Online tools for financial and physical fitness

I have previously written of my love for Mint.com, a personal finance management site, and am always on the lookout for online tools to help me improve my fiscal health. This week, the New York Times brings us a checklist of 31 Steps to a Financial Tuneup. As an ESTJ, I love a good checklist!

Although very focused on weight loss goals, the Strength Training Woman website has a great list of exercises by muscle groups and even some handy worksheets for tracking your progress. I've been reading John Medina's Brain Rules and he tells me that exercise boosts brain power. The more brain power I can get, the better!

Women can't be men: Social expectations and salary negotiations

Earlier at Femonomics, we discussed the pressure for women to behave like men to be successful, and why this won't work. The Harvard Business Review brings us more evidence for why this is an unsuccessful strategy, especially when negotiating salary. It turns out women are in a classic catch-22 when it comes to negotiating compensation.

Although it may well be true that women often hurt themselves by not trying to negotiate, this study found that both men and women were more likely to subtly penalize women who did ask for more, the perception being that women who asked were "less nice."

Women cannot succeed simply by changing their behavior if the true criteria for success is others' perception of that behavior. The original study can be found here.

Naomi Wolf on women in bankruptcy--what do you think?

In this Project Syndicate piece, Wolf wonders why so many middle class women are going into bankruptcy.  A million middle class women will file for bankruptcy this year, she says, finding the number shockingly large.  She offers to potential reasons for these financial troubles a) women being enticed by luxury goods manufacturers and spending beyond their means and b) middle class women being reluctant to learn about and discuss money (finding it "unfeminine"), and expecting marriage to rescue them financially.

I find this interesting for two reasons.  I think reason "a" is equally likely to apply to men, and would be interested to hear how the number of middle class men filing for bankruptcy compares to women.  Men might not be getting into trouble on their wardrobes, but aren't they equally likely to get cars, electronics, and apartments they can't afford?  As for "b", while I agree many middle class women might not be getting the financial education they need from an early age, I'm not so sure it has anything to do with waiting for a husband.  I know a number of young, middle class women who have gotten themselves in financial trouble, but most of them have recognized that the men their age are equally financially insecure.  Marriage in the past generally involved a financial transfer from men to women, but that was before birth control, female career investment, and the decline of shotgun marriages (see Akerlof Yellen and Katz).  I don't know very many middle class women today who view marriage as a financial escape valve, but maybe my sample is wrong.  Do you?  What do you think about this article?
[hat tip to Woodstock]

Achieving financial fitness in 2010

A critical piece of living independently is financial fitness, but sometimes it's difficult to know where to start. My New Year's resolutions include paying off my credit cards (finally!) and starting to really save. One tool I've been using for the last 18 months is Mint, a free personal financial management site that allows users to see all of their spending, income, and debt in one place. Similar sites include Geezeo and Wesabe. What I like about Mint is that it helps you establish some simple steps to start improving your financial health (set a budget, spend less than you earn, stay within your credit limit, etc). Check out one of these sites if you are looking to get your fiscal house in order, and let me know how it goes!