May 1, 2025 • 42 mins
Money talks – but are you listening to what yours is saying? That's the essential question addressed in this thought-provoking conversation between Monique Simmons and Tax Associate Breonna Dear.
Breonna, with her extensive background at financial giants like JPMorgan Chase and Deloitte, breaks down the intimidating world of personal finance into digestible, actionable wisdom. Her journey from a young saver to a tax professional offers a relatable backdrop to the practical advice she shares throughout the episode.
"A budget is basically just where you're telling your money where to go," Breonna explains with refreshing clarity. This simple yet profound perspective frames the entire discussion as she walks listeners through creating a "financial snapshot" – the crucial first step toward monetary control. From establishing emergency funds to developing consistent saving habits, her guidance feels less like rigid financial advice and more like a supportive friend helping you navigate a challenging but necessary path.
The conversation takes a particularly compelling turn when addressing how couples with different money mindsets can find harmony. "Both parties need to be on common ground," Breonna advises, suggesting that while approaches may differ, shared financial goals can bridge those gaps. Her recommendation for "financial date nights" offers a practical solution to what often becomes a relationship stressor.
Parents will appreciate the segment on teaching children about finances – starting around ages 9-10 with basic allowance management and guided spending decisions. As Breonna points out, schools rarely provide adequate financial education, making this parental guidance essential for raising financially literate adults.
Whether you're struggling with debt, trying to build wealth, or simply hoping to gain control over your financial future, this episode delivers practical strategies without judgment or complexity. Subscribe now and join the conversation that could transform your relationship with money forever.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
what's up guys?
Welcome to demo with mo.
I'm your host, monique simmons.
We'll be discussing dating,engaged and married objectives
from a young christian'sperspective.
Are you guys ready?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
let's dive in hey, what's up guys.
Welcome to a new episode ofDemo with Mo.
I am your host, monique Simmons, and today we are going to be
discussing budget and finances.
And today I have a specialguest joining me.
(00:40):
Born and raised in JacksonMississippi, ms Breonna is a
proud graduate of the I LoveJackson State University, where
she earned a coveted bachelor'sand master's degree in
accounting.
This ultimately led her toachieve opportunities in the
industry for some of the largestfinancial and accounting firms
(01:02):
in the world, such as JPMorgan,chase Bank and Deloitte.
These opportunities have givenBreonna the chance to expand
upon her natural anointing forpersonal finance and budgeting.
Growing up, she found herselfhaving a passion for saving
money and budgeting, whichultimately led to her having the
(01:24):
position where she is today, asa tax associate at a local CPA
and business advisory firm.
Outside of work, she alsoparticipates as a proud
assistant accountant at herchurch's will.
Breonna believes that personalfinances are essential in
building opportunities foryourself to grow and is excited
(01:48):
to share her experiences witheveryone interested in learning.
I introduce to you Ms BreonnaSears.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, bre.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
No, thank you so much for having me Excited to be on
and chatting with you today.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Awesome, thank you, thank you, thank you.
And for those of you who arelistening, her name is Brianna,
but I do call her Bri for short.
She goes by Bri for short.
Brianna and I, we are churchmembers, we go to church
together.
So I love Bree, I love Bree.
(02:28):
Bree, as we jump into ourconversation for today, I
usually start off theconversation with my kids with
one just a little icebreaker.
Just a little icebreaker,nothing too difficult icebreaker
, just a little icebreaker,nothing too difficult.
(02:49):
What is one?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
funny or unique thing .
Most people may not know aboutyou.
Funny or unique thing.
That's a little tough, funny orunique you need, I don't know.
I would say I am goofy.
I am a goofy person.
I love to laugh.
Yeah, I love to laugh.
(03:11):
If something like is reallyfunny, I'm the one like I'll be
laughing, like if it's reallyfunny.
I'm really naturally like agoofy person okay, that is good
to know.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Okay, you are goofy, okay.
So our first question here tojump into our conversation about
budgets and finances what wasyour experience on finances
growing up Like?
Were you taught about them?
Was it like a stressful topicin your house?
Speaker 1 (03:46):
growing up?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
was it something that wasn't discussed?
Was it like on the hush hush?
Was it something just theadults handled?
Were you guys involved in it?
It's key.
It's like what was yourexperience around the subject of
finances when you were growingup.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So my experience growing up, we didn't
necessarily have a discussionabout it so I actually went on
my own.
So I kind of more so like howmy mom was.
She used to kind of tell me alittle bit about money and stuff
like that.
Tell me a little bit aboutmoney and stuff like that
(04:25):
because you know she always beon on me to like you always
gotta work hard and everything.
But my experience growing up, Ithink my mom used to give me a
little bit of allowance moneyand I remember she gave me like
um, like I had like this toy box.
It was something I had and Iremember putting money in there
and I literally keep it in there.
(04:47):
I practice saving, as you know,as a little child growing up.
But because of my surroundingsand how I grew up and I saw how
my family was around financesand how it was important that I
never wanted to.
I had to learn about moneybecause I always had to have
(05:11):
like a safety net because Ididn't have, you know, I didn't
have that support kind of likecause my, you know my mom kind
of taught us to.
We had to learn how to workhard and save and everything
like that.
So it really wasn't adiscussion growing up so I it
was something I definitely hadto learn.
(05:31):
But.
But I would mention that my momreally did kind of teach me
about it but I just expound onit and just kind of learn more
practical ways of doing it, likewith saving and everything okay
.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So when you say your mom taught you about the working
hard aspect, what I'm hearingyou say what you learned more
from your childhood, or fromyour mom or growing up, was how
to make the money, but you kindof learned as you got older how
(06:07):
to like manage the money yeahthat you were made yeah okay, I
got you, I'm with you.
I'm with you, okay.
So my next thing I want to knowhow did you get started in your
career and if you can expandmore on what exactly you do.
What is your career and how didyou get started in your career
field?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
okay, sure, so I'm gonna go back to like when I
graduated.
So I graduated from Lanier, soat Lanier, the Heinz Community
College.
So at the high school I reallydidn't know what I wanted to
study.
Really I was just like, hey, mymom like I need to get a job,
(06:48):
either go to work or we had togo to school.
So those two things like my momused to kind of, you know, tell
me, and my sister growing up,once we was done with high
school.
So I was like, okay, you know,I'm just going to go to school.
And so because I really didn'tknow what I really wanted to do,
so I went, went on to Heinz,stayed there for about two, I
(07:11):
think two years, and then I wenton to about two or three years.
Then I went on to Jackson State.
So at Heinz I did businessadministration.
It was just general, because Ialways had a knack for business
(07:31):
and just you know, I just wantedto learn something about it and
I didn't have no otherinterests outside of that.
So once I kind of did anapplication for Jackson State,
once I was I started finishingup Hines and Jackson State had a
transfer day.
It was right around the time Iwas getting ready to graduate
from Heinz, just they had atransfer day.
So I went to their transfer day.
Mind you, you know, my major isstill technically business
(07:54):
administration.
So the transfer day, they hadall the professors in there from
the different departments ofthe school.
So I had went to the College ofBusiness and so the two
representatives there were liketwo accounting professors and so
they, long story short, theykind of talked me into it.
(08:15):
But really when I was in Heinz Idid like basic accounting
classes and I actually had ateacher that actually I
literally did well on all hertests, had an A, and she
literally wrote on my last exam.
She was like you should be aCPA, which is a certified public
.
So it was always something thatkind of stuck out like, wow,
(08:38):
you know, I never thought aboutit.
So when I had talked to theseaccounting professors at Jackson
State they was like, oh, youdefinitely need to go.
You know, come into accountingbecause you know business
administration, you know you'renot that.
But that was like you're notgoing to get a job, so go into
accounting and everything.
So but I always remembered whatmy teacher had told me when I
(09:01):
was at Heinz and what she wroteon my my paper because I had got
like a.
I got an A and she just wroteyou should be a certified public
accountant.
So I said, okay, cool, I'mgonna do that.
And so I transferred to JacksonState with majoring in
accounting.
So that's kind of how I gotinto accounting and I started
(09:21):
going through the process and Ihad to start learning about
interviewing, resume and youknow I had to learn about a
whole lot of different things.
Imagine that I was never taughtin community college, so I had
joined the Accounting Society atJackson State and through the
Accounting Society, it's thisorganization called NABA, which
(09:46):
is the National Association ofBlack Accountants.
So each year they have likethese regional conferences.
Where they have is basicallyrecruitment.
So you have a whole lot of thetop firms there, a lot of
recruiters there, top firmsthere, a lot of recruiters there
(10:08):
, and they make it like aprocess where you just submit
your resume and you can have awhole.
You know you can get interviewson the spot.
So it's basically like this bigthing.
So I attended there my junior, Ithink my senior year, because I
kind of got either junior orsenior year, I can't remember,
but since it was my first timecoming in, I really didn't know,
because I struggled a lot withtrying to understand
(10:31):
interviewing, so I didn't reallydo you know a whole lot of
different things.
You know, I didn't really get,you know, a job on the spot
because you could get one, andso after that I just left, like
I think that was during mysenior year.
I didn't get one, but I knew Iwas like, you know, I got to get
something.
(10:51):
So I went to graduate school,literally like the next two
months or something, because wehad like this thing we can go
straight on into it.
So I did that and I had astrategic plan of I was going to
go back to that conference andI had.
I went back to that conferenceand I redid my resume.
(11:14):
I started to, you know,building up, like I just started
practicing, you know, myinterviewing skills and I
submitted my resume and I wasable to get three interviews on
the spot going there.
So the regional is in Atlanta,so I had to go to Atlanta
because they had like thisregional conference.
(11:36):
So I I was able to get threeinterviews on the spot and one
of them was JP Morgan, and so sothey had JP Morgan had this
program which was called GlobalFinance Business Management
Analyst Program.
So it's a two-year program.
It's a rotational program whereyou get to work in a different
(11:58):
department within those twoyears to kind of get accustomed
to the bank and you essentiallya full-time employee.
You're working as an analyst.
So I was able to kind of gothrough there.
But long story short, that's howI was able to get my first
position.
So I interned with them overthe summer.
Then I was finishing up gradschool, but I was able to go.
(12:25):
I got a full-time position withthem.
So I had to move to Texas.
So that's kind of essentiallyhow I kind of got started.
It wasn't really in accounting,it was more so a little bit of
finance but a little bit oftechnology work too.
So it's kind of a mixture ofboth and I kind of got
introduced to asset and wealthmanagement, knowing about assets
(12:49):
and learn about more sotechnology and all those things.
So did that.
For two years I worked in theasset wealth management part and
then my last year I worked inthe commercial bank.
So it was still it was stillgood and I kind of got my
exposure.
I started to I kind of workedin the PPP loan process, I was
(13:10):
like I was doing differentlittle and um, it was good
exposure.
I really started developing myprofessional skills and after
those two years was up, duringmy second year because, know, it
was just a two-year rotationalprogram I had to figure out what
I had, what I wanted to do next, and so I knew I still wanted
(13:33):
to be a CPA.
So a CPA is basically to be one.
You have to take this four-partexam.
So I'm still I'm not a CPA yet,but it's something I'm still
kind of working towards.
But I decided that I need to goto a big, I need to go to a
(13:54):
accounting firm.
I want to get exposure, I wantto get back in like I wanted to
do tax, and that's how I went toDeloitte.
So Deloitte is like one of thetop accounting firms in the
world.
So during that time I was doingconsulting, but it was tax
technology consulting.
(14:14):
So I wasn't actually doing likethe tax preparation.
It was more so of I was helpingthe people who was actually
doing tax returns from atechnology standpoint.
So it was pretty cool.
It was a lot, a lot of work, alot of hours, and I was like you
know, this is not for me.
(14:35):
So I had to go.
So I had to go.
I finished up a year and I wasin a period where I was like you
know, I really need to reset.
And I started to say, you know,I moved back home and I was
able to.
Prior to moving back home, Iwas able to get a position at a
(14:57):
local accounting firm here whereI'm actually doing taxes.
So I'm actually doing, I'm atax associate for I'm a tax
preparer for constructionclients.
So construction clients thoseare my main clientele.
So basically I do theirbusiness returns and then I do
(15:19):
the individual's tax returnalongside with their family, so
just kind of like so individualbusiness tax returns for
construction clients.
So that's kind of the situationwhere I'm at right now Got you.
I hope it wasn't too long, but Ijust had to kind of no, no.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Thank you for sharing that.
And I love your journey, like Ilove that you took me from
graduating high school all theway up until now, and I love to
see your journey that got youall the way to where you are now
.
I just love the.
I love the journey.
I love, I love the journey.
I love that everything has ledyou to where you are now and I
(16:05):
feel like it's exactly whereyou're supposed to be like,
exactly where God wants you tobe right now, at this moment.
And it was beautiful to hear.
I mean, I loved it.
I love the story, I love again,I love the journey.
I love the journey of it all.
So we're discussing budgets andfinances.
I want to ask you like a basicquestion, because I know there
(16:27):
are some people that are goingto be listening who have no clue
.
Like I want to make sure that Ihit everybody, like people who
do everything and kind of know,and people that are starting
from scratch and have no ideaknow, and people that are
starting from scratch and haveno idea.
What is a budget for those whoare looking to want to start
(16:50):
budgeting to help their kids?
Like how you said, like withyour childhood, like your mom
taught you how to make money butas you got older, you had to
learn how to manage that money.
What is a budget?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
A budget is basically just to kind of to make it
plain, I like to say it's justbasically where you're telling
where your money is going, Likeit shows you where your money is
going.
It's a way of you organizingyour money.
That's what it is.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Okay, okay.
What app or tool do yourecommend to use to get started
on budgeting?
Okay, okay.
What app or tool do yourecommend to use to get started
on budgeting?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Okay, so I will say I personally don't use apps.
What I will really say theeasiest thing for someone who
really not, you know, just startfrom scratch, is to really do a
pen and paper really not, youknow, just start from scratch is
to really do a pen and paper.
You could do a pen and paper Ido, I do a mixture of both, but
(17:55):
I want to kind of.
Maybe it's best to do pen andpaper when you just starting out
, just to build the habit, andso you can get like a regular
notebook.
You can get a composition book.
I've seen some people do acomposition book, just create
your own, and they do have likesmall business out there.
(18:16):
They actually sell like budgetplanners and stuff.
But I kind of essentially justdo do it on my own.
So basically you um, write yourincome and then you put all
your expenses, so how much youmake in a month.
You put that in for your incomeand then you write out all your
(18:39):
expenses, so a little thingthat you know.
Maybe it helps if I could justsay kind of where you know what
I do, so what I'll do for agiven month, right, so I take
all my income, how much money doI make per month?
But I also split per check, sohow much I'm making this, this
(19:04):
paycheck, what are my expenses,and so I think even further from
that, so it won't get soconfusing.
You want to list out where youat financially.
So it's a um, a lady that Ifollow that kind of helped me a
little bit with a lot ofpersonal finance and it's her um
(19:29):
, I think.
She has a podcast it's calledbreak, break your budget and she
has a budget yep, break yourbudget and she has a lot of good
budgeting tips and she also hasbudgeting tools on there, like
digitally, that you know I evenmyself have purchased and I use.
But basically she came, shetalked about creating a
(19:54):
financial snapshot and it reallymakes sense.
So basically, you list out allyour income, all your expenses,
how much debt, list out everydebt you have and how much
savings that you have.
So once you kind of list allthose things, all your expenses,
you know every like per montheven, you know, just list
(20:19):
everything down on your sheet ofpaper to see where you at
financially, then you want tokind of create a goal to see,
okay, what is the goal?
I I love to do like yearlygoals and sometimes I do like
monthly goals that leads up tothat yearly goal, and so to
(20:40):
really make it simple, like forme, now I'm on a debt payoff
journey, so my goal now is topay off all my credit card debt,
and so what I essentially do isI have my income, my expenses,
and then I have my savings.
How much savings do I have?
(21:01):
So if you listen to a lot offinancial experts people called
experts or people who was in thefield of finance they always
talk about you, um, about havingan emergency fund.
So, which is very, veryimportant, and so that should be
(21:21):
.
If you don't have an emergencyfund, that should be your number
one.
Before you get into like any,before you start hitting out
dead aggressively investing andall it, emergency funds should
be number one.
So emergency fund, um, but,like for me, I would put up
(21:43):
about six to twelve months ofexpenses.
So you need to how much yourexpenses is every month?
And divided by, I say, threemonths, a lot of people say have
a three month emergency fund,or six month or 12.
So in my case, since I'm I'mreally I'm single, so I really
have to, I need like a six monthemergency fund and now that I
(22:08):
work to that extent, now I canpay off debt aggressively in
that sense.
But I also have to keep in mindthat you know I'm also back at
home.
I actually moved back with mymom so I don't have like rent or
anything like that, but I stillgive her money for a month.
But I, you know, just so peoplewon't you know what I'm saying
(22:29):
you got to really look at yoursituation first to see how you
can you know how much money.
I call it what is calleddiscretionary income.
So discretionary income is whenyou how much income you make and
minus your expenses, how muchmoney is left over, so that
(22:52):
money that's left over you canmake a decision of okay, am I
doing my emergency fund rightnow, or did I complete that, or
could I add this to a debt,basically.
So that's kind of a little bitbasic and I think, understanding
where you are financially firstand then, once you get where
(23:14):
you are financially first, thenyou go into okay, how much is my
monthly income to see, you know, making sure that this is how
much your paycheck is every timeyou get paid and you know at
least that's your expenses.
You kind of got to get a littlecreative, but that's kind of
(23:36):
where the basic is.
I don't want to confuse, butthat's kind of like basic, what
budgeting is and where I feellike if you start out.
That's where you need to figureout where you at financially,
how much income you bring in permonth and per paycheck, and
then the your expenses and thenfigure out OK, do you have a
(24:01):
mercy fund?
If you don't, then that needsto be a primary goal.
Then if you, if you do, thenyou need to go towards that.
So if you're done with theemergency fund, you're done with
that, then you can start goingto the next level, which could
be increasing my retirement orshort-term savings.
(24:26):
You can put more money towardsthat, but you don't want to
exhaust yourself trying to doeverything at once.
You got to pick one thing at atime, so that's kind of a little
bit, you know.
Hopefully that didn't makesense a little bit.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
So yeah, that was good, that helped me, thank you.
Okay, we're sticking on thetopic of budget.
How can consistency andmotivation be maintained with a
budget?
Because I've heard this talkedabout a lot, especially
sometimes when you bring about aconversation of a budget, which
(25:01):
I feel, like what you saidearlier, like you need to be
able to tell your money where togo, because if you don't tell
your money where to go, yourmoney won't tell you.
I mean, it's just either or it'sone way or the other.
But how can consistency andmotivation be maintained with a
budget?
(25:21):
Because a lot of people usuallythe people who don't want to do
a budget is not just becausethey don't want to manage their
money or they don't want to telltheir money where to go.
It's because they don't want tobe constrained or they don't
want to be able to not do thethings that they want to do.
How can you keep thatconsistency and that motivation
(25:46):
for that person that that'sdoing the budget but not
necessarily excited about it?
Like, how can you keep somebodymotivated to do a budget and
stay consistent with it?
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I would say they would need to look at their goal
.
That's number one.
What I do, I always look at mygoal.
Where do you want to be um,like if you did a year ago?
Where do you want, really want,to be um at that place?
You know, let's say, pay off,you know all your credit card
(26:22):
debt or you know, or did yougive up along the way?
So I say a good motivationfactor is to also look at your
goal, but also to keep in mind,you know we kind of nearing a
recession you also gotta thinkabout, think about you know,
think about the times where itwas really tough.
(26:44):
You know where they say youknow you lost money or you did
something.
You don't want to go back tothat place, and so that's also
motivating a lot of people.
That's also don't want to goback so that's another thing too
, and those are like literallythe best, the, the best, um, you
(27:07):
know answers.
I could really give for that,because I remember times where
you know, I think back timeswhere you know I had, like I may
have lost some money or Icouldn't do something because I,
you know, I was doing paycheckto paycheck, and I remember
those times and I never want tobe in that kind of situation
again, and so that's definitelymotivating, especially because
(27:32):
you don't want to be in the sameposition that you once were in.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Yeah, that's real, you talk it, you talk it, you
talk it.
Let me ask you this because Iwant to now bring bring the the
kids and the family, because Iasked you about your childhood
growing up how early shouldparents teach their children
about budgeting, saving money,discussing finances etc.
(28:01):
And where should we begin um,so that it is not overwhelming?
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I would say to teach kids when I was younger maybe I
was probably about like maybenine or ten, I would say I don't
think it could be in middleschool kind of, I feel like when
they able to kind of comprehenda little bit more of things
(28:32):
maybe you can kind of teach thema little bit of basic things,
of giving them a balance andsaying like, okay, we go to this
store, you know, teaching themthe value of, you know, a dollar
and kind of you know it mayhave to be bit by bit because
you don't want to over, like howyou say, overwhelm them, but
(28:53):
maybe it could be as simple asgoing, you know, to the store
and giving them, you know,telling them to use their own,
the money, you know, theallowance and stuff, and tell
them, you know, get what youwant and kind of teach them,
examine them, you know, aboutthe cost of certain things.
You, you know, and you know youcan't get this one.
Maybe you can get this rightnow you can't get that, you know
(29:14):
, just kind of bit by bitbecause you know I, you know
they still a child andeverything like that.
But maybe that's just a stepbecause you know you don't want
to start introducing them totaxes you like.
Oh, you got to pay taxes.
You don't want to do all that,but I think you know that's
definitely something I feel likeschool definitely is not going
(29:39):
to teach them that and maybethis is something a parent you
know have to be creative andjust you know doing their own.
I call it their own curriculumto kind of teaching their just
you know doing their own.
I'll call it their owncurriculum to kind of teaching
their kids.
You know about.
You know money, you know givingthem an allowance and you know
teaching them about.
You know personal finance, youknow budgeting and letting them
(30:02):
create their own little budget.
You know what, you know whatstuff kind of go just bit by bit
.
You know, maybe not.
You know, let them understandjust the basics of like a dollar
and you know money management,just like little basic things,
so they can kind of build theirunderstanding.
And if they grow theirdiscipline then they'll, you
(30:24):
know, they'll teach them,they'll stay with them.
Then you kind of go to the nextstep a little bit.
You know that's kind of likethe whole thing wasn't kind of
all over the place, but it'sjust like bit by bit.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Yeah, I get it.
I get it.
Yeah, in in research that I'vedone, from books I read or
podcasts that I've listened to,most people have different views
of money.
What do you think helps set usup for success in relationships
(31:00):
if we don't view finances thesame way Like if you're in a
relationship or marriage and youguys have completely different
views around finances andbudgeting and taxes or whatever
anything around money.
What do you think could helpset us up for success?
(31:21):
Because I'm sure you've workedwith couples doing taxes, and so
what do you think would helpset us up for success when we
don't view it the same way?
Speaker 3 (31:33):
um, I would start off saying this finance, I feel
like, is a very important topicand, yeah, especially in a, you
know, a relationship, and I feellike both parties, you know,
have to be on a common ground,because if one person is saying
(31:56):
this and another person don'tbelieve in that and they do
something else, your money'saround the place and so it
becomes disorganized and thatcould cause a strain.
It could probably really causea strain, but I would say, maybe
get a little creative with it.
Got to meet, I guess, on youknow compromise and kind of see,
(32:19):
you know, maybe taking a datenight or something to kind of
like talk about.
Okay, you know, go have dinnerand you know when I did this,
talk about you know what, youknow what's the money go that we
have.
You know, like I mentioned,like where we are financially,
(32:39):
can we do to improve ourfinances in a sense?
So I think compromise, you knowboth parties have to meet on it,
but I also think maybe it is aconversation because you know
one person definitely needs toboth.
(33:00):
You know both parties reallyneed to meet on a common ground,
because if you guys are on thesame level, it could be more, so
like we could use one income topay our debt and the other one
to save and invest.
You can get creative with it,but if both parties don know it
(33:20):
can, it can really cause a youknow rift in the you know the
relationship.
I think that is a definitelylike a a good conversation to
have to see like where, where dowe see see ourself in the next
year or two from a financialstandpoint?
(33:42):
you know, so that's kind of like, I think, really having a
conversation, you know a meeting.
I hate to say like a I don'twant to call it like a financial
, but it is you know, to reallysee, you know, to really have a
serious talk and say like, youknow, what can we do to improve?
(34:04):
You know our financialsituation.
You know where.
You know, do we both?
You know where we arefinancially.
How much debt do we have?
How much do we have in aemergency fund?
You know.
You know you know your wholefamily dynamic.
You know what can you do toimprove, know the fun your, you
(34:25):
guys, financial situation.
You know creating sinking funds, which is like saving um,
saving for upcoming expenses.
For you know, especially if youhad kids, you know back to
school, sinking fund kidsclothes.
You know organizing the moneyand say like, okay, let's come
to a agreement on one thing,then we can kind of, you know,
(34:49):
tap into other things.
Maybe you guys do a vacationper year.
You know you got to save up forthat.
You know vacation you got.
There's certain things that hasto be done to get to that main
goal.
So if both is not on the samepage, there's a conversation
that definitely has to be had.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Amen, that was good.
That was good.
What I'm hearing you say is weneed to have a conversation.
Even though we view money orfinances differently, even
though we view money or financesdifferently our goal, we have a
common goal.
Our goal is the same.
Our views are different, whichmeans the way we get to the goal
(35:34):
may be different, we may dothings differently, but our goal
is the same.
So we need to communicate andhave a conversation about how
we're going to compromise to getto this goal.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
I'm with you.
That's good.
I'm with you.
I'm with you.
I'm with you Because we can geton the same page, because we
know that we are basically onthe same team, because our goal
is the same we want to pay ouroff debt.
We want to go on this vacation.
We want to get whatever thekids need.
Whatever that goal is, our goalis the same.
(36:11):
So because we view moneydifferent, we may have different
ways of going about it.
Of getting there.
But if we talk about it andcompromise and have a
conversation about it, werealize that our goal is the
same.
You don't want somethingdifferent than I do.
We want the same thing, andthat's how we can compromise,
because we realize that we wantthe same thing.
(36:31):
We're on the same thing.
Okie dokie, good stuff, grace,good stuff.
Okay, now the next question.
What's something that youpersonally learned about
finances later in your adultyears that you wish you would
have known sooner?
Speaker 3 (36:51):
I wish I would have built an emergency fund sooner
in my early days, uh, ratherthan learning about a little
later.
See, saving was already kind ofpart of my uh journey, but not
the emergency fund aspect of it,and I think if I would have
learned early on, especiallywhen I was like doing my time at
(37:13):
well Jackson State just startedwith the little man that I had.
Maybe, you know, I could havebeen better off like about I'll
say about three years ago, butthat that was one thing, that's
one thing that's a good one thatis a good one.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Um, this is my last question before we close out if
you could offer three pieces ofadvice so just give you a moment
to think about it if you couldoffer three pieces of advice to
help someone who may bestruggling in the area of
finances or just unsure where tostart?
(37:55):
What would you say?
pieces of advice and it could beas simple or as basic, or you
can expand whatever.
If you could just give themthree pieces of advice something
that you may have wished youwould have heard coming into
finances, starting off as anadult, going out into the world,
(38:19):
what's three pieces of adviceyou would offer to them?
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Okay.
One I would say if you have ajob and you don't understand
anything about finance oranything, you're still kind of
learning.
Start just, you know, savingwhat you can.
That's number one.
I would say save what you can.
Number two I would say say isto learn how to budget.
(38:50):
Learn how to budget we in a dayand age where it's a countless
of you know tutorials and loudthings, especially on youtube
where they teaching aboutbudgeting and stuff.
So I don't think it's an excuseto not know because you have a
whole lot of free content outthere about it.
But I would say it can getoverwhelming because listening
(39:15):
to too many people and that canalso be a strain for you because
you can't really listen toeverybody, because everybody
they say one thing and somebodyteach you something.
So it is a part of you doingyour own research on it.
But saving what you can,learning how to budget.
And the third piece of advice Iwould say I would say do your
(39:42):
research.
That's that's what this do yourown personal research, do your
own personal research got it.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
This was so good.
Thank you so much for yourwisdom on budgets and finances.
I really really do appreciateyou agreeing to come on and talk
with me today.
This has been awesome.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
Thank you.
I'm glad I was able to, youknow, be on the show and I'm
hoping hopefully somebody wasable to get something.
I'm hoping I'm not like toomuch all around the place, but
I'm trying to.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
I don't know, ma'am, you have definitely.
I don't know, ma'am, you havedefinitely dropped some jams
today.
Honey, you have definitelydropped some jams.
If you guys have any questionsregarding anything that we
discussed today, you can reachbrianna via email brianna if you
would like to share your emailfor the girls to reach you yeah,
sure.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
So it's brianna dear, so it's b-r-e-o-n-n-a d-e-a-r
at gmailcom.
I also want to mention back tothose three advices.
I would kind of want to changethat.
I want to say learn, learnbudgeting.
Then say then saving, thendoing your own research.
I had to mention that.
(41:04):
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Again, great advice, Seriously great advice.
Thank you so much for joiningme again on today.
You have given some greatadvice and some great gems on
today.
Thank you to my listeners.
I hope you guys have enjoyedtoday's episode with our amazing
guest, Ms Breonna Deer.
Remember I love you, but Godloves you so much more.
(41:32):
And today was our season finalefor season eight and we will
see you guys in a couple ofmonths for season nine.
All right, guys, Bye.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
I hope you guys have enjoyed Follow me on Facebook at
Demo with Mo.
If you have any questions youwould like answered here live on
my podcast, email them to me atdemow with mo at gmailcom.
That's D-E-M-O-W-I-T-H-M-O atgmailcom.
what's up guys?
Welcome to demo with mo.
I'm your host, monique simmons.
We'll be discussing dating,engaged and married objectives
from a young christian'sperspective.
Are you guys ready?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
let's dive in hey, what's up guys.
Welcome to a new episode ofDemo with Mo.
I am your host, monique Simmons, and today we are going to be
discussing budget and finances.
And today I have a specialguest joining me.
(00:40):
Born and raised in JacksonMississippi, ms Breonna is a
proud graduate of the I LoveJackson State University, where
she earned a coveted bachelor'sand master's degree in
accounting.
This ultimately led her toachieve opportunities in the
industry for some of the largestfinancial and accounting firms
(01:02):
in the world, such as JPMorgan,chase Bank and Deloitte.
These opportunities have givenBreonna the chance to expand
upon her natural anointing forpersonal finance and budgeting.
Growing up, she found herselfhaving a passion for saving
money and budgeting, whichultimately led to her having the
(01:24):
position where she is today, asa tax associate at a local CPA
and business advisory firm.
Outside of work, she alsoparticipates as a proud
assistant accountant at herchurch's will.
Breonna believes that personalfinances are essential in
building opportunities foryourself to grow and is excited
(01:48):
to share her experiences witheveryone interested in learning.
I introduce to you Ms BreonnaSears.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, bre.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
No, thank you so much for having me Excited to be on
and chatting with you today.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Awesome, thank you, thank you, thank you.
And for those of you who arelistening, her name is Brianna,
but I do call her Bri for short.
She goes by Bri for short.
Brianna and I, we are churchmembers, we go to church
together.
So I love Bree, I love Bree.
(02:28):
Bree, as we jump into ourconversation for today, I
usually start off theconversation with my kids with
one just a little icebreaker.
Just a little icebreaker,nothing too difficult icebreaker
, just a little icebreaker,nothing too difficult.
(02:49):
What is one?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
funny or unique thing .
Most people may not know aboutyou.
Funny or unique thing.
That's a little tough, funny orunique you need, I don't know.
I would say I am goofy.
I am a goofy person.
I love to laugh.
Yeah, I love to laugh.
(03:11):
If something like is reallyfunny, I'm the one like I'll be
laughing, like if it's reallyfunny.
I'm really naturally like agoofy person okay, that is good
to know.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Okay, you are goofy, okay.
So our first question here tojump into our conversation about
budgets and finances what wasyour experience on finances
growing up Like?
Were you taught about them?
Was it like a stressful topicin your house?
Speaker 1 (03:46):
growing up?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
was it something that wasn't discussed?
Was it like on the hush hush?
Was it something just theadults handled?
Were you guys involved in it?
It's key.
It's like what was yourexperience around the subject of
finances when you were growingup.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So my experience growing up, we didn't
necessarily have a discussionabout it so I actually went on
my own.
So I kind of more so like howmy mom was.
She used to kind of tell me alittle bit about money and stuff
like that.
Tell me a little bit aboutmoney and stuff like that
(04:25):
because you know she always beon on me to like you always
gotta work hard and everything.
But my experience growing up, Ithink my mom used to give me a
little bit of allowance moneyand I remember she gave me like
um, like I had like this toy box.
It was something I had and Iremember putting money in there
and I literally keep it in there.
(04:47):
I practice saving, as you know,as a little child growing up.
But because of my surroundingsand how I grew up and I saw how
my family was around financesand how it was important that I
never wanted to.
I had to learn about moneybecause I always had to have
(05:11):
like a safety net because Ididn't have, you know, I didn't
have that support kind of likecause my, you know my mom kind
of taught us to.
We had to learn how to workhard and save and everything
like that.
So it really wasn't adiscussion growing up so I it
was something I definitely hadto learn.
(05:31):
But.
But I would mention that my momreally did kind of teach me
about it but I just expound onit and just kind of learn more
practical ways of doing it, likewith saving and everything okay
.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So when you say your mom taught you about the working
hard aspect, what I'm hearingyou say what you learned more
from your childhood, or fromyour mom or growing up, was how
to make the money, but you kindof learned as you got older how
(06:07):
to like manage the money yeahthat you were made yeah okay, I
got you, I'm with you.
I'm with you, okay.
So my next thing I want to knowhow did you get started in your
career and if you can expandmore on what exactly you do.
What is your career and how didyou get started in your career
field?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
okay, sure, so I'm gonna go back to like when I
graduated.
So I graduated from Lanier, soat Lanier, the Heinz Community
College.
So at the high school I reallydidn't know what I wanted to
study.
Really I was just like, hey, mymom like I need to get a job,
(06:48):
either go to work or we had togo to school.
So those two things like my momused to kind of, you know, tell
me, and my sister growing up,once we was done with high
school.
So I was like, okay, you know,I'm just going to go to school.
And so because I really didn'tknow what I really wanted to do,
so I went, went on to Heinz,stayed there for about two, I
(07:11):
think two years, and then I wenton to about two or three years.
Then I went on to Jackson State.
So at Heinz I did businessadministration.
It was just general, because Ialways had a knack for business
(07:31):
and just you know, I just wantedto learn something about it and
I didn't have no otherinterests outside of that.
So once I kind of did anapplication for Jackson State,
once I was I started finishingup Hines and Jackson State had a
transfer day.
It was right around the time Iwas getting ready to graduate
from Heinz, just they had atransfer day.
So I went to their transfer day.
Mind you, you know, my major isstill technically business
(07:54):
administration.
So the transfer day, they hadall the professors in there from
the different departments ofthe school.
So I had went to the College ofBusiness and so the two
representatives there were liketwo accounting professors and so
they, long story short, theykind of talked me into it.
(08:15):
But really when I was in Heinz Idid like basic accounting
classes and I actually had ateacher that actually I
literally did well on all hertests, had an A, and she
literally wrote on my last exam.
She was like you should be aCPA, which is a certified public
.
So it was always something thatkind of stuck out like, wow,
(08:38):
you know, I never thought aboutit.
So when I had talked to theseaccounting professors at Jackson
State they was like, oh, youdefinitely need to go.
You know, come into accountingbecause you know business
administration, you know you'renot that.
But that was like you're notgoing to get a job, so go into
accounting and everything.
So but I always remembered whatmy teacher had told me when I
(09:01):
was at Heinz and what she wroteon my my paper because I had got
like a.
I got an A and she just wroteyou should be a certified public
accountant.
So I said, okay, cool, I'mgonna do that.
And so I transferred to JacksonState with majoring in
accounting.
So that's kind of how I gotinto accounting and I started
(09:21):
going through the process and Ihad to start learning about
interviewing, resume and youknow I had to learn about a
whole lot of different things.
Imagine that I was never taughtin community college, so I had
joined the Accounting Society atJackson State and through the
Accounting Society, it's thisorganization called NABA, which
(09:46):
is the National Association ofBlack Accountants.
So each year they have likethese regional conferences.
Where they have is basicallyrecruitment.
So you have a whole lot of thetop firms there, a lot of
recruiters there, top firmsthere, a lot of recruiters there
(10:08):
, and they make it like aprocess where you just submit
your resume and you can have awhole.
You know you can get interviewson the spot.
So it's basically like this bigthing.
So I attended there my junior, Ithink my senior year, because I
kind of got either junior orsenior year, I can't remember,
but since it was my first timecoming in, I really didn't know,
because I struggled a lot withtrying to understand
(10:31):
interviewing, so I didn't reallydo you know a whole lot of
different things.
You know, I didn't really get,you know, a job on the spot
because you could get one, andso after that I just left, like
I think that was during mysenior year.
I didn't get one, but I knew Iwas like, you know, I got to get
something.
(10:51):
So I went to graduate school,literally like the next two
months or something, because wehad like this thing we can go
straight on into it.
So I did that and I had astrategic plan of I was going to
go back to that conference andI had.
I went back to that conferenceand I redid my resume.
(11:14):
I started to, you know,building up, like I just started
practicing, you know, myinterviewing skills and I
submitted my resume and I wasable to get three interviews on
the spot going there.
So the regional is in Atlanta,so I had to go to Atlanta
because they had like thisregional conference.
(11:36):
So I I was able to get threeinterviews on the spot and one
of them was JP Morgan, and so sothey had JP Morgan had this
program which was called GlobalFinance Business Management
Analyst Program.
So it's a two-year program.
It's a rotational program whereyou get to work in a different
(11:58):
department within those twoyears to kind of get accustomed
to the bank and you essentiallya full-time employee.
You're working as an analyst.
So I was able to kind of gothrough there.
But long story short, that's howI was able to get my first
position.
So I interned with them overthe summer.
Then I was finishing up gradschool, but I was able to go.
(12:25):
I got a full-time position withthem.
So I had to move to Texas.
So that's kind of essentiallyhow I kind of got started.
It wasn't really in accounting,it was more so a little bit of
finance but a little bit oftechnology work too.
So it's kind of a mixture ofboth and I kind of got
introduced to asset and wealthmanagement, knowing about assets
(12:49):
and learn about more sotechnology and all those things.
So did that.
For two years I worked in theasset wealth management part and
then my last year I worked inthe commercial bank.
So it was still it was stillgood and I kind of got my
exposure.
I started to I kind of workedin the PPP loan process, I was
(13:10):
like I was doing differentlittle and um, it was good
exposure.
I really started developing myprofessional skills and after
those two years was up, duringmy second year because, know, it
was just a two-year rotationalprogram I had to figure out what
I had, what I wanted to do next, and so I knew I still wanted
(13:33):
to be a CPA.
So a CPA is basically to be one.
You have to take this four-partexam.
So I'm still I'm not a CPA yet,but it's something I'm still
kind of working towards.
But I decided that I need to goto a big, I need to go to a
(13:54):
accounting firm.
I want to get exposure, I wantto get back in like I wanted to
do tax, and that's how I went toDeloitte.
So Deloitte is like one of thetop accounting firms in the
world.
So during that time I was doingconsulting, but it was tax
technology consulting.
(14:14):
So I wasn't actually doing likethe tax preparation.
It was more so of I was helpingthe people who was actually
doing tax returns from atechnology standpoint.
So it was pretty cool.
It was a lot, a lot of work, alot of hours, and I was like you
know, this is not for me.
(14:35):
So I had to go.
So I had to go.
I finished up a year and I wasin a period where I was like you
know, I really need to reset.
And I started to say, you know,I moved back home and I was
able to.
Prior to moving back home, Iwas able to get a position at a
(14:57):
local accounting firm here whereI'm actually doing taxes.
So I'm actually doing, I'm atax associate for I'm a tax
preparer for constructionclients.
So construction clients thoseare my main clientele.
So basically I do theirbusiness returns and then I do
(15:19):
the individual's tax returnalongside with their family, so
just kind of like so individualbusiness tax returns for
construction clients.
So that's kind of the situationwhere I'm at right now Got you.
I hope it wasn't too long, but Ijust had to kind of no, no.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Thank you for sharing that.
And I love your journey, like Ilove that you took me from
graduating high school all theway up until now, and I love to
see your journey that got youall the way to where you are now
.
I just love the.
I love the journey.
I love, I love the journey.
I love that everything has ledyou to where you are now and I
(16:05):
feel like it's exactly whereyou're supposed to be like,
exactly where God wants you tobe right now, at this moment.
And it was beautiful to hear.
I mean, I loved it.
I love the story, I love again,I love the journey.
I love the journey of it all.
So we're discussing budgets andfinances.
I want to ask you like a basicquestion, because I know there
(16:27):
are some people that are goingto be listening who have no clue
.
Like I want to make sure that Ihit everybody, like people who
do everything and kind of know,and people that are starting
from scratch and have no ideaknow, and people that are
starting from scratch and haveno idea.
What is a budget for those whoare looking to want to start
(16:50):
budgeting to help their kids?
Like how you said, like withyour childhood, like your mom
taught you how to make money butas you got older, you had to
learn how to manage that money.
What is a budget?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
A budget is basically just to kind of to make it
plain, I like to say it's justbasically where you're telling
where your money is going, Likeit shows you where your money is
going.
It's a way of you organizingyour money.
That's what it is.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Okay, okay.
What app or tool do yourecommend to use to get started
on budgeting?
Okay, okay.
What app or tool do yourecommend to use to get started
on budgeting?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Okay, so I will say I personally don't use apps.
What I will really say theeasiest thing for someone who
really not, you know, just startfrom scratch, is to really do a
pen and paper really not, youknow, just start from scratch is
to really do a pen and paper.
You could do a pen and paper Ido, I do a mixture of both, but
(17:55):
I want to kind of.
Maybe it's best to do pen andpaper when you just starting out
, just to build the habit, andso you can get like a regular
notebook.
You can get a composition book.
I've seen some people do acomposition book, just create
your own, and they do have likesmall business out there.
(18:16):
They actually sell like budgetplanners and stuff.
But I kind of essentially justdo do it on my own.
So basically you um, write yourincome and then you put all
your expenses, so how much youmake in a month.
You put that in for your incomeand then you write out all your
(18:39):
expenses, so a little thingthat you know.
Maybe it helps if I could justsay kind of where you know what
I do, so what I'll do for agiven month, right, so I take
all my income, how much money doI make per month?
But I also split per check, sohow much I'm making this, this
(19:04):
paycheck, what are my expenses,and so I think even further from
that, so it won't get soconfusing.
You want to list out where youat financially.
So it's a um, a lady that Ifollow that kind of helped me a
little bit with a lot ofpersonal finance and it's her um
(19:29):
, I think.
She has a podcast it's calledbreak, break your budget and she
has a budget yep, break yourbudget and she has a lot of good
budgeting tips and she also hasbudgeting tools on there, like
digitally, that you know I evenmyself have purchased and I use.
But basically she came, shetalked about creating a
(19:54):
financial snapshot and it reallymakes sense.
So basically, you list out allyour income, all your expenses,
how much debt, list out everydebt you have and how much
savings that you have.
So once you kind of list allthose things, all your expenses,
you know every like per montheven, you know, just list
(20:19):
everything down on your sheet ofpaper to see where you at
financially, then you want tokind of create a goal to see,
okay, what is the goal?
I I love to do like yearlygoals and sometimes I do like
monthly goals that leads up tothat yearly goal, and so to
(20:40):
really make it simple, like forme, now I'm on a debt payoff
journey, so my goal now is topay off all my credit card debt,
and so what I essentially do isI have my income, my expenses,
and then I have my savings.
How much savings do I have?
(21:01):
So if you listen to a lot offinancial experts people called
experts or people who was in thefield of finance they always
talk about you, um, about havingan emergency fund.
So, which is very, veryimportant, and so that should be
(21:21):
.
If you don't have an emergencyfund, that should be your number
one.
Before you get into like any,before you start hitting out
dead aggressively investing andall it, emergency funds should
be number one.
So emergency fund, um, but,like for me, I would put up
(21:43):
about six to twelve months ofexpenses.
So you need to how much yourexpenses is every month?
And divided by, I say, threemonths, a lot of people say have
a three month emergency fund,or six month or 12.
So in my case, since I'm I'mreally I'm single, so I really
have to, I need like a six monthemergency fund and now that I
(22:08):
work to that extent, now I canpay off debt aggressively in
that sense.
But I also have to keep in mindthat you know I'm also back at
home.
I actually moved back with mymom so I don't have like rent or
anything like that, but I stillgive her money for a month.
But I, you know, just so peoplewon't you know what I'm saying
(22:29):
you got to really look at yoursituation first to see how you
can you know how much money.
I call it what is calleddiscretionary income.
So discretionary income is whenyou how much income you make and
minus your expenses, how muchmoney is left over, so that
(22:52):
money that's left over you canmake a decision of okay, am I
doing my emergency fund rightnow, or did I complete that, or
could I add this to a debt,basically.
So that's kind of a little bitbasic and I think, understanding
where you are financially firstand then, once you get where
(23:14):
you are financially first, thenyou go into okay, how much is my
monthly income to see, you know, making sure that this is how
much your paycheck is every timeyou get paid and you know at
least that's your expenses.
You kind of got to get a littlecreative, but that's kind of
(23:36):
where the basic is.
I don't want to confuse, butthat's kind of like basic, what
budgeting is and where I feellike if you start out.
That's where you need to figureout where you at financially,
how much income you bring in permonth and per paycheck, and
then the your expenses and thenfigure out OK, do you have a
(24:01):
mercy fund?
If you don't, then that needsto be a primary goal.
Then if you, if you do, thenyou need to go towards that.
So if you're done with theemergency fund, you're done with
that, then you can start goingto the next level, which could
be increasing my retirement orshort-term savings.
(24:26):
You can put more money towardsthat, but you don't want to
exhaust yourself trying to doeverything at once.
You got to pick one thing at atime, so that's kind of a little
bit, you know.
Hopefully that didn't makesense a little bit.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
So yeah, that was good, that helped me, thank you.
Okay, we're sticking on thetopic of budget.
How can consistency andmotivation be maintained with a
budget?
Because I've heard this talkedabout a lot, especially
sometimes when you bring about aconversation of a budget, which
(25:01):
I feel, like what you saidearlier, like you need to be
able to tell your money where togo, because if you don't tell
your money where to go, yourmoney won't tell you.
I mean, it's just either or it'sone way or the other.
But how can consistency andmotivation be maintained with a
budget?
(25:21):
Because a lot of people usuallythe people who don't want to do
a budget is not just becausethey don't want to manage their
money or they don't want to telltheir money where to go.
It's because they don't want tobe constrained or they don't
want to be able to not do thethings that they want to do.
How can you keep thatconsistency and that motivation
(25:46):
for that person that that'sdoing the budget but not
necessarily excited about it?
Like, how can you keep somebodymotivated to do a budget and
stay consistent with it?
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I would say they would need to look at their goal
.
That's number one.
What I do, I always look at mygoal.
Where do you want to be um,like if you did a year ago?
Where do you want, really want,to be um at that place?
You know, let's say, pay off,you know all your credit card
(26:22):
debt or you know, or did yougive up along the way?
So I say a good motivationfactor is to also look at your
goal, but also to keep in mind,you know we kind of nearing a
recession you also gotta thinkabout, think about you know,
think about the times where itwas really tough.
(26:44):
You know where they say youknow you lost money or you did
something.
You don't want to go back tothat place, and so that's also
motivating a lot of people.
That's also don't want to goback so that's another thing too
, and those are like literallythe best, the, the best, um, you
(27:07):
know answers.
I could really give for that,because I remember times where
you know, I think back timeswhere you know I had, like I may
have lost some money or Icouldn't do something because I,
you know, I was doing paycheckto paycheck, and I remember
those times and I never want tobe in that kind of situation
again, and so that's definitelymotivating, especially because
(27:32):
you don't want to be in the sameposition that you once were in.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Yeah, that's real, you talk it, you talk it, you
talk it.
Let me ask you this because Iwant to now bring bring the the
kids and the family, because Iasked you about your childhood
growing up how early shouldparents teach their children
about budgeting, saving money,discussing finances etc.
(28:01):
And where should we begin um,so that it is not overwhelming?
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I would say to teach kids when I was younger maybe I
was probably about like maybenine or ten, I would say I don't
think it could be in middleschool kind of, I feel like when
they able to kind of comprehenda little bit more of things
(28:32):
maybe you can kind of teach thema little bit of basic things,
of giving them a balance andsaying like, okay, we go to this
store, you know, teaching themthe value of, you know, a dollar
and kind of you know it mayhave to be bit by bit because
you don't want to over, like howyou say, overwhelm them, but
(28:53):
maybe it could be as simple asgoing, you know, to the store
and giving them, you know,telling them to use their own,
the money, you know, theallowance and stuff, and tell
them, you know, get what youwant and kind of teach them,
examine them, you know, aboutthe cost of certain things.
You, you know, and you know youcan't get this one.
Maybe you can get this rightnow you can't get that, you know
(29:14):
, just kind of bit by bitbecause you know I, you know
they still a child andeverything like that.
But maybe that's just a stepbecause you know you don't want
to start introducing them totaxes you like.
Oh, you got to pay taxes.
You don't want to do all that,but I think you know that's
definitely something I feel likeschool definitely is not going
(29:39):
to teach them that and maybethis is something a parent you
know have to be creative andjust you know doing their own.
I call it their own curriculumto kind of teaching their just
you know doing their own.
I'll call it their owncurriculum to kind of teaching
their kids.
You know about.
You know money, you know givingthem an allowance and you know
teaching them about.
You know personal finance, youknow budgeting and letting them
(30:02):
create their own little budget.
You know what, you know whatstuff kind of go just bit by bit
.
You know, maybe not.
You know, let them understandjust the basics of like a dollar
and you know money management,just like little basic things,
so they can kind of build theirunderstanding.
And if they grow theirdiscipline then they'll, you
(30:24):
know, they'll teach them,they'll stay with them.
Then you kind of go to the nextstep a little bit.
You know that's kind of likethe whole thing wasn't kind of
all over the place, but it'sjust like bit by bit.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Yeah, I get it.
I get it.
Yeah, in in research that I'vedone, from books I read or
podcasts that I've listened to,most people have different views
of money.
What do you think helps set usup for success in relationships
(31:00):
if we don't view finances thesame way Like if you're in a
relationship or marriage and youguys have completely different
views around finances andbudgeting and taxes or whatever
anything around money.
What do you think could helpset us up for success?
(31:21):
Because I'm sure you've workedwith couples doing taxes, and so
what do you think would helpset us up for success when we
don't view it the same way?
Speaker 3 (31:33):
um, I would start off saying this finance, I feel
like, is a very important topicand, yeah, especially in a, you
know, a relationship, and I feellike both parties, you know,
have to be on a common ground,because if one person is saying
(31:56):
this and another person don'tbelieve in that and they do
something else, your money'saround the place and so it
becomes disorganized and thatcould cause a strain.
It could probably really causea strain, but I would say, maybe
get a little creative with it.
Got to meet, I guess, on youknow compromise and kind of see,
(32:19):
you know, maybe taking a datenight or something to kind of
like talk about.
Okay, you know, go have dinnerand you know when I did this,
talk about you know what, youknow what's the money go that we
have.
You know, like I mentioned,like where we are financially,
(32:39):
can we do to improve ourfinances in a sense?
So I think compromise, you knowboth parties have to meet on it,
but I also think maybe it is aconversation because you know
one person definitely needs toboth.
(33:00):
You know both parties reallyneed to meet on a common ground,
because if you guys are on thesame level, it could be more, so
like we could use one income topay our debt and the other one
to save and invest.
You can get creative with it,but if both parties don know it
(33:20):
can, it can really cause a youknow rift in the you know the
relationship.
I think that is a definitelylike a a good conversation to
have to see like where, where dowe see see ourself in the next
year or two from a financialstandpoint?
(33:42):
you know, so that's kind of like, I think, really having a
conversation, you know a meeting.
I hate to say like a I don'twant to call it like a financial
, but it is you know, to reallysee, you know, to really have a
serious talk and say like, youknow, what can we do to improve?
(34:04):
You know our financialsituation.
You know where.
You know, do we both?
You know where we arefinancially.
How much debt do we have?
How much do we have in aemergency fund?
You know.
You know you know your wholefamily dynamic.
You know what can you do toimprove, know the fun your, you
(34:25):
guys, financial situation.
You know creating sinking funds, which is like saving um,
saving for upcoming expenses.
For you know, especially if youhad kids, you know back to
school, sinking fund kidsclothes.
You know organizing the moneyand say like, okay, let's come
to a agreement on one thing,then we can kind of, you know,
(34:49):
tap into other things.
Maybe you guys do a vacationper year.
You know you got to save up forthat.
You know vacation you got.
There's certain things that hasto be done to get to that main
goal.
So if both is not on the samepage, there's a conversation
that definitely has to be had.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Amen, that was good.
That was good.
What I'm hearing you say is weneed to have a conversation.
Even though we view money orfinances differently, even
though we view money or financesdifferently our goal, we have a
common goal.
Our goal is the same.
Our views are different, whichmeans the way we get to the goal
(35:34):
may be different, we may dothings differently, but our goal
is the same.
So we need to communicate andhave a conversation about how
we're going to compromise to getto this goal.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
I'm with you.
That's good.
I'm with you.
I'm with you.
I'm with you Because we can geton the same page, because we
know that we are basically onthe same team, because our goal
is the same we want to pay ouroff debt.
We want to go on this vacation.
We want to get whatever thekids need.
Whatever that goal is, our goalis the same.
(36:11):
So because we view moneydifferent, we may have different
ways of going about it.
Of getting there.
But if we talk about it andcompromise and have a
conversation about it, werealize that our goal is the
same.
You don't want somethingdifferent than I do.
We want the same thing, andthat's how we can compromise,
because we realize that we wantthe same thing.
(36:31):
We're on the same thing.
Okie dokie, good stuff, grace,good stuff.
Okay, now the next question.
What's something that youpersonally learned about
finances later in your adultyears that you wish you would
have known sooner?
Speaker 3 (36:51):
I wish I would have built an emergency fund sooner
in my early days, uh, ratherthan learning about a little
later.
See, saving was already kind ofpart of my uh journey, but not
the emergency fund aspect of it,and I think if I would have
learned early on, especiallywhen I was like doing my time at
(37:13):
well Jackson State just startedwith the little man that I had.
Maybe, you know, I could havebeen better off like about I'll
say about three years ago, butthat that was one thing, that's
one thing that's a good one thatis a good one.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Um, this is my last question before we close out if
you could offer three pieces ofadvice so just give you a moment
to think about it if you couldoffer three pieces of advice to
help someone who may bestruggling in the area of
finances or just unsure where tostart?
(37:55):
What would you say?
pieces of advice and it could beas simple or as basic, or you
can expand whatever.
If you could just give themthree pieces of advice something
that you may have wished youwould have heard coming into
finances, starting off as anadult, going out into the world,
(38:19):
what's three pieces of adviceyou would offer to them?
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Okay.
One I would say if you have ajob and you don't understand
anything about finance oranything, you're still kind of
learning.
Start just, you know, savingwhat you can.
That's number one.
I would say save what you can.
Number two I would say say isto learn how to budget.
(38:50):
Learn how to budget we in a dayand age where it's a countless
of you know tutorials and loudthings, especially on youtube
where they teaching aboutbudgeting and stuff.
So I don't think it's an excuseto not know because you have a
whole lot of free content outthere about it.
But I would say it can getoverwhelming because listening
(39:15):
to too many people and that canalso be a strain for you because
you can't really listen toeverybody, because everybody
they say one thing and somebodyteach you something.
So it is a part of you doingyour own research on it.
But saving what you can,learning how to budget.
And the third piece of advice Iwould say I would say do your
(39:42):
research.
That's that's what this do yourown personal research, do your
own personal research got it.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
This was so good.
Thank you so much for yourwisdom on budgets and finances.
I really really do appreciateyou agreeing to come on and talk
with me today.
This has been awesome.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
Thank you.
I'm glad I was able to, youknow, be on the show and I'm
hoping hopefully somebody wasable to get something.
I'm hoping I'm not like toomuch all around the place, but
I'm trying to.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
I don't know, ma'am, you have definitely.
I don't know, ma'am, you havedefinitely dropped some jams
today.
Honey, you have definitelydropped some jams.
If you guys have any questionsregarding anything that we
discussed today, you can reachbrianna via email brianna if you
would like to share your emailfor the girls to reach you yeah,
sure.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
So it's brianna dear, so it's b-r-e-o-n-n-a d-e-a-r
at gmailcom.
I also want to mention back tothose three advices.
I would kind of want to changethat.
I want to say learn, learnbudgeting.
Then say then saving, thendoing your own research.
I had to mention that.
(41:04):
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Again, great advice, Seriously great advice.
Thank you so much for joiningme again on today.
You have given some greatadvice and some great gems on
today.
Thank you to my listeners.
I hope you guys have enjoyedtoday's episode with our amazing
guest, Ms Breonna Deer.
Remember I love you, but Godloves you so much more.
(41:32):
And today was our season finalefor season eight and we will
see you guys in a couple ofmonths for season nine.
All right, guys, Bye.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
I hope you guys have enjoyed Follow me on Facebook at
Demo with Mo.
If you have any questions youwould like answered here live on
my podcast, email them to me atdemow with mo at gmailcom.
That's D-E-M-O-W-I-T-H-M-O atgmailcom.
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