“I believe that financial awareness is an ever-evolving process. I grew up in a middle-class family where both my parents worked. My dad was a mechanical supervisor and mum was a school teacher. For us, the turning point came when my dad’s unit was shut down and he found himself in-between jobs. That’s when my mum took over the finances of the family. Thus growing up, my relationship with money was bitter. I always believed that money was all about luck. If you had it, you had money. If not, you had neither. But disasters are inevitable in life. I think my family became aware of the importance of money only when this happened.”

“It took me some time to understand the difference between financial independence and financial freedom. Most of us think they’re one and the same. But not really. Financial Independence is all about having enough money for an emergency while freedom is something that you get when you start earning your own money. But that’s where a lot of us go wrong. As soon as we get some money in our hands, we start splurging. We upgrade our lifestyle, start living luxuriously and then end up having to live paycheque to paycheque.”

“Growing up I saw my dad take care of the financial decisions simply because my mum already had a lot on her plate. She was working and at the same time studying for her PhD. She didn’t want to take on another piece of responsibility. As I grew up and started earning, I took charge of taking care of my siblings. I would send over money to them whenever they needed it.”

“I believe when you want to do something you find a way. You look for solutions and uncover new paths to solving your problems. This is also how I found Basis. Women often don’t speak about money and there’s no way you can get any help. So I really couldn’t find anyone to guide me. There are a lot of misconceptions about money and nobody really helps you unless there is something for them to gain. I came across Basis on Linkedin and that’s when I downloaded it to check it out. I am glad that I did.”

“Earlier I used to think that it’s okay for women to not care much about money. Today, I want to be independent, financially- completely. Most people transfer money to their spouse’s accounts to invest it further. That is not financial independence.”

“Financial independence is all about having the choice to do what you want with your money. Of course, we all want it to grow, but the way we invest, the choices we make - that’s what makes us independent. That was the feeling I wanted and that is the feeling of true independence.”

Prathibha is one of the most active users on Basis today!