Hey there, my name is Patrice Washington, and I'm
getting ready to watch a video that I have never
seen before called Living on one hundred forty
five thousand dollars a year in Austin, Texas.
Before we jump in and make sure you like this
video and also smack that subscribe button and
show CNBC, Make It some love.
The most important lesson that I've learned about
money is to share and help people when you give
back and help. That's where the happiness comes
from. Ok, I don't even know her yet and I love
her. This is right up my alley.
I love the her shirt is grateful.
I talk about gratitude as a part of wealth
building all the time.
So she's already my girl.
I can't wait to see more.
I have a base salary and then every month,
depending on my sales, I get either hundred and
twenty percent of that sale or 100 percent or 80
percent. A hundred and twenty percent of that
sale. Come on, girl.
She averages $20,000 each month.
OK, let's get into the fact that she did twenty
five thousand dollars in commission on leads.
You can't tell me that just her personality
already is not contributing to why she's so
successful at her job.
Someone who wakes up and expects good things
that's what happens. I am able to live very
comfortably with my salary here in Austin.
I can take a vacation if I want to or if I just
want to do some TLC, like with myself.
I don't really have to worry about that too much.
Ok, so right now I'm just a little confused
because her given category is a two hundred and
fifty dollars, which just doesn't seem like it
equates to how the video started out.
So I'm a little curious about that.
Everything else looks pretty decent.
She's saving quite a bit of money, but I was
really expecting to see more in the giving.
So let's see how this all plays out.
I do not go to the grocery store very often
because I don't know how to cook.
I have tried to...
Girl. I knew I liked you.
She doesn't know how to cook you.
Listen, everyone who knows me knows that that's
not my ministry either.
I think it's interesting, though, that her budget
said three hundred dollars on food.
So I don't know how that all pans out.
In student loans. I owe about thirty thousand
dollars. I'm paying about two hundred and thirty
dollars a month, the minimum monthly, because I'm
hoping someone can come into office and kind of
just diminish the student debt loan.
Your strategy for your student loans cannot be to
hope that they just get wiped out.
Hoping, wishing, praying is beautiful.
I believe in all of it.
However, you still need a strategy to pay off
student loan debt like it's still a part of your
debt. And the sooner you get out of it, the
better. So come on, Andrea, you can do better.
If not, then I'll be paying that.
So I'm like forty five.
Wait a minute. Why would she be paying off her
student loans until she's 45?
She's already saving.
I think it was twenty seven hundred dollars a
month. She could easily redirect some of that
money towards her debt and be out of debt sooner,
quicker or faster. So I think that's what happens
when people see student loans as good debt or not
a bad thing, then they just let it go on and on
and on. No.
It is easy to get wrapped up in some of the
nightlife here in Austin, and I definitely did
take part in that and I did get pretty wrapped up
in that. So much so where I had to take a year
off from college. I literally had nothing like
four or five years ago, nothing to my name.
I took a screenshot of my accounts and they were
all negative and I just took a screenshot because
I was like, man, I'm going to change this, I'm
going to change how I'm going to live my life and
my goals and what I want.
Ok, I really resonate with this, and if I did
really hard, we didn't have screenshots first day
back then, but I used to save an old bank
statement from the height of the recession, and
it listed all the overdrafts that we had.
And I had that sick and tired of being sick and
tired moment if you've never had it.
It's definitely an ugly cry.
And so I can identify because I lost everything
in the recession and having to start over is
hard. But I like where this is going that she
decided because it all starts with a decision
that she wasn't going to live like that anymore.
She was going to shift.
And so I can't wait to hear how she shifted.
Found faith in God, and that changed my life as
well. And I got plugged in to church and I got a
solid foundation that helped with my sobriety.
Ok, she's just like me too.
The faith piece is big.
You know, in my work, I talk about the faith
pillar. Not that you subscribe to some specific
religion in particular, but just that you
understand that belief in something greater is
such an important part of your resilience,
because we all go through ups and downs and you
can be knocked down several times.
But having faith that what you've experienced
didn't happen to you, maybe it happened for you,
is that driving force that helps us get back up.
And so I really love that she's made faith a part
of this story of this journey. I'm a fait girl,
too. When I first started making money, I wasn't
sober yet. And so I would be spending hundreds of
dollars out all the time and that would be
draining. And I had to learn if I did save it.
There's a bigger outcome and a return on that.
So every two weeks I'll put a thousand into my
savings. I'm also saving in my 401k, so seven
percent goes into my 401k.
I'm thinking of opening a Roth IRA.
When I do that, I'll probably lower the 401k back
down to just the three percent to what GoDaddy is
matching and then the rest will be in the Roth
IRA. I still really think before she goes towards
the Roth IRA that she should just knock out the
student loan debt. I wouldn't be waiting for the
government to come in and do anything in
particular for my personal finances.
But I think it's awesome that she's saving at
this rate and that she learned to build the
muscle. Just sign on a house last week.
It'll be custom built.
It'll be ready in about four or five months.
OK, come on custom built house that's what I'm
talkin' about. And I'm like, yes, like I've worked
hard, been wise with investment and I'm able to
do these things or to buy a house in Austin.
Three bedrooms, two and a half baths.
That's a lot of house for her and Kuzsko, I think
the dog's name is. So maybe she's planning on
bringing a family, like starting a family or
something. That's a lot of house for one person.
I'm hoping to lease it out in about two or three
years or sell it and maybe five or six years, and
from that buy another investment property or a
duplex. Ok, it makes sense.
Now I see the strategy.
This is actually really smart.
Like that is a great strategy in real estate in
general. You buy where you can get in and then
you just keep flipping that money and buy more
and more property. So I see where she's going
here. I like it. So I have a monthly membership
at a massage place downtown.
I like to spend to get my eyebrows done and, you
know, certain things that make me feel good.
I like watches.
I have a watch box for watches.
That's my one splurge would be watches.
Look, I'm OK with splurging because she's already
demonstrated that she has discipline with saving.
And I really believe that your personal financial
journey is not about deprivation.
I believe it's about discipline.
A mentor of mine says you don't want to be on
well-being, welfare.
The problem is when people are all about the
splurging and they're not taking care of their
debt elimination or savings.
But this is good because this is what you can
sustain over the long haul.
So I'm with it. My dad, when I started making
more and being successful in my career, he has
always reminded me when you get you give when you
learn, you teach.
And so that's one of the main foundational
pieces. Now that I am more successful and what
I'm doing. Me to my first grade teacher, Mrs.
Boynton taught me then when you learn something,
it's your responsibility to teach it.
And planting that seed when I was in first grade
is completely why I do the work that I do.
People think it started when I became a blogger or
speaker or, you know, a coach.
No, it started in first grade when I got that
lesson, and that has served me really well.
So I love that this is something that she also is
demonstrating. So I think this is how we're
getting back into the giving.
So I'm excited to hear what she's doing.
She gave her parents money toward their mortgage.
I love this, I love it, and I really think that's
why we have to stay ready.
Right. It's not just about us.
You're also building wealth so that you can be a
real blessing to others.
We are blessed to be a blessing.
I love that she was in position to.
I think the worst thing is when you really want
to help other people and you're just not even in
a position to help yourself, you know?
So one thing a mentor told me years ago, I used
to work for Steve Harvey, the comedian, and he
said the worst thing that you can do for a broke
person is be broke because now you're in no
position to be a blessing to them.
Anyone can change their life or their situation
because it did for me.
And those mistakes or bad circumstances don't make
you just have to make a choice to do better.
I loved it. I love her.
We are connected on so many levels.
I love her purpose.
I love her passion.
I love the gratitude, the faith component.
I give Andrea at eight out of ten, those two
things giving more to people outside of just her
family. I would definitely improve.
And then just getting out of that student loan
debt sooner, quicker, faster, because she doesn't
have to deal with that.
She could be done with that in six, seven months
if she really put effort into it.
That's all for now. Thanks for watching.
Make sure you subscribe to CNBC, Make It and
check out my show, the "Redefining Wealth"
podcast, right here on YouTube.