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From Guilt to Permission: How a Line Item for Yourself Can Transform Budgeting into a Tool for Joy, Clarity, and Self-Expression
For many, money isn’t just numbers on a spreadsheet—it carries guilt, anxiety, and the pressure of feeling “behind.” Traditional budgeting often promises security but can leave people feeling constrained, disconnected, and disempowered. Enter Linda Grizely, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certificant and financial empowerment strategist, who is challenging the status quo with her signature framework, MeMoney™. By putting oneself as a line item in the budget, Grizely asserts that financial responsibility is not only about discipline—it’s about permission.
Rethinking Traditional Financial Advice
For decades, financial guidance has prioritized formulas over feelings. Most people associate money with stress, shame, or confusion rather than confidence. Women, particularly those navigating midlife transitions such as divorce, caregiving, or career changes, often feel the gap most acutely.
Grizely herself knows this struggle. Despite “doing everything right” with money—paying bills, working hard, staying responsible—she experienced cycles of limitation. “You can’t live a life you love on a budget you hate,” she says, a realization that inspired her to reimagine how people relate to their finances.
Traditional advice, with its jargon-heavy talk of “allocations” and “cash flow,” often ignores the emotional side of money. Budgets become lists of obligations rather than tools for empowerment, leaving many feeling trapped between overspending and chronic self-denial.
The Birth of MeMoney™
Grizely’s personal and professional journey informed the creation of MeMoney™. With a Master’s degree in financial planning and years of experience in the financial services industry, she understands the mechanics of wealth management. But it was her own life—raising a child as a single teen mother, rebuilding after divorce, and navigating a blended family—that illuminated the deeper truth: money is identity, emotion, and story.
MeMoney™ starts with a simple yet revolutionary idea: treating personal spending not as indulgence, but as a rightful, necessary part of financial planning. “The budget line item you’re missing is you,” Grizely explains.
What MeMoney™ Looks Like
At its core, MeMoney™ is a permission-based approach to budgeting. Instead of viewing spending on oneself as reckless or secondary, it becomes a formal category in the budget. This could be $50 a month for yoga, books, or dinners out, or saving toward a bigger dream purchase. The focus isn’t the amount—it’s the mindset.
MeMoney™ reframes budgeting from restriction to alignment. It accounts for individual money personalities—spender, saver, risk taker, avoider—and designs budgets that work with them, rather than against them. The result? Greater financial literacy and emotional freedom.
Grizely witnessed the transformation firsthand in her own marriage. Her husband, a spender, made more intentional choices, while Grizely, a natural saver, finally allowed herself to enjoy money she had long denied. “Even when I could afford it, the guilt would kick in,” she admits.
Serving Women in Midlife and Beyond
While MeMoney™ can benefit anyone, Grizely focuses on women in midlife, who often navigate financial transitions without guidance. For a widow managing finances alone or a woman rebuilding after divorce, MeMoney™ provides clarity and structure in an accessible way.
Yet younger generations also find value in the approach. Recent graduates or couples starting out can use MeMoney™ to set healthy financial habits before harmful patterns emerge. Grizely emphasizes that no money personality is “wrong”; the goal is empowerment through clarity, not conformity.
A Cultural Shift Toward Emotional Financial Health
Grizely’s work is part of a broader cultural movement recognizing that financial health and emotional health are inseparable. Just as wellness culture reframes exercise and nutrition as self-care rather than punishment, MeMoney™ reframes budgeting. Guilt-free spending isn’t irresponsible—it’s sustainable.
By viewing money as a tool for self-expression, MeMoney™ encourages people to ask whether their budgets reflect their true values. Are joy, creativity, and rest accounted for, or are finances solely about obligations? In an era that prioritizes balance over burnout, MeMoney™ offers a revolutionary perspective.
A Bigger Vision
Currently, Grizely focuses on education, courses, and speaking engagements, but her vision extends further. She aims to become a nationally recognized voice for women’s financial empowerment through podcasts, workshops, and keynotes. Her mission is to dismantle the guilt, shame, and secrecy surrounding money. “Once you shift from restriction to permission,” she says, “you regain control and joy.”
Closing Takeaway
Financial confidence doesn’t come from more rules—it comes from alignment. It comes from knowing your budget includes you. For women long conditioned to put themselves last, MeMoney™ offers a practical, liberating framework for independence.
As Linda Grizely emphasizes, the first step to financial freedom is simple yet profound: give yourself permission.
Readers can explore Grizely’s work and resources at lindagriz.com or follow her insights on LinkedIn.
