Janna’s Story: Freedom to Travel
Meet Janna, a licensed social worker who lives in Texas and loves to travel. What do you do? I work for 2-1-1 Texas/UnitedWay HELPLINE, doing outreach and education about 2-1-1 services. I love my work. Every day is different, and there are different topics and coalitions that the community focuses on. I actually heard about…
Read MoreAndrea’s Story: Money is About Having Options
Meet Andrea, who lives in Connecticut and loves video game memorabilia. What do you do? I’m not employed at the moment. I have been employed in the past, but it’s been a while. At the moment, I’m trying to figure out some things before diving back into employment. What did your upbringing teach you about…
Read MoreKarina’s Story: Needs Vs. Wants
Meet Karina, a PhD student in Chemistry living in Columbus, Ohio with her young son. What did your upbringing teach you about finances? Sometimes we think we need things that we really don’t need. If you just wait, you realize that you really don’t need that thing. As a kid, when I asked my mom…
Read MoreMaria’s Story: $100 Saved from Every Paycheck
Meet Maria, a social worker assistant with Tribal Child Protective Services. She lives with her husband and three daughters in Phoenix, Arizona. What do you do? My husband is a construction worker and I’m a social worker assistant with Tribal CPS. I enjoy being able to work with kids and help them through problems. What…
Read MoreNastassia’s Story: I See Brightness in My Future
Meet Nastassia, a mother of five and an immigrant from Jamaica who has been living in New York since 2009. What do you do? Right now I’m not working. I had an injury when I was pregnant with my last child, so I’m at home. My fiancé just started at a new job at a…
Read MoreKiara’s Story: Maybe Money Can’t Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Security
Meet Kiara, who lives in Taylor, Michigan with her 11-month-old daughter and her two young cousins. What do you do? I don’t have a job. I take care of my daughter and my two cousins because I have a kinship guardianship for them. One is my biological cousin and the other is his half-brother. Their…
Read MoreTeaching Your Kids to Save Money
Think about the lessons you learned about money. How do the messages you heard in your early years impact the way you view and manage money today? Research shows that lifelong money habits are formed early. In fact, psychologists believe that by age 7 (I know, right?), kids have already developed long-lasting attitudes about money.…
Read MoreTamiko’s Story: Pay Yourself First
Meet Tamiko: Tamiko lives in Dothan, Alabama with her two children, Ayonna (13) and Aidan (8). She has worked as an administrative assistant for her church for 16 years. What did your upbringing teach you about finances? My mom was a single parent, so she always managed money. It was a struggle for me, but…
Read MoreMichael’s Story: Make Your Money Work For You
Meet Michael, a substance abuse counselor who lives in San Diego, California. What do you do? I’m a substance abuse counselor. I’ve been doing it for about two years now – midlife career change. Unfortunately, it’s one of the fastest growing professions in the US, which doesn’t bode well for us. What did your upbringing…
Read MoreNicole’s Story: Live on Less Than You Earn
Meet Nicole, a social worker and mother of two in Atlanta, Georgia. What do you do? Right now, I’m working in logistics, but I was a social worker for a very long time. When I got married and had my kids, I took a break from social work because it’s a very involved career. So…
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