Episode 19: Everything You Need to Know About Credit

Acquania Escarne 0:00

You are listening to The Purpose of Money Podcast Everything You Need to Know About Credit an Interview with Shante Nicole.

You are listening to The Purpose of Money Podcast, a podcast where we talk about ways to build wealth and create more freedom in your life today. I am your host Acquania Escarne.

Hey guys, welcome back to The Purpose of Money Podcast. If you are tuning in for the first time, I want to say thank you. I hope you guys enjoyed last month. If you are listening to this in real time, you'll know that for the month of June we celebrated homeownership and real estate investing and had several powerful stories from women who are building wealth through real estate so check out those episodes just in case you missed it.

This week. I'm so honored to have special guest Shante Nicole. She has an amazing story of overcoming not only health issues but debt and credit issues as well. When she was faced with adversity she decided to arm herself with education and now she leads a huge Facebook group where she's helping others do the same. Let me know what you think about the episode when you're done wherever you're listening please rate review and subscribe to the podcast, and I hope to see you again in two weeks when the next episode comes out.

If you want to know more about Shante Nicole or about anything mentioned in the episode don't forget to check out the show notes. You can find them on my website at thepurposeofmoney.com. Now let's get to the episode.

Alright guys, welcome back to The Purpose of Money Podcast . This is your host Acquania Escarne. I'm so happy to have you today we're going to talk about all things credit. We have special guest Shante Nicole. She is passionate for serving others and has always been at the center of her life. She is an autism mom, wife, author financial fitness coach, kids money coach, certified credit consultant , holds a degree in nursing and is the founder of her nonprofit organization face, which stands for facing autism with children everywhere and Financial Common Cents. She is a panelist for the SunTrust bank on a financial campaign and also facilitates workshops in the Washington Metro area and the Northeast region of the U.S. Her mission is to educate and empower individuals to make better financial decisions in regards to rebuilding and repairing their credit budgeting, developing saving strategies and debt management shantay Welcome to the show. We are so glad to have you.

Shante Nicole 2:44

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here.

Acquania Escarne 2:47

Before we dive into all the things you do with your amazing group on Facebook and your social media on Instagram, can you tell our guests a little bit more about yourself and Financial Common Cents?

Shante Nicole 3:00

Yeah, so it started because I've been in position, you know, years ago where I fell on hard times my credit, you know, drop and I was trying to figure out ways to increase it. And so I just started, I would say around the age 20 to 23, this honestly becoming obsessed with learning about credit and how it all works. And back then you didn't really see too many ads about credit repair company. So I was like, let me figure out what I can do myself for free. So I just started, you know, researching things. And, of course, I'm on, you know, Yahoo, because there was really no Google back then information on like credit law and like, how to understand collections and how it affects your score and how scores are calculated. And so I was able to bounce back so fast from you know, just having my own collections and medical debt and maxed out credit cards. And so I said, You know, I know a lot of people are suffering right now, and they don't understand credit. Most people aren't just reading up on credit. It law and credit articles and stuff like that. So I say I want to create a safe space on Facebook that people can share and I can just provide all the stuff that I've learned over the years. And the biggest reason why I started the group was because every year around December, everyone talks about their new year's resolutions, and their new fitness goals and their Beach body. They go head by summer, this new diet they're about to try and I was like, nobody's talking about bettering their finances and maybe they want to but it's not an easy subject to talk about. And so I was like, well, I can understand nobody's just gonna throw on a public you know, Facebook page like my credit sucks. Let's create a safe space where people can share so I came up with the name and then I made a post on my personal page like Hey guys, I just made this page this group come share, you know, join my group and like the first day I had like 65 people, they were there all my friends on Facebook, so I was like to lose it but like they came in and immediately started sharing Ain't great, this is what I want to do. I share my story and share what I did. And then people started telling other people and other people. And by the third month we had 15,000 people. So yeah, I was really blown away. But that's kind of where what catapulted me really just no one was talking about it. And then I wanted to share what I've learned so other people can learn on their own as well.

Acquania Escarne 5:21

That's so true. A lot of people don't like to talk about money, and they find it to be a touchy subject, right? Because if you're really good in your finances, you might be more comfortable with terminology about money speaking about it, because you are comfortable in your finances. But when you're not so comfortable, it's kind of harder to want to raise that subject, especially if you don't know how the other person feels like they may have judgment. So I definitely think that it matters, that you created a space where people could feel safe and people talk about finances and not feel embarrassed to share what they're growing. Through. So I love how you talk about you started with your friends. And that was your first 65. But 15,000 Wow, that's amazing. How many people do you have in the Facebook group now?

Shante Nicole 6:12

So we're either really close or just hit 79,000 members? Ah, yes. Yeah. It's grown. It's grown.

Acquania Escarne 6:21

Yeah, that's true. And how long did it take to get to a 79, 80,000? Like what year did you start?

Shante Nicole 6:29

January 2017.

Acquania Escarne 6:31

That's amazing.

Shante Nicole 6:32

It is I really believe so. Like, like you read in my bio, I have a I know I was born to serve in whatever capacity that is. At first I went to nursing school, I wanted to do that with my nonprofit for kids and parents, you know, think about autism. And now this these are things that I've been personally affected by. And so now I want to share, you know, my story and we would have a lot more members, but we're very selective about who we live in. So our block list is very, very fast. So but I'm not about numbers. It's really about the quality and the tone that I set for the group, which is I let the group know, this is our not mine, you're here to learn pass on that information. You know, don't just take it on and help build your own credit share in someone's joy and success when they close on a home or they their credit jumped for two points. You know, they post about their mustering up two points. Everyone's like, yeah. So and that's, that's the tone I said. So if anybody comes in being judging me and the admins are like, boop, you know, like, take us it's not it's not a fun subject to discuss, and people are on edge. If you don't want anybody to feel judged. That's why I'm open to sharing my story because I'm like, look, if I got through it, you can too. Don't be embarrassed to share. You know, you may be helping others.

Acquania Escarne 7:43

That's a good point. And you are protecting the people that you are brought into this community so they can continue to feel comfortable. Is it just for women or is it for everyone?

Shante Nicole 7:55

It's for everyone. I'm not serving the you know, the African American women or you know, this single moms, we have men, women, white, black, Asian, Hispanic ladies, we have people who say I'm 18 and I'm just starting to build my credit. I have someone say I'm 65 and I'm embarrassed to say, my credit is where it is we cross all demographics.

Acquania Escarne 8:14

Mm hmm. And you don't just cover credit I know that's your specialty and what kind of sparked your interest but you do introduce other subjects to the group correct?

Shante Nicole 8:23

I do. Um, and so if I don't know about it, I'm going to bring somebody on to talk about it, but it's really a lot of people the group is called Financial Common Cents. So I didn't name it credit something so people can think is just about credit. That just happens to be the hot topic. But we talked about savings. We talked about saving strategies. We talked about budgeting, how are you spending your money? Are you paying too much in monthly expenses? Why are you paying $300 per table you're barely home let's talk about what you can cut back or cut out you know, and so it's really just the overall you know, like I said, if I if I don't know about investing, I have someone come and teach it if I don't know about life insurance. I have someone come in teach it. And then some topics other members are very well versed in. So if someone asks, they take the take the reins and just provide all the info and I'm like writing notes like, Okay, what do you say? So yeah, I just want you to know, it's not just about credit. But that is the hot topic. And so that's kind of what it happens to be when I'm very well versed in. It kind of helped me as well.

Acquania Escarne 9:20

So let's tell us a little bit more about your personal situation. Were you someone who just found themselves in a lot of consumer and school loan debt? Or did you have a mix of a little bit of everything. So it really started

Shante Nicole 9:34

When I was 22. I was diagnosed with stage three cancer, and I could not work full time because I was getting chemotherapy and radiation and so that and I didn't have a savings. So that led to maxing out a lot of credit cards and then a lot of medical bills going into collection. So a lot of my ups and downs with credit wasn't because oh, I was in over my head. I was out shopping and spending a lot of money on credit card debt. It was really just life circumstances and then I was able to buy back. And then I went through, I was let go for my job. And I had a great job making great money. And again, because I was so comfortable, I didn't do the savings because you think you're going to be in your job for a long time, right until I leave. And that didn't happen. So I and I didn't get another job for a year. Because I was like, Oh, I can find something. But that was when the economy was kind of, you know, Rocky, and so I didn't find work. So I literally use credit cards for an entire year to pay monthly expenses. Then I got divorced, and my ex left me with all the debt he didn't care what was in both of our names or not. So that was that and that was homeless at one point with a four year old child with autism. So going from here to there to there trying to just figure out where we're gonna live. So yeah, it was really rocky but and I never really cared about my credit during those times because I had other pressing issues and I always knew once I bounced back financially, I can do my credit right back up. Why? Because I had the knowledge and tools to do so. So my score jumped to 500. I'm like, I'll get to that. Right now I'm trying to figure out where we're gonna lay our head, or, or, you know, take care of, you know, the electric bill. But um, yeah, that was a lot of my my story. And so I always shared my bounce back, because I want people to think of me to know that you can bounce back. If you have bad credit, you're not stuck there. So many people have bad credit for years, because they're like, I don't know what to do. So my credit will always be bad. And my mantra is like, no, it's not, you know, you can always bounce back. So I share that story. Any chance I get so people can see like, oh, wow, like, she wasn't born with the 800 score, or she actually went through some stuff to get here. And that is easy, but it just takes work. I'll say that much. It's not hard. It's it just takes some time. I love that bouncing back and being real that you prioritize when you needed to your livelihood, finding a place to live, giving your son to comprehend needed, and the credit didn't have to be at the top of the mind. You had other pressing issues. So I love the fact that you're honest about that, that you can repair your credit when the time is right for you. And if you are going through some things, it's important for your mental health and for yourself that you focus on that date again.

Acquania Escarne 12:16

So I hope that people hear this because even right now, with everything that's going on, you will have an opportunity to bounce back. If you're struggling if you lost your job because of COVID-19 or you are experiencing less income. The key is to stay determined to bounce back, you know, getting to that next step, and learning. So you went and took a proactive step to learn to educate yourself, google it to figure it out. And I think that's really key and then you created a community that pretty much helps minimize a lot of that research for other people. And you're empowering the women and the men in the group to teach the rest. To the group, if they're experts on certain things. I just love all of that. I'm all here for that.

Shante Nicole 13:05

Yeah. And then I mean, I took it a step further and started developing programs and products for children. Because what I learned was, you know, I love you guys are in shambles, because you didn't learn this stuff. No one taught us and my mom didn't teach me. You heard me say I had to Google all this stuff. I had to research it. And so I said, Okay, let's start with the kids. So I created products, and I created on you know, online classes and workshops and stuff. And the parents are like, wow, because the biggest thing I hear them say a lot is, I want to learn this stuff. So my kids don't go through what I had to go through. And I want them to learn but not the hard way like I had to learn. So I think it's critical to start teaching kids now even about credit. I just did a workshop last Friday teaching them about credit to elementary schools and middle schools and high schoolers. You it's never too early to learn. Because in college, I don't know about you, but I know they were on campus offering credit. Yeah, it's easy to get caught.

Acquania Escarne 14:00

It's true. My first credit card was offered to me on a college campus in the yard. And at that time, I don't think they even offered me a T shirt or a cup. They just were like,yeah, and we'll give you credit and it'll help you build your credit. And I signed up now I will say, I still have that card. It's my longest history credit card. And my credit limit has steadily increased the more income The more I responsibly use it. Yeah, but it could have gone a totally different way. I could have been like, hey, let's go to happy hour here goes my books for this semester because I can't pay for him. He goes to a new computer and not have the money to pay for it but I was really responsible. I remember my first card I had $1,000 credit limit, and I applied on the yard and person knows just like this is your way to building credit and At the time, I was like, okay, but I have a lot of friends that were shopping it up and you're not making enough money to pay off credit. So I've seen the other side too, where you have all these things and you have nothing to show for it. And then you still owe the money. So.

Shante Nicole 15:17

Yeah, you're like, you're like 30 like I'm trying to clean up mistakes I made when I was 18. I'm like, What do you been? What have you been doing between 18 and 30? That's a long gap. Nothing happened. Positive between that time so I can tell you my first car was $1,000 and my crazy behind went to pay my rent. Because I say Oh shoot, I can pay rent and keep this extra money in my pocket. Not realizing that next month, what's going to be due the credit card, and the rent. So it's like now you got rent for the next month's rent still on this card. You spent the extra money that you did, it was just a mess. It took me like three months to pay that off and it didn't interest so now Yeah, interest on the on the place where I live. So that was really a hard lesson to learn. So a lot of my lessons were learned the hard way. But I said I want to save a lot of people out here to not make those same mistakes or have already made them. Let's talk about how we can bounce bounce back.

Acquania Escarne 16:09

That's the phrase bounce back. Save people to struggle like we don't have to struggle with our finances if we don't want to sometimes we just need to meet the right person to open our eyes to what's possible. I know you've talked a lot about financial common sense and a group on Facebook and what you offer, but you are also a credit coach. So can you describe to me someone who may need a credit coach because they can do but so much researching it on their own, but at what point should they work with someone else?

Shante Nicole 16:38

That's exactly it. Like they say, I love that you have this group. I love that you have all this free information, but trying to piece it all together is very overwhelming for me. So if you can just get me on the phone and look at my reports, I'll pay you and out you know and I give a step by step playing now I still do a lot of educating on that on the phone. So although my group provides education, if I have a a one on one, I'm giving them the education they need specifically. So it's not like they're trying to piece it from this post and this post and this packet I gave for free. It's like I'm telling you, this is what you need to do and why. And if you fall short, this is what you need to do to bounce back because it happens, life happens, right? And so that's what I do as a coach, and I always related to a football coach, right? He's not on the field playing, the players come off the sidelines, he won't tell them what plays the run, and then they go out there and they do it. And if they do it, right, no, of course they have an opposing team to consider, but you have a chance of winning. So that's the thing. I'm coaching you on what to do, and I'm teaching you how to do it. Because if I never learned my up and down, I would never have bounced back as quickly as I could have. But because I had the knowledge I always bounce back really quickly. It didn't take 2,3,4 years for me to bounce back because I had the knowledge. So once I give you the play by play, I'm going to explain to you why I want you to do these things. So it makes sense not just do these things because I said so and they're like okay, Shante said so, so I'm gonna do them. But explaining the why that that way. And a lot of people hang up saying, Man, I never knew half of this stuff. This is enlightening. And that's what I want, when they hang up, that they walked away with something more than a plan, you know?

Acquania Escarne 18:14

Absolutely. And I really like how you basically are shortening that learning curve, and you're tailoring it to what the client needs so they can take action. So that learning curve is probably a return in itself. Some people are like, I don't have time, I don't want to be bother. And so you're offering them an alternative, okay? You don't want to put in the time to learn yourself and let me create a plan specific to you. But you're still gonna learn. You're like, you're still gonna learn. You're just gonna learn one on one. Yeah. And I'm here for that. So I like that a lot. What is say the top common thing that people come to you and ask about that you constantly are answering the question to?

Shante Nicole 18:57

Oh, yeah, yeah, where do I start? Okay, so really, it's the basic question is how do I boost my score? Like I see that I just want to boost my score. And my first question is, do you know how scores are calculated 95% of people say no. So everybody's like, I want that score boost, but they're like, I don't know how to do it, but just tell me how to get that 700. So that's the first step. Like, if you don't even understand the basics of what goes into calculating your credit score, then you need to jump back a little bit, and learn something so you can see because if you understand that, you can look at your own reports and go, Oh, this is what my score looks like this, this is what I need to do to bounce back. But people just they just want that check score. People ask me about what's the best credit card, you know, to boost to start building credit? How do I get these collections off? Can I just dispute them and they go away? Because this is what the credit repair companies want you to think that's a whole nother topic. And, um, I get Yeah, it's really about disputing which credit cards can help me and we're How do I just boost my score? Like that's the, you know, of course, there's branches from each of each question. But those are the ones I get like the most.

Acquania Escarne 20:02

So tell us how your credit score calculated, we factors are taken into consideration.

Shante Nicole 20:08

Yeah, there are five components of a score. And in order of importance you have payment history, which is basically how responsible you are was paying back, not just paying back with paying on time. So things like late payments and collections and bankruptcies and charge offs, all those things are what affect your payment history, then you have utilization, which a lot of people don't even know that that's a factor, let alone how important it is. Using no credit is is detrimental to your score and using too much is detrimental to your score. So you have to show utilization, you can only do that by using credit cards. So then the next question is, well, how do I use my credit cards in order to boost my score? I've done so many videos on that topic, breaking it down because people get a little confused. Then you have your length of credit history. You touched on that you've had that credit card since college. That's important, the older credit You have, the better the credit is if you're new to credit, even though you may be paying on time, your utilization is great. If you just had a credit card for for four months or one year, as opposed to someone that's had one for five or six years, you're still a risk, because lenders are like, well, we see you're responsible, but we haven't seen over a duration of time and how responsible you can be, then you have your credit mix. Anytime I say that people are like what is that? That's like one of those hidden factors. Your credit mix are your revolving lines of credit, which are credit cards, and then your installment lines which are things like your mortgages, your student loans and your auto loan, so any payments that are fixed, that you pay the same every month is considered an installment loan and then your revolving credit cards. So lenders want to see Do you have a nice healthy mix, they don't want to see all of one or all of another right? And then the bottom of the totem pole is your inquiries and your new accounts. Every time you apply for credit you get hit with an inquiry. So many people tend to think oh, you just get a one to five point hit and I don't know where that They're coming up with this magic number. But there's factors involved with how that affects you. And I can go into Macy's today apply for the same card get the same limit, you might take a one point hit, I might take a six point hit. Why is that? Because maybe in the last six months, I've applied for six credit cards, and you haven't applied for a card since last year, that matters. How many new accounts have posted in the last six to 12 months for you? And how many for me, so those things matter. So how much of a hit you take depends on your credit history. It's not a, you know, overall blanket, you know, number. So those are the five components. And so if you have several collections in a bankruptcy, and maybe a couple charge off, your utilization is 90%. You can look at your own report and go Okay, I see what my score looks like this, but people don't know. And that's basic, basic information. That is actually not a secret if you can google it right now and it will come up and tell you what the five factors are.

Acquania Escarne 22:49

Awesome. Thank you for sharing that and I understand what you mean credit is not equal. And everyone doesn't use credit in the same way. So I love the example you set where we both go to Macy's, we both apply for a car and yet our score is impacted differently. And I probably wouldn't be that person who hasn't applied for a credit card in a year. Because I'm like, I'm done. I have the credit cards that I want and need in my opinion, and I'm not trying to really get more credit card. It's our I use them that really matters. And I and I know I tell people about utilization a lot. I personally say don't go over 30% which means like, not having more than 30% of your credit your total credit available, but what is your recommendation? Do you have a number?

Shante Nicole 23:39

I do so um, and when I talk about utilization, I'm speaking about individual cards not over No, because it's possible to have a low utilization with overall but still have three cards that are maxed out exactly. If you have a very wide overall, you know, availability. So let's just talk about one card if your limit is 1000 Say Try not to show more than 30%, which is 300. But I say don't strive for that 10% should be like middle ground. So I say try not to show more than $100 you know, utilization. And so my video was really talking about, well, how do I know how much gets reported to the credit bureaus? You know, because people met some people just use 6070 80% of their credit card, and then they let that before that's gonna drop your scores. You know, like you said, don't try not to go over 30%. But this thing that I've learned years ago, and I teach people and they're blown away, whatever your balances when the cycle closes, every credit card has a billing cycle. That's what actually gets reported to the credit bureaus. People don't realize that they don't even know what the billing cycle is. They say Where do I find that I'm like, it's right there on your statement. So if you look at what your balances when the cycle closes, that is what gets reported. If you only use $100. They're only going to report the hundred dollars. If you happen to use 500, but you pay it down to 100 before the cycle They're only going to report the 100. They don't care about the 500 at first, and then you paid it down. So I tried to tell people, it's not really about how much you use, it's about how much gets reported. That is the that's the critical part. And so I teach them about paying it, you know, paying it down, you know, and your billing cycle. And then on your due date, you want to pay in full to avoid interest. Yeah, so, a big mistake if people use their card and they pay in full before the cycle closes. And they say I don't understand why my score is dropping, or my score is not going up. And I say, Well, remember my, my, my phrase, whatever the balance is, when the cycle closes, that's how much will get reported. So if you use it for gas and paid off two days later, what is your balance? Zero. Okay, now how much is going to get reported when your cycle closed? They're like, Oh, I don't like you do this month after month and zero is reporting every month and so it's so critical to make sure something reports just 10% so that's what you can match your card out, but as long as you Pay it down before the cycle closes, you'll be fine. And so that's what I tell people, I use my credit cards for everything. I have seven major credit cards, I use them every month to pay my bills. So I get cash back, I get airline miles, I get stuff and I make sure I never go over 10% but if I do, I'll just pay it down before the cycle close and then pay on the due date. So that's the critical part of utilization.

Acquania Escarne 26:22

I like that. So utilization matters for the credit score. But your preference is when you're using the card focus on what's being reported. Because if you're trying to build credit, you need more than zero to show up that you've been paying off more than zero dollars. But at the same time to make sure people are in a safe space when it comes to spending if they keep it within the 10%. Hopefully that's 10% they can afford to pay off in full when the credit card is due. So I want to emphasize what you're saying which is the payment due date is not the same as the cycle of your credit card closing,there are two different dates.

Shante Nicole 27:05

Yes they are two different days. And legally, they have to give you at least 25 days for your due date. So if my cycle closes on the 23rd of April, my due date is May 21. They have to give you at least a month. And so people get confused. And they pay everything before the cycle closes. And that's why they say, well, zero is reporting, pay everything on your due date, so you're not getting interest. And what you say was so critical. You said, you know, stay in that safe space so that you know that you have it. When the due date arrives. My mantra is use credit cards for money that you have, so that you're not worried about whether you're going to have to do like I pay, I pay my electric bill with my credit cards. I have the money to pay my electric bill. So there's no worry whether I'm going to have that when my credit card is due. I have it so just use it for money you have a lot of people use it for money they think they're gonna have right and then a month later, you never know what can happen in 25 days. never know. So you use it for money you already have been, there's never a worry about whether you're going to pay, or people use it to pay something, they have the money to pay in full. But that Bill said, You know what, you can just give us a minimum payment. Don't worry about it. I'll take 25,000 they say, Okay, I'll have some extra money in my pocket. But I'm not giving the credit card company any extra money and interest, especially if I use it to pay a bill. Why would I pay interest on my electric bill, or my car insurance or my gym? You know, so that's the biggest thing. I'm like, use money use credit cards for money thatyou have.

Acquania Escarne 28:33

Exactly. So the it's already budget for the money is there. The bottom line is, I just need to make sure I'm strategically making the payments when the payments are due. And I think that's important. I'm glad you made that you distinguish that so that hopefully listeners will walk away with a strategy. These are strategic payments. Either I'm trying to build credit or I'm trying to make sure that I stay within my budget. So I'm using the cash in my budget to pay for my expenses that I've already allocated for. I'm just using a credit card to pay for them at the time of purchase, but I have the money. So I think that's really, really important. And I like how you explain that so easy to understand. It's the action. Yep. Always concerns me when people take action. They really hear what you said, This is what we'll have to see. But hopefully they did. Hopefully they get it. So I like to ask this question to all my guests. Because the podcast is called the purpose of money. And a lot of people have different reasons on why they are doing what they're doing. You're a mom, you have a special needs child and you are still serving people by helping them build credit and helping them through your nonprofit. But what is your purpose for money and what do you hope to achieve?

Shante Nicole 29:52

Personally?

Acquania Escarne 29:53

Yes, it's always about you.

Shante Nicole 29:55

Okay, I know it's hard for me to wrap my brain around talking about me because I'm always learning Others. So personally, I just I've gone through so much in life with money like not having coming from a single, you know, parent household, and then you know, working and just to have my job taken away from me. And then cancer swept in and caused me to have financial burdens. And at this point, I just want to, I just want the freedom. You know, I am not in a space where I can say I am wealthy, and I don't mean wealthy by saying I have Beyonce money. I just mean like I have the freedom. I have no worries when it comes to. I want the comfort, you know what I mean? And so, because I'm not there yet, I don't mind sharing with other people how they can get there because I know how to achieve that. It still just takes work even for somebody who's well versed on the topic of money. I want my husband has been so instrumental and where I am right now, even with finishing school, anything I come to him with every month. I'm like, I know you think I'm crazy, because I have another business idea. I have another something and, and then he's always like, okay, whatever. And I'm, and that always drives me to show that I can do it. And so I just want to have wealth for him. Because he's been he sacrificed a lot so that I can achieve the things I want. So I want to get to the place where I can just buy whatever for him and not have a thought, you know, and I know that sounds so materialistic, but I just want the freedom. I don't necessarily need millions. I just want the freedom, whatever that means for me, and the life that I set up for myself, do I need a $600,000? home? No, not with, you know, three of us. But I just want to be comfortable. I want to make sure that the moves I'm making with my money can stand a good example for the people that I'm preaching to. And so, you know, I want to make sure that I can say, Well, I can't sit here and preach only use 10% if I'm not doing it, so I want to be able to make sure I'm a reflection of what they you know, want to be as well. So I know that was a mouthful and I'm trying to piece together. No one's ever asked me that. That's such a great question. But yeah, I just want I want wealth. And when I say wealth, it's not really the amount of money. It's the comfort level with money. And that's what I want from my family and my family. I mean, it's just, that's the bottom line. And I want to continue teaching, I absolutely love what I do, I will run that group forever and ever, never. Because I just love to see people win. I love to see the success stories. I love to see that people say, because of this group, I've been able to do this. Because of shantay session, I've been able to do this. And it really warms my heart and it's not to pat myself on the back. It's really just to give myself kudos for walking in my purpose.

Acquania Escarne 32:39

I love it. I love it. So y'all heard it, that's our purpose for money. We're going to help you get there. shantay so if people want to follow you join your group or hire you for their credit coaching needs. How can they find you?

Shante Nicole 32:53

It is Financial Common Cents. And since it's spelled like CENTS because we're doing it with money, so you can Find me at financialcommoncents.org. Of course on Instagram @financialcommoncents the group on Facebook is Financial Common Cents. And the public page is Financial Common Cents, Inc. and I'm Shante Nicole, so you can and I'm open I just want to share I just want to help you so even if you never signed up for a coaching session, if you join a group and make a post, we're all going to just be there to just like dive right in and you know, help you out.

Acquania Escarne 33:24

Okay, guys, you heard that. So check out Financial Common Cents the website on social building, whatever you can to help if you do end up joining the group, make sure that you're contributing, but don't misbehave. Shante will kick you out.

Shante Nicole 33:37

She will.

Acquania Escarne 33:39

So thank you so much for being on the show. Shante I cannot wait to share this with listeners and I definitely want listeners to share with friends and family. So if you like the podcast, please share with others. We appreciate the support and feel free to leave a review.

Shante Nicole 33:54

Thank you. Thanks so much.

Acquania Escarne 33:56

I hope you enjoy that episode. If you have any referrals directions that you want to share, please send me an email at info@thepurposeofmoney.com I always love to hear from you. Or you can comment on my website at thepurposeofmoney.com slash Episode 19 I hope you got some actionable tips that you can do right away. If you're having challenges with credit and want to know more, check out Shantae Nicole's Facebook group become a member and learn from others who are trying to do the same. You can also contact her for personal consultations. I hope that was valuable to you. If you know anyone that also needs to get this information, please share it with friends and family who will find it just as valuable. And don't forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts. I read every single review and I appreciate all of you for taking the time to leave your comments and feedback. Thank you so much and have a great day. Don't forget next episode comes out in two weeks. Thank you Listening to The Purpose of Money Podcast. For more resources and information, check out my website, thepurposeofmoney. com And while you're there, please sign up for our newsletter so you have the latest information on new episodes and blog posts. Until next time, keep creating freedom in your life today.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai