Save Yourself
Back in ’07, before the economy melt down, I was writing about Women and Money.
It’s a big deal. We say stupid things like “Money Can’t buy happiness,” when the reality is that “Not having money can buy a great deal of unhappiness.” In a marriage especially.
Having quit my job to be a SAHM/WAHM, I don’t actually make much money. I asked my readers, of the old Blog Fabulous (now BlissTree w/b5media) and on The Girl Revolution to be just a little less economically dependent and passive about the future and just a little more active.
I convinced my husband to put $50 into my own TD Ameritrade Save Yourself Account every month.
It transfers automatically, so after the initial, somewhat awkward conversations, it doesn’t remain an issue up for debate.
We’re married. So we debate things having to do with money. There’s a limited amount of money and this is real-life, so things don’t go as smoothly as you imagine they will when you’re 20 and you think marriage is going to be all romance and rings and dinners out. Should I start selling Young Living Essential Oils? Should we spend $5000 to self publish my book? How much are we saving? How much is on the credit cards? What are we going to spend on groceries?
You know. It’s your life too.
It’s been a little over a year that I opened my Save Yourself account.
I am so glad I did. With only $50 a month, I made some investments that have accumulated to almost $2,000. I’ve bought and sold stock. It’s been a great illustration of how small things add up. You think a year is a long time – when you’re 20 – but, it goes faster and faster in your 30s and soon . . . it’s not $50, it’s $2,000.
I’ve decided to become an independent distributor – small business owner – in a brand of Healthy Chocolate and Young Living Essential Oils. I used the income from my Save Yourself Plan to make the initial investments. No marital haggling.
It feels awesome, every time I look at it. Every time I realize, I can just decide to do something without haggling over it with my spouse. Every time I check my account I feel a little more powerful in my own life.
If you have gotten nothing else from The Girl Revolution I hope it’s that if YOU are more powerful in your own life, the odds are better for your daughter.
Modeling empowerment, financial security, body image, self esteem, and relationship stability is the very best thing you can do for a kid.
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