The Weekend Buzz: April 13, 2018

Have you ever had a moment where you realize you need a little more control over your life? Not like things are spiraling wildly out of control or anything. But there’s something that you want to do or change and you feel like you don’t really have the power to make that change?

Toward the end of 2017 Jordan and I realized that we both felt exactly like this. We have a lot of things that we want to do in this life, but anytime we would talk about these plans and dreams it would always be “someday, in the future when we have more money.”

Finally, we got frustrated with always putting things off for “someday.” We got serious about putting numbers and plans to those someday dreams. We asked ourselves:

What would we do if we had more money?

How much more do we really need?

We have lofty goals for 2018 and they primarily center around making deliberate money choices – through earning more, investing, and being mindful with our spending – so we can get to a place where we have more financial freedom.

Not the type of financial freedom that allows us to quit working forever (though let’s be real, I’d be OK with that too). But the financial freedom that would allow us to travel a little more, have more control over our time and our careers, and have more control over where we live.

It’s a financial freedom that feels realistic, attainable, and no longer a “someday” goal. We’re not there yet, but we are on our way.

I’d love to know: what would you do with more money? Travel? Pursue a new career? Spend more time with family?

ICYMI:

How and why I made more in Q1. At the beginning of this year Jordan and I set and shared monthly financial goals. This month, rather than running through all of our goals, I’m sharing more about one specific goal that I had: to make more before our first child was born at the end of March. In this update I’m laying out exactly how much more I wanted to make, why, how I did it, and what I’m focusing on for the rest of the year with making more.

Make the pay gap personal. In case you really missed it, April 10th was Equal Pay Day in the US. The pay gap stands at 80% – 83%, depending on what source you trust. Last week I shared what the gap means for our financial future and our little guy. ICYMI, the pay gap just got personal.

Make Me Smart: smart-ish reads from around the internet

Can you see it? I love/hate this wage gap visualization from Career Contessa. I hate the numbers but I love that they took the 80% statistic and put it into real dollars. These real dollars are what real women are missing out on. This feels personal.

It’s not all bad. How Reese Witherspoon helped HBO close the wage gap.

10 year baby window. I just had my first kid, at 34. So naturally I was thrilled to see this NY Times article about the 10 year baby window – and that I still fall within it. The gist of this window? Women who have kids between the ages of 25 and 35 never make up the salary gap with their husbands. Cool. Thanks for that. The silver lining? The pay gap gets smaller when women have control over where and when work gets done. There is hope.

Do something. Here are some resources I love that will help if you’re motivated to negotiate your salary, a new offer, or really anything:

• Harvard Business School professor breaks down negotiating your job offer in this video. It’s long (over an hour!), but good.
• One of my favorite interviews that I did for Forbes about how this woman continually negotiated her salary and earned $60k more over 6 years.
• The free negotiation guide that breaks down a 3 part system for negotiating: research, prep, and ask.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

– Abraham Lincoln

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