REGISTRATION CLOSED
BRAT FINANCE - FALL 2024
What is Brat Finance?
Brat Finance is a 5-session workshop series focused on:
beginning to release shame related to money, and
increasing financial literacy skills
You will leave the 5-week series empowered with new knowledge, increased financial literacy, and a 12-month budget you can use as a supportive tool in changing your relationship to money.
What will I learn?
We will explore our relationship to money and expand our understanding of needs, wants, debts, and savings. This class is not about “investing,” it is about dreaming up new ways to relate to and interact with money. Approximate topics for the 5-week series include:
Getting to know money, ourselves, and each other
Budget building blocks: Needs and wants
Budget building blocks: Saving and paying off debt
Putting it all together: Building your very own illustrious 12-month budget
Mutual aid, reparations, group closure
We’ll be doing this work cohort-style with a small group (6-10 people), because talking about money with others can help us feel less alone, changing both our lives and the world around us*. We’ll also set small learning goals for ourselves and help hold each other accountable. This is a space to connect with like-minded people who want to think, talk, feel, and heal about money. These sessions are designed to be a soft place for radical work. Each person will be at a different place in their money journey and will grow in the ways that are available to them in this space-time-place continuum.
*A note on transparency: I will ask folks to dive in to their finances during these 5 weeks, but you won’t need to share your budget “numbers” with anyone else, including me. There’s a lot to gain from talking abstractly about money stuff as a group (e.g., I spend more each month than I earn; I’m struggling to save while also giving to mutual aid) while co-working individually with your concrete dollar amounts. I am available for (and interested in!) talking about your specific numbers, and we can do so privately if that feels comfortable.
Who is Brat Finance for?
Brat Finance is for folks who are brats about money. Duh!
Maybe you hate money, maybe you feel like you’re bad at money, maybe you feel stuck, naughty, immature, sassy, avoidant, tender, curious, guilty, etc. Maybe you want to have more money or to give away your money. Maybe you want someone to tell you what to do to make money feel easier. Maybe you don’t want anyone to tell you what to do, but you want to make a change.
This course is a catalyst meant to embolden you and our community to shake up how we leverage money.
Brat Finance will not provide crisis management and will not be helpful for folks experiencing housing or food insecurity. This program is for people who have enough money that they're not constantly scrambling to pay basic survival bills. This workshop series is both for folks who feel like they don’t have enough money and those who feel like they do have enough money.
When?
Sessions are held on five consecutive Tuesday evenings from 6 - 7:30 PM. I prefer participants attend all 5 sessions to support group cohesion.
September 10, 2024
September 17, 2024
September 24, 2024
October 1, 2024
October 8, 2024
Where?
We’ll meet at a cute lil in-person, indoor spot in the South Valley of Albuquerque, NM. We will have windows open and we support masking. I do not plan to record sessions. Please feel free to reach out about accessibility needs.
“I can honestly say, without an ounce of hyperbole, that doing money work with Adopt a Debtor changed my life.”
Who am I?
I’m Tara, please call me by my name (no pronouns). I’m an educator, learner, community organizer, resource mobilizer, and money coach. I offer one-on-one and group financial education to folks like you to end debt cycles and keep money flowing in our community.
I founded the Adopt a Debtor project in 2023. Since then, I have fundraised over $5,000 for folks to pay down debt and participate in community education, and I’ve helped move additional funds to community organizations. I believe in well-resourced communities and mutual aid. All of my work addresses privilege and energy healing as core components of breaking cycles.
While I’ve taught more than seven university courses and led hundreds of workshops, you are signing up for the inaugural Brat Finance cohort. I’ll ask for your feedback about how to make the series better, and I will be learning / growing / pivoting as needed in real time.
How much does it cost?
In order to make Brat Finance broadly accessible and understanding that everyone has different capabilities, the workshop series is offered via sliding scale pricing.
Sliding scale is an equitable way for people with fewer resources to access services. When selecting your payment level, please consider your proximity to power and privilege. Please reach out if you need help selecting a level.
Participant level: $200
Covers actual program costs for one individual.
Scholarship level: $100
A limited number of scholarship spots are available.
Supporter level: $300
If you have sufficient material resources, please consider participating at the Supporter level.
This level covers Brat Finance attendance for yourself ($200) plus a partial scholarship for another cohort member ($100).
SUPPORTER level: $400
If you have SUFFICIENT material resources, please consider participating at the Supporter level.
This level covers Brat Finance attendance for yourself ($200) plus a FULL scholarship for another cohort member ($200) or two partial scholarships ($100*2).
Being a Supporter is flexible! You are welcome to pay any amount toward another participant’s fee, regardless of whether or not you take the course yourself. Your contribution will help people in our community who can’t afford this course.
To make a custom Supporter contribution, please reach out to adoptadebtor@gmail.com.
A $50, non-refundable deposit via Venmo is required to hold your spot. This $50 will be applied to your registration fee. Full payment is required before the first day of class on September 10, 2024. Full payments can be submitted via cash, Venmo, or check. See additional payment guidance on the registration form.
If the pricing levels are outside of your means at this time or you would like to set up a payment plan, please contact me at adoptadebtor@gmail.com and we can talk through creative solutions.
A Note on Vulnerability, Trauma, and Training
This is vulnerable work. Brat Finance is not therapy or a replacement for medical care. I am not a therapist, social worker, or trained mental health professional. I aim to be trauma-informed, but this is not a trauma-processing space. In order to best support you, I request that you activate your support system during this workshop. We will discuss this more in our first session.
I am here to help you learn more about your relationship to money and teach you about budgeting on a fundamental level. While I do not currently hold any financial certifications, my money work is informed by more than a decade of study related to budgeting and finance, and several years of experience in providing financial education. Brat Finance is not offering investment, tax, or legal advice.
Testimonials: Much empowerment