Live So You Can Live Like No Other.

I am excited about what God is doing. I want to discuss some of the common hidden secrets in the Black community. Yes, I said HIDDEN! It’s time for us to be honest with each other and most importantly with ourselves. Let’s talk about all the things that we felt ashamed about and more importantly how we will overcome them.

My first secret is that I was in a mountain of debt. Yes, I am almost debt free now but it wasn’t easy. When I make my last payment, I will share exactly how bad it was.  From the outside looking in, I had it all- a nice car, nice home, expensive clothes, no savings and lots of credit card bills to prove it. I was ashamed and I refused to tell anyone just how bad it was. not even my family. It was just our little secret.  To be completely honest, we really had no clue how bad it was. We had consistently paid the minimum amount due and my credit score was consistently over 750. Now that had to be GOD! It wasn’t until we attended Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class at our church. It was a 13-week course that my husband and I attended together. One of the first exercises was to track every dollar we spent for a month. I was astonished to see we had spent over $600  the first month just in eating out alone. Then we had to calculate the balances of ALL our debt. I added up every credit card, loan, car payment, student loans,  hit total and almost fainted.  After the tears stopped, reality quickly kicked in. We were living pay check to pay check and we had to change.  After completing the course, we had a plan to become better financial stewards over our finances.  I went from being willing to spend $150 on a pair of shoes to debating whether I wanted to spend $9.99 in a consignment store.  It took several years to pay down the debt but the freedom is fabulous. I encourage you to take the steps needed for your FINANCIAL FREEDOM.  Look for resources in your area to help budget, save and invest!  It will change your life and allow you to live so you can live like no other.