Review
“Wallet Activism is the book we all need to see through the marketing lies we’re surrounded by and make better choices for the planet and our fellow humans. It’s an ambitious deep dive into the complex factors we must consider when using our financial power, but with clear, practical guidance to help anyone at any income level make better choices.”
—Vicki Robin, New York Times bestselling author of Your Money or Your Life
“Tanja’s gift is taking a complex and seemingly overwhelming topic and making it easier to grasp, while reminding everybody that no one is too small to spur meaningful change. This book is full of helpful information and pragmatic ideas so you can begin to thoughtfully put your money where it can do the most good—both for the planet and its people.”
—Sherry and John Petersik, authors of Young House Love
“Tanja breathes new life into concepts like ‘voting with your dollar,’ without encouraging consumerism. With each chapter, she pushes us to make sure our activism isn’t just symbolic . . . We all know we can do more and this book helps us take the necessary steps to think more critically, embrace nuance, and consider the true cost of our spending decisions.”
—Julien and Kiersten Saunders, authors and founders of rich & REGULAR
“In a time where people are fighting against low wages and unfair working conditions, Tanja Hester’s Wallet Activism is more crucial than ever. This book has inspired me to not only think of changes as a consumer but as a business owner, as well.”
—Athena Valentine Lent, Slate financial advice columnist and founder of Money Smart Latina
“Wallet Activism is the book I was missing in my financial library. It answers so many of the questions I had about my own decisions and how I was living my life. Tanja's brilliant framework for approaching how we spend, earn, and save provided me with an invaluable tool to make better decisions for the planet and its people.”
—Ashley Feinstein Gerstley, author of The 30-Day Money Cleanse
“Wallet Activism dives into the most pressing issues we face as a society—inequality, climate change, corporate and political corruption—and lays out an inclusive roadmap for how we can fight back using our individual resources . . . This book will make you face harsh realities about the world we live in and your role in it, but it will also, amazingly, give you hope.”
—Gemma Hartley, author of Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward
“I was blown away. From plastic straws to carbon offsets, from the mortgage interest deduction to DIY culture, you’ll never think about the impact of your choices in the same way again. This book shines light on the futility of good intentions and performative efforts, and shows how to make an actual, quantifiable impact.”
—Paula Pant, host of the Afford Anything podcast and founder of AffordAnything.com
“If you’re like me, you’re scared and confused. You want to be a noble citizen of this globe, but you’re constantly decision-making from within the thick haze created by greenwashed corporate messaging and inconsistent advice on ‘being better’ . . . Wallet Activism is a necessary read that helped me blast through the pollution of internet opinions and veiled marketing tactics.”
—Amanda Holden, founder of Invested Development and the Dumpster Dog Blog
“There are issues bigger than the balance of our retirement accounts that impact us all, such as racial injustice, gender inequality, and climate change. In Wallet Activism, Tanja helps readers who want to help make a positive change but have no idea where to start. From breaking down the impact of our financial decisions, to sifting through the marketing tricks to find ways to make meaningful change with our money, Wallet Activism makes it clear that ‘you don’t have to be rich or perfect to make a difference,’ ‘what matters is that we do something.’”
—Chris Browning, host and founder of the Popcorn Finance podcast
About the Author
Tanja Hester is the author of Wallet Activism: How to Use Every Dollar You Spend, Earn, and Save as a Force for Change and Work Optional: Retire Early the Non-Penny-Pinching Way. After spending most of her career as a consultant to Democratic politics and progressive issue campaigns, and before that as a public radio journalist, Tanja retired early at the age of thirty-eight. She documented the process on her award-winning financial independence/retire early (FIRE) blog, Our Next Life. She’s been an outspoken voice in the personal finance media community to consider systemic barriers and opportunity gaps, rather than simply pushing people with lots of advantages already to accumulate more wealth, part of why the New York Times called her “the matriarch of the women’s FIRE movement.” She hosts a podcast also called Wallet Activism, writes an occasional opinion column for MarketWatch, and lives in a burgeoning permaculture food forest she’s growing in North Lake Tahoe, California, with her husband, Mark Bunge, and a flock of tiny rescue dogs. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @our_nextlife and visit her blog at OurNextLife.com.
