In writing Thriving in Sex Work: Sex Work and Money, I read dozens of personal finance books. This blog series consists of reviews of books I think sex workers could benefit from. I’m aware, however, that nearly all personal finance books aren’t geared towards the specific issues sex workers face. So I’ve done my best to provide a down-and-dirty roadmap of what to expect— the good and the bad, and why I think any particular book might be useful to you.

Overcoming Underearning: A Five-Step Plan to a Richer Life by Barbara Stanny

I recommend this book to: Everyone struggling with having/earning/saving enough money. 

Because: Unlike most personal finance advice books, Stanny targets most of her advice to the self-employed, which is especially useful for sex workers.

Action Verbs: Earning, stretching, daring, asserting yourself, valuing

Key Takeaways: Low self-esteem can be pervasive—and comfortable. As much as we might think we want to earn more, there can be tremendous internal pressures to undervalue ourselves in order to avoid conflict, haggling, losing love, or clients. At the heart of underearning is fear of: success, failure, taking responsibility.

Heartfelt to Practical Ratio: 7:5 

Strengths: Lays out a clear picture of the underearning mindset and concrete steps to overcome it. 

Trigger warnings: This book doesn’t pull any punches, calling out codependency, fear, learned helplessness, and a desire for a “Prince Charming” to rescue us. Places the onus of our earning potential entirely in our own hands, without taking broader societal factors into account (systemic racism, ageism, sexism, lookism, etc.) 

 Extensive fatphobia: Many of the examples Stanny uses of folks improving their earning capacity also report losing weight, which she ascribes to higher self-esteem. Does not offer a concrete explanation of why valuing ourselves more works—simply asserts that it does, which can sometimes sound like magical thinking.

Learn more here.