Money Goals & Your Cultura: Empowering The Latino Community To Balance Two Money Mindsets

As first generation immigrants,  you have to balance your money goals with your Culture. Empowering the Latino community to balance these two money mindsets, is the focus of this week's episode. Pursuing Financial goals while balancing a collective cultural upbringing while living in an individualistic culture is rough for First Gen! 

Diving into your financial journey feels a bit like wandering through a maze. But hey, with some solid guidance, you start seeing the path to aligning your cultural values with modern money smarts more clearly.  Giovanna Gonzalez's awesome insights from "Cultura and Cash." We're talking about blending traditional cultural norms with today's savvy financial moves.

 I'll share some personal stories that hit home for those of us straddling between honoring our roots and planting seeds of financial wisdom for the future.

You can support your fam without putting your own financial dreams on hold. That's the vision we're painting in this episode. We're digging into Gigi's advice and dishing out some practical tips for managing your money while still taking care of family responsibilities. It's all about finding that sweet spot between what we cherish and the goals we're reaching for.

So, come hang out with us for a chat that's equal parts understanding and empowering. Whether you're wrestling with family traditions or chasing your own success, we're not just talking finances; we're flipping the script on how we approach it, blending respect for culture with personal growth.

Get Gigi's Book: Cultura & Cash (affiliate link)

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I want to talk about how our culture can affect our financial mindset, our financial goals.

Speaker 1: 0:11

And it's perfect because I just finished the Cultura and Cash Finance book by Giovanna Gonzalez, also known as the first gen mentor, and off the bat, her book starts talking about how us first gen we have to learn to balance those two things, between our culture and the way that money is handled here in America.

Speaker 1: 0:42

Welcome to the Money Cheese man Podcast, a fun and safe space for personal finance, investing and entrepreneurship tips, where we get the cheese man on all things money with sass and humor. I am your host, violeta, a first generation Mexican immigrant, a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and I am here to help you kick ass in the financial game. Each week, I not only bring you expert tips, but also share the financial freedom and entrepreneurship journeys from our own community, because you know representation is important. So grab un cafecito or, si quieres, an adult beverage and let's get into this week's Money Cheese man. Hola, hola. Welcome to another episode of the Money Cheese man Podcast.

Speaker 1: 1:39

I am back from vacation. I went to Mexico for 10 days and so I didn't post for like two weeks because I was gone and and then it was kind of hard to get back on track because I got a little bit sick, which I'm still kind of recovering from. But you know I had a blast in Mexico. I went to Puebla and that was so awesome. I went and visited some of the Pueblo Magicos, which, if you don't know what that is, is kind of like Mexico designated. I think it's over 170 pueblos all over Mexico that you can visit and they call them magical towns. You know Pueblos Magicos and it's just because they have like a lot of historical value and lots of like the traditions and the culture. Like it was so awesome, I had a blast. So if you ever want to visit something like that, definitely Pueblos some a great place to go visit. And you know, the small Pueblo Magicos that are around there are so beautiful and, like I said, I just had so much fun.

Speaker 1: 2:55

And then when I came back, you know I just had a hard time just recovering and just getting back into the rhythm of things. And it's funny because I did take my laptop and, like my, you know I had planned to do some content over there but like I decided not to because I really wanted to like enjoy the moment and live in the moment. And you know I went to visit family as well on the second leg of the trip and I just didn't want to be like distracted or pressured into like having to go do a podcast or type of blog or something like that. I really wanted to enjoy my time because, of course, that's the reason of getting, you know, like financial freedom and, you know, being able to have those finances to go out on vacation and visit family and be present in the moment. So I really had to force myself to do that because I am a very workaholic with, you know, doing things of like content and being creative and all that stuff, and I really had to make myself actually take a step back and enjoy being with my family. But I am so glad I did. I feel so much refreshed now. So, because I just came back from my Mexico trip and, you know, loved it, had a great time.

Speaker 1: 4:24

I want to talk about how our culture can, you know, affect our financial mindset, our financial goals. And it's perfect because I just finished the Cultura and Cash finance book by Giovanna Gonzalez, also known as the first gen mentor, and off the bat, her book starts talking about how us first gen we have to learn to balance those two things between our culture and the way that money is handled here in America. And you know a lot of it is not addressed. We kind of like stumble across it and we feel that guilt and we don't know what it is At least I didn't know what it was for like the longest it's like you know, I'm reading these finance books and like I don't get it because it's very me, me, me and like it's. It gives you like advice, like don't let your parent borrow money or don't do this, don't sign for this person, be very, you know, strict and frugal with your money when it comes to family.

Speaker 1: 5:43

But, as a first gen Mexican, like our culture is very like we help each other out when we can if you have the means to, and like you know, as I was going through my personal finance journey, like I couldn't figure out, like you know, how to balance that and Like it just felt wrong to me the way I was brought up and then, now that I'm, you know, being, you know my finances are better and I have money and stuff like that, like like to be so Selfish with it when I know I can't help my family. Like that's a mindset that I had to overcome, because when you start reading these personal finance books, like, they tell you that and I love that this book is one that is Teaching you and saying that, hey, it's okay To also want to help out your family, because that's our culture. But she also goes into how to balance it and, you know, set yourself up so you can do both without being taken advantage, and so that's what I want to talk about today. So, first up, if you haven't picked up her book, make sure you go ahead and do that because, again, it's a great read. Not only do I like how she talks about you know, our culture and the American culture with finances, but she also goes into the different starting lines that we may have and Even within ours, our own cultures. Like you have your first gen and then you have your second generations and even your third generations. We all end up having, like, different starting lines, and that's okay and just learning to Understand where we're starting from and being aware of other people's starting lines, like I really love how she includes that in that book, so I do have a link in the description or in the info Down below.

Speaker 1: 7:48

So in her book she talks about a collective culture and in Individualistic culture. So, with many first gen immigrants, we come from cultures that are a collective culture and a collective culture is, you know, basing and valuing the needs of the group or the community over the individual. So you end up Coming together as a community to benefit the community, but with an individualistic culture, the community prioritizes the individual needs over the collective group and they value individuality, their personal goals, their independence and their self-reliance and they, you know, want privacy and all that stuff. So, coming from a first gen Mexican immigrant family, our culture is a collective culture and many Immigrants have similar cultures, but here in America it's a very individualistic culture. So let's talk about the collective culture and you know, a lot of us see it growing up and you know, because we are brought up that way, our families, you know, send money to Mexico.

Speaker 1: 9:16

Like my mom she's still to this day sends money to Mexico for Her parents and for some family just to help out. Right, because she sees it as her responsibility, because she has the means, she has the money to do it and the freedom to be able to afford the extra cash to send over there. But even you know, I can't even remember a time that she hasn't sent money over there and you know, my uncle is the same way and, matter of fact, recently my mom sent her like bonus To a cousin that had just lost her sons, to help out with funeral expenses and for food and stuff like that. And you know, in her mind, yeah, it's easy for her to do that. It's extra cash that she had that she didn't need, and you know someone in her family needs it, and so she sent it. And Even myself, growing up, like I still I mean still to this day I have that mentality where, like, if I have the means to, I am going to help out my family.

Speaker 1: 10:28

I think a few years ago I sent some money for a cousin of mine that, like, had cancer who unfortunately didn't make it. But you know, we, I sent money to help out with medical expenses. And Even growing up once I, as soon as I started working Like, I started thinking of, like how can I help out my parents if they needed a stove? I bought them a stove. When they're fridge broke, I replaced the fridge. When my dad wanted to well, not wanted, but he needed a new TV I went and got it and it was because, like Money is seen as a collective thing that is used to help out our community or family and things like that, and you know it. It's nothing wrong with that and you know that's how we, our culture is, that's how we are raised. But when you come into like America, it's looked down upon and frowned upon because over here it's a very individualistic Nature or mentality and when I went to Mexico I saw this more.

Speaker 1: 11:40

And when I went to visit, you know, my family, my aunt is actually ended up being kind of like the matriarch of her family and she, she has the finances, like to be able to help, you know, some of my cousins and my uncles and you know, like her brothers and sisters and stuff, and to this day, like this recently, she's paying the tuition for one of my cousins to go learn a trade and she's, you know, buy stuff for other family members that you know are not as well off. She'll go take them like food or like help in some way or form, and like she has paid for so many people in our family to be able to get like some medical stuff done but also like to bail some some of them out. You know, without putting all their business out there, but like she's been able to like give loans to for them, for, like her sisters, to get out of sticky situations and stuff. And you know, I see that and I'm like, when I, when I saw that I, you know, remembered about the book and the collective culture, like, and I'm seeing it at play, you know, like, seeing it right there being dumb in my own family, and it started clicking and I'm like, oh yeah, like now it's making so much sense and it's not like she's providing for the whole family because she does it, but the family members also help her out in, like, you know, bringing food when they can, or like neighbors, they it's a very collective community. I've seen where, like, the neighbor brings in like food because she cooked and then next week my, my aunt's, cook and they take them and and it's a very community base where they like share a lot of the resources and they're, you know, happy to help out because it helps out the community and helps bring them up.

Speaker 1: 13:55

Now that is very, you know, contradicting of the individualistic culture that we have here in the US and like, here you read these books, especially written by, you know, white sis, males, and you know, the first thing they'll start telling you about is how to be extremely frugal, to the point where you don't help out your family, like they're the first rules, and some of the rules you're immediately taught is like don't loan money to friends or to family members, don't don't cosine, don't do anything because you have to worry about yourself. It's all about you. It's. It's a very selfish way of thinking, in my opinion, and it's really just about yourself and what you can do to help yourself out when it comes to, like, personal finance and really just in general.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Now, it's not to say that there isn't good advice in these books, because I will still say, like, definitely read a lot of them, because they do have some good advice, like about the stock market, about investing in real estate and things like that. The the stuff works, but the execution is a little bit different for someone that comes from like a first-gen immigrant status or different culture that you, especially the ones that come from a collective culture, when you start seeing that, it makes you like question your upbringing and you know we have to navigate these two worlds, because I had you know and in her book she also talks about it as well, of her journey. But, like even with my journey, once I started reading these books, you start trying to take action based on those books. And so then it leads you to being kind of to me, like I felt like such an asshole when I started trying to implement these books and be like, well, you can't, I can't live.

Speaker 1: 16:16

So until borrow money like or tell my mom and man, like, let me tell you the amount of arguments that I would have with my family and with my parents, like stops any money to Mexico, and blah, blah, blah and and like, why did you send that? And even like, and I still have to check myself because, like I said, she just recently sent her bonus to another family member to help out with funeral expenses. And even then I almost started saying, like you know why? But I had to check myself because that's what she chose to do. She's fine, she's not out in the streets, she, her bills are paid, everything you know is good, she's, she's, has the money to spend on that and that's what she wants to do out of the goodness, out of her heart, to help our family members in need. And I had to tell myself that is okay, because I really have to untrain that mentality of when I was reading these personal finance books and growing up here, right of that individualistic nature. So learning to balance those two was really a struggle growing up and I'm still having to unlearn those things.

Speaker 1: 17:36

You do want to have a balance because, like you, can have a very collective nature to where, like you spread yourself thin Like if you know that you need money to pay some bills or whatever, like you should not be contributing to other people until you yourself are set. But also, like you don't want to be so individualistic that you are very like selfish and you see your family member is struggling and you have extra cash. That is okay, that you're not gonna need and it could help them pay a bill or whatever, not to say like to be kind of like the provider to where, like, they're taking advantage of you. That's like a balance that you have to learn through time and that is a kind of one of the things that she talks about. That Gigi talks about in her book is that you can do both.

Speaker 1: 18:42

We just have to learn to balance it and allow ourselves to help out and still be collective but also be individualistic enough to where, like, we don't risk our finances and screw our own selves up to where we end up the ones that need help. And then now it's like you know, we screwed ourselves. We do talk about like balancing our first-gen experience of that duality, of, like you know, living in two worlds, like not Mexican enough, not American enough, or you know, having to navigate this country by ourselves and all that, but we don't really discuss that in the finance world. Like, yeah, we talk a little bit about how, like we weren't taught about money and things like that, but we're not talking about how we have to combine a collective culture and an individualistic culture and be able to kind of have a middle ground. And that's what it's all about is figuring out that middle ground to where you can help your family members and you know, balancing out your financial goals.

Speaker 1: 20:01

And you know, one of the things that I'm learning and have learned to do is to include that in my budget. And so when I first started working and had like a really good, stable job, like one of the things I did is like I knew every year I was gonna like help my parents in some way, whether it's like just buying them like a stove again or whatever. So I would start budgeting for that. So I would just send money to, like, my savings account and be like, okay, this is the money I'm gonna set aside for my parents. Or I would just send money to my parents that I'll be like, all right, every month I would send a hundred dollars or whatever, and then I would make sure that I set myself up to be able to afford and do that, you know, without sacrificing what I'm trying to do, without sacrificing, you know, ensuring that my bills are paid and that I can afford to live and enjoy life as well.

Speaker 1: 21:05

And so that's one of the things and one of the tips to do is, like, when we talk about budgeting, you know, everywhere you hear about personal finance or whatever, that's the number one thing they tell you is to budget and to start tracking your money and kind of being frugal, but with our culture, and so that way you don't feel like guilty, that you're kind of like shunning your family away, that you're not being helpful, and like, or that guilt, or maybe you just want to just start adding that extra budget for that and just ensure that you're tracking it and that you set that money aside and account for that, because that's what some of these books are not going to tell you. Is that how to also add that into your budget? Because all they're going to say is you know, cut back on everything that you can, don't put anything extra, because, again, it's very individualistic. But then they don't realize that then we have to deal with the cultural, I guess, backlash of that. Because if you go I mean I know I have told my mom a few times and I'll be honest, like whenever they were like talking about sending money to Mexico, for, like my parent and my grandparents or whatever, I'm like, well, why do I need to send money?

Speaker 1: 22:37

And blah, blah, blah. And you know my mom and I had like arguments about that because I was falling into the individualistic trap, but luckily, you know I'm not that much of an asshole that I ended up like being like you know what yeah, you're right like I have the means, that is, extra cash, like I am still doing my financial goals, still saving, still doing this, why can't I send that money is just gonna sit there for no reason, when I can help out my grandparents or whoever, and it's for the betterment, like you know, of the family and you know, you never know my parents might need it one time and I would like to know that, like, our families will contribute to also help out and I'm still doing that to this day, and so you can still help out your family, but just ensure that you budget for it. And with that comes boundaries. Like you have to be able to set that boundary, that if you cannot help out, that you do set that boundary and don't feel the need and that let that guilt Eat you up to the point where you sacrifice your own financial wellness for the sake of helping someone else that's in need is, like you know, you can't pour from an empty cup like help yourself out, and you're just going to have to have that conversation with your family and it's going to be hard and they may or may not understand because they might feel like you know what you can go without eating for a week or whatever to help them out, whatever it may be right, but you have to learn to set that boundary to ensure that you don't mess up your own financial goals. So, yes, as first chance, we have this delicate balance of learning how to work through both the collective and the individualistic when it comes to our finance goals. But really it's just, you know, the only you know advice that I can give is just to continue learning, building that financial literacy. But when you are reading these books, have that in the back of your head and keep that open mind and take what you can from these books because, again, you do get some good information, because of course they do know this system and know how, like, the stock market works, how investing works, the money works here and everything like that. But you want to understand your own cultural ideologies, I guess, and figure out how you can kind of merge those together to benefit you and what makes you feel good and is going to allow you to still accomplish your financial goals but also align with whatever comfort level you have for helping out your family or whatever. But also, you know, having those conversations with your family. I've had to have them with my family again, you know, a few times. But I've also had to learn to have those conversations with myself and be like you know what.

Speaker 1: 26:21

Like it triggered me at the beginning seeing my mom send money, especially at the very beginning when I knew we weren't as well off. But even then my parents did a good job in budgeting for that. So in my mind, could we have used that for other things or whatever. But looking back in hindsight, like you know, we were still able to buy. My parents were still able to buy their first home and my dad was still able to like have his mechanic business and you know, my mom was financially okay, like the bills were paid, food was on the table, I was still able to go get a lot of stuff done as a child and stuff like that. So, yes, the struggle was a little bit, but it wasn't like to where it really impacted us, from my parents fulfilling what they wanted to accomplish, like home ownership and stuff like that.

Speaker 1: 27:27

So that's something that I had to work through with myself and be okay and still have to check myself, like I said recently, and be like, yeah, that's okay and Everything is good. I don't have to worry about it. And now I have to do that with myself. It's like, okay, I can afford to do this or that, but I also want to accomplish these goals. How can I balance that to where I can do both?

Speaker 1: 27:59

So really just having that mentality, talking to your family, and you know you're gonna have to be okay with either the accepted or they don't, because you're still gonna like you know I'm not gonna say it's easy because you're always gonna have that family member that doesn't see it or rationalize as much as you would like for them to understand you, and that's okay. You just have to deal with it and move on and, but still stick to your boundaries and Eventually they either Figure it out, understand or accept it. Well, they're gonna have to accept it, right, because it's your boundary. But yeah, that's what I wanted to share with you this week and Definitely again gonna shout out this book like I love this book. It's gonna be one of my top and I'm gonna be promoting it everywhere to any first gen that I see, because it's a very eye-opening book. It's a very good Beginner book.

Speaker 1: 29:02

Has other things too, of like. I think she calls it her what it was, a call like her five pillars or whatever For starting your personal finance Journey, and so definitely a great book. Again, it's linked in the bio, but other than that, I will see you for the next time. Bye, thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to like and share this episode so others can also find this podcast. Don't forget to follow me on all my social medias listed in the show notes below, where you can also find Resources to help you in your financial journey. If you're interested in becoming a guest on the podcast, you can find that information in the show notes. Other than that, thank you so much for your support and I will see you in the next episode. Bye you.