Being raised as a female came with a series of double standards I still get worked up about. However, growing up, my mother carried a good majority of the financial stability we had. After my parents got divorced, both of them did their best to give us what we needed, for which I’m very thankful, but they each taught me something different.

My mother taught me how to spend money on myself, while my father taught me to spend money on what I needed. Both struggling to make ends meet, and unfortunately, that carried on for a few years before they could individually be proud of their bank accounts again. 

Since I was raised in the lower middle class, I had enough, but never any leftovers. There was also this constant reminder that money was the root of all evil and that we should never strive to make too much money, only what we need. This created a not-so-healthy dynamic for me when it came to taking control of my own finances, even though I had been pretty independent since the age of 18. I wanted to create financial freedom for myself, but my belief system around money needed to change first. Thankfully, I always welcome a challenge, and this time was no different. Although I identify as non-binary, my upbringing was entirely woman-identifying habits. Therefore, I’ve still got PLENTY of work to do, but here as some stats that’ll really highlight the different ways that the disparity exists in the woman-identifying community:

 

  • Average American women-identifying will have ⅓ as much retirements savings as a man does
  • American women-identifying people are 80% more likely to be in poverty after retiring than men
  • 61% of women-identifying people said they would rather talk about DEATH than money…(wtf, really?)
  • Women-identifying people owe ⅔ of all student debt in America even though they make up 56% of college graduates
  • 24% of federal politicians worldwide are women-identifying
  • Less than 6% of Fortune 500 companies have women-identifying people as CEO’s
  • Women-identifying people are 5x more likely to live paycheck to paycheck 

Not only are we not empowering women-identifying people to make money, but we expect twice as much from them while raising our kids at the same time. The sad truth? The opportunities for people who identify as women have never been this good. It wasn’t until 1974 that people who identify as women could get a credit card WITHOUT their husband to cosign for it. That’s only 47 years ago y’all! No wonder so many of your grandmas are your biggest supporters today. 

 

Anyway, as I embark on my path to financial freedom, here are some tips I recommend you get started with TODAY!

  • Listen to “Money you should ask” for some relatable stories and tips on how you can start changing your relationship with money.           (The podcast is also available on Apple and Spotify!)
  • Make a list of all the debt you currently owe and build a plan to set yourself up for success! For a deeper understanding of how to reprogram the subconscious energetics of your relationship with money and the shame triggers we might have; Check out the TBM workshop Unblocked Money 
  • Talk to a friend who knows the ins and outs of the finance world. Human libraries are an excellent way to find someone who may be able to help you avoid silly mistakes in investing and start making tons of cash sooner than you think! 

I have only just begun my journey, but I’m more excited about my debt today than I was yesterday, and that’s a relief beyond compare. I’ll take it day by day, learn from my mistakes, and continue to build my financial freedom. My goal is a year from now, to be entirely debt-free! So let’s see what I’ll learn on this journey. 

 

Love Y’all,

Taynahmite

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