Get Financially Fit with GoGirl Finance

Judging by the articles that I've written and posted on this place and space lately, it's becoming quite evident that I want 2012 to be the first year of the best years of our lives. I started out with setting dating resolutions (hey, a single mom has got to have them). Next I spoke about using vision boards and nipping fear in the bud to accomplish our goals. Then I spoke about ways to enhance our lives so that it can be fuller. 


Man, I'm on a roll! Are you ready for more? (I thought so!)

Today let's talk about finances. Because, let's face it: being healthy in our mind, body, and soul is great. But being financially fit and having financial knowledge is the ultimate gift that a woman can give herself. I'm no Finance Guru, but I am a champion of being financially savvy and learning more about securing an even better and solid future for Aiden and me.

That's why I was so excited to attend an event co-hosted by GoGirl Finance and Manisha Thakor (personal finance expert and co-author of On My Own Feet and Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money with Your Honey).

On the night of the event, a group of women determined to make 2012 our best year yet migrated to Manhattan's Upper East Side to the Warren-Tricomi Salon for post-holiday beauty treatments (mini-makeovers, mani's and blowouts), cocktails, conversations, and financial literacy basics.

The Founder of GoGirl Finance, Caryn, is determined to help women effectively prepare ourselves for our financial futures, which, as she states, "would give us power as we work through the inevitable hardships that define human life."

{Dress: H&M;
Over-the-knee-flat-boots: Steve Madden;
Necklace: Michael C. Fina;
Lips: MAC Plum Fun}

That's why I think an event like this one was/is so important. It's not easy for women to talk about money... Maybe it's because we don't understand as much as we would like to about it. (Surveys show that women remain less financially literate compared to their male counterparts.*)

Maybe it's because we can have a tendency to spend frivolously. (We needed those $200 pair of pumps. No, we don't already have those same pumps. We have the black suede ones... now we need the black leather ones, duh!)

Maybe it's because numbers scare us. (Raise your hand if you're still traumatized by that calculus class from freshman year of college. Or statistics course from sophomore year. Oh, wait... is that just me?!)

{Babysitting mishaps so I brought
along my Plus One, Aiden}

But events like this help us to begin the dialogue. Which is oh so necessary. While Manisha discussed several things at the event like talking about money with your significant other (couples who argue about money are more likely to split, but you knew that already, right?), one thing that I took away from the event and I hope helps you as well is this: Start. Saving. Now. 

Seriously.

If you save $5,000/year in your 20's, by the time you're ready to retire around the ages of 65 or 70, you'll have... err... a lot more money saved up than if you start saving in your 40's. I started saving when I was fresh out of undergrad and working full time. When I left work to enter grad school, I stopped saving. But now that I'm finished with grad school and back to working full time, I am truly encouraged and inspired to... Start. Saving. Now. 

{Not sure what was going on in this convo, but judging
by the picture, I was pretty engrossed in it}

{Tweeting and entertaining my Plus One. #Multitasking}

Thank you so much to GoGirl Finance and Manisha Thakor for co-hosting such a great event. Thanks so much to the gorgeous Jill (Glamamom) and the ever beautiful Sarah (The Stroller Ballet) for helping organize the event. You ladies rock. All of you!

{Event attendees received a gift bag, which contained a copy of Manisha's latest book.}


*Financial Finesse Inc., "Research on the Gender Gap in Financial Literacy." 2009.