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ridefreefearlessmoney

🏳️‍🌈Queer feminist anticapitalist financial educator + business design consultant / facilitator/ podcast: Have a Nice Life / I contain multitudes
SO MANY people come to me and say "I'm bad with mo SO MANY people come to me and say "I'm bad with money" or "no one taught me" - that's OK, for real.⁠ ⁠ We don't need to be excellent with money - we just need to be able to make it work for us, our people, and our needs.⁠ ⁠ We don't need to worry that people who probably also didn't know much, didn't teach us. We're in an ever evolving world with new rules, anyway. ⁠ ⁠ Image reads: the goal is not "become good at money" -- the goal is to have resources to support your actual life.⁠ ⁠ There's lots of ways to do that without having to be an expert, have an MBA, or spend all your time on your money:⁠ ⁠ Giving money to your goals, your needs, and your values is a great start. Making more than you need to do this is part of it. Paying just enough attention to how it's going is helping. Not living as if money is the point is critical <3
Mental health needs in the US are huge. According Mental health needs in the US are huge. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, in 2024, on average about 1 in 4 US adults experienced some mental illness and 1 in 20 US adults had a serious mental health illness. ⁠ ⁠ For AFAB people, and many people with marginalized race, gender, and sexuality experiences these experiences are more prevalent – but, how can one afford to have a menty b, in America, in this economy? ⁠ ⁠ I got a recent look at the reality of a mental health break, and a different version some years back, and have been humbled by the challenge both times. The new post on my blog offers some guidance to people for whom they themselves, or a loved one, just absolutely needs time off to restore mental health. ⁠
We don't talk enough about how you figure out what We don't talk enough about how you figure out what to say yes to when you were brought up being told you had to say no, especially when it comes to self care. Is it scarcity mindset? Is it a default setting? Is it being smart about avoiding upsells and buying wellness? When you've been poor or lived in a resource-limited way, your decisions might be all over the place. I know mine are!
There's a lot of judgement about money and what it There's a lot of judgement about money and what it means to be resourced and have "enough" - I have heard a lot of it in my work! ⁠ ⁠ These judgements can come from a worldview that sees the impact of inequality and lack. But the solution there isn't celebrating under-resourcing: it's spreading the wealth for the purpose of seeing people have what they need and live lives in wellness and purpose.⁠ ⁠ Images read: ⁠ You do not have to worship capitalism to want to have enough money for your life.⁠ ⁠ You don’t need a beautiful story about struggle to deserve to have enough money.⁠ ⁠ What if money isn’t the problematic part of this timeline?
How do I make more money when I hate money? There How do I make more money when I hate money? There are mannnny reasons it’s hard to make more money, structural as well as tactical.  And one is: it's hard to genuinely engage with things we dislike and distrust. The longer video on my blog goes into detail on what to do, once you make the important mental shift that it would be ok after all to make money, like: get specific about how much money and on what timeline.  Thanks to @pippikesslerconsulting for having me at the Next Step Circle, where this was recorded. Check out her IG for more on it!
Money is tricky - and fascinating to me - because Money is tricky - and fascinating to me - because it shows up in many kinds of ethical issues and problem spaces:⁠ ⁠ a practical issue of resource management tactics, ⁠ an ethical issue of values-aligned action [or misalignment], ⁠ a social issue of fairness and inequality,⁠ an impact issue regarding resource extraction and the environment,⁠ a self-relationship issue of believing in your worthiness and competence, ⁠ an autonomy issue of self-determination,⁠ an input and transparency issue when decisions about it impact us without our say,⁠ a political issue as related to what governments get, and spend it on,⁠ a labor issue in regards to wages vs profits and exploitation⁠ an economics issue of cost of services/goods,⁠ a cultural issue of consumerism and status,⁠ a moral issue as applied to use, sharing, and giving⁠ ⁠ What did I miss? Comment to fill in any gaps you see <3⁠ ⁠ With all these problem and issue spaces at play, we can get overwhelmed trying to understand our approach... until... we treat money as a Wicked Problem: one that requires us to look for specific leverage and discrete areas of control, instead of solving the WHOLE thing.⁠ ⁠ More on how to approach #wickedproblems and #ethicalmoney issues on my blog.
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“I feel more calm about money after this. I’m shocked. I realized that I don’t have to use the same symbols and judgements that everyone else seems to use when they talk about this stuff. That’s really powerful.” - BEVIN B., blogger & lawyer queerfatfemme.com

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People are saying

“I gained the skills and perspective I needed to stay calm and focused to make smarter financial decisions.” – S.G., lawyer.

“It’s never been clearer to me how important it is to be able to talk this stuff with someone with shared values and language, and how important it is to be able to consult with someone who treats you with respect and who will listen.” –MT, editor.

“Thank you so much for the awesome session last night — I have been flying high and talking about it all day. I honestly feel less afraid (not yet quite riding free fearless money) and I can’t wait to put all your tools and suggestions to work. I already started ! — Emmett F., , queer musician & digital storyteller

“This class was designed for people like me! Damien shares my values of social justice, and helped me to figure out fair, ethical ways to relate to money.”
– Dara B., dareconsulting.com

“I feel more calm about money after this. I realized that I don’t have to use the same symbols and judgements that everyone else seems to use when they talk about this stuff. That’s really powerful.”
-Bevin, queerfatfemme.com

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