I’m on my way again. This my second flight out of Salt Lake City today. There
will be one more plus a few trains until I reach my one of my foreign exchange
sister’s in her native Finland. I have only visited her four times the past fifty
years. Two were during my year of Fulbright graduate study in Northern
Germany 1979-80. I visited her for Easter 1980 and midsummer 1980 before
returning to the USA. (Sidenote: yes, that was an extraordinary privilege that
happened when one of my professors saw me, heard me and helped me apply
for a grant I did not even know existed. Mentoring matters!)

Then came the decades when I did not travel because it simply was not
financially prudent. My husband and I worked. We saved. We bought what was
less than we would have wanted. We learned to invest. We raised our children. I
did not visit her again until 2019. Forty plus years. We had written letters but it
was fantastic to be together. Our friendship was one of those where it seemed
like we had never been apart. And now in 2026 I am on my way to see her
again.

Getting strong financially is challenging and most often progresses through
many slow seemingly small steps. It takes paying attention—hopefully without
too much angst. Worry and money often go together. Stress and money are
often interconnected. Sometimes the reality is too much. For some its the
opposite—not realizing when they have enough.

Yet, based on more recent work with clients and those I know personally, it
seems as if it is harder right now to get ahead than it may have been for quite a
while. If this is you, I am with you. I see you and hope that in some small way
these posts on finances help you to feel less alone and facilitate you finding your
way forward to that life you are visualizing.

There have never been any guarantees. Unanticipated costs will pop up at what
seems like the worst time and can feel overwhelming. (These surprises did forus.) Such expenses are challenging and normal. There are simple strategies you
can use to help level out the bumps, but expect the unexpected.

There will be times you feel as if you are more sinking than swimming. You
may be factually starting from behind or feeling like you are starting from
behind over and over again. I just want to urge you not to quit. Small steps
which seem insignificant and sometimes practically not enough ultimately are
the way forward. And there are ways of thinking you can adopt which help
specifically you. It concerns connecting with your deepest values—what matters
most—and prioritizing how you handle money to reflect these.

If you current situation feels like a disaster, it is useful if you can look at it
unemotionally—so without condemning yourself—as data for now. (I know that
is asking a lot!) But if you can remove beating yourself up or hating those who
may have played a role in where you are right now, your mind may become
clear enough to see just one thing you could do. Or allow God to drop into your
mind just one person to reach to who might have expertise or ideas for you.
Your money or lack thereof does not define who you are. The struggle may be
unjust for a myriad of reasons and yet, if you become mired in the emotion
attached to that (which you rightfully feel), how will you have the space and
calm to figure out what’s next? If things are tough, what do you need to know
which might open up a crack closed doors toward improvement for you? (Your
situation is unique. Your solutions may have elements common with others, but
they are not you.)

I think what I am writing to you here is pretty vague. There are generalizations
and statements which absolutely will not apply to all people or cover all the
possibilities of what could be going on. In this post where I am just opening the
door to letting you know I see you and am cheering you forward, I do not know
another way. We can revisit and expand on these topics. For now—repeating—I
just want you not to quit. It’s only if you quit that you lose what God is already
preparing to be possible. How to manage money is not broadly taught in the
society I live in. And where they seek to pour it into you as you get older, often
times your emotions and lived experiences get in the way. Especially self-shaming. (I really, really want you to stop shaming yourself and hiding. You don’t deserve that.)

Where you are can change. Shame seeks to destroy hope. Yet change in little
choices every day is the how relief and traction usually come. Buckets of money
falling from the sky ultimately fix nothing. (We can talk more about that later.)
You can learn how to do this. Baby steps. You can do this. Little points of
progress. Connect with your heart-wishes. Your deepest purpose. How do you
want your life to be? What drives you? What’s blocking you? What is one thing
you could do now?

I speak from experience and professionally. I was hired early—at 21 to be a
financial advisor. (That’s a fun story about a San Francisco cable car for another
day.) However, before training I did not know anything about personal finance
except the overall message to finish school, get a job, earn and save. No training
in credit. No training in what to do with savings or how to figure out how much
needed to be saved and invested. (What were investments anyway?) Sound
familiar? The entire field started like a foreign language: intimidating and
overwhelming. But you know, if you are reading this, you have learned a
language before! Your mind knows how. It is little bits at a time over time. You
build on each piece of knowledge you gain to understand more and be able to
put it to use for yourself.

So what comes to mind that you could do now to move yourself even the tiniest
bit toward what’s important to you. The steps might seem small, but they are
not. Any step forward towards the life you want it powerful. It is you standing
in your power and refusing to quit. One step forward and then often one back.
But with gritty perseverance suddenly the steps you have made forward are two.
You are gaining traction.

That cable car ride we haven’t talked about yet let to my involvement
professionally in personal finance (sometimes more and sometimes less) for 45
years now. I hold four professional certifications: CPF (Certified Financial
Planner), AFC (Accredited Financial Counselor), APFC (Accredited Personal

Financial Coach), and ABFP (Accredited Behavioral Finance Professional). I no
longer give advice or work full-time with clients. I’m not going to tell you what
to do. We are not going to talk formulas, but concepts so that you can choose
what might be a good fit for where you want to go in your life. You know
what’s important to you and what you are willing and able to do to get there.
Instead I want to share some of the basics I have learned and encourage you in
finding and walking out what might work.

Subscribe or follow here to receive my periodic updates. Stick around and
you’ll receive reflections on various other aspects of soul care, too. (Financial
capacity, emotional well-being and spiritual well-being are related.) Thank you
for being here. Let’s grow together. Hopefully it will work to send you a little
Substack love from Finland as well.)

Oh…and check out this recent song prayer album to keep going on rough
days: Road’s Not Easy.

You are in my heart and prayers,
Dr. Elizabeth

“it’s all about healing hearts”

Follow me for access to all song prayers on your favorite streaming service such
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Website: elizabethfulgaro.com