Speaker 1: For a long time, especially when I was like in
Speaker 1: elementary school up until like, I don't know, fifteen sixteen.
Speaker 1: You guys, we had some pretty tough times financially. I
Speaker 1: was disinherited. When it first happened, I was hurt, but
Speaker 1: I'm glad that it happened that way. One thing that
Speaker 1: I wish that I would have known about money earlier
Speaker 1: on was the importance of saving, because when I was
Speaker 1: asked to move out, the rug was just like swiped
Speaker 1: right from under my feet. What up? What up? Everyone?
Speaker 1: Welcome to this week's episode of Cheek Ease and Chill.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Cheeks, and I hope your week is
Speaker 1: going great so far. Today marks the last Monday in
Speaker 1: the month of April. Can you guys believe that? And
Speaker 1: you know what, April is also financial Literacy Month, So
Speaker 1: today that's what we're gonna be talking about. Money, finances,
Speaker 1: my relationship with money, and more So, get ready for
Speaker 1: another episode of cheek Ease and Chill. Money is such
Speaker 1: a heavy topic and it's also one people don't really
Speaker 1: like talking about because it's so personal. But guys, that's
Speaker 1: why we have to start talking about it. So many
Speaker 1: of you know, I didn't come from money. I grew
Speaker 1: up saying a lot because I was the eldest of five.
Speaker 1: So when my mom had me, she was fifteen, two
Speaker 1: weeks before her sixteenth birthday. She hadn't finished high school obviously,
Speaker 1: and she was not with my dad. My dad as
Speaker 1: soon as he found out that she was pregnant, he
Speaker 1: was like, that's not my baby. It's like there's a
Speaker 1: whole story behind that. So my mom had to leave
Speaker 1: my grandma's house because my grandma said, well, if you're pregnant,
Speaker 1: you can't live at the house. That's when we lived
Speaker 1: in the garage. It was my uncle guss garage, right,
Speaker 1: And so my almost fifteen fifteen, sixteen years old when
Speaker 1: I was born, she was trying to finish school. She
Speaker 1: was going to continuation school and working and things got better.
Speaker 1: My mom was a hustler. That's one thing that like,
Speaker 1: my mom would work, go to school, and then just
Speaker 1: work at Bank of America, Like I always saw her
Speaker 1: just hustling. A lot of the times our family didn't
Speaker 1: know my mom. She was very a proud woman in
Speaker 1: the sense of if she needed help, she wouldn't ask
Speaker 1: for it, and she wanted her siblings her brothers and
Speaker 1: her parents could think, Okay, I'm fine. So for a
Speaker 1: long time, especially when I was like in elementary school,
Speaker 1: up until like I don't know, fifteen sixteen, you guys,
Speaker 1: we had some pretty tough times financially. We were on WICK.
Speaker 1: We were on food stamps, and wick is like when
Speaker 1: you get free food from the government. So we would
Speaker 1: get peanut butter, eggs, cheese, bread. Sometimes if we were lucky,
Speaker 1: we got the milk and we got Kicks cereal. Okay,
Speaker 1: so I grew up on Kicks, you guys. I didn't
Speaker 1: have that fun cereal like Lucky charms and fruity pebbles
Speaker 1: and all that stuff like that wasn't in my house.
Speaker 1: The FUNNESTY would get was kicked with a little bit
Speaker 1: of like chuckle meal in it, so it became chocolate
Speaker 1: like Coco puffs. So I mean, I would have to
Speaker 1: get off and pretend I was Johnny's mom because the
Speaker 1: girls that worked at wik already knew because my mom
Speaker 1: was already Jenny Rivera, but she wasn't making money yet.
Speaker 1: When I remember in fifth grade I would go to school,
Speaker 1: we didn't have money to buy me like new shoes,
Speaker 1: so I was that kid that would go to school
Speaker 1: and had the old, beat up shoes. Sometimes my shoes
Speaker 1: would talk. They had holes on the bottom from how
Speaker 1: old they were. I would have to wear my mom's
Speaker 1: clothes sometimes because we didn't have money to buy me
Speaker 1: new clothes. And I think one of the best things
Speaker 1: that could have happened to us was when they implemented
Speaker 1: uniforms in school, because it's like all of us were
Speaker 1: just dressed the same. We would go by at three
Speaker 1: stores my uniforms and stuff like that, but my shoes
Speaker 1: would always just I was wearing my uniform, but you
Speaker 1: could tell in my shoes that we didn't have money.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of things that I grew up watching,
Speaker 1: but I always saw my mom just hustling. She never said, no,
Speaker 1: we don't have money for that. It was just like,
Speaker 1: you know, you're gonna have to wait. I always felt
Speaker 1: like I had everything I needed. You know, we were fine.
Speaker 1: I mean even if we were eating a couple noodles
Speaker 1: or cereal or sometimes like we always had food on
Speaker 1: the table. There was a time I remember, like ten
Speaker 1: eleven years old, where we didn't and all we had
Speaker 1: to eat was canned food. I think it was like
Speaker 1: tuna and green beans, and that's what we had to
Speaker 1: live off of, all of us. And again a lot
Speaker 1: of our family members didn't know this. Anyways. I grew
Speaker 1: up thinking like, Okay, we're fine, but I didn't realize
Speaker 1: that we weren't fine until you start getting older and
Speaker 1: the kids at school talk about it, and you see
Speaker 1: the difference between you wearing l A gears from payless
Speaker 1: back in the days to like my friends wearing felas
Speaker 1: and nikes and stuff. Because my mom was never was like, oh,
Speaker 1: we're poor. It was just later on, I'm working hard,
Speaker 1: I'm a single mother. You know you can have it later.
Speaker 1: So I am so grateful because that's I think why
Speaker 1: I'm a hustler, Like I gotta do what I gotta do,
Speaker 1: no matter what, I'm gonna be Okay. Now that we're
Speaker 1: talking about money, that something that I wanted to bring
Speaker 1: up because I hear certain things and i'm you know
Speaker 1: how big I am on affirmations. You know the law
Speaker 1: of attraction, And that's one thing I tell myself every day.
Speaker 1: Even if maybe my bank account isn't as I don't
Speaker 1: know heavy as other days, you know, it's like it's okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be fine. God will make it where
Speaker 1: God will provide, the universe will provide whatever you want
Speaker 1: to say it, or I'm a money magnet. Little affirmations
Speaker 1: like that. It's just like really really believing it and saying,
Speaker 1: no matter what, I'm gonna be fine. And in my household,
Speaker 1: that's one thing my mom would wake up early. And
Speaker 1: like I said earlier, she never made it seem like
Speaker 1: we didn't have a lot of luxuries. But I had
Speaker 1: what I needed, which was food and clothes, and maybe
Speaker 1: yeah it was my mom's clothes, but I had clothes
Speaker 1: on my back. And my mom for a long time,
Speaker 1: even if she wanted to buy us what we wanted,
Speaker 1: what we desired, she couldn't. And I think that's why
Speaker 1: when she started making money and she was able to
Speaker 1: by us our first house, you know, with all of
Speaker 1: us having our own rooms, because we would share rooms,
Speaker 1: all of us when we lived in Compton. Mikey had
Speaker 1: his room and then Jackie and I shared rooms, but
Speaker 1: we didn't have restrooms. You know, that was a huge
Speaker 1: thing for all of us. My mom would always say,
Speaker 1: I want to get us a house where each of
Speaker 1: you have your own bathroom. It was a goal for her.
Speaker 1: You know. I was like, I'm going to make that happen.
Speaker 1: And I think that's why when her career just started
Speaker 1: going off. She was a great provider. She wanted us
Speaker 1: to have everything that we wanted, and sometimes she would
Speaker 1: overcompensate because she was gone so much that she would
Speaker 1: not buy our love. Because I don't want to say that.
Speaker 1: It was just it would make her happy to be
Speaker 1: able to give us the things that we desired. For Johnny,
Speaker 1: it was a little bit more difficult because I like,
Speaker 1: he was born basically in a mansion. But now he
Speaker 1: if it was telling me the other day, like you
Speaker 1: you didn't teach me you how to manage money and
Speaker 1: all this stuff. He was like yelling, and I'm like, hello,
Speaker 1: wait a second. I had to just go into the
Speaker 1: world and figure it out, because that's what my mom
Speaker 1: would tell me. Figure it out. How do I read
Speaker 1: a check? How do I deposit a check? I don't know,
Speaker 1: figure it out. Ask questions. That's how you learn in
Speaker 1: the world is by asking questions. So it's kind of
Speaker 1: like what I told Johnny. I was like, dude, you
Speaker 1: never asked me. But it's because not that he was
Speaker 1: born with the silver spoon in his mouth, because I
Speaker 1: always did my best to teach him how to clean
Speaker 1: the toilets, to teach him how to pick up after himself,
Speaker 1: to cook. Like, I was a little harder on him,
Speaker 1: but he didn't see and live everything that I lived,
Speaker 1: even like Jackie and Mikey. And I don't even know
Speaker 1: if jack and Mikey remember those things or if they
Speaker 1: were ever made fun of its school because kids could
Speaker 1: be mean. But in reality, Johnny like was born already
Speaker 1: being okay, you know, and that's when my mom was like, okay,
Speaker 1: here Johnny, he's six months and I'm going to go
Speaker 1: off and work and do what I gotta do. And
Speaker 1: she was the motor. She was a motor of the family.
Speaker 1: So now talking about Johnny, I was sixteen when he
Speaker 1: was born, and when my mom went back to work,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like, here's your kid. I'm gonna go work,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go do what I gotta do. I kind
Speaker 1: kind of at that moment, I think, was when I
Speaker 1: put my my own life on hold because I wanted
Speaker 1: to help my mom and I wanted her to make
Speaker 1: her dreams come true for her. It was this is
Speaker 1: a career. Sure always saw it is this is the
Speaker 1: way I'm going to feed my children. And yes she
Speaker 1: did real estate, but she was making money singing and
Speaker 1: her career was starting to pop off, you know. So
Speaker 1: I think that's when I started seeing the change when
Speaker 1: started playing and then like all her like hits like
Speaker 1: her Carillo started like coming out, and you know, I
Speaker 1: started getting better and better. But I think that's like
Speaker 1: the first time when I started realizing, oh, my mom
Speaker 1: is is a superstar. She was being at award show,
Speaker 1: she was being awarded for Female Artists of the Year
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, you know, selling out show. She
Speaker 1: was gone almost every weekend. So I started saying, yeah,
Speaker 1: there's more money coming in, of course, but then we
Speaker 1: saw less of her. So I think that's when things
Speaker 1: got a little tough at home because I felt like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm sixteen, seventeen eighteen, like I should be out with
Speaker 1: my friends. And when my mom would come home I
Speaker 1: after working, she wanted to relax too, you know, and
Speaker 1: she would just kind of like, okay, guys, like here's this,
Speaker 1: here's that. Like she was good at being an amazing provider,
Speaker 1: and I would tell her, hey, mom, you still have
Speaker 1: to be a mom and I want to be a
Speaker 1: teenage girl. But now I look back and I thank
Speaker 1: her because I understand, like she was fifteen when she
Speaker 1: had me, you know, like she still had to live
Speaker 1: her life. Now I understand it, but during that time,
Speaker 1: it was tough. It was definitely hard. And my mom,
Speaker 1: I think because she would come home, honestly, and she'd
Speaker 1: have stacks and stacks of cash. They would pay her
Speaker 1: cash back then and I was the one that had
Speaker 1: to manage it all. And I'm not gonna lie. Imagine
Speaker 1: a sixteen year old girl with thousands and thousands of
Speaker 1: dollars in a briefcase, like I would hide it. I
Speaker 1: had really good hiding places. I was the one that
Speaker 1: had to do the groceries. I had to go, like
Speaker 1: buy the groceries. I had to pay and make sure everything,
Speaker 1: all the bills were paid at home. And I felt
Speaker 1: for a long time that I was that I just
Speaker 1: did that. I felt a little bit entitled, And that's
Speaker 1: not right to feel that way now I know that,
Speaker 1: but at that time, I felt like, well, I'm the
Speaker 1: one staying home with the kids, I'm the one taking
Speaker 1: care of everything. Everything is being paid because I'm paying it,
Speaker 1: and I would use the money as if it was mine.
Speaker 1: And there were times when I would just misuse the money.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not even gonna lie about that, Like
Speaker 1: I had cash guys in my hands, like I could
Speaker 1: just go into my room and and use it. And
Speaker 1: my mom never asked me questions, you know, I think
Speaker 1: she trusted me, and I would never lie to her,
Speaker 1: like if I would tell her, you know, yeah, I
Speaker 1: went to the store. I bought you because you know,
Speaker 1: I would dress her back then. I bought you clothes,
Speaker 1: and I also bought myself close and she would have
Speaker 1: laughed like she knew. She said, you need to stop,
Speaker 1: like you need to save money, like for a rainy day,
Speaker 1: like that money's there. Make sure you buy what we
Speaker 1: need and save the rest. That's when I first heard, like, oh,
Speaker 1: we gotta save money. I was like seventeen, and I did,
Speaker 1: but then there were things that I didn't need, not
Speaker 1: just because I could buy it. It's still not my money.
Speaker 1: It's still not my money to use it as I please,
Speaker 1: you know, And it took me a long time to
Speaker 1: realize that. And I think that's one of the last
Speaker 1: lessons my mom wanted to teach me when she asked
Speaker 1: me to move out in March of the year that
Speaker 1: she passed, was because she wanted me to go and
Speaker 1: really see what the world was like, because I had
Speaker 1: been somewhat sheltered, and I think for years I was
Speaker 1: used to us being okay financially that you kind of
Speaker 1: lose the meaning of what money's for. One thing that
Speaker 1: I wish that I would have known about money earlier
Speaker 1: on was the importance of saving. Because when I was
Speaker 1: asked to move out and my job was taken away,
Speaker 1: which was my job with my mom, and I got
Speaker 1: paid pretty well and I got comfortable, the rug was
Speaker 1: just like swiped right from under my feet. It almost
Speaker 1: felt like I went back to my childhood. And this
Speaker 1: is how crazy it was. I had a one bedroom.
Speaker 1: It was a one bedroom was it was a garage
Speaker 1: that was converted right and it was like a studio
Speaker 1: so it was like a kitchen and then the living
Speaker 1: room all in one, and then there was a bedroom
Speaker 1: with the restroom. So I made the bedroom my closet.
Speaker 1: This is how crazy and obsessed I was with clothes
Speaker 1: and shoes and purses. And I still have to be honest,
Speaker 1: because I converted my garage into my closet now and
Speaker 1: my glam room. But now I see it different. Now
Speaker 1: I see it as an investment. Now it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I come out on television, I do interviews, I perform
Speaker 1: I need different clothes. And even then I was on
Speaker 1: reality and I would buy an excessive amount of clothes.
Speaker 1: Could I have bought less, Absolutely, But I didn't have
Speaker 1: anything in my savings account. And I wish I would
Speaker 1: have known the importance of when I started working, how
Speaker 1: important it is to save money. Fifty dollars, it could
Speaker 1: be anything you guys from every check whenever you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I have some extra money, I'm gonna put in my
Speaker 1: savings account. It would have really just gave me a
Speaker 1: piece of mind during that time. And there I was
Speaker 1: twenty six years old, thinking what the heck, I have
Speaker 1: nothing in my savings account. All I have is literally
Speaker 1: what's in my checkings and all that money has to
Speaker 1: go into my business. So now, as an adult, I
Speaker 1: do have a savings account. It is important for me
Speaker 1: to have a savings account because I am self employed.
Speaker 1: So I don't have a for oh one K, I
Speaker 1: don't have you know what I mean? Like I have
Speaker 1: my life insurance and things like that. But for me,
Speaker 1: it is important that I do save ten percent of
Speaker 1: my monthly income goes into my savings account. Or like
Speaker 1: I was telling Johnny the other day, Okay, he's getting
Speaker 1: paid now he's working for my mom's enterprises. I'm like,
Speaker 1: from every check, take a hundred dollars and put it
Speaker 1: in your savings account for a rainy day. It doesn't
Speaker 1: even have to be a lot. It can be every
Speaker 1: check fifty dollars, every check a hundred dollars, whatever you can,
Speaker 1: but you have to put it away and pretend it
Speaker 1: does not exist, Like you just have to just put
Speaker 1: it away. It could be like I told him, if
Speaker 1: you want to go on vacation at the end of
Speaker 1: the year, if that's what's gonna make you happy, if
Speaker 1: you just want to have it there for your retirement
Speaker 1: plan like I do. Like for me, it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: one day I want to be able to retire and
Speaker 1: be okay, and and I'll have that savings there. It's
Speaker 1: just whatever your personal goals are. I do think it's
Speaker 1: in portant to have that just for backup, just for safety.
Speaker 1: But for me, it's a ten percent I save and
Speaker 1: then a ten percent that I give back. That's just
Speaker 1: my personal preference. I like to give it either a
Speaker 1: ten percent of my monthly income to a church, to
Speaker 1: a family in need, to even my grandma like I
Speaker 1: used to send her money all the time, like to
Speaker 1: anyone like I just feel in any way that I
Speaker 1: can give back, it keeps again the functuay and the
Speaker 1: flow and the energy of my finances moving. So that's
Speaker 1: one thing that I do, and I believe it also
Speaker 1: says in the Bible for those of you that are religious,
Speaker 1: that it's good to that you're offering so that you
Speaker 1: can keep that energy of your finances flowing. So that's
Speaker 1: just something that I do. And I highly suggest, especially
Speaker 1: saving some money for whatever it could be, anything for
Speaker 1: your retirement, like I said, for you want to go
Speaker 1: on vacation, like I told John And he was very frustrated.
Speaker 1: Johnny when I told him that, He's like, what do
Speaker 1: you mean. Believe me, they're gonna be grateful for that,
Speaker 1: because before you know it, you're gonna have like a
Speaker 1: thousand dollars in there is just kind of like here
Speaker 1: every check boom boom boom. And as some of you
Speaker 1: may know or may not know I was disinherited when
Speaker 1: it first happened. When I first learned about it, I
Speaker 1: was kind of like hurt because I felt like I
Speaker 1: had given so much of my life, my energy, my youth,
Speaker 1: to my mother, to my siblings, to her empire, to
Speaker 1: helping her grow into the massive artists that she still
Speaker 1: is today. But I'm glad. I'm glad that it happened
Speaker 1: that way because it has put some type of fire
Speaker 1: under my ass or even in my soul to say
Speaker 1: I'm going to make it in life. And I think
Speaker 1: my mom, because if she hadn't done that, I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, Like, yes, I took care of my siblings,
Speaker 1: like the first few years that she was gone, you know,
Speaker 1: like I said before, Johnny was eleven, Jennica was fifteen.
Speaker 1: So it was a huge responsibility to take on. But
Speaker 1: it just felt like it was the right thing to do.
Speaker 1: But it also helped me say, well, I gotta figure
Speaker 1: this out. I can't just stay home as much as
Speaker 1: I want to and take care of the kids like
Speaker 1: I also have to show them. I want to be
Speaker 1: an example for them. And that's why I went after
Speaker 1: my dream of being a singer, and I really was like, yes,
Speaker 1: I have my vision board. These are all the things
Speaker 1: that I want to accomplish, and now I really have
Speaker 1: to put in the work to make them come true.
Speaker 1: And that's what I did. And I'm so proud of
Speaker 1: myself for being able to accomplish all these things. I
Speaker 1: was disinherited. Yeah, but I thank her. I thank her
Speaker 1: so much because things could have been very different easily,
Speaker 1: you know, I could have gotten comfortable maybe, and instead
Speaker 1: it just really helped me also relearn the meaning of
Speaker 1: money and the value of it and the real value
Speaker 1: of it, which is what I've been telling you. You know,
Speaker 1: like before it was my mom's money that I would use,
Speaker 1: and it's just like I didn't feel it so much
Speaker 1: because it was her money and she was the one
Speaker 1: working hard for it, and I was able to buy
Speaker 1: as I pleased. But the gratification that I have gotten
Speaker 1: and by being able to purchase my own home and
Speaker 1: and this is my second home now, it feels great
Speaker 1: to just say, dude, I did this even when I
Speaker 1: was living in the garage, for me to be able
Speaker 1: to go into my account and pay for my own place,
Speaker 1: whether it was yes, it was a garage that was
Speaker 1: converted into like a studio. Like it felt good to
Speaker 1: say I am paying for my own space from my sweat,
Speaker 1: from the sweat of my forehead, you know, and I'm
Speaker 1: purchasing my own groceries. And it made me like really, say, okay,
Speaker 1: instead of purchasing a name brand dish soap, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: purchase the store brand and little things like that that
Speaker 1: it really helped me manage my money and say okay
Speaker 1: instead of spending on dumb things an unnecessary purse, you know,
Speaker 1: because I wanted a freaking Chanelle purse for so long,
Speaker 1: and I bought my first channel purse. I don't know,
Speaker 1: I want to say, like five years ago and it
Speaker 1: was five thousand dollars. And now I think about it,
Speaker 1: I'm like, what the F was I thinking? I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna lie, like, yes, I still have the person I
Speaker 1: love it, but I'm like, you know what, Like now
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, do I really need to buy that?
Speaker 1: Like I don't even use my persons as much as
Speaker 1: I should, you know. So it's like now I'm thinking
Speaker 1: of investing. Now, I'm like, how can I make my
Speaker 1: money multiply? I'm investing in crypto and bitcoin and all
Speaker 1: these things that are just gonna make my money grow,
Speaker 1: and not just on things that, yes, it's nice. I
Speaker 1: can walk into my closet, I'm like, okay, this is
Speaker 1: a large part of where my money is. It's in
Speaker 1: this closet and you know, in the shoes and the
Speaker 1: bags and all that stuff. But in reality, no manches
Speaker 1: that money is not growing. You know what I mean,
Speaker 1: it's there, it's just sitting there. I don't use it
Speaker 1: as much. And that's what I told myself this year.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start using my persons and my shoes a
Speaker 1: little more often. I need to go on dates, I
Speaker 1: need to do photo shoot something, because it's starting to
Speaker 1: bother me. Now I'm like, okay, I'm gonna invest in
Speaker 1: things that make me and my health, for instance, in
Speaker 1: buying good quality food for my body and buying vitamins.
Speaker 1: Like things have changed, my mentality has changed. And before
Speaker 1: I can admit that I would buy things to look cool,
Speaker 1: and in reality, like why you know, I want to
Speaker 1: be healthy. I want to have money in the bank
Speaker 1: to make sure that if something happens and God forbid
Speaker 1: I I have to pay my my hospital bill, I
Speaker 1: have the money to do that it's like really just
Speaker 1: changing your priorities and you grow up in your mature
Speaker 1: and you're like, okay, like I gotta really get set
Speaker 1: my ship straight, you know, and and put my priority
Speaker 1: straight and really like stop buying ship that I don't need.
Speaker 1: And it took a while to do that. And I'm
Speaker 1: hoping that those of you that are listening to this
Speaker 1: podcast can learn a lot faster than I did. And
Speaker 1: I have gone up and down in my life financially,
Speaker 1: but I can say that I'm proud. I'm proud because
Speaker 1: I've gotten this far, but there has been some tough
Speaker 1: as lessons and I'm hoping that you guys can learn
Speaker 1: from my mistakes and be better than I am. And
Speaker 1: that's what I tell Johnny all the time. You know,
Speaker 1: he's twenty one and he's barely learning now, like the
Speaker 1: value of money and how now he's like, I have
Speaker 1: to save and I'm like, yeah, you know, instead of
Speaker 1: eating out, dude, eating out costs so much money, you guys,
Speaker 1: it's better to cook at home. It's better to meal prep.
Speaker 1: And that's what he's doing because with the Locusta, you know,
Speaker 1: the Looquista, And you know now that I'm looking at
Speaker 1: Johnny and like yeah, like he's he was a little
Speaker 1: frustrating with me with me the other day because he's like,
Speaker 1: you didn't teach me this in taxes and all this stuff.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, dude, relax. All you gotta do is
Speaker 1: ask and I'll help you. And one thing that I
Speaker 1: think I know, because you know, money is sometimes a
Speaker 1: very touchy subject to talk about, especially when it comes
Speaker 1: to money in relationships. And I have always been a
Speaker 1: very fifty fifty type of girl, like I don't expect
Speaker 1: my partner to take care of me, and I don't
Speaker 1: want my partner to expect for me to take care
Speaker 1: of him, because that can definitely cause an imbalanced and
Speaker 1: tension in your love life. I've kind of been on
Speaker 1: both sides of the spectrum, to be honest. I had
Speaker 1: a guy that had a lot of money and took
Speaker 1: care of me and was there for me if I needed,
Speaker 1: if I had a bad day or if I was
Speaker 1: having you know, he would come and he would help me,
Speaker 1: you know, and I wouldn't ask for it to be
Speaker 1: like no, I'm to pay you back. He's like no.
Speaker 1: He always wanted to provide, but I always felt like
Speaker 1: because of what had happened with my mom. There was
Speaker 1: like strings attached to it, so I didn't want to
Speaker 1: take too much of his help, but he was always
Speaker 1: there to help me. And then I was in a
Speaker 1: relationship where I had to be more of the provider,
Speaker 1: which I was fine with because I felt like, I
Speaker 1: love this person and he's going through a bad time
Speaker 1: financially and I want to be there to help him.
Speaker 1: And I did help him, and I don't regret that,
Speaker 1: and I feel like as a partner, we have to
Speaker 1: have each other's back and say, okay, guendo. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't think that there's anything wrong with even if
Speaker 1: it's the woman, let's say, going out and being the
Speaker 1: bread winner of the home. You know, as long as
Speaker 1: the man is comfortable with that and secure enough to know, okay,
Speaker 1: that's fine. But sometimes men, especially in our culture, can
Speaker 1: be a little muchis then it's like no, or they'll
Speaker 1: start feeling inferior, in inadequate if their woman makes more
Speaker 1: money than they do, And I don't think that should
Speaker 1: be an issue. I just feel like, if your woman
Speaker 1: makes more money, that's cool, as long as you're bringing
Speaker 1: in what you can and not just sitting there and
Speaker 1: being lazy, sitting there and being lazy and expecting, you know,
Speaker 1: your partner to take care of you. That's a whole
Speaker 1: other thing. Like you have to help out. Like I
Speaker 1: feel like if you're the woman that stays at home
Speaker 1: and the man is the one that's out being the breadwinner,
Speaker 1: like you have to be okay with cleaning and cooking
Speaker 1: and making sure that the house is taken care of.
Speaker 1: Like I just feel like you have to help each
Speaker 1: other out. That's my personal opinion. I would always say
Speaker 1: my mom was a husband for a long time. She
Speaker 1: was the husband that would go out and make the money,
Speaker 1: and I was the wife that would stay home with
Speaker 1: the kids. But I made sure the house is clean,
Speaker 1: the kids were fed, the homework was done, clothes was washed.
Speaker 1: I felt like a very good housewife to my mother.
Speaker 1: And I would take care of the bills and I
Speaker 1: made sure everything got paid on time, and and I
Speaker 1: would buy stuff that were unnecessary, like two dollar shoes.
Speaker 1: Are you freaking kidding me? With my mom's money. That's
Speaker 1: something if you guys watch the reality show, you guys
Speaker 1: saw that. But I've learned, you guys, I learned. I learned.
Speaker 1: But the house is always take care of so in relationships,
Speaker 1: I think it is important to have that conversation early
Speaker 1: on in the relationship and be honest and just say, hey,
Speaker 1: this is my financial situation. I can help you with
Speaker 1: this amount, or I'll pay for the food and you
Speaker 1: pay for this. I just think it's a conversation that
Speaker 1: needs to happen very early on, you guys, and no
Speaker 1: one should feel bad if they can't or don't make
Speaker 1: as much money as your partner. I pulled up a
Speaker 1: couple of quotes that I wanted to share with you, guys,
Speaker 1: because I kind of want to dissect these and kind
Speaker 1: of tell you and how my relationship with money has
Speaker 1: evolved and how important it is to look at money
Speaker 1: for what it is. For instance, this one stopped buying
Speaker 1: things you don't need to impress people you don't like.
Speaker 1: Let me read that again. Stop buying things you don't
Speaker 1: need to impress people you don't like. That's crazy, you, guys,
Speaker 1: And I think that happens at now, especially with social
Speaker 1: media and the facade that so many people and the
Speaker 1: front that people put on social media that they basically
Speaker 1: live out of their means and everyone wants to show
Speaker 1: off their Louis Vatan bag their rolegs there this they're
Speaker 1: that like, and people live out of their means. They
Speaker 1: won't pay their rent to purchase something that they can
Speaker 1: just go flex with on social media for people that
Speaker 1: you don't even know, for people that you don't even like,
Speaker 1: and you just want to impress and show them like, look,
Speaker 1: I got this, Like I am that bad bitch, and
Speaker 1: you're really just digging yourself in a deeper hole financially.
Speaker 1: That's the worst thing that we could do. Like I
Speaker 1: have told myself plenty of times, not just because I
Speaker 1: can buy it, does that mean that I need it,
Speaker 1: that I should buy it? And I've had to bring
Speaker 1: myself back, you know, because you just never know what
Speaker 1: will happen. But you also don't have to be afraid
Speaker 1: of saying like, oh my god, no, no, no no, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna have enough. I'm not gonna have enough.
Speaker 1: The more you say that, the less that you will have.
Speaker 1: You always have to say, I'm a abundant, I'm prosperous.
Speaker 1: It could sound cliche, but it's I really believe in
Speaker 1: the law of attraction, you guys, and if you keep
Speaker 1: going out there, I'm broke. How I ain't got no money,
Speaker 1: and this and that, like you are going to be broke,
Speaker 1: like you need to be like, oh you know right now,
Speaker 1: I'm saving. I'm saving. It's just all in how you
Speaker 1: express it and how you say it, especially out loud
Speaker 1: and even to yourself quietly. I always say myself to myself,
Speaker 1: I have more than enough. I have more than enough,
Speaker 1: you know, And I thank God. Always remember the attitude
Speaker 1: of gratitude you guys, which is thank you God, thank
Speaker 1: you that I have made end meet this month, thank
Speaker 1: you for always giving me more than enough. It's just
Speaker 1: all of that, you know. But that's one big thing
Speaker 1: that I wanted to bring up. Was not just because
Speaker 1: you can afford it, does that mean that you need it?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Like I always ask do
Speaker 1: I really need this? Because of course I like nice things.
Speaker 1: Of course I want to buy those shoes, but I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: I already have a pair of white shoes. I don't
Speaker 1: need five. I was that person before when I like something,
Speaker 1: I would buy it in every freaking color and I'm
Speaker 1: like okay, Like you know, you have to be a
Speaker 1: little reasonable gene like by the black and the white.
Speaker 1: You don't need to pink, the purple, the red. Like
Speaker 1: I've learned to just say, Okay, do I really need this?
Speaker 1: Is this a live with or live without? I always
Speaker 1: ask myself that when I'm shopping too. It's just things
Speaker 1: like that that I feel are important to ask ourselves.
Speaker 1: Am I buying this to impress someone? Or am I
Speaker 1: buying this really because I need it because it's a necessity.
Speaker 1: Here's another one. Success isn't about how much money you make.
Speaker 1: It's about the difference you make in people's lives. Look,
Speaker 1: I feel, yes I get money, Yes I'm bringing in money,
Speaker 1: but I also find ways of how can I give back?
Speaker 1: How can I help? It doesn't have to be a stranger.
Speaker 1: It could be a family member, it could be for me.
Speaker 1: It's like you have to make it rotate how it comes.
Speaker 1: You also have to learn to give back, pay it forward.
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying all of your money, but for
Speaker 1: me it is important, like how can I make a
Speaker 1: difference in people's lives? Can look at or someone has
Speaker 1: Like even when you pass by and you see that
Speaker 1: person in the heat, you know it's super hot outside,
Speaker 1: they're selling flowers always like you know what, I'll buy
Speaker 1: one and then I'll just give him an extra where
Speaker 1: he could just you know what I mean, Like, I
Speaker 1: give him extra money so he can keep that, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean of flowers. But it says like
Speaker 1: I'm always constantly thinking, like how can I give back?
Speaker 1: Like it's important not just to think, Okay, the money
Speaker 1: is mine, I worked hard for it. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: share it. Like you can't think that way. Like even
Speaker 1: with that, it's a circle of life, you guys, like,
Speaker 1: pay it forward, it's super important. Oh, this is a
Speaker 1: good one. Money is numbers, and numbers never end. If
Speaker 1: it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness
Speaker 1: will never end. If you got to rewind that rewind
Speaker 1: to listen to it again, you guys, But that is
Speaker 1: the freaking truth. There are so many people that I
Speaker 1: hear that are like, oh, money's happiness. Money says, yes,
Speaker 1: it can make you happy. It's temporary. It's what are
Speaker 1: you gonna do with that money to multiply, to make more,
Speaker 1: to be able to help more people, to do what
Speaker 1: you gotta do, and not be greedy? You guys, don't
Speaker 1: like that's one thing that is just like greediness is
Speaker 1: not cute. You guys, it's not attractive. You'll have it
Speaker 1: one day and then it'll go away. You just have
Speaker 1: to get a good relationship with money and really ask yourself,
Speaker 1: why do I work hard? Yes, to pay my bills.
Speaker 1: I get that, but also, oh yeah, if money makes
Speaker 1: you happy, then I don't know, then your heart is
Speaker 1: not in the right place. Like you have to see
Speaker 1: money as something, yes, that we need. And this is
Speaker 1: one actually talking about that money isn't the goal. Freedom
Speaker 1: is saying Okay, I don't have to worry, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. Like I just wanted to read those
Speaker 1: quotes because I came across them and I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, this is a topic we're going to talk
Speaker 1: about today, and I just want people to start having
Speaker 1: a better relationship. Even myself. I have to remind myself
Speaker 1: every so often, like Okay, I'm okay, Like maybe I'm
Speaker 1: not doing today as great as I was I don't
Speaker 1: know six months ago, but it's okay. Like money will come,
Speaker 1: it will flow. I love going to House of Intuition.
Speaker 1: House of Intuition is like a spiritual story. You guys.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys have heard of it,
Speaker 1: but there are plenty of them in Spanish say I'm
Speaker 1: a botanicas but they have candles, money candles, and it's
Speaker 1: all like you know what, thank you God for what
Speaker 1: I have. And I always say like there is a
Speaker 1: pot of gold in the sky and I'm going to
Speaker 1: have more than I need. I'm going to have more
Speaker 1: than enough to be able to help other people, you know,
Speaker 1: to be able to bless the world. And I light
Speaker 1: my candles and I let it be. I am not
Speaker 1: like constantly oh what am I gonna do? Like it's
Speaker 1: like no, And I am abundance and I am worthy
Speaker 1: and I'm prosperous. And I also have a fountain here
Speaker 1: outside my house. They say that if you have a fountain,
Speaker 1: whether inside your house or outside your house, and it's
Speaker 1: not working, that it's better for you to just remove it.
Speaker 1: These are all spiritual things, okay, guys that I believe in.
Speaker 1: You don't have to believe in it, but I'm sharing it.
Speaker 1: So I always make sure that my fountains have water.
Speaker 1: Have three. I have one in my living room, one outside,
Speaker 1: and one right by my bedroom, because it keeps the
Speaker 1: energy and the functional moving the energy, like so there's
Speaker 1: no stagnant energy in your home. Or around your home.
Speaker 1: So it's like it's important that if you have a fountain,
Speaker 1: make sure it's functioning, make sure it's flowing every single day,
Speaker 1: because that also helps just everything flow in your life.
Speaker 1: It helps bring more money into your home. Some people
Speaker 1: like have the elephants with the trunks coming in with
Speaker 1: like I don't know. I see it at my grandma's house.
Speaker 1: She has elephants and she puts like a little like
Speaker 1: dollar or twenty dollar bill or fifty dollar bill and
Speaker 1: she puts it in the trunk of the elephant facing
Speaker 1: inside that way, like you know, money flows. I love
Speaker 1: the Chinese culture. They have a lot of things like that,
Speaker 1: like they have the Buddha and you rub the Buddhist
Speaker 1: belly and you leave them a coin and you leave
Speaker 1: them through like and that's my thing, the fountains and
Speaker 1: the candles, and I stage every day because it's just
Speaker 1: that you want to just keep were energy. Guys were
Speaker 1: made up of energy. Whether you want to believe it
Speaker 1: or not, it's it's science. We are. So it's like
Speaker 1: keeping the energy flowing and believing and telling yourself every day.
Speaker 1: I promise you, even if it's mental whatever. If some
Speaker 1: people want to say it's mental. It's just yeah, it's mental.
Speaker 1: But it makes me feel better, like at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, like it's relieve stress to just say
Speaker 1: I know everything's gonna be fine, and I cast all
Speaker 1: my worries and fears to Heaven and I'm going to
Speaker 1: be all right. It helps me well, guys, as with
Speaker 1: all my episodes, I hope you've learned something from this one.
Speaker 1: And before we go, here is my motivational Monday quote.
Speaker 1: It goes with what we're talking about, of course, and
Speaker 1: here it is. It's not your salary that makes you rich,
Speaker 1: it's your spending habits. Yep. And I'm telling you I've
Speaker 1: learned that the hard way, guys, So make sure that
Speaker 1: you keep that in mind. Okay, thank you guys so
Speaker 1: much for listening to today's episode of Cheeks and Chill
Speaker 1: and I will see you guys next week. This is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio and Michael Tura podcast Network.
Speaker 1: Follow us on Instagram at Michael Tura Podcasts and follow
Speaker 1: me cheekys. That's c h I q U I s.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from My Heart, visit the I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows,