The Dollarless Diva

A Dollarless Diva can afford to review a few simple lessons in cash management so she feels reassured that she will always know the right way to handle the green stuff. As confusing as stock symbols and nightmarish investment lingo can be, the way to keep your wealth at its peak position is to follow the very basic "RICH" chick principles:

*Rake in the dough
*Invest like the best
*Cover all debt that has an interest rate attached to it
*Have a whole lotta fun too

Any chick to commits these principles to memory will be on the road to riches in no time.

RAKE IN THE DOUGH
Unfortunately money doesn't fall out of the sky - unless, of course, some girl annoyed w/her rich banker boyfriend decides to dump his life savings off a ten-story building. So we have to work for it. To be happy, you don't have to rake in as much as Donald Trump but you do need to determine what your own personal goals are and how you're going to achieve them. Whatever you choose, recognize the trade offs and make sure you're happy with the work/life mix you pick. Keep a few things in mind, whether you're about to interview for your first job or making a career switch.
Know what to expect.
Understand demand.
Avoid a stifling workplace.
Do what you like.

INVEST LIKE THE BEST
The word "invest" can be scary because it conjures images of lots of numbers, strange tickler symbols, and men and women wearing suits and glasses seated around a conference table. But regardless of how much money you make, it is important to get comfortable w/investing. You might think, "I'm still collecting the deposits on bottles to make ends meet. I have nothing extra to invest," but you do. Even if it's a dollar a day, investing is crucial for any girl who wants to get out of the Dollarless Diva phase for good.

"It take money to make money may be a cliche," but it's also the truth. If you have money and invest it wisely, it will grow exponentially over the years. Let's assume you do want to invest your money. The key is to find a place to put it where it will earn the most interest at a level of risk that you can tolerate.

Companies and organizations of all types need cash to operate, so they "borrow" yours and promise to give you interest (i.e. a little extra) in return for the "loan." These are a few common investments that will earn interest for you:
Stocks
Bonds
Mutual Fund
Checking or Savings Account
Money Market Fund
CD
401(k)


COVER ALL DEBT THAT HAS AN INTEREST RATE ATTACHED TO IT
Just as you earn interest when you loan out ur cash, other people charge interest when they loan you money. The biggest culprits are credit card companies and student loan officers. You'll grasp this concept quickly if you're stalked by Master Card, Visa or Sallie Mae. To get yourself out of this nightmare cycle of credit card debt, you have to work hard to pay back more each month on your debt than the interest they charge you. Every moment you have outstanding debt w/an interest rate attached to it, you are losing cash. When you pay back more than the interest and cut into the principal amount you owe, you slowly chisel down the debt. The annoying little sucker will eventually be gone.

HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF FUN TOO
Pay your bills on time, invest a little bit each month and generally be responsible about money, but don't scrape by day-to-day while a big fat wad of cash sits in your bank account. No way! Head for the Bahamas, Diva!

As a general rule, no girl should deprive herself of happiness in order to save money. If you make an effort to put something away out of each paycheck, you can then allow yourself to enjoy the rest of your cash now. Sometimes sacrificing a pleasure today is just not worth the dollar or two it saves in the long run.



Real-Life Tales from Dollarless Divas
"I used my parents' calling card to call a friend from a pay phone because I didn't want to use up my cell phone minutes."

"I bought a slightly imperfect dress for $10 and tried to fix it. It ended up being a slightly imperfect $10 cleaning rag."

"I filled my purse w/sugar packets from work and brought them home to use in my own kitchen."

"I took all my cash out for the week on Sunday night and separated it into seven amounts so I would know exactly how much I could afford to spend each day."

"I lied about my Payless shoes and said they were Prada. My friends went looking for them and I lied again, insisting they were probably sold out."

"I wanted to win a drawing for a new DVD player so badly that I snuck the entire stack of blank tickets into my bag, filled them all out at home, and went back and put them in. And I won!"

"I was afraid to answer the door at night because my neighborhood was so sketchy! Turned out, it was two firemen banging on the door because the basement broiler exploded!"

"I refused to take a cab at three in the morning and my friend and I ended up in a dingy neighborhood, all because I was cheap and made us take a the train we never took before."