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Once
a month, the Femmes Frugal leave bedtime rituals behind
and settle in at a
St. Paul, Minn.
, coffee shop to swap tips about budget meal planning
and affordable holiday gifts.
St. Paul
moms and neighborhood friends
Rhonda Black
and
Andrea Erickson
started the money group as a way to take the drudgery
out of dollar-stretching. As the name suggests, this is
no serious study group. "We wanted to make frugal
fun and chic, not down in the dumps," Erickson
said.
Across
town in
Eden Prairie
, 16 women meet at the
Lawlor Group
, where
Molly Schomburg
works. The group, made up mostly of real estate agents,
marketers, entrepreneurs and managers in their 40s and
50s, focuses on heftier financial topics such as asset
allocation, the economic cycle and long-term care.
"We're striving to educate ourselves,"
Schomburg said.
Both are
examples of money clubs, groups of like-minded
individuals — usually women — who gather to talk
about the personal finance issues they care about most.
Some have a passion for the topic. Others don't, and
know this is the only way they'll focus on their
finances. Then there are those who figure that if their
husbands won't talk money, they'd better find some
people who will.
In this
recession, I'd think that the interest in money clubs
would be on the rise. But
Ginita Wall
, co-founder of moneyclubs.com, whose group trademarked
the term "
Money Club
," said that interest is down. "People don't
like to face negative things," Wall said.
"Just like investment clubs faltered when we hit
2000 and the stock market went down, you would think
people would need to know more about how to invest
money. ... But it wasn't much fun anymore. This bad
recession has taken the fun out of thinking about your
finances."
In an
e-mail, Black wrote that Femmes Frugal's purpose is to
put the fun back in. "Let's face it, at times
budgeting and going without, even with a fabulous goal
in sight, becomes dreary drudge work," she said.
"I believe all the Femmes are really talented and
have great resources and humor."
The
Eden Prairie
study group "creates a lot of awareness for us to
be more cognizant of our money," Schomburg said.
Added
Kricket Chandarana
: "I feel less intimidated with my adviser ... and
can ask better questions and not be so glazed over when
I leave my appointment."
We need
money groups now more than ever. It's a lot easier to
cut the family budget when you know others are making
tough choices too. You're more likely to pay off debt or
stay out of it if you are accountable to someone. And if
there's anything that the past couple of years has
taught us, it's that we need to educate ourselves so we
can make wise decisions about financing a home, taking
on debt and crafting an investment portfolio with the
right amount of risk.
Interested
in starting a group? Here are some suggestions:
Find the
right people.
Michele Durkin
ran a
Minneapolis
money group in 2008 called Chica Rica. Inspired by
financial fitness clubs that were being organized by her
employer, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, she
solicited members on meetup.com. "What I wanted was
something that spoke directly to me as a young,
professional woman with disposable income. I wanted to
kind of create this persona that attracted young women
who were interested in becoming more knowledgeable about
their financial situation," Durkin said. The
meetings were well attended, but not always by the same
people. Anyone considering launching a money group
should look for people who "have a natural affinity
with each other," she said.
Erickson
agrees. The first Femmes Frugal group started in 2001,
but broke up because members were spread out and in
different life phases. "Femmes Frugal 2.0" is
thriving one year later, because members are married
moms with young kids and choose to work part time or not
at all. "We are all pretty much in the same
socioeconomic boat," she said. Plus, because they
all live in the same neighborhood, "we are sharing
information of things going on here." If members
want to add to the seven-person group, everyone must
approve and there is a trial period.
Set
expectations. When you begin, make sure that your
individual goals are consistent with the group's goals.
If the group's focus works for you, set a time, date and
location. And plan topics ahead of time. Longer lead
times mean more opportunities to research topics and be
prepared for meetings. The
Eden Prairie
group read "Smart Women Finish Rich" and
"A Woman's Guide to Investing" to ensure they
all had a layer of common knowledge. Now they rotate
responsibility for meeting topics and prep work. The
Femmes stick to a monthly agenda and use a timer to stay
on track.
Be
supportive, not judgmental. This is key. Money is a
sensitive topic and members need to know that what's
said in the group stays in the group. "Everything
has to be very confidential. ... Respect is huge, as is
listening," Black said.
Bring in
the experts. All of the groups have had guest speakers
or used a group member's expertise on financial issues.
The
Eden Prairie
group has had several speakers, including a financial
adviser, someone from the
Social Security Administration
and yours truly. Erickson is still grateful to the woman
with an insurance background in her first money group.
She helped Erickson figure out how much insurance
coverage she really needed, but did not earn a
commission. Selling is a huge no-no. These groups are
all about banding together to help one another, not to
profit from each other.
If you're
interested in starting a club, check out the free
"how-tos" at moneyclubs.com. Oprah.com also
has step-by-step guides for money groups. Head to her
Web site and search "start a money group."
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