Debra Jacobs

Financial Coach/Single Parent Coach

Less than a year

In a suburb of Boston. I went away for a while, but family and roots pulled me back.

As a financial coach, I help people release worry, gain a sense of security, and often change their story from ``I'm not good with money`` to ``I'm killing it!`` My coaching process enables clients to gain clarity about their finances, make and achieve financial goals, create a values-based spending plan, pay down debt, and increase savings. While I help anyone experiencing financial stress, I specialize in helping single moms. As a single mom myself, I deeply understand the challenges they face. I offer my single mom clients an individualized focus on money and/or parenting, drawing on both my personal finance expertise and my many years of experience as a parent coach and preschool owner/teacher. My own experience led me this career. I ignored my own finances for far too long, saving little and even going into debt. I had a lot of excuses! But when my kids got a little older, I became interested in learning about personal finance and I jumped into the deep end, soaking up absolutely everything I could from books, blogs, podcasts, videos, and more. I took courses and started working towards certification as an Accredited Financial Counselor. As I started to transform my own financial life, I felt a call to help others do the same.

My clients would say that I'm empathetic, encouraging, and a good listener - and that I don't shy away from holding them accountable and helping them see where they're stuck.

``If you want it badly enough, you'll find a way. Once you commit, the universe will open up.`` After ending a relationship in my mid-30's, and wanting children more than anything, I worried for years: Can I do this alone? Can I afford it? Can I provide a good life for children on my own? This advice came from a mentor of mine, and when I finally decided, and took the action I needed to take to make it happen, the universe DID open up, and I adopted my two girls. The best thing I EVER did. And if I could do that, and raise them successfully on my own (they're now lovely young adults), I can do anything I want to do badly enough.

Pride and Prejudice for Austen's beautiful and ironic use of language, and Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin for the mind-blowing perspective on time and money.

My secret weapon is my focus on relationships in everything I do, from parenting to working with clients.

Getting my podcast launched after thinking about it for a long time! Check it out: Money, Parenting and Life for Single Moms.

You're not ``bad with money,`` you just don't pay attention. It's simple: live below your means and save and invest like crazy.

Hanging with my kids and my friends, taking long walks, reading.

As part of an adventure challenge, I took a helicopter lesson, went rock climbing, got a tattoo, went dog-sledding, and more (including singing on video for all the world to see, even though the music teacher in grade school told me to mouth the words. Yikes, that was hard)!