Money Mondays: What Actually is.. The Economy

This is for the woman who is smart, capable, probably over-educated and still feels like nobody ever taught her how money actually works. I was in your shoes not long ago. This newsletter exists because finance was never designed to feel accessible to us. But I'm changing that. So every Monday we're talking about money so you can feel as empowered in your financial life as you do in your work life. 

We're not just going to talk about what it is but why it matters. And how it affects you. People love to throw around fancy words about the economy and finance, like quantitatitve easing but they don't tell you why it actually matters to you. So that's what we're doing here. 

During my undergrad and my masters I didn't understand my finance and accounting classes. In fact I hated them. It wasn't just because I didn't understand it but because it didn't feel relevant. So this newsletter is the exact opposite. 

Do You Feel Like..

You're doing everything right and still feel behind? Good job. Good salary. Decent savings. And yet something feels off. Like you're running on a treadmill that keeps getting faster. You're not losing your mind. You're just finally noticing the machine you've been living inside your whole life without anyone handing you the manual. That machine has a name. It's called the economy. And today we're going to make it make sense.

The Economy: But Like What Is It?

Here's the simplest version I can give you. The economy is just the sum of all the buying and selling happening in a country at any given time. Every coffee you buy. Every paycheck you deposit. Every loan you take out. Every time a business hires someone or lays someone off. All of it together, that's the economy. You've been participating in it your entire life. You just haven't been introduced.

Think of it like a neighborhood block party. The party is good when everyone shows up, brings food, spends money at the bounce house, tips the DJ, friends invite other friends and theres plenty to go around. Energy is high. Things are moving and growing. That's a growing economy. Now imagine half the neighborhood loses their job and suddenly nobody's bringing anything to the party, they aren't even coming to the party. The DJ packs up early. The whole vibe dies. That's a recession.

Three things run this party:

Jobs. When people are employed they have money. When they have money they spend it. When they spend it businesses grow. When businesses grow they hire more people. So theres more opportunity and more money in movement. 

Prices. This is the way the economy chats with us. Think the cost of daycare, food, gas, electricity.  When the chat gets heated it's when prices go up faster than paychecks. That's when you begin to feel it. Like I just went to the grocery store and what I used to spend for a week's worth of groceries now is 2 bags of goods. Hell, you've been feeling it..

Confidence. And here's the wild part, the economy is partially just a vibe.  When people believe things are okay, they spend more. When they get scared they stop. That belief alone can tip the whole thing. The economy is human psychology at scale.

Why This Matters

Here's what nobody tells you when they hand you your first paycheck. You aren't just a worker in this economy. You are a player in it. And right now most of us are playing on one side: we go to work, we earn money, we spend money. Rinse and repeat. That is exactly how the economy wants you. Busy. Consuming. Tired. Overstimulated. In a state of nervous system disregulation. Trading your time for dollars and spending those dollars before they can ever work for you.

The women who actually build wealth learn how to play defense with their money. They learn the rules. They stop being surprised when prices go up or markets shift because they understand why it's happening. They can often even tell before the masses that it's going to happen. And they position their money accordingly.

This newsletter is your manual. One topic at a time.

You're an absolute queen. And queens don't just live inside the system they learn to run it.