There are many reasons that women generally don’t put a big focus on money. The way you were raised, who handled the finances in your household, and how much (or little) money your family had all play important roles in your relationship with it today.

Often the emphasis in our families was that money didn’t matter as much as love for one another. It’s true, nothing can (or should) top the care and consideration you have for your family, and as women we are wired wonderfully to handle the job.

In fact, being a nurturer almost ensures that everyone we love is taken care of. Unfortunately that care and concern seems to stop short when it comes to ourselves. And the breaks are put on completely when it comes to handling money.

Giving to yourself in the same measure as you give of yourself may somehow seem selfish or not as much of a priority for you. But the reality is that you cannot give your best if money is an issue. Everything from providing adequate daycare for your children  to helping to support aging parents requires the financial means to do so.

Although you may be taken out of your comfort zone when it comes to dealing with money, understand that gaining  control of your financial life doesn’t have to be painful, you’ll just need to start by doing at least a few of these seven things.

1. Save for your future today. The first thing all women should know is that historically we live longer than men, so it’s important to save for the long term. This means that if you don’t have a savings account, you need to create one immediately. At first don’t be worried about how much (or how little) you have to fund it. Just open the account and then make a goal of what you want to save each month, quarter and year. The most important thing is that you get started and don’t let every cent you earn now head back out the door.
2. Pay yourself with automatic savings deposits. When you decide to make savings a priority a great way to pay yourself first is to set up automatic paycheck withdrawal or auto deposit IRA’s to save money before you even see it. Essentially you are paying yourself first, before the utility bills, the college loans, or the credit card statements. Start small, even it it’s only $50 every pay period it’s a place build from. Young women especially have to be focused on saving for retirement, mainly before leaving the workforce to have kids.
3. Run your home like a business. If you’re a stay-at-home mom you can still be a valuable asset to the family finances, start by treating your home responsibilities like a business. Focus on the bottom line by researching the best prices on regularly used items, look for bulk savings and loyalty program discounts. It is very important for a single-income family to keep an emergency fund, so when budgeting expenses be aware that you should have at least three to six months of living expenses in a safe, liquid account, just like a business would.
4. Don’t wait for marriage to buy a home. In the past 20 years the percentage of single female home buyers has nearly doubled. This makes unmarried single women the second largest group of home buyers behind married couples. One of the benefits of buying real estate is that you can buy an expensive asset with a relatively small amount of your own cash. This is called leverage. As your home increases in value over time, called appreciation, you earn appreciation on the entire property, not just on your down payment amount. For example, if a $100,000 property were to increase seven percent in one year, the property value would rise seven percent to $107,000. However, the equity would increase 70 percent—from $10,000 to $17,000. This is the beauty of leverage. The sooner you make the investment, the quicker it can begin building your financial cushion.
5. Maintain a separate savings account – even when you’re married. Every woman who is married or is in a long-term relationship needs to always have her own savings. This does not mean it has to be hidden or secret, but set it up so that it cannot be touched by your spouse. With the divorce rate at 50 percent, a woman always needs some extra savings squirreled away in case of a marital meltdown.
6. Don’t let fear stop you. You may be concerned about making a mistake because you have not managed money well in the past. Or worse, you may be fearful of losing money that you have don’t even have access to yet. If fear of failure, or fear of the unknown has stopped you from saving and investing in the past it’s time you get over it. Set a goal to educate yourself about money management and investing, begin small by reading articles, blogs and books on personal finance. Set a goal to learn about one aspect of money that you want to know more about. Then choose one thing that you will take action on after you have gotten more information. If you follow this simple plan every month, in one year you will have taken 12 action steps towards a more secure financial future.
7. Spend less than you make. It sounds simple to not spend no more than you have available but I know firsthand that it is not always easy to do. I don’t like to use the word “budget,” until I redefine it as telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. One way to get your spending under control is to be conscious of what you are buying. Often the convenience of using credit cards and debit cards comes at a cost because it is easy to lose track of how much money is actually being spent. When possible use cash instead because it helps you connect with just how much money you’re actually spending.
   

Valuing yourself is a key element to your financial security. You’re not being selfish when you begin to focus on what you need to take better care of your finances. Actually you are being smart because knowing what you need to do to take care of yourself allows you to take care of others.

© Sanyika Calloway Boyce, Financial Fitness Coach