- I felt confused, like I was missing something.
Missing the boat on something, God's calling on my life.
I was about $40,000 in debt.
I was trying to fill a hole with things,
with material things.
Handbags, jewelry, shoes, sunglasses, watches.
And I would purchase things, realizing I didn't need them,
and then spend the entire weekend returning all of them.
But, the feeling that I would get would be happiness.
Kind of that gratification for a moment,
and then I'd all of a sudden feel
the weight of the world back on me.
I realized that I wasn't living the life
that God wanted me to live,
and it was something that I needed to dig into deeper.
I needed to know kind of why I was feeling that way.
What were things I was trying to suppress?
The childhood stuff, you know, needing to people please,
and impress people, and be perfect, and look perfect.
When I started Financial Peace, I felt a peace.
It was a peace that I literally cannot put into words.
I felt the Holy Spirit wash over me.
My money started to change. I was in control this time,
because I was submitting it to God first.
It's all His, anyway.
So, I'm just, I'm a steward of it.
- Lacy, thanks for being here.
- Thanks for having me.
- And sharing your story.
So, your story, it's amazing.
So, unpack a little bit of it for me
and just kind of how your spending habits have,
where it kind of began and where you are today.
- So, it started when I was younger,
but I think it got hot and heavy when I was about 18 or 19,
when I got my first credit card.
I remember actually driving in a car
that was probably less expensive
than the sunglasses I had on at the time,
so yeah, that was an eye-opener for me.
But it started young and looking back,
it was a lot of just trying to fill a void
and trying to impress people.
- Yeah, absolutely.
So, were you around,
like your friends and kind of like the group
you kind of hung around,
would you say were pretty, like, affluent,
like you felt like you had to keep up this appearance?
- Yes.
- Because of the people you were around?
Does that make sense?
- Yes, yes, yes. I would say yes.
- Yeah, absolutely.
Well it's an issue I feel like we struggle with,
I mean, so many people, right?
In this culture, in this world today.
I mean it's constant, and so for you, though,
racking up a lot of credit card debt, $40,000, right?
- [Lacy] Mhmm.
- And, you kind of hit a point that you were like,
"Okay, something has to change"
emotionally, in your heart, and financially, you were like,
"I don't want to keep doing this over and over again."
So, tell me a little bit about that,
like what was that breaking point for you?
- I would say when I was at my hometown church
in Houston. He was doing a relationship series,
and for some reason, that all aligned.
It was about becoming the person the person
you're looking for is looking for,
good old Andy Stanley.
- [Rachel] It's good, yes.
- But that actually opened the door for the financial bit.
I always knew I needed to get it together,
I just, I couldn't.
And of course, I would feel bad about that,
then I would spend more, then I would return everything, and then I would . . .
it was a lovely cycle.
- [Rachel] Yes, so when you were in that cycle,
what would that look like?
You'd go out, you'd go shopping,
you said you returned stuff. So, like,
walk me through just that. I'm just curious
what that looked like for you.
- Yes, I would, after work on a Friday,
I would be feeling a certain way,
now that I look back, I know what it was,
just, you know, feeling bad about that day,
feeling like I didn't do enough.
I needed something to fill that void, that hole.
And so, I would go to good old T.J. Maxx
and HomeGoods and Target,
where I'm not allowed to go anymore,
actually, no I can go there now, I can go there now,
because I've got strength I didn't have before.
- Yes, that's right, that's right.
- But I would go, and I would spend money
on things that "I could afford,"
because, I mean, I made plenty of money,
but I really couldn't afford, didn't need,
and then realize in the morning
I had to wake up and return all of it.
And I would go out of my way to go to different stores
that weren't those stores to return,
because I was embarrassed.
- [Rachel] Yes.
- I was embarrassed.
- [Rachel] Yes.
- Yeah, I felt ashamed.
- Mhmm, no absolutely. And I think that
that's such a great picture, it's such a great example
of what we deal with in our world today.
So, take like, even the money piece out of it,
but the emotional side, like we really do believe
that stuff is going to make us happy.
- [Lacy] Yeah.
- And it is going to fulfill us. And if I just have this new thing.
And I say that to myself sometimes, I mean
you know, I can fall into that.
And so, it's so funny though, because I'm like,
you know that's not true,
right? You said within a few hours, you'd be like,
"Okay, that was it. I need to go return it now."
- [Lacy] Yeah, mhmm, mhmm.
- It's like the high is over,
and so talk to me about people that they're kind of like
scratching that itch for themselves constantly
and they're constantly buying things,
what would you say to someone,
if that's kind of their story?
- Well, I would say that God's going to be the only thing
that's going to fill that hole. That's the truth.
- Yeah.
- And then everything else aligns.
Literally, everything else aligns.
So, I would just say they're not alone.
That there's so many other people out there like them.
I know I felt like that,
that I was the only one, and I was embarrassed.
I thought I had it all together,
but behind closed doors, I knew that I didn't.
I'd lie to myself and tell myself certain things
and come to find out, the older I got,
I realized all those other people
were going through the same thing I was.
They were dealing and doing the same thing I was.
Playing a part, filling a void.
And some people filled it in different ways,
but yeah, it's been a journey.
It's been a beautiful journey I wouldn't take back.
- Absolutely. Well, on the show
I feel like we talk a lot about the tactical side
of money, of like paying off debt
and getting on a budget and getting control and all of that,
but money's usually the symptom of other things, right?
- [Lacy] Mhmm.
- Of deeper issues, like kind of what you were saying. And like,
I feel like we all have tendencies to medicate.
- Yes.
- But you have to get to the root and the problem.
And that's—the problem's different for everyone
- Yes.
- And everyone's looks different, and yours happened
to be just spending money to medicate in that way.
- Yeah.
- But for people out there, I think that's just
such a good reminder of like, dig into yourself, right?
- Yeah.
- And your story. And know where that comes from,
because once you can solve that root, like you're saying,
and then you get these tactical principles on top of it,
then you can start to make progress.
- Yes.
- So, getting tactical, so you had $40,000.
- [Lacy] Yes.
- You decided to go to Financial Peace University.
- [Lacy] Yes!
- Yes, okay tell me about that?
- Oh gosh. Legit godsend. I mean,
I couldn't come up with a better name for Financial Peace
than just that, Financial Peace.
- Wow.
- Because it's exactly what it gave me,
and from day one.
It's something that I want everybody to feel.
- [Rachel] Yes, yes.
- I'm grateful for the opportunity.
- Yeah, that's so awesome. And you've paid down
how much debt so far?
- $7,200.
- $7,200! Girl, you're like killing it.
- Yeah, more to go, yes.
- Do you feel the traction?
- I do. I do. Yes.
- Good.
- It's kind of bananas looking back.
- You're doing it, girl. You're killing it.
- Thank you.
- Come back on when you're debt-free so we can celebrate.
- Oh, I will. Yes, yes. Do the scream.
- So awesome. Well thanks, Lacy.
- Thank you so much.