I did it!!!

I thought obtaining a perfect credit score was impossible but by some miracle, I finally have an 850.

Not many people in my life know that I was a victim of financial abuse by a person that I was in a relationship with from age 23 to 26. He maxed out my credit cards that originally had no balances on them and he stole a boat and 5th wheel travel trailer that were only in my name. When I finally ended the toxic relationship, I came home to an empty apartment after work one day. He obviously didn’t take it very well so he did as much damage as possible before he fled from our state with my money and personal belongings.

He left me in financial ruins. I was in 6 figures of debt, I had $800 more in expenses than income each month, and more money stress than I can describe. I felt betrayed, suffocated by debt, and totally hopeless.

Like so many other LGBTQ+ people, I didn’t have anyone to help me financially so I taught myself how to create and follow a...

Samantha (she/her) is a lesbian money coach. She founded The Money Institute to educate the queer community on how being gay affects their finances.

She has several coaching programs dedicated to empowering the queer community to eliminate debt, save thousands and live their best life.

Sam is speaking in the Coming Out Early In Life track on How Being Gay Impacts Your Finances - And the Real Cost of an Apartment.

Join us to learn more!

Now that quarantine in my state is slowly starting to lift, I was excited to visit my local Target last week that I hadn’t been to in months (and by “local” I mean an hour away, because in Idaho that’s considered local).  After walking up and down a few aisles, I realized that there was absolutely no Pride display or any Pride merchandise being sold. 

When I lived in New Jersey, every year, a huge Pride display greeted customers as soon as they walked in the door.  This led me down a rabbit hole of thoughts surrounding Pride merchandise and the economics behind it. Some thoughts that came to mind -

1. How genuine are brands in supporting the LGBTQ+ community if they aren’t selling Pride merchandise in all of their stores?
2. How do brands decide which stores to sell their merchandise in?
3. Do brands actually support the community or are they just trying to capitalize on us during Pride month?
4. By choosing not to sell Pride merchandise in certain...