Financial Feminist

Visit ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod to join our 5 Day Debt Challenge and find any resources mentioned in the show!

Getting out of debt is shockingly simple. The math is easy. Showing up every single month is the hard part. In episode three of Financial Foundations, sponsored by State Farm, we're tackling debt, with zero shame. I'll explain where debt sits on your financial priority list, teach you the rule of 7% (which you'll use for the rest of your life), and break down why credit card debt feels like drowning. Then I'll walk you through my four-step debt payoff plan, tell you about the time my car loan company made me mail $50 to a PO box in Iowa, and share what to check before you sign for any new debt.

Missed the rest of the series? Catch-up from the beginning:

Financial Foundations #1: Your Money Blueprint: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/money-blueprint/

Financial Foundations 2: Budgeting with Intention: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/budgeting-with-intention/

00:00 Intro

01:03 Getting out of debt is shockingly simple

01:48 Having debt doesn't make you a bad person

03:24 Where debt sits on your priority list

04:32 The rule of 7%

05:49 The math is easy, consistency is hard

06:33 Principal vs. interest

07:05 Why credit card debt feels like drowning

08:03 Consolidating with a personal loan

08:48 Step 1: List every debt

09:56 Step 2: Add up your monthly payments

10:09 Step 3: Find extra money in your budget

11:28 Step 4: Pay the highest interest rate first

12:31 My car loan and the PO box in Iowa

14:50 Is there such a thing as good debt?

17:11 Systemic problems vs. personal responsibility

17:52 Read the terms before you sign

18:21 Shop your loan

19:17 Join the free 5-day debt challenge

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At 25, I had $100,000 in the bank. At 27, I was a millionaire. And today I’m handing you my actual formula. Plenty of articles boil my story down to “save money, invest, start a business.” That’s technically true and practically useless. In this episode, I’m breaking down what I did between 25 and 27 that made the biggest difference, which parts you can copy, and which parts came from privilege I didn’t earn. I graduated debt-free and grew up with parents who taught me about money, and that shaped the conditions I made my decisions in. Personal finance is personal, so treat this as a formula you adapt to your own life instead of a script to copy line for line.

Mentioned in this episode:

The $100K Blueprint: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/the-1how-id-save-my-first-100k-in-2026/

Negotiate Like a Woman with Kathryn Valentine: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/negotiate-like-a-woman/

How to Negotiate with Confidence: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/negotiate-with-confidence/

Learn the exact strategies I used to save money, pay off debt, and get my first $100K. Visit: ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

01:10 How Her First $100K started

03:02 The privilege in my story

05:08 #1: Solid financial habits

08:31 Start acting like a millionaire now

09:28 #2: Growing my earning power

10:21 Why cutting your budget only goes so far

13:50 Going full-time in 2020

14:37 If entrepreneurship isn’t for you

16:44 #3: Building a financial system

19:48 Why I unapologetically want money

23:18 My favorite part of being a millionaire
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Traditional budgeting doesn’t work. In episode two of Financial Foundations, brought to you by State Farm, I'm showing you how to budget without hating your life. We'll reframe budgeting as a permission slip instead of a punishment. Budgeting doesn't mean you can’t ever have a latte, or buy organic, or even say no to a vacation. Creating a budget is as personal as your favorite band, which means that these one-size-fits-all solutions might be more the problem than you. Today we'll walk through my three-bucket budget, and find your three value categories: the parts of your life where spending brings you the most joy. Then we'll pull out the money diary from episode one and see whether your spending matches what you actually care about.

Catch-up on the Financial Foundations series:

Financial Foundations Episode 1: Your Money Blueprint: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/money-blueprint/

Save your seat in this 2-part workshop series that turns your “I wish I could quit my job” into a specific, actionable plan to get you out of your job in 90 days or less. Get access here: ⁠⁠⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

01:03 How to budget without hating your life

01:56 Refresher: the financial priority list

02:54 Why budgets fail like diets

03:23 Your budget is a gas gauge

04:50 Permission slip, not punishment

05:38 Why I hated every budget app

06:20 The three-bucket budget

07:51 Automate, automate, automate

08:44 Your three value categories

10:37 My coffee-as-a-walk confession

11:37 "Should" spending: museums, dinners, and bachelorette parties

12:51 Exercise: sort your money diary

14:09 Ask this at every checkout

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Save your seat in this 2-part workshop series that turns your “I wish I could quit my job” into a specific, actionable plan to get you out of your job in 90 days or less. Get access here: ⁠⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠⁠.

Today I'm sitting down with Natalie Ellis, mom, CEO, and founder of Boss Babe, and author of the New York Times bestseller The Freedom-Based Business Method. Natalie built a multimillion-dollar company and then realized she'd been running it on an aggressive growth playbook for a business she never planned to sell. We get into why burnout isn't a badge of honor, why the median follower count in Natalie's survey of six-figure-plus business owners will shock you, and the three boring things that actually make a business work. If you run a business, want to start one, or just keep buying courses hoping the next one fixes it, this is your episode.

Natalie’s Links:

Websites: https://www.bossbabe.com/ ; https://www.natalie-ellis.com/ Book: https://bookshop.org/a/90037/9781401997373

Mentioned during the show:

How to Reinvent Yourself (Without Losing Yourself) with Sophia Amoruso: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/reinventing-yourself-sophia-amoruso/

The Rise and Fall of the Girlboss: https://www.diabolicalliespod.com/p/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-girlboss

00:00 Intro

04:30 Is burnout the price of hustle? Energy-giving vs. energy-draining work

08:00 Why "more organization" isn't the fix: the three questions your business runs on

10:30 Big decisions vs. small ones, in business and personal finance

12:00 Natalie's Trojan horse course strategy

15:00 Tori's viral video and the 100,000 email subscribers

18:00 Building on land you own: why email beats followers

20:00 Shiny objects: new products, new platforms

26:00 One platform, one offer, and why you can't over-market a product

29:00 What to cut first: start with your data

31:00 Offer, funnel, traffic (build, borrow, or buy an audience)

34:00 Getting off the treadmill: executive retreats and "what do you want?"

37:00 Leaving easy money on the table

40:00 Seasons of sprint and giving yourself grace

44:00 Building for freedom when you're just getting started

47:00 The responsibility nobody posts about

52:00 The Boss Babe name, ten-plus years later

54:00 Hustle culture, soft life, and tradwife content

62:00 What successful women entrepreneurs know
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You told us Financial Foundations was your favorite series, so we brought it back. Presented by State Farm, these are short, actionable episodes, each one covering a single personal finance pillar and giving you one thing to go do. We're following along with my book, Financial Feminist, so if you have a copy, pull it out. In episode one, I'm walking you through your first money memory, the exact order to tackle your financial goals, and how to actually stay consistent with a monthly money date. If you've ever asked "Okay, but what do I do first with my money?", start here.

To find all of the resources mentioned in this episode including my free money quiz and my partner recommendation for your emergency fund), visit: ⁠⁠⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

01:03 Welcome to Financial Foundations

02:17 Your financial narrative and your first money memory

03:54 How your money memory shows up today

06:05 The financial order of operations

06:56 Why your emergency fund comes first

08:26 Priority two: high-interest debt

09:18 Priority three: investing for retirement and paying down low-interest debt

10:04 Priority four: saving for the big stuff

11:04 Staying consistent and the ostrich effect

12:37 Financial self-care and the money date

13:33 How to run your money date, step by step

15:15 Your homework: the money diary
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