You know that toxic situationship we’ve all had? The one where you keep pouring energy into something that never grows? Yeah, that was me and money. For years, I treated my finances like a Tinder date I kept ghosting – avoiding tough conversations, making impulsive decisions, and constantly wondering why things never improved. Then I discovered financial intimacy. Not the boring spreadsheet kind (though we’ll get to that later), but the revolutionary act of women rewriting money narratives.
Let’s get real: We’ve been fed princess fantasies about being “taken care of” since we could hold plastic tea sets. But here’s the plot twist no one mentions – financial dependency tastes bitterer than expired oat milk lattes. When I started my first online boutique (RIP my 2018 plant subscription box disaster 🌱⚰️), I realized money isn’t about numbers – it’s about audacity. The audacity to:
1) Charge Your Worth
My early pricing strategy? Apologetic. I’d tack on “if that’s okay?” to invoices like verbal padding. Then I stumbled on research showing women-led startups generate 78% higher ROI… yet receive 2.3% of venture capital. My “aha” moment? If the system underpays us, we overcharge it right back. Now I add 20% to every initial quote – my reparations surcharge.
2) Break Up With Scarcity Mindset
My Croatian grandmother survived wars by hoarding canned fish. I inherited her survival instincts but applied them to H&M sale racks. The shift happened during my “money diary” experiment: Tracking every cent revealed I spent more on “bargain” impulse buys than strategic investments. Now I ask: “Does this purchase expand my world or just fill it?” (Spoiler: That $300 course on TikTok algorithms > 7 fast fashion dresses)
3) Build Multiple Love Languages
Financial independence isn’t monogamous. My portfolio includes:
– A “screw you fund” (6 months’ expenses in high-yield savings)
– Guerrilla income streams (renting out my DSLR camera on weekends)
– Slow-burn investments (index funds I treat like crockpot meals – set and forget)
The real game-changer? Understanding money as energy rather than security. Every dollar is a worker bee in your hive – are you sending yours to build a honey empire or getting them stuck pollinating someone else’s garden?
Last month, I transferred $5K to a robo-advisor while getting a gel manicure. Not because I’m “good with money”, but because I finally stopped seeing wealth as a masculine chess game and started treating it as collaborative art. The patriarchy charges compound interest on our self-doubt – it’s time we became our own financial revolution.