July 2018 - The Financial Graduate

The 8 Hour Workday isn’t Working…and Ideas for Change

I had my baby boy just over a year ago. As anyone with children knows, having a baby is life changing. It makes you think about things in a totally different way.

Since having my son I’ve thought a lot about how challenging it is to juggle all of my different roles as mother, wife, friend, daughter and employee. How do you find balance working full time, raising a family and maintaining your relationships?

The 8 Hour Workday

This balancing act is made even more difficult by trying to work it around the traditional 9 to 5 workday.

Working 8 hours a day, 5 days per week in an office does not make parenting easy. Continue reading “The 8 Hour Workday isn’t Working…and Ideas for Change”

5 Tips to Avoid Using a Payday Loan

Payday loans are the absolute worst.

Unfortunately, it’s usually the poor that end up needing to use them and, once you start, it’s easy to fall into a terrible cycle of debt.

I have some second-hand experience with payday loans.

My boyfriend, now husband, moved to a new city to go back to school. With moving costs, rent, tuition, a new computer etc. he quickly burned through his savings.

He had taken out a small student loan to help him get through school but in an expensive city, it wasn’t enough. So, in an effort to try and make ends meet he turned to payday loans. Continue reading “5 Tips to Avoid Using a Payday Loan”

Stop Spending Money on THINGS you Don’t Need

How many times have you been in a store and convinced yourself that you simply had to have that shirt, pair of shoes, tool, car…that pretty, fancy, shiny thing?

Now, after making that purchase how many times did you feel a pang of regret by the time you walked to your car and shoved the bags in the backseat?

How many of those “must have” purchases still have the tags on them in your closet, 1 month, 3 months, 1 year later?

How many of those “must have” purchases are you still paying for, 1 month, 3 months or 1 year later?

We’ve all been there!

Now a different question. Continue reading “Stop Spending Money on THINGS you Don’t Need”

3 Pieces of Financial Advice for Beginners

I have always been good with my money.

I’m not trying to brag, it’s just the truth.

While some people get a high off of shopping, I get my kicks watching my investment accounts grow.

I’ve always had an interest in personal finance however, it’s only been over the last year and a half that I have completely buried myself in financial books, podcasts and blog posts trying to absorb as much financial advice as possible. Continue reading “3 Pieces of Financial Advice for Beginners”