More Money Podcast - 320 Learning to Financially Adult - Ashley Feinstein Gerstley, Author and Founder of Fiscal Femme

Episode Date: March 23, 2022

We talk a lot about adulting on this podcast and today we’re delving back into the topic but more specifically, financial adulting. I’m so excited for today’s guest since she wrote the literal book on the subject. Joining me is the author of Financial Adulting: Everything You Need to be a Financially Confident and Conscious Adult, Ashley Feinstein Gerstley.  Ashley Feinstein Gerstley is an author, money coach, and founder of the money platform Fiscal Femme. She has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry from investment baking to corporate finance. Her new book, , is a guide that breaks down everything you need to be a financially confident and conscious adult.  In this episode, Ashley shares how she went from investment banker to money coach, why privilege is multi-faceted, and how to overcome financial overwhelm. I really enjoyed my chat with Ashley and her positive approach to personal finance and I think you will too! For full episode show notes visit: https://jessicamoorhouse.com/320 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, and welcome back to the More Money Podcast. This is episode 320. And I'm your host, Jessica Morehouse. Welcome back to the show. And what an episode to, you know, come here to listen to a great episode. Also, lots of exciting things besides this episode, like giveaways, multiple giveaways. I will talk about that in just a few short seconds. But who do I have on the show with me today? I've got Ashley Feinstein Gersley. She is the CEO of the Fiscal Femme. And she's got a new book here that we are going to be exploring in depth that is called Financial Adulting Everything You Need to Be a Financially Confident and Conscious Adult. And I mean, this is probably the guidebook that we all

need right now, needed in the past, will probably continue to need in the future. And lots of good stuff in this book that I know you're going to love. So a little bit more about Ashley. So like I mentioned, she is the author of Financial Adulting, but this is actually her second book. Her previous book is something that you grab at any bookstore. It's called The 30 Day Money Cleanse. And like I mentioned, also, she is the founder of the Fiscal Femme, which is a money platform on a mission to end inequality through financial well-being. And just some background on her, because she does

have quite a bit of financial experience. So she's worked in the financial services industry for over 15 years, first as an investment banker, then in corporate finance, and then she started her own shop, The Fiscal Femme. And she also graduated with a bachelor's in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. And so we talk about all things, you know, financial adulting, but also in this, you know, new world that we are in, because honestly, I feel like the world has changed so much in the past, you know, five years, two years, and we kind of need to then I think, upgrade kind of some of the financial advice that we're receiving and also giving just because, again, things are different now. And that's a good thing. So lots of exciting things to chat about, you're gonna love this episode. But before

I do get to that, I do have a few words I want to share about this podcast episode sponsor. One thing I am going to mention that I haven't had a chance to in previous episodes, because honestly, it's just I record these in advance and just the timing didn't work. But now I can because I'm doing this a few days before this episode airs. I'm doing a big giveaway with TurboTax. I'm giving away eight different licenses for TurboTax software. So if you have not done your taxes yet, guess what, you might be able to do it yourself. So if you go to the show notes, JessicaMorehouse.com slash 320, I will include a link that has more information about it. But basically another way you could do this, because basically all the information is in a blog post I have on my website, JessicaMorehouse.com slash blog, you will find it as a blog post about,

you know, things you need to know if you are, you know, started a side hustle or became self employed in 2021. And needs a need some guidance on how to do your taxes this year, which is something that I'm very, very familiar with, having been an employee with a side hustle, and then became a sole proprietor. And now I'm a corporation, I've seen it all. And so I'm giving away some free TurboTax software. So make sure to enter to win. But I will include, you know, I'll talk about this later in the episode as well. But you know, this is something that you would already know if you are following me on social media, or you are signed up to my email list, JessicaMorehouse.com slash subscribe, because I let those, you know, followers know right away because I have,

you know, access to and you know, again, I record lots of these far in advance. So anyways, without further ado, here's a few words I want to share about this podcast episode sponsor. This episode of the more money podcast is supported by TurboTax Canada. It's another tax season, but things are going to be a bit different for many Canadians this year. For instance, did you know that 60% of Canadians started a side hustle in 2021? As someone who started her first side hustle a decade ago, then made it into her full-time gig, I love hearing things like this. But it could also be why I've been bombarded with tax questions over the past 12 months. Let me be real with you. If you have a side hustle on top of your day job, or if you've recently become your own boss, well, your taxes will be a bit more complicated than normal. But thanks to TurboTax and their suite of services, no matter what tax situation

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Welcome, Ashley, to the More Money Podcast. I'm so excited to have you on the show. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you. You're so welcome. I feel like your book, especially the title Financial Adulting was literally the book I was trying to Google 10 years ago. To be like, how do I be a grown up? I don't know what I'm doing. And then it just took me years and years and years to try to gather all this information into my brain. And now you're you've got the book for people that are probably still Googling that, and now they can finally read it. So I know we have lots to talk about, because I feel like

financial adulting is like one of my favorite topics. It's kind of what inspired me to do what I'm doing. But before that, I find it so interesting, especially when someone worked in the kind of traditional financial services field and then decided to kind of, you know, branch out on their own. I've never worked in like the traditional financial services industry. So I'm very curious always to like, what was your experience like? What were some of the things that you learned? And typically, yeah, there's always a reason for why people leave at the end of the day. So I'm curious, like, do you want to kind of tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey? Yes, such a great question. And it really complicated answer. Yes. But I so I started as my first, well, my second internship and my first job was in

investment banking. So it was financial services. I was helping companies raise money. So nothing to do with personal finance. I learned a ton that does, I think, help with the work I do today. Like I am a whiz on spreadsheets that can put together a PowerPoint and can, you know, I did a lot of, I think it gave me a lot of professional polish that I'm not using today, but that I know how to write an email or to ask those type of things. And I think it also contributed a lot to my work ethic. When I was an investment banker, just the hours were pretty, I don't know if grueling is the right word, but I did work a lot. And on weekends, and you're kind of on call. And I went into it because it felt

like a challenge. It was a male dominated industry for sure. And I just kind of wanted to prove I could do it. But I knew going in that, you know, my health is really important to me, my family, my free time. And so it was this like, prove you can do it, learn a ton, have it on your resume, and then move on to something else. And I ended up switching to a job in corporate finance. And so I was working internally for a company and helping them with their projections and if they did any transactions. And the lifestyle was much better, but I ended up taking a pay cut. And the job didn't have the same, the investment making bonuses were large. So it was like the deadly combination of reduced pay,

much lower bonus, and all this free time. And I had been living in New York City. This was my, I guess at this point, it was like my third year. I had a ton of friends in the area. There's so much to do. I hadn't done any of it because I had just been working. And so I started making up for lost time and meeting friends and doing activities and going to events. And I was just bleeding money. And that's kind of why this all started is I had that same what you're talking about that wanting to Google, how do I be a financial adult, and it wasn't there. And I knew I had to figure it out. If I wanted to stay in this job, if I wanted this better lifestyle, I was going to have to figure out how to budget and how to live on my new income. And I just started reading a bunch

of things and Googling and reading books and articles. And at the time, one of my friends, it was like right at the beginning of life coaching was getting more popular. And I had a friend who was getting her certification. And so she coached me. And she challenged me to start sharing what I was learning on a blog. And that was terrifying to me. Because I'm like, I don't what if I change my mind or learn and I look back and think that looks stupid. And I was like, Why did I say that? And that's totally that happens all the time. I'm much more used to it now. But she but that's really where the fiscal femme started. It was a blog where I shared what I was learning as I was going through

this process trying to figure it out. I'm curious, were you one of the bloggers who started anonymously blogging and then went public? Or were you public right at the get go? I was public at the get go. But I don't I don't think I shared, I didn't share like my bank account numbers or anything. It was more my experience and feelings. Definitely very vulnerable. Like there was a ton of shame that came with being from the finance industry and not knowing anything about money and making a ton of mistakes. And I was very open about those mistakes. Yeah. It's interesting. You've got always, I mean, even myself sometimes assume if you're in the financial field, because it's like, I know, no matter what kind of job that

you get, you have to do a certain level of training. You kind of assume that they know more than the average person, but maybe not necessarily like for yourself. It's like, well, we were dealing more with companies, not, you know, the individual kind of aspect of it, which is, yeah, I mean, I and also you just mentioning shame. I mean, that I think resonates with pretty much everyone when it comes to like, addressing their financial situation is like, there's so many feelings of like, I should have known this and I didn't. And I'm sure everyone else knows this. And I'm the only one I'm late to the party or something like that. I'm curious. So as you started to kind of, you know, explore,

you know, personal finance and sharing kind of your learnings on your blog, when did I guess things start to kind of shift? Because now you're more in a space where you're educating people. Where did that kind of shift from? Like, it's not just about me learning on my own, but now I want to then share and teach others so they don't make the same mistakes that I did. Yes, that's a really great question too. And to the shame point, I think there is this feeling that we're the only ones. And I had that too, but I had this feeling that, I studied finance in college, I worked in finance. If I don't know about this, who does? And I found out no one, no one does. And so I think that actually is really important to talk about.

Whenever I do a workshop or speak somewhere, one of the first questions I ask is, raise your hand if you think you should know more about money. And it doesn't matter if I'm in a bank, it doesn't matter if it's an MBA program, all the hands go up. And I think just knowing that can provide,

it just, that's not great. I wish we all did know, but it can make us feel less alone in how we're feeling. And so the blog, so I was sharing my journey. And then the response, I think, is what had it shift. So people started reaching out and saying, can you help me? Or another website said, wow, we need another young woman. We need a young woman voice writing about this. And so they started, they hired me to write for them. And so that's where it kind of, then when I was getting quoted in things, can you share what you think about this? It kind of shifted. And I ended up, I got certified as a coach through a life coaching program. And I remember at the time they asked us,

they said we should choose a specialty. And I was like, all right, this doesn't exist, but I'm going to be a money coach. And that was like 11 years ago. And the reason I thought that was so important is what I found when I was going through the process on my own is, yes, I was missing a lot of education. But then once I had the education, I still wasn't doing what I knew I should be doing. And there's this emotional behavioral component that often is not addressed or just ignored. And so we even when we know what we should do, we might not have that success. And so I thought this, the skills with coaching could be so beneficial in helping others. And I started from there, working with people one on

one and setting up their budgets and teaching them about investing. And so it went from writing to one on one coaching. And then I started to notice that I was saying the same thing over and over to people and what I thought, you know, and uncovering that it didn't matter if someone was earning 20,000, 500,000, like I was still saying the same things. And so I started, I created a program called the 30 day money cleanse. And that actually, after five years turned into my first book, and had some courses and started doing more speaking and building the fiscal fund community, I think is what it grew to. Yeah, another thing that I found really interesting, you know, exploring your website was the kind of overall, like tone and message. Because there's a lot of people

in the personal finance space. But I found what was interesting about you, you really want to be like, no, we are also focused on diversity and feminism. And anti-racism, why did you also want to integrate that into kind of your overall messaging of just financial education? Yes, it's really important and critical context that I think is often left out of the personal finance conversation that, you know, we're, oh, we're all starting from the same place and saving up to buy our first home, you know, and not taking into account that someone had college paid for and someone didn't or someone got a higher interest rate because they're black or because they're a single woman and so every

aspect of our personal finances are affected by gender and race and equity and also like depending on if we're we have a disability or we're in the LGBTQ plus community. And so that was something in my first book. It was very much from my own perspective and a perspective that has a lot of privilege and has grown up with a lot of privilege and on the topic of budgeting and money mindset. And then in this book, it was I really wanted to create that guide that I loved how you said it in the intro, like what you just wish you had. Like this is what I really wanted to create that guide that I loved how you said it in the intro, like what you just wish you had. Like, what do I need to know if I sat down and just read a book?

And this is what I need to know to be a financial adult. But I wanted to include, make it inclusive, truly. So I interviewed 35 experts for the book from completely different expertises and backgrounds and like very diverse group. And I also for this book hired a sensitivity editor, which was an incredible experience. Yes. Her name is Dr. Akilah Kadej. Her company has changed Kadej and she was the first one to read my book, which was so nerve wracking to have the first eyes on your book. But she was very generous and kind about it. But she, her job essentially was reading it to make sure that it was inclusive, and that it would be beneficial to people regardless of

their background. I love that. Because I mean, I know you also mentioned on your website, you've read more personal finance books than you can even count. And I'm the same way. And gosh, a lot of them say similar things, but they don't address some of those big issues that have I feel like they're getting more attention in the past few years, thank goodness. But it's almost I'm almost embarrassed to say that. Yeah, it's like some of these topics I never really thought about. And that's something that I had to address with my own platform and messaging and stuff like that. So I think it's so important that you took that extra step to not just write, you know, everything that you know, that you want to help people, but also have some other eyes on it to see maybe things that you wouldn't see. Because I think that's like a big issue. Like me being a white

person, like I've got a certain lens because I grew up in a certain way. So sometimes I will not see things that other people see. But those are just as important things that we need to talk about and address and teach. Yes. And I would say the book, it's definitely a how-to. It has exercises throughout. And it takes you through how-to actions. But then it has turned into through

these interviews, part expose, like exposing things that are wrong with our systems and how they're not fair. And so it's how to meets the drama of the finance world. Yeah, and there is some drama. I'm curious, when you know, people do come at it from a different background, you know, although you're giving certain advice, is there something different they should be doing? Or is it just like the recognition that we're not all, you know, starting on the same finish line? So there's a few things to it. And, you know, I'm still learning and growing all the time. I think a big part of it is knowing when we're coming from a disadvantage, because there's that compassion for ourselves and understanding that we aren't at the same place and not comparing ourselves. There's also like

understanding the bigger things like systemic issues and a systemic oppression and what can be done to close that, whether that's through voting or sharing your views with someone and just like what needs to happen to close and change those things. Then there's also, for example, things that companies can do and depending on your position. So I guess what I'm getting at is if we, privilege is so multifaceted, like if I'm a leader in a company, I run my own company. I have an opportunity and a responsibility to do the things that I talk about in the book to help close and change these things. So I think it's understanding the privilege you have and it's always changing to help these things. And then also understanding when you're coming from a disadvantage. And then I also think even to give you an example of something that happened with the book is I interviewed Fee Gentry. And she is a real estate professional. And she is brilliant and helps people find homes. And she also trains people in the real estate industry to work with people of color. And so she's just brilliant. And she walked through and

we walked through the home buying process. She explained how it would be different if you are a woman, how it'd be different if you're a black woman and specific tips, like things to look out for and understanding like, oh, if, and same with, I interviewed Tiffany Aliche, the Bajnista, and how, you know, if you're getting your home appraised and you're black to put take out all the pictures and have a white person stand in. So advice that's like specific and helps someone's personal finances that like is not specific to someone who is white yeah yeah no I've seen that um there's been a few stories in the media about that um situation where people have to change you know take out their personal photos and it's just like that is the most heartbreaking thing that's still in this you know we're in 2022 now this is happening I I you know I've also seen that like even just today um a friend of mine shared something

on social media just about like how there's still such a rampant sexism and how some people still think of, you know, women shouldn't, you know, be ambitious and earn money and all this. So there's there's still, it's so out there still. And that is such a frustrating situation. But I think, yeah, like you said, how we can move forward is by continually acknowledging and addressing it. Because, you know, nothing will happen if we just kind of sweep it under the rug, like we've done for centuries. Yes. And there are very smart people who have ideas for how to fix these things, you know, and what needs to be done, and we can listen to them and take action. Absolutely. So kind of going more specific into your latest book, Financial Adulting, what, you know,

you already had your first book, The 30 Day Money Cleanse. What inspired you to do this next book that's maybe, you know, a bit different, but very broad, I'd say, in terms of, you know, a topic, you address a lot of things in your book. What kind of inspired you to write this particular book? Yeah, I think so. It is similar in a lot of ways in that it's a workbook in that there's color and I make it approachable and try to and I think personally that a lot of the topics in personal finance can be made a lot less daunting and more fun and they don't they

know they're made to keep people out. So it has that same vibe. But this time, like you said, I'm covering all the topics. And I think what happened is I love my first book and the program, you know, had a ton of success when people go through it. But there's just so much more to personal finance that people have questions about. They're like, great, now I'm saving. What do I do with that savings? Or how big should, like, how do I save for the school? Or tell me about retirement or estate. And like, the book has, like, next level financial adulting, too, which is like the taxes, estate planning, insurance. So things that I think were not easy to boil down into a chapter, but I wanted to, and when I first wrote it, it was actually twice as long as it was

supposed to be. I mean, there's a lot that goes into like having a functioning financial plan, right? And there you can write an entire book just on one aspect. So totally right. There's books just on retirement or one part of retirement. And I had to boil it down to one chapter. So it, I think it made the book better, but it was so, was really hard to say, what are the critical things I need to say and say them so clearly that I don't have to repeat them and use any more words for that. And so it was a, I hope that someone and the other thing I would love for the book to be is that someone would read through it and learn a ton, but they might not be at a place where they need life insurance. And the book would tell them if they don't need it. And that's great.

And then they say, okay, great. I'll come back to that if I need it. Or they might go through the questions and say, I don't want to buy a home right now. But when they do, or when something changes, I hope it serves as a reference guide that's on the shelf. And now, oh, it's time to up my 401k. Let me go check out what Ashley said about that and what the experts said. And so they can come back to it again and again. Yeah, I feel like for a lot of people, it's it's really important for them just to do like the foundational things like make a budget, track your spending, you know, get all that organized. But then when it's time to level up, I think a lot of them don't know where to turn or they don't even know. I remember there's a long time in my 20s. I'm like, when people say

financial planning, what do they mean, though? Like, I because I thought like, is it just like a budget and having, you know, a retirement account? Because like, I've got that. Is there something else I'm missing? And I think that's like, yeah, a big thing is like i've got that is there something else i'm missing and i think that's like that yeah a big thing is like there's there are a lot of components and i don't think they get talked about enough about probably because sometimes they're dry like yeah taxes and insurance and estate planning aren't super sexy but they're so important like sometimes like especially when you like see in the media these like celebrities that are uh don't have a will or you know or don't have or someone you know that you thought they had it all together they didn't have life insurance for their family and and then they pass away, you're like, Oh, gosh,

that's actually so critical. I didn't realize that because no one really talks about that kind of stuff. So I'm curious, you know, what were some of the things that you really want to make sure made it into the book that you're like, this is so important, and most people forget about this? Well, you kind of spoke about one is the estate planning piece. And it's definitely, you know, when we were making cuts, we cut entire chapters, like it's something that I thought about taking out. But I think it this idea that estate planning is only for when you're rich, or when you're older, but that understanding that every single person has an estate. And, and even when I wrote a newsletter,

I have a weekly newsletter called The Money Musing, and I wrote about important family conversations and how sometimes it's hard to bring up or people get defensive when we bring up like, have you done any planning? And I know that a lot of people in our community think about how they might have to support family as they get older and aren't sure the resources that the family has and family member has. And I just got a flood of responses from that. And I think that it's a very complicated conversation. There's not like a right way.

There's so many different variables to have those conversations. But I think it's a conversation that the personal finance community needs to be having with people and understanding the documents to have in place. And what, and so I think that's a big one to not skip over. Another, I think another definitely like, I love all the chapters, but I was very excited to interview experts about investing, because I think that's, you know, there's entire channels dedicated to it, like watching what different stocks are doing. And I thought it was very cool to just hear how they're investing their money. And I profiled them and they definitely give advice too, but also just what are they doing?

So that I think was really important. There's a chapter on consumer activism that I was excited to have in there just about how we can use our money to vote for things we want to see more of in the world. I feel like we've been seeing a lot more of that displayed in the media in the past couple of years. Like growing up, that was never much of a thing. And now there's so much like, oh, this company is doing this and it's bad. We should not spend our money with that company. I'm like, that is, I feel like becoming more, we're using our dollars more for activism now than I think we ever have before. And it's pretty interesting.

Yes, it's definitely interesting. And it's, you know, it can get I think, as I started thinking about it more, I got really overwhelmed. Because companies are big and complicated. And if you if you screen for too many things, there's like nothing left to buy or invest in. And so it was, that was another chapter where I interviewed people who were much more advanced at it than me. And they talked about how they think about it and how you can't have too many screens, you have to pick what's most important, because there's going to be nothing left and how it's imperfect. And so hopefully, I think that chapter can help people navigate how to come up with their own criteria. And just that I a general the gist of the book is like small steps.

Just keep taking small steps and you're going to make big progress. But we don't have to completely transform any area overnight. Yeah, because that's well, yeah. Speaking of like, you know, overwhelming, I think that's like the the most common feeling people have when they're just starting to like, oh, I need to, you know, start taking my money seriously. Where do I start? What I hear often is people don't start because it's, well, it's terrifying. They don't want to make a mistake. So, you know, there's the, you know, real risk of like, what if I do it wrong? But also just like feeling overwhelmed because there's so much information and so many opinions. I'd say that's the other thing because it's like there's facts and there's

opinions and sometimes it's hard to figure out which one's a fact, which one's an opinion. I guess what would your, I guess, advice be for someone who is kind of starting their journey or even in the middle of their journey, like they got their budget all good to go and they want to kind of level up their money. How do they, you know, I guess navigate because it kind of is like I've been doing this for another podcast, but like, you know, in the personal finance world for a decade now, and it's been interesting just to see all the changes. But yeah, even me, sometimes I get overwhelmed. Like there's a reason I don't go on Reddit. It just makes me like stressed. Yeah, I think there's so the good news is, is that we can always be learning and growing. The bad news is, is like, we're never done, unfortunately. And you're never

done. And like, yeah, so same with me, same amount of time in this industry, I still make mistakes. And I think mistakes are definitely scary but we can understand like if what the ramification of a mistake could be you know and it's um but knowing that it's not going to be perfect and a lot of times especially when it comes to like retirement investing it's better to not do it perfect and just do it than to wait till it's perfect because we'll never get started especially when there's so much information you'll never know at all. So I think part of being a financial adult is actually knowing what you don't need to know and kind of not listening, you know, like focusing on what your goals are, getting the information from trusted resources and knowing what to not

listen to. And then I think breaking things down into steps and depending on how overwhelmed we are, where we are, one step, a step might feel huge to someone and small to someone else. So if it's feeling, and we know ourselves, if we know that we're not going to take a step or it sounds too big and we're going to keep putting it off, like try to break it down even smaller. And so with tracking is a big daunting one, I think for people. Budgeting is, it's probably the most work of any of the personal finance areas. And it's, it's such a profound thing to know where your money's going, even though it sounds very simple, but it takes work. And so when someone says, Ashley, there's no way I'm going to sit down and track all my expenses for the month, right? That's not going to happen. And I appreciate that candor and honesty, because

if they're not going to do it, that's not going to be helpful at all. So then you can say, okay, why don't you track one area? Like one area that you're curious about or that you think might not be too great, like usually a variable spending area like dining out or something. So I'm breaking it. And then if it's like, I won't do that for a week, then a day, you know, and so taking the steps and breaking them down to a place where you're like, I feel okay to actually take that step. I know I'm going to do it. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like one of the best things or sayings that I remind myself of often is done is better than perfect. But I feel like, yeah, often, especially a lot of the people that I deal with

in like my audience are perfectionists. And so they get that anxiety of not doing it perfectly because they're used to just always trying to strive for perfection. But it's not about doing it right at the get-go it's just about like you said breaking into pieces and just starting a little bit because then slowly it will you can you know add on a little bit more and add on a little bit more like as an example I used to be one of those people like I'm not gonna track my expenses like that's ridiculous I don't have time for that and so I didn't for a number of years and I regret it because I'm like, I have no idea what happened with my money throughout my whole twenties. No idea what happened there. I have no idea where it went. I know I earned some money, but I don't know where it went. And so once I turned 30, I'm like, okay, I'm making this a priority because everything I'm

reading, it's like, you've got to do it, but it seemed really daunting. Well, I've been doing it for over five years now. It it's it seemed daunting at first and then you get into a rhythm of it and you're like yeah I do it once a month and it doesn't it's not that bad I actually kind of enjoy it and look forward to seeing the numbers to see what's going on in there it's just one of those things you just like any kind of thing I was going to always give the uh example of like working out because I'm always trying to get back on the workout bandwagon it's like it's those bite size, like just start with today and then tomorrow, and then it gets a little bit easier and then you're

making it a habit. I think too, like to your example, it's important to remember that just because it's hard doesn't mean it always will be. And, or just because the step is small, doesn't mean like if I'm saving $5 a week, it's going to take me a thousand years to buy a house. You know, it's not necessarily going to be linear and the steps will get bigger because that will just get easier and easier and then you'll add more. So it's hard to see the trajectory, but just knowing the movement kind of snowballs and so does the progress. Totally. And the sooner you start, I know this is a cliche, but the sooner you start, the better. But as I will say, now that I'm in my 30s, it's so interesting to see because I remember being broke in my 20s and then be like, yeah, I don't really I can only afford to save like

five bucks this week or whatever. But time goes by so quickly. And it is so interesting the progress you can make that doesn't actually make logical sense, like compounding. It doesn't really, you're like, I don't know how I have this much money in my investments, but there we are. I don't know. Sometimes you just have to start and just it'll kind of take care of itself a little bit. And then you're like, oh, wow, things and things do get easier.

I always tell people your 20s can be really rough, even you're like whenever you start, wherever you're at. It can be it's going to be rough at the start, but it's obviously will get better if you implement these things. It's not always going to be this hard. It won't. Because if it was, no one would continue doing it. Right. You might even look forward to it like us. Exactly. Making a new fun routine and all that kind of stuff. Now, before I let you go, you kind of mentioned so many great things. I'm curious, because you talked a little bit about the 30 day money cleanse, if people want to check that book out to what's what is a money cleanse actually look like? I think that might be a great kind of

starting point. Like I'm always looking at the beginning of the year for like some sort of like challenge or something like that. What's kind of involved in that money cleanse that you created? The money cleanse is actually really fun. And the cool part about it, it's different than a juice cleanse in that it's not like this feast and famine thing. And it's something that once you are done with it, you kind of have a plan to maintain going forward. So people save a lot in the 30 days, but then they save a lot every month after that. So definitely not like lose 15 pounds and then gain it all in the next day. But what we do in the money cleanse is we take out, we list everything out. So what you're spending money on, we let go. There's a lot of reframing and using different language. So instead of cutting expenses,

for example, which feels like, oh, don't take away my thing. It's let go expenses. Instead of a budget, it's a happiness allocation because that's how we're allocating our money in the way that's going to make us the happiest. So there's a lot of reframing the language. Also, just how we're thinking about, I think budgets or financial planning often feels like it's like this restricting thing. But the clarity, the ability to achieve our goals, the ability to build in fun things because we know it's workable, those are all gifts to ourselves. So a lot of that. But in the first week, we let go of frivolous spending. And going through the cleanse, you start adding things back in.

And frivolous is defined by you. I walk through exercises on how to define it because it's different for different people. And then we add back in things based on our values or what brings us joy. And we add things back in based on the people in our lives. I think that's something we often worry about

when we make changes in our spending. How will it affect our friends and our family? And so we have conversations and take them into account. So there's and there's different testing of expenses to seeing what's worth it. And we learn about opportunity cost. And so by the end, you've added back in anything that you really miss or anything that's important to you. And you kind of have this this plan that's let go of the unimportant stuff. I love that. I love that. Yeah. Term letting go.

Just replace anything that's, yeah, sounds like cutting or getting rid of. And yeah, kind of a positive spin, which is letting go. I love that. Yes. And there's a lot of the another analogy I use in it is like an onion, you know, the outer layers are crunchy and fall away. Like those are the things that we're ready to let go of. Maybe next year, you'll be ready to let go of an inner layer, but it's not there's no need to force yourself or to, to that, you know, there's a lot of deprivation and budgeting. And so I try to stay away from that and just help people have shifts to see, actually, I don't even want that. That's just I'm doing that because it was something that I thought I had to do, or I always did. And I'd rather do this thing.

And, you know, so or save for this thing or pay off this debt. Yeah, I feel like a lot of what I've been, I've mentioned this on the show before, when I first started kind of learning about personal finance, a lot of the messaging was more the deprivation, the kind of, you know, hard to, or, you know, basically talking to the audience, like, you're not doing something, it's on you, you need to take responsibility. But it was very, I don't know, kind of, yeah, negative a little bit. And I feel like that really isn't working for our generation. For most people, it's like we actually, most of us don't respond to, you know, negative reinforcement, we respond to positive reinforcement. And so I think changing just the language that we have been using for so long can sometimes be like the biggest kind of like, like, you know, light bulb moment to be like, oh, you mean a budget doesn't mean I have to deprive myself. It means I'm allowing myself to actually be more intentional with my money. So I can live, you know, a life that makes more sense to me and not living on other people's terms. I think that's amazing. And what I'm totally about. So I love it. I love that. Thank you. I think too, that we have so much working against us when it comes to money. Like we're not learning about this in school. Now, some kids are, which is great, but we're not able to talk about it. Like the systems and there's

conflict of interest. It's like, then when someone's yelling at us about it, we're like, please come on. Like, I know it's like, I already know I'm a, you know, I already have this negative self-talk from all these other aspects of like society. I know I'm not good enough from Instagram. Like I don't need it from you too. I need someone to be kind to So, so, you know, if anyone wants to, I guess, are you still running the program or? So I definitely have my courses running. They are all digital now. You can find them at thefiscalfem.com under work with us. And the books are on there too. Financialadultingbook.com is the new book. Right on. Oh, yay. Well, I'm so excited for people to grab a copy and take a look at some of your programs and follow you. Where can people follow you on social media if they wanted to?

They can follow at the fiscal femme. F-I-S-C-A-L-F-E-M-M-E. Yes. Very easy. I am so annoyed that I did not lock in my name on all those social profiles all those years ago. So they're all different. So annoying to find me online. You're like, find one of them and I will direct you. Yeah. Google me, maybe. Yeah. Find one and they'll link to the others. But anyways, it was such a pleasure having you on the show. So excited for your new book and, you know, hopefully I'll have you back in the future. That sounds great. Thank you so much for having me. And that was episode 320. With Ashley Feinstein Gersley, you can find her at the fiscal femme.com.

And also easy to find her on social media as well on Twitter and Instagram. It is at the fiscal femme. So like I mentioned, I am going to, well, I didn't mention this, sorry, but it should be assumed now whenever I have a guest on the show who has a book, I'm going to give away a copy of their book. So if you go to JessicaMoorhouse.com slash contest or contests, you know, it goes to the same place if there's an S or not an S at the end, you will find all of the different books that I'm giving away, including financial adulting. So make sure to go there. You can also check out the show notes, and I will include a link there as always, jessicamorehouse.com slash 320. And just as a

reminder, if you're ever looking for a specific episode on my website that has links and some further information about what we talked about or who the guest was, just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash whatever the number of that episode is. Or you can just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash whatever the number of that episode is, or you can just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash podcast. All that information will be right there. So like always, I have a few things I would like to share with you. So stick around. But first, here's just a few words I would like to share about this podcast episode sponsor. This episode of the More Money Podcast is supported by TurboTax Canada. So some of you loyal podcast listeners may already know this, but last year I hired my sister to work as my virtual assistant.

She has since expanded her virtual assisting business to work with other clients, which makes me beam with pride that there's another entrepreneur in the family. But one thing I forgot about was tax season. This will be her first year doing her taxes as a self-employed person, which adds on a new level of stress and complexity already inherent in doing your taxes. Luckily, she'll be using TurboTax Assist and Review Self-Employed. This way, she'll get the important experience of filing her first self-employed tax return, but get some much-needed guidance and advice from a qualified tax expert. And as her business grows and her taxes become even more complicated, like mine,

she can use TurboTax Full Service Self-Employed. This allows her to hand everything off to a tax expert to do it all for her, saving her valuable times you could instead put towards billing clients or finding new ones. Does this situation hit close to home? Well, it might because 60% of Canadians started a side hustle in 2021, and this will be their first year reporting self-employed income and business expenses on their tax return. Luckily, no matter your tax situation, TurboTax is here to help. To get a jumpstart on your taxes with TurboTax, Canada's number one tax software trusted by millions of Canadians for over 20 years, visit TurboTax.ca. Once again, visit

TurboTax.ca to get started. Okay, so I mentioned this at the beginning of the episode. But just as a reminder, I am giving away some free TurboTax licenses. I'm doing a big giveaway. There's all the contest details in the blog post that I mentioned. Just go to JessicaMorehouse.com slash blog and you'll be able to find it. Or again, probably easier. I will link to it in the show notes for this episode, JessicaMorehouse.com slash blog, and you'll be able to find it or again, probably easier. I will link to it in the show notes for this episode, JessicaMorehouse.com slash 320. I've also shared it on my social media so you can find it that way as well. But basically, I'm giving away eight licenses for any TurboTax software because there's lots of different types depending on what your needs are if you're an employee or self employed and things like that. So very exciting. But all

that information you can find in there, The contest wraps up March 30th. So you've got a limited time. So if you've been thinking about, should I enter? Yeah, if you haven't done your taxes and you want to do it through TuberTax for free, enter right away because limited time. The contest is wrapping up. So make sure to do that. And like I also mentioned previously, just a few seconds ago, I'm also giving away a bunch of books. So lots of giveaways going on. And there's gonna be a lot more giveaways into the future. And one way that you can stay in touch to find out when these giveaways are happening is being on my email list, JessicaMorehouse.com slash subscribe is where you can do that and sign up and find out about all these things. I only email you like every two

weeks, quite honestly. And sometimes it's once a month because I'm busy. I forget to send out a newsletter. So that's some exciting things that you can look forward to. What are some other things, Jessica? What are some other exciting things that we've got going on? Well, I will say that I've done my taxes already. That's maybe not exciting for you, but it's exciting for me because that is one big to-do list thing off my to-do list or one thing I can check right off. Goodness, it was interesting. This is the first year I've been incorporated and it was a lot, but I'm so glad that's off my list.

So, you know, this is it. This is the time. Get your taxes done so it's off your list and you can just think about the future and just not have to worry about it. Right? Right. This is also for my husband. If he's listening, get your taxes done. I've already got mine done. I'm waiting on you. So please just do it. Okay. What else do we got going on? Like I've mentioned, there's lots of things I'm working on, things to start ready to launch. But if you do follow me on Instagram though, that you will see a little, there's

been some teases of me showing you some of the photos that were taken at my recent photo shoot for my new website, new headshots, new beautiful photos with beautiful, bright colors. I am very excited to soon reveal a brand new podcast artwork because I feel like the one I've been using with me laughing in that yellow dress and the short hair. It's cute, but it needs to go. We need something new. That's just a reflection of me now because I feel like those photos were taken several years ago and we just need something fresh and poppy. And I'm very excited to reveal that

very soon. I feel like that's all I got for the moment. So yeah, so hopefully that's good enough for you and you enjoyed this episode because we've got some good episodes coming up. Let me tell you. I've got almost all of my guests have been recorded or booked for this season. The season is probably going to wrap up around mid-June, just to give you a little heads up. We've got lots of great episodes ahead of us. Very exciting. I'm pretty much stoked because if I've got all of this nice and organized,

then it's less work on me. And it's also good because I've got a few trips that I've booked personally. I have not been on like a proper trip besides going to Vancouver to visit my family and well, since pre-COVID. And so I'm going to Alberta. I'm going to Vancouver again for family slash wedding. Alberta is also for a wedding. And I'm hopeful to Vancouver again for family slash wedding. Alberta is also for a wedding. And I'm hopeful, hopeful we may even have a proper vacation because I've not been anywhere

to relax for a good amount of time in years. Thinking Costa Rica, guys. I'm really thinking about Costa Rica, looking at some Airbnbs. So we're going to see. It's probably not going to like that's going to be like a summertime thing for me. But I like planning in advance because then I have all of those months to fantasize about this trip. Because as you know, and there's lots of data that shows us sometimes the best part of the

trip is the anticipation of going on to that trip. And so I want to have as many months as I can to anticipate as I'm just so, you know, busy with work things. So that's what's going on with me. Thanks for listening to that. Anyways, I'll be back here next Wednesday with a fresh new episode. As always, a big shout out to my podcast editor, Matt Rideout.

Have a good rest of your day. Have an amazing weekend. I will see you back here next Wednesday. And yeah, that's it. Have an awesome few days without me. I hope you miss me. I'll miss you too. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.