Financial Literacy
For years I was pretty “successful” financially. By societies standards anyway. I worked in the NFL and then at 20th Century Fox. I had a steady salary and health insurance and a 401k. At some point I took a left turn. I wanted to focus more on creativity and acting, and I left the world of bi-weekly paychecks behind.
On the side, I was always studying wellness. I wanted to know ALL the things. I studied nutrition, I trained in meditation, I became an advanced Reiki practitioner, I started leading groups, I got certified in Yoga, trained in Breathwork, studied herbalism and Human Design, the list goes on and on. The introduction in Letting Go is one of my absolute favorites (if you haven’t read it I highly recommend the book). He speaks to the idea that we are a society searching:
“you meditate, chant a mantra, drink green tea…try the breath of fire.. you get centered, learn NLP, try actualizations, work on visualizations, study psychology, join a Jungian group. You get Rolfed, try psychedelics, get a psychic reading, jog, jazzercise, have colonics… get more insight, bio-feedback, Gestalt therapy. You see your homeopath, chiropractor, naturopath, you try kinesiology, discover your Enneagram type…”
His hilarious list goes on for two pages and if you’re anything like me it resonated (I can check off quite a few of those boxes). Or maybe not, maybe you’re new to this whole healing journey in which case: Welcome!
For me, I was always looking for THE answer. The one thing that was going to somehow fix me, be the master key, and that also lead to a lot of debt and justification.. of but I “need” this.
I love the energetics of manifestation and I don’t believe spending money you don’t have is financially responsible or spiritual. It’s not honoring your own limitations and energetics. We can call in the money when we’ve cleared our limiting beliefs and stand in our worth as well as gratitude. You can have anything you want…yeah, I’m talking to you, but we need to respect where we’re at.
Sometimes we need to stretch to take on a coach or guide to help us along this path but then we have to do the work to create the change. I loved to be a hoarder of knowledge; to read ALL the books and listen to ALL the podcasts but often skip the exercises till ‘later’. Which often never came. This was a big part of what lead me to creating The Collective (more on that below).
Somewhere along the way I woke up to the fact that while I was responsibly paying all my bills I wasn’t actually looking at them. I avoided looking at my credit card statement because it didn’t feel good. I was stuck in fear and the way out of fear is always action. So I started making small moves. I started looking at my statements. I started paying my bills with gratitude for the services rendered. And I started to invest money even if it was incremental compared to what I wanted to be investing. I took back control.
As women it can be especially challenging. Money for a long time was fully a man’s world, women receiving an allowance each week like a child. The men handled all of the investing and that world, places like Wall Street, are still a very male dominated place. That is imprinted in our DNA. As we heal and become more financially literate and take more responsibility we heal that for the future generations. And we teach those after us to be better.
I wanted to share some of my favorite resources for streamlining and keeping it simple.
My favorite investment applications:
Digit - This app is great if you’re someone who puts money in savings and then takes it back out to use it. Um, hi 🙋♀️. It’s also great if you’re trying to save for a rainy day, something specific or to pay off credit card debt. It links to your account and analyzes your spending. When you have extra money it takes it and stores it away. You can link it to your credit card to make a monthly payment as well. You can always transfer the money back in a pinch and also set up overdraft protection if you like.
Ellevest - Created by a badass woman, Sallie Krawcheck, and mostly run by women and humans of diverse backgrounds. They only charge .25% of your balance annually when you’re under $50k. I heard her speak on the Goop podcast about What We’re Taught About Money where she offered a code to get started with $50 on the company. If nothing else start there.
Stash - An investment app you can start with as low as $5. And it’s super easy to set up an auto withdraw from your bank on the dates that work for you. The beginner plan will only cost you $1/month. I like this app because you can invest based on your beliefs. You can invest in businesses that are Queer owned, invest in water, invest in clean/green companies, small businesses etc.. This was important to me. You can check in periodically when money is in your account and invest it where you like at your leisure. And when you share Stash you get $5.
Wealthsimple - Just a rad investment management service. It also has low rates; .5% when you’re below $100k in your account + sweet values. They have a great newsletter and offer services that are typically only offered at a premium.
All of the investment companies have loads of free information for educating yourself so you feel confident investing and managing your finances. Use them.
Don’t think you have enough money to begin? You do. Start as small as you need. Just by opening an account and putting $5 in you are sending a message to the Universe that you’re getting serious. And you get to watch it grow. The one thing to be mindful of is to pay off debt first. If you have debt set yourself up on a plan to pay it off.
You can still make some small investments to get you started and get the energy flowing but put the bulk of your money towards paying down your debt and building a safety net (3-6 months of living money) before you go nuts with the investment applications.
Want to call in more abundance?
Check out the books below:
You Are A Badass At Making Money
Other resources:
I also really love the power and technology of Mantra. You can dedicate time to chant along or play it in the background while you work, chill or even sleep.
This is one of my favorites for abundance. These are the words if you want to chant a long:
25th PAURI OF JAPJI - - BAHOTAA KARAM
Bahotaa karam likhiaa na jaa-ay.
Vadaa dataa til na tamaay.
Kaytay mange jodh apaar.
Kaythaa ganat nahee veechaar.
Kaytay khap tuteh vikar.
Kaytay lai lai mukar paa-eh.
Kaytay moorakh khaahee khaa-eh.
Kaytiaa dookh bhookh sad maar.
Ay-eh bhe daat tayree daataar
Band khaalasee bhanai hoe.
Hor aakh na sakai koe.
Jay ko khaa-ik akhaan paae.
Oh jaanai jaytee-aa muh khaa-ay.
Aapay jaanay aapay day-eh.
Aakheh se bhe kay-ee kay-eh.
Jis no bakhsay siphat saalaah.
Naanak paatisaahee paatisaah.
The collective
You can also learn about Living Your Design, Energetics and The Art of Abundance (which includes a Prosperity module) as a member of The Collective, where you can get access to all of my workshops.