financial women Archives - Financial Woman

7 Smart Steps for OPM

July 17, 2012 By Camille Gaines 1 Comment

As women, we are experts at using leverage to juggle the many areas of our lives. When you plan your activities around being in a particular area of town, you are leveraging your time. The same can be said for getting a manicure while also getting a pedicure, or enjoying your workout routine while also listening to a financial course on your audio player. Are you also leveraging your money? Leverage occurs when you have control of an asset with a capital outlay that’s a fraction of the asset’s value. In essence, you are using OPM, or "other people's money". During the years leading … [Read more...]

Only Orchids and Chardonnay?

April 26, 2012 By Camille Gaines 2 Comments

Have you noticed how much more efficient your trip to the grocery store is with a list? Without one, it’s easy to end up spending half the time you allotted for your trip browsing in the floral or wine department. Prioritized lists help us get the right things done in less time, whatever the task at hand, plain and simple. Have you created a list outlining your financial priorities? Because money issues can be so all encompassing, it’s easy to get side tracked and spend time on the less important tasks if you haven’t. This can lead to creating a spending plan for your home remodel … [Read more...]

What Can We Learn from Bridget Jones?

December 19, 2011 By Camille Gaines 10 Comments

Movies can teach us a lot about life and money. I have found that I now like to watch mostly uplifting movies, and tend to avoid movies that bring me down, such as violent or depressing ones. Last night, I watched Bridget Jones Diary as part of my annual holiday movie event. It’s one of my very favorites! I get so frustrated with Bridget; she’s so pretty, naturally sexy, and smart, yet she keeps repeating the same mistakes. She so longs to be healthy and confident, yet she continually sabotages herself in every area that she longs to improve: her career, her weight, her unhealthy habits … [Read more...]

5 Great Questions to Lead You to a Rich Life in 2012

December 13, 2011 By Camille Gaines 1 Comment

December is the perfect time to gain insight about progress toward your financial goals. Take some time this month to ask yourself the following questions so you can head into 2012 with clarity about where you need to focus first to move toward the financial results you really want. Have you clearly defined what you really want? I like to call this your money reasons. What are those “all important” things for you that money can buy? Is more money coming into your accounts than going out each month? If so, you have positive cash flow; if not, how change you change this moving … [Read more...]

What Brings You Joy?

December 1, 2011 By Camille Gaines Leave a Comment

Year end is the perfect time to reflect on your money reasons, or the reason that growing your money is important for you personally. As a result of the Earn Grow Give Movement related to my Amazon book launch last month, I was able to participate in 2 kiva.org loans to help women grow their business. This was one of my very own money reasons related to the launch of my book. In both cases, each of these women needed just a bit more to complete their loan, so the small amount I donated meant that their loan was fully funded, at last. This was very exciting for me! The women I chose to … [Read more...]

Financial Women Avoid Buying High…Always!

October 6, 2011 By Camille Gaines Leave a Comment

The U.S. stock market officially touched bear market territory this week. I know we’ve all seen those “bull and bear” bookends, but exactly what is a bear market? According to Investopedia, “It’s a market condition in which the prices of securities are falling, and widespread pessimism causes the negative sentiment to be self-sustaining. As investors anticipate losses in a bear market and selling continues, pessimism only grows. Although figures can vary, for many, a downturn of 20% or more in multiple broad market indexes, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average … [Read more...]

4 Smart Cash Flow Secrets

September 29, 2011 By Camille Gaines Leave a Comment

Monitoring Cash Flow is Always Smart! Exactly what is cash flow? It's the flow of money into and out of your financial accounts each month. Even if you are fortunate to have periods when you have more income than you want to spend each month, it’s wise to calculate your monthly cash flow. This is a smart habit for several reasons. Accomplish Your Money Reasons Sooner First, you can challenge yourself to reach some of those money reason goals sooner than you thought possible. For example, if your goal is to donate a certain amount to a children’s shelter by the time you are 50 … [Read more...]

I Can’t Afford It!

September 22, 2011 By Camille Gaines Leave a Comment

My son recently wanted to buy a Playstation with all sorts of extras. The “bundle” (as he called it) was too good to be true; it was completely irresistible. What I love about this story is that he did not say to himself: “I cannot afford it”; he asked “How can I buy it”? He calculated how many hours he needed to work in our businesses to buy the Playstation, and then worked 12 hours in a 24 hour period to make it happen before the sale ended. What do you do when you see something you want that is not in your spending plan right now? Do you say “I cannot afford it”? Or, do … [Read more...]

Are You On Track?

August 29, 2011 By Camille Gaines Leave a Comment

After over a decade of turmoil in the financial markets and the accompanying drop in the value of real estate, many women are finding that they are just not on track to reach their financial goals by the previously expected time frame. If you see that your current investment plan falls short of where you want to be, brainstorm steps to get to where you want to be. The longer you have to enhance your financial plan, the better. There are so many options to increase your wealth, including: Creating a second income stream from a small business, while creating a legitimate tax deduction at … [Read more...]

Feast or Famine?

August 22, 2011 By Camille Gaines Leave a Comment

The annual fig feast is one of my favorite things about going to see my mom. I have wonderful memories of picking hundreds of figs with my sons when they were young, and then making fig preserves. This week while visiting Mom in Mississippi, I was more than a little disappointed about the fig crop. My conclusion is that figs are feast or famine. And, again, here we are, with a life lesson that can relate to money, beyond the fact that figs are crazily expensive in the grocery stores and are both fresher and free on trees in our friend’s and family’s yards! Does your money feel like feast … [Read more...]