Ep. 94 — Hump Day Goals

and I'm I don't know. Maybe it's the carves I don't. I mean, well, I'm carving out.

weighing yourself is almost like googling yourself. Like if you're gonna weigh yourself and you see the good news, you have to always be prepared for like the bad news too, Like for every good headline about yourself, you're gonna read something terrible and it's just like the gamble, the risk you take when you get on that scale.

any pants because this Labor Day weekend. We came back early, but we went to a friend's place who has this really nice, really nice home on a lake like upstate close to Syracuse, and they had been talking about going to this fair and I wasn't really paying attention because work was kind of all over the place, and I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll be there, I'll be there whatever. I had no idea. It was like the New York State Fair. This thing was massive. It was

like three football fields wide. There wasn't just one ferris wheel, that were three ferris wheels. There were giraffes. I fed. I fed a giraffe at the fair. It was the coolest thing ever. Yeah you could. I felt really bad, Okay,

I felt I stole some kids. Joy It's just a little bit because I had an advantage being a tall person in a crowd of children and children I can't and you know, you spend your two dollars, you get a little bag of corn, I mean a little bag of carrot sticks, and everyone else seemed to get the bag with like the big carrot sticks, the long ones and I got the little like the baby carrot sticks and I was like, damn, I gotta get really close

to this giraffe now. But yeah, the giraffe he leaned over and their tongues are so long and yeah there so long and they're like black and anyway, it was awesome. But I guess after I finished my bag of carrots, he got really full and he just like sat down and.

So they had like all the ice cream. There's like a chocolate milk bar, like they literally had chocolate milk on tap and then you can go from there to the real dairy bar in which was like all these prize winning cows. I know, you think of like cows being like the stinky like spotted cows you see on the side of the road or whatever. I want. Beautiful cows exist and they were in this. They were like gorgeous. They all had nice like reddish brown coats and they were just like, oh.

give you guys an update soon. But when I finally get this house, man, one of the first things I'm gonna do is get myself a not a housekeeper, but like a cleaning service at least twice a month.

I'll food shop. He's like all right, because he hates food shopping. So you know, we're trying to make it work over here at the Super's house.

is stinky. But I didn't put the I didn't put I didn't through the food in the trash. That was you, Like, why can't you put your shoes on the shoe rack? Waddy? You know, like those ridiculous conversations.

my this? He's like, Tiffany, I like, do those things away? Like three months ago, I'm like, you're doing away? That was my favorite, peeling, skunky book bag. I was gonna wash it. And so I'm trying to do bad. That's so I'm like, you know what if I hire help, like, for example, laundry, I refuse. I hate doing laundry. Not gonna do it, not gonna fold it, no, no, no. The most you can get me to do is put

it away. So I've invested, and even though we have a washer dryer, when it's my turn to do the mounds of laundry that three people mysteriously produce, I take it right to the washing fold and I pay my little thirty dollars and kidding me.

have just gone to get it. So she lasted all of a weekend. So yeah, no, no personal assistant for me, Like I haven't admin for emails, but nobody to run Errand's And honestly it's fine because it was actually more stressed than to do that myself. But yeah, no, I love my They know me. At the washing fold. I'm like, she's like, is you're turning again?

a waste of money? I'm like, uh, for the three hours I didn't have to do laundry, you know what, thirty dollars I'm willing to pay, and I might. I might do that maybe twice a month, so it's not to me. The price is worth it, like sixty bucks a month to not have to like and they fold so well, Like I just picked up today. I was like, thank Sylvia, how did you.

But it's just it's magical. I look at the bag today, I'm like, look at these perfectly rectangular shaped bags. Oh but yeah, so yeah, I'm not the I realize I'm never going to be super Sussie homemaker. Although I do cook, and I enjoy cooking, but other than that, that's the only thing that I do that's like.

I'm not really wanted to say hi to stranger, you know. So, but he's you know, he goes out of his way to be extra engaging, and so where I'm like, hey, I mean, if you're in my vicinity. You know, I'm definitely going to be polite, but I'm not. I don't know as much as like I talk as a live for a living once, I'm like in my own private space, I'm actually on kind of like a quieter, shyer side.

It's all very romantic. So they met in high school in Wisconsin on Alaska, Wisconsin, and they dated all through high school and then he was off in the military and he was gonna propose to her, or he did propose to her, and she broke his little heart and said no. This was like nineteen seventy eight, I want to say. And then she moved from Wisconsin to Atlanta

with her brothers. Atlanta for some reason, people were like moving there, and she never saw him again until she moved back to Wisconsin to retire a few years ago, and they just rekindled their relationship and now they're getting married and it's all going to be very cool, and so that I have to look forward to.

or you know what I mean. So I'm like, well, what is that, like, what is that trait that makes a man say I want to be with this one for the rest of my life or at least try you know.

she's really you know, she's planning all the details. It's going to be like a small, you know, like fifty people wedding, but they're getting married on this really pretty like like a bluff and on a mountain in the area, and they're they're actually having their reception the same place where they had their high school prom.

just hang out with mom. That's nice. You know. I don't feel any like pressure to have a relationship or like, you know what I mean when you're a kid and like you're yeah you know if you yeah, if you mean you have a stepdaughter, but like if you are also like the child a parent who've remarried when you were younger, you know how it's like, you know, there's all that that that tension in the background, if like the anxiety of like are they going to get along

and are they going to have a relationship and so there's none of that pressure, which I think is making everything a lot easier.

that as like a permanent member. She literally said, I thought you were gonna be like here today, gone tomorrow.

in common, and so everything was great. And then we got engaged, and she took it not so great because I guess she was still trying to figure out, well, where does that put me? Because in her mind, you know, a wife is bigger than a daughter. That's what she had convinced herself, you know. And so you know, we really tried really hard, like between myself, her father, and her mom because we have a great relationship to three of us, to really reassure her that like nothing's going

to change, like it's the same, but it it. You know. It was a year and then we got married and then things really took a down. She barely spoke to me like good morning, and I'll be like okay. And then it became the like Tiffany's so mean, and her mom and her dad being like, well, that's what I love is that they've got great communication with her, Like well, how was she mean? I mean, she's say good morning and I didn't say good morning, and then she say

good morning again. I heard her, and I'm like okay, you know, so it was like really grasping for straws or like, I remember, nobody had given her something and she didn't say thank you, and I said, Alyssa, what do you say? And then she told her mom Tiffany saw me, I was gonna say you. I was just thinking about it. I was like, wait, how does that mean? Well, like, cause honestly, I've talked long enough like I you know, I don't. I'm good at like, even if I'm frustrated

at like not letting it show in my tone. I mean literally, I talked three and four year olds, So there's nobody more frustrating on this planet than three and four year olds. But you learn how to, you know, to still be patient and still be kind despite that. So I'm I'm pretty good with that. And like her mom, that's one thing I have to say. I'm really grateful because her mom never once was like Tiffany, what are you doing to my daughter? You know? Never it's you know,

So that's that's what helped a lot. And I don't know, I'm not how to lie. I don't know what the shift was. I don't know if she finally realized post marriage.

It's been like what three months now, almost three months that like nothing has changed, because in the last couple of weeks, like it's been like she'll come in, Hey, Tiffy, and I'm like, who MEI hi, you know, And like the other day, I was going to Barnes and Nobles and I always asked her because I know she likes it, but she would say no, even though I know she loves Barnes and Nobles. And so I said, I'm going

to Barnes and Nobles. I'll see you later. She's like, wait, I want to go, and I look like with me, okay, And so she's back to like talking my ear off, which is awesome because like ten year olds are, you know, they have this whole drama at school that you know, she has to explain every single piece of it, and

I'm like, wow, it's like like almost like old times. So, like I said, I'm not sure what the shift was, but I'm really happy about it because it's nice to have my it's nice to have my friend back, you know.

At the time, he worked in the school cafeteria. Right and after his death, people came out saying that when he worked at the school, he would always make sure the kids, you know, when you forget your lunch money, like you have to get the crappy you know, forget your lunch money sandwich or whatever, and he would make sure that the kids who forgot their money still got

to eat. And apparently in the wake of his death, now that it's been a year, there's been a new fund created that wants to carry on that legacy by paying for student lunches, which he would, you know, he'd dip into his own pockets sometimes to make sure that kids got fed. So this is happening. He was, Oh, he was a school nutrition service, a supervisor in Saint Paul, Minnesota. And the fund is called Filando feeds the Children. And yeah,

it's really it's just really sweet. And I think that's just a you know, you don't really hear I don't know, you know, you hear about memorial funds and stuff. But I think that this is in terms of like carrying on the legacy of who this person was, Yeah, and like actually putting like making people making sure that people know he's not just a murder he was and just a black man killed, you know, in a spate of

police violence. But he was a man who had like unique skills and was really special and you know, would spend his own money to make sure that kids were fed. It's just really sweet and it's nice. So yeah, that is really sweet and nice. Honestly, I'm boosting that. And I wonder if they have if they have a website. So far they've raised they set let's see, Oh yeah they've so they set a goal of fund raising five thousand dollars and they've already raised over sixteen thousand dollars.

And so the kids got breakfast and lunch and snack because a lot of the kids otherwise wouldn't be able to eat. And then we used to get so much excess. I would send it even home with the parents, like I would pack up certain parents I knew that were kind of struggling. And now I remember, I don't know if it was the board or who came in they saw me do that once They're like, oh, you're not allowed to give away the food. It's a liability, you know that. You know they if they get sick at home,

they could come and sue and da dah. And I was like, oh, yeah, okay, yeah. So for ten years I packed up the lunch and sent Are you crazy, I'm not throwing away gallons of milk and food like we And we never got sued. I mean, I guess I get it, but there's no way, cause they wanted you to throw out the excess food for the day and then pour bleach on it. I'm like, what.

every type of age lived there. People were struggling with drug addiction and poverty, and but the center was like this bright this bright light. The kids were awesome and beautiful and smart. And the food that we got we got such extra that we used to give to people in the building too, And so people thought that I was actually I was like the leader of a food program.

They didn't know because I would every day, knew every day, and there were certain people, certain elderly people that would like really look forward to the They'd be like, oh, that's the food program, lady. I'm like, oh no, no, I'm just a teacher. And there They're like, yeah, okay, but do you have the milk today?

But they can actually charge like put on your account you know how much in debt you are, and at the beginning of the school year, like ask your parents for all those fees. So the Fialando Fund, like it's part of just like this growing movement to pay off children's school lunch debt, and I just I just want

I just double checked their website. They've actually raised over fifty five thousand dollars now and the fundraiser put up a message saying that with fifty thousand dollars they should be able to pay off all the lunch debt for children in Philando Castile School District, which is pretty and it's also pretty freakin sad that there's such thing as school lunch debt, but that is the world.

you yourself don't own the home. You know, you're you're instead creating or making the transaction possible for the two parties that want to connect, connect and exchange of property for money. And so I've had really amazing service providers in this process. Like my mortgage guy, David is amazing. I mean, like one I just love because if I get on the phone with David, ask him a question.

He's really an educator. So like, you know, I don't know all the ins and outs of every mortgage, but he sits down and takes the time and explains, like well, why I think this choice is best, and why I think this choice is best. And so David's been amazing. I've definitely had some realtors that have been great, like one realtor. She was pretty good, but she was eight months pregnant, so after like you know, a month, I was like, girl, you need to sit down, like you

can't keep coming up and down the stairs. And then I definitely had some realtors that weren't so great, like I had one. Although she was really nice, she wasn't timely. So I would ask her like, hey, is this property available, and it would take her two days to get back to me. By then it was sold because Newark is hot right now. But just most recently I had a real I hope she doesn't listen. If she does, I

don't even care. I had a realtor and I'm like, what is happening because and I'm not certain if she's just not being truthful or maybe she's just not effective. She's younger like in her I would say, late twenties, early thirties. So you know, I've been she's been sending me properties and I've been expressing interest, but nothing's been happening. So I sent her one property in particular, and I said, hey, I want to see this property. I called the guy.

It was for sale by owner, and we were texting back and forth and he said, yes, the property is still available. So I called her and said, hey, the property is available, make you know can you make an appointment? So two days later, I'm hitting her up like, hey, you know any any movement on this property? And she'said oh, I called him, but he didn't. He didn't respond, and I said, well sometimes with him as best to text.

So I saw her again a day later and she was like, oh, I text him and he didn't respond. Little does she know that? Literally, while I was waiting for her because she was late for our meeting. While I was waiting for her, I text him and I said, hey, it's me again. Property is still available. He said yep, he said. I said, what do you need for me to come

see it? He just said proof of income. So I sent him a bank statement, like literally standing on the corner waiting for her, and he said, you want to see it now? And I'm like, so, she's just not being truthful because you just told me that. Like, I can't get in contact with him. It's been a week. I've been calling, texting, and every time I've text and

called him, he's been super responsive. And so I was like well, I couldn't obviously see it then, and so I said, so I scheduled it for the next morning. So I just went with me and Superman went by ourselves. We looked at it, we decided we didn't like it. And just most recently, there's the property she'd sent me, and I said, I drove by. I said, oh, it's nice. I'd like to see it. And she was just like, oh, I can't figure out who owns it. We can't cause

it was foreclosed. We can't figure out. I've been calling the banks and this and that, and you know, and I was just like, okay, you know, even if it's sight unseen, because it's such a great deal, I would even be willing to possibly purchase this without seeing the inside because of the location and the price cash and so, you know, it's been two weeks of like, oh, I still can't figure out, and then maybe two A few days ago, I saw that it was on an auction site and I said, hey, I see it on this

auction site. Did you know that it was here? And she was like oh no, And I'm like, well, then how do we bid? And she said, I'll get back to you. So by now, I'm just frustrated. I'm like, I don't even know what's happening. So I called a friend of mine, Mark, who's one of my best friends, and I said, Mark, I need a good realtor because I just can't. And so he's like, well, my realtor is a beast. I was like, yeah, people everybody said that.

He's like, no, no, no, she is a beast. Like if I text her three o'clock in the morning, she texted me back. I'm like what, I'm like, all right, connect you with her. So that day I text her. She said, can I call you back in ten minutes. We got on the phone, and within thirty minutes of me speaking to her, I was inside of that house and had already put a bid in on the auction. I couldn't believe it. She was phenomenal. That was like, because I told her, I was like, oh, we can't get in

the house. She's like, who's that? You know what? She called? She called around and she said, you know what, I'm just gonna drive there and the owner. I didn't realize this, but you know, when these houses are foreclosed, the bank information is like staple to the door. And she was able to reach out to them. Able to get the cold. There's a lock box on the house. Get the cold. She said, I'm here, come on down. The house is only a few minutes from my house now, so Superman

and I drove by. We were able to walk to the house. It's gorgeous. We wanted to get it. She was like the other woman that had actually the old realtor had told me that, like, if you put a bid in, every time you put a bid in two hundred and fifty dollars. So I suggest you don't bid. It's going to go back to the to the bank because these bidding sites are not real, and it's going to go back to the bank, and then you could buy it when the bank gets it back. But it's

two hundred and fifty dollars every time you bid. And I was like, really, because I can read and I didn't see that on the site. But maybe I'm missing something. So I asked the new realtor, Amina, you know, I don't know if I want to use this site because I heard it's two hundred fifty dollars. She's like, who told you that it's not on the site. And then she called them and they were like no, And since then, I like, because you know, when you bid, everybody else's bidet,

so you're trying to outfit each other. I've bid like eight times no charges, and so I'm like, what is happening? So either you're untruthful or you're just incompetent. I don't either way, I'm like so over it. But I'm just really grateful because all of these realtors that I've gone through, it's led me to Amina, who is a beast. This is a woman who has three jobs. She owns this

brokerage realtor like this firm with her family. She works well, I won't say, but she has two other jobs, and she's got five kids, girls, all under the age of seven. And mean, while she looked twelve years old, you're like, I mean, she's like twelve years old and like one hundred pounds soaking wet. But met me out there and she was like, Honestly, I've learned to be very efficient because I like to spend time with my daughters and my family and so you know, I don't waste any time.

And so I sent her a list of foreclosure properties that I was interested in looking at. I had sent this list to the other girl a while ago, because the other girl had sent me maybe like a link to like two hundred foreclosure properties. She said, I'll go through them, but she was dragging her feet. So I went through them all, got it down to twenty, and

then highlighted the six I like best. I heard nothing back from the other girl Amina day two of our interaction, she said, I drove by all the properties on the list that you sent me. Here are my favorites, and I created a spreadsheet of when they're going to be auctioned off and when we can hit the auction. This is day two. Day one, we're bidding on a house, and inside this property, day two, she's creating spreadsheets. I

could cry with relief. And so it's almost like a boost break, a break from people who do not deliver. I don't think I even ask for that much. Truthfully. I like to I personally that when I'm working with someone, I like to meet you seventy percent. All I need is thirty from you. Like I'm a doer, you know, so if I'm hiring for something like I, you know, and I'm also pretty anal about the way I like things done. So I like to do a lot of the work. And I told her that, like, I'm going

to do a lot of the heavy lifting. I just need you to do the stuff that I can't legally do because I'm not I'm not a realtor. And so she has I mean, she doesn't even realize she's fired. But Amina, I'm like, thank you, girl. I'm pretty sure Amina doesn't listen, but I'm like, girl, you have restored my faith and rilters. You are amazing. I have never seen yo, Amina hustles harder than me. And I'm like,

that doesn't really happen. When I work with certain people that are like usually they're like vactively leave me with something to do. And I'm like, so yeah, So for those of you who are like, you know, in service businesses, like like, please deliver at the very least the bare minimum. I don't even know what the other girl was thinking, Like I said, I don't know if she was just being untruthful or maybe she was trying and she just wasn't affected. I don't know which is worth, you know,

being unaffective or being untruthful. Budd Either way, you gone, girl, gown. You know, I wish you luck, but not with me. I mean egg girl. We're betties now. So that is my brown booth break.

for less than six years. He has good job and I'm doing decently well in my career. We're both working to pay off debt and to eventually invest in residential real estate. We own our primary residence right now, but the issue is that we don't really love the area so much. We enjoy being close to the beach and the cost of living is very reasonable, but we don't have a lot of close friends. The area is politically conservative, and it doesn't offer the best job opportunities in my field.

We're considering relocating to the DC metro area. We both have close friends and family there. It's more liberal, there are better job opportunities, and there's a great arts and culture scene. The downside is the traffic and the high cost of living, and of course the expense of buying a home there, which they'd like to invest in real estate. So what is your advice on making this decision? Does it make sense to leave or stay where we are comfortable and living beneath our means?

That's the kind of thing that always sounds to me really like it makes perfect sentence on paper, like I would just buy something and then I'll rent it out and I'll get income from that, But like what actually goes into that and how complex can that be to be a landlord?

a replacement check minus what she paid. So she was amazing. Although she was young, she used to have like I don't know, the neighbors would complain she was like in

her like mid twenties, early twenties. I guess, I don't know that she would have wild parties, but she definitely was like, you know, had friends over, and so it sucked because the neighbors chased her away even though she was an awesome because it had always complained like you always have too many friends over, So it could be that, and it was like next to night I didn't you know, there was no I didn't have to do anything. But then you can also get like the nightmare tenant that's

not taking care of your things. But then you can also think about maybe getting a one of those property managers.

that you're making. But to me, it sounds like to me, I'd rather live someplace where I'm going to be happy, you know, because I mean I get it, like living below your means, but it doesn't mean that you can't get there, meaning that like you can be creative with your finances living in a in a maybe right outside DC, like for example, like I live right outside right outside New York, but I still enjoy a lot of the benefits of New York at a lower way lower cost,

you know, and who's to say you have to get like a you know, a brand new home maybe like they're like these auction houses are, and then I'll give more feedback, you know, next week about how it went. But they're popping up and they're becoming more and more legitimate. Like banks are really not wanting to go through the process of selling a house, so they give it to the auction house, and the auction house gets a percentage.

And so so you're able to find these homes then do a drive by see if you like them, and then you put a bit in and possibly pay way less than what the house is actually worth, so you can be creative about your new living digs. But yeah, I don't think i'd stay someplace where I was unhappy just for the savings, because I feel like savings can be found other places in other ways.

live outside of New York City. So obviously we're on the bandwagon of like live where you have the best, you know, the life that you want, even though it's not necessarily the most affordable location, and then find creative ways to make it affordable. Like I live in Jersey City, and I knew I had to move out of Manhattan or out of the boroughs of Manhattan if I wanted to get the kind of apartment that I wanted with

the amenities that I wanted without breaking my budget. And I had to do it by moving to Jersey City. And like, actually a lot of things got a little bit better. My commute got a lot better, my quality of life got a lot better. And I just had to give up that invisible wall that I think block people's blocked people off from wanting to live outside of Manhattan because it's not like, you know, officially New York City.

But I also get benefits, like I don't have to pay the New York City income tax anymore, which is great. So when my paychecks got a little bit bigger and I'm a lot happier. And the big secret is that my commute is only half an hour, which is like half of what it used to be. So at the end of the day, like it's your life, Like Tiffany said, you should live where you're happiest and you're living your best life. But just be prepared to give up some

of the things for what you're gaining. So maybe fact with sitting in traffic and paying higher mortgage, that kind of stuff. But I mean, if you're happy, don't let anybody else make you feel like you're making the bad CHOI because they wouldn't do something. Who cares what they wouldn't do.

fourteen to it a camera. My current payoff amount the amount how much I would need to pay off the loan, it would be about fourteen thousand dollars, but the car is only worth ten thousand dollars. I don't have anyone to borrow money from to help me, and with my car note and insurance, I'm paying close to five hundred and forty dollars a month. I purchased my first three cars in cash. This is going to be my first and last car note. What can I do to get out of this car loan out?

doing now, so she like is enjoying that now. But as a result, it was a huge pay cut, like huge, you know, and so it took a toll on her trying to figure out her finances. And she needed a car, so she never she'd always bought her cars in cash, you know, like I don't know, a few years old. But she had to get to work. She needed something reliable because she works an hour away from where she lives. So she ended up going for a lease. But because she works so far, the lease, she's already in two

years basically like used up all her miles. So we've been going back and forth the last couple of weeks. I've been trying to like help her figure out, so what do I do now? Basically like because if she if she tries to turn in the car, she's gonna owe so much money. So she decided that she's going to buy the car. But then it was like, Okay, who do buy from. So this is this is what she's learned, and I'm going to share it with you listener.

That so I told her, you know, one go to a credit union to see the car company itself, you know, was obviously wanted to lend her, and then the bank that she already banks at. Her credit score is not terrible, but it's not great. It's like in the low to mid six hundred, so higher than yours, but not the greatest. So but she got I told her, you know, she asked them what, you know, what their interest rates would

look like and what her pavement would look like. But get very clear what it would look like at her interest rate and at her credit score, because you know, they're going to give you like the best, like oh, you know, it's only two percent or whatever it is. And she was like, yeah, but like what credit score do you have to have in order to get two percent? That's really important. So she figured out for herself. I think she was able to get an interest rate of

three point two percent. She decided to go with a credit union after like going back and forth her personal bank. I think they wanted like three point seven and the car and the company wanted like they were. They said they could get it down to three point nine. So the credit union was better, even though she wasn't a member of the credit union. She said, yeah, but I'm a member of any credit unions. I said, yeah, but a lot of credit unions you can literally join that

day and apply that day. So she called around and she found one I think Alliance to something or they allowed that where she could join and apply right away.

So what I would suggest it might be, actually, I mean, I know it sucks, but you might have to wait a couple of months to get your credit score up in order to then do your research about So I would start to do the research now, like what is the bare minimum credit score that I have to have in order to be able to refinance out of this car with like a credit union or the bank, your bank that you have like all of your like you know, banking stuff with because you have a relationship there, and

work toward that credit score. It might not take as long as you think. It might take just a couple of months, and then think about refinancing so that way you pay a lower interest rate, or your interest rate will be lowered than your monthly payment will be lower.

look for credit unions, look at local banks. There's some online lenders that also can offer some access to credit for people who may not have the greatest credit score. We just did a guide on auto loans for people who have bad credit, which has like really good information there that I can link to, and I'll send you a link to dominique to that guide to get started. But I think the key issue for her is that she is four thousand dollars in the red, like even

if she sells the car. I mean, that's another option too. You could just cut your losses, sell the car, and then you have four thousand dollars and then just set yourself a goal to pay that off in a year and get debt free. That's honestly the hard, not great. I mean, that's the hard. I don't want to hear

that advice advice because it's on it. I mean, four thousand dollars is I don't know what your situation is, but if you I feel like, if you just set a goal to pay that off in a year, get some side income, you know, scraight by, do whatever you can to pay that off, get debt free, then you've learn your lesson. You can start fresh.

you owe on a loan. And the twenty part of the four to ten twenty rule is to put down at least twenty percent of a down payment. And this is to just get ahead of the problem with cars, which is that as soon as you drive off the lot, they lose like fifteen percent of their value, and after a year it's even more of their value it depreciates. So if you put down that much, at least you know you're financing the true value of the car, you know, a year from now, and that'll kind of prevent, you know,

owing more than what the car is worth. And the ten the ten part of the four to twenty ten rule is to make sure that your transportation costs, the cost of owning that car is going to be less than ten percent of your gross income, you know, for a year for a month, which is one way to tell whether or not you know you're going to have payments that you can actually afford. And the four part is to make sure that you don't take out a

loan with the term longer than four years. You see, now, some lenders will give loan terms for auto for cars over eighty months, like seventy six months, like eighty four months. It's crazy, and people will sign up for them because they they see, oh, that's a great way to get a lower monthly payment. But when you actually look at how much you're paying an interest over how many years is eighty four months? Like? What is that really bad?

A month right now? Six? Seven years, eight years, eight years, I think, I don't know, a long, long freaking time. You're literally just handing money to the lendra at the end of the day. Yeah, and you're almost gonna certainly be paying more than the actual value of the car that you're purchasing.

people that they can't afford. And you hear the same kind of thing like Santander, which was a big bank in the subprime model Ending Space was found to like be underwriting these like giving these loans to people without verifying their income, the same way that people were giving people houses without or mortgages without you know, verifying their income. And it's kind of it's a little bit troubling.

Do you know? I had a dream this weekend. I know when people say I had a dream, everyone rolls your eyes. But anyway, I had a dream. If you're not Mlka Junior, if you say a dream is really annoying. I literally had a dream and it was an email exchange. Like it wasn't a scary email exchange. It was literally just like me sending a letter to one of my writer or email to one of my writers saying, oh did you get the outline for this story? That's great,

and like back and forth. What does that say about me?

finding an illustrator was not easy. So my wind this week is that I found an amazing brown man in the illustrator who has drawn the most delicious, cute little girl who is going to be, you know, the subject of these series of children's books that I want to write. I'm just super excited because I really want to one help parents have these pre financial conversations, That's what I call them, because I mean, at three and four, you're

not you know, you're teaching kids about money. Doesn't make sense, But there are some conversations you can have to lay the groundwork, like about community, about sharing, about giving, about selfishness. So I really want to start creating a series of books that help parents have those conversations with kids, but in a way that's age appropriate because the preschool teacher in me is like, I know how to do that.

And so but I wanted a character that was going to be reflective of the audience that I wanted to reach, well bigger than that. I wanted a character that was going to be like like like the Cosby's or Dora. Like when people think about Dora, they're just like, oh, this is just a great cartoon for kids, and she happens to be Latina, or this is a great family and they happen to be black. And that's what I wanted. Like this little girl's brown, she's got four sea hair,

super cute. But I didn't want that. I wanted anyone who read it to resonate, for it to resonate with them,

and but she happens to be black, you know. And so so that way it teaches these core lessons, but then there's also these secondary and like, you know, lessons about culture and about you know, and so I'm just really excited because I finally got like I finally approved the sketch of her, and she's so adorable and cute, and it's exactly what I wanted because sometimes when brown characters are made, it's like all of the all that that comes along with like sometimes brownness and blackness is

a race or at least watered down, you know, And so I didn't want that. I wanted her to be like, no, she's black, you know, although she her family's gonna be definitely mixed, so like she'll have her white aunt and her Latina uncle and all that kind of stuff. But I wanted her, in particular to just be regular black, little cute little girl with her little chunky nose and her full lips and slightly slightly big belly. My team was like, I was like, I want her chunky, because

every little girl is not super skinny. Like let her look like a little girl. I had a little belly when I was ten. I got a little belly now darted, and so I'm excited because it looks like the way I wanted it to look, and I just I feel good about it. I had a dream about her being on TV, Like I was watching her cartoon in my dream, and I was like oh maybe that's the next step, hey, Nickelodeon, But yeah, so that's my win. When is Jazz? You

are awesome. Thank you for bringing my dream to life without watering it down and making this beautiful little brown girl. And who is she's her model is a Supergirl. So I gave him pictures of Supergirl to say, like, make her like this. And Supergirl has been great and her mom had been helping, like when stuff came back, they would both look at it and be like, oh, a little bit here, a little bit. They're a little taller,

a little bit chunkier, a little bit, you know. So it's been awesome because it's been like a family affair, so you know, the new normal family where it's like stepmom, mom, dad, daughter, you know.

a baby shower or like whatever. So the excited, right.

a pivotal shift. And for some reason, you know, and I've done other things before that been awesome and great, but for some reason, this little girl, this little character, she's been like it's been very clear to me that there's a shift, you know, happening with this character. So I'm excited to see like where this goes because I just have a feeling about it like that, you know. My goal is for her to be the next door

the explorer that like you know, I was. If you when you don't you don't have the kids, but you do, you know, Nick Steppens.

and that's what I want. But it's teaching her this secondary kind of like you know that, oh you know that she's not even realizing that it's normalizing a little brown girl as a doctor and part of my life, you know what I mean. And so that's what I'm wanting. I'm wanting that kind of door the explored Docmak Steffans Cosby show effect, where you know that it normalizes that all people can be all things and you know that they can also be a part of your life. So, yeah,

good things. So some of your good good rais and good good if you have any vegan recipes some simple ones too. You can send those two some big d please yeah, telling them that they can send them if you have some simple like some of y'all send me some vegan stuff And I'm like child, anybody be in the kitchen for three hours cooking it up like that because it's only me. No one else is vegan in

the house. So some simple, yummy vegan recipes that make me say mmm, Like, you know, I like cooking, but I'm not like super shechpholic, so I like to keep it down to just a few steps.

longer be airing on Tuesday mornings. You will cantune into us on Wednesday mornings, So prepare yourself.