Tes Slominski

I had over $20K in credit card debt when I reached the tenure track in 2014 after several years of underemployment. I had tried other budgeting systems and programs with little success, but in the space of three years, YNAB helped me get out of debt and save enough money to make a dramatic career (and location!) change. I received my YNAB coaching certification in 2022 and am working toward my International Coaching Federation ACC credential. My Ph.D. is in musicology/ethnomusicology (NYU 2010), and I was a faculty member at Beloit College from 2012–2019.

Being coached puts a person into a vulnerable position, while being an academic often means inhabiting the role of “the person who knows things”—even when we feel uncertain or afraid. I understand what it’s like to have to reconcile public knowing with private not-knowing. I will support you in your budget learning process, and when you wonder how to handle reimbursements, sabbaticals, and other academic "money moments" in your YNAB budget, my answers will come from my own experience budgeting as an academic. And because academia’s challenges are multifaceted, I also offer writing and productivity coaching.

I am passionate about helping academics mitigate the challenges of the profession so that you can focus on the work that is most meaningful to you, whether that is research, teaching, or service. I wish I had started budgeting far earlier than I did: not having money (and having debt) limited my choices as much as the vagaries of the academic job market did. Now I want to help you avoid some of the mistakes I made so that you can enjoy the freedom of financial stability.