With Valentine's Day right around the corner, many of us are focusing on those special people in our lives and how we can show them what they mean to us. And that is certainly important…but I also want to challenge you to do something for yourself.

Self-love and taking care of yourself should be a priority - I'm sure you're familiar with the airplane safety speech…put the oxygen mask on yourself BEFORE assisting others. And that's great advice for other areas of your life too! 

As a financial advisor and money coach, I want to encourage you to do one thing this month that will help you improve your financial wellness. After working with hundreds of clients, I know that financial wellness can significantly impact a person's overall well-being. 

There have been countless challenges since March 2019, and now we're experiencing high rates of inflation and supply chain issues. So this is the perfect time to see what changes you need to make in the new year....

It’s easy to overspend and go over budget during the holiday season! I’ve certainly done it plenty of times!! I know it’s hard not to get caught up in the gift-buying season with all of the advertisements and “special” deals that we’re bombarded with every day. And none of us want to be viewed as a “scrooge.” With some planning and research, there are so many ideas for creating a wonderfully memorable holiday season without stressing about spending too much. 

Here is a recap of some of our previous blog posts that share gift ideas for some people that may be hard to buy for as well as tips on how to stay on budget and creative ideas for decorating. 

8 Ways to Stay on Budget During the Holidays

Read about some tips to help you stay on budget, including setting spending limits, only shopping for the kids, using cash-back websites, and more! Even if you only want to incorporate a few of these tips, they are sure to help you stay...

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays with its focus on family and gratitude, and it’s the perfect opportunity to feel grateful for everything that I have, despite whatever bumps in the road tried to take me off course throughout the year. But Thanksgiving can also be a difficult time for people for a variety of reasons so I wanted to share how developing a gratitude mindset can help you take a different approach to not only Thanksgiving but each new day. 

So what is a gratitude mindset? 

Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful and exhibiting a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Simply put, a gratitude mindset is the ability to focus on the positive things in life rather than the negative - you know the glass is half full kind of thinking. You see opportunities instead of obstacles. When you can focus on gratitude, the number of things you appreciate continue to grow. 

Why should you strive for a gratitude mindset?

...

A lot of people, women in particular, are hesitant to ask for more. Whether it’s a mindset that’s holding you back, fear of rejection, or something else entirely, you have to pursue what you want — and sometimes, that means asserting yourself and asking for what you want!

Even if you work for a company that reevaluates the market rate for positions and adjusts salaries accordingly or you work for yourself and can increase your rates any time, there is still a level of needing to feel confident to advocate for yourself when and if it becomes necessary.

Why It’s Important to Ask for More

I have a client who works in data analytics, but she wasn’t “trained” to do data analytics (ie: she didn’t go to school for this particular set of skills she has). Instead, she evolved into this role in the company and she’s good at it. However, because of the way she evolved into it, she was significantly underpaid when we started working...

April is Financial Literacy Month! It’s such an important time for me because I truly believe in the importance of education, especially around money. The reality is that the schools don’t provide much, if any, financial education.

So, I want to make sure you have the tools to feel confident in sharing this information with your kids and also so you are confident in advocating for yourself when it comes to your finances.

I remember learning about money at a young age — I must have been about 10 and my brother was 15. My mom was a single mom. She hurt her back and couldn't go grocery shopping, so it fell to us (my brother and I) to go to the store and get what we needed.

It was the first time we had to be responsible to get the groceries and it was a little scary. We were in charge of making sure we chose wisely so we would all have food to eat for the whole week and hadn’t loaded the cart with groceries that would exceed our budget.

Even though it was a...

When you want to feel empowered around your money mindset, there's one thing that is at the heart of preparing to increase your income. Sometimes, in mindset work, we forget that we do have a great deal of control. While that control isn't over anything outside of ourselves, we can control our thoughts, reactions, and beliefs — and that is powerful! And it starts with asking.

Kids are great at this. For example, my kids always want McDonald's. Never mind that 99.9% of the time, my answer is no when they ask. But they always ask for it. I'm sure if you're a parent, cousin, or caretaker of any sort, you've had this experience, too.

And as any kiddo is too familiar with hearing… Just because you want it doesn't mean it's going to happen. But when you realize that you have a great deal of power over your choices in your money mindset journey, you can learn to guide your thoughts and actions to prepare yourself for an increase in income.

There are two main steps to getting...

Often, as a woman is entering a life transition, she experiences this feeling of “I can do it!” mixed with a hefty dose of “What am I going to do?” Our mission at Watch Her Thrive is to provide support for women to thrive through these transitions.” 

The goal behind Watch Her Thrive is to be a beacon. It’s more than just writing helpful blog articles to show you how something is done. It’s to empower you and show you that, Yes, you can do it!

From my early career days, I’ve always been an educator. I've used my experiences to provide support for women to thrive, regardless of circumstances. Sometimes in the traditional sense, like when I taught third grade in inner-city Baltimore; and sometimes in the non-traditional sense, like when I became a published senior equity research analyst. And sometimes in the very non-traditional sense as my ex-husband and I navigated the adoption system.

No matter what I did, my mom was always...

Improving your financial situation is always high on the list of resolutions I hear from my clients. After all, with a mindful eye on your finances, you can build stability for your family and be able to thrive for years to come without worry. (It’s such a hot topic, I created a list of 10 financial resolutions you may want to set for yourself to help in this mission.)

That said, surviving and then thriving takes a little effort in the beginning to get yourself on the right track. Case in point: How many dimes would you have for each person you hear claim that “This is my year”? You may have racked up a few dollars just counting all the times you’ve proclaimed it’ll be your year. And, I mean this gently…. What happened after that proclamation? Exactly. Never fear, these 5 simple steps will help you improve your financial situation once and for all so you can bask in the knowledge that this will be your year for years to come.

Make the Decision

...

The holidays are full of emotions whether you’re single, married, newly divorced, remarried, or divorced for a while. That isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, so suffice to say that the holidays can bring up complicated emotions. As a matter of fact, it is immediately after this time when divorce filing rates spike.

Should you be contemplating divorce right now, know that you are not alone. Here are a few resources to help you weather the storm so you can thrive after divorce! In this post, I share links across all facets of my specialties, from Intentional Divorce Solutions and Intentional Wealth Partners. If you’re interested in diving further into their topic, I’d suggest browsing the blogs on those sites, as I have a ton more information, and I couldn’t link to all of it!

Increasing Your Income To Help You Thrive After Divorce

One of the first things I usually hear when I work with couples at Intentional Divorce Solutions is that one...

The holidays will look a little different this year, but that doesn’t mean that money issues will magically be a moot point. The holidays are prime times to overspend, not stick to a budget, and treat yourself a little too often.

It’s also time to stress about how much you should spend. Will someone think you’re cheap or love them less if you don’t share a gift that’s worth a certain dollar amount? Then, there’s the pressure to give a gift or visit everyone - which isn’t feasible during the best of times, but is definitely going to come under question right now.

But of course! We want to share gifts for a socially-distant gathering with our closest family and friends. It’s the season of love and joy and togetherness. Use these tips to stay on budget and still feel like you aren’t depriving yourself or your loved ones this holiday season. You can also take a look at all of my holiday posts for even more inspiration for holidays on...