7 | Emerge
PLENTY OF CHANGE
So here’s what happened, I had a feeling, you know, one of those
feelings you get in your gut when you feel really strongly about doing
something. In my case this something was starting my own business.
Recently I had been presented with so many life-changing opportunities,
I was certain that all roads pointed towards me becoming a business
owner.
Excited, I decided to go full steam ahead and started with my business.
I began thinking about business names, logos, letterhead, business
cards, websites, training, licenses and the list seemed to go on and
on. Quickly I realized that all of the items on my list required me to have
something very important that I was lacking, money. Whoever came
up with the saying “you have to spend money to make money” was
probably a business owner. So, there I was sitting at a desk feeling
completely frustrated, because I had a long laundry list of things that I
needed to do, things that had become quite costly, but no money to do
it.
Giving up was not an option; giving up on something I felt so strongly
about was not simply giving up an idea. It would be giving up on me,
my future but, most importantly, my family. For some odd reason, I
began to think about what I would do when I was a little girl who wanted
something. I remember a time where I wanted a doll. I remember going
into my piggy bank to count my change and see if it was enough to
get what I wanted. To my amazement, I had more than enough. Who
knew that years of putting pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and an
occasional dollar bill in a plastic pig could add up to so much.
It was at that moment everything became so clear to me. Becoming
a business owner was going to require change and not just the kind of
change from your pants pocket or piggy bank. It was going to require
a change in me. A change in how I did things and a change in my
mindset. At this point I was clear on one thing and one thing only, I was
going to become a business owner. What was not clear was how I was
going to get there.
MY TWO CENT$
With DaShana K.
I had to figure out a way to position myself for a better financial future.
To get started I sat down with a financial professional and completed
a Personal Financial Strategy (PFS). The PFS allowed me to identify
the two major categories where I spent the most money. Those
categories were debt and shopping, truth be told, shopping was directly
associated with my debt. After I had the categories identified I began
researching ways to save money in those areas.
The majority of my debt was a result of my student loans. I obtained a
wonderful education, so I always looked at my student loans as good
debt. Luckily, I was able to find a student loan consolidation program
that matched me with loans that offered lower interest rates and no
origination fees. For the remaining part of my debt, I found a credit
card with an interest rate close to five percent and no balance transfer
fees. The lower interest rates afforded me flexibility in my budget. I was
able to choose between immediately saving money by paying a lower
monthly payment or I could continue paying th