Dedication:
to the girls determined to rise and change the world
ISBN: 978-1-6822219-3-8
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION- HAVE NO FEAR
Investopedia defines financial literacy as the ability to understand how money works in the world. How someone earns or makes it, how that person manages it, invests it (turns it into more) and donates it to help others.
When I bring up any type of financial topic with the majority of my friends, their interest is lost within the blink of an eye.
Just because I find it interesting doesnt mean my friends feel the same way. Some would probably equate my rambling to watching paint dry. Are the topics of money management, investments and the stock market riveting stuff to everyone? No. Is it imperative that everyone know a least a LITTLE about itYOU BETCHA!
Regardless of what your major in college is or was, you probably have had some type of finance class. Pretty cut and dry, probably not too relatable or stimulating. You may have left thinking when in the world will I need to know this?
I am here to help make finance more understandable and relevant to your life.
Financial literacy is a serious issue in the United States, especially among us, ladies. Many women select majors that do not place an emphasis on the importance of knowing financial topics. This means fewer of us are learning the basics of accounting, economics and simple money management skills. I am not a feminist by any means, but here are some stats from Women, Money and Success Magazine:
Women earn 25% less money than men.
Women save less money (blame it on Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman) leaving them less confident about their financial abilities and more reliant on men.
50% of marriages end in divorce (getting that MRS degree isnt the answer), after which the womans quality of life often drops substantially because she has not been the one managing the household money.
In light of this evidence, my main goals are to make young women feel more confident by expanding their financial knowledge; to help these women grasp, or at least be familiar with, basic financial concepts and how money works; to suggest how to make your money grow with smart investments; and to emphasize the importance of balancing your budget and to offer advice to help you do so.
I am attempting to break down tricky financial concepts into simple, straightforward, and easy to learn topics. There are other guides to finance out there, but they werent written by people our age who can understand and relate to what our lives are like right now. Being young means living it up. I love to take trips with my girlfriends, eat at fancy and expensive places, and live life luxuriouslybut that will not be your reality forever unless you take a step back and keep tabs on your finances.
Knowledge makes you confident, powerful and a force to be reckoned with those are 3 traits I know we all want to add to our rsum!
GIRLFRIENDSS GUIDE
*Before beginning this book I HIGHLY recommend you keep a notebook handy to jot down little notes. You will need one in the last section to layout all of your finances!
Before beginning this journey, I polled a few of my Tri Delta sisters to see if they would have an interest in learning more about budgeting and their finances. Overwhelmingly their answers were a resounding YES.
With most of them having graduated recently from Ole Miss, lots are hearing the phrase every child fears: cut off. Prepare to drive your Mercedes into the harsh reality of the real world.
My Greek sisters monetary responsibilities now include:
-Rent
-Food
-Clothes
-Gas
-Car and health insurance
-Utilities
-Cell phone
-Travel- any type of leisure
College is easy for some and very difficult for others. Some float by debt free with their parents or guardians paying their immense tuition costs. On the other hand, many students are inundated with the burden of student loans they will eventually have to pay back with the help of their hard-earned paychecks. Say goodbye to your shoe fetish and hello to interest payments and taxes.
When I asked my friends about their knowledge of finance, most said it ended with the notion not to spend more than you have in your bank accountwhich essentially is the big picture. However, its inevitable that you will one day be facing your budget all by your lonesome, so there are numerous specific topics we all need to be familiar with.
This is not a complex guide. This is not going to be a boring lesson about finance. The goal of this is to teach you how to enjoy a financially responsible life.
Life is expensive. Seriously. I had a wake up to this the other day. My dad called me before I went to my internship and happened to mention the credit card bill. I have two cards: one with my name on it but which is paid by my parents, and a debit card that is my PERSONAL money. On my parents card I put gas, food and miscellaneous things such as car maintenance. Shopping, travel anything else that I choose to do I pay for from my own account.
So how much did I spend on my parents card in a month? $1,500. Whoops!
That incited me to do a little digging into my personal Wells Fargo account. In the past 18 months I have deposited $31,710. I currently have $3,578. That means in the past 18 months I have spent $28,132. My jaw dropped.
Where in the hell did all of that money go? Ill tell you where it went. It was the trip to NYC. It was the five-star spa and hotel I vacationed at in Nassau. The pair of spring collection Gucci shoes I HAD to have from Bergdorf Goodman. It was the triweekly trips to Starbucks. And then just like that, 28 grand out the window.
While I consider myself very financially responsible, I am all about living big. I like the finer things in life and I dont apologize for that. I have worked hard in school because I know the lifestyle I desire isnt going to pay for itself. With all of that being said, I am ALL about a deal! Priceline is my best friend. The sale rack at Neiman Marcus is the first thing I spot. If Im getting a deal it totally justifies me buying itright? Sometimes its dangerous to reason with yourself: with a sale like that I cant afford not to buy it.
Taking a serious look at my bank account is making me rethink all of this, and that has prompted this books plan to show my fellow girls who are one day going to rule the world to do the same.
As women we are not at a disadvantage to men. Sometimes we may be conditioned to think we are, and fall into saying I think Ill finish college, get married, work for two years, have a baby, and then my husband will earn a paycheck for both of us and I will stay home(not to diminish how difficult the job of raising babies is!)
To each her own, but whether you want to be the next Sheryl Sandberg (like myself), or want to be the loving stay-at-home-mom or bothgo girl! this information is important for everyone because you never know what funny curveballs life is going to throw at you.
PART I: BASIC FINANCIAL CONCEPTS
TOPIC #1:
CHECKING AND SAVINGS
We will begin with the basics: checking and savings accounts. When you take money to your bank it generally goes to one of two places: your checking account (typically also tied to a debit card) or savings account. Here is the difference between them.
Checking Account
This account is for daily transactions or ongoing monthly expenses: trips to the grocery store, shopping, rent, etc.