Five years ago, a small band of women volunteered to get naked in the name of financial progress and allow me to chronicle the ups and downs of their lives here in this column.
The group's nickname was the Women in Red. Somehow the ordinary money struggles of those seven women -- Beth, Carole, Brice, Lyndsey, Tricia, Stephanie and Anna -- inspired thousands of other women to pay off their debts, save money, slash their grocery bills, deal with money issues in their marriages and generally get a grip on their budgets.
In 2007, that original troop graduated. Where are they now, at the Women in Red's fifth anniversary? Here's what they gained and what we can all learn.
Shopaholic no more
I can say it now: Lyndsey, who joined the Women in Red when she was 26, started out as a bit of a problem child.Despite a good salary and no student loans, she was saddled with $12,000 worth of pure lifestyle debt, from socializing and shopping beyond her means.
She was in a tough place then, and she seemed to make money decisions based on appearances, not her best interests. Just before Lyndsey departed the Women in Red in 2007, she had taken out a $30,000 loan to buy, um, a used Mercedes. Ouch.
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"I still have that ING account, I've kept up with my 401k, and I always get the match," she says.
Even better, she uses her savings for emergencies instead of relying on Visa.
That said, after five years, Lyndsey still has about $4,000 in credit card debt, and she still has the Mercedes. But she is financially smarter: "Now that I work from home, I think: 'Man, what was I doing? I could have saved a TON of money.'"
Lyndsey now makes smart spending decisions that she couldn't or wouldn't when she was younger. She typically cooks at home with her boyfriend, who exerts a positive, frugal influence. (See "Why savers and spenders marry.") And she's less impulsive.
"A friend is having her bachelorette party in Vegas, but I really can't afford to go, so I'm not," she says.
Who says you can't teach a young pup new tricks?
Single mother of 3, now free
Of all the Women in Red, Tricia had the most dramatic debut in this column. We got an avalanche of mail as readers responded to Tricia's woeful tale of divorce and debt, as well as to her spunky determination to change her life.Today, Tricia has a new beau, a new condo they share and a great job. Two of her kids are in college, and her eldest is newly engaged and working as a mechanic. Plus, she is still plugging away at her own college degree.
Most momentous of all: Tricia has paid off all her credit cards. "I only have $600 left on my car loan, which was originally $14,000." And although she did sell her house in order to buy the condo with her partner, none of the proceeds of that sale went toward her debt.
"I paid it all off myself," she says, with satisfaction you could smell a mile away.
Tricia says the Women in Red influenced her life in three profound ways:
- Camaraderie. "It was so important for me to know that I wasn't the only one out there who needed help," she says. "The Women in Red helped me to feel less alone."
- Perspective. "I finally came to the realization that you don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. Seeing the other side, through the Women in Red, and realizing that I don't have to go back there, has meant a lot to me."
- Valuing the future. "My salary fluctuates because part of my pay comes from performance bonuses, but no matter what I always contribute to my 401k. I will not waver on that."
What I love about Tricia is that she puts some muscle into the old saying: Slow and steady wins the race.
No longer waiting to be rescued
When Brice joined the Women in Red, she was our "Sex and the City" single writer gal: too much debt, too many pairs of shoes and a freelance income that was hard to manage.Like the other women, today Brice is a bit older and a lot wiser -- perhaps because she has been hit the hardest by the plummeting economy.
Many of the publications that once gave her regular assignments have closed, and her income has plunged (a blow that many of us in media have felt). She still struggles with the long-standing problem of how to manage a roller-coaster income.
Video: Retirement savings and spending strategy
The big difference between where she was then versus now, Brice says, is her attitude. Once upon a time, she had the fairy tale hope that Mr. Right would show up.
Today, Brice is focused on taking care of herself: She is entertaining a serious job offer, getting advice from a business coach and focusing on concrete steps that will get her from point A to B to C in the personal, professional and financial areas of her life.
Brice credits the support of the Women in Red for helping her pay off half of her original debt of $7,000 and making savings a priority -- even though right now she has had to put those two things on hold.
Still, she's proud of the progress she has made and now realizes that once the economy improves, her priorities will be in the right place. "I had always wanted take charge of my finances, but the accountability and camaraderie of the Women in Red made me actually do it."
Continued: 100 pounds lighter -- and happier, too
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