open and to try and make that movement.
Barb: Yeah. A friend of mine who got our newsletter said, Barb, I had no idea. I knew equal pay was like 82 cents on the dollar, but I had no idea how different it was for all the other black women, indigenous women, Latino women. And how far into the year that was.
Maggie: November,
Barb: Crazy. A whole year. She said, I shared your newsletter with so many people because she was like, look, ladies, look what this is all about. Like we need to know this stuff. People just aren't aware and awareness is what we're all about. We're trying to get this message out to people that equal pay is not equal and it's gonna take, what was it, Maggie?
131 years
Maggie: it was like
your granddaughter's granddaughters. It was like five generations. I don't even know who that is back in my timeline,
Barb: yeah, it's crazy. It's just too long
Maggie: And it's clearly, it's [00:23:00] not the lattes, it's not the spending. It's like you're not paying us, actually.
Barb: And it's a lot of other things besides the lack of equal pay women are up against a lot, but also women are very powerful and there's so many things that women can do to really set themselves up for a beautiful financial future.
Maggie: Yeah. That's kind of leads me to that last small action is just like mentoring or just sharing the financial knowledge with other women. Because sometimes you just don't know what you don't know. And if you're talking about it, and if we're normalizing it, clearly this podcast is the shit we don't talk about we can open up those conversations and make it less taboo or just be, bring that awareness and then see if it makes you feel some kind of way.
But sometimes you just need that knowledge to get started.
Barb: Yeah. Whatever it is, mom's talking to daughters about money, about budgeting, about spending, about give to God, about we spend it on this, we can't get that. It's about girlfriends talking about how much they're getting paid. It's about having conversations with HR.
It's about, writing your congressman, your senators, and learning about what equal pay bills are out [00:24:00] there. And just knowing that this is a mission that we need to really help and support one another in the support of all women.
Maggie: Every little action adds up. And speaking of little actions, we've seen firsthand how some small actions like attending a free webinar can create financial change. And that's why we're excited about our weekly money talk series where we have short 30 minute sessions bringing on one of our Purse Strings approved professionals sharing one topic at a time to get the questions answered.
And in this podcast episode, we're gonna include a short clip from Melinda, one of our past attendees who had amazing things to say about the value she gained from the lesson. So I have to have you guys take a listen.
That was super good information. I didn't know bunch of that stuff, especially about the rental car, now I have an older car and i'm only carrying liability. But I'd be like, oh no, I have insurance. I wouldn't have known. So, that is really, really really good to know. So [00:25:00] thank you so much. I actually had a crazy job once and involved a lot of work with enterprise rental car and collisions and stuff. So I can totally see the loss of use thing. It would cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Yeah. So that was really good advice.
And it's something that nobody would know.
Maggie: So if you guys want to jump into our money talks, our April theme is really less is more in empowerment through minimalism. And so we are not talking about to cut back into slack and to deprive ourselves, but really how, less is more. And that's really all we need.
So some of these topics, include budget traveling or just, being vacations at home. Minimalism altogether. And that should be a really great one, we have someone who is a full-time nomad talking about that. So they have great experience on minimalism and really having what you need.
And then, sometimes some credit cards and some travel points and how we can maximize that. To pay less as well. So we'll have weekly guests really dive into these topics, 30 minutes on [00:26:00] Thursdays, 11:00 AM central. And then bring the questions you have as well.
and this is a space for learning, asking questions, and really making that real financial progress with a like-minded community, which I think is the best part is just having these other women around you and having everyone be like, oh, I didn't know that when we were talking about insurance on rental cars.
That was a good one.
Barb: Yeah, I mean there's so many little nuances of things that everyday life, they pop up and you're like, huh, I always wondered about that. And we're here to talk about all this shit that no one ever told us about, it's life skills, much of it. We're here because we want women to be well equipped with all this information, knowledge, skill.
We're right here at your fingertips. Money Talks is here, like Maggie said at 11 Central. One topic, one expert, bring your questions, bring your girlfriends. But we're also on all sorts of social media. We have a newsletter that comes out every week, of course, our podcast. Tell your girlfriends know that Purse Strings was built for women.
We're here to help provide you the education, knowledge [00:27:00] skill. So share the podcast, join our social media, jump into money talks, share it with your friends, your girlfriends, your moms, your aunts, your BFFs. We want Purse Strings to be the go-to resource for all women should they have any kind of financial question or concern or need to make any kind of money moves.
We're here to help you be financially fearless.
Maggie: Before we close today, let's encourage our listeners to take some small actions and meaningful steps on their journey. Let's share a bit about what we're doing in our own lives.
Barb: Sure. So one thing I'm doing is I am planning a vacation.
I know. So I love working on Purse Strings. I'm kind of addicted to this work because I love it so much. It's such a mission, but there are times in life where we need to get away and I'm taking a full week off to go to Spain and to Paris with my husband.
And so I will be totally checked out and offline. For the first time in a long time to really, regroup and [00:28:00] unwind and give myself a full break away from Purse Strings so that I can come back refreshed and renewed. And that's a big deal for me, but I'm looking forward to it as well.
Maggie: Yeah, we're excited to kind of bring in that work life balance, I think, and so I'm excited for you and I'm excited that I'll officially be the boss the whole week.
Barb: You will.
Maggie: Oh yeah.
I'll boss everyone around. All my employees.
Barb: You and the dog.
Maggie: All my employees, yes, they will listen to me ideally, and no one will people on the floor.
Let's see. For me, personal actions, I was like, oh, we're at like the three month mark. We're a quarter in, and in January I shared three goals that I was working on, walking 10 steps in my hands, paying off my credit card debt and making it the year of the dentist. And so far I can hold a handstand pretty well and I can do these squat to handstands, which look badass when I get 'em right.
We're on our way there. We're not making steps yet.
Barb: We wanna see it.
Maggie: I got some videos. I gotta crap 'em. [00:29:00] Credit card debt, we got a plan by the end of the year, it's all gonna be paid off. And thirdly, we got dental insurance yesterday so we can now make an appointment. And I was like, look at me. Go one step at a time.
Barb: One step at a time. Okay, Maggie, we are holding you accountable. Look at you. Go girl.
Maggie: got my Purse Strings approved professionals on my side, they're helping me get it done. Calm up. And I was like, explain this to me. What would you do? And then I got my insurance and it was like bada bang, bad boom.
Barb: That's what we're here for, girl. That's what we're here for.
Maggie: It is so funny. We did one time an Enneagram session about what questions people ask about money or like how that would lead.
I'm an Enneagram six, I wanna make sure everyone's covered. So my thing is asking about insurance. And so with dental insurance, sometimes it's a crapshoot and it's easier to pay out of pocket. And I was like
we need insurance, we all need to be covered.
What if I chip a tooth? And so it was just pretty funny 'cause I just saw my Enneagram number just come straight out and I was just like, no, I need it either way. [00:30:00] Today's takeaway is that financial empowerment is built on small, consistent actions, and so you gotta stick with it. There's no need for drastic overnight changes. It's all about small steps that build momentum, and just because Women's history month is over does not mean the work stops.
So we continue to push forward every day. If you found this episode valuable, please subscribe, share with a friend, follow us on social media and don't forget the show notes to join April's Money Talks because you will want to be there. We'll also have just so many other resources coming that way. So thank you for spending this time with us, and until next time, be financially fearless.
Barb: Bye everyone.
Speaker: You've been listening to Women Money, the shit we don't talk about. Now it's time to take what you've learned and make bold moves towards financial independence. Stay in the know by joining our newsletter for exclusive tools, resources, and updates that keep you financially fearless. Head to PurseStrings.
co and [00:31:00] sign up today. Need a financial professional who gets it? Turn to PurseStrings Curated Directory, your go to resource for financial experts who know how to put you first. Love this episode? Leave us a review and help us empower even more women to own their financial power. Until next time, be financially fearless.
