Money feels weird right now (and that’s okay)

As I am writing this I am sitting on a sunny terrace of the Roxy hotel in Manhattan 🗽and life feels good, great actually. I am in New York for a bit of business and a lot of pleasure. I decided to go to the Female Founders World Summit to kick this newsletter back into action. So here we are. I’ll post more about the summit on IG.

But let’s first address the huge elephant in the room. It has been more than a year and a half since my last email and yes, the guilt about it is immense, but l won’t dwell on it, but rather focus on moving forward. You can expect again a weekly edition of this newsletter coming your way, but instead of Wednesdays, I am switching it to Mondays.

And to kick things off I wanted to take a step back.

Mind the gap (again)

Does your money feel a little… off lately? Like you’re doing “fine,” but everything still feels more expensive, more complicated, and just slightly out of rhythm?

You’re not imagining it. Prices have stopped climbing like crazy as they did in 2023, but they’re still hovering slightly higher than they should. Inflation rate has been hovering between 2.1 and 2.8% in the past year, which is not crazy, but also not fine. House prices on the other hand went up 5.4% in Q2 of 2025. Add a summer of travel and “I deserve this” spending (like overpriced matcha lattes which I won’t give up🍵), and most of us are looking at our bank apps wondering, where did it all go?

The truth is that money isn’t just math. It’s emotional. It’s seasonal. Sometimes you’re in sync with it (planning, investing and focusing on your why) and other times you’re winging it, living your life and booking a last minute trip to New York like I did . As long as you step back and focus again, you shouldn’t worry too much. So instead of feeling guilty, let’s use this moment to find a little rhythm again.

Here’s how to start.

1. Do a 15-minute money clean-up
Open your banking app, cancel one forgotten subscription, check your recurring payments, and set one small automation, even €20 counts. You’ll feel instantly lighter. I just did that last week when I unsubscribed from an app I haven’t been using in months.

2. Pick one micro goal
Forget about “saving more.” This is like a new year’s resolution that ends in February. Choose a goal that actually means something to you. Either a €200 gift buying buffer before Christmas, or a guilt-free weekend fund. Goals work better when they feel personal and are directed towards something you actually want in life. Like a trip to New York for me.

3. Redefine success
Financial calm is the new rich. And yes I know this sounds very wishy-washy. But it really is. This trip to reminded me of this very much, because the last time I was here, exactly 10 years ago, I was broke and I wasn’t feeling as comfortable financially as I do now and that has affected my mindset about the trip and I definitely enjoyed it less. It’s not about hitting a magic number whatsoever. It’s about knowing where you stand and making choices that match your values (not your algorithm’s shopping suggestions).

If your finances feel a bit out of tune, remember that it’s not a failure if you skip one month and not invest anything, because you really wanted to buy a new winter coat, it’s just the circle of life. Don’t let one month of not sticking to your plan defeat you. 

Closing the gap - Jasmine Garnsworthy

Jasmine is one of the reasons I am in New York right now, so it seemed fitting to feature her today as a woman that is definitely closing the gap.

She is the founder and host of the Female Founder World podcast and this past Sunday she gathered 1000 women in New York for the FFW Summit, all while being pregnant and looking amazing. But the Female Founder World is not only a podcast, but so much more. It’s an amazing community of women where you can meet other founders who genuinely support and inspire each other. Whether you’re already building a business or just starting to dream about it, I highly recommend checking it out. It gave me such a boost of motivation yesterday, hence the restart of this newsletter, and I’m sure it’ll do the same for you.

I really had a great time yesterday at the summit and listened to many inspiring female founders that have build and are still building amazing businesses - Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni that are building AI shopping assistant called Phia and host podcast The Burnouts, Babba Rivera the founder of haircare brand Ceremonia, Aleen Dreksler, the founder and CEO of media brand Betches (goals!) and many more. You can check some highlights from the event on TFG instagram.

If you would like to see what Jasmine is up to next, go give her a follow.

Some interesting reads

• Interesting article about slightly different investment strategy I read on my flight to New York

• A podcast episode with Ray Dalio I listened last week where he talks about the current state of the economy.

• Really great piece that talk about how the money is way more emotional than rational.

This is all for this week.

Next week we’ll dive more into what is currently happening in the markets and what should you do about it. If you have any topics you would like me to cover in the future, just reply to this email.

Till next Monday,
Maruša