Not quite your fairy tale ending…

…but close. =]

Once upon a time there was a girl who grew up with very little money and worked since she was 12 years old. She had a savings account but very little in it. The majority of her money was spent on bills and supplies throughout high school. While in college (yes, she made it happen even without any money) she found herself struggling to pay the bills. She was constantly pinching pennies to make ends meet and support herself entirely. Then one day she received a letter in the mail explaining that she would be dropped from the university if her student bills were not paid in full by a given deadline. Her options for further financial aid already exhausted, she became quite distressed and started to panic. She frantically searched for ways to obtain the funds she needed to remain in school. After talking with the financial aid department at her university a million and four times and having them help her get a university private loan she was able to stay in school. After two financially rough years, she made certain her FAFSA was filed before March 1st and worked three jobs while attending school full time. After going through the stress of being threatened to be kicked out of the university multiple times, she made sure it wouldn’t happen for the rest of her college career and saved and budgeted her money accordingly.

This girl was me. 

I have always been a frugal spender. I suppose growing up in a low-income family makes you value money a bit more. Ever since I can remember, my family had financial struggles and I learned ways to overcome those hardships through them.

As an adult I have realized, even more so, the importance of budgeting, especially on a minimal income.  I personally use Mint.com to help me create healthy spending habits and to monitor where I spend my money each month.

Building credit is also an important thing to do as an adult which is why I opened a Chase Credit Card through Amazon.  I only use the card to pay my phone bill and gas and pay it off in full at the end of every month.  Not to mention, I get points for every dollar I spend to use towards purchases on Amazon! This and the bank loans I had for my cars helped to build my near perfect credit I have today.

My past financial hardships and uncomfortable situations…

…have inspired me to help my peers and the high school students I currently assist in developing healthy spending habits.  If sharing my story and giving advice about managing money helps at least one person avoid the stress I went through, it was worth it.

(P.S. Check out my new video!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObfVIJa2qRc&feature=youtu.be )

xoxo

DeAnna