Spring is in the air. Flowers have started blooming, people are wearing shorts, and that spring feeling is irresistible. But how about in our relationships? Regardless of the month of the year or the temperature outside, an opportunity to spring clean your marriage should never be overlooked. 6 Ways to Spring Clean Your Marriage In this article: Learn to appreciate the … [Read more...]
10 Best Book Picks For Black Women To Read About Self-Love, Money, And Career
I love books, and I'm always on the hunt for the best self-improvement books. Despite all of the things that pull my attention on any given day, I make it my business to DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) at least two times a day. I get my reading fix in during my hour commute to work and my hour and fifteen commute from work. That said, here are some of the best self-improvement … [Read more...]
Top 3 Things that 18 Years of Marriage Have Taught Me
Anniversaries are super special in my house. I would never have imagined being married to my husband for eighteen years. Real talk, my parents didn't even think my husband Don and I would remain married past the first six months. They expressed this to us more times than I can count. Why would my parents think this, let alone have the nerve to verbalize this to us? Well, the … [Read more...]
How to Stay Together When Your Family and Friends Want You to Divorce
For years, my husband Don and I had an extremely rocky marriage. During those tumultuous years, I confided in a lot of girlfriends. I told them everything he did and did not do. I was painting a picture of him that had them not speaking to him or wanting to be around him. When things were at their worst, I ran my mouth. Straight up. I even convinced myself that I was going … [Read more...]
Why I Refuse to Let Guilt Tear Me Apart This Holiday Season
I had been living with a lot of guilt lately. It wasn't guilt because I personally did something wrong, but the guilt still robbed me of my joy and thanksgiving. Ironically, I had been feeling guilty for all the good things happening in my life recently. I wanted to rejoice that my parents and both my brothers along with their families would be with us at my brother's … [Read more...]
Women: 5 Easy Ways to Live a Fabulous Life for Less
There is a saying in Antigua “one, one, full basket” meaning that every bit, no matter how small, will have an impact on your overall goal, especially when it is a financial one. When those “bits” are tiny deposits into an account, you will eventually have a hefty reserve if you keep at it. On the other hand, if you continually withdraw those little bits for “here and there” … [Read more...]
This Amazing and Free Tool Will Help You Lose Weight and Slash Debt at the Same Time
A few years ago, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine published Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research findings which concluded that keeping a food diary can double an individual’s weight loss effort. Similarly, a study in The New England Journal of Medicine uncovered that those who did not jot down their food intake on a daily basis underestimated their … [Read more...]
Are You Dating a Married Man? Here are 6 Red Flags that You Are
One of my single friends came to me for some advice about a man that she was dating. While I don’t consider myself a relationship coach, I do consider myself a pretty good judge of character, so when she shared with me some of her dating experiences with this particular man, it was clear that this man was not fully single. This man, more than likely, was married. Here are … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Repair Your Marriage That Won’t Cost a Thing
Marriage is a journey and along the way, you will have to make repairs. Before you spend money on courses, retreats, and counselors, start with these three basics of a sound marriage. Instead of investing your money, these tips require you to invest your intention and time. Be on time. I know that I have a tendency to run late when it comes to my personal life. I’m on time … [Read more...]
Two Questions that Will Help Every #MarriageShift
I was having a conversation with my husband earlier today about some of the shifts that I am experiencing in my life. For the past year, I have been rethinking my priorities. Since I was a little girl, I have been pushed to excel in my academics and career. I’ve worked since I was eleven, lived in different countries, and did all that I was expected of me in finishing my … [Read more...]
4 Things to Do With Your Money If You’re a Financial Overachiever
Financial overachievers have done all of their financial due diligence—paid off their debt, maxed out their retirement contributions, and maintained at least six months of emergency funds. Once they have achieved these goals, they can grow unsure about what money moves to make next. For the financial overachiever, this state of uncertainty may create a bit of anxiety. Below … [Read more...]
3 Core Money Mindset Principles that will Keep You Out of Debt and From Living Paycheck to Paycheck
As you embark on any journey of financial self-awareness, I want you to remember three of my core money mindset principles. These principles not only empower me, they also push me to make smart money decisions on a daily basis. Know Your Why One of the ways to improve your relationship with money is to understand why are you spending or saving. Money is a proxy for so many … [Read more...]
The 4 Most Valuable Lessons on Happiness I Learned from My 10-Year-Old
When I think about the things that made me happy as a child, it was usually simple stuff like the ice cream truck, playing jump rope with my friends or drinking Kool-Aid. Have you noticed how it seems to take so much more to make you happy the older you get? I’ve had to really ask myself why that was as I went through some changes in my life that caused me to re-think my … [Read more...]
4 Signs You Know It’s Time to Let a Friendship Go
I have a tendency to hold on to friendships longer than I should because I am loyal and often worry that I may hurt their feelings if I begin to pull away. Can you relate? But the one thing that growing up has taught me, is that life is about phases, changes, and breakthroughs. You can’t be afraid to respond to the whispers (as Mama Oprah likes to say) and the writing on … [Read more...]
8 Ways that Black Women Can Improve Their Relationship with Money this Weekend
Growing up in a household led by a single-mother who immigrated from the Caribbean and was partly responsible for supporting some of her siblings make their way to the United States, I saw firsthand how her role as chief financial leader (CFL) and head emotional caretaker (HEC) left my mother emotionally burnt out, overwhelmed, and financially depleted. I think part of the … [Read more...]