Girls Just Wanna Have Funds Women's Personal Finance Blog

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Ananda Leeke, host of the BAP Living Radio Show.  There we discussed women and personal finance, money management tools, the recession and my plans for Girls Just Wanna Have Funds. Check it out! Hosted by: Ananda LeekeTitle: EPISODE19 – BAP Living Community Call – Finances for WomenTime: 04/19/2009 07:00 PM EDTEpisode Notes: The show was initially scheduled to air on April 5. It was rescheduled to April 19. The show will celebrate Financial Literacy Month. The guest is Ginger, founder of Girls Just Wanna Have Funds – http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com. This has inspired ... Read More »

photo credit: pfala Admit it. Being frugal isn’t something that you look forward to, after all it means that you’ll be giving up or cutting back on some or all of your favorite activities. What if you found a way to cut back without giving up those things completely? And best of all save money? I’ve compiled a list of [tag]cheap[/tag] alternatives for the must haves in our lives and its pretty good if I do say so myself! Retail Therapy Shopping Gather a list of websites that put together the [tag]look for less[/tag], here are a few of my ... Read More »

Here are several big deals or things you can get for free! Free Museum Admission: Click Here 99 Cent Bowling @ AMF: Click Here Free Friendly’s Sundae: Click Here Coupon Queen-How to Save Big at the Grocery Store: Click Here Free Totes-Aerie: Click Here Free Gift-Victoria’s Secret: Click Here FREE CHIPS & QUESO  Click Here Free Large Popcorn: Click Here Mommy’s Wish List: (Website with Free Stuff)  Click Here Free Latte: Click Here Free Underwear: Click Here Free T-shirt:  Click Here Orioles Free Ticket: Click Here Baskin Robbins Free Sundae: Click Here Bob Evans Free Mocha:  Click Here Free Dr. Pepper: Click Here Free ... Read More »

Trent, from The Simple Dollar discussed Suze Orman’s new advice to the masses: Regardless of your overall credit card debt, if you have very little saved in an emergency savings fund, I want you to make a shift in your financial strategy. My new advice is to focus on building up as much savings as you possibly can. With rising unemployment rates, having a larger emergency fund is vital, even if it means you are only paying the minimum due on your credit card balance. I realize many are split on the issue being that Suze recommended we do the ... Read More »

This weekend was pretty hectic in my household because spent a good part of it worrying about my MIL (still not out of the woods) because she’s worked herself to the point of exhaustion thereby aggravating other medical problems. She’s been working three jobs, taking 15 credits towards her nursing degree and this time of year is also the anniversary of her father’s death.  As you can imagine, this has been an incredibly stressful time for her as she was trying to juggle way too many things at once.  Something had to give and I guess this was her body’s ... Read More »

Im sure some of you already figured out that I sent the money.  Yes, I did and just know that it was for a good reason.  I did end up missing a conference where I was to present but I guess during times like this you just have to make hard decisions. I know that I’m not ever going to see that money again so Im not worried about it, I guess this situation stands out because I do have fairly rigid rules about enabling family members in financial situations.  After talking with my husband, I realized this wasn’t what ... Read More »

Courtesy of VodPod Despite the recession, some industries are still going strong, and apparently long and hard through the night if you get my drift. White collar women who once held top dollar jobs on Wall Street are now shakin it fast on easy street for a quick buck. “You’re seeing a lot more beautiful women who are eligible to do so many other things,” said Gus Poulos, general manager of New York City’s Sin City gentleman’s club. He said he got 85 responses in just one day to a recent job posting on Craigslist. The transition to the nightclub ... Read More »

photo credit: Axel Bührmann The Issue: More children left home alone to fend for themselves by working parents too strapped to afford child care. This article was written a few months ago but it speaks to some of the concerns I have as we think about starting a family.  Parents are now forced to reconsider whether or not they can send their children to daycare because they are having a hard time paying for it.  As a result, some daycare centers are concerned that parents might be opting for unlicensed daycare centers, putting their children at risk of being in ... Read More »

What can you afford to live without? We were faced with this question while visiting some friends in Manhattan this weekend.  This was our first time visiting their apartment and we were pleasantly surprised to say the least.  So much so it made us go home and plan a full scale decluttering job but more on that later!  It turns out they live in a 700 square foot studio and we were in love!  Why?  It’s neat while boasting a modern decor with traditional influences and has all the essentials while still maintaining airy living space.  No random shelving or ... Read More »

Scenario: You have a huge trip coming up that you’ve been planning for months now, but you get a phone call stating that you need to send money to a family member in order to get them out of a really bad bind.  The kind of bind that’s possibly life or death because of the stress involved if I don’t send the money.  We’re not talking chump change, but $2500.  Of course, sending the money means you won’t be able to go on your trip and possibly disappointing many people. What would you do? Read More »

TD AMERITRADE Can’t see everything? View this email online. Attention Save Yourself clients… 5:07 PM (3 hours ago) TD AMERITRADELoading… 5:07 PM (3 hours ago) Regardless of your overall credit card debt, if you have very little saved in an emergency savings fund, I want you to make a shift in your financial strategy. My new advice is to focus on building up as much savings as you possibly can. With rising unemployment rates, having a larger emergency fund is vital, even if it means you are only paying the minimum due on your credit card balance. What do you ... Read More »

Hard times and shrinking paychecks are forcing some stay at home moms to return to the job market.  Meet the Economommies. They are women who chose to leave the workforce in order to focus more on child rearing but with recent market downturns, scrambling to re-enter the workforce. Sites like MomCorps have proven invaluable to Economoms as they negotiate their skills and expertise in child rearing and home making in exchange for a white collar job: …women are flocking to mom-centric job and career-consulting sites, where they learn how to translate their maternal skills (negotiation, time management) into corporate argot. ... Read More »

If you’ve been out of work for some time or recently fired/laid off then this post is for you. As the time goes by and job fairs are posted it seems as though they can’t get here fast enough. You focus so much energy on shooting out as many resumes as you can in hopes that one recruiter bites. Well, not so fast, you’re literally competing with thousands of other people out of work with the same or better qualifications. So how do you get back in the game? How long will it take you to get back into work? ... Read More »

Readers Digest has a really fabulous article about getting on your feet after a layoff.  Sometimes we see it coming and there are others for whom it comes out of the blue sky with no warning.  But in this economy, everyone should have a clear plan that can be implemented if the axe drops.  So if you’ve recently lost your job, here’s how to find it! The Warning Signs Keeping your ears to the streets.  Translation?  Listen out for the following buzz words as companies use them instead of the classic “fired” or “layoff”.  It sounds good but will you ... Read More »

Yesterday I received an email stating that I’d just transferred $1649.00 to Lenovo.com.  I didn’t and immediately got off the phone with a client to call Paypal and then my bank.  Both stated they wouldn’t be able to help me until the pending authorization cleared or was terminated. It turns out the bank had been calling me all afternoon because the security team flagged the transaction.  I thought it had to do with my new debit card coming in the mail.  I was wrong. I use a small credit union and 80% of the time I get the same person, ... Read More »