- Please say hello to financial expert,
my girl Lynn Richardson.
(audience applauding and cheering)
Alright and let's meet the young lady
that we're gonna be helping today.
Please welcome April to the show.
(audience applauding and cheering)
- Hi.
- Okay April, why do you need Lynn's help?
- Well, I need your help because I'm a single mother
of six, all under the age of 10,
and you know I'm the sole provider.
I was married and divorced twice and no child support,
and I'm a hair stylist so I'm tired of living
from client to client to make the ends meet.
I wanna be able to buy a home
and provide a better future for my children.
- So let's start with her debt.
What did you find?
- So Steve right now, she's about $21,000 in debt
from old car loans, furniture and things like that.
So right now, you've got about $2,100
in expenses that you cannot change.
You've got insurance, you've got car insurance,
you've got utilities and then lunch money
and tuition for the kids.
- Yep.
- So, that's stuff that you cannot change.
Here's what I wanna know though,
your home owners insurance and your car insurance,
those are great things to have.
But you said you have six children?
- Yep.
- And so if something happens to you
while those children are small,
I'm concerned about what's gonna happen to them,
their well-being, their education and so on and so forth.
So I wanna squeeze some money out
of your budget for life insurance, okay?
- Can I say this, it also makes you more credit worthy.
Because a creditor has to know
that in the event of your demise,
they may be able to attach this debt to an insurance policy.
You gotta have life insurance, I don't care who you are.
If you single, get yourself some life insurance,
'cause they gonna ask you on every credit application
there's a block that says, "Do you have life insurance?"
They ain't put it on there for nothing.
- [April] Yeah. - [Lynn] Yeah.
Absolutely, so this is really important, okay?
- Can I ask her a question?
- [Lynn] Mm-hmm.
- You said you don't get any child support.
What, can you tell me why that is?
- You know, I have orders, but I cannot make them pay.
I can't make them pay.
- [Steve] Oh, yeah yeah yeah.
- I have an order.
- They got ways.
I'm gonna turn you on to somebody.
- Great.
- There's people there that you can't,
they got ways now, man.
You can get money, all these dues right around here.
- So, now you've got some expenses that you can change.
And so we're gonna look at these things,
because again this is about choices.
And I understand having children
and wanting to provide them a great life,
but let me tell you something about what children need.
Children need a mom who can manage her money responsibly,
so that they can live lives
that are free and full and wholesome.
So, your gas.
I wanna cut your gas down to $250.
So, you're spending a lot.
- So she can't go no where?
- Well, when I didn't have enough money,
I had this thing called gas price distance.
If you were not in gas price distance,
I didn't come and see you, period.
(laughing)
- [April] I need to write that down.
- Gas price distance.
So, if I looked at the mileage, okay I can't go here.
Then I've got groceries.
So, $722 is what you were spending.
I wanna take that down to about $600, okay?
So you've gotta get coupons, get your rewards,
figure out what's on sale, buy one get one free,
and then spending money,
I want you to take your spending money down a bit.
Entertainment, we need to find ways to be entertained
that do not cost you a lot of money.
Because right now, you've gotta buckle down.
We're getting down to hair and nails.
We were spending way too much money
between you and the girls on hair.
We're not gonna cut it out completely
'cause I advise people to live by the 10/10/30/50.
The first 10% you tithe, the next 10% you save,
30% for incidentals, and then 50% for your bills.
You had 40 something percent on incidentals.
That's a bit too much, okay?
'Cause we wanna pull you back.
So, now you've got income $4695
and your new expenses are $4406.
So you've got $289 extra every month.
Your gonna take that money,
your gonna pay off your credit cards.
Then your gonna start to pay off your debts.
So, your gonna pay off those old car notes,
your gonna pay off the furniture bill
and your gonna be debt free in two and half years.
Two and a half years.
(cheering and applauding)
- Thank you, I'm excited.
- Debt free in two and a half years.
I really think you should think of your tax refund
as an opportunity to build wealth.
Because if you go out and buy things,
rich people stay rich because they act poor.
And poor people stay poor because they act rich.
- If that ain't the truth right there.
(applauding)
- So if I were you, I would say take your tax refund,
do not spend the entire thing on stuff
that you won't remember, okay?
Most people always say,
"Well, when I make more money I'll start"
or "When I make money, I'll do this."
So, it's not about when you get more money.
It's about what you're going to do right now.
So this week's savings challenge, everybody can save.
If you make under $30,000 per year,
you're gonna start with just $1.
- Now, let me say this, if you can't save this $1 this week,
put your book down 'cause we can't help you.
(laughing)
- Yeah, this is $1, $1.
In week two you're gonna save $2.
In week three you're gonna save $3.
In week four you're gonna save $4.
You're gonna mark this in your calendar week by week
and you're gonna save that amount of money that week.
At the end of the year you'll have $1378.
That's more money than most people
can say they have in their, okay?
(applauding)
Everybody can do that.
Now, if you make between $30,000 and $50,000,
you're gonna save $2 in the first week,
and the second week you're gonna add $2 to it.
So, then it'll be $4, the next week it'll be $6.
If you make $50,000 to $75,000 a year,
then you're gonna save $4,
and $75,000 or more, you're gonna do $6.
- Now, can I offer a suggestion?
The way to save money, the way I had to learn to do it was,
I went and opened up a separate account,
and I went to a different bank.
- Absolutely.
- I opened up a savings account,
and I got a friend of mine,
who was like really cool with me,
and I made him the secondary signer on the account,
with the stipulation that in order
for that money to be moved, it had to have two signatures.
- Okay.
- [Steve] That way I couldn't touch the money.
- Yeah.
- That's how I did it.
- Absolutely.
- That's how I bought my first house.
(applauding)
- But these are the things that we do.
We just have to be honest about how we behave
and how money messes with our minds.
And so if you discipline yourself,
everybody here can have some money saved
at the end of the year.
- Lynn has something for you.
Lynn tell her what it is.
- Well, every year, I get together
with a bunch of my friends,
MC Lyte, Kelly Price has gone,
Sheila E has been there, Judge Maybelline,
I mean everybody has come to the wealth experience.
We do it in Arizona,
and it's the first weekend after New Year Eve.
And we talk about everything from womanhood,
expansion, assets, leadership, transformation and health,
you get to attend the wealth experience
with us this year all expenses paid.
(audience cheering and applauding)
- [Steve] That's pretty good.
- Thank you so much, thank you!
- And that's really good.
Alright now before you go,
put up her monthly expenses again.
What we gonna do is, we gonna pay off the furniture for you.
(audience cheering and applauding)
We gonna get rid of that right there.
- [April] Thank you Jesus.
- That'll help you get started,
and then I'm gonna show you how to find that,
yeah, you gonna be alright girl.
Hey, thank you April.
Thanks to Lynn Richardson.
(audience cheering and applauding)
Now audience, Lynn did not forget about you.
All of you are going home with a copy of her book,
Living Check to Monday.
That's the book, everybody's going home with a copy.
We'll be right back ya'll.
(upbeat music)
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