MY STORY

Theresa always thought she was good with managing her finances until through a series of mishaps, she found herself in a nearly disastrous financial predicament. Read on to learn more about her experience.

The Quest for Financial Freedom (Without a Plan)!

In 2002 Theresa had a wild idea that she wanted to be an entrepreneur. The company she worked for at the time offered a voluntary severance packages, so she accepted six months of pay and two years of educational benefits and was on her merry way. With a few thousand dollars in personal savings and assuming it would be easy to find another job, she used the severance pay to obtain her MBA and fund her part-time real estate business. Little did she know that this event would be the catalyst for her finances spiraling out of control. 

Over the next five years, Theresa was all over the place because while she had a so-called “bright idea,” she didn’t have a logical plan for garnering the financial freedom she longed for. Yes, she earned her MBA and obtained her real estate license, which was great. However, the severance did not last long as she had thought it would, and she had not found a job that was comparable to her previous full-time salary. She mindlessly compounded her financial problems, for she was still spending, loaning, and giving to others as if she was earning a hefty salary. No surprise that things quickly got worse from here. Theresa was confident that she was going to make this “entrepreneurial idea” work. So, she decided to leverage her excellent credit against obtaining business credit cards to fund her poorly planned ventures. This proved to be undeniably one of the worst mistakes she could have ever made. 

Wait! I Owe How Much Debt?

In October of 2007, she got a reality check, as things kept getting worse. She had no stable income, and all of her savings was practically depleted.  Unfortunately, by the time she'd convinced herself to press pause on everything and get serious about finding full-time stable work to get back on track, she discovered she'd quickly racked up $100K in additional consumer debt! What was worse was that she had no idea what the heck she spent that much money on.  She had nothing tangible to show for it, and she'd put her family in a financial bind! Thankfully they had her husband’s income to cover the mortgage, car payments, utilities, etc. so those things were not in jeopardy. The grim reality was that she still needed to contend with all this credit card debt in her name, and interest rates that soared from 2.9% to a whopping 28%!

Surrendering to a Higher Power

Theresa eventually landed a stable job, but it was about a 25% less than the salary she made in her previous full-time position. She couldn’t afford the increased monthly credit card payments. Theresa found herself in tears because she was pregnant and needed to figure a way out of this financial bind.  In the depths of her despair, she prayed by saying "Lord show me how to get out of this mess and I promise to share my story and help others avoid these mistakes." It was time to take action, but the creditors were not willing to work with her and lower the interest rates. She eventually filed Chapter 13. Feeling embarrassed and as if she had this big label on her forehead “poor money manager!” She remember thinking, “I have an engineering degree, an MBA, and I’m good with numbers. How did I allow this to happen?" Now her credit is horrible and she had to go to human resources at her new job to set up bankruptcy payments to be payroll deducted for the next five years!” She felt like such a disappointment to herself and her family. She had to get over feeling shame and self-pity and learn from her mistakes to ensure she didn’t repeat them. 

She took full responsibility for masterminding her own financial disaster because she did not have a concrete written plan and logical strategy in place. Thankfully, with God’s guidance and her being intentional and consistent, she was able to stabilize her finances by doing the following:

· paying off the bankruptcy, 

· eliminating her student loan debt, 

· saving one year of emergency funds, and 

· creating a car fund to replace her car (when it its time, of course!) 

You, Too, Can Improve Your Financial Situation

Theresa has a new outlook and is passionate about keeping her promise to God. This is why she shares her story and works daily to help others achieve their financial goals. Theresa found that she operates best when she has a plan and logical steps to achieve her goals. Perhaps you do, too! Financial literacy is critical to obtaining financial freedom, so she dedicates some time everyday to learn something new. As such, Theresa has a wealth of experience, knowledge, and tools to share with anyone who needs it. She is confident she can help you—are you ready to take action?