Women's Power Wednesday
A Rose Among the ThornsFor those of you who don't know, I spent the first thirteen years of my professional life in the heavily male-dominated profession of finance where I worked on trading floors, in hedge funds and as a financial advisor. I never had an issue being a "rose among the thorns" as I was called frequently (this was one of the "g" rated titles I was called that can be posted here), but it didn't mean that I didn't learn a number of lessons. And one of the saddest lessons I learned in finance was that you could not always rely on your fellow minority members for support. You would think that since our numbers were so few, we could band together and help each other out, but it did not happen as frequently as I would like. I have numerous stories I will share at a later date or that are saved for my future book, but I don't want to dwell in the past. Now that I have my own business, I set the tone, and teamwork and support, especially among women is a must. Since March is Women's History Month, I am devoting every Wednesday to highlighting and supporting some of the amazing female personal finance bloggers out there. I will be calling it Women's Power Wednesday. I let a few of them know, so you might see them do the same. If you are a woman (or a man) personal finance blogger, it would be awesome if you showed your support for women this month. The world becomes a better place when we support each other.Mom Power WednesdayThis week I am highlighting bloggers who also happen to be moms. They are not only out there trying to help educate others about smart financial choices, but they are working on raising a next generation of financially responsible individuals. I am including some of my favorite posts of theirs, so I hope you check them out and show them some support.Holly at Club Thrifty
Why I love Holly - Holly is probably one of the most honest bloggers I know. She not only shares her income and budget information with readers, but she shares her successes and failures on her journey to live a frugal and thrifty lifestyle. And I personally love that she and her hubby Greg are not afraid to drop some f-bombs when they write, it adds to my enjoyment of their stories. :-)
Top Club Thrifty Blogs
- This one was a last minute substitution because Holly posted it yesterday, but it gets at the point about women not supporting each other. She asks the question should all moms be stay at home moms and just like I commented on her site, we all have the choice to be moms and we should all have the choice to be stay at home moms or not. Either way as moms, we should support each other.
- Holly is known for credit card churning and making the most of travel rewards. She recently wrote a post about the success she had and what she plans to do with her rewards this year.
- Holly recently wrote about embarrassing ways she saves money, and I love her candor about her frugality. My favorite was the fact that she used three credit cards to pay for flooring in her new home, she really is a credit card churning fiend.
Why I love Laurie - Laurie is another honest blogger, who shares very painful stories about poor financial decisions that she and her husband made in the past and how they are trying to move forward from it. I always say that if you can take a bad experience and make a positive result from it, then that bad experience becomes a positive one. The lessons she shares are part of a process of turning bad to good.Top Frugal Farmer Posts
- Laurie shared a very personal story about her mom and her struggles to provide for her family when she asked if you could bootstrap your way out of poverty. It's an important reminder that if we get into financial troubles, with hard work and focus, we can get out of them as well.
- She also shared about how you can get in financial trouble by having short sighted vision and lose your way to financial success. I felt as though the same thing happened to me.
- Laurie has a great way of relating her personal stories to financially healthy practices and in one case she shared how using leashes for her children made her realize that she couldn't always listen to what other people had to say about her.
Why I love Shannon - Other than the fact that we share the same name, I am convinced that she is my west coast alter ego. We are both financial planners and through our blogs and blog comments, share many of the same philosophies on not just money but relationships. Shannon's blog is primarily focused on helping parents teach children about financial literacy, and I believe that financial health does come from an early age, so it is important to instill these lessons as soon as possible.
Top Heavy Purse Blogs
- As financial planners, Shannon and I both see marital strife that comes from financial situations. She recently shared four tips for a successful marriage based on her findings.
- As I mentioned, her blog is about helping children with financial literacy and I loved the post she wrote about the three steps to raising financially confident children.
- If you find yourself in a debt situation, Shannon shares her thoughts on having a conversation with children about debt.
Do you follow these ladies? If so, what do you love about them? If not, why not?* Image Source Free Desktop Wallpapers