6 Women Empowering Me Towards Financial Freedom

One of the goals is to go (& sustain) where the money resides oh. Even though you didn’t ask me, I’m going to share a few audacious women who have been resourceful in challenging me to make healthier and wiser decisions about the way I earn, save and invest. They create financial content - books, videos, tools - towards budgeting, saving and/or investing. Firstly, I want to encourage you to be open to learning from their financial journey. Secondly, take what applies and aligns with your financial goals. Lastly, feel free to connect with them. 

Books - On Financial Literacy 

• “The Smart Money Tribe” by Arese Ugwu

Arese is my oga oh lol. In 2016, I remember buying her first book, The Smart Money Woman because I wanted to be more intentional about my personal finances. Arese helped me debunk some myths I had about financial literacy and freedom growing up as a woman. She encouraged me to seek or initiate practical finance conversations about ways to build wealth amongst the ladies in my circle. Then, I heard she had The Smart Money TV series coming out and I have been waitinggg to watch it. If you are in Canada and have found a way to watch the series, please share with me 😩. Don’t forget to check out her channel on ways to earn, keep and growth wealth. 

• “Investing For Beginners” by Bukiie Smart

I had the opportunity to discuss with Bukiie and she shared lessons learnt from her journey here on my blog. Last year, she launched her first book “The ABCs of Personal Finance”. Last weekend, she released her second e-book “Investing For Beginners” and I’m so proud! She is the founder of a personal finance platform — Save Spend Invest — where she shares practical tips and resources that help young millennials reflect and make more informed decisions about their saving, spending and investment habits. You can listen to her podcast to learn more about how you can save, spend and invest wiser.  

Videos - On Personal Finance

• “The Break” by Patricia Bright 

On The Break platform, Patricia Bright shares content across streams of income, improving credit score, productivity tips, guest interviews to real estate investments. The videos I love the most are the ones where she shares honest lessons learnt from her financial journey. Check out her channel. 

• “xoReni” by Reni Odetoyinbo

Reni creates digital marketing plans that attract million dollar clients to BMO private wealth. In her free time, she educates people on how to be more financially literate on her YouTube channel.  If you are looking to watch videos on career development and personal finance, Reni is your resource. 

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I always felt budgeting restricted me, anyone felt that way? Then I figured I was also not being realistic about how much I even make, talk less of how much I can save (or invest). The aim is to spend less than you make so you can be able to have something to save and invest. Arese made me see budgeting differently. She said “budgeting helps me allocate my limited resources in a way that reflects my values. It helps me know how I can sustainably fund my goals with the income I currently earn”. Before I would work but not know where my money was going. So, I started becoming more intentional about budgeting. Now, I see that it doesn’t restrict me. It helps me track where I am allocating my resources. 

Tools - On Budgeting

• “UcheNelo Financial Planner” by Uche Umolu

Uche is the Founder and Executive Director of The Consent Workshop aimed at deconstructing rape culture. In her free time, she created this digital financial planner to help her track her spendings. Now, she has two versions. For $9.99 CAD, I recently updated mine to the second version (V2) which includes a user guide, detailed financial planner, notes tab and wishlist. I love that I can access this while on-the go. It helps me actually visually track where my money is going to per month. That way, I can reassess and work towards managing my money better. Sis, I know you might be too lazy to create a budget tracking sheet. Just connect with Uche to get yours, she has done the work for you ;) 

• “The Financially Savvy Girl Budget Planner” by Aquilas Dapaah 

Aqui is a trial lawyer, financial coach and advocate for justice. When she is not in the courtroom, she is sharing her experience on money management, savings and investments. She is the Founder/CEO of The Financially Savvy Girl where she provides financial intelligence to help millennials improve their money management. Recently, she launched her financial budget planner. It includes debt payoff goal & tracker, money savings challenge, donations tracker and more. This planner is also recommended for people who prefer hard copy.

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Remember, your pace is (going to be) different from the next person. No matter where you are currently, it's never too late to take control over your finances and build a healthy financial lifestyle. You don’t need to wait to have a “massive influx” of income to start saving (and investing). For example, those monetary gifts and tax returns you get, they can be saved ;).

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I want to hear from you in the comments section. Let me know who empowers you towards financial freedom? What tools have helped you on your journey of financial literacy, accountability, wealth creation and/or stability?