37: The Invisible Labor of Moms and Why Simplifying Finances Changes Everything

This week, I am thrilled to announce the evolution of our community into the Money Mom Club, a space dedicated to supporting moms on their path to financial freedom. Whether you're overwhelmed by family responsibilities or seeking to acknowledge the unseen contributions you make every day, this episode promises valuable insights and actionable tips. Learn how automating your finances, tracking your progress, and building a supportive community can reduce the mental load and create a more fulfilling, stress-free life. Thank you for joining us on this empowering journey, and I look forward to continuing to guide and support you as we embrace financial literacy together.

xoxo,
Rachel

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Chapters

• 0:01 Empowering Women Through Financial Literacy
• 13:08 Financial Empowerment for Women
• 18:53 Financial Empowerment for Moms

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the hey Rachel Kuhns podcast. Before we dive deeper into today's episode, which I'm really excited to chat about, I just want to give you maybe a little insight on what's happening with this podcast and what the future holds in 2025 for this podcast and also my whole brand. Honestly, starting in January, we are going to be implementing some changes to everything. Really, it's hard to break it down, because 2024 was a year of building the community that we have, the shop society, and really focusing on how we can help more families save time and money feeding their family, and we've done just that. I'm really, really proud of the community that we have and the resources that we have inside that community. But, with that being said, I also see the gap in what I teach and the transformation that I want people to have savings, but of a whole financial capability of women and how women have a special superpower in their marriage, in their family, and how to bring in more of the financial literacy that women. I think it's a very masculine place. So, with that being said, I don't want to tiptoe around what's coming, but basically, this podcast is going to change names. It's going to change what we talk about. We're not just focusing on grocery savings anymore. We're focusing on all the ways that women can show up and empower them to control their finances and how that can lead to financial freedom. So we're talking budgeting in general. We're talking about how we view money and our money mindset. We're talking about the opportunity to invest and to grow your family's financial future and then also how to. If you're a mom and you want to go out and make some money, how do you do that? How can you stay home with your babies as a stay-at-home mom, but also side hustles and side gigs that require you to work, you know, a couple hours a week but also bring in a substantial amount of income. So, looking forward to this expansion and what it has to offer, I see this world and this world that I've created and how amazing and how life-changing it can be to save $600, $1,000 on your groceries. But I also see the opportunity of this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is just the beginning for a woman and how, when we can really teach you how to get out of debt and how to invest your money and how to change how you view money, how that can completely shift your world, because it's also my journey too and what has happened with me. I want to help other women do the same. So, on the lookout for that, we're doing a lot on the back end to make that happen, but make that happen. But I also wanted to just let you know.

Speaker 1: 3:46

So today we're diving into a topic that every mom has experienced but maybe doesn't even recognize it and doesn't give the recognition it deserves, and it's the invisible labor of moms. And we talked about this in my podcast with Monica Packer, I think it was. I can't remember what episode it was. We can put it in the show notes. We talked about the invisible labor that moms do, and it might be something that you've never even heard of before. You've never heard of the term invisible labor, but this is one of those conversations that's going to hit home, even if you don't know what it is, because, as mom, so much of what we do goes unseen or unmeasured and I would say even unacknowledged in society. I'm not just talking about in your marriage I don't want to cause any issues with your marriage but I'm talking about society in general. And when you pile financial stress on top of that, it can feel completely impossible to catch your breath, and let alone thrive, in the season of motherhood. But today we're going to talk about how simplifying your finances can help alleviate some of this burden and change everything for you. So if you're ready to feel lighter, you're ready to feel more in control and less overwhelmed, stick with me, because this episode is for you.

Speaker 1: 5:15

So what is invisible labor and what does it mean? So, like I said, it's basically this idea that women have labor that they're doing that is unmeasured and no one's talking about it. Moms, on average, spend 20 extra hours per week on invisible labor. That is including managing household responsibilities, planning meals, coordinating schedules, making doctor's appointments, doing the laundry. And even if you're sharing that burden with a significant other, a lot of the burden, especially for stay-at-home moms, falls on you, and there's been some research done on this. And there's been some research done on this and the research shows that women handle 65% of the household tasks. So they're disproportionately carrying the burden of household responsibilities, and that statistic holds true even if you work full time. So that's just the tasks, but on top of that, 85% of the mental load is on the moms in their household.

Speaker 1: 6:33

So it's not just the things that we're doing. It's the mental load that we're carrying. How does your kid get to school every day? Are you managing the schedules? Are you making sure that every family member has their dental appointment, checkup, has their doctor appointment? You're coordinating all of these things and the mental load is sometimes even bigger than the physical load. And if you got paid for what you did, it's estimated to be worth $178,000 annually. So invisible labor is a significant portion of the work that we do and you don't get paid for it. There is no income coming in for this work, but it's valued at almost $200,000 a year and I think on the same side of that coin is 70 percent of mothers say they feel underappreciated. They feel like their work goes unnoticed and they know that the work that they're doing is critical to the function of their household, but they don't feel like it is seen. So invisible labor isn't just about chores. It's about this mental and emotional load that moms women, carry daily and while these tasks are critical for running a household, they go unnoticed and they contribute to the stress and the burnout and the inequality within partnerships. So, shedding some light on this, we can start conversations about redistributing labor where it needs to be setting boundaries and creating solutions like simplifying our finances.

Speaker 1: 8:27

As moms, so many of us carry the responsibility of managing the household budget, so we're tracking expenses, we're paying the bills, we're saving for the future and we're trying to figure out how to stretch every dollar so that we can meet our family's needs. And let's be honest, money stress is not a small thing. In fact, money finances lead to 50% of the divorces that happen in the United States. It's those moments of sitting down to pay bills and realizing you're juggling more than you'd like. It's feeling guilty for spending money on yourself because it's not in the budget. I know we've probably all been there. It's the pressure of trying to save for the future while also making ends meet right now. And it can be the panic of unexpected expenses, like when your kid suddenly needs a new pair of soccer shoes or your car breaks down and you have to pay to fix it. This financial stress can amplify everything else you're already carrying and I'm feeling like, as I'm explaining this, I'm feeling like I can feel this load, even for myself on my shoulders, and maybe you can too. And what I've seen is time and time again that stress doesn't come from a lack of money. It comes from a lack of clarity and a plan. So here's the thing Simplifying your finances is not just about saving money.

Speaker 1: 10:05

I'm going to say that again because it's really, really important you understand this. Simplifying your finances is not just about saving money. We're not just penny-pinching everything. What we're doing is saving your sanity. When you have a clear plan, a budget, a spending plan, intentionality that works for your family, when you have a strategy for how you're going to pay off debt, we can start to relieve this invisible labor of finances. Specifically, I'm sorry I can't help you with your laundry. I can't help you with the dinner. I mean, I can help you with the dinner, but I can't literally come into your house and do it for you.

Speaker 1: 10:52

But what I'm hoping that we can do today is lift this labor of the financial emotional aspect. If you knew exactly how much money you had to spend on groceries every month and you had a system for meal planning that kept you on budget, how much of your brain space would that free up? If you had a strategy for paying down your debt and how you could do it, and you could actually see the progress you're making, how much less stress would you feel around money If you had a clear financial plan? You could actually see the progress you're making. How much more present could you be with your family and how much more freedom could you feel when you do spend money on things that are important to you. So that's the power of simplifying your finances, because it gives you back time, energy and peace of mind. It allows you to shift from constantly worrying about money to feeling confident in every decision that you make, and that confidence changes everything, not just for you, but it changes things for your marriage, it changes things for your children, it changes things for your extended family and, finally, you. Taking over this and taking your power back has a ripple effect that is much bigger than what you can expect right now. And I speak from this place of passion and excitement because I know what it feels like, because I've been there.

Speaker 1: 12:30

There was a time when my invisible labor felt like it was going to bury me. Invisible labor felt like it was going to bury me, and I'm thinking back to when I just had my fourth baby. I was trying to juggle four children and I wasn't doing it. Well, I will say I was trying to manage our household and I was trying to figure out how to make our finances work because at the time, it didn't feel like it was working. It wasn't working truthfully, I felt overwhelmed and stuck and I hated feeling like I wasn't helping. I wasn't doing what I was supposed to do.

Speaker 1: 13:08

And that's when I made a decision, and this decision changed my life for forever. I decided to get serious about simplifying our finances. I wanted to do everything that I could to help our financial situation. That's when I started with one small thing, something that I felt like I could actually handle as an overwhelmed mom of four, and that was our grocery spending. And then I went from there and what happened completely changed our lives forever. I saved $500 a month just by being with our grocery spending $500 a month. That money gave us breathing room. It gave us options. It allowed us to start tackling debt and saving for the future and saving for the house and creating the family that we wanted.

Speaker 1: 14:00

But the best part of this experience and I've told this so many times is that it lightened my load. It lightened the load of feeding my family. Yeah, for sure, it was easier than it had ever been, but I also wasn't constantly stressed about money anymore. It didn't feel like I was failing, and what it did was it helped me feel empowered. It helped me feel empowered to take over more of the financial burden that my husband was carrying, including how do I budget for other areas and how do I heal this relationship that I have with money and change that narrative, change the way that I look at money, and then, ultimately, it empowered me to help other women do the same thing.

Speaker 1: 14:50

So how can you start simplifying your finances today? Here are a few tips. Number one you're just going to get started and you're going to start with the one area, the one area to focus on. You don't have to overhaul everything at once. You're going to start with your grocery budget and you're going to make a plan on how you can save there. I talk a lot about what we do inside of our community to help moms save money, and we've linked up my free masterclass below. If this is an area that you're ready to get started with, saving money on groceries is the fastest and easiest way to start budgeting and keep money in your pocket. It is the tip of the iceberg. Like I said, you're going to experience the small wins from the grocery budgeting, and those wins are going to add up over time. But once you figure out maybe we've got some members of the Shop Society here that have done that once you've done that, you're going to start by automating what you can, because, again, this invisible labor that we're experiencing I don't want to pile more things that you need to do. I want to take off tasks and by setting up automatic bill payments and saving transfers and investing things that are triggered without you having to do anything, will actually ease that burden for you.

Speaker 1: 16:24

The less you have to think about when it comes to your finances, the better. Right, we don't have to be spending hours every week budgeting. It should be simple and basic. And then, once you've done that, you need to track your progress. You need to celebrate the small wins along the way. Yeah, maybe you're $7,000 in credit card debt, but paying off $1,000 of that credit card debt or $50 of that credit card debt is huge. You have to acknowledge the progress, because acknowledging that progress is going to motivate you to keep going. So, really, tracking is so important for our mental experience when it comes to our finances. And then the last thing is don't try to do it alone.

Speaker 1: 17:17

Again, we're talking about invisible labor. We're talking about this emotional burden that we have as moms. You need someone to share that labor with, whether it's a partner, and sometimes our partners aren't ready for this. Sometimes our partners don't want to share that load. That's fine. If you don't have a partner, find a friend to share that load. That's fine If you don't have a partner, find a friend. Find a community like the Shop Society. Having that support makes all the difference on our progress and our motivation to continue that progress. And that's the difference between someone who sticks with this long term and someone who does it for a couple weeks is truly having that community, and someone who does it for a couple weeks is truly having that community.

Speaker 1: 17:59

Moms, I see you. I know how much you're caring and I know how hard you're working to create the best life possible for your family. Especially this month, one of the craziest months of the year, where we're trying so hard to create holiday magic for our families, it's literally going to make me emotional. I know that burden and I know it so well because I'm in it with you. But I also know that you don't have to carry all of this alone. You can lighten your load, you can simplify your finances, you can lighten your load, you can simplify your finances and with that, you can create a life that feels less stressful and more fulfilling.

Speaker 1: 18:53

And I hope to be on this journey with you. I hope to help you on this journey. It's something I am so passionate about because I've been there, I've gone through it and now I want to help more moms go through it as well. So, if you're ready to dive deeper and simplifying your finances and taking control of your money, make sure to check out the Shop Society. We are going to be calling it the Money Mom Club in January as our view of our expansion, and it really is going to be the perfect container for you to continue this journey and get started. And right now is the best time to start right now, because you're ready for it and you're excited and we're here to support you. I'm here to support you every step of the way, whether you're in that community or not. So thank you so much for listening and I'll see you next week.