00:00Text, Currency Conversations, Chase, Essence, three women sit around the table over brunch.
00:05Hi, I'm Lovia Ajayi, and I'm a writer, digital strategist, and lover of all things useful.
00:12Yes!
00:12Useful?
00:13Yes, I was like that.
00:15This is Currency Conversations, and I'm here with these two amazing ladies, all right?
00:19We have Sandra Davis, who is the CEO of Sage Financial Solutions, and then I have Kayla Walker,
00:24who is a lifestyle authority and media maven.
00:27Yo, y'all are fierce.
00:28Yes, we are fierce.
00:30So, we're going to talk about credit and debt, because these are really important things
00:33in adulting, in life, in doing all of this right.
00:36When was the first time you realized that credit was really important?
00:40I think I probably realized it was really important when it was too late.
00:43Well, not too late, but you know at that time you're like, wait, what?
00:45And I first got introduced to credit, I think, in college when we all see that table.
00:49And they're like, come for this free money, and you're like, yes, money, free money.
00:53Later on, when I started realizing what I'd done with my credit, that's when I realized
00:57how important credit is.
00:59For me, it was when I had to get my first apartment, and I didn't have a credit card
01:03up until that point.
01:04And they essentially told me, you don't exist, because you don't have credit.
01:07You didn't have any credit.
01:08So what I had to do was, my first credit card was a secured credit card.
01:12And it's one of those cards where it's like, you're risky.
01:14As a somebody, we have to loan something to, so put up the money that is the limit of the
01:19credit card.
01:20So I put up $500, the limit was $500.
01:22So I had to spend like six months using this card, paying it off, before I could actually
01:27have credit and exist as a person to the system.
01:30I too had to start with a secured card.
01:32And so, you know, real smart of them to have a card where you have to pay interest on your
01:36own money.
01:36Yes.
01:37Right?
01:37So, but the fact is, it ended up being okay, because it really did help me rebuild.
01:42But here's the thing to understand, there will be times and things that you do that will cause
01:46your credit to dip for a while.
01:48That's not a bad thing if you understand what you're doing.
01:51And that's kind of one of the myths.
01:52People walk around afraid, well, I don't want to check my credit score, because somebody said,
01:57number one, you checking your own credit score never harms your score.
02:01Chase Credit Journey is a tool where you can check, and it does not harm your credit score
02:05if you don't know what your credit score looks like.
02:08It's a good first start, because you can know where you are, and then decide what things
02:12do I need to do to increase it?
02:14Because there's a couple things.
02:15You talked about a thin credit file not having any, so you don't exist.
02:18Yeah.
02:18So going from no credit to good credit, sometimes it is really a journey.
02:23And so you can learn what to do.
02:25I get a little worried when people say negative things about credit and debt, about, you know,
02:29stay debt free, no debt, don't use debt ever.
02:31Because here's the thing.
02:32How many people do you know that would be able to buy a home without debt?
02:36How many people do you know that would be able to get a car without debt?
02:40Or to get to college or send their kids to college?
02:43And so debt is leverage.
02:45And that's all it is.
02:46Now, when we treat it as managing our lifestyle, that's when it becomes an issue.
02:51But if we're using debt as what it was intended to be, which is a wealth building tool, you
02:57know, if we use it that way, debt in and of itself is not bad.
03:00It's how we use it.
03:01Like, I'm in debt right now because I have a mortgage.
03:03Right.
03:03Right.
03:04But that's a good debt.
03:05That's a good debt.
03:06A lot of people also do the whole keeping up with the Joneses thing.
03:08Right.
03:09Of going into debt because they're trying to slate for the grand.
03:12They're going on vacations that they can't afford.
03:13They're trying to lift apart.
03:14They're trying to lift apart.
03:15They're buying bags they can't afford.
03:17And honestly, at the end of the day, those likes probably didn't bring in money.
03:20I'm always saying, don't get that $2,000 bag if you don't got $2,000 to put in it.
03:23Right there.
03:26What's the point?
03:27What is the point?
03:28My nephew turned 12 and on his birthday, his dad was like, what would you like?
03:32This dude said, I want an investment account.
03:35Hey, I didn't even know an investment account.
03:37Why?
03:37I was so inspired that this 12-year-old knew this.
03:41So what would you tell your 12-year-old self about credit, about debt, about money?
03:45Knowledge is power.
03:47To start early on is really important.
03:48So it would probably just, even something that's simple like going to open up an account really early.
03:52I tell people that as soon as your child can say, I want, they're ready to learn about money.
03:57That's it.
03:58So we actually have a 12-year-old on here.
04:00All right.
04:00Do it now.
04:01Yes.
04:01All right.
04:02Chelsea, join us.
04:03Hi.
04:04Hi.
04:04How are you?
04:05Loving the gold.
04:06Hi, Chelsea.
04:07Do you and your friends talk about money?
04:09Yeah.
04:09What do you talk about?
04:10We talk about investments in stocks.
04:13At 12?
04:14At 12?
04:15Yeah.
04:15You guys are amazing.
04:16Teach us something.
04:17What do you have?
04:18What do we need to have?
04:20A lot of the materialistic items that you may purchase, deployment in value.
04:24It is nice to have those shiny new items.
04:28But as you get further and further away from the store, the value just goes down.
04:34Baby girl.
04:35Baby girl.
04:36You are epic.
04:37You're amazing.
04:38Well, thank you, Chelsea.
04:39Thank you so much for joining us.
04:41You inspired.
04:41I gotta do better.
04:42What is the one thing you want people to take away, if nothing else, from this conversation
04:45we just had?
04:46I mean, I want women to just do this.
04:48To gather.
04:49We go to brunch and we have these great meals and we show up and we show out.
04:52Let's show up and show out.
04:53And talk about your debt and your credit with your girlfriends.
04:55Be honest.
04:56So for me, start where you are.
04:57Yeah.
04:57You know, really know what's important to you.
05:00Start with your why and where you are.
05:02Take an honest inventory of exactly where you are with your credit and debt right now.
05:07And then you can decide what you want to do next.
05:09Right.
05:09So I'm going to give you three ways to start today to better your financial life.
05:13So the first thing is check your credit score.
05:15You can use the Chase credit journey tool to do that.
05:18It's free.
05:19Right.
05:19You want to know where you are in your credit life.
05:22And then two, you manage your debt by living under your means.
05:26If you have to go in debt for something, let's say credit card debt, right?
05:28Don't spend more than you make.
05:30Please and thank you.
05:31And then number three and really important.
05:33We want you to join us and make a commitment and a pledge to just better your financial life.
05:37You go to essence.com slash currency conversations and join us.
05:41We're trying to get 20,000 black women, right?
05:44To commit to being like, I'm going to make sure I'm going to do better in my financial life.
05:48Join us.
05:48You got to do it.
05:49Y'all are amazing.
05:49This was a great conversation.
05:50Your goals are waiting.
05:52Make the commitment today.
05:53Essence.com slash currency conversations.
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