The Sugar Daddy Podcast
23: Unlocking Financial Freedom: Jasmine Paul's Journey from $40K Debt to Managing $3.2 Billion in Assets
Meet Jasmine Paul, the woman who not only tackled her own $40K in student loan debt, but also became a financial mastermind managing over $3.2 billion in assets. Her personal journey from first-generation American to award-winning children’s book author and certified financial educator is nothing short of inspiring. As you listen, you'll uncover how she transformed her life through determination and a dash of entrepreneurial spirit. From her early business adventures with an Easy Bake Oven at nine years old, to her DJ work during college, Jasmine shares how these experiences molded her financial discipline and paved the way for her success. Tune in and let her story inspire you to take control of your own financial journey.
If you’d like to leave us a question to be answered during future episodes, you can do so at Speakpipe. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Be sure to connect with us on Instagram
Learn more about Brandon, and Oak City Financial
Schedule 30 minutes with Brandon
Please remember to subscribe, rate, review and share our podcast far and wide. It means so much to us!
Notes from the show:
You can connect with Jasmine on:
LinkedIn
Twitter
Instagram
Purchase Jasmine's books on https://createfinstew.com/ or on Amazon.
Meet Jasmine Paul, the woman who not only tackled her own $40K in student loan debt, but also became a financial mastermind managing over $3.2 billion in assets. Her personal journey from first-generation American to award-winning children’s book author and certified financial educator is nothing short of inspiring. As you listen, you'll uncover how she transformed her life through determination and a dash of entrepreneurial spirit. From her early business adventures with an Easy Bake Oven at nine years old, to her DJ work during college, Jasmine shares how these experiences molded her financial discipline and paved the way for her success. Tune in and let her story inspire you to take control of your own financial journey.
If you’d like to leave us a question to be answered during future episodes, you can do so at Speakpipe. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Be sure to connect with us on Instagram
Learn more about Brandon, and Oak City Financial
Schedule 30 minutes with Brandon
Please remember to subscribe, rate, review and share our podcast far and wide. It means so much to us!
Notes from the show:
You can connect with Jasmine on:
LinkedIn
Twitter
Instagram
Purchase Jasmine's books on https://createfinstew.com/ or on Amazon.
2020, i think that's when I really started getting serious about my business. So when I graduated college, i had about $40,000 student loan debt. I remember calling up the student loan provider service provider and them telling me it was going to take like 10 months or 10 years to pay off. And I was like how, like I graduated college early, how in the world is this going to take so long to pay off? Like it didn't. For me, it did not make sense, and so anytime someone like presents a challenge to me and they say, like I can't do something like that is like, oh, i can't. Okay, cool, i'm going to prove you wrong, right?
Speaker 2:Hey everyone, welcome to the Sugar Daddy podcast. I'm Jessica And I'm Brandon, and we're the Norwoods, a husband and wife team here to demystify the realm of dollars So it all makes sense while giving you a glimpse into our relationship with money and each other. We are so glad you're here. Let's get started.
Speaker 3:Our content is intended to be used, and must be used, for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment, based upon your own personal circumstances. You should take independent financial advice from a licensed professional in connection with, or independently research and verify any information you find in our podcasts and we should rely upon, whether for the purpose of making an investment decision or otherwise.
Speaker 2:Babe, I am so excited today We are here with Jasmine Paul. She is another one of my IG friends. I mean, the fact that I'm meeting all these incredible people literally on Instagram is kind of insane.
Speaker 4:Yeah, just as made quite a few friends via Instagram, I've made absolutely zero, nor have I have the two.
Speaker 2:Well, listen, jasmine and I connected because she is also a fellow children's book author, but she is so much more and we are so excited to have her today Y'all. Let me give you a quick intro into Jasmine Paul. She is an award-winning children's book author, a certified financial education instructor, a speaker who is focused on making wealth-building fun. She is active duty in the Air Force. Thank you for your service. Clearly, she doesn't sleep because she has way too much going on. We are so excited to have Jasmine.
Speaker 2:Since 2014, she has served over 300 clients and coached them to eliminate over $300,000 in credit card and student loan debt, and in the last six years, she has managed over $3.2 billion in assets. That's billion with a B. Did you all get that 3.2 billion with a B? Her first book, a Boy, a Budget and a Dream, was named parentcom. Parentscom top 10 best books to teach kids about money. So we're definitely going to dive into that, because we have kids and we want them to be financially literate as soon as possible. 4. She is a graduate with a bachelor's in communications, a master of science and entrepreneurship. She is a member of the Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators and Alpha Kappa, alpha Sorority Incorporated. I know there's some people skewing right now including my cousins.
Speaker 2:She desires family to have money conversations early and often and has taught workshops and engagements for the Oakland Berkeley WYCA, the Taco Bell Foundation, Tampa Bay Startup Week and more. Jasmine, you are busy girl. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for making time, because clearly I don't even know how you're fitting this in right now.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be in your presence, Justin Brandon. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you for being here, y'all. I have to sidetrack too, because, again, the world is a small place. Okay, and I posted a picture of me and my work husband back in the day and Jasmine slid into my DMs and she was like, is that so-and-so? I'm not going to say his name? And I was like yes, and she was like, oh my gosh, i served overseas with him And like what are the odds of that? I know.
Speaker 1:It's such a small world.
Speaker 2:You guys have a work husband I do have a work husband. I do have a work husband. Such a small world. Listen when people say, don't burn bridges. This is why Because everybody knows somebody, that knows somebody, that knows somebody, And the world is small but it is big. I mean it is big but it is small because these connections are just, are just wild. So we are so excited to dive into this conversation. Jasmine, We're going to start off because you're doing a lot. Obviously, you're a fellow children's book author. We have your books. They're wonderful. Such high quality messaging is fantastic.
Speaker 4:Jess has become a book snob, so for her to say it's high quality.
Speaker 1:I'm appreciated, but Jess, jess helped me out because Jess recommended her printers. So I think that's why you know, shout out to Formax, right.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yes, i'm a paper snob Well, and I like the way you know, like the way a book feels when you hold it and when you flip the pages. Mortis makes a difference in that experience and yours gives the same experience as mine, so obviously I'm a fan.
Speaker 1:I love it, thank you.
Speaker 2:So we want to start off with, before we get into the story of Jasmine. Tell us your first money memory and why is it significant to you.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I can share two, sure Awesome. So I am first generation American, my parents are from the Caribbean and islands, and so money it's it's a topic that's not really shared in the community. It's very taboo, most like many you know black communities it's just not. You just don't talk about money, especially when you're a child. And so my grandmother is still an entrepreneur. She is a seamstress, has had her own seamstress business for over 30 plus years, and we she would always take me to go like do bank runs, and so anytime she got paid, you know with a client, we would go to the bank and deposit checks and different things like that. And she helped me, she opened up, helped me open up my first checking account when I was a kid, very young, at a credit union, and she showed me how to like do my first check and balance a checkbook. And I remember that. I remember going to the credit union with her and like we would do the little shoot when you're in the car, oh, yes, yes, yep, yep.
Speaker 4:We're sucks it up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i thought that was so amazing.
Speaker 1:I was like I would be like like the Jetsons, where you're like yes, but I remember that experience And for me it was. It was really cool that one I did get to see my grandmother interface with clients and just be this really amazing community leader. But also she managed her money really well, and so that was kind of like my first insight into, like Oh, this whole money thing, like you don't just get money, you know willy nilly, you got to work for it. And then the second, i guess, experience with money I used to live overseas. My parents are also Air Force And so I lived in Japan And I remember my dad had a little coin jar like right at the door in our dining room And it had yen, which is Japanese yen, japanese currency and then US dollars.
Speaker 1:So my tail, like I would just grab all the change. And I remember going to the store because, like in Japan, you can freely walk around as a kid and not really be in any danger. So I remember going off base and going to like a $5 store which is like similar to our dollar tree, and I had like all my coins for the with my Japanese yen. I didn't have enough because I took quarters instead of like the Japanese yen And I was like dang. I was like, shoot, i have to be more careful, be more mindful. And I remember I went home and my dad was like, did you take some of the money out of the coin jar? And I was like, yeah, free money, right. Like that's something that I, you know, it just changed, but I take that to go, you know, to park or something, or if we're going out, we need change really quickly. And so that I learned that lesson, like one, you need to know how much money you have on you. And two, like you can't just take money That's not yours.
Speaker 2:Right, oh my gosh. I had a lesson similar to that. How old were you when that happened, when you put your hand in the in the penny jar?
Speaker 1:I was like I, so I was there around seven or eight, So it had been like eight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay. So old enough to know, like, okay, this is money, i need money to buy things. But then you quickly realize okay, i don't have enough of the currency that I need And also it's not yours to take.
Speaker 3:So those are a lot of valuable lessons all wrapped in one.
Speaker 2:I love it. Yeah, i have a similar one.
Speaker 4:The thing is he kept us in a jar Like we didn't really. my mom didn't really keep change, but my grandmother on my dad's side, my me mom I remember she used to keep like the big water jugs. So you can't get your hand in And I wasn't strong enough to pick it up and, like, lift it.
Speaker 2:Do you think she did that on purpose? Oh, or just? because it was like big and yeah.
Speaker 1:I feel like that's like my family did that as well, Like my aunt had a jar, like that, And I was like man. What's the purpose?
Speaker 2:You know like the purpose is. We can't put our little hands in it. That's what I'm thinking. That was strategy and we didn't even know. Well, listen, i love both of those money memories also because I grew up in Europe And so I also have the association of you know, having to know what currency you're operating you know with. And then in in Germany, you know, we changed from Daimak to the Euro And so there was like a whole other set of currency that you had to you know, learn and actually use over time. So I love that. Can you talk to us about? were you going to say something? No, okay, can you talk to us about how those two money memories have influenced what you're doing now to help hundreds of clients be better with money?
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, i, i, as you mentioned, like growing up in Germany, i remembered like the exchange rate and having to understand what the exchange rate was, and you know this day it's, it's. You know the yen is to the dollar And so I feel like those are. Yeah, i feel like American children don't have to really worry about that living in the US.
Speaker 1:They don't have to understand like exchange rate and how the dollar might not be worth as much, or, you know, the yen might not be worth as much as it was yesterday and how, like. those are all things that you have to do to plan when you're going to buy things, and so it's just you say that only because I'm thinking about exchanging currency.
Speaker 4:My brother and I were big soccer players growing up and we would travel overseas during the summers when we were like in high school And I remember you know, bringing American dollars and you know we go to, we play in like a couple of different tournaments and we did being like three or four different countries and having to do the exchange rate and everything like that and understanding like, oh, you know, some countries were like, oh, this is awesome, We're going to hear the bird much more favorable.
Speaker 4:We didn't like when we were in England because it wasn't as favorable for us but like other places were like yeah.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, it's an interesting lesson that most kids don't learn. You learn that when you live somewhere else and when you live abroad or when you're traveling abroad, but that's not a luxury that's afforded to everyone. So right. Absolutely Valuable. Sorry, we interrupted you.
Speaker 1:No, no, you're good, i love it. Um, yeah, i think definitely entrepreneurship was something that was sparked from my grandmother Just seeing her work for herself and understanding deadlines And she, i mean she was creating beautiful wedding dresses and wedding gowns from hand, like from scratch. Like it was like amazing the work that she did And and so seeing how she just kind of ran her business my aunt similar she's owned her salon for over 30 plus years And so definitely seeing them kind of run their business like have loyal clients that have seen me grow up since I was a kid It was like oh wow, that's, i think, in the back of my head. It was something that I always wanted to do. And then, as I grew up, i started my first business when I was nine. It was like a baking business with like an easy bake oven Awful, terrible, terrible.
Speaker 1:Easy bake oven Um just terrible.
Speaker 4:Like we would say no to a kid. who says no to a kid, though?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I bet business was banging because it was Yeah, because people just want to support that kind of spirit, right, like nobody's going to shut down a kid with their easy bake oven or their lemonade stand.
Speaker 4:And they wouldn't buy in the lemonade because it tastes phenomenal, right.
Speaker 1:Exactly, but they did shut us down actually because we were selling door to door on, like we had flyers and everything that we did on Microsoft Word with Clipart And we had like, yeah, we were marketing and everything He said Microsoft, clipart, clipart.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, i love it. You just took us back the flashbacks.
Speaker 1:Not can, but I think we might have been even using like paint or something. We were hanging our flyers everywhere and we had our little wagon with the cupcakes And then we got shut down by public health because they were like you don't have a food safety certification.
Speaker 2:And so, oh see, that's when you know your business is booming.
Speaker 4:When you shut down Karen, you shut down the kid selling water on the corner.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. What is happening? Who shuts down a nine year old's business with an easy bake oven Like you, don't actually have to eat the stuff.
Speaker 4:Where was this?
Speaker 1:This was in Japan.
Speaker 4:Okay, they are very serious. So they are very serious.
Speaker 2:They're like ma'am, ma'am, you do not have a license to do this.
Speaker 4:There's a reason why it's much cleaner there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's, true. Oh my gosh Well that's it.
Speaker 1:We were on base, So I thought I don't know My dad. I remember I came home one day He was like you can't do it, Like, stop doing stuff.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, stop being so entrepreneurial. Oh my God, that is amazing. I love that you were shut down at nine. That means you were doing something right. They were like no. The authorities were like no ma'am, no ma'am. I love it. So this has been in your blood, right? You were born with the entrepreneurial spirit, so you were easy bake, ovening and getting shut down at nine. What came after that?
Speaker 1:So then in it was like middle school, i probably shouldn't have been working. I'm not going to lie, but I was working. I was like 13. I was a DJ at an event center for, like, little kids party, so like. I learned how to. DJ with a turntable and everything And I was like, yeah, yeah, getting like five year olds hyped up. It was, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:I'm obsessed. I love this.
Speaker 4:Five year old hyped up.
Speaker 2:Oh well, i mean what? was playing like baby shark on the remix, or like I?
Speaker 1:don't know, kids Bob. Maybe it was probably before kids Bob. Oh my God.
Speaker 2:You know the little.
Speaker 1:CDs that remake popular song Um, but yeah, so I did that and that was like my little hustle, you know, getting paid. And then when I went to college I studied film, So communications major, but my concentration was in film production and media production and love being behind the camera. I loved everything about the arts but something about making film was amazing And so people found out that I had my own camera because I was like saving my money, i bought my own equipment and then I would just go and do concerts. I ended up doing a concert for a rock nation artist Oh wow, with wallay He was on tour at the time Did weddings.
Speaker 1:I was doing like a friend was doing like deaf, damn poetry. So I like did his kind of like poetry reel and, yeah, i loved everything about it, Got paid to do it And I got really, really burnt out because I did not understand anything about business. Like I just love the film, i love being creative, but the business side, like I had no idea about pricing and I didn't. I didn't really need to worry about marketing because there was a demand. I would do like parties, so my friends would get in for free and I would be the videographer throughout, like the people who are like snapping the photos in the club and stuff like that was me, that was my job.
Speaker 2:You're like up all hours of the night, though, and still working a day job, so, again, not sleeping at all. So boundaries.
Speaker 4:So communication major. I was a communication major also, but on the polar opposite spectrum I was corporate communications.
Speaker 1:Oh nice.
Speaker 2:That was smart.
Speaker 4:Nothing artsy about it.
Speaker 2:Nothing artsy, he's not artsy.
Speaker 4:No, no, Unfortunately. I would like to be. It's not him, it's not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's okay. We need a good balance, you know that's all good.
Speaker 2:So how, jasmine, take us through, how you go from, you know, hanging out with wallay to writing children's books about budgeting. Please take us on this journey?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a great question. So, finished school, didn't realize that I had to go into the military I'm not going to lie Like I thought like I got a scholarship while I was in, but I don't know. I just did not put two and two together Like you have to pay this back, you know, with through your service, and so I was like, oh shoot, like I can't just go off and do my dreams, yeah.
Speaker 2:So welcome to adulting Right. What?
Speaker 1:happened for real, but it was. It's been such a blessing to serve And I think while I was in I just kind of put all of the creativity aside. I stopped filming, i stopped doing just about everything when it comes to creativity, entrepreneurship. I put all of that to the side until about 2020. I think that's when I really started getting serious about my business. So when I graduated college, i had about $40,000 student loan debt. I remember calling up the student loan provider, service provider, and them telling me me it was going to take like 10 months or 10 years to pay off. And I was like how, like I graduated college early, how in the world is this going to take so long to pay off? Like it didn't. For me it did not make sense. And so anytime someone like presents a challenge to me and they say like I can't do something like that is like Oh, i can't. Okay, cool, i'm going to prove you wrong, right? I?
Speaker 2:love it.
Speaker 1:And so I bought my first house at 23. And then I was like learning more about this thing called house hacking. At the time there was not like YouTube and there was nothing like. There was this one guy who had a blog about renting out his bedrooms And I wrote him like, hey, i just bought a house, it's a pretty nice size house. Like what do you recommend? He's like Oh, yeah, go to Craigslist, create a lease and then rent it out. And I was like, okay, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:This could end badly. This could end badly. I'm very nervous.
Speaker 1:It didn't, though, so I actually, in college, found the place that I stayed in with a 45 year old woman on Craigslist, and it was the best.
Speaker 4:This is before Craigslist. Got like crazy. This was like normal Craigslist.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this was not like. I would never do that now Never do that, nor advise anybody else to do it, right?
Speaker 2:Like, bring your roommate on Craigslist.
Speaker 1:No, this was like over a decade ago, yeah. So I had that experience, like I remember. So I'm sorry going a little backwards, but I remember finding this place. It was a young lady who had purchased a townhouse and she was like, hey, i have this place Cause. I said, like I'm a student, i mean this was awful, you should not do things like that. but I was a student, i didn't know any better, and my mom, like we had like the U hall with all my stuff. We were driving down to North Carolina and she was like Jasmine, you better have bedded this place, it's better not be a scam. And I mean I was like I looked at the woman online. I saw that she owned the property. So I was like I think it's okay And it honestly was like a great situation All utilities paid for. It was awesome, it worked out, it was. And my roommate was really awesome And she was 45, but she was like it was cool, it was one of the best living situations I've ever had.
Speaker 4:This is the most Jess has never had like a roommate that she didn't really know outside, like maybe in college. I've multiple times have found this is back when, like people would use rentcom. I mean roommatecom, and I've moved literally across the country based off of roommatecom.
Speaker 2:I would never, i could never, a couple of times.
Speaker 4:Never had a bad experience.
Speaker 2:Y'all are crazy people. Y'all are crazy people. That is no way to live.
Speaker 4:I mean I was more worried for the individual that I was moving in with. only because one time it was, um, when I did your law school in Rhode Island and that's how I found my place was, it was a FEMA that was like two years older than me. I was more worried, like how she was going to feel because, like I feel safe, i'm a guy like, but is she okay with it?
Speaker 2:Our children will not be. I mean, I wouldn't recommend it.
Speaker 4:I mean, her boyfriend was there when I got there just to. Oh well, i'm glad it worked out for you because that sounds super.
Speaker 2:I mean it could have taken a lot of wrong turns right.
Speaker 1:It could have for sure and when. so when I started doing my um running out the rooms, i you know, i had a background check um, criminal check, credit check, everything before I and I had like certain standards and criteria of who I would rent to Um. I had like a travel nurse one time and then I also actually found a person who was looking for a place to live, uh, who worked in the same organization as me, and so it ended up working out really great. Uh never had a bad experience when it came to a roommate situation.
Speaker 2:Um, so, just to be clear though, you bought the house and then lived there as you rented out space. Correct, you did not leave it and, okay, got it.
Speaker 4:I just want to make sure, So there's four still a primary residence.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah. So and then was able to provide like pretty low cost living to people, um, because apartments were kind of expensive They were way higher than a mortgage at the place that I lived in Um, and so by the time I had rented out the rooms for about a year and a half, i was I had enough money to pay off my student loans. So I paid off the student loans about a year and a half later. So at the time I was 24 and I was like oh, question for you.
Speaker 4:That's amazing. Um, when it comes to the down payment that you had for the house, how did you go about getting that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that is one of the great things of being in the air force, in the military. Um, i did not have a down payment, so I went through the VA loan process and, um, yeah, i did. I think I left the closing table with money, honestly, um, because I didn't, it was like a $500 escrow, uh, for you know, to make sure that I'm going to secure the home. And after we did the inspections and everything, um, i made sure that my, I made sure that my mortgage was affordable for me and we went through all the numbers And, yeah, i think I'm pretty sure I left that first deal with the money that they gave me.
Speaker 4:And that's, i mean that's amazing Cause. I mean, like we talk about sometimes all the different ways that people you know acquire their first home And just the night, both like we, were very fortunate that our parents set aside money and provided us with the down payment. Like I, i think we both did utilize the first time home buyers tax credit in 2009. So, you know, had the money, got the down payment from our parents and then paid them back with that tax credit.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I think if I would have known about more programs, I probably would have went through, like the NACA program, which is like the first time home buyer program. They offer down payment assistance as well as low interest rates And they offer they also offer education home buying education. I feel like that was something I did not have.
Speaker 1:I was like I know a whole house at 23 and had no clue about what I was doing, Like I remember for three days y'all I did not have hot water because the pilot light like they turned off the pilot light when they were selling home for the furnace And I didn't know that you were, you can just light it. So I'm over here calling the plumber, like the hot water is out, And so he came over and they were happy to take your money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to light the pilot light.
Speaker 4:I mean, I've never manually lit a pilot light, So I I would have been the same boat as you.
Speaker 2:My grandmother's. I used to have to do that growing up. But yeah, there's. I mean there should be a whole handbook on first time home ownership, because it's it can be a lot.
Speaker 4:There are I mean like one of the things that I've seen, that's I'm not sure if you have any type of program or, like you know, set up where it kind of walks you through that, but I'm sure you're familiar with it earn your leisure. Yeah, i know they have a whole separate program focused on that. As far as cause, they even talk about NACA as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm sure there's resources now, but you know, you know back in the day same Yeah. No the internet was barely the internet.
Speaker 1:It was barely the internet. I had a real estate for dummies book that I had borrowed from the library for dummies books, yeah, and. I was like I got through like chapter five and I was like I got it from here.
Speaker 2:You're like I got this. How hard can it?
Speaker 4:be. I mean, you seem to figure it out, so yes, Okay, So you were renting.
Speaker 2:you were renting rooms in your first house. I'm assuming you made a profit. What happened from there?
Speaker 1:Yes, so rented out the bedrooms, was able to pay off the student loans. and then eight and a half years, earlier than they anticipated Oh heck yeah, i was like what, and so I was y'all. I was living very below my means, like I wasn't going on trips, i wasn't getting my nails done. I think I was going to like the massage school to get like the cheat massages from students.
Speaker 2:That's smart. I used to do that. I've never done that Also you get a great massage because they have to get their hours in.
Speaker 4:I also didn't get a massage for the first time until we had probably been together for like six years.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow It's sad. It's okay.
Speaker 2:You know you elevated. He's been up, leveled Exactly.
Speaker 4:He's leveling up slowly If you get married and there's no upgrade, why are you getting married?
Speaker 1:Exactly, i agree. But I was doing everything like very inexpensive, like people were coming to my house, we were doing potlucks And I was very clear on like setting up boundaries, like y'all, i am trying to get out of debt. I do not want to be in debt because I didn't know what the future would look like if I stayed in the military, if I didn't. I didn't want that to be something that was kind of hanging over my head like this looming debt, and so hate it all off. And then my friends were looking at me like wait, we don't make a lot of money, like what are you doing differently? Like how are you able to get out of it? How are you able to get out of this debt? And so I remember we were doing our goals for the year And I think one of my goals was like save $20,000. And they all were like how?
Speaker 2:Right, the math ain't mathin' Explain.
Speaker 1:And so I remember I was on my friend's floor She's an entrepreneur as well And I remember we were all kind of gathered around and I was like, oh, this is how you do it. You take $20,000, you break it up, you know, over 12 months, and then that's how I'm going to save. And then they were like, oh, and so I'm like I'm going to use every paycheck to save it up, make sure I save. I was like thrifting, and so I would like thrift and then sell it on Facebook. I would like find like really, really cheap things and then see if I could sell it for a profit. And so I was like I was doing. I was actually blogging for a pretty big time personal finance person right now. I was blogging for her, And so I was kind of like blogging my journey and just everything.
Speaker 4:I would learn throughout personal finances. And she was playing Are you not allowed to tell us.
Speaker 1:So you're ghost writing. I don't know if I can share or not. Like the She had was is now like the funk, but now she's like on a broke. It's like I need to save her. But there was like, well, I know you can, I know you can. She was pretty cool, But yeah, I won't, I won't say your name, but she's pretty big deal. And so, yeah, I was blogging for her and my name was on the articles and she was paying me and like any little bit of money I got, whether it was like if I got a tax refund, like if I would put everything towards like saving, kind of like they were telling their friends about it. And then I started teaching them And like one of my friends was like wait, why don't you like actually start charging people?
Speaker 2:Cause you have all these people in your bag. You're out here trying to like, hustle, all the little things and you've got a whole base of clientele already.
Speaker 4:It sounds very similar to the budgetista.
Speaker 2:It does right.
Speaker 4:Like oh, you're a little bit.
Speaker 2:Ooh, was it the budgetista Cause? we love Tiffany.
Speaker 1:No, it's not Tiffany, And I love Mandy from this one. Oh, we love.
Speaker 2:Yes, Yeah but no Love. Mandy too. Mandy money.
Speaker 2:Okay, So we're going to stop trying to figure out who it was but, that's what it does sound like, That kind of grassroots right Like, hey, I'm good at this, I'm learning myself, I'm doing it myself. And now people are starting to notice. And I will say I don't remember ever in my 20s And I bought my first house at 24 as well I don't remember ever having a conversation with my girlfriends to be like hey, let's get out of debt or let's monitor our spending or let's have a meeting about budgeting, Like so the fact that you were doing that and I love that you guys got together to like talk about your goals for the year, like vision boarding I think that's fantastic. But I think it's great that you were doing that so early on, because I don't think that that's the norm. I've now gotten to the point where you know my girlfriends and I and guy friends which I think is almost even more important, especially when we're in the same realm of career that we talk about our salaries and what did we negotiate, And I think having those conversations around that transparency of how much are we making, Do we need to be up-leveling, What should we be looking for, et cetera, et cetera is really important.
Speaker 2:But that initial conversation on how are you getting rid of the student loan debt. How are you saving, How are you budgeting? And then the sacrifice, because I know in my 20s I was like swipe, swipe, swipe, I deserve nice things And then, like that, catches up with you. So the fact that you were so disciplined early on, I think is really astounding. So push-watching for you.
Speaker 4:I was like that's amazing, like she said, that you had that much awareness at such a young age. Would you say also because of your parents. you know you being first generation here in the US. Would you say, because I've heard this, you know with family people who are first generation of immigrants that debt is like it's the worst thing ever.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you can't have that, So you kind of grow up like no, if you have debt, you get rid of it as soon as possible. As comparison, I would say Americans are much more comfortable with carrying in debt. Is that play any type of role in it?
Speaker 1:I think a little bit like we definitely were a family that you so my dad, i love him. I love him to death I do. But he's very frugal, like he does not buy things that he does not need, like at all.
Speaker 4:So it's like when your dad began to long. I'm very frugal also.
Speaker 1:He's like for real Like, and so I think, just seeing him being very frugal and like we I mean we always went on trips, like I went to Hawaii for my 10th birthday He was all about experiences. But when it came to Shoes and super soakers and video, like he and he would support my video game habit. He would support the video game habit. But like outside of that, if it, if it wasn't like Directed, directly connected towards school or basketball, which is what I played I played basketball and soccer growing up if it wasn't directly connected, the man was not spending the funds or I would also play piano. So he bought the piano. But like outside of those, like extra activities Yeah, that was like my mom.
Speaker 4:My mom was a very affordable person, but targeted Experiences like my, i can say. My brother and I used to travel overseas during the summer to play soccer.
Speaker 2:Exactly I love that, though, and we talk about that all the time, right Like? our kids have way too much stuff, they're spoiled beyond measure, but also we Want them to have experiences and those memories and the trips and traveling the world and that is going to serve them Better than any Chatski piece of crap that they're gonna forget about two weeks anyway, yeah. so yeah, especially as they get older, it's definitely gonna be the experiences.
Speaker 4:I don't remember any gets through my school, but I do remember traveling overseas soccer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do recall like my mom did get me these timberlands and they were the wrong shade of brown. Those are about the only thing.
Speaker 2:I had pink ones that I really wanted. I think I got them for Christmas.
Speaker 4:You get the butters.
Speaker 1:The wrong shape. Yeah, like, that's like the only real get that I remember. I know I I've, yeah, so I.
Speaker 4:I think we were talking about money memories, because I've said before that I think on a previous podcast, that My first, one of my first money memories is getting the Jordan 14's, because I never heard Jordans before I was going into ninth grade and my mom was like I'm willing to pay this amount, but anything above that you have to pay, you to come out of your own pocket.
Speaker 4:I remember that's the longest time it took me to ever make a decision on buying shoes. I was like should I get them? I tried them on several times. I tried other shoes on. They were less expensive. I did get the shoes, but it taught me very much the difference between a one and a need.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's how I operate as an adult today. Wow, that's awesome, i think that's. I think that's important. Having those Memories as children, you know, having those experiences as children and allowing parent, oh, i feel like parents should allow and enable kids to make those decisions, even if they're Yeah, maybe they're not the greatest, but at least you know it will get them thinking, decision-making. Understanding that once versus needs understanding that things are not just freely given to you, you know.
Speaker 4:Yeah, my mom used to do the same thing with Christmas money, like once. We were like in, you know, middle school. We knew that, you know, santa Claus wasn't real. She would give us money And then she'd be like you can buy what you want to buy. So, like you know, do you want this one shirt for $50 or do you want two shirts for 25? That's up to you right.
Speaker 2:Yeah but me having them make those decisions, i think, early on and having them be part of that process is really important because, yeah, you can you if somebody would have given you those Jordans? Yeah, you would have been happy all day, but then, once you had to put your own money into it, it gets those wheels turning like do I need these shoes for this amount of money, or can I buy something else or multiple?
Speaker 4:I mean, i would love to think that it made me play better, but I was. I was just mediocre at basketball, at best.
Speaker 1:Soccer was my sport, but I do think like my parents. Example of Like when I got my first car that was gifted to me, but it was a 98 civic that we still have. We still own my gosh. Yeah, it runs like a gem, like 300,000 miles on it.
Speaker 1:But, like my. You know, my dad uh paid cash for it. And it was like For me, like oh, i don't have a car note, like that was a blessing not to have a car note. At a young age I knew so many other people who did have car notes or their parents were paying the car note and so it was like important to Drive safe so you don't have a ticket and because if I did get a ticket, i had to pay that out of my pocket. Um, insurance. Like I feel like they really were you. You should not pay for things If you do not have the money. Like should not buy things if you don't have the money. And they were. I don't know if you all remember, if you all watched Moisha, but there was. But like Moisha had her credit card and like she had to bail Q out of jail And like I remember Frank got hit and I just always in the back of my head.
Speaker 4:I can't even do that You can't even use a credit card.
Speaker 2:I know, that was like false advertising. It was, it was but like. Hence why bail bonds. Men's make such a great living.
Speaker 1:But I just remember her like Getting in so much trouble with Frank and I was like, oh, i cannot do that, like I could not, i cannot Drive up a credit card. So I was like when my dad like, um, i did a visa bucks card So it was like a debit card for kids. So when he got me that, um, as soon as that thing said like insufficient funds, i was like, dang okay, that goes quick.
Speaker 4:One of the pops into my mind is I don't know if you used to watch save by the bell, but one time Lisa Ran up her dad's credit card And they were trying to make get money for her so that she could pay it off before he finds out, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah? Yeah, see, they were trying to teach us some things a little bit, a little bit, okay. So you started, you started helping your friends. Your friends were telling their friends. Then they said hey, you should start charging. So yeah what was that turning point? How did you decide What to charge, how to charge, how long you would work with people like? Were you starting to structure your business plan at that stage?
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh gosh. No, i didn't start structuring until like probably three years later, when I was in South Korea. Um, i started helping more people in South Korea and these were people that were older than me, who had been working longer for me, like longer than I was working and I was like, oh huh, this is interesting. I started learning more about, like, should I do CFP? Should I do, um, something else, maybe wealth management and just doing some research.
Speaker 1:I uh connected with the women's business center in Delaware and I was like I'm having a hard time. I'm seeing online that you could pay like a thousand dollars for an LLC and a registered agent. And the advisor was like, oh, it's so simple. He like walked me through like how to structure the business and what to do, documents to file, and it was so easy and it did not cost a thousand dollars. And so I was like, oh, okay, and then I had like I feel like I put so much emphasis on like the structure and the LLC and all that And the business checking account. And then I was just like I don't know what to do after this, like, yeah, you checked all the boxes.
Speaker 4:It's also part of that. It's like for me, like part of it was like also like that imposter syndrome. We were like oh, I think I feel more official once I have these things set up and. I think imposter syndrome is something that if you're passionate and you always want to improve, you're always going to have to a certain degree. But I understand exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was like. My goal was like structure the business, and then that was in July And then it was like crickets And I was like, huh well, what am I supposed to do?
Speaker 2:You're like I have all the things, now what?
Speaker 4:I do love that. The business idea came from something organic, though, because from like my experience and a passion project essentially right From my experience when I've seen people create a business that just came organically because they were helping people, and then people are like, oh, you should charge for this. Those tend to be the most profitable and also just Better in general, because it's something that you generally enjoy doing exactly yeah.
Speaker 1:And so, yeah, i would say for about, hmm, like six months, seven months. I kind of sat on it and I didn't do anything. I was like, okay, well, maybe I'll do like a test run. And so it's crazy because I had already been doing like helping people. But I was like now I have to get into structure mode and I have to do like a coaching, like program. And then I remember I did the coaching program. It was like six weeks long. I was miserable, the client was miserable and I was like we can't do this. I was like scrap that.
Speaker 4:So is this Not to interrupt you, but is this the certified coaching program that you're talking about?
Speaker 2:Or the coaching you were trying to do with your clients.
Speaker 1:This was just coaching clients, so not, i hadn't gotten certified yet, okay. And so I was like I don't like this, this doesn't feel good. Let me go into groups. And so I did my first group workshop and it was a success. It was like two hours long. We had ages like 40, five to about 80 in the room and it was Amazing, like 30 people were in there and they loved it. I was like, okay, i got to stick with groups. Groups are my thing, they are my jam. You get people in and out and, um, like from that, people were saving like $1,200 on their bill, they were cutting things, they were reducing Expenses and it was awesome. So then, after I did a few groups, i was like, okay, i really have to have to figure out like, i want to get certified, i want to be Like legit.
Speaker 1:And so I went through the National Financial Educators Council, nfec, which has the Certified Financial Education Instructor Program, and so I remember going through that program. It was like the beginning of 2020. And I was like, oh my gosh, like what if I fail? Like this is going to be horrible. I'm not a good educator. Oh, this is terrible, but it was an awesome experience I think it took. I think they give you about three months. I did it in about six weeks because I was like every week I was like going through a chapter, going through a lesson, and then I got certified mid 2020 pandemic hits And I was like, okay, now I have to do all this stuff online.
Speaker 1:And it was really just like from there partnering with other people. I partnered with this guy. He owns Paul Allen, owns or Alan Paul sorry owns God and gigs, and so he's really into like creative gigs for Christian inspired artists, and so we did like this huge webinar, have like 70 people in the room, and it was just like, yeah, just moving from one webinar to the next, doing a lot of group events. And then mid pandemic, i was like, wait, kids are at home, kids are with their parents.
Speaker 1:I'm looking online for like more information about kids because people are asking me in the meetings like I want to understand about this 529. I want to understand about a utma, utma, what. How do I help my kid In the event? like a pandemic happens in their lifetime, like how do I ensure that they have something to fall back on? because the parents were in a situation where one parent lost the job and they didn't have the income that they needed. They're downsizing significantly, and so I was like man, where's that? where's the information for the kids? I'm looking at children's books and I don't see. I'm seeing children's books that were out when I was a kid and I'm like, okay, something's going on, right, right.
Speaker 1:Something's going on, and so that was the switch. Definitely, the pandemic was the children.
Speaker 4:As you've probably seen, like there's a lot of changes going on within the financial services. you know arena just in general, because historically you know, all the information was kept tight, held by older white men, dispersed to other older white men and not the mass public. So, like, seeing all the changes is like I love seeing it, because, like I would say, from like an advisor age standpoint for myself at least, i'm on the upper end of the younger age advisors But like, for example, like you know, certified coach, like that's, that's a new, that's a new designation, that's it's been up, hasn't been up for that long, has it.
Speaker 4:I'm still finding out information like how those things work and where, like, what is the? you know the? what does that role entail? because it's new. So I would love I was just personally love to hear, like you know, what you like, you know specifically like your area of expertise, that you help your clients with.
Speaker 1:Yeah. so for me I'm all about instruction. So everyone always tries to ask me like Well, what should I invest in? I am not your person, i am not that person You can refer them to.
Speaker 1:Brandon, i'm not a broker, i do not have that one. I it's just not like ethical for me to do that And then to. I'm just here to educate you. So through instruction, i'm educating clients on how to set up their first budget, how do they reduce expenses, what are the accounts or vehicles that are available to them, and then, but then from there, then they can go on to an advisor, they can go on to chip One of my friends owns an advising like firm they can go on to another brokerage. But for me it's more so. I have no idea what to do with my money. These are what clients that I desire. I don't know what to do with my money. I have tried all the things. I've been reading all the books. How do I start at kind of ground zero? How do I lay a good foundation? So, living below your means, understanding your income, i'm learning that people don't, like they're not even aware of, like how to read, like their earning statement like Brandon says that all the time.
Speaker 2:He's like. You know, one of his first questions when he works with a new client is How much do you make right like what's gross, what's net?
Speaker 4:and people cannot answer that question or even just you know breaking down to someone like I would say majority people understand how tactics are. You know, if you're in the 24% tax bracket, most people think that their entire gross income is tax 24%. So even just breaking down that part like no, it's great at scale, but that's good, that goes back to lack of education in our school system right like these are the courses that we should have.
Speaker 2:There should be an entire course on taking out loans for college and what to do during and post graduation. Right, like you know, when we get rid of, you know not to knock music appreciation. But I just feel like there are more important courses that should be offered at this stage, because the financial literacy is just not there.
Speaker 4:I also was because, like the whole student loan thing, everyone is always, you know, the people that are opposed to any of the student loan. Forgiveness, they're a whole knock is oh, they took out the loans. They should. You know, they knew what they were doing, they should because their parents take out the loans they didn't take out the loans, their parents didn't know what they were doing, and now the kids are left with the decisions made by their parents.
Speaker 4:I was literally my older girl the other day who, unfortunately, with the student loan aspect, you know, some decisions could have been made better, but her parents didn't know any better. So you know they did the best they could. But now she has to deal with that And it wasn't necessarily her. It's not actually her fault. I completely understand that.
Speaker 1:It's, it's. I feel like it's not, like I really I don't like when people say like Oh well, you should have known, or you know, well, you paid off, like that is that's so terrible. You know, like I was 18 at the time. My mom is not like she's a naturalized citizen Now but we didn't know what we were doing. When she went to school it was through an international program and so there she didn't have to do you know the fast but all she didn't have to do, like all the different things that I had to do, and so we didn't know what we were doing. Like I just wanted to go to school. I wanted to go to school and I feel like my school was freaking expensive And that was one of the means to pay for school.
Speaker 1:Thankfully, i was able to get an ROTC scholarship And that was the remainder of my tuition. They covered the remainder of my tuition, but we had no clue about what we were doing and We're just hoping like that it would work out And thankfully it did. But we were not aware And I think, even though we had college preparatory classes, i was like involved, like you, just at 18, you just wanna go and live out your dreams. You don't know what you're signing yourself up for. And then you don't realize the second and third order effect. When you graduate and you don't have a job, that's giving you $50,000, you know.
Speaker 2:And I think too. I think now there was recently a survey done where somebody had I don't remember asked seniors in college like what they're going to be making when they graduate, and everybody was like, oh well, into the six figures, i don't know what you're graduating in or who you think is gonna be paying you this at 22 years old. But that is not the case.
Speaker 4:So even just that realization. And if you're a doctor, that's not gonna happen, right?
Speaker 2:not the first you just graduated right. I'm sure there are people right Like if you graduated early with an engineering degree and blah blah blah. But that's not the average, it's not the reality. So the review.
Speaker 1:And I think also like the fact that people think that they need six figures. Right, like you might need six figures if you live in a major city and if you live like and you're living like downtown, yeah Right, you're like in the mix, right, but like I don't know about you, but I didn't have six figures, like out of college I was making like 27,000.
Speaker 2:I was a teacher, so you know I wasn't Exactly.
Speaker 4:I remember graduate from college. I remember like when I was in college I was working at a hotel as a Bellman And I remember one of the guys a year above me he was talking about like when he graduated and he had an offer from IBM and he was gonna make $45,000 and we were like that was a big deal He's getting paid.
Speaker 2:That was a big deal. But also, i mean, i know, growing up like we I mean my parents probably made that right And like we had a house, we went on vacations. We had cars. I got a car when I was 17.
Speaker 4:Like, the world is different now.
Speaker 2:I don't know how my parents did that. Yeah Well, the world is very different. Well, yeah.
Speaker 4:Inflation, you know cost of goods like it's insane.
Speaker 2:Okay, i know we're running out of time, but I do have a couple things that I want Jasmine to address. So the first is how did you decide that being a financial educator versus you mentioned a CFP or an RA? why did you choose the financial educator route? Why was that a good for you?
Speaker 1:So I love education. I love being in front of a crowd, i love being in front of people and really taking a very small idea and creating an actionable plan in a group format. So I love, i love motivating a crowd, inspiring them to get out of debt, inspiring them to build generational wealth, whatever that looks like for them. And, yeah, i love talking to people And so I felt like, for me, being an educator was a little bit more helpful than being a planner. Like I applaud you as an advisor, like I applaud you because I know there are. There's just certain things and certain behaviors that you have to navigate right, like why didn't you, why didn't you just stick to the plan?
Speaker 1:You know, like I hear from my friends who are CFPs or their advisors And I'm like, see, i just love let me rock a crowd real quick And then tap out and move on.
Speaker 4:Yeah, see for me like so, for example, like you know, being a certified educator like that wasn't even like something I'd ever heard of at the time when I was getting into finance, so like the only way that I knew about doing it was the way that I went. But I do love, i'm really big on the education aspect as well. Like I never want to just telecline what to do. I want to educate you along the way so that you feel empowered to make the decision for yourself, and so I want to percent like align with that idea of education.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i love educating, i love like presenting, i love being able to show people. I remember I was in a high school doing a presentation to about like 600 students And one of the students at the end she was a little black girl senior And she was like it's so like refreshing to see someone of color, to see like a young person that looks like you, that looks like me, and show me that it's possible for me And that's what I want to represent. I want to be able to go into these school systems, go into neighborhoods and show like you don't have to be in this statistic, like you don't have to be one of the 56% of Americans who are living paycheck or who can't afford an emergency over $1,000. Like you literally can do something different And not to say that I'm the only example, but there is another way. And so that I really do.
Speaker 1:I really want to show people that it's possible And that I don't know if it's like it's a trope that's like on social media, i absolutely hate it. But like I just I really hate like when I see like TikToks and Reels that are like oh, i'm out with my friends but my bank accounts on E, like I hate, like it despises me that that's like celebrated, you know, it's like, it's almost like we're proud to like not have funds in our account but having a good time.
Speaker 1:And I'm like you could still have a good time if you plan.
Speaker 4:You could still have a good time. That might be a younger person's mentality, but then, like you know, they're 10 years into the future. Self is going to be upset at that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's a good segue. And this is where I wanted to end, because, again, Jasmine, we've been following each other now for probably two years or so And I feel like I've just seen your journey and your growth and all the things that you're doing. But I vividly remember you're so good about posting how much things cost because you budget for everything, And I don't remember where you were. But you went to a wedding. It looked beautiful And you oh, you're giving me a face, You're giving, you're giving face. Oh, we're going to talk about it.
Speaker 2:But I remember you posted about, you know, the flight, the shoes, the dress, I think you got your nails done how much you spent on every meal while you were traveling, your morning coffee, you know, and you, every picture you posted had a dollar amount And I was like this girl is on it, because so my thing is, you know, we pay ourselves first. Money always goes into savings. We pay our children first, we pay our bills and then the rest is ours, right? But don't ask me how much I spent, line item by line item, to get to a friend's wedding, because I'm just not going to do it. That's not how I operate, But I so admire that that is how you operate. So talk to us about your budgeting Cause I think back then you were living off of 40% of your your pay.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's a big thing, though I think we miss saying is that she was able to live off of substantially. She said she lived below her means but you were substantially below your means.
Speaker 2:And now, with inflation, and I mean life is expensive, i think now you're at like 60%. That means what 40% is still going in the bank? Cause that's very impressive.
Speaker 1:So 10,. So right now, 10% is going to tithing, 20% is going to investments and then 10% is going to savings.
Speaker 2:Okay, so 10, 10, 10. Do you guys? see how she broke that down. Yeah, i mean 10, 20, 10. 10, 20, 10. Okay, but you have your buckets, okay, you?
Speaker 1:have your buckets, which is important, so how do you?
Speaker 2:how do you budget for your upcoming events? What do you do if a last minute girls trip shows up on your radar and you really want to go, but it wasn't budgeted? Walk us through that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's interesting because we're going on it. My boyfriend and I are going on an international excursion to Greece.
Speaker 4:yes, Is this the first one with the boyfriend internationally?
Speaker 2:Yeah yes, oh, that's fake. How many days?
Speaker 1:Oh gosh, I think it's like a week and a half or so.
Speaker 2:Okay, very nice, and so Greece is on the top of our list too.
Speaker 1:I'm excited. It's going to be fun.
Speaker 2:I'm like a history. It's going to be great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll be following along. I have a person who wants to go to Greece, like the Acropolis and Parthenon. I think that's as you should Like. I mean, of course, the beaches and the islands are amazing, but it is a big part of history. Yes, but yeah, we like, so I'm all about the spreadsheets. I'm a financial analysis analyst sorry in my real job So I'm all about our spreadsheet and I'm all about, like, tracking and trends and forecasting.
Speaker 2:Forecasting. yeah, I saw that one coming from a mile away.
Speaker 4:You seem to be a very balanced between, like someone who's analytical but then also very active.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:That's not a normal mix.
Speaker 2:That's a good mix. That's a good balance.
Speaker 1:It's weird Every time I tell people like I want to do something creative and finance and they just look at me like that's a lot of things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can make it.
Speaker 4:So you are, that you are a unicorn in the sense of finance and being able to understand the numbers aspect, but still have the ability to do the creative aspect. You can make a lot of money because 99.9% of people in finance are not creative and the other people that are creative- don't understand finance Numbers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's okay. I will keep that in the back of my mind because I'm telling you everyone's like that doesn't exist.
Speaker 4:Do it, do it. I'm telling you I know that's a big need for it because no one's doing it. Next business idea for you.
Speaker 2:Carry that.
Speaker 4:Like as if she doesn't have enough on her plate.
Speaker 1:Can we just hear about race, please Okay, sorry.
Speaker 1:So anytime, like um, so anytime I'm planning a trip, I always go and look up like average trip costs. Um, and when I mean by average trip costs, I look at like flight, I look at hotel, lodging, transportation, food, And so I'm I really just kind of go in and look at, okay, when do I want to leave somewhere? um, to go anywhere. And then I look up Google flights, Maybe I might look up sky scanner to see what uh prices are available. And then I look up like, okay, we're looking at it, probably like $1,000, $800 for a flight. Then I'm looking up low lodging So what are we actually going to do while there? Um, so we're planning on going to a few islands, And so I want to know how much it's going to be. Or do we need a fairy? How much does that fairy cost The flight? I'm very particular about details.
Speaker 1:Yes, Um, i am spontaneous, but I think it's important to kind of have a plan of, like, what we're going to do and how much we plan on, you know, expending on this trip. When it came to that trip uh, the wedding man I honestly went over budget. I had a number that I had written down and it was way more. And it was like I was not expecting the Ubers to be like $50 one way from the airport. I wasn't expecting the hotel to be like 250, like there were so many things that I didn't factor in. And then, once I started calculating, i was like, oh my gosh, like I spent like $1,000 on this wedding that I wasn't even in.
Speaker 2:Well, and I that's. You know there's articles constantly in, you know all of the women's magazines. That's like you should budget $1,000 if you're traveling for a wedding that you're not in. That number probably would have tripled had you been in the wedding with dresses and bachelorette parties. And I mean it adds up.
Speaker 4:I mean, i always say for people that when you're planning a wedding, if you are asking people to come and asking them to give you a gift, whatever, you better show them a good time, because they're spending money. Yeah, it's the time of your own wedding but you also wanna make sure you're a guest. You also wanna make sure your guests are having a good time.
Speaker 1:Yes, It was a great wedding. Like I was, we returned. It was great.
Speaker 4:I was like I mean, we had a, we had a destination wedding in Dominican Republic. So you know we were, we knew it was a huge ask for our, you know, friends to come, but every single one of our friends, that is hands down one of the best weddings they've been to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it was a lot. We expected a lot from people to, you know, but that's why I didn't have bridesmaids.
Speaker 4:I didn't want people to We let them know like a year in advance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we gave them budget and yeah, But so I just so. Was that trip, the wedding trip, where you went way over? was that the catalyst for you budgeting better in the future, or was it just one of those? hey, I just got the numbers wrong.
Speaker 1:Hey, it was more so I got the numbers wrong. So I was a maid of honor for my best friend's wedding. I actually showed my boyfriend, kind of, the spreadsheet, the spreadsheet and the PowerPoint slide I created.
Speaker 2:Y'all Oh, wow The power.
Speaker 4:Y'all, is he analytical, like you as well.
Speaker 1:He is. To a certain extent He's a teacher And so he is, but not he's like you are like very in the teacher, that's a lot. He's like a big teacher person. But I wanted because I felt like I was in weddings. I was in another friend's wedding. I spent like $1,800 being in the wedding And I was like I don't want anyone else to have that experience. How do we make this affordable, make it so that it's transparent. Everybody knows where the costs are going And that at the end of the day, they're not going to break the bank to support their friend to be in the wedding. And so the costs y'all for a dress, for Airbnb first night of the wedding or the night before the wedding sorry makeup and then food within the Airbnb. So we did like a brunch and a dinner. It was under $300.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:That's like come on y'all Like I was very tired of that.
Speaker 2:I don't even know how you did that. Yeah, I don't, That's yeah.
Speaker 1:It was. so we had about six fries made, i believe, and we split everything We split. so the dresses they had their own dresses, we had a. the makeup artist wasn't super expensive, i think it was like $50. The Airbnb was split. Everybody had their own bed. because I can't stand, going to the Airbnb.
Speaker 2:Yes, we are too grown. We are too grown to be sharing beds. Okay, No.
Speaker 4:I'm not a small person, so that wouldn't even be an option.
Speaker 2:No, it's not. We're too grown. We're not sharing a bed, no.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Like everyone had their own beds and we still had food, so we went to Costco, did like a nice little brunch. And then we also did supplies as well. So everybody's like the cost for the supplies for the Bachelorette party, So under $300,. If you want Jasmine to plan your Bachelorette party, let me know. I got you.
Speaker 2:Yes, listen, let Jasmine do it, and it sounds crazy.
Speaker 4:And it sounds like the common thing that I hear throughout this entire conversation is planning, planning.
Speaker 2:Planning.
Speaker 4:Planning, planning, planning. If you take the time to plan, that is going to be the key catalyst to you actually saving money.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Not doing it last minute.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you know what you're getting yourself into, at least and y'all, i had payment plans too. I had, like I had installation A, payment installation A, payment installation B and the dates that they were due.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, i love that.
Speaker 1:I wanted it to be affordable and I wanted people to have a good time, And I know people can have a good time. They're not breaking the bank, you know, And so yeah.
Speaker 4:I've heard stories about Bachelorette things, parties being planned and then you have like separate groups of friends and so people that aren't friends with other people and then so-and-so is not paying when they're supposed to or they're upset. So I've heard these stories.
Speaker 1:It's a lot. It's a lot, i think, because I was in a wedding and I remember we went to a very bougie restaurant and I'm all for the bougie-ness, i love it. But like, when I'm like going anywhere, i am I'm planning what I'm eating. So I look at the menu, i look at, okay, what's the budget looking like? I'm planning, and I remember y'all we split the bill and I will never forget how hurt I was because I did not order. I ordered like $25 worth.
Speaker 2:Yes, you do not split the bill. No, That is so rude because everybody else ordering all the appetizers and the bottles and the fancy $16 cocktails. If I, absolutely not.
Speaker 4:Spent $25, and you spent $100. We are not splitting.
Speaker 2:We are not splitting. I can't believe you allowed that, Jasmine. I'm not.
Speaker 1:Without number. Shocked, i'm shocked. You just have to be. You have to be like. you just have to chop it up and just be like you know what? I will never do that again. I did not want to do it, but I felt like I was, like I'm But.
Speaker 2:I said for $5. You took one for the team but never again. Yeah, I was like this is not okay, Like No, Rule number one don't split the bill unless you're literally sharing every single thing. Yeah, I mean Yeah.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and your friends like you're really like tight with these people.
Speaker 2:So they know you came with a budget and then they busted the budget. Yeah, okay, i know we could talk to you for hours.
Speaker 4:I still feel sad about it.
Speaker 2:We just poured salt into that open wound. We're going to move on and take the salt out. We could talk to you for hours. There's so much goodness here. You are doing such incredible work helping people, making it fun, showing them that they can have a budget, they can plan for the things that are important to them and still have a good time right Like. It doesn't have to be deprivation, it just needs to be planned and accounted for, which I think is so fantastic. Love that you have our children in mind with your books, for you know financial freedom and building wealth, so we will link those in our show notes as well. Thank you. I do want to ask, because we always want to leave our listeners with a final thought or something that they can take away What do you want to share with our listeners today that they can walk away with?
Speaker 1:I would say it's so important to rewrite your money story, like whatever happened in the past, like it's the past, you know, like the environments you grew up in, how you view money, like those are all things that are impacted to impact. Your impact is viable and you have experiences with. But you can absolutely rewrite a new money story. It doesn't matter if you're 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70. I've seen it. I've seen retirees go from not having a savings to blowing up their retirement account with just a little bit of steps, a little bit of planning and just being honest about their situation. So, please, like you are not alone in this journey of figuring out your money And it's a lifelong process. Like no one is ever great after just one podcast or one workshop or one you know time with their advising session. Like this is lifelong journey. There's the times when you're ballin' and it's great. We you know 2020 and people were living good, interest rates are really, really low, and then now we're in a situation where interest rates are ridiculously high, inflation's high, everything's you know.
Speaker 2:Everything's expensive, yep.
Speaker 1:Everything's expensive, expensive And so like. That's the life that it is. That is the life that we currently live, learning more about financial education. So show yourself grace, rewrite your money story and just do it Like you have. If you're listening to this podcast right now, you have the tools to be successful with your money.
Speaker 2:I love that There's no, you're not too early. you're not too late to rewrite your money story. We talk about traumas a lot, right, a lot of us have past money traumas. We've all made mistakes with our money, but you can rewrite your story because it's yours. I think that is such a great note to end on. This has been so fantastic. I have a huge smile on my face. There's so much goodness to pull out of this. We will link all of the ways that people can get in touch with you, follow you, learn from you and.
Speaker 2:I can't wait to see what's next for you, jasmine, because I know the sky is the limit. So thank you so much for being with us today.
Speaker 1:I appreciate it, jess. thank you so much. It's been fun, it's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. We'll talk to you soon, don't forget. Benjamin Franklin said an investment in knowledge pays the best interest. You just got paid Until next time. Thanks for listening to today's episode. We are so glad to have you as part of our Sugar Daddy community. If you learned something today, please remember to subscribe, rate, review and share this episode with your friends, family and extended network. Don't forget to connect with us on social media. At the Sugar Daddy podcast, you can also email us your questions you want us to answer for our past the sugar segments at theSugarDaddyPodcast at gmailcom, or leave us a voicemail through our Instagram.