Podcast Advent Day 2: Money Feels

Day 2's podcast continues the feminist theme with Money Feels. Feminist because it's two Canadian women who are business owners leaning into the topic of finance by sharing their knowledge and curiosity (there's that word again). Adding to that is their consideration of how our capitalist structures make us feel around finance and what we can do to help ourselves and each other. This lens, coupled with their Canadian context, has played a significant role in my life over the last few years to move from anxious to confident in managing my finances.

A big part of this is the knowledge they share around investing in a Canadian market, which goes into specific details on how to manage money through emergency funds, TFSAs, RRSPs, etc. This includes the implications of different decisions on the listeners' financial health, while trying to help steer them away from binary thinking e.g. either this happens or that happens.

And while Money Feels is maybe only one of three or four sources for me on the topic of financial literacy, I really appreciate Bridget's directness and Alyssa's trauma and emotional-informed lens - they give the pod a no BS, anti-bro feel that pulls back the curtain on the limitations of institutionalised financial advice while encouraging listeners to give themselves grace, something I have sorely needed.

The details on the specifics of different accounts are helpful, but what keeps me coming back week after week is the added lens of money trauma (the main topic of today's chosen episode). Money trauma is the concept that we collect experiences that shape the way we relate to money and everything that goes with it (saving, spending, investing) resulting in disordered behaviour. Each episode is a conversation holding helpful space to hear how these women navigate the world and their finances while exploring the ways in which they relate to money, life and society. 

This podcast has helped to reinforce some learning I had started a few years ago, going through my own (small t) traumatic experience where it became make or break in managing my finances after a break up. Bridget and Alyssa's approach to talking about money helped continue to reduce my shame in navigating and discussing my own finances and move through the stance that 'money is just a resource we need to live life' (a valuable neutral), and closer towards an ambundance mindset.  

Listening to these two rich women (a helpeful caveat but also a fascinating environment for their discussions) discuss topics like ethical consumption, pay negotiation and living a rich life, you quickly come to understand that their awareness of societal contraints and opportunities is beyond what you'd maybe expect. 

I would just add, just like all of these topic based series, to take what resonates and do your own homework!