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).
Our Women’s Personal Finance Facebook group also 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 think 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 80
1. Savings Accounts: Changes We’re Making Because ‘Rona and the Stimulus Check Free, Fun, Family
“First, this is not a just recession; it’s a pandemic–a world health crisis. The change in culture and economic pattern is not predictable because this has not happened before.”
I love how honest and transparent this post is. Diana is always open with her family’s situation with money, and it makes her very relatable. In a time where money suddenly looks different for all of us, I really appreciate being able to read others’ thoughts on what they’re doing for the short term future.
2. You Have No Obligation to Find the Silver Lining of a Sh!*storm Brave Saver
“I’m doubting if I’m strong enough for this. I’m trying not to crack but the pressure is building. There’s no bright side when the world is in shadow and we’re all feeling our way through darkness.
Smiling only makes me feel sadder, somehow.”
Getting through is enough. Oh, Elyssa, as always, your words are so powerful and so spot on. While I tend to be a practically optimistic person, life is just straight up hard right now. And it is very much okay to accept that it is hard right now. Optimism can come later. Getting through right now is enough.
3. How to Prepare for a Recession: Steps to Take Now One Frugal Girl
“It’s unclear what the long term implications of this pandemic will be. Now is the time to set aside the largest emergency fund possible. No matter how big it is, it may not be big enough.”
With stimulus checks in the bank already or soon to be there, having a plan is key. While I may be holding a little less tightly to our excess money right now, but I’m definitely working on building our cash buffer. The good news is, I’d already been doing that over the past months, but it could definitely be larger. We’re okay financially right now, but as she says here, things can change in an instant, or they can change four years down the line. Now is the time to be as prepared as possible – ready for the worst, but hoping still for the best.
I hope 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 the Women of the Financial Independence Community.
Featured this week? I’m so glad to showcase your work! Grab a badge for your site!
Thank you for including my post. We are living in an unprecedented time and I hope that everyone prepares as much as possible even if it feels completely unnecessary right now. Businesses can fail quickly even if they seem 100% stable right now. Hopefully we all return to a new sense of normal soon, but in the mean time I hope we all prepare for the unexpected. In the best case scenario we don’t need the buffer and a new group of savers, entrepreneurs and minimalists are born!
Yes! I do hope that that’s what happens at the end of all of this. It will be interesting to see what the long term effects of this are on everyone’s money habits. I’ve sometimes thought about what long lasting effects the great depression had on people, and wondered if this will be similar.
I’m interested in that too. A lot of people thought the Great Recession would create a lasting impression on Americans and that a generation of savers would be born from that event, but it didn’t seem to have much of an impact at all. When things get better it’s easy to forget all that went wrong. I wonder how many people will change their behaviors as a result of this pandemic. There are so many important lessons to learn, but when the economy recovers and jobs return how many will retain them? I’m cautiously optimistic.
My comment on stimulus checks is that they are there to replace lost income due to unemployment and cover off cost of living expenses. If you still have an adequate income or solid cash savings then all “new” money over and above your needs should be spent at as many small local businesses as possible. That is what it is for, to be spread through the community to help everyone equally as much as possible. Get your bike tuned up if possible to ride more, start doing a once a week take-out supper, order fresh baking from the local bakery, start a garden with supplies from the little garden shop down the street. Now is not the time to be selfish once our basic needs are met, we all still live a very privileged life and IMO is our role to help lift our communities up.
I completely agree, but a lot of people are not on solid financial footing. That’s why stats say Americans can’t afford an unexpected bill as little as $400. If you have a solid savings account and emergency fund help those who need it, but ask yourself if you are financially stable first. It’s the equivalent of putting your oxygen mask on first. As soon as that air starts flowing you can help everyone else in need.
Great list! I’m excited to read these articles, especially the perspective regarding the potential cultural and economic changes in a post-COVID-19 world. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had multiple chats with family, friends, and colleagues about how we think our country will or won’t change once we’re no longer living under this quarantine. I’m curious to what everyone foresees.
I’m hopeful that *some* things will change.
these posts are so poignant and full of authentic vulnerability but also wisdom in this uncertain times, thank you so much for continuing to share them
Thank you so much for those kind words.