WEBVTT - BA Q&A: You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do ft. Tina 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.719 It's time for the b a q a A to 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:12.240 b a q A what you say the b a 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.200 q A man day, the b a q A with 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:20.560 Tiffan Ay, the b a q A brought a bit 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:26.040 of your question and answer. Yes, we are Tiffany and Mandy, 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:30.360 and although we're not your therapist, you're your personal financial advisor, 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.680 your accountants, your attorney. 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:34.639 We are two. 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:38.280 Smart brown girls who know a thing about money, personal finances, 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:40.159 career and business. 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:42.480 And so you know we're in studio just to answer 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:43.400 your questions. 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:45.479 Yeah, and today we got a real talk Tina with 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:47.640 a current hot seat. I had to read your whole 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.640 name because that's amazing. Thanks so much for joining BA. 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:52.640 So wait, you already know each other. 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:55.960 Well, we had tape before, you know, Mandy when you 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.800 use out with the with the coude. But I guess 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:00.680 there was some technical difficulty and so we got real 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:02.000 talk to you to back in the studio. 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:05.120 Thank you for having me. You're also my mentor because 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.280 i'm your mentee. Yes, it's been so helpful to me. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.280 You just dropped so much great information to improve my 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.440 life as an entrepreneur and I just love it. 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:14.880 Thank you. 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.120 Because Randy was out, and so we were like, we 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:18.760 had to get some guests. And so I was like, 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:20.360 you know what, while man is out, let me get 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.640 some business guests. So so I dropped in the mentee 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:26.360 chat and said, hey, if any mentees want to come on, 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.240 so ask them their ask some business questions or even 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:31.840 personal finance questions come on through. 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:34.760 So so, yeah, that's what's going on here. 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:37.559 All right, Well, it'll be my first time hearing your question. 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:38.280 That's your question. 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.720 Well, I think last time I asked it was definitely 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:46.440 about finances. I am an entrepreneur. I'm a realtor. I 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.920 talk about just real estate. I do real estate here 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.480 in Atlanta, Georgia, but I also do you know, I 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:57.040 have a blog. I write about relationships and travel. So 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.040 the market has slowed a bit. It's a great market, 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:05.480 but it's definitely was a transition for me. And my 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:09.399 finances were not good to start with. After the pandemic. 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:13.960 I had some health issues. I had surgery and I 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.920 was just getting back from that. And then now my 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:20.680 income as an entrepreneur real estate agent has stopped completely. 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:25.520 So it's not just like I had debt before. Now 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:29.160 I have I'm laid on my rent and they don't 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.200 have a ban where if you're laid on your rent 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.760 you don't get evicted. They start that process right away. 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.280 So I'm just wondering what to do. I'm trying to, 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.520 you know, try to get clients and trying to do 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.480 all these marketing and meanwhile I'm dealing with where do 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.480 I live, how do I pay off my debt, how 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:54.000 do I keep my car? And my family is getting 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:57.640 tired of me. So it's stressful. 0:02:58.000 --> 0:02:59.840 First, I want to say, honestly, Tina, it's so crazy 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:02.280 that you said this, because I just saw an article 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:04.680 today literally, like I think it was Yahoo Finance, and 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:08.080 it was like it was I forget what percentage of 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.880 realtors are later on their rent, like were lading on 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:12.880 the rent November that like that that's a number that 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.560 they're watching. A number of realtors are later in their rent. 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.560 It's a number that they're watching, like as an indicator 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:23.520 to what's happening in the housing market, because less homes 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:27.360 are being sold, homes are being sold for you know, 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.119 home prices are going down, not rapidly so, but they're 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.800 going down, and less people are listing because you know, 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:38.080 they said, you know, the listing numbers are are down 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:41.520 to like twenty twenty levels. So what you're feeling is 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.680 not a tinage made a mistake thing. 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:45.400 It's a this is what's happening. 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:46.960 So I just want you to acknowledge because sometimes we 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.360 have to acknowledge that, like you know, certainly you know 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:52.720 it's good to take responsibility for like where we are, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.160 which is important, but it's also important to acknowledge that 0:03:56.200 --> 0:04:01.720 there are outside circumstances that are aiding or creating the environment. 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:03.320 So the environment that you're in is not one that 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:06.680 you created, you know, as far as like these outside circumstances, and. 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.800 That's good to knowny times, I think I'm the only one, 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:13.240 like you know, no one else is right laid on 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:17.280 their rent. Like I'm in my forties, I'm not twenty anymore. 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:18.520 It's just me. 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.560 So that's that's comforting to know, but it's disappointing as well. 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.279 Yeah, how long have you been in the real estate business. 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:28.000 I've actually been a realtor for six years. 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.760 Six years? Okay, I do this is your first kind 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:35.599 of experience with a real difficult sort of housing economy, right. 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:40.080 No, I mean I did have I do want to 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.240 just say to everyone check your adrenals. I had a 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:45.240 lot of adrenal issues, so I had to get my 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:49.839 adrenal removed. So I wasn't able to work a lot 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:55.719 of those years where I was sick. So I have 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:59.240 had just a lot of stops and goes. It's not 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.360 just this time. It's just that I was actually getting 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.559 on my feet and doing quite well, closing every single month. 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.800 You know, I felt healthy, and I was like paying 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.080 off my debt. You know, I was just so proud 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.880 to pay off my debt. During the pandemic, I did 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.840 not have a car. I actually did have a chance 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:24.240 to travel, but only on a like a bootstring budget, 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:28.960 a very low budget. And then I came back and 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:32.799 I tried to build myself up again and I didn't 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:34.840 have a car, and I was finally able to buy 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:38.279 a car this year, pay it every month, automatically, pay 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:42.560 my rent automatically. I was doing great. So I'm forty 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:46.839 two and I just feel like during college was probably 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:49.160 the last time I had a roommate and it was 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:54.120 just so problematic. Maybe I was younger than I just 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.960 feel like me as a very sensitive person, I like 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:59.520 space to myself. I just feel like it would be 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:02.120 a worse problem. But maybe I need to come down 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.760 and really look at the situation and say I can't 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:07.800 have what I want. I need to do what I 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:09.800 need to do. Now, what do you think? 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:12.200 I think you got to throw out that version of 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.640 yourself that you're comparing yourself to, like where you think 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.160 you ought to be right now at your age, which 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:19.000 you're still young. 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:23.239 Okay, girl forty three, look at a horn. You're doing 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:26.320 what only baby on here. 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.920 If any wedden always doing well? 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:32.080 No, girl, I am both out of rock bottoms. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.440 Yeah, but you really I think it's like we think 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.120 we're comparing ourselves to like Instagram models, but I think 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.280 so often it's like that version of ourselves that we 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.240 think we ought to be at wherever we are in 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:47.480 our lives because that person, like comparing yourself to her 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:49.760 and where you think you are, like, that's holding you 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.960 back from saving yourself and from you know, taking the steps. 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:56.000 It's only temporary, like you're gonna get back on your feet, 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.400 the housing work. It will bounce back. It does, But 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:01.520 for now, I I think it's about what are the 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:03.800 resources you can lean on for help because you need help. 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.480 Roommain is one option. Do you have family you could 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.520 stay with in the meantime. 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.560 I think me and my family both know that they'd 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:15.000 rather give me money for hold on before we move 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.360 in back together. My family is in Michigan. I just 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:22.000 don't feel like it's a good market for me to 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:26.160 prosper in and environment. But I do appreciate my family 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:27.440 for all they've done. 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:29.640 So I just say, like, during times like this, it's like, 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:32.400 you do what you have to do until you do 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:35.160 what you can do what you want to do. So 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:37.000 you do what you have to do until you do 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:41.280 what you want to do. And so ideally the solution 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:44.040 would be to do whatever I want and then it 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:47.440 works out. But you know, there are moments we all 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.160 know in life that that's just not how that goes. 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.000 Sometimes it's like, okay, So, like when i'd lost my 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:53.360 job when I was a teacher and I was I 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:55.600 remember I was thirty, I ended moving back home with 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:59.040 my parents. It was not ideal because they're Nigerian and 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:00.760 the curfew was still midnight. 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.120 They don't give a damn how old you are. I 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:03.760 was literally like. 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:05.720 Thirty my dad's and if you came back long minute 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.480 after midnight, this door would be locked. 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:12.400 You will sleep wherever you were, wherever you were. I 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:13.840 was like, what kind of life is this? 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:15.720 It was a life of a thirty ye row who 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:19.080 didn't have the mortgage money for her place. And if 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:20.440 I was going to live with my parents, this is 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:22.480 what the rule was. Then I moved in with my 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:24.600 sister for like a year, you know, I told her 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.880 three months she was like girl. After like a year, 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:29.880 she was sick of my stuff. It was like, get out. 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:34.000 And then I moved in with like a friend of 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.640 mine who was renting a room in a home, and 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:38.199 so it was like four or five of us each 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:40.840 renting a room. I did that honestly until thirty four. 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.800 So from like twenty nine to thirty four, you know, 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.120 I was like bopping around and bouncing trying to figure 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.800 it out, and so is it something that I'm wanting 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:50.320 to do, Like, oh my gosh, you know, this is 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.199 so great renting a room, like I just came home 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:55.079 from jail now, But it's what I had to do 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:59.880 in that moment to create a financial foundation for myself, 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:02.400 you know. Same, I had like this old Ragley car 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:04.600 that I could I didn't really drive. I either walked 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.880 everywhere I took public transportation and so it wasn't easy. 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:11.800 But I also reminded myself this is temporary, you know, 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:15.319 because I am actively working on a stronger financial foundation. 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:17.240 I had all this debt that had to get rid 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:19.679 of the house, you know, they had lost to foreclosure. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.319 But I started to build my business from a place 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:26.760 of underspending finally, you know, and then I got. 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:27.120 On my feet. 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.080 And so I just say all that to say that, like, 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.520 you know, I mean, whether you're forty two fifty two, 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:34.560 I mean, I get it, because it feels like I'm 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:36.120 supposed to be grown, and I thought I thirty, I 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:37.920 was supposed to be grown. I shouldn't be going through this, 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:42.520 you know. But the truth is, okay, understood, Tiffany. 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.720 But we're here. So what you're gonna do? 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:47.520 Because the thing is is that if you avoid making 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:49.760 the choices, life gonna make the choice for you. 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:54.040 Yeah. I did actually talk to a lawyer, and he 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:56.600 did say that my of my options were to file 0:09:56.840 --> 0:09:59.400 Chapter seven and that way it can start all over. 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.480 I know when people when I say, oh I moved 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.040 to France, are like, oh gosh, this girl is not 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.800 trying to save But when I lived in France. I 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.800 lived in a studio by myself with my dog. It 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:13.680 costs four hundred and eighty five year old a month, 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.400 and I didn't have a car, took the bus, I 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:19.720 walked everywhere. I was living the life on a real 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:23.880 small budget. So I'm really thinking about file filing Chapter seven, 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:28.080 going overseas and just building my life there if I can. 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.480 I feel like the filing bankruptcy. I mean, that option 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:33.520 is there for a reason. There's no shame in taking 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:37.320 that option. Very scary because most of your debt you 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.200 said it's medical and also like consumer debt, like credit cards. 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.160 I actually didn't do that smart thing. I tried to 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:45.080 pay all my medical bills and I put all my 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:48.240 monthly expenses on my credit card. I had eight hundred 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.160 credit at the time. I had eight hundred credit all 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.920 my adult life, and then when I just couldn't keep up, 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:58.040 I put everything on the credit card that was not medical. 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:02.400 So I have ten thousand hours worth of debt. 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:06.160 Well, yeah, with medical debt. I mean, Tiff, what kind 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:07.840 of advice do you give when it comes to like 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:10.600 which one? I know we can't turn at the clock, 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.520 but when it comes to deciding do I pay on 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:16.640 this medical debt versus you know, putting my life on credit? 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:19.800 What do you think about that, Tiff. I know that 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:24.320 there's like income or sorry, low income assistance like for 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:25.559 medical bills and things. 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.520 Like that at hospitals and too, they have a law 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:31.560 in place where like the way medical debt hits your 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.400 credit is not as detrimental as it wants used to 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:38.400 be because they acknowledge it's not you being financially quote 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.920 unquote irresponsible. So just in general, like if anyone's listening 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:44.520 and they're like they're having to choose between medical debt 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.000 and their bills, you know, with the money that you 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:51.200 actually have that coming in medical debt, there's more leeway 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:56.199 with how to navigate from creditors, from the credit bureaus. 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.079 And so if you have if you. 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:01.360 Could only choose one and less, not paying the medical 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:03.400 debt will mean that you can't have access to whatever 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:04.040 the medicine is. 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:05.600 That's different obviously, you know. 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:10.880 But yeah, then paying like your your personal bills and 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.320 then working it out with medical debt, because there are 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:15.360 some it might be a lot of paperwork, but there 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.960 are some things in place, like one like I call 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.720 myself one time, like dyeing like my hair, because my 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:23.840 friend Joy used to always like when I got because 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:25.640 I used to get I used to get gray, like 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:27.880 I've been getting grade since I was like twenty six, 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:29.640 So I like, I started with like one gray eyelash 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:32.000 and now like all my lashes are great, but you know, mascaro, 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:32.640 you can't see it. 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:34.959 But I still have little grades which they will stay. 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:37.000 Because my friend Joy used to what I thought was 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:39.560 dye my hair every like I don't know a few 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:41.400 months or so, but she was using a rinse. 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:42.280 I didn't know that. 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:44.360 And then one day it was like, oh, my do myself, 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.000 George is this is one of my many roommates when 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:47.120 I was living in the house, like we all just 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:47.920 came home from jail. 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.559 So Joy was like she always dyed her hair and whatever. 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:51.360 I was like, ooh can you. 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:53.280 I'm like, I have like one of two grades, and 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:55.120 she was like, oh, you know, I thought it was 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:57.040 like I said, I thought it was a die. So 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:58.800 then I decided I was going to do it myself 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:00.480 because she had done it a couple I'm like, I 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:02.800 can do it. And she wasn't living in the house anymore. 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:06.040 And the next morning I was like oof, like I 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:09.800 had this like bubble under my skin that grew. I 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.599 don't know if anybody remembers a movie mask. 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:14.280 From Share though. 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:19.120 Literally though my whole face was like it was like 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:23.640 liquid under my face. It exploded and I was so scared. 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.040 But I had no money, so I was like, maybe 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.360 it'll go away. So I called my mother and it 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:31.760 was like my mother's a nurse. I sent her a picture. 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.360 She was like, are you are you kidding me, Tiffany. 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:36.840 You need to go to a mergency room right away. 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:39.120 You're having an extreme allergic reaction. And I googled it 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.600 that some people are allergic to black hair dye. You're 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.240 supposed to do a test. I did not know, you know, 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:45.840 because I assumed I had been getting it done. But 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:47.520 it was a rent, which is not the same. There's 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.480 something a black hair dye that some people have a 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.480 severe allergic reaction to, and ding ding ding. I was 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.480 one of them people. But I waited out for like 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:56.280 two days until it got worse and worse. I was like, 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:57.880 oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. And 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.680 literally there's a hospital like not even a half a 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:02.640 block up the street. Actually the hospital where I was 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.240 born Saint Michael's in Newark. I lived on the same street. 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:06.960 I said, I'm about to live here. 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.200 Done, I was born here. So I went to Saint 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:13.640 Michael's play they gave me the equivalent of like liquid 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:15.280 bena drill. I was like, wait, I didn't even think 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:16.080 of take beta drill. 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.720 So I gave the equivalent of liquid beded drill and 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:22.480 a prescription for more benadryl, and then you know, it 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.360 went down. I got an eight hundred dollars bill, which 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.000 is that's why I was afraid of and I was like, 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:29.360 for liquid beta drill. 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.360 I can't afford it. So I waited. 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:34.720 You know, they sent me the first letter, the second, 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:36.840 then the letter became pink, and then the letter was read, 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:40.160 which is like pay now or else. And so at 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.800 the time, so I remember my sister that time was 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.840 dating her now husband who's in medical school. He was like, no, 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.880 call them because you might be able to negotiate, and 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:51.800 so I was like really, and he said yes because 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:53.920 he was like interning at a hospital. And so I 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:55.520 called the hospital and was like, you know, I really 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:57.640 don't have it. You know, basically, I'm broke. What can 0:14:57.680 --> 0:14:59.640 I do? And They're like, well, what can you afford? 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:01.440 I was like four hundred dollars and they said okay. 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:04.640 I was like, wait, two hundred dollars. They're like, no, girl, 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:05.240 for you just. 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:09.440 And so it was four hundred but I paid it slowly. 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:10.800 But it was kind of like the first time that 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.160 I realized, wait, what medical debt. 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:14.480 There's a lot more. 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.400 Leeway, you know, and so like just I mean, of 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.240 course you didn't know that then, but you know, now 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:23.040 hold that thought before we continue. Let's go to break 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:24.840 because you know, we got more to talk about. 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:26.680 And here's the thing. 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:28.560 I know, fifty thousand sounds like a lot of money, 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:30.560 but at one point I was three hundred thousand in 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:34.200 debt and now I'm completely debt free, you know. Three 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:35.640 hundred I mean, so, of course a lot of it 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.000 was mortgage, but thirty five thousand was credit card debt, 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:42.560 fifty thousand was a student loan debt, and then I 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.400 had my mortgage, you know, to my home. But I'm 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.240 just saying all that to say that you know that, yes, 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:52.600 it can seem very daunting and overwhelming, but there is 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.280 a way out. But it typically starts with taking stock 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.880 of where you are now. And getting yourself to a 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:00.000 place where you're living under your means so you can 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.360 start putting a plan in place. So if that means 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:05.720 moving to France and finding like an expensive studio and 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.440 starting your business with like you know, with like with 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:10.960 your overhead really low so you can pay your bills 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:12.800 and work on your debt at the same time, and 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.400 fileing bankruptcy. If that's what it looks like, then that's 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.320 what it looks like. If it looks like getting you know, 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.360 so a roommate to come live with you for like 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:23.600 six months to a year, you know, if that's what 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.680 that looks like, you know, there's no there's no one way, 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.240 but there has to be something that you're doing. Like 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:30.920 standing still is not the answer. 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.560 We know that I do and I do get frozen. 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.520 You know. This weekend I put my car out on Toro, 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.120 so I made just under two hundred bucks for the weekend. 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.880 It's not great, but it's something I started looking for, 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:47.160 like other real estate related jobs, temps jobs that I 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.760 can do. And then when I did have money, I 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.360 was negotiating with each credit card, so I was able 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:57.640 to negotiate about fifty to eighty percent off my bill 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.840 so I had that payment plan in play, and then 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.760 I finally called and said, I can't pay this anymore. 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.520 So they delayed the payment and then they put it 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:11.119 in smaller payments for the same overall amount, since I 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:15.480 had already paid half of the bill. And then I 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:19.080 put my pride down and said, I actually need food 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.840 stamps and I need to apply. So I just got 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.480 that in place and I'm waiting for that to come through. 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:28.119 You know, I'm going to these real estate Christmas parties 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:30.680 trying to look fabulous. And then I got my little 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.560 food stamps card in my wallet, so that's. 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:34.919 A good Please. 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:37.120 I'm glad you mentioned food stamp because I was gonna 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:43.119 ask about food banks or any other even rental assistance programs. 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.440 I know that the moratorium on evictions because of the pandemic, 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.960 there were like nationwide and statewide moratoriums they wouldn't evict people. 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:54.680 Those are now expired. But for the most part, put 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.680 in Georgia and in Atlanta, what sort of rental assistant 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.320 programs might there be that you could apply for? 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:00.640 I be looked into that. 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:06.520 That is an excellent question. I did apply to rental assistance. However, 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:10.080 they are so behind they cut off the date for 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:14.479 the last application just like a month or two or ago, 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:18.000 and I just got my application in right before the deadline. 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:21.360 But because they're so backed up, they haven't sent got 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.200 a message. I haven't been assigned a processor. So I'm 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.520 just waiting and my rent is late late, late, and 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.000 they don't understand that I have to wait and they 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.080 have to wait. It doesn't make sense. So I have 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:37.639 my court date of when I will go get the 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:42.199 eviction and hopefully that the rental assistance comes before the 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:42.720 court date. 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:46.240 Is there a way you could update the rental assystems 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:50.000 people on my court date's coming up? This is happening, 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:51.000 it's real enough to be. 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.240 Yes, there's like a third party. They can't see your 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:57.239 application and you can't talk to the processors there, but 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:01.439 you can say this application needs to be expedited because 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.680 she has a court date coming up. 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:06.919