We live in a very distracted world. The smart phone is a curse and a blessing. Yes we can do things quickly, and we have the world at our fingertips, but are we really living in the moment? How many of us are guilty of having our phones out, and texting while we should be out enjoying time with our friends or our significant others? We all at times are very distracted.      When I think about how social our lives are now with the boom in social media we live in a world where it didn't happen if it wasn't captured for the "likes."  We spend time capturing the perfect picture or the perfect video so that others think that we are doing "well" in life. I think if we really captioned what was going on in some of these pictures we wouldn't be so quick to compare our lives to others.      For example when someone posts #NewCar did they really pay for it out right? I highly doubt it! What you don't see is the high car payment that is stre...

It has been a little over a month since my family attended the Bishop T.D. Jakes leadership training. As I continue to think about the big takeaways from that training there are a few things that stand out in my mind. 1.) Leaders look for problems. This one really resonated with me because people get paid to solve problems. If you want to start a business, or get a raise on your job look for problems and have solutions. People will pay for people to solve their problems. 2.) You can't run a business and not like people. Having strong relationships is the backbone of a great business. There is no way that you can be successful, and always have a bad attitude. At some point in life you are going to need others so burning bridges is not the way to go. I am not talking about toxic people; if people are bad for your life then eliminate them. However, if you always seem to be cutting people every single year maybe you are the problem, and you need to reassess your life. 3.) Let it ...

     In 2018 although we have huge financial goals, and we will hit them! We also have some things that we are going to spend some money on because they are important to our personal growth, development, and well being. We believe that investing in yourself, your marriage, your family, and your friends are some of the greatest investments that you can make. Every year you should set aside some money in your budget to make those investments. Below is a list of some of the investments that we are making in 2018... 1. Our spiritual growth and development. This year we plan to invest money in both of our spiritual development through conferences and books. We both put on our vision boards this year that we wanted to grow in our individual walks with God, so we knew that putting money aside for these events and books was really important to that overall 2018 goal. Throughout the year we will also continue to find other events at our church and other churches that will assis...

     Yes we are saving money, and in the last post I gave you our huge debt payoff goals for 2018, but one thing that is really important to us is putting aside time and money for dates!          Just to give you all an idea of our weekly budget for dates while we are paying off debt; we put in a line item of $80 per week to spend for our entertainment. Most weeks we don't even use half of this money, but it is there for us to enjoy one another during this journey to being debt free. Here are some ways that we are stretching our weekly date night dollars. 1. If people ever ask you all what you want for a gift ask for restaurant gift cards! We have gone on so many dates with these gift cards. We got several as wedding presents that came in handy during our first year of marriage. We also got a few as Christmas and birthday presents. We use these throughout the year for those nights that we don't want to cook, or we just want to connect with one...

      Now that we are well into 2018. I am beyond excited to see how far we have come financially. In 2017 we paid off over $20,000 of debt, and we now have under six figures of debt. We started our debt free journey last year not because we had bad credit, or because we were struggling financially. We just wanted more for our lives and for our future.  I always told Eddie that we would be young millionaires, but how that was going to happen I wasn't exactly sure. At the beginning of 2017 we thought we were doing so well with paying off debt. In the first 9 months of the year we paid off  about $8,200. This came from medical debt, and some credit card debt.      After we began Financial Peace University in October we were able to pay off over $10,000 in debt in just 3 months. A large portion of this $10,000 was my car loan. I can not begin to describe how good it feels to no longer have consumer debt, medical debt, or car debt. We are down to onl...

When it comes to your career rule number 1 is to ALWAYS negotiate your salary! This is honestly the easiest money you will ever make. It’s more than a few thousand dollars. If you don’t negotiate your salary when you first start a job you will be further behind financially. Annual raises are usually based on a percentage the more money you have to start out with the higher your pay raises will be, and the further ahead you will be in the long run. I didn't negotiate my first salary because I was just happy to have a job, but a few years into my career I started learning the power of negotiation, and how I should go about the awkward conversation of asking for more money and other benefits.  1.) Don’t just ask for more money because you have bills. News flash everyone does! Sell your value. What do YOU bring to the table that warrants a higher salary. Is it a recent certification or a degree? Do you bring in additional leadership experience from your community involvement? Thin...

The holidays are fast approaching, and for many it’s more of a time of anxiety rather than fun with family and friends. This season is stressful for many because family has oh so many questions and these questions can make the holiday season an extremely painful reminder of all that they have not accomplished this year. Side note getting married, and having babies is not an accomplishment. Staying married, and raising productive members of society is. Also sometimes life throws you a curve ball, and even with your best efforts marriages and children don’t turn out as planned. OK back to the post. This post is for you to share with your family members so that they understand what is appropriate to discuss as you pass the macaroni and cheese... Single Don’t Ask why I am not dating anyone. This is painful because if the person truly has a desire to be in a relationship then you just reminded them that it is yet another holiday that they are single. The person may also be content ...