00:00Hi, I'm Lovey Ajayi, and I'm a writer, digital strategist, and lover of all things useful.
00:10Yes, you too. Yes, I love that. This is Currency Conversations, and I'm here with these
00:15two amazing ladies. All right, we have Sandra Davis, who is the CEO of Sage Financial Solutions,
00:21and then I have Kayla Walker, who is a lifestyle authority and media maven. Yo, y'all are fierce.
00:27Yes, we are fierce. So, we're going to talk about credit and debt, because these are really
00:31important things in adulting, in life, in doing all of this right. When was the first time you
00:36realized that credit was really important? I think I probably realized it was really important when
00:40it was too late. Well, not too late, but you know, at that time, you're like, wait, what? And I first
00:44got introduced to credit, I think, in college, when we all see that table in the student union.
00:48Oh, my God. And they're like, come for this free money, and you're like, yes, money, free money.
00:52Later on, when I started realizing what I'd done with my credit, that's when I realized how
00:56important credit is. For me, it was when I had to get my first apartment, and I didn't have a
01:01credit card up until that point. And they essentially told me, you don't exist, because
01:05you don't have credit. You didn't have any credit. So, what I had to do was, my first credit card was
01:09a secured credit card. And it's one of those cards where it's like, you're risky. As a somebody,
01:14we have to loan something to, so put up the money that is the limit of the credit card. So,
01:18I put up $500, and the limit was $500. So, I had to spend like six months using this card,
01:24paying it off, before I could actually have credit and exist as a person to the system.
01:28I, too, had to start with a secured card. And so, you know, real smart of them to have a card where
01:33you have to pay interest on your own money. Yes. Right? So, but the fact is, it ended up being
01:39okay, because it really did help me rebuild. But here's the thing to understand. There will be
01:43times and things that you do that will cause your credit to dip for a while. That's not a bad thing
01:48if you understand what you're doing. And that's kind of one of the myths. People walk around afraid,
01:52well, I don't want to check my credit score because they, somebody said, number one,
01:56you checking your own credit score never harms your score. Chase Credit Journey is a tool where
02:01you can check and it does not harm your credit score. If you don't know what your credit score
02:06looks like, it's a good first start because you can know where you are and then decide what things
02:11do I need to do to increase it? Because there's a couple of things, you talked about a thin credit
02:15file not having any, so you don't exist. Yeah. So, going from no credit to good credit,
02:20sometimes it is really a journey. And so you can learn what to do. I get a little worried when
02:24people say negative things about credit and debt, about, you know, stay debt-free, no debt,
02:29don't use debt ever. Because here's the thing, how many people do you know that would be able to buy
02:33a home without debt? How many people do you know that would be able to get a car without debt or to
02:38get to college or send their kids to college? And so debt is leverage and that's all it is. Now,
02:45when we treat it as managing our lifestyle, that's when it becomes an issue. But if we're using
02:50debt as what it was intended to be, which is a wealth building tool, you know, if we use it that
02:56way, debt in and of itself is not bad. It's how we use it. Like, I'm in debt right now because I have
03:01a mortgage. Right. But that's a good debt. That's a good debt. A lot of people also do the whole
03:05keeping up with the Joneses thing of going into debt because they're trying to slay for the grand.
03:10They're going on vacations that they can't afford. They're trying to look the part. They're
03:13buying bags they can't afford. And honestly, at the end of the day, those likes probably didn't
03:17bring in money. I'm always saying, don't get that $2,000 bag if you don't got $2,000 to put in it.
03:23Right there. Like, what's the point? What's the point?
03:27All that stuff we just discussed shows up in our credit. It shows up in our debt. It shows up in
03:32places that we might not think at that moment. And I've talked to people who were buying a bag
03:38for an investment. They would convince themselves that buying that $3,000 bag was an investment.
03:44Now, here's the thing. I don't judge anybody else's purchases because I don't make your money. I don't
03:49get to spend it. Right. But when you're doing that, really make sure that you're being honest with
03:54yourself because every time you say yes to one thing, you say no to something else.
03:57Absolutely. Simply put, when it comes down to it, legacy. What are you leaving behind? That bag is not
04:01going to be left behind for your legacy, your family. What's going to be left behind? So stop doing it for the
04:06gram. Do it for the legacy and what's going to be here after you leave. What is the one thing you
04:10want people to take away, if nothing else, from this conversation we just had? I mean, I want women
04:15to just do this, to gather. We go to brunch and we have these great meals and we show up and we show
04:19out. Let's show up and show out and be financially secure and talk about our goals. So I want more
04:23women to do this, to get together, have these conversations, talk about your debt and your
04:26credit with your girlfriends. Be honest. So for me, start where you are. You know, really know what's
04:32important to you. Start with your why and where you are. Take an honest inventory of exactly where
04:37you are with your credit and debt right now. And then you can decide what you want to do next.
04:42Right. So I'm going to give you three ways to start today to better your financial life.
04:45So the first thing is check your credit score. You can use the Chase credit journey tool to do that.
04:51It's free, right? You want to know where you are in your credit life. And then two, you manage your debt
04:57by living under your means. If you have to go in debt for something, let's say credit card debt,
05:01right? Not thinking about mortgage. Just stay under your means, as in don't spend more than you make.
05:06Please and thank you. And then number three, and really important, we want you to join us and make
05:11a commitment and a pledge to just better your financial life. You go to essence.com
05:15slash currency conversations and join us. We're trying to get 20,000 black women,
05:20right? To commit to being like, I'm going to make sure I'm going to do better in my financial life.
05:24Join us. You got to do it. Y'all are amazing. This was a great conversation.
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