Elizabeth, Author at Women’s Money

03Nov 2021 by Elizabeth

Recipe for Earning More Money

Money Recipes

As part of our money recipes series, this time we aren’t focused on what to do with your paycheck. Instead, we are tackling earning more money. What is the best recipe for earning more money? Some of my favorite traditional food recipes are the recipes that have a base recipe with multiple options for different flavors or mix-ins. Think of your favorite cookie recipe base, but then consider the different choices of what to add to make them chocolate chip, or nut, or oatmeal, or monster goods, etc. Or muffins. Maybe pizza. Or even quiche. All of these start with a base recipe that allows you to add different ingredients depending on what you have in your kitchen or the outcome you are looking for. Recipe for Earning More Money…

27Oct 2021 by Elizabeth

A Recipe For Your Paycheck

Money Recipes

Something about the fall season makes me want to cook. Specifically, I want to turn on the oven and bake cookies, breads, quiche, crisp, cobbler… you name it. So in the spirit of fall, we are going to run “recipes” for the next few weeks on Women’s Money. Recipe For Your Paycheck The goal of this recipe is to create and shape your after-tax dough so that you know exactly what to do with your paycheck. In order to create this dough, you need to make your before-tax dough first. As a result, it is a multiple-step process that can take several days. Your Pre-Tax Dough This includes: Taxes (Including FICA/Medicare/State/Federal)Health/Vision InsuranceLife/Disability InsuranceHealth Savings AccountFlexible Spending AccountRetirement Savings Start with your total paycheck. Determine how to complete your company’s tax…

20Oct 2021 by Elizabeth

What Every Woman Needs to Know About Safety Nets

Health

What will catch you when you fall? This is the most important question to ask yourself this week. I hope that you are doing enough with your life that you will stumble and fall down. Life isn’t easy, and if it is for too long, you aren’t trying hard enough. Failure happens. And failure helps launch us to future growth. But what happens when you fall and there is no one or nothing to catch you? It’s a lot harder to get back up. So, in the spirit of doing more hard things, we must ensure we have the right safety nets in place. Why are Safety Nets Important? First, why are safety nets so important? As we’ve already established, you can try to fly higher when you have a…

22Sep 2021 by Elizabeth

What Every Woman Needs to Know About Relationships and Money

Miscellaneous

Relationships of all kinds are complicated. Whether it’s your relationship with your spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, kids, parents, boss, colleagues, or friends, relationships are even more complex when it comes to money. These ten things are what every woman needs to know about relationships and money. Things to Know About Relationships and Money Make sure you aren’t caught off-guard when it comes to money and relationships. Here are some things you need to know to maintain your own financial wellness while safeguarding your relationships. 1. Don’t Rely on Your Spouse I hope that you can count on your spouse to support you in sickness and health for your entire life. For many people, even with divorce rates at historic highs, there is still a good chance you can count on…

15Sep 2021 by Elizabeth

What Every Woman Needs to Know About Saving for Retirement

Saving & Investing

We all dream of the day we can retire from work. Unfortunately, most retirement planning is done by men. Complicating matters further, it is critical for women to think about saving for retirement differently than men. Things to Know About Saving for Retirement. Here are four things women need to know about saving for retirement. 1. You Will Live Longer Than Men in Your Life On average, women live longer than men. In the U.S., the preliminary data for 2020 from the CDC shows that for all races, women have a life expectancy of 80.5 years, while men have an average life expectancy of 75.1 years. This means that you’ll likely need to save for an additional five years of retirement as compared to a man in the same position.…

08Sep 2021 by Elizabeth

7 Things Every Woman Needs to Know about Spending Her Money

Goals / Taking Action

I always think of September as a second fresh start to the year. With kids heading back to school, there is something in the air that exudes a restart. After Labor Day is a great time to reflect on the year so far and determine what you still want to accomplish. For anything that has gotten off track, it’s a good time to start anew. In the spirit of back to school, back to basics, we are running a “What Every Woman Needs To Know About Money” series this month. To start off, we will cover what every woman needs to know about spending money. Things Women Should Know About Spending We all spend money. How you spend your money is mostly up to you, and we will get to…

11Aug 2021 by Elizabeth

6 Surprising Benefits of Having a Hobby

Health

When I was a law school student, I attended a speech by our state’s Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a woman who was in her late 40’s or early 50’s at the time. Besides being Chief Justice, she was also a mom. At the time, I thought I was an exceptionally busy person. I was a full-time student and ran a business part-time. But I still had ample time for myself each day, whether it was watching TV, renovating our 1920’s house, planting a tomato garden, or brewing homebrewed beer. So during this event I was shocked when the Chief Justice gave us some advice: Always make sure you carve out at least an hour each week for a hobby. At the time, I was shocked. An hour a…

02Jun 2021 by Elizabeth

Cost of a Sleep Study Plus 12 Other Must-Knows

Health

It’s 5 a.m. when they knock. The door opens, flooding your room with fluorescent light. You can’t really move because you are tangled up in cords, so you just wait for the test administrator to come over and start removing electrodes from you (25 in all) one by one. No, this isn’t the scene from a horror film, but it is the end of a sleep study. I’ll start from the beginning. Due to a variety of symptoms (you can check out a list of sleep apnea symptoms here), my doctor referred me for a sleep study. I had heard about sleep apnea before. However, I didn’t think much of it until I read the startling statistics about how much it can decrease your life expectancy, cause all sorts of…

26May 2021 by Elizabeth

11 Best Free Health and Fitness Apps

Health

Getting healthy doesn’t mean you need to spend thousands of dollars on gyms, Peloton bikes, OrangeTheory memberships, glucose monitors focused on metabolic conditioning, or expensive nutrition programs. Here is a list of free health and fitness apps to improve your well-being. Free Meditation Apps Meditation is a great way to improve your health without working up a sweat. It brings mental clarity and an increased ability to focus. 1. Headspace I have used the Headspace app for nearly two years. The difference between Headspace and some of the other meditation apps I’ve tried is that it has structured programs that vary in length and topic. I love it for myself but also for the amazing meditations for kids. There is a free 30-day trial, so you can figure out if…

12May 2021 by Elizabeth

Cheap Peloton Setup: My Personal Peloton Alternative

Take Action

For those who don’t know, I’m a huge Peloton fan. Before I got hooked, I had been to exactly one spin class in my life. It was miserable, and I vowed never to try spinning again. Everything changed when I stayed at a hotel in New York for a week. It was raining a lot that week, so my ambitious plans for running in Central Park before work got thrown out the window. Fortunately, the hotel had a Peloton bike. I fell in love. When I used the hotel bike, the membership I got lasted about three months. During this time, I used the app for free at home and on spin bikes at my gym. At that point, I had my favorite instructors and signed up for the digital…

Author: Elizabeth