Unless budgeting and finances are learned from your parents, how are you prepared to manage your finances as an adult? I started earning a paycheck at 15 as a shampoo girl and spent the next 3 decades of my working life fumbling along with my finances. I was never sure how to budget, I wound up spending beyond my means, living paycheck to paycheck, going in and out of credit card debt and telling myself I would figure it out later.
When I met my husband, he lived on a teacher's salary, didn’t have any debt, and even had a growing retirement and savings nest egg- I thought he was an Alien! My spending habits and credit card debt was a bone of contention in our marriage and knowing that kept me up at night. As our life together moved forward, work promotions came, we had 2 kids, a mortgage, and while we managed to afford our life, I continued to struggle with poor spending habits and accrue credit card debt.
Then came March of 2020 and there was nothing majorly stressful going on in the world during this time, right? I couldn’t balance my clients while being a homeschool-mom at the same time, and I made some poor business decisions. By 2022, I was in so much debt that for the first time in my life, I couldn’t see how I would get out of it. I was embarrassed, mad at myself, and felt so alone. I shared my situation with a trusted friend who referred me to Monica. I wish I could tell you that I called Monica right away but I thought that I could figure it out on my own and that it didn’t make sense to accrue another expense and pay someone to help when I was barely paying my bills. A few months went by, I continued to accrue more debt, experienced more guilt, and finally with the gentle nudging of my friend, I reached out to Monica.
From my first call with Monica, I knew I had found a solution. She was non-judgemental, smart and encouraging. We came up with a budget and a plan. For the first time, I felt hopeful that I could get out of debt and maybe even start saving. Every week we have a quick call where Monica gives me an action plan for that week.
We have been working together for 10.5 months now and I am thrilled to say that not only have we paid off all of my credit card debt, PLUS an unexpected tax bill, I feel empowered for the first time that I am making smart decisions with my money.
I have a realistic budget for girly fun things like self-care, clothing, and spending money so during all of this time I never once felt deprived, or had to walk around with roots, LOL.
Now that I am credit card debt free, and have a solid budget that works for me and my family, I can dream about my financial future for the first time in my adult life! I can pay off my car early, pay down our mortgage faster, plan for memory making family vacations, put more money in the girls college savings, increase retirement, the options are endless.
When you work with Monica, you give yourself the gift of options with your money and can stop the cycle of being chained to credit cards and debt. Don’t get stuck, thinking that your situation is the exception, or that you can’t afford help. You can’t afford NOT to get help and hiring Monica is the first step in empowering yourself to turn your financial future around.