Resources related to this month's VS circle - Your relationship with Money

Thanks everyone for a fun get together and welcome to the new attendees - it was great having you. I just wanted to follow up by posting some of the things we talked about as well as some additional resources.

Examining your relationship with money:
Financial Literacy Month's Tools for Success - I searched the web for hours and finally found some great tools on this website. They are in PDF format for easy printing:

• Income Worksheet - Use the income worksheet to help you determine the amount of income you can realistically count on.
• Net Worth Worksheet - Calculating your net worth is as simple as comparing what you owe (liabilities) and what you own (assets).
• Debt Load Worksheet - Create an accurate picture of your debt obligations.
• Financial Priorities Worksheet - Creating a list of needs and wants can help you establish your financial priorities.
• Financial Goal Worksheet - Smart financial goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Rewarding, and Trackable. Use this worksheet to identify short-, mid-, and long-term SMART goals.
• Goal Certificate - Create a "fridge friendly" personalized goal certificate to help you stay motivated.
• Record of Daily Expendatures - Knowing where your money is going is critical for a successful budget. Track your daily expenses and then ask yourself if you're spending your money wisely.
• Expense Worksheet - Create and follow a spending plan. A realistic monthly spending plan is a valuable tool to guide your spending and saving decisions.

Money Management International is the largest nonprofit, full-service credit counseling agency in the United States and they have very useful links:

• Financial tools and calculators
• Travel planner
• Personalized holiday gift planner
• Free customized personal gift certificates - (I had been looking for this service!)
  
• Educational articles
• Money Choices - This free online program (sponsored by VISA for people who have had problems with debt) teaches the skills necessary to maintain financial health and well being.

Links about Social/Community Investing:

• Coop America's 7 Ways Your Investments Can Fight Climate Change - To change course and turn back the climate crisis, we can all use our investor power to advance clean energy, and to push polluters to clean up their acts. You can make a difference whether your investments are large or small — even by using your checking or savings account. Our list below tells you how.
• Social Investment Forum - The Social Investment Forum is the social investment industry's trade organization. Their members integrate economic, environmental, social and governance factors into their investment decisions and SIF provides programs and resources to advance this work. The website has a lot of information about social and community investing.
• Community Investing Center - The Center’s mission is to provide financial professionals with information and resources to help them channel more money into community investing. Community investing is capital from investors that is directed to communities underserved by traditional financial services. It provides access to credit, equity, capital, and basic banking products that these communities would otherwise not have. In the U.S. and around the world, community investing makes it possible for local organizations to provide financial services to low-income individuals, and to supply capital for small businesses and vital community services, such as child care, affordable housing, and healthcare.

Links about responsible/green/frugal money habits:

• Coop America's Real Money - Selected articles from their bimonthly newsletter about green living, purchasing, and investing tips
• Money and Values Blog - Connecting personal finance with ethics, values, and priorities: frugal living, socially and eco-conscious consuming, and other financial choices for a fulfilling and meaningful life
• Greener Pastures: Personal Finance Blog - Focusing on Frugality, Personal Finance, and Sustainability
• Financial Learn: A Frugal Living Blog - This site was created to educate and more importantly motivate you and myself in living a happy and debt free life.

We also ended up talking a bit about Fast Fashion and I found a related reported published by Cambridge University's Sustainable Manufacturing Group

And relatedly we talked about branding and two books were mentioned:

• William Gibson's Pattern Recognition
• Naomi Klein's No Logo

Finally, we discussed that right livelihood may be the focus of next month's circle.