Women & Money: The Shit We Don't Talk About! | Purse Strings

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Would you sign a business deal without reading the terms? Most of us walk into marriage doing exactly that. We plan the venue, the outfit, and the guest list, but not who owns what, who owes what, or what happens to our paychecks if it ends. Let's talk about the part of marriage nobody puts on the invitation.

In this episode, we have Deveney Wells-Gibson of The Prenup Queen and Love Meets Wealth. Deveney is a California attorney who spent years in divorce and family law, handling divorces, custody battles, and domestic violence restraining orders. After seeing the same story play out for women again and again, she shifted her focus to prenuptial agreements, and she still does minor's counsel work today. She and Maggie talk about why everyone needs a prenup, how stay-at-home parents can protect their future, what a cohabitation agreement does, and when to start the process before the wedding.

Do I need a prenup if I don't have much money? Yes, according to Deveney, regardless of net worth. A prenup is not only about divorce. It can keep separate property clear in a blended family so assets pass to the children who are not from the current relationship, and it can protect what a couple builds during the marriage if one partner carries debt. Even with little now, most couples will build retirement accounts and wealth, and a prenup protects what is built together.

Is marriage really a business deal? Deveney says yes. In California, spouses owe each other fiduciary duties, meaning a duty to act in the other person's best interest, similar to attorneys and clients or financial advisors and their clients. She explains that hiding gambling, affairs, or credit card debt can be raised as a breach of that duty during a divorce, while ordinary shopping sprees are often treated as a community benefit and split evenly.

How can a stay-at-home parent protect herself financially? Start with the conversation: does your partner value the work of caring for your home and children? From there, Deveney builds in protections such as a spousal IRA (there are contribution limits, so she also looks at a brokerage account contributing at a similar rate) and a spousal support plan with enough runway to get back into the workforce through licensing, recertification, or school. In California, marriages over ten years can lead to permanent spousal support, so couples often agree on an end date up front.

What is a cohabitation agreement, and who needs one? It is for couples who live together without marrying, and it can also work for roommates. It spells out who stays, who goes, and who pays if things fall apart, and it can cover titling property, vehicles, and credit cards. Deveney shares a story of a client whose landlord came after her for the lease and how an indemnity clause helped her win in civil court. She also points out that unmarried partners are not automatically next of kin for medical decisions.

What happens to a prenup after we're married? It is not a set it and forget it document. Deveney recommends updating it as life changes, turning it into a postnup when needed, such as when a home becomes the family home or when a business starts. An inheritance is already separate property, but small details can lead a court to treat it as community property, so it needs to be kept separate on purpose.

When should we start the prenup process before our wedding? About 90 days out. California has a seven-day waiting period, and a rushed prenup can open the door to a claim that it was signed under duress. Deveney's Love Meets Wealth process walks couples through their state's laws, their individual and joint goals, full financial disclosures (including credit scores), a game plan, and then the prenup itself. She also has a prenup kit  with the conversations to have first. - For California couples ready to start a prenup: Click Here

- Free Marriage Readiness Check (about 3 minutes, anyone can take it): Click Here

- For California women who want to speak with me Deveney in more depth about prenups: Click Here

Join us for the next Money Talks, "The Money Conversation You Need to Have Before You Say I Do" Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!

Follow & connect with Deveney Wells-Gibson:

• The Prenup Queen
• Love Meets Wealth 
• Instagram: @theprenupqueen

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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What if the money is already on its way to you, and nobody has told you yet?

Women are about to inherit more wealth than at any point in history. Yet so many of us are still being told to stay small, stay quiet, and let someone else handle the numbers. Not on our watch.

In this episode, we are back on the mic together for an honest, unfiltered conversation. Together we unpack the mental load women carry every day, the boxes we keep getting pushed into, the money shame hiding behind a lot of polished lives, and the simple steps that help women prepare for the Great Wealth Transfer. 

What is the Great Wealth Transfer and why does it matter for women? The Great Wealth Transfer is the largest movement of money from one generation to the next in history, and women are set to receive a huge share of it. Barb explains that women are going to be in charge of so much money, and money is power. Our goal is to make sure women don't feel guilty for receiving it, aren't taken advantage of, and use it in the way that best serves them.

How can I prepare for an inheritance before it arrives? Maggie's approach is to get ready now rather than waiting. That means getting your budget in line, knowing your goal numbers, writing out your goals, having your estate plan ready, and building your professional team. That way, when the money comes, it flows straight into the buckets you have already set up.

How do I get past money shame and start managing my money? Barb reminds us there is no judgment here. Many women never learned what they needed to know, or they lost ground through divorce, illness, or stepping away from work to care for others. The fix starts with tiny baby steps, just like learning anything new. Maggie's tip: ask yourself what the smallest possible step is that moves you forward, and take that one.

Is there one right way to budget, save, and invest? No. Barb calls out the financial industry's strict "one way" model and says it simply isn't true. Automation, cash envelopes, a buddy system, or a coach can all work. The key is finding the approach that fits you.

How can women build their own financial independence? Barb shares that it looks like having your own income, your own credit card, your own credit score, and your own bank account. It also means being at every single financial meeting, being part of the conversation, and using the resources available to you.

What does financial freedom actually mean? It looks different for everyone. Maggie shares that for many people it comes down to having choices, and for her, it means trusting her investments, aligning her money with her values, and supporting her community. For Barb, it means a home she loves, a solid retirement, and plenty of time with family (and tennis!).

00:00 Boys will be boys and the mental load women carry every day 

03:00 Why women keep getting put into smaller and smaller boxes 

07:00 Women are about to hold the purse strings of America 

11:45 What's really going on behind the curtain with money shame 

14:30 Tiny steps, buddy systems, and finding the money method that fits you 

19:15 Our next money goals and what rich really means 

26:00 The Year of Less and what's coming next for Purse Strings

We would love to hear what you thought of this episode, any questions it sparked, what resonated most, or any topics you would love us to cover next. Click here to send us a message!

Join us for the next Money Talks, “The Money Conversation You Need to Have Before You Say I Do” Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!

Resources

• The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
• How to Buy a House Without a Bank Using Seller Financing with Mel Dorman
• Find a Purse Strings Approved Professional
• Financial Planning Association (FPA)
• Have questions? Click this to check out our expert Q&A for tips from industry experts, tailored to help women address their most common financial concerns.
• Subscribe to our newsletter to receive financial tips delivered weekly here!
• Explore our free guides to help you on your financial journey

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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Nobody walks down the aisle with a divorce budget. But when a marriage ends, it can become the most expensive financial decision of your life. The women who come out the other side strongest are the ones who prepared before anyone said the word out loud. Let's talk about the money side of a high-conflict divorce and what preparing for this decision should look like.

In this episode, we have Paulette Rigo, CEO of Better Divorce Academy, private ADR mediator, certified high conflict divorce coach, sought after speaker, host of The Better Divorce Podcast, and author of the number one best selling Better Divorce Blueprint. Paulette lived through an eight and a half year fully litigated divorce, including a twelve day trial and four more years of appeals, and turned it into a mission to help couples avoid court and help women protect themselves when they can't. We talk about what high conflict really means, what divorce actually costs, the four money categories you need to know cold, and what financial freedom looks like after it all.

What is a high conflict divorce? Paulette explains that high conflict comes down to a lack of compliance and a lack of sharing. She calls it the three E's: lack of empathy, entitlement, and exploitation. When one or both spouses refuse to share information, ignore deadlines, or want everything for themselves, the process gets forced through the courts step by step, and it gets long and expensive.

How much does a divorce really cost? More than most people realize. Paulette shares that billable hours are charged in six to eight minute increments, the national average attorney rate is about $500 an hour, and an average of 10 billable hours a month per side means about $5,000 a month for each spouse. A litigated divorce typically takes 18 to 24 months. Private mediation can save couples an average of $40,000 to $70,000 in unnecessary legal fees.

How can women protect themselves financially in a high conflict divorce? Work with an expert, and know your numbers. Paulette says there are four categories in divorce: income, assets, budget, and debt. If you can fill out all four completely, with the logins, passwords, and balances, you avoid paying attorneys to fight over discovery. She also recommends documenting everything, because evidence like texts, emails, and call logs matters.

How do you prepare for divorce before telling your spouse? Start early and get organized. Paulette shares that 73% of divorces are initiated by women, and women spend about two years contemplating divorce before acting. She uses that time to help women get researched, organized, and prepared, interview attorneys, and build a plan, so they make decisions from a calm place instead of fear.

What can you do when your spouse refuses to cooperate? Understand the process and accept who they are. Paulette walks through the five methods of divorce and the four things courts actually care about: custody, child support, division of assets and debt, and spousal support. She teaches clients how to communicate with a high conflict person so they don't add fuel to the fire, and how to prepare for the storm before it hits.

How do you protect yourself in a second marriage? Full transparency. Paulette and her husband share access to their phones and financials, talk openly about premarital, non-marital, and marital assets, and worked through books together before marrying. Her advice: have the hard talks.

We would love to hear what you thought of this episode, any questions it sparked, what resonated most, or any topics you would love us to cover next. Click here to send us a message!

Join us for the next Money Talks, “The Financial Survival Guide to Divorce: What to Do, What to Protect, and When to Call Who” Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!

Follow & connect with Paulette Rigo:

• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• The Better Divorce Podcast
• YouTube
• Substack
• Book, workbook, audiobook, and course: Better Divorce Blueprint, available through Better Divorce Academy. 

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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What if going to the bank wasn’t the only path to owning your home? We've been told to budget harder, cut back, and wait for someone with a fancy title to approve us. Meanwhile, millions of homes are owned free and clear by people who would happily let you pay them directly. Let's talk about it.

Melissa Dorman went from dumpster diving in their twenties to building a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio in their thirties. By combining traditional bank loans with creative seller financing, they acquired 34 rental units in just five years. A former social worker turned financial activist, Mel shows that wealth doesn’t have to flow through Wall Street to grow.

As the founder of the Seller Financing Academy and author of Bank on Your Neighbor, Mel teaches everyday people how to use conventional tools and community-based financing strategies to buy property, build equity, and keep wealth circulating locally instead of allowing it to be siphoned upward to billionaires. Their TEDx Talk on creative finance became an Editor’s Pick and has reached hundreds of thousands of viewers hungry for an alternative to the corporate grind.

How does seller financing work? Seller financing is when you pay the owner of a home directly instead of going through a bank like Wells Fargo or Chase. Mel explains that 4 out of 10 homes in America are owned free and clear, which means those owners can take monthly payments from a buyer, just like selling a used car to a neighbor on an installment plan. It helps older owners retire, can save them a lot on taxes, and turns landlords into lenders.

How can you buy a house if the bank says no? You go straight to the seller. Mel shares that about 50% of people who qualified for a bank loan in 2019 no longer qualify, often because banks removed the loan products most people used. Renters with years of on time payments, people who just changed careers, and others the bank algorithm rejects can still buy by building a direct relationship with a seller.

How do you buy property with little money down? Negotiate around the seller's real risk, not the bank's 20% rule. Mel's first seller wanted $75,000 down and she had about $8,000. She asked what it would cost him to foreclose on her ($15,000) and made that the down payment. She negotiated two months of delayed payments, leased up the vacant units, and was only $500 out of pocket on a triplex that cash flowed day one.

What paperwork do you need for a seller financed deal? It's simpler than most people think. Mel says it's about a five page document made up of two pieces: a promissory note, which works like an IOU laying out the payment, interest rate, and term, and a deed of trust, which attaches the loan to the property. Unlike a bank loan, you can sometimes move that good debt to another property you own.

Why doesn't budgeting build wealth for women? Because budgeting alone is about cutting back, not growing. Mel explains that women are taught to budget and play it small, while men are taught to scale, build businesses, and invest. When all your focus is on cutting things away, you never think about using leverage to scale, and that gap is a big part of why more men hold wealth.

How do you get the confidence to start investing in real estate? Start with who you're becoming before you take action. Mel's advice is to build your self-concept first (a leader, a breadwinner, someone responsible, strong, and resilient) instead of jumping into hustle mode from a place of scarcity. That belief is what keeps you going when things get scary, so you step up instead of giving up.

Chapters

00:00 Meet Mel, the social worker whose family crisis changed everything 

02:15 Trader Joe's dumpster dinners, 2009, and questioning the 40/40/401k 

05:45 How the patriarchy keeps women small (and why budgeting won't make you rich) 

08:45 Love letters to your neighbor and seller financing 101 

12:15 The $500 triplex that now pays $3,800 a month 

17:45 Why you have to become her before you do the deal 

19:45 Keeping money local, the Bank It Forward model, and what financial freedom really means

We would love to hear what you thought of this episode, any questions it sparked, what resonated most, or any topics you would love us to cover next. Click here to send us a message!

Join us for the next Money Talks, “The Real Estate Wealth Strategy” Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!

Follow & connect with Mel Dorman:

• Seller Finance Academy
• Instagram: @mel_dorman
• LinkedIn
• Seller Finance Academy on Facebook 

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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You have been told your whole life to be more consistent, more organized, more disciplined with your money. What if the problem was never your discipline at all?

For so many women, especially those diagnosed with ADHD later in life, the money struggle is not about effort. It is about a quiet erosion of self-trust after years of being told they do everything wrong.

In this episode, we have Karrie Lemansky, founder and Chief Weirdo of Karrie Out Loud, a sustainable business growth strategist for female founders with late-diagnosed ADHD. Karrie built two businesses to six figures, burned them both down, and spent years believing she was simply bad at business, until a diagnosis at 49 reframed everything. She joins us to talk about the Self Trust Gap, the money patterns she sees in ADHD women every day, and why handing things off is not a failure but a form of self-trust.

What is the Self Trust Gap, and how is it different from imposter syndrome? Imposter syndrome says you do not believe you belong. Karrie says most late-diagnosed ADHD women know they belong, they have just stopped trusting their own instincts after years of being told they do things the wrong way. That eroded trust is the gap, and the good news is it is a skill you can rebuild.

How does ADHD actually affect the way women handle money? Through patterns most people never name out loud: hyper-independence, impulse spending, decision paralysis, and income that rises and falls with your energy. Karrie points out that women often judge their money today based on old history that is simply no longer true.

What is the first step to closing the gap? Start almost absurdly small. Karrie calls them micro trust habits, one tiny thing you repeat every day until momentum builds. It is progress, not a 30-day overhaul, that rebuilds trust in yourself.

What money belief should ADHD women throw out? The idea of being paid what you are "worth." Karrie's reframe is that your worth is not tied to a dollar, but you absolutely should charge for your expertise and the transformation you deliver.

We would love to hear what you thought of this episode, any questions it sparked, what resonated most, or any topics you would love us to cover next. Click here to send us a message!

Ready to close your own self trust gap and build a business that fits your brain? Join us for the next Money Talks, “ADHD-Friendly Money Systems.” Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!

Follow & connect with Karrie Lemansky:

• Website
• Instagram
• Podcast: The ADHD Entrepreneur(Her)

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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You are making good money. So why does tax season still knock the wind out of you every year?

Earning more does not automatically mean keeping more. Without a strategy, a higher income can just mean a bigger, more painful tax bill.

In this episode, we have Emily Bowie, CFO of Thorne Advisors, a firm built specifically for women earning over 100K in net income. A Cash Flow Strategist with more than 15 years of experience, including her time as an audit manager in Big Four accounting, Emily co-built Thorne Advisors with founder Andrea Mason to close a gap they kept seeing: plenty of tax strategy floating around, but almost no one helping women find the actual cash to use it. She joins us to make taxes make sense, from the S corp election that saved one client a fortune to the cash leaks quietly draining businesses everywhere.

Why do high-earning women still get ambushed every April? Because the books get pushed to the 11th hour. When you are juggling everything, bookkeeping only happens right before taxes are due, and by then it is too late to be strategic. You are just working with whatever you have instead of a plan.

What is the difference between tax prep and tax strategy? Tax prep is the filing everyone knows, due in March or April. Tax strategy is proactive and year-round: a strategist understands the code so they can help you leverage what is actually available to you. As Emily puts it, not all tax preparers are tax strategists, so it pays to know who is really in your financial corner.

When should you switch from sole prop to an S corp? Emily's benchmark is netting 100K or more. That election alone can save you money, and it unlocks strategies like an accountable plan and the Augusta Rule. The goal is not to pay yourself less, it is to pay yourself strategically. One client who waited too long overpaid roughly $70,000.

Why is a big tax refund not the win it feels like? A large refund means you overpaid all year and handed the government an interest-free loan. The sweet spot is landing close to even, so that cash stays in your business or your pocket where it can grow. Emily even packaged her top fixes into a free guide, 5 Cash Leaks & 5 Missed Tax Deductions.

00:00 Building a firm for high-earning women.

03:15 Why April keeps ambushing you.

04:45 The $70,000 S corp mistake.

08:15 Tax prep vs tax strategy.

13:15 Why a big refund is not a win.

17:15 The S corp unlock and the cash leaks.

29:30 What financial freedom really means.

We would love to hear what you thought of this episode, any questions it sparked, what resonated most, or any topics you would love us to cover next. Click here to send us a message!

Ready to stop overpaying and start keeping more of what you earn? Join us for the next Money Talks, “Three Numbers Every Self-Employed Woman Should Know by Heart” with Laura Ann Strobel. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!

Follow & connect with Emily Bowie:

• Website
• Instagram
• 5 Cash Leaks & 5 Missed Tax Deductions (free guide)

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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What if the trip you keep waiting to take is exactly what you need?

We are all guilty of it. Waiting for the right timing, the right stage of life, the right circle of friends, while the months quietly pass and the vaca never leaves the group chat.

In this episode, we have Ally Pintucci, founder of The Girls Trip Series, a community of 37,000-plus women built on small, curated trips for women who hate tours. After nearly a decade in travel sales and operations, a layoff at 23, and being stood up in Portugal, Ally landed in a surf town that changed everything and launched her first trip, which sold out in 24 hours. She joins us to talk about the real cost of running trips, where pricing meets integrity, and why you should stop waiting to go.

What does it actually cost to run a group trip? More than people assume. Between scouting a destination and running it, Ally can spend 10 to 15,000 dollars of her own money before a single traveler pays. The margin is not in packing people in, it is in the experience, which is why she keeps her groups small on purpose.

Where does pricing meet integrity in the travel world? Ally is candid that the industry is murky. Some influencers white-label a trip that costs 2,500 to run and resell it for 6,800. She prices to reflect real value and real community, not to become the biggest travel company in the room.

What money decisions do women forget when booking a trip? The ones that hit late: visas, vaccinations, currency conversion, and tipping the local team. Ally sets those expectations up front, often a year out, so there are no painful surprises at the destination.

Should you wait for friends before you travel? No. 99% of the women who come do not book with a friend, and they arrive just as nervous as you would. As Ally says, not all friends are compatible to travel, and time stops for no one.

We would love to hear what you thought of this episode, any questions it sparked, what resonated most, or any topics you would love us to cover next. Click here to send us a message!

Ready to stop waiting and design the the life, you actually want? Join us for the next Money Talks, “Can I Afford to Reinvent My Career? Put the Numbers on Paper Before You Make the Leap” with Bill Promes.  Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!

Follow & connect with Ally Pintucci:

• Instagram (The Girls Trip Series)
• Instagram (personal)

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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You spent your whole career building someone else's brand. What happens when the title, the salary, and the identity get taken away overnight?

In this episode, we have Jess Lane, founder of The Full Cup Co., the career design company for the future of work. After twenty years in marketing and advertising for names like Procter and Gamble, Porsche, and The RealReal, Jess was laid off at forty in a mass reduction and applied to 496 jobs before deciding to build something no employer could take away. She joins us to talk about designing your next chapter, future-proofing your career in the age of AI, and why your worth was never tied to that spreadsheet.

Is the 9-to-5 really going away? It is changing fast. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has said the 9-to-5 could be extinct within a decade. The takeaway is not panic, it is that work is being redefined, and there are real ways to future-proof yourself for what comes next.

How do you future-proof your career against AI? Lean into what is most human. Strategy, intuition, creativity, and human storytelling are becoming the most valuable skills. Use AI as a tool, but do not try to sound like it. The more human you are, the harder you are to replace.

What is career design, and how is it different from a side hustle? Career design starts with your unique blueprint, your motivators of autonomy, connectedness, and competence, then builds a sustainable path around your life. A side hustle is usually just extra income without that foundation. As Jess puts it, side hustles are often "hustley," while career design builds the career meant for you.

How do you financially prepare to leave a stable job? Do not leap and hope. Leaping is not a strategy, an exit plan is. Look at ROI and risk differently, turn the unknowns into knowns, and build a plan with real timelines and numbers. Investing in yourself is what makes the leap sustainable instead of scary.

Ready to design your next chapter? Join us for the next Money Talks. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!  

Follow & connect with Jess Lane:

• Website
• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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Every purchase you make is a vote. The trouble is, most of us never stop to ask who we're voting for when we're just trying to grab a backpack, refill the soap, and get the birthday gift in the mail on time.

In this episode, we have Erin Fangmann and Kate Marsh Lord, the co-founders of Little Blue Cart, a platform that connects conscious consumers with values-driven small businesses. Inspired by a conversation after the 2024 election, they built Little Blue Cart around their kitchen table with a mission to make it easier for people to support small businesses that reflect their values of democracy, equality, and freedom.

As military spouses with more than 30 years of combined experience as small business owners, Kate and Erin understand the resilience, creativity, and determination it takes to build a business through constant change. Building on that mission, they recently launched Little Blue Market, an online marketplace where small businesses can sell directly to shoppers. Together, Little Blue Cart and Little Blue Market help independent businesses grow while empowering consumers to make a meaningful impact through their everyday purchasing decisions.

What does it mean to vote with your money? Every purchase is a decision about whose values you are funding. When you spend, you are choosing which businesses and which principles get your dollars, so where your money goes ends up being a clear reflection of what actually matters to you.

How do you start ‘shopping your values’ without feeling overwhelmed? Start with one thing. No one expects perfection tomorrow, and it is not realistic to swap 100 percent of your spending overnight. The next time you are buying a birthday gift or back-to-school supplies, pick one purchase to make intentionally and get it from a small or local business. Once you think intentionally about one purchase, it starts to become a habit for the next.

Does shopping your values actually cost more money? Not necessarily, and that is one of the biggest misconceptions. Some sellers offer free shipping once you hit a certain amount, and while a values-aligned marketplace is not built like the giant platforms, the idea that spending with your values always costs more simply is not true.

Why does it matter where you shop, not just what you buy? 68 cents of every dollar you spend locally stays in your community and goes toward things like your schools and local resources. On top of that, small businesses keep a far bigger share of each sale than they do on the big platforms, so who you buy from changes how much of your money actually reaches real people.

What is the difference between Little Blue Cart and Little Blue Market? Little Blue Cart is a directory of progressive, values-aligned small businesses, both product-based and service-based, that works like a searchable yellow pages you can sort by category or by state. Little Blue Market lets you shop those small product-based businesses directly, all in one place.

How do businesses get listed on Little Blue Cart? Little Blue Cart is completely free to join. Businesses fill out an application, agree to the community guidelines and value statement, and go through a quick vetting process. There are optional one-time add-ons for linking socials or featuring a listing, but a free listing gets just as much love and attention.

Join us for the next Money Talks “Aligning Spending with your Values”. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!  

Follow & connect with Little Blue Cart:

• Little Blue Cart 
• Little Blue Market 
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Threads
• TikTok

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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Moving abroad after 30 is not the reckless, blow-up-your-whole-life fantasy everyone assumes it is. Done right, it might be one of the smartest money moves you ever make.

In this episode, we have Cepee Tabibian. At the age of 35, Cepee upended her entire life by selling her belongings and moving to Europe and since then, has never looked back. Now, she teaches other women how to do it too, through her community-based business, She Hit Refresh: a global community of over 100,000 women age 30+ who want to move abroad.  She has even turned her overseas expertise into the digital book “I’m Outta Here! An American’s Ultimate Visa Guide to Living in Europe” which was featured in Forbes (spoiler alert: it’s easier than you think). 

She’s the proud daughter of Colombian and Iranian immigrants and grew up in Houston, Texas before becoming an immigrant herself in Spain. 

We get into the real financials of moving abroad: the savings cushion you need before you go, the taxes nobody warns you about, the hidden costs, and the surprising expenses that actually disappear. Cepee also gets honest about safety as a woman living abroad alone, how to pick your country, why a scouting trip matters, and what financial freedom looks like once you finally build the life you want.

How much money do I need saved before I move abroad?
Minimum six to twelve months of your actual cost of living there, not what you spend in the US. Use Numbeo or Expatistan to get real numbers for the city you are considering before you set a savings goal.

What do women forget to plan for financially?
Taxes. The US taxes citizens on worldwide income no matter where they live. Get an expat tax professional before you go, not after. Health insurance is also required for most visas and runs roughly $80 to $500 a month depending on the country.

What costs actually go away?
Your car and everything that comes with it. Renters insurance is largely not a thing in Europe. And your overall cost of living often drops significantly, which is exactly why knowing your real numbers changes everything.

How do you pick where to move?
Take a scouting trip, not a vacation. Walk neighborhoods, meet a real estate agent, go to local meetups. Then filter through three things: is there a viable visa for you, does the culture match how you live, and does this place support your long-term goals.

What is the first step in moving abroad if it feels overwhelming?
Know your number. Research the real cost of living where you want to go and find the gap between that and your current income. That one number makes the whole thing feel like a plan. Then find community. Talking to women who have already done it changes everything.

Cepee's closing line says it all: "you're never too old and it's never too late to hit refresh or to change your life."  The dream is real. The logistics are where most people get stuck. We’re breaking down the actual financial moves you need to make before you relocate, so you land ready instead of scrambling. 

Join us for the next Money Talks “Your Move Abroad Financial Checklist: What to Do Before You Go”. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions!  

Ready to turn “someday” into an actual plan? Start with our financial checklist for moving abroad to think through your budget, healthcare, banking, Social Security, taxes, and the other financial decisions that come with the move.

Already getting serious about the numbers? Read our U.S. taxes abroad guide for a deeper look at cross-border taxes, FBAR and foreign account reporting.

Follow & connect with Cepee:

• Website 
• Instagram @shehitrefresh
• Cost of living research tools: Numbeo and Expatistan
• I'm Outta Here! An American's Ultimate Visa Guide to Living in Europe 

Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! 

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