Girls Just Wanna Have Funds Women's Personal Finance Blog

Welcome to the 383rd edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance -Capitol city Fall Edition!  Like many of you, DC is experiencing the lovely turn in weather as Fall approaches.  The parks and trails have an even better feel to them now because the weather cooler and many residents get into the spirit of Halloween by decorating their homes with ghouls, pumpkins and other scary surprises! Editor’s Picks Mike from The Financial Blogger presents How Do You Go Back to Work When Being Self-Employed Flops?, and says, “Nobody ever discusses the reverse. The idea of going back to work.” Rich ... Read More »

You’re probably sick of all of the #FINCON12 recap blog posts but here I am with another one! If you saw #FINCON12 trending this weekend on Twitter then you know that a bunch of nerdy personal finance bloggers got together for what some have called the Woodstock of personal finance.  We came,  we saw, strategized, partied and of course many of us are now at home developing our blog strategies for the next year. I’ll get into the awesome people I met later but I do want to spend a bit of time talking about a consistent theme throughout the ... Read More »

Once you’ve tackled debt and saved enough towards at least 3-6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund, then you can start thinking about investing in long term goals. This can include retirement, college education, owning a home or anything that warrants a longer term investment of time and money.  One thing to note which goes against Dave Ramsey’s advice in this area, put your retirement ahead of your child’s college fund.  Why?  You don’t have a second chance to save for retirement whereas your child will have several options to pay for college should they choose that route. ... Read More »

These tips really apply to anyone but since we’re focused on women’s money issues we’ll go with “single woman money tips” today. Believe it or not your personal finance goals are very different when single.  If you’re planning on getting married in the future, now is the time to lay the foundation.  It’s OK to make mistakes now because you’ll learn the lesson and hopefully not make the same ones once you get married.  Focus on managing your money and making it work for you like a well oiled machine. Save at least 20% of your income Stash your cash ... Read More »

Maria Sutej A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Maria Sutej- Regional Vice President, Sales with Avon Products, Inc. Maria Sutej is a Regional Vice President in Sales at Avon Products, Inc.   Maria leads a team of professionals with cross-functional skills and experience focused on defining short and long term measures related to achieving annual sales goals, and provides stewardship in the implementation of global business strategies.   Maria began her career in 1983 joining Avon as a District Sales Manager. She quickly ascended through the sales ranks holding positions as Field Trainer, Division Sales Manager, ... Read More »

  Creating an emergency fund is critical in being able to maintain financial stability.   We often hear and read that creating an emergency fund is important but what’s hardly discussed is how to go about doing so.  Let’s look at a few ways to create your emergency fund. Now if you’re thinking to yourself, how on earth will I do this if I am in debt or having financial issues?  Let’s take a look at that: Getting Started: Cut back on spending-drastically.  Everything that you do not need is extra and you don’t need the extra while creating the emergency ... Read More »

Today’s post in the Rock Your Finances series addresses taking yet another baby step around setting up your debts on paper or on a spreadsheet.  The rationale for this is to to prepare yourself for the call to your creditors after you’ve devised a plan to get current and get out of debt. By listing your debts, you gain concrete information about your debts such as balances, interest rates and while devising a plan to become current if applicable.  Then once you’ve laid out this information, you will then call your creditors to discuss your plan to get current when ... Read More »

  Once you’ve obtained a copy of your report and reviewed for errors, highlight each error and get ready to contact each bureau in order to dispute the information.  Some of he errors may include listing a credit account twice, reporting an account as late or delinquent when in fact it is up to date, reporting an account as having a balance when it’s been paid off etc etc.  You may even find an account that doesn’t belong to you and in this case, you will need to take immediate action and freeze your account at each bureau. How To ... Read More »

(photo: essence.com) Today we tackle that holy grail we call credit.  Depending on who you talk to, we have to live with it but must learn to do without it.  Until you get to a point in your financial life where you can live on a No Credit Needed basis then you’ll need to pay special attention in this area.  We need credit to buy a home (in most areas), qualify to rent a home, qualify for a good rate on home and car insurance and a host of other life essentials where having a good score serves as the ... Read More »

I know, you’re thinking didn’t I just create a budget in Day 7?  Yes, you did and congratulations because that is the first step to making this process hands on! But today, we’re going to tweak things, just a bit.  You may have just listed all of your expenses and income without real consideration for where you can tweak your budget in different areas to save you more money.  If you thought after reviewing your budget that you need more money in one area, then the answer is to cut back in others. Ideally you should have a spreadsheet that ... Read More »

I think Avon is one of the best products, high quality.  I love everything about Avon.  I love that Avon transforms lives.  It brings you connections.  Carol started out as a customer many years ago, and even though she is still a customer, we are true friends.  I appreciate that Avon gave me this opportunity. Today’s Avon interview is with Linda Montavon, an Executive Unit Leader.  Linda has been with Avon for 14 years and started because she fell in love with the product.  She liked the products so much that she joined Avon as a sales representative and the ... Read More »

Since we’re on a mission to pay our own bills around here let’s get down to business!  Today’s mission is pretty simple.  Still, it’s painful for some because I really don’t think we realize how much we’re paying out in comparison to what we’re pulling in (salary, freelancing, side hustles etc).  Day 5 we looked at how much money you make, but how much are you paying out?  Simple math: Income – Expenses = Money left over We want to make sure that you’re in the black at the end of the month.  That is, you have money left over ... Read More »

Let’s recap 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 1- Create A 1 Year Financial Plan 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 2- Identify Your Financial Weaknesses 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 3- Track Every Penny Because Every Dollar Has A Job 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 4-Automate Your Bills 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Week 1 Recap Today’s task involves reviewing your income streams or lack of it if you’re unemployed to see how and where you can make extra money.  This is important because this is the core of how you’ll achieve ... Read More »

Hopefully you’ve taken the weekend to unwind and review this week’s topics in our Rock Your Finances series.  If you’re just catching up here’s what we’ve covered so far: 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 1- Create A 1 Year Financial Plan 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 2- Identify Your Financial Weaknesses 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 3- Track Every Penny Because Every Dollar Has A Job 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 4-Automate Your Bills Here are a few tips to get you caught up: Day 1 If creating a 1 year financial ... Read More »

  In our next series of Avon interviews, I had the pleasure of interviewing Avon superstar, Denise.  Like Becky, she makes money selling Avon products to friends and family and has tons of fun doing it!  While interviewing Denise it became immediately clear that we share many of the same values around women and money which made this interview easy with many “yes, me too!” moments. What’s Her Story? Denise is a mom who has been selling Avon for about 3 years now.  She happened upon Avon due to the pending birth of her son, however she’d recently lost her ... Read More »