As it is Earth Month, I'm sharing some of my tried and true sustainable swaps. My journey to sustainability continues to this day and the biggest thing I've learned is that it is a journey, one that never ends, as we challenge ourselves to do better each day, learn more, and teach others. Sustainability comes in so many forms that we all have to do the best we can, given our resources. I've also learned that when you are kind to the planet, you also become kinder to the wallet.

It’s a new year and you’ve been inspired to start anew again. You stopped by your local Target and got a pretty 2023 planner. You scribbled a few due dates in, maybe a few resolutions, but now what? The blank pages before you seem overwhelming or you simply don’t have the willpower to continue going back to them. It can be difficult to plan productivity and that’s why many of us fail at it.

Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your planner in 2021!

The cost of skipping class goes beyond that of “Oh I missed the lesson for today, I’ll catch up eventually”. It’s a financial cost. Every time you skip a class, you waste money.

Each class has an individual cost and when you don’t show up you are wasting your money. If you are taking out loans, you’ve basically taken out a very expensive loan to sleep in or play video games. There’s a trade-off to everything so think about your future self and what they’ll have to pay off when you skip class and not take advantage of the learning and networking opportunities before you.

Give a man an education and he will build a new world, but give a man a loan and you can own that man forever.

It’s been 10 years since I graduated from grad school. I still proudly hang up my diploma because it put me on a better path for my career and my income. It was also FREE. No loans, no debt, no soul to be sold. With that, I thought I might offer some ways to help reduce debt if you are a college student or have a child that is about to head to college.

After graduating in 2019, I was already overwhelmed with the idea of student loan debt looming over my head and my budget, so I set a goal to pay off my student loans before my 30th birthday. In this post, I share with you an update and how the forbearance has dictated my payoff strategy.

Who profits from war? In most cases, the majority of us do. Public pension and retirement funds are often invested directly or indirectly in companies that manufacture weapons and provide military contracts. In this blog post, learn how to see if your investments are funding wars and if you are profiting from them.

A look at how and why I decided to open a Chase Sapphire Preferred card as my very first credit card and how I met the 100K bonus for future travel.

One of the big questions that many parents ask when it comes to funding a 529 Plan is, what happens to the funds if my child doesn't end up going to college? So imagine all of these years, you’ve been saving for college. Family and friends have contributed to the account. The account has grown thanks in part to your early saving and the stock market growth. Then the time comes for your child to go to college, but they end up not needing the funds for a host of many reasons. One may be that they have received a full scholarship and have no need for the funds, or they’ve decided not to pursue the traditional 4-year university route and instead go to trade school, or they’ve decided to take a break from school so that they can figure out what they really want to do. The good news across all of these scenarios is that you don’t have to forfeit any of the funds in the 529 Account.

A college library is often one of the most utilized, but also underutilized places on campus. You may find yourself spending countless hours studying for an exam, doing homework, or even sleeping, but what else can the library do for you?

Earlier this week, we celebrate National Coming Out Day or NCOD. National Coming Out Day is an annual LGBT awareness day that celebrates and supports individuals who publicly identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. Many use this day as a way to share their coming out stories, support others who may keep their identity a secret, or celebrate those who are now sharing their gender identities and sexual orientation. Your identity has an obvious impact on your relationships, but it can also affect other aspects of your lives, like your job or career, and your finances.

So whether you are part of the LGBTQ+ community, or are an ally, how can we build a more LGBT-friendly investment portfolio?

The expert in anything was once an unpaid intern.

It’s the beginning of the spring semester and you realize that you’re going to have to face the realities of the real world in five months or so. It’s prime internship-searching season. You’ve googled “interview questions” dozens of times and are already anxious for your school’s career fair. This isn’t an article asking you to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, nor is it a guide on what to look for in a company, but rather things to consider to ensure a more successful job searching experience. Whether you’re applying for summer internships or an internship over the school year, it’s important to think ahead and cover your bases when it comes to the internship applying process.

"No matter who is watching or paying the paycheck, we are ultimately each our own boss."

A few weeks into my summer internship, my bank account was graced with a direct deposit. As a student still living at home with my parents, my expenses were minimal when it came to things like extraneous bills and insurance.  It was pretty tempting, and fairly easy, to have just spent it all on new clothes, food, and drinks, (especially working in New York City) but with some thoughtful consideration, I realized I probably shouldn’t blow my first paycheck, or all of them for that matter. Here’s how I prioritized where all my money went and things I needed to consider as a student and emerging young professional.

As individuals, we all have the power to make a change. Today, money makes the world go round. That is an honest reality that we all must face, which means we need to be more conscious about what we buy, where we park our money, what we invest in, and how we go about changing a system that relies heavily on consumption and growth.

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

It’s that time of year...the Sunday of Summer. In the blink of an eye, your days of vacationing, interning, or working elsewhere become days of mental and physical preparations for back to school. August rears its head a lot faster than expected and you scramble to pack for move-in or buy books for classes. Across the country, students just like you are trying their best to get through back to school season and trying not to break the bank (or your parents’). Broke college students seem to be the norm, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Whether you already started classes or will begin in September, here are some helpful tips to get you in the money-saving mindset for back to school!

In this article, we will cover the basics and questions you should ask yourself when deciding if you really need a meal plan. Many college students are already struggling to deal with the costs of tuition, room, and board, but adding the expensive costs of a dining plan makes it even more difficult.

Whether you’re a freshman or a senior, you should always look for new scholarship opportunities. There is a world of free money opportunities for all stages of the student. If you’re an incoming freshman or transferring to a new school, don’t just settle for your scholarship package as your only means of financial/scholarship assistance. Just because you are graduating soon, doesn’t mean there aren’t scholarships out there for you to help with your post-grad debt. If you’re anywhere in between, trying is better than nothing at all! Here are 10 tips when applying for scholarships.

Let’s be real, college campuses aren’t the most conducive environments to be sustainably conscious, but that doesn't mean that you have no options as a college student. Here are some easier sustainability tips that you can implement into your college lifestyle.

Since it’s Earth Month, we’ve been running a #SaveMoneySaveThePlanet Challenge with our email subscribers. Sign-up here. We can’t let this month pass by without talking about fashion, more specifically how fast fashion affects our wallets and the planet and how we must all transition towards the concept of slow fashion.

You might have heard of fast fashion — clothing that can be both cheap in costs and in quality. But have you heard about slow fashion? Slow fashion focuses on the opposite, curating clothing that is more sustainable in its production and material, while having a newfound appreciation for consumer transparency, ethics, and local, artisan craft.

Clothing comes at a cost and while I usually never spend regular retail prices on anything, all these sales add up quickly. It’s also interesting to see how my purchasing power has changed over the years.

When I was a kid, my mom used to wake me up early on Saturdays to bring me to the local flea market or to scout nearby yard sales. I would pick at miscellaneous toys and gadgets, while my parents browsed for clothes and homeware. When we would go to thrift stores, I would quickly do a pass through of the aisles and claim that I didn’t find anything interesting. I didn’t find it particularly interesting at the time, but now, as a twenty-something year old, I realized how much fun and affordable it was. For some thrifting is new, and for others, it was an activity out of necessity. Some people prefer to thrift to find unique clothing pieces, while others do it for sustainability reasons. Regardless of your reason, here are some tips that can help jumpstart your thrifting journey:

It’s never too late to take advantage of free things in college. Whether you’re reading this as an incoming student, an undergraduate, or masters student, be on the lookout for freebies that are both physical and digital. Free things are all around, but it’s up to you to pursue them.

To be fair, are these things really “free”? Your tuition is paying for something.

I don't know how to act my age. I've never been this age before.

I turn 25 this December. I didn’t think this is what it was going to be like leading up to my 25th birthday. I feel old and young all at the same time, but most importantly I still feel lost. My mid-twenties have been thrown in for a loop, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give up. My birthday is another celebration — another benchmark. I’m not here to tell anyone where they should be in their mid-twenties. Physically, mentally, financially, we’re all at different points. As I enter my 25th year, here are some of my goals that I’d like to meet:

Friends, today, I’m sharing a giveaway I found on a whim, which could be worthwhile for many people.

If you’ve got student loans, read closely!

Fidelity is running a Student Loan Giveaway through their new finance learning app Fidelity Spire.

Giveaway ends December 8, 2020.

“...the currency of the South was the slave”

This month’s book is “The Color of Money - Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap” by Mehrsa Baradaran. It covers the history of Black banking and the role of racism in the economic independence of the Black community.

Today, on every socioeconomic level, Blacks have significantly less wealth than whites. The book explains how the racial wealth gap was created that continues to affect millions of families in the United States. There were also many laws and policies like the GI Bill, the Homestead Act and the FHA that denied the Black community the opportunity to advance and economically prosper.

“Make specific birthday wishes and write it down. You will be amazed about the power of pen and inner strength to accomplish the wishes.”

By the time I had finished my masters degree last year (2019), I had accumulated over $33,000 in debt just from student loans. After reviewing the payoff schedule, it estimated that I would pay off my debt by the time I was 43. That’s when I decided I hated that plan. Instead, here’s my plan to pay off by debt by the time I’m 30, which is 5 years away.

“Invest in the world that you want to live in.”

How can we invest and pursue financial independence with people, planet and profit in mind? It’s time we start investing in the world that we live in, but aligning our investments with our values. In this post, we provide options for alternative investments as well as some ways we can improve our current investment portfolio using various resources.

As part of our Socially Conscious FI Series, today we are exploring minority owned banks.

I read this phrase somewhere in my research: “organized money is power”.

We currently live in a money-based system and I honestly don’t foresee that changing in the near future. So it is up to us to shift and distribute money equally so that “power” can be distributed equitably across all communities.

It’s important to know that these kinds of banks exist especially as we challenge the status quo for a more equitable chance at wealth creation and growth for all.

“The greatest superpower is the ability to change yourself.” - Naval Ravikant

With many people taking online classes or telecommuting to work, the world has made a major shift into the digital space. In this case, the typical physical interview may now not be the norm. There are many aspects of a virtual interview that are no different than a physical in-person interview, but there are also unprecedented things you may not be prepared for. Here are some tips on how to ace your virtual interview.

“Mentors won’t make you rich. Doctors won’t make you healthy. Nutritionists won’t make you slim. Teachers won’t make you smart. Gurus won’t make you calm. Trainers won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself.” - Naval Ravikant

With the help of one of our sisters, Elaine, who graduated from NJIT last year, we thought we would provide a few tips to help college students and more specifically, college seniors, weather the effects of Covid-19 in their future plans.

I was three years out of undergrad when the 2008 recession happened. I had just started a new job in New York City in a completely different industry when the mortgage crisis unraveled so a part of this are some lessons I learned during that time. The most important being to prepare and not let fear get in the way of action and to always think about your future self and future family.

“It turns out you can give your money to a project positively impacting the world with the goal of earning a financial return.

Can you grow your money while investing in positive change for people and the planet? I believe that we can and this book The Do Gooder’s Guide to Investing by Adrian Reif provides a roadmap on how we can do all that.

The word “investing” can sometimes get a bad rap because it’s associated with Wall Street, but it’s absolutely possible to invest in affordable housing, renewable energy and local communities and still grow your money. The Do-Gooder’s Guide to Investing provides a comprehensive list of these investing options. Even if you are not ready to invest yet in these organizations, I highly recommend reviewing and learning more about the organizations that Adrian lists as it will give you some hope about the future.