Category Archives: Finances

Finances, Life

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What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?

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I think the best advice i would give to someone younger than me is to save as much as they can but also be ok with spending when the need arises. I am not recording Fall Finances Podcast but I am going to try to keep up with the theme in writing. 

I was talking to my little cousin and telling her that even if you start by saving $25 per month do it eventually it will be worth something. Young people are so exposed to different ways to make money online but if we are honest a lot of those way are scams, so I was trying to communicate to her how to identify a scam. 

When I was young I didn’t have any money so I’m not sure how someone could have scammed me or where I would have found someone to scam me. The worst “deal” I could make when I was young was to take the smaller piece of cake that I needed to share with my sister but, young people now are exposed to so much on the internet. They can be told to sign up for crypto scams, try to gamble or even just be told they can be the next *insert famous tiktoker here* without realizing that they are probably the product. The internet exposes young people to so many dangers and I think one of those dangers that there is not enough emphasis on the fact that  fast money is never good or legit money. There is always a catch, which is why I think we need to make sure the “youth” have the basic foundations which is simply that you should put something aside for tomorrow. 

Black Politics, Life, Finances

Knowledge over Faith

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How does your mindset affect your financial success?

I think that your mindset can be detrimental to your financial success because it will stop you from getting the knowledge or tools that you need while hoping and having faith that things will work out.

I have seen so many people that have faith or hope things will work out and yes you can get lucky but for the average person financial success and luck don’t really mix. You need a plan and to take some actionable steps in order to achieve financial success.

A few years ago I had a TThoughts Podcast series called Fall Finances that was going through some steps that strengthened my financial literacy. I have a wonderfully creative mind and the ability to imagine anything can happen for me but the only thing that helped me get financial success was starting to put money away as well as getting knowledge about the steps I could take to get more money.

If I relied on my mindset alone, I would be in my late 30s hoping to meet some millionaire that would sweep me off my feet and activate the soft life we all dream of. Instead I chose to learn from the wise people around me and realized that a budget isn’t always the best way to achieve financial success. You cannot budget yourself into having more money so in time I learnt that I needed to make more money and that would allow me to achieve more financial stability.

I have witnessed a lot of people especially in the Black community that operate with a mindset of God will provide and relying more on prosperity pastors instead of learning a skill that will actually allow them to get out of the situation that they are in. I understand a big part of knowledge is having the context to know that learning this skill will allow you to do X but there are a lot of people that think just believing or having faith will ensure financial success but that is just not true. This is why you see so many people falling for MLM scams, they think that believing is going to get them financial success yet it is simply not true.

I have seen so many people that are not very positive but they are in a great financial position. You need knowledge, consistency and a solid plan and that will impact your financial success more than any mindset.

Family and Friends, Finances, Health and Wellness, Life

Figure out the root cause

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What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

I think the best strategy to cope with negative feelings is figuring out why you are feeling that way. Is it something that has been bubbling up but you have just been ignoring it?

I was watching a video about getting jealous of friends and of course everyone is perfect on the internet and no-one has ever been jealous of a friend or compared themselves with an acquaintance. I, however, could totally relate to that feeling of wondering “What am I doing wrong?” or “How come this hasn’t worked for me?”

I think one thing that is often triggering is having a wonderful or normal day scrolling on your phone, and before you know it, all you can think about is what is wrong with your life. In these situations I think you just need to sit with yourself and reflect, pray or really dig deep to think why did that make me feel bad? Is this something that I actually want, care about or do I just think I want it because someone else has it.

Another thing to consider is what it represents for you; you may see your friend making more money and think that’s what you want but in reality you haven’t realized that you hate your job and desire a change. So you get that negative feeling but it is really nothing to do with that “LinkedIn post” but instead what you are feeling is a desire for change in your life.

I find once you identify what is giving the negative feeling power it’s easier to cope with it. If you don’t know why you are feeling that way it’s easy to drown in that feeling. Lastly the best way to cope with negative feelings is to know that this feeling will pass, nothing is permanent.