I have SUCH great news guys, which I will be sending out in FF Newsletter later this weekend, but The Frugal Feminista has a new writer. I met the Aisha Taylor, the founder of FNPhenomenal (Frugal N Phenomenal) at the end of March when I attended The Get Radical Conference. 

In just a few minutes, we CLICKED. I mean, clicked. I love her spirit, her drive, her generosity, and I am so stoked that we share a common passion for empowering women around their personal finances. We are already talking about buying blocks of real estate. It’s that serious.

On top of that, her book, “5+5 FNPhenomenal Ways to Save $100 This Week Without Killing Your Lifestyle”   It’s a quick, meaningful, and thoughtful read with useful action steps. Maybe that’s why it became a #1 Amazon Best Selling book.

So, here is her first post as part of The Frugal Feminista team. Give her some comment love! 

Love, K

How many of you get paid on a Friday and within a week you are wondering where all of your money went?  You look back over the past week and you know that you had a great time, but you’re not quite sure of where the money went.  I definitely know the feeling.

Recently I had a conversation with a good friend of mine and we were reminiscing about life a few years ago.  Of course, she blamed me for why she never had money and I blamed her!  Regardless of who the enabler was in this scenario, (honestly we both were), the story was clear.  We spent our free time in boutiques, restaurants, and lounges.  We had a great time.  We were on a first name basis with many bar tenders and servers, but the sad reality was that we were broke.  We shouldn’t have been broke because we had a good income.

Inevitably the story transitioned to how we managed to survive once the discretionary income for that pay period ran out.  We stretched food budgets, at times we reused Ziploc bags to avoid an extra expense; we stayed home; or hung out at the other person’s home.  We smiled fondly and laughed at those times, because we did have fun, but it came at the expense of our financial well-being.  It impacted our ability to save effectively, and for me, increased my credit card debt.

When we looked back over that time, we don’t wear many of those clothing items that we purchased anymore.  The food and drinks have long since left our bodies.  However, the one thing that remained was true friendship.  It was the experience that caused the most happiness.

Now I’ve scaled back on my entertainment budget, and I focus more on high-value and high-quality experiences.  These are experiences where I can enjoy the company of friends and loved ones, but do it on a budget.  This can be as easy as going to your friend’s house and getting social around your favorite television show.  If you want to go to a restaurant, look up discounts and coupons ahead of time.  Restaurant.com, Groupon, and Living Social are great places to find bargains.  Also, think about attending places that don’t require paid parking.  Consider all of the costs associated with those social experiences.  Think about how you can do things just a little differently to reduce the cost, but still have fun.  Take it from me; you definitely don’t have to spend your free time in boutiques and paying full price at the local restaurants and lounges to have a great social experience.

Get social with me.  Be sure to comment or engage me on social media to let me know what you learned!

Aisha Taylor is a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author of the book “5+5 FNPhenomenal Ways to Save $100 This Week Without Killing Your Lifestyle”, and the Founder of FNPhenomenal (Frugal –n- Phenomenal). FNPhenomenal helps women to break the vicious cycle of making money, but not keeping it.  

If you’re waiting for a sign that it’s time to make a change, consider this it. Money Therapy may be just what you need to break through your financial blocks and release your money guilt and shame.