April 9, 2024 • 19 mins
It's National Financial Capabilities Month, and of course, as your financial guide, I have some new insight to share with ya'll! Welcome back to The Mindfully Rich Podcast, your weekly dose of financial wisdom with a twist!
Join me, your host, Gina RichE Richardson, as I explore real-life situations and offer practical advice to help you improve your relationship with money and build better financial habits.
In this episode, I'll dive into a crucial question: Is the check engine light on in your finances? Drawing inspiration from a recent experience with her car's warning light, I'll relate this to the importance of regular maintenance checks for vehicles and finances. Just as a check engine light alerts us to potential issues under the hood, specific symptoms in our finances indicate the need for immediate attention.
From living paycheck to paycheck and accumulating credit card debt to experiencing stress and anxiety about finances, I'll be identifying common triggers that signal financial distress. She emphasizes the importance of promptly addressing these warning signs to prevent further damage, likening financial health to maintaining a car engine.
Through candid discussion and relatable anecdotes, I encourage listeners to confront financial challenges head-on and seek tailored solutions for their unique situations. Join her as she unpacks the complexities of personal finance and offers insights to help you navigate your financial journey with confidence and resilience.
Tune in to The Mindfully Rich Podcast for valuable tips, empowering conversations, and a fresh perspective on achieving financial well-being.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Mindfully
Rich podcast, your weekly lookat life in finances with a twist
, where we talk about improvingyour overall relationship with
money and building betterfinancial habits.
On each episode, I'll discussreal life situations and give
y'all practical advice.
The point of this podcast is tohelp you stay in your financial
(00:22):
lane so you won't end up broke.
I'm the creator and host, ginaRitchie Richardson.
Now let's jump into today'sconversation.
What's up y'all and welcomeback.
Y'all already know that I'm agratitude person, so got to
start the episode off thankingy'all, thank you, thank you,
thank you.
Y'all was really listening.
Okay, y'all must be excitedthat your girl is back.
(00:42):
Okay, appreciate that.
And so, for all of y'all wasreally listening.
Okay, y'all must be excitedthat your girl is back.
Okay, appreciate that.
And so, for all y'all that'slistening, stay a little while
while you're here, make sure youlisten and make sure you share.
For those of y'all that are new, you don't know this, but y'all
, my marketing team, okay, thisis a one woman show over here,
so y'all make sure you spreadthis episode far and wide.
Okay, tell a friend to tell afriend.
(01:03):
Get in your circles, let themknow.
Y'all listening to theMindfully Rich podcast.
What's up?
Okay, Share it on your socialmedias, do all of the things,
okay, and then what you're goingto do next week, you come on
back so you can listen again.
Okay, that's the cycle.
That's what we do over here.
Okay, and so, once again, realtalk.
(01:23):
Without y'all listening, Iwouldn't have an audience, and
y'all are such a supportiveaudience.
I've gotten a lot of praise fromlots of people just saying that
they were thankful that thepodcast is back.
Hearing the episodes just takesthem back.
I mean, all of the things.
It just gave me all the warmand fuzzies, and so thank you to
all of y'all who have beenreaching out, and so please know
(01:43):
that I, to all of y'all whohave been reaching out, and so
please know that I see all ofthe things.
Don't forget to write a review.
If you love the podcast, makesure you write a review to let
everybody else know that youlove it.
So whatever platform you'relistening on, you can go ahead
and write a review on thatparticular platform.
Okay, All right, y'all, it isNational Financial Capacities
(02:07):
Month.
I'm sorry, I said capacities.
I ain't doing this over.
It's National FinancialCapabilities Month.
Okay, the reason why I'mstumbling over it is because for
20 years it's been NationalFinancial Literacy Month, and so
that word literacy makes somepeople feel a certain type of
way, and so it changed toNational Financial Capabilities
(02:29):
Month, and so, basically, justequipping people with the
awareness of finances, educatingthem on all of the things
financial giving, resources,things of that sort that's what
this month is intended to do,even though we talk about money
and finance all the time.
Okay, we don't need a month todo it.
Okay, but I decided for thismonth I wanted to kind of dive
(02:51):
into some topics that aren'tnormally highlighted in your
normal, let's say, quote unquote, national financial
capabilities month type of talk.
Okay, you're used to yourbudget, your spending money,
credit.
We're going to get into some ofthose things, but I'm going to
talk about it in a different way.
I'm excited to jump intotoday's episode.
(03:15):
Let's go ahead and move on intoour mindful money moment.
For those of y'all that are new,I started this podcast with a
music title inspiration.
So what I would do, because Ilove music, I would take a title
of a song and use that as thetopic point for what we talk
about.
So I don't have one for thisweek.
It's cool, though.
The title itself sells theepisode, okay.
(03:37):
So the question that I amposing to y'all for our topic
today is is the check enginelight on in your finances?
Okay, okay, I told y'all right,okay, all of y'all gags.
Y'all was like, right, I know,I know it's juicy, and so what
made me think of this was causeI had a whole different episode
(04:00):
planned, but I was like, nope,forget all that.
I'm like the pastors when theygot a whole sermon ready, but
some in the room felt different.
Okay, there was a differentenergy and the Holy Spirit moved
.
Okay, that's what happened withme, okay.
So Sunday I was coming homefrom church and my check engine
light came on and I was like, ah, what are you doing?
(04:21):
Why are you on?
Okay, and so some backstory.
My car is a 2016 and I've hadher for a minute, okay, and this
is the longest car that I'vekept, cause I normally would
switch cars like every two tothree years.
Okay, but this one I loved.
(04:42):
I don't know what it is.
My Impala is my baby.
Okay, I never named her, butshe's a she, but she a roughneck
she, okay, like she a me.
Okay, she also from Chicago,too okay.
And so we be riding.
We be riding okay, and shedidn't been with me for a long
(05:06):
time and didn't been through allof my financial, my financial
and my life transitions,heartaches, pains, all of the
things and she still look good.
And so I had to know that I havean almost eight-year-old car,
that something was going tostart happening, just because
with cars, you have maintenanceneeds that are going to come up
(05:30):
with your cars.
And so when the check enginelight came on, I was like dang.
And so I immediately took itover to AutoZone.
Just because I don't play withcheck engine lights, okay, this
thing got to take me from pointA to point B.
I don't play around with that.
Okay, that ain't what we doingover here, that ain't, that
ain't how we get down.
So I make sure that all ofthose needs of something.
(05:50):
If a light pop up, I don't careif it's a light, okay, we need
to, we need to go get it checked, we need to figure it out, all
right.
And so I went and got adiagnosis from AutoZone and I
found out what it was.
So this is Sunday, not too manyrepair shops.
I'm like hell.
(06:12):
I don't think it's a lot ofanything open on Sundays for
repairs.
So I waited until this morning,and so, early this morning,
seven o'clock, I go ahead andget with Chevy.
Okay and sad note, I'm one ofthose people that always goes to
the dealership.
I don't know what it is,because I bought my car brand
new.
I started off with thedealership.
I'm just continuing to go tothe dealership because I ain't
never had no problems.
Now let me tell you whathappened when I veered off from
the dealership and people waslike Ooh, go to like a regular
(06:35):
repair shop, blah, blah, blah.
Let me tell you what happenedwhen I did that.
I had an issue.
I went it was supposed to be asmall issue, right, it was a
$250 issue, okay.
And so what happened was whenthat happened.
I took the car there and I don'tknow what it was, but
(06:56):
everything went wrong after that.
I was like wait a minute, waita minute.
The thing that needed to befixed wasn't fixed because the
check engine light had came on.
For that as well and I'm tryingto remember, like I'm trying to
make sure I got my words rightthe check engine light ended up
(07:17):
coming on again.
I took it back to be diagnosedin the same problem that they
said that they had fixed wasn'tfixed.
So then, when I took it back,for them to look at it again,
which is wasting my time I am aperson you listen to this
podcast long enough.
I do not like my time wasted.
Okay, my time is money, allright.
And so the same issue waspopping up.
They checked and they said, oh,the part that we put on there
was faulty.
How you put a faulty part onthere.
When you told me you charged mefor a brand new part.
(07:39):
Okay, so what is all that about?
All right, and so making me godays without my car, it was just
like a lot.
And so when I go to thedealership, I don't have to
worry about all that.
It's going to be more.
Yes, I get that, but I pay forconvenience.
I'm a person that pays forconvenience, unless y'all got a
repair shop and they, on point,send them to me.
(07:59):
But right now I ain't been ableto find one, and so, because of
that dealership, we go, allright.
And so took it to thedealership.
Let it be to get.
I already got the diagnosis,but they still got to check it,
as they say.
I think that's just another wayto charge me some more money.
But anyways, I was like I justneed it repaired, fix it now,
okay.
And so thinking about that mademe think about our finances, and
(08:24):
it made me think about are yourfinances in dire need of a
checkup?
Are your finances showing youthat a check engine light is on
right now?
And y'all are probably like,okay, so what does that look
like?
What does that look like in myfinances when the check engine
light is on?
So, just like in a car, thecheck engine light is indicating
(08:46):
that there is potential issuesunder the hood.
So several symptoms can begoing on right now, okay, and
just like with the car, yourfinances can have some symptoms
as well.
And so, just because I like tobe real with y'all, because we a
family okay, it's just y'alland me.
Right now, we're going to be.
Let's be real with ourselves.
Okay, ain't nobody looking atthis, but you, you just
(09:08):
listening, okay.
And so some of those triggersand those symptoms that are
indicating that your financialcheck engine light is on is, if
you're living paycheck topaycheck, y'all probably be like
, ooh, you better get off myneck right now, girl.
Okay, this is going to be oneof them episodes.
Okay, it's going to feel hot upin here.
(09:28):
Okay, it's going to feel hot.
And so I've been doing someresearch on paycheck to paycheck
.
And because y'all know, I'm acertified financial educator, so
I'm always out and I dofinancial educational workshops
for people of different incomebrackets, and so I get a chance
to talk to people who may notmake a lot of money and those
(09:48):
people who make a lot of moneyon paper but they're not feeling
it in their actual finances.
I also am a financial guide.
I love that word better than acoach.
I'm a guide, so I work withpeople, whether that's
one-on-one or I'm working withcouples so that they can get
diagnosis and solutions to theirproblems that are going on and
(10:09):
I don't like to call themproblems to the things, to the
symptoms and triggers let's saythat right, because problems
always feel like such a hardword to the issues that are
going on in their finances.
And so I can be a guide in thataspect.
And so, living paycheck topaycheck.
There's more to this.
Just because life is expensiveand a lot of people they're not
(10:31):
going to admit that to you,they're not going to tell you
that they live in paycheck topaycheck.
We all got different lifestylesthat we have to fund, and so I
saw a recent study that showedthat there are more people who
are making over $100,000 who areliving paycheck to paycheck.
I don't have the percentage atthis point.
I was going to make somethingup and y'all probably would have
(10:51):
believed it, but because I'msuch a fat person, I'm not going
to say it, but I believe thepercentage was somewhere between
20 and 40%.
That's a lot of people and Iknow under a hundred percent
that percentage was up.
So those people who are makingunder a hundred percent, I
believe that percentage wassomewhere, but it was over 50,
(11:13):
but under 70.
So that's still a lot of peoplewho are living paycheck to
paycheck.
All right, and this comes fromlife can happen.
If you listen to the lastepisode talked about different
financial seasons, going fromtransitional all the way up to
your harvest season.
That transitional season, child, that's something okay.
(11:35):
Something didn't happen in yourlife, okay.
Job loss, loss of some sort,whether that's people, job,
career, whatever it is right, Iget it.
Whatever the situation is, ifyou're living paycheck to
paycheck and you're in it forwhatever reason, that is a
trigger and that is a symptomthat your financial check engine
(11:55):
light is on, all right.
So another trigger is are youtaking on more credit card debt?
Now, this can be debt ingeneral, okay, because you could
be going out getting personalloans, but are you taking on
more credit card debt?
And so something that happenswhen you're living paycheck to
paycheck.
You normally don't have enoughmoney to pay for your normal
(12:15):
living and your lifestyle, andso lots of people they start
using their credit cards tosupplement their everyday
expenses, their everyday debts,and so that's when you start
robbing Peter to pay Paul,because you actually robbing
yourself.
And so if this is touching thenerve and if this is feeling
like you, okay, this is asymptom that your check engine
light is on, all right.
(12:37):
So the next one is is yourchecking account starting to be
overdrawn more often?
Y'all know what I'm talkingabout.
I didn't been there before.
I ain't been there in a while,but I was there before, okay.
So I know, living paycheck topaycheck money looking funny,
everything not right, and youstart being overdrawn.
(12:58):
You start needing extra moniesto pay for those bills that are
coming out of your accountbecause you don't have the money
in there.
You wait until your nextpaycheck, you waiting for some
more dollars to hit the accountbefore you can pay, but you're
taking your account, overdrawingit, essentially so that you can
get the things that you need toget paid paid for.
(13:19):
Now, while you're goingoverdrawn, you're getting all
these fees in addition to theoverdrawn that you're having,
and so let me just tell you thisthere is no judgment here.
We are here to talk about it sowe can get to what are those
solutions?
All right, but if you arenoticing that you're overdrawing
your checking account a littlebit more, that's giving you a
(13:42):
sign that your check enginelight is on, all right.
Next, is your credit score goingdown.
Now, all right Credit scores.
They start to go down when westart to accumulate more debt on
our credit cards.
So when we start keepingbalances on our credit cards and
those balances they get upthere, that means that score is
(14:02):
now going to start droppingbecause you're keeping more debt
on those actual cards.
Or are you not paying yourdebts on time Because the debts
that are listed on your creditreport your credit cards,
personal loans, student loans,mortgages, auto loans, all of
the things that you get I thinkthere's some of those like
(14:22):
affirms, and some of thosethings are listed on your credit
report as well.
Whatever is a bill that islisted on your credit report, if
you're not paying it, it is nowbeing listed as 30, 60, 90, 120
, or 150 days past due.
Are you at a point where yourscore is going down because of
one of those things arehappening?
And if you are, then that meansyour check engine light is on
(14:47):
All right.
Another symptom are you unableto save for your retirement,
like you want to start savingfor your future, but you feel
like you need every single pennyfrom your paycheck right now.
I need every penny right now.
You feel that you don't have noroom so that you're even able
to save for your retirement, oryou feel that there is no room
(15:10):
for you to save period.
You're unable to pay yourselffirst.
If you're not, then your checkengine light is on.
If stress and anxiety isbuilding up, those levels are
extra high and you know it'sbecause of your financial
situation your check enginelight is on.
And lastly, if you are avoidingcollection calls, if you are
(15:33):
avoiding going to get the mailbecause you're getting something
in the mail that's showing thatyou passed due, you don't want
the people to find you.
You're just like, oh my God,this is so overwhelming, I can't
do this.
If you are in that situation,your check engine light is on in
your finances, and what we'redoing now is just pointing it
out.
(15:53):
These are not all the symptoms,because there could be some
other things that's going on inyour life.
We are all unique.
There can be some other thingsthat are going on that are
indicating that your checkengine light is on, and that's
the one thing I can tell youabout check engine light, child.
Okay, you can only run with acheck engine light on for so
long.
(16:13):
After that, what's going tohappen?
Okay, that engine going to stop, and what's going to happen to
you If you continue in thesesituations that I've named, you
going to stop.
It's going to get worse, andcontinue to get worse until you
do something about it.
All right, so for some of y'allout there who don't know how I
talk, I know worse is not a word.
(16:35):
Okay, I'm trying to describethe situation, okay, and so this
is the thing.
I'm trying to bring some lightto this.
These are some serious symptomsthat will require a solution
quickly, okay, and so I want tomake sure that y'all understand
the severity of your financialcheck engine light and when it's
(16:57):
on, and recognize that it's on,because I know we good at lying
to ourselves, okay, if we'regoing to lie to somebody that is
on, because I know we good atlying to ourselves, okay, if
we're going to lie to somebody,we're going to lie to ourselves,
real good.
But what I want you to do okay,I'm your money girl I want to
make sure that you are payingattention to these things that
are happening in your financesso that you can know when your
financial check engine light ison, when it's time for you to
(17:21):
make a change in your life.
Okay, our finances are socomplex.
I understand that.
That's just like if 50 of ushad our check engine lights on
right now, there could be 50different diagnosis.
There could be 50 differentsolutions for us to solve it.
So everybody is unique, allright.
So I want you to know that whatsomebody else does for their
(17:41):
check engine light may not bethe same solution for you in
your life.
We're going to get into somesolutions on the next episode,
ok, this is to bring y'all back.
But then also, I want to alsoadd this and I've been saying
this a lot this year.
I want all of us to win in ourfinances.
If you need help, you want toseek help.
(18:02):
I tell y'all all the time.
I am a financial guide.
I have been in this financialworld for the last 17 years.
I am booking clients now, ifyou need your girl to come out,
do a workshop for whoever it is,whoever your audience is.
You want to get thatpreventative, that awareness out
there about financial wellnessand how to continue to maintain
(18:23):
your financial well-being.
Or you want me to talk aboutfinancial wellness and how to
continue to maintain yourfinancial wellbeing.
Or you want me to talk aboutfinancial check engine lights?
Okay, your girl is there, allright.
Whatever you need, y'all makesure you check out my website
that is, I am mindfully richcomso that way you can see where
you book.
I want to make sure that we aredoing something about our
finances this year.
We are not just sitting hereriding with check engine lights
(18:44):
on.
We doing something about it, wegetting some solutions, okay.
And so this is part one of thefinancial check engine light.
Part two is coming up next week.
It's already recorded.
Okay, I did part two first.
I had to.
I ended up having to make thisinto two parts, and so it's
already recorded.
So next week you will get thenext part, so you make sure that
(19:05):
you stay tuned.
I don't want to start rambling,so that's all I got, and got no
more, and until next time whenI hit y'all with another one.
Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Mindfully
Rich podcast, your weekly lookat life in finances with a twist
, where we talk about improvingyour overall relationship with
money and building betterfinancial habits.
On each episode, I'll discussreal life situations and give
y'all practical advice.
The point of this podcast is tohelp you stay in your financial
(00:22):
lane so you won't end up broke.
I'm the creator and host, ginaRitchie Richardson.
Now let's jump into today'sconversation.
What's up y'all and welcomeback.
Y'all already know that I'm agratitude person, so got to
start the episode off thankingy'all, thank you, thank you,
thank you.
Y'all was really listening.
Okay, y'all must be excitedthat your girl is back.
(00:42):
Okay, appreciate that.
And so, for all of y'all wasreally listening.
Okay, y'all must be excitedthat your girl is back.
Okay, appreciate that.
And so, for all y'all that'slistening, stay a little while
while you're here, make sure youlisten and make sure you share.
For those of y'all that are new, you don't know this, but y'all
, my marketing team, okay, thisis a one woman show over here,
so y'all make sure you spreadthis episode far and wide.
Okay, tell a friend to tell afriend.
(01:03):
Get in your circles, let themknow.
Y'all listening to theMindfully Rich podcast.
What's up?
Okay, Share it on your socialmedias, do all of the things,
okay, and then what you're goingto do next week, you come on
back so you can listen again.
Okay, that's the cycle.
That's what we do over here.
Okay, and so, once again, realtalk.
(01:23):
Without y'all listening, Iwouldn't have an audience, and
y'all are such a supportiveaudience.
I've gotten a lot of praise fromlots of people just saying that
they were thankful that thepodcast is back.
Hearing the episodes just takesthem back.
I mean, all of the things.
It just gave me all the warmand fuzzies, and so thank you to
all of y'all who have beenreaching out, and so please know
(01:43):
that I, to all of y'all whohave been reaching out, and so
please know that I see all ofthe things.
Don't forget to write a review.
If you love the podcast, makesure you write a review to let
everybody else know that youlove it.
So whatever platform you'relistening on, you can go ahead
and write a review on thatparticular platform.
Okay, All right, y'all, it isNational Financial Capacities
(02:07):
Month.
I'm sorry, I said capacities.
I ain't doing this over.
It's National FinancialCapabilities Month.
Okay, the reason why I'mstumbling over it is because for
20 years it's been NationalFinancial Literacy Month, and so
that word literacy makes somepeople feel a certain type of
way, and so it changed toNational Financial Capabilities
(02:29):
Month, and so, basically, justequipping people with the
awareness of finances, educatingthem on all of the things
financial giving, resources,things of that sort that's what
this month is intended to do,even though we talk about money
and finance all the time.
Okay, we don't need a month todo it.
Okay, but I decided for thismonth I wanted to kind of dive
(02:51):
into some topics that aren'tnormally highlighted in your
normal, let's say, quote unquote, national financial
capabilities month type of talk.
Okay, you're used to yourbudget, your spending money,
credit.
We're going to get into some ofthose things, but I'm going to
talk about it in a different way.
I'm excited to jump intotoday's episode.
(03:15):
Let's go ahead and move on intoour mindful money moment.
For those of y'all that are new,I started this podcast with a
music title inspiration.
So what I would do, because Ilove music, I would take a title
of a song and use that as thetopic point for what we talk
about.
So I don't have one for thisweek.
It's cool, though.
The title itself sells theepisode, okay.
(03:37):
So the question that I amposing to y'all for our topic
today is is the check enginelight on in your finances?
Okay, okay, I told y'all right,okay, all of y'all gags.
Y'all was like, right, I know,I know it's juicy, and so what
made me think of this was causeI had a whole different episode
(04:00):
planned, but I was like, nope,forget all that.
I'm like the pastors when theygot a whole sermon ready, but
some in the room felt different.
Okay, there was a differentenergy and the Holy Spirit moved
.
Okay, that's what happened withme, okay.
So Sunday I was coming homefrom church and my check engine
light came on and I was like, ah, what are you doing?
(04:21):
Why are you on?
Okay, and so some backstory.
My car is a 2016 and I've hadher for a minute, okay, and this
is the longest car that I'vekept, cause I normally would
switch cars like every two tothree years.
Okay, but this one I loved.
(04:42):
I don't know what it is.
My Impala is my baby.
Okay, I never named her, butshe's a she, but she a roughneck
she, okay, like she a me.
Okay, she also from Chicago,too okay.
And so we be riding.
We be riding okay, and shedidn't been with me for a long
(05:06):
time and didn't been through allof my financial, my financial
and my life transitions,heartaches, pains, all of the
things and she still look good.
And so I had to know that I havean almost eight-year-old car,
that something was going tostart happening, just because
with cars, you have maintenanceneeds that are going to come up
(05:30):
with your cars.
And so when the check enginelight came on, I was like dang.
And so I immediately took itover to AutoZone.
Just because I don't play withcheck engine lights, okay, this
thing got to take me from pointA to point B.
I don't play around with that.
Okay, that ain't what we doingover here, that ain't, that
ain't how we get down.
So I make sure that all ofthose needs of something.
(05:50):
If a light pop up, I don't careif it's a light, okay, we need
to, we need to go get it checked, we need to figure it out, all
right.
And so I went and got adiagnosis from AutoZone and I
found out what it was.
So this is Sunday, not too manyrepair shops.
I'm like hell.
(06:12):
I don't think it's a lot ofanything open on Sundays for
repairs.
So I waited until this morning,and so, early this morning,
seven o'clock, I go ahead andget with Chevy.
Okay and sad note, I'm one ofthose people that always goes to
the dealership.
I don't know what it is,because I bought my car brand
new.
I started off with thedealership.
I'm just continuing to go tothe dealership because I ain't
never had no problems.
Now let me tell you whathappened when I veered off from
the dealership and people waslike Ooh, go to like a regular
(06:35):
repair shop, blah, blah, blah.
Let me tell you what happenedwhen I did that.
I had an issue.
I went it was supposed to be asmall issue, right, it was a
$250 issue, okay.
And so what happened was whenthat happened.
I took the car there and I don'tknow what it was, but
(06:56):
everything went wrong after that.
I was like wait a minute, waita minute.
The thing that needed to befixed wasn't fixed because the
check engine light had came on.
For that as well and I'm tryingto remember, like I'm trying to
make sure I got my words rightthe check engine light ended up
(07:17):
coming on again.
I took it back to be diagnosedin the same problem that they
said that they had fixed wasn'tfixed.
So then, when I took it back,for them to look at it again,
which is wasting my time I am aperson you listen to this
podcast long enough.
I do not like my time wasted.
Okay, my time is money, allright.
And so the same issue waspopping up.
They checked and they said, oh,the part that we put on there
was faulty.
How you put a faulty part onthere.
When you told me you charged mefor a brand new part.
(07:39):
Okay, so what is all that about?
All right, and so making me godays without my car, it was just
like a lot.
And so when I go to thedealership, I don't have to
worry about all that.
It's going to be more.
Yes, I get that, but I pay forconvenience.
I'm a person that pays forconvenience, unless y'all got a
repair shop and they, on point,send them to me.
(07:59):
But right now I ain't been ableto find one, and so, because of
that dealership, we go, allright.
And so took it to thedealership.
Let it be to get.
I already got the diagnosis,but they still got to check it,
as they say.
I think that's just another wayto charge me some more money.
But anyways, I was like I justneed it repaired, fix it now,
okay.
And so thinking about that mademe think about our finances, and
(08:24):
it made me think about are yourfinances in dire need of a
checkup?
Are your finances showing youthat a check engine light is on
right now?
And y'all are probably like,okay, so what does that look
like?
What does that look like in myfinances when the check engine
light is on?
So, just like in a car, thecheck engine light is indicating
(08:46):
that there is potential issuesunder the hood.
So several symptoms can begoing on right now, okay, and
just like with the car, yourfinances can have some symptoms
as well.
And so, just because I like tobe real with y'all, because we a
family okay, it's just y'alland me.
Right now, we're going to be.
Let's be real with ourselves.
Okay, ain't nobody looking atthis, but you, you just
(09:08):
listening, okay.
And so some of those triggersand those symptoms that are
indicating that your financialcheck engine light is on is, if
you're living paycheck topaycheck, y'all probably be like
, ooh, you better get off myneck right now, girl.
Okay, this is going to be oneof them episodes.
Okay, it's going to feel hot upin here.
(09:28):
Okay, it's going to feel hot.
And so I've been doing someresearch on paycheck to paycheck
.
And because y'all know, I'm acertified financial educator, so
I'm always out and I dofinancial educational workshops
for people of different incomebrackets, and so I get a chance
to talk to people who may notmake a lot of money and those
(09:48):
people who make a lot of moneyon paper but they're not feeling
it in their actual finances.
I also am a financial guide.
I love that word better than acoach.
I'm a guide, so I work withpeople, whether that's
one-on-one or I'm working withcouples so that they can get
diagnosis and solutions to theirproblems that are going on and
(10:09):
I don't like to call themproblems to the things, to the
symptoms and triggers let's saythat right, because problems
always feel like such a hardword to the issues that are
going on in their finances.
And so I can be a guide in thataspect.
And so, living paycheck topaycheck.
There's more to this.
Just because life is expensiveand a lot of people they're not
(10:31):
going to admit that to you,they're not going to tell you
that they live in paycheck topaycheck.
We all got different lifestylesthat we have to fund, and so I
saw a recent study that showedthat there are more people who
are making over $100,000 who areliving paycheck to paycheck.
I don't have the percentage atthis point.
I was going to make somethingup and y'all probably would have
(10:51):
believed it, but because I'msuch a fat person, I'm not going
to say it, but I believe thepercentage was somewhere between
20 and 40%.
That's a lot of people and Iknow under a hundred percent
that percentage was up.
So those people who are makingunder a hundred percent, I
believe that percentage wassomewhere, but it was over 50,
(11:13):
but under 70.
So that's still a lot of peoplewho are living paycheck to
paycheck.
All right, and this comes fromlife can happen.
If you listen to the lastepisode talked about different
financial seasons, going fromtransitional all the way up to
your harvest season.
That transitional season, child, that's something okay.
(11:35):
Something didn't happen in yourlife, okay.
Job loss, loss of some sort,whether that's people, job,
career, whatever it is right, Iget it.
Whatever the situation is, ifyou're living paycheck to
paycheck and you're in it forwhatever reason, that is a
trigger and that is a symptomthat your financial check engine
(11:55):
light is on, all right.
So another trigger is are youtaking on more credit card debt?
Now, this can be debt ingeneral, okay, because you could
be going out getting personalloans, but are you taking on
more credit card debt?
And so something that happenswhen you're living paycheck to
paycheck.
You normally don't have enoughmoney to pay for your normal
(12:15):
living and your lifestyle, andso lots of people they start
using their credit cards tosupplement their everyday
expenses, their everyday debts,and so that's when you start
robbing Peter to pay Paul,because you actually robbing
yourself.
And so if this is touching thenerve and if this is feeling
like you, okay, this is asymptom that your check engine
light is on, all right.
(12:37):
So the next one is is yourchecking account starting to be
overdrawn more often?
Y'all know what I'm talkingabout.
I didn't been there before.
I ain't been there in a while,but I was there before, okay.
So I know, living paycheck topaycheck money looking funny,
everything not right, and youstart being overdrawn.
(12:58):
You start needing extra moniesto pay for those bills that are
coming out of your accountbecause you don't have the money
in there.
You wait until your nextpaycheck, you waiting for some
more dollars to hit the accountbefore you can pay, but you're
taking your account, overdrawingit, essentially so that you can
get the things that you need toget paid paid for.
(13:19):
Now, while you're goingoverdrawn, you're getting all
these fees in addition to theoverdrawn that you're having,
and so let me just tell you thisthere is no judgment here.
We are here to talk about it sowe can get to what are those
solutions?
All right, but if you arenoticing that you're overdrawing
your checking account a littlebit more, that's giving you a
(13:42):
sign that your check enginelight is on, all right.
Next, is your credit score goingdown.
Now, all right Credit scores.
They start to go down when westart to accumulate more debt on
our credit cards.
So when we start keepingbalances on our credit cards and
those balances they get upthere, that means that score is
(14:02):
now going to start droppingbecause you're keeping more debt
on those actual cards.
Or are you not paying yourdebts on time Because the debts
that are listed on your creditreport your credit cards,
personal loans, student loans,mortgages, auto loans, all of
the things that you get I thinkthere's some of those like
(14:22):
affirms, and some of thosethings are listed on your credit
report as well.
Whatever is a bill that islisted on your credit report, if
you're not paying it, it is nowbeing listed as 30, 60, 90, 120
, or 150 days past due.
Are you at a point where yourscore is going down because of
one of those things arehappening?
And if you are, then that meansyour check engine light is on
(14:47):
All right.
Another symptom are you unableto save for your retirement,
like you want to start savingfor your future, but you feel
like you need every single pennyfrom your paycheck right now.
I need every penny right now.
You feel that you don't have noroom so that you're even able
to save for your retirement, oryou feel that there is no room
(15:10):
for you to save period.
You're unable to pay yourselffirst.
If you're not, then your checkengine light is on.
If stress and anxiety isbuilding up, those levels are
extra high and you know it'sbecause of your financial
situation your check enginelight is on.
And lastly, if you are avoidingcollection calls, if you are
(15:33):
avoiding going to get the mailbecause you're getting something
in the mail that's showing thatyou passed due, you don't want
the people to find you.
You're just like, oh my God,this is so overwhelming, I can't
do this.
If you are in that situation,your check engine light is on in
your finances, and what we'redoing now is just pointing it
out.
(15:53):
These are not all the symptoms,because there could be some
other things that's going on inyour life.
We are all unique.
There can be some other thingsthat are going on that are
indicating that your checkengine light is on, and that's
the one thing I can tell youabout check engine light, child.
Okay, you can only run with acheck engine light on for so
long.
(16:13):
After that, what's going tohappen?
Okay, that engine going to stop, and what's going to happen to
you If you continue in thesesituations that I've named, you
going to stop.
It's going to get worse, andcontinue to get worse until you
do something about it.
All right, so for some of y'allout there who don't know how I
talk, I know worse is not a word.
(16:35):
Okay, I'm trying to describethe situation, okay, and so this
is the thing.
I'm trying to bring some lightto this.
These are some serious symptomsthat will require a solution
quickly, okay, and so I want tomake sure that y'all understand
the severity of your financialcheck engine light and when it's
(16:57):
on, and recognize that it's on,because I know we good at lying
to ourselves, okay, if we'regoing to lie to somebody that is
on, because I know we good atlying to ourselves, okay, if
we're going to lie to somebody,we're going to lie to ourselves,
real good.
But what I want you to do okay,I'm your money girl I want to
make sure that you are payingattention to these things that
are happening in your financesso that you can know when your
financial check engine light ison, when it's time for you to
(17:21):
make a change in your life.
Okay, our finances are socomplex.
I understand that.
That's just like if 50 of ushad our check engine lights on
right now, there could be 50different diagnosis.
There could be 50 differentsolutions for us to solve it.
So everybody is unique, allright.
So I want you to know that whatsomebody else does for their
(17:41):
check engine light may not bethe same solution for you in
your life.
We're going to get into somesolutions on the next episode,
ok, this is to bring y'all back.
But then also, I want to alsoadd this and I've been saying
this a lot this year.
I want all of us to win in ourfinances.
If you need help, you want toseek help.
(18:02):
I tell y'all all the time.
I am a financial guide.
I have been in this financialworld for the last 17 years.
I am booking clients now, ifyou need your girl to come out,
do a workshop for whoever it is,whoever your audience is.
You want to get thatpreventative, that awareness out
there about financial wellnessand how to continue to maintain
(18:23):
your financial well-being.
Or you want me to talk aboutfinancial wellness and how to
continue to maintain yourfinancial wellbeing.
Or you want me to talk aboutfinancial check engine lights?
Okay, your girl is there, allright.
Whatever you need, y'all makesure you check out my website
that is, I am mindfully richcomso that way you can see where
you book.
I want to make sure that we aredoing something about our
finances this year.
We are not just sitting hereriding with check engine lights
(18:44):
on.
We doing something about it, wegetting some solutions, okay.
And so this is part one of thefinancial check engine light.
Part two is coming up next week.
It's already recorded.
Okay, I did part two first.
I had to.
I ended up having to make thisinto two parts, and so it's
already recorded.
So next week you will get thenext part, so you make sure that
(19:05):
you stay tuned.
I don't want to start rambling,so that's all I got, and got no
more, and until next time whenI hit y'all with another one.
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