Personal Finance 101 for Busy Moms

Anyone can get into big money trouble... even a college grad wit a self-professed love of finance. 

I ended up in major debt after spending $100K in eight months while struggling in a toxic relationship.  When I finally got out, I couldn't believe the mess I was in. 

I'm sharing my story and learnings so others don't fall into the same trap.  Through the Destined to Prosper course, I want to help other women develop the tools not only to survive, but to thrive and achieve long-lasting financial security.

Absolutely any one with any amount of money can get started on the path to financial security.  It just takes knowing a few key points and you'll be on your way. 

We've designed the Destined to Prosper course to get you comfortable with all kinds of personal finance terms and concepts.  We believe in lifelong learning -- the journey to more financial security is no different.  What we're providing here is a foundation for you to keep learning, growing, and investing in yourself, even after the course ends.

How many of you can relate to being deep in debt, feeling overwhelmed, and unsure of the way forward? 

At 26, I found myself trapped in a toxic relationship, racking up thousands of dollars of debt each month, and feeling lower than low.  One day I woke up fed up with the sorry state of my life and decided, this ends TODAY.  This is the story of how I finally got onto the path to financial security.  And how anyone can too.

Many of the things I will ask of you in this course are not simple. They will take time, self-reflection, and a bit of discipline. But every step is so important.  Because this is the way you'll reach financial security for yourself and your family.  And in the process, you will be an excellent role model for your children so they also develop solid and empowering beliefs and habits around money.

If you remember nothing else from this course, I hope this will be it!  It could be the difference between your child struggling with money and retiring a millionaire.  It's just that important. 

Please note: You will need to download a local copy of the Compounding Calculator to use it.  After you click on the link, go to the top menu, click "File > Make a copy" and save it to your local drive.  If you run into any issues, please send a message.  Thanks!

Here we'll go over the format of the course, what you'll be learning, and why we've structured it this way.

Ready to test your knowledge?  The quiz is at the end of the Module 1 exercises included in Lesson 1.

Module 2 is all about starting to tackle the biggest obstacle most people face in reaching financial security.  Do you know what it is?  Mindset.  If you have the wrong mindset, it doesn't matter how much money you make.  But with the right mindset, even a little bit of money can turn into a lot. 

That's the good news.  The bad news is that often, our mindsets are running in the background and we've never given much thought to if they're helping or hurting us.  This whole module we'll start to examine your beliefs around money and finances.  And talk about how to root out any ones that are counterproductive and replace them with some better ones. 

Attached are the Module 2 exercises that you'll use for all the rest of the lessons.  Happy exploring!

In this lesson, we'll explore the behavior chain and why its important to help you change your thoughts and ultimately your actions.

Are you familiar with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?  This lesson will explore why getting basic needs like food, shelter, and safety covered is so important for parents.. and their children.  And why working on *your* mindset is the best gift you can give your children.

This topic might be a little sensitive, but it’s important. What happens when you and your partner don’t see eye to eye on financial matters?  We'll cover some tips to help you get started on tackling this very challenging situation.

Sometimes, when we feel deep down that we'll never reach our financial goals, we can slip into a bit of fantasy thinking.  And that's when we're most susceptible to Money Traps and Fads.  This lesson will help you arm yourself against the schemers and ne'er-do-wells that might be looking to separate you from your hard-earned money.

This lesson will introduce you to the Compliment Exercise, which is a great way to cement your commitment to thinking about money and financial security in this new way.

In this module, I introduce you to the framework we'll use in the rest of the course to build out your roadmap to financial security. 

One reason a framework is so important is that it will help you develop the skills to assess the advice people are trying to give you. Having a framework to make decisions is far more powerful than me telling you what to do. Think of it like the scaffolding that will help you build and maintain financial security. 

Our framework is Mindset + a Legacy Plan + Execution.  We've already talked about mindset.  Now we turn to your legacy plan.

In this lesson, we're going to look into the future and imagine the possibilities and dreams that you want to see become a reality for you and your family.

As a reminder, the Module 3 worksheets have space for you to complete this exercise.

Now that you’ve spent some time visualizing your future, we’re going to talk about identifying your values. We’re not focusing on HOW to reach your goals yet. Right now, we’re focusing on WHY they are important. Spending a bit of time thinking about what you value in life will help you view your money choices through this lens. It will make it that much easier to focus on what's really important for you and your family.

Now that you’ve identified the things in life that you value most, it’s time to think about if your actions are aligned.  Why is this so important?

Remember how we talked about you being your child’s first role model and how they are always watching you? It’s true, and that’s why I want you to examine your values and your actions to see if they’re communicating the same story.

By this point, you’ve already started to identify what you want the future to look like and the values you want to share with your children. The final piece is the act of translating all that into your legacy plan.

At this point, you'll want to get some outside help from specialists. These folks will help you make sure your wishes are enforceable by law. So who should be on your team?  We'll go through the list in this lesson.

We’ve spent the last couple of modules at the 30,000-foot view. Now we’re zooming in on the details. To begin, I want to introduce you to what I call the Lifestyle Equation. Some personal finance gurus talk a lot about budgeting, scrimping, and saving. In this course, we turn that thinking on its head and instead think about maximizing your FUN spending!

Note: Below you will find a link to a Google Spreadsheet called the Goal Calculator.  You will need to save a copy to your local directory to change the values.  You can do this by clicking on the link, going to the top menu, and selecting "File > Make a copy."  As always, if you run into difficulties, please reach out to [email protected].

In this lesson, I introduce the concept of Net New Dollars. This is your ticket to buying all kinds of fun things without blowing your budget.  I'll give you a few of my favorite ways to earn NND too. 

Money is helpful not just for the things it can buy but because it can smooth out the rough patches when they come. You don’t necessarily need to aim for billionaire status, although if you do, kudos to you! But if security is what you are after, this lesson will help you identify the point where you know you won’t be up at night worrying about money.

You got it.  This lesson is all about debt.. the good, the bad, the very bad.

We're including a spreadsheet to help you wrap your mind around how much consumer debt might be costing you.  As with earlier spreadsheets, click on the link, go to the top menu and select "File > Make a copy" to save a version to your local drive. 

Running into issues?  Please send a message.

Some people think of education and extracurricular activities for children as essential spending. Others think of it more as an investment in their child’s future. How you label these expenses is up to you.  But in this lesson, we'll go over why it's important to make the distinction early.

Remember how we talked about money not being everything but being useful to smooth out the rough patches? Well, one luxury of having enough money is you get the flexibility to buy back your time.

In this lesson, I'll ask you to think long and hard about the areas in your life where you could trade money for more time to do the most important things to you.

In this lesson, we talk about why it's OK to break the rules once in a while. And why experiences might be the place where you get the most bang for your buck.

In this lesson, we’re going to pull all the pieces of the Lifestyle Equation together. I’m providing you with a template you can use but if you have another budget tool you like, use that instead.

As always, if you run into issues making a copy and using the provided spreadsheet, please don't hesitate to send a message.  Thanks and we'll see you in the next Module!

If you recall, our framework is Mindset + a Legacy Plan + Execution. Mapping out your lifestyle equation was the first piece of execution. You should now have a pretty good sense of where you stand from an income and spending perspective. Now we are going to talk about the concrete steps you can take to realize your financial goals.

We previously talked about what to do if you and your partner are not on the same page about money. Even if you are perfectly aligned, you still have to decide how you want to approach spending, saving, and investing as a family unit.  This lesson will help you think through these important topics.

In this lesson, we review the fundamental personal accounts I believe it takes to feel financially secure.  We'll go beyond checking and savings to help demystify things like money market accounts and CD ladders.  Ready??  Great!

In this lesson, we talk about another way to build a sense of financial security for your family and that is insurance, in particular, the four types of insurance you should consider purchasing to reduce financial stress in your life.

Hold on to your seats, in this lesson we're going to discuss one of the scarier financial topics, and that is taxes. We won't get into specifics but I do want to offer a slightly different take on taxes to help you view them differently. After we're done, you may even realize that the IRS doesn't have to be your enemy.

I don't want to tell you precisely what to do with all the money you’re saving. There are many excellent resources to learn more about specific investment products out there.  In fact, we're including a pdf with some great, easy to read books to help you get started.

But in this lesson, I want to offer you guidelines on how to think about investments and how to steer clear of scams.  So you'll be empowered to make sound decisions long after the course is done.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about some of the accounts you should have to feel more financially secure. In this lesson, we'll examine some of the accounts you should set up for your children to get them on the path to financial freedom early.

In this lesson, we're going to talk about the one number that will give you a snapshot of where you are on your financial security journey. Your net worth.

Below you will find a Google Spreadsheet to help you get started with calculating your net worth.  Download a copy to your local drive by opening the link, clicking on the top menu, "File > Make a copy."  Need some help?  Don't hesitate to reach out to send a message.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about things you can do to improve your sense of financial well-being and security. Now we’re going to talk about things you can do with your children to ensure that they develop good money mindsets and a healthy sense of self regarding money earlier rather than later.

In this lesson, we'll talk about when to introduce various money concepts to your children.

Growing up, I remember that my mom used to sneak in money topics and math practice without us even noticing. In this lesson, I want to talk about ways to incorporate finance topics into your everyday life to get your kids thinking about money in natural ways.

Let's talk about some money games the whole family can play...

In this lesson, I will share a few ideas on talking to children about their future.

I hope that earlier lessons showed how vital income is to your Lifestyle Equation and overall financial security. The same is true for your children. You want them to know early on that working, earning an income, and being financially responsible are critical in adulthood. This lesson will provide tips on how to accomplish this with the minimum stress.

This lesson covers specific ways that you can invest together with your child. When you involve kids in the process, it helps cement the idea that investing is an activity that they can and should do. And because children often have the best questions, it’s an opportunity for you to learn more together.

Did you love going on field trips as a kid? I know I did.  This lesson will cover a few ideas on finance field trips the whole family can enjoy.

We’re getting to the end of our time together and I hope you’ve learned a lot about yourself and the path to financial security.  Before we wrap things up, I want to share one last way to talk about money with your children...