Financial empowerment mistakes women should avoid? Ha, I basically wrote the playbook on what not to do. Right now I’m in my flat in Faridabad at like 7:30 pm, fan making that annoying clicky noise, leftover dal makhani smell still hanging around, and I’m staring at my phone banking app wondering why the balance looks smaller every time I look. True story: last week I transferred money to “invest” in some mutual fund my cousin swore by and then immediately spent the “extra” on new kurtis because “I deserved it after being responsible”.
Like… girl. That’s literally one of the top financial empowerment mistakes women should avoid and I did it in the same 24 hours.
Anyway I figured if I’m gonna spill tea on women’s financial pitfalls I should at least be brutally honest about my own disasters. So here we go – the messy, embarrassing, sometimes funny stuff I wish someone had slapped me for earlier.
Mistake #1: Ignoring Your Gut Feeling on Investments (I Did This So Many Times)
I cannot count how many times I felt that weird twist in my stomach about some “opportunity” and went ahead anyway because “empowerment means taking risks” or whatever nonsense I told myself.
One time – I think 2024 – I put a big chunk (for me) into some stock a YouTube guy was hyping. My inner voice was screaming “this feels scammy” but I thought “don’t be emotional, pori, numbers don’t lie”. Spoiler: numbers didn’t lie, the guy did. Lost like 40% in three months. Felt sick every time I opened the app.
Common money mistakes women make #1: doubting our intuition because we’ve been told we’re “too emotional” about money. Screw that. If it feels off, it probably is.
Now I force myself to wait 48 hours before any non-fixed-deposit move. And I read boring SEBI warnings instead of hype reels.
Mistake #2: No Emergency Fund Because “Nothing Bad Will Happen” (Narrator: It Did)
I used to think emergency funds were for paranoid people. Then 2023 happened – phone died, laptop charger exploded, had to travel home suddenly for family stuff, all in one month. Zero savings. Had to borrow from mom (who already has enough worries). The shame was worse than the interest I paid on the credit card float.
Skipping the emergency fund is probably in the top 3 financial empowerment mistakes women should avoid, especially when we often get paid less and take more career breaks.
I finally started one last year. It’s still tiny – like ₹50k – but it’s there. Feels like armor. Even if I only add ₹2,000 some months. Better than zero.
Mistake #3: Letting Someone Else “Handle” Everything (Hello, Ex-Boyfriend Era)
I once dated a guy who “loved managing money” and I happily let him because spreadsheets make my brain hurt. Big mistake. When we split I realized I didn’t even know our joint investment login. Had to beg him for screenshots while crying in a café. Peak humiliation.
So many women’s financial blunders come from outsourcing financial literacy. Never again. Now I track everything myself even if it takes three hours and five cups of chai. I still hate it but I hate being clueless more.
Also – side note – if your partner gets weird when you ask questions about joint money? Red flag. Run.
Mistake #4: Lifestyle Creep Every Time Salary Increased (Still Guilty Sometimes)
Got a raise? New phone. Better coffee. More Zomato orders. “I work hard!” Yeah, and future-me works harder paying off yesterday-me’s “treats”.
I still catch myself doing it. Last month salary bumped a little and guess who ordered fancy sushi “just once”? Me. Then panicked when the bill hit.
The trick I’m trying now: when salary increases, 50% of the raise goes straight to savings/investments before I even see it in my spending account. Automate that ish. Otherwise I will spend it on nonsense.
Final Ramble – Where I’m At Right Now
Look, I’m not some perfect money guru sitting on a pile of wealth. I’m a regular woman in her 30s who still impulse-buys skincare during PMS and forgets to transfer to RD sometimes. But I’m better than I was five years ago because I stopped pretending I had it all figured out.
The biggest thing I learned? Financial empowerment mistakes women should avoid aren’t usually dramatic Ponzi schemes – they’re the small, daily “it’s fine” decisions that compound into “oh shit” moments.
