Poverty - Stricken

Eighty-three per cent of the poverty-stricken over the age of 65 are women. So, yes, the question is, “How and why do so many Canadian women end up like this?”

I asked myself “How can I help other women either recover from or avoid the experience of the feeling penniless?” After many discussions with friends, and after much research, I have come up with an approach that I think will help women, and their family, better cope with the stress of money and emotions. However, it will be work.

In the course of developing Women’s Wealthness services, I have heard many stories from women who have experienced or fear experiencing the Dumpster Lifestyle. 

One of the reasons many women tend to have an uneasy relationship with money is that we confuse money with other things. That is, for many of us, money represents psychological and emotional wants.

Take a look at the list of emotional wants below and check the ones that resonate most with you – it may just be one, but possibly all:

• Happiness
• Security
• Freedom/Independence
• Love
• Power
• Success

Understanding that states-of-being are not money and that they need to be considered as completely separate things is the first step towards your achieving financial wellness. As women, we tend to think that we can only achieve or experience those states-of- being  if other things are in place; that is, I can’t be happy, feel secure, love, independent, power or freedom if I owe money, need money, are dependent on someone else and the house is not clean. By confusing money with states-of-being we have made money a pre-condition for enjoying life.

Start living that life now and stop waiting for money to make it happen. I am not suggesting that we stop paying the bills; they are part of being an adult in our society. Pay the bills as well as find the joy in each day. We can do these two things one small step as a time.

One way we can keep up with the bills is to not spend so much each day on the small things. This is called the “latté factor “, in the budgeting world.  I suggest that you stop using your debit card or credit card for the next 5 to7 days, use cash to buy the small things. This would be things like, coffee out, lunch out, breakfast out, the newspaper, gum and a drink with the girls. Don’t change your habits just keep track both daily and for that week. The reason I suggest using cash is it is easier to keep track. For example if you start the day with a $20 in your pocket and come home with $5 you know what you spent. Have fun and don’t judge yourself.