QueerCents!
Three of my favorite PF Bloggers have banded together to make QueerCents, Caitlin, Dawn, and Nina. I admire each of these three women for their common sense and thrift. They each have financial wisdom to pass on to us, queer or not. (Caitlin is godmother to this blog because she’s the first person to link to me.)
I left a comment this morning with Nina. I had a lot of gay friends in college. I was collectively known as ‘The Breeder’ by my queer roommates junior year. I loved getting change back stamped with ‘Queer Money’ when I lived in the gayest of the gay districts, The Castro of San Francisco.
I only wish that QueerCents had a been around in college. I loved those gay roommates. (Except the one who got thrown out.) They were fun people. I had great times with them and learned a lot about families, and coming out, and truths about the ugliness some people have inside of them. Bottom line though? Three of them were financial disasters. One of them never went to college and lived hand to mouth. One of them freaked out with collegiate credit card offers and ran himself into so much debt that he couldn’t get out of it. The third got cut off by her parents for being gay and then moved back in with them when she couldn’t find a job to cover her debts. To this day, I think she owes our old roommate money for some used furniture.
The last one ended receiving a debt-reduction book as a gift from me. I sent it to her after graduation. It was a book I bought for myself that helped me focus on my finances and reduce my credit card debt. She was complaining about living at home and her credit cards and student loans. The book was the only I could give to help her out since I wasn’t living near her to help her change her daily habits.
It’s not that gay people are bad with money. Quite the opposite. Andrew Tobias, the finance guru is quite good with money, or else he wouldn’t be a guru now would he? Two other gay friends from the same gang of college friends are quite good at saving and living frugally. I think it goes back to the mind-money thing. If coming out is really stressful, you might self-medicate through shopping your brains out. Or using your credit to move out of the house and get away from your parents. Fresh starts with ‘Go to Hell With You’ money are part of rediscovering yourself sometimes, and if you’re like Brandon Teena, kiting checks is not a viable financial strategy.
~Dawn wrote:
Thanks for the promo Mapgirl, and it’s wonderful to have your support.
Posted on 27-Apr-06 at 7:32 pm | Permalink
Nina Smith wrote:
Mapgirl… thanks for the post!
Posted on 27-Apr-06 at 8:07 pm | Permalink