Walk Diva Walk
Walk Diva Walk
EP 32: Unlocking Your Income's Full Potential
I am thrilled to share my personal journey of financial freedom. Mastering my finances led me to my love for cruising, shifting my mindset from mere budgeting to managing money to create the life I desire. You too can re-evaluate your understanding of personal finances and unlock the potential in your income for a fulfilling lifestyle.
We're going to talk about prioritizing expenses, managing personal finances, and building a healthy financial legacy for you and your children. I'll share insights from my own experience of paying off student loans and credit card debts, creating a simple yet effective system for tracking expenses, and making strategic use of your tax returns. Let's break free from financial shackles and start walking towards a better financial future today!
Hey y'all. Hey, it's your girl, dr Mary L Boy, the reposition specialist. You are listening to the Walk Deva Walk podcast. This podcast is for you, the woman, specifically the black woman, who's had enough. Enough of saying no to your kids because you can't afford it. How about robbing Peter to pay Paul, working two or three jobs just to make ends meet? Enough of running from your God-given purpose and enough of just being sick and tired of being sick and tired On this journey. With the Walk Deva Walk podcast, I will help you overcome your past, face your present and walk into your God-given, purposed future, so you can support your family the way that you desire, live in abundance and overflow. Live birth to that God-given purpose, giving birth to your dreams and desires. How about travel and experience the world in ways that you and your family will never forget? Have joy and peace so you can live. Are you ready? Let's walk, hey Deva. Hey, do you know why you as broke as you are? Because your money management game is all wrong. It's wrong because you don't even know how to. You don't know how to manage your money. People have been trying to tell you oh, budget this and budget that. Who wants to live a budget life. Not I. I do not want to live a budget life. You shouldn't have to live a budget life. If you manage your money right, you can absolutely live the life that you want to live.
Speaker 1:One of the things that my husband and I love to do is travel, and cruising is our thing. We love to cruise Like the longest cruise we've gone on has been a 22-day cruise. Can you imagine being on a cruise ship for 22 days? Now some people may say, mary, you crazy, I can't even do seven days, let alone 22 days. Well, that's my thing, that's my juge, right? I love cruising. And so we start.
Speaker 1:My first cruise and this is how I was introduced to cruising was my honeymoon. Okay, so I did not plan my honeymoon, I had nothing to do with it. I didn't know what we were doing until the week we were getting married, because I had to pack for it. Okay, I told you, I live in Atlanta, but I got married in DC and we left for our honeymoon from DC, so of course, I had to pack everything and take it there. So that was my first cruise and it was a Royal Caribbean cruise on the. What miracle or mirage, that's what it was? It was the mirage of the seas, the O-M-G.
Speaker 1:When I tell y'all, when I got on that ship, mm-mm-mm-mm, and they had the lead on that the buffet, all you can eat. Now I told y'all, this is my first one, so I didn't know what to expect. All you can eat. And the one of the things they had on there was crab legs. My husband said, uh-oh, because he know me and some crabs. We can sit for hours and hours. We can sit for hours. At least I can sit for hours and eat crabs and crab legs. I grew up on the blue crabs, but just to sit and crack open some crab, I could do it for hours. So he was like, uh-oh, am I going to have to leave you sitting here? And I say you just might, right? So that was my first experience in cruising and I was hooked. And I tell you I was hooked after that.
Speaker 1:So a couple of years passed and I'm like I want to go on another cruise. And again this was 2003. And you know we were making decent money, but it wasn't. We wasn't rolling in it. You know, we were living paycheck to paycheck. Okay, and I said now I'm going to figure out how we're going to get on another cruise. We're going to figure this thing out. And we found the cruise that we wanted to go on. We figured out the type of cabin.
Speaker 1:Now, on the my honeymoon cruise, we stayed in an inside cabin and my mother-in-law had suggested that to my husband because they weren't sure if I was going to get seasick. He had been on many cruises. His family cruised from the time he was a little boy, and so they said get an inside cabin. They wasn't sure if I was going to be sick and I did not get sick. So when I learned about balconies, I said, oh no, the next one we got to upgrade. Now we need a balcony.
Speaker 1:So we priced it and everything and I looked and said, ok, this is what we want to do. What do we have to do to accomplish it? How do we need to manage our money to do this? And it wasn't even creating a budget on it. When I go, I like to go. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it big.
Speaker 1:My mama used to tell me I had steak taste while hot dog money, and that is the truth of the matter. I grew up like that. If you put four things in front of me in different prices and I don't see the price and you say, pick out the one you like. Nine times out of 10, I'm going to pick out the most expensive one. Unknowingly, that is the most expensive one. That's just my taste. So budgets are hard for me. I'm just going to be honest. Budgets are hard for me so I have decided to make to shift my mind to managing your money to be able to do what you want to do.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that's what I did and I realized you know how you get those. Well, we don't get them anymore, those social security statements. We used to get them all the time back then and I've never really looked at them. I didn't. But one day I did and when I saw how much money that my husband and I were bringing into our house and I compared it to our monthly expenses, I said where's the money going? Where is the money going? Because I know what this day we're making and we were making at that time right around six figures together. I said I know this is saying we make six figures and I'm like and at this time we had no debt y'all outside of our mortgage, because I had done the whole all the credit cards.
Speaker 1:When I went into college, you know they give you all the credit cards. I didn't know what to do with them. I know nothing about money. My lesson on money from my parents, or my mom, was pay your bills on time, that's it. She didn't even have a credit card. So I'm like, oh, credit cards, and they were giving them away.
Speaker 1:I went to Howard HU, right, I went to Howard, right down in the Blackburn Center freshman year, all the credit card companies lined up ready to get you in debt. Oh, the lessons that I have learned since then. Ready to get you in debt and you for it, because you think it's free money. $500 here, $1,000 here, $250 here right, they're giving it to you. And, of course, I got in debt, in bad debt, because I moved out when I was 18, got a place with some friends and I think I was making at that time what $8, $9 an hour. I'm like you know who could afford credit cards and be spending it, and then you don't have the money to pay it back. So, anyway, that's there we were and we had decided that we were not going to get any credit cards and I didn't understand credit then, like I do now. But we said we weren't getting any credit cards If we can't afford to pay for the cash. We weren't going to do it. So all our bad debt that we had had already been paid off.
Speaker 1:I had student loans back then and y'all heard the way I did my student loans. I filed my taxes and let my taxes pay my student loans every year. That's how I paid them off. So I wasn't making monthly payments every year. I knew I was getting a tax return and every tax return it went towards my student loan until my student loan was paid off. And then my credit cards. I slowly paid those off. Couple of them kind of fell off, thank God, and it was clear. So we said that was it.
Speaker 1:So when I looked at the statement and I looked at my bills and all I had was a mortgage, a card note, because in my household we had two cards but we only believed in one card note. So we had one card with a card note and one hooptie, as they would say back in the day. It wasn't really a hooptie-hooptie. It was a Nissan Sentra and I had had that for about six years and it was paid off. So we had that car. And then we had an expedition navigator. We had a black Lincoln navigator truck. That's the one we were paying on. So we had that card, note card, insurance and then everything else you know gas, electric, water, this that you know.
Speaker 1:And I'm looking at what we put out y'all, the math wasn't mathin'. The math was not mathin'. I'm like. This says we should have every month at least an additional $3,000. Like, where is it? Where is it going? What are we doing with it? I mean, it was crazy and I had to say, okay, mary, you have to do better, you have to know where your money is going at all times. Right, and so I created something simple. I didn't go out here and get any fancy software or anything like that. I took an Excel spreadsheet, literally Y'all, with all the things there is today. I still use my Excel spreadsheet. I took my Excel spreadsheet. I left one row. I'm teaching y'all something here. Okay, I left one row blank. So row number one was blank.
Speaker 1:Column A, starting in row two, is where I wrote the names of all my bills Gas, electric, water, cable, whatever. All your bills, cardinal, car insurance, mortgage, ties, everything in that column. Then in column B, row one, I wrote the total amount of income into my household, okay, so my husband's check and my check for the month, what that added up to me, and I put that there Beside each bill. I did a minus any amount. So if my card note was $350, I will put minus 350. If my insurance was $125, I put minus 125,. Okay, so you do that all the way down beside each bill.
Speaker 1:When you get to the last one, you do this formula. It's real easy, do this formula. And if you need to Google how to do a sum formula, s-u-m formula in Excel, google it is real easy. You click on I can't even like the backwards E. I can't even think of the name or what that sign is. Right now, sigma sign, right, you do the sigma sign and it's going to ask you what do you want to calculate? And you just highlight from B2 down to your last entry and enter and it's going to subtract all of that from your total income and tell you what you have left.
Speaker 1:When I did that I was I mean again I was floored. I was like wait, because the you know the little checkbook ledger thing. That just didn't work for me. I mean, it's the same concept, it just didn't work. It didn't work for me. For that part it worked. For once I calculated how much I would have left, and then my everyday spending outside of bills. It worked for that.
Speaker 1:But to do this process and understanding where you are financially and how to manage your money from there, I had to do it this way. So when I saw it, that's when it was like, oh, wow, okay, now what do we do from here? Then my husband and I sat down and we started talking about things that we wanted to do, how much they were going to cost when we were going to do it, what we were going to invest in, and so you know. So, once you do that, then you can give yourself an allowance and not just spend like, oh, I got $2,000, I'm just going to spend $2,000. Then you're always at zero, which means you're always broke.
Speaker 1:Okay, you don't want to always be broke, so you want to pay yourself, typically about 10%. You pay yourself 10%. That's your allowance. Now you nail this way budget income man. Now you got a budget, what you have, which means you got to decide if you're going to eat out, if you're going to go to that event, if you're going to buy yourself some new pair of shoes that you always wanted not that you need, but you want it. So you have to determine how you spend your allowance. Okay, so, and then what's left? So I haven't allowance, my husband haven't allowance, and what's left now, you like? Okay, I'm going to put 20% into some type of savings account, and we're going to talk about savings in the next episode. I hope you're ready. So you're going to put 20% in some type of savings account.
Speaker 1:You may put 10% towards the trip that you want to take. So I will put money towards my cruise, because it was always a cruise. Y'all Land trips didn't happen for me. Probably at least 15 years later, I didn't want to do land trips. I wanted to go on cruises and if I could, I would go at least twice a year, and I had to go for at least seven days and was pushing towards 14 days. Okay, that's my life, so that's what I love to do, so that's what I put money towards.
Speaker 1:And now you can say, wow, I'm really not as broke as I thought I was. I really do have the money to do the things that I want to do. I have $100 to register my business. You know that's how much it costs in your state to register your business. Or I have $250 to buy supplies for my business, for whatever that you, if you're doing something. Let's say I'm a good girlfriend, she makes jewelry. So let's say you make jewelry and you need to buy beads. I have $250 and I'm going to invest it in beads I have. You know, you just have the things. I have something to put towards my son's football game, whatever it is.
Speaker 1:You are managing what you have, not just budgeting what you have. It's a huge difference between budget. I'm on a budget. I can't spend more than $100 over here. I really need $500 over here, but I'm on a budget, so I can't spend more than $100 over here. Well, maybe if you get your money management game together, you will have the $500 and you don't have to budget $100 when you know you need $500.
Speaker 1:Okay, so when it comes to money management, you first have to truly know to the penny how much you have, how much your expenses are and what you have left over, and then you determine what to do with what you have left over, and part of that is savings. So if you are still talking about I don't have, I don't have. Your management is off and I know it is. You know why? Because your hair did, nails did, everything did. Everything is dead.
Speaker 1:Okay, you spending a hundred plus because I know my nails, how much they cost. Okay, and I don't even I don't get the real long nails. I love my designs though. I love my designs. So nails running $80, $90. Some of y'all with the long extensions and with the diamonds on them, and all of that, a hundred plus a good pedicure, $60, $75. And you don't miss a month that you don't get it done, and some of y'all get it done every two weeks. Your weave is $300, $900, $1,000. Y'all got enough wigs to start your own wig store Because every time you turn around you buy them. So don't tell me you don't have money.
Speaker 1:See, the problem is that people we black folks, especially women put money or put value in things. So you put value in the Jordans, you put value in the Lubus. You put value in the Chanel bags. You put value in the weave that's 50 inches down to your butt. You put value in the acrylic on your nails. You put value in the $60 stake that you eat in on the weekend. You put value in the Patron and the whatever, the Tequila and the Hennessy and all the things. That's what you put value in, and so that's where you spend your money, but it's not giving you anything back. Oh, I got to get that. Oh, savings, oh my.
Speaker 1:So let me come back to money management. You have to put value in things that's going to have your money, make money for you. That's where your value come in, because if you are always only going to spend everything you get on something that's not going to give you any return, you will always be at ground zero, forever and for always. That was a song, wasn't it? Forever, yeah, that was a song. Forever Always. Yeah, for love. So you're doing enough of love, but for money, okay, listen, that is, you will forever and for always be broke. Who wants to live like that?
Speaker 1:At some point, you have to get to a place where you value investing in yourself more than spending money on yourself. Spending an investment is two different things. So you have to value investing in yourself, because anytime there's an investment, you want a positive return. So when you invest in yourself, your mindset is on I'm going to get a positive return on this investment. So when you spend money, that's like taking $10,000 and putting it in the fireplace and using it as Kenland to light the wood because it's gone. There really isn't a return.
Speaker 1:The nails you're going to have to get done over again. The hair you're going to have to get done over again. The shoes are going to wear out. The heel is going to break. You're going to gain weight. The clothes are going to be too small. You're going to lose weight. The clothes are going to be too big, like all the things. All of that stuff. The purse you're chasing the latest style, so you're going to have a purse and then somebody you follow going to have another purse and then you're going to buy that and forget about the light. It all waste, right, and there's nothing wrong with it, because I like my heels down and nails dead too, okay, but it's a time and a place for it and I understand the difference.
Speaker 1:But this is something that I had to learn. It's something that's not being taught to us in our community, right, and so you have to get this down, because if not, it doesn't matter what business that you start, it doesn't matter what hustle that you do, it doesn't matter what gig that you take. It doesn't matter what million dollar business, seven figure, eight figure business that you build, that you become a CEO of, you just going to be high paid broke. High paid broke. That's all you're going to do if you don't get this money management game together. So get your spreadsheet right. If you don't know how to do Excel, ask somebody, google it, youtube it it's 50 million people on there. That's explaining it right.
Speaker 1:Use QuickBooks If you can and you know QuickBooks and you want a tool, use QuickBooks. Get it attached right to your bank account, easy and simple. The easiest way, the simplest way, something everybody can do, is an Excel spreadsheet. Do that and then set some goals for yourself and look at what you have left and manage that money accordingly and right. I'm telling you what I know, not what I think.
Speaker 1:I've been in all areas of the spectrum when it came to money Crying broke and truly broke lights out and can't get them turned on cause I don't have no money, single mom working two jobs trying to make it, and it's like this is trash. This is for the birds. This is for the birds. I've been there. I've been high paid broke, made the money and again, couldn't figure out where it was going. I knew I was making it, but I didn't see it Until where I am now. It's a whole different level. I'm so excited about it and I'm excited for you on this journey. So that's it for me. Y'all, divas, get your money management game together.
Speaker 1:Money is a stressor for a lot of people. It can be the cause of physical issues, health issues, because you're stressed and worried and anxious all the time because of money. You can't afford for nothing to happen. You can't afford life to life because of money. It's not talked about. All only thing that's talked about is again, chasing the bag. I gotta chase the bag, chase the bag, let me chase the bag, I gotta get it, I gotta go. I got like, yeah, you do not chase the bag, get the bag. But then, once you get it, now what Do you just live a life in higher value, if you will higher price tag and still be broke, or do you figure out a way to manage your money so that you can not only leave a legacy for your children, but live a legacy for yourself? That is the play. So come play with me in this arena, the money game. I'm ready for you. I love y'all. Ain't nothing you can do about it? Let's get it and let's walk it.
Speaker 1:All right, divas, what an episode. Did I hit you in the head with one of those bricks. Did you go out? Did you have the ducking cover? I know you went running around the house checking for cameras, looking under the bed, looking out the window to see if I was watching, cause I was all in your business. I was on your street and in your lane. It's okay, though. It lets you know that you're not alone. I hope that something that you heard resonated with you and, as a result, you are starting to reposition your mind so you can have the life that you want to live Now. That's not all I have for you guys, not just what was in the podcast, but now I want to give you a gift. Go to wwwstopdrowningandwincom. Wwwstopdrowningandwincom To receive the seven steps every black woman must take this year to break free and live her dreams once and for all. You will also have an opportunity to connect with our community Again. You are not alone. The work is just beginning. Are you ready? Let's walk.