Welcome to another week of the Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays roundup. I started this series after months of debate because I wasn’t certain I wanted to up the ante and commit to publishing three posts a week. However, now that I’ve started sharing these posts, I’m so glad I started.
There are so many fabulous women writing about personal finance online, and yet there is still a perception that women aren’t good with money, don’t care about money, or don’t understand it on a granular level beyond perhaps knowing how to coupon and score a good shopping deal. These roundups are my way of doing a small part to change that perception. There are no shortage of women online doing their part to make it clear that they DO understand money, and these posts are meant to amplify that fact.
The hardest part of this post every week always is narrowing it down to my favorites, because there is just so much good content out there. If you’re ever interested in what else I’m reading, I share quite a few other posts on Twitter (and that’s also where I read most of the content to begin with these days).
OurWomen’s Personal Finance Facebook groupalso has a sharing thread on Fridays, and that’s the place to read all the blog posts written by members over the previous week. If you’re looking for more articles written by women, that’s a great place to continue reading (plus we have plenty of great discussions on finances the rest of the week as well!).
If you don’t have the time or inclination to go searching down myriad posts, though, I will be continuing this series every week to showcase some of the best of the new content I read. If you ever read a post you thing I absolutely need to consider for this roundup, please let me know! I am always open to reading new blogs (and posts of blogs I do know, because I miss some).
Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays – Week 24
1. What Minimalism Cost Me Petitely Packaged
I absolutely love the honesty of this post. As I’ve talked about a number of times through my two years without clothes buying, my ultimate goal is to get to a minimalist wardrobe, though I’m far from it even now. There is so much now about how amazing and wonderful and BETTER your life will be if you just fully accept minimalism that it makes it seem like you’re making the wrong choice if it isn’t for you.
I’ve talked in the past about the privilege of minimalism, and why it’s taken me longer to downsize my wardrobe because I’m trying to wear through my clothing first – and now trying to buy as little as possible even once I do break my clothing ban. But what never seems to get talked about is the cost of minimalism if it isn’t the right path for you – and not just in terms of money spent.
2. How Financial “Tough Love” Kept Me Stuck in Toxic Shame Brave Saver
You are not your net worth. Financial security does not make you a better person, or even necessarily a good one. I’m not sure how often we have to have this conversation for it to finally stick, but often for sure. There is a pretty strong narrative in the United States in particular, but elsewhere as well, that financial standing reflects your worth as an individual.
If you’re broke, there must be a reason. If you just can’t seem to get ahead, but someone else is doing better, well then they must be a better person than you are. That narrative needs to end. Full stop. There is no reflection on your worth as a human being based on your financial status. You can be dead broke and be an absolutely fabulous person, or you can be worth billions and not be.
Too much personal finance advice simplifies this matter down to a degree that really isn’t healthy, and this post dives deep into a personal story about how that narrative can be harmful. That isn’t to say that some shoving in the right direction can’t be helpful, but the black and white view of it certainly isn’t.
3. Why I’m Never Getting Married A Purple Life
Quite obviously, I did get married (almost a decade ago now), and I did take my husband’s last name. That said, marriage is absolutely not for everyone and there are some really good reasons not to, even if you plan to be with your partner for life.
I have to say, marrying at twenty one meant that I didn’t contemplate the larger significance of the marriage institution as a whole. Instead, my focus was simply on wanting to be married to my husband.
Years later, especially with the overturning of Prop 8 in California, I started to think about that piece of paper a little more closely, especially for those who have historically been kept out (and those, like heterosexual women, who couldn’t open a credit card on their own until the 1970s). While marriage can be a wonderful thing for a couple, there are certainly problems with it more broadly, even now.
While people might have wondered why I was getting married at twenty one, I’m certain I didn’t face nearly the same level of scrutiny as Purple with her decision not to be married. If only we all put that much thought behind our own life altering decisions.
Ihope you enjoy the posts this week as much as I did. I read a ton of content and it was hard to narrow down my favorites. I’m looking forward to sharing some new ones with you again next week!
As always, if you’re looking for a categorized list of self identified women writing and speaking about personal finance, here is my comprehensive guide to theWomen of the Finance Independence Community.
