Women, Money & Cheesecake Joins forces with Womenetcetera.com!

Brona Pinnolis of WM&C has joined forces with womenetcetera.com to bring a fantastic conference for women aged 50+ to the Memphis area.  This is a full day conference for this target group full of fun and useful information.  The date is April 16, 2010 at the Memphis Hilton, Thousand Oaks.  Some of the workshops include information on "re-careering," finding the book in you, insurance and other financial topics relevant to women our age, rediscovering our passions, and much more.  Of course, Women, Money & Cheesecake will be there!  For more information contact Brona at 901-569-0972 or bronapinnolis@gmail.com.  There will be opportunities for vendors as well.  Currently we are seeking sponsors for the event.  Hope to see you there!

Money and Anthropology...Watching Kids and their Spending Habits

Happy New Year to everyone in Women, Money & Cheesecake world!  The gift season is now behind us and I am wondering how everyone did sticking to their plans for spending.  Did you?  I'm happy to report that I personally did this year.  Admittedly, it is a little easier with my kids now teenagers and basically I have given up trying to please them, so they got cash.  There was no margin of error on that!  Now I get to watch how well they spend their money and it is very interesting to see different styles emerging from the same family tree.  One is a saver and very careful regarding anything leaving his pocket.  Another fritters it away on fast food, but it is also a social event.  One looks for the big ticket item and blows it all at once, but is getting something coveted.  Another likes to carry it around in his wallet.  Four kids, four different money views.  Are any of these styles right or wrong?  As a parent it is very tempting to tell your teenagers how to spend their money.  You hate seeing waste or bad decisions.  But at this age, we have to let go and let them learn.  The one who is careful may find he is happy to have saved over time, but there is also the possibility he may miss out on doing something fun and spontaneous.  The fast food spender will soon be broke again, but he is at the age where friends and socializing are everything.  For him, this may be the best use and, although there are healthier ways to eat, there are also much more undesirable places a teen could hang out.  The big ticket girl may end up regretting the purchase when the next big thing comes along, but then again, that is a great lesson in and of itself.  Better to learn with a little bit of money now rather than a lot of money later. Here, a mom may have to add a few targeted reminders of past decisions so this does not become a habit.   As for the one who likes the idea of having money on him but is reluctant to spend, life itself will take care of that, won't it?     Same family genes, very different habits and attitudes about money.  Can you relate with your own family?  I would love to have some comments.  Brona

Featured Speaker at Leadership Essentials Summit

I will be speaking at the 2009 Leadership Essentials Summit, Dec. 8-11, 2009.  This is an audio conference and therefore, no travel is necessary.  All 10 sessions are included in the price and companies may take advantage of the audio format to benefit numerous employees for the price of one admission.  Please check out the details of those presenting and consider signing up.  All you need to do is follow the link provided by clicking the title of this post.  Alternatively, you may purchase an audio recording of the three days of sessions.  Opportunities for Q&A are included in the sessions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and a safe start to the holiday season.  If you plan on shopping on Friday, keep in mind our earlier post about sticking to your budget.  Bargains are only bargains if you can afford them.  If you are on a mission for some particular purchases as advertised, understand there may be limited quantities and do not be up-sold to something you were not planning on buying.  This is the time when it is easy to make exceptions to your own rules because there are so many great buys. Great buys or not, come the end of the holiday season you will be much happier if you stuck to your guns.

Women in Business: Follow the Podcast!

There are many great resources available on the internet and one of them is finding great podcasts.  Check out Suzanne Caplan's podcasts on Pittsburgh Business Radio, 1280KPBS.  Suzanne is the author of numerous books on business and specializes in small and family owned businesses.  She hosts a radio show and brings a woman's perspective to the mix.  (Literally, she is the only woman--and minority--in their line up.)  Here is the link.

http://www.pittsburghbusinessradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=365:host-suzanne-caplan&catid=36:hosts-programming&Itemid=55

Today I listened to some wonderful information on women in sales.  This confirmed what I already believed, that cold calling is not for most of us!  Everything we tend to prefer to do, that is, building relationships before sales, networking instead of forcing sales down peoples' throats, will lead to success in the end.  For all of the women I know who are repeatedly told what they are doing is wrong and they just need to go out and sell, sell, sell...check out some of these podcasts.

BTW, Suzanne Caplan is going to be coming to Memphis in the spring with Womenetcetera.  Stay tuned for details!

Did you know?  In addition to our feature in the Memphis Minority Business Magazine, we have also been profiled in both the Commercial Appeal and Memphis Business Journal?  The Women, Money & Cheesecake workshops have also been featured on KWAM radio and Live@9 TV.  Maybe it's time for you to find out what the fuss is all about!  Contact us at info@womenmoneyandcheesecake.com for information on bringing this financial workshop to a women's group near you. Consider a workshop or perhaps you need a keynote speaker for an event.  The women of Women Advocating Financial $uccess are available to help you out.  Special rates apply for non-profit groups. 

Featured in Memphis Minority Business Magazine

Please follow this link to read a nice profile of our company in the Memphis Minority Business Magazine.  We thank the magazine for its support!

http://mmbmagazine.com/images/Memphis_Business_WOMENStoWatch_09_NovDec2009.pdf     

The Quiet Panic of an Upcoming Season

It's official.  The holiday season has started.  One can barely get the candy out of the bag when those first inevitable signs of future spending start popping up.  One of the traditional first ads to run is a jewelry commercial, selling mall diamonds, in the hopes men will get it done and forget about it.  Then there are the department store ads, first the Targets and WalMarts and, soon to come, Macy's and others.  It is all part of the rhythm of the year, whether you celebrate Christmas or any other holiday or not.   What are we thinking about if our wallets are a little leaner this year?  Weren't they last year as well?  Is it going to be another year of trying to time shopping for the absolute rock bottom sale price?  A year of not caring about sales?  A year of home-made goodies or a year of exchanging simple good wishes and nothing more?  Regardless, there is probably some financial stress in there. 

How can we work to reduce this stress?  Obviously, planning ahead is one tried and true method.  Creating a holiday budget--and sticking to it--goes a long way.  A holiday budget needs to include not just gifts and travel, but entertaining as well.  Even home-made gifts cost money, bringing house gifts to those who invite you or having 10 or 20 people for a holiday meal adds up.Then there are the office party gifts to consider, the babysitters, postal employees and others you just want to recognize.

Diminished expectations also help.  We are a year or so into the "new reality" of saving more, spending less and reconnecting with families in old-fashioned ways, and the holidays are certainly part of this.  Families may drop hints, subtle and otherwise, that these habits are now part of the annual landscape.  Participating in charitable work, a healthy year-round habit, may find an introduction during this time of year.  What a great way to help children appreciate what they do have and find out how great it feels to help others.

It's early November.  Where we live the weather is still temperate and pleasant.  Multi-colored leaves remain on the trees, albeit much sparser than a week ago when a heavy rain brought many of them to earth.  This is a great time to gather your thoughts and resolve what will and will not happen over the holiday season from a spending point of view.  Make your financial plans, accept them for what they are and then breathe.

Welcome to Women, Money & Cheesecake, The Blog

As we get ever closer to finishing our book, we decided to launch a blog to talk about women's financial issues.  This blog is a companion to our Facebook page.  You can find the link for the Facebook page on this blog.  Facebook is where we post upcoming events, including ground events in the Memphis, TN area as well as others around the country.  Yes, we travel to bring Women, Money & Cheesecake money workshops for women wherever we can! 

What is Women, Money & Cheesecake?  It is a unique and fun financial workshop for women where we move away from the financial regrets of the past and focus on practical and productive information to help women take control of their own financial destinies.  Why cheesecake?  Why not?  It is perfectly delicious and provides a great analogy for us to talk about the fundamental ingredients of money. 

Women are consummate multi-taskers.  We are really busy and we really don't have time to deal with professionals who talk down to us.  The fact is, women have great tools already to take control of their finances.   And there is nothing wrong with enjoying a nice piece of cheesecake while we talk about money!