Traveling the World Debt Free

spk_1:   0:02
welcome to the prosperity gap where we discuss the financial gap that exists between where we are and where we should be. It's time to bridge that gap. Hello, Prosper Nation. Welcome back to another edition of the Prosperity gap so excited to have you with us today. Today show is being brought to you by E trends tax and accounting. If you've not yet had the opportunity to get your income taxes file that you need help with your accounting and bookkeeping, please reach out to them. E trends group dot com is the website and they can help you. Make sure you stay in compliance with the state, local and federal government prosperity nation. Also make sure that you subscribe if you've not yet done so. We want to make sure that every Friday, when we release new episode that you get the latest information you get to meet some new friends and you continue to progress yourself down that prosperity Pat. I'm super excited for today's show. I know I always say that, but it's because I get to meet some new friends and back today I get to meet my frugal friend and we're gonna talk about not only a crazy story that brought her to this point in her life, but also about some of the great things that she's doing to help other people. Her name's Alicia Austin. She is the owner, I guess, in my currency Canvas. Alicia, Welcome to the show.

spk_0:   1:22
They thank you so much Super, super happy to be here and work with prosperity, gap and just, you know, spread sums, knowledge and just have to be

spk_1:   1:34
before we get into the details of your story, which I think is absolutely amazing. We are both in some pretty unique places today. I'm on the island of Puerto Rico and those who listen to show regularly know that Where are you coming from Today?

spk_0:   1:47
Today I am coming from Tokyo, Japan. So we're like on the opposite side of the world of each other.

spk_1:   1:54
One of the cool things about Alicia is the fact that she wants to hit 30 countries by the age of 30. She's well on her way to do that. I know she does a lot of traveling. She may talk about that some in her story with that Alicia, why don't you go ahead and just tell us about your story and what got you here?

spk_0:   2:10
Yeah, of course. So I am a two time college dropout. I was born and raised in Virginia Beach. I've had 26 jobs since I've entered the workforce at age 16. I've been fired five times, but I still managed to become debt free at age 26 super proud of that. And I just want to show everyone else how to do it, that anything is possible, with or without a degree, even on really pretty much any salary. Um, I managed to become debt free, making $30,000 of year living and Washington D. C. Which most people know. The cost of living is very, very high. So it's showing people you can break that cycle of living paycheck to paycheck by just doing things a little bit differently and adopting like a frugal lifestyle, which is doing things that really add value to your life and doing things like, you know, bringing you know you're your lunch to work or had to sacrifice the beautiful Mustang that I had, and I started taking the bus public transportation, just doing the little things you can get to that angle that you want. Um, in my ankle, as of now is to visit 30 countries by 8 30 on at 15. Storm halfway there. And I've got three years too go. So I'm kind of just moving around doing different things, mostly using local university, finding different opportunities through there and just following that and showing others and sharing my story so they could do the same.

spk_1:   3:53
Thank you so much for that information. There's some additional questions I have about that story. The 1st 1 I guess being age 16. This is when you start what pushed you to start working at such an early age.

spk_0:   4:06
So I was playing basketball at the time, and my mom was like, Well, do you want a car or do you want to keep playing basketball? I was like, I want a car. Like what? Six. Chief. Their oath doesn't want two cars. They can go and hang out with their friends. And so I also wanted my own money so I could kind of like I would only get $10 every two weeks from my parents for allowance, which was just not enough. So just one of my own money, have some fun and just really be responsible. In hindsight, that actually kind of got me into that paycheck to paycheck cycle because I was thinking, you know, on 16 I'm gonna get a check, you know, in another 14 days. So, you know, just kind of spending a lot more money than I was making, but still finding a way to like the energy.

spk_1:   4:52
I think that's one of the biggest challenge many of his face. I know. When I lived in Las Vegas, I saw it all the time. People could go valet cars and make 80 90 $100,000 plus suddenly thought I need to go to college. I just got out of high school and go valet cars and make all this money. But what they didn't realize is that for most of them, ballet in a car was not a lifelong career. So they would get themselves in their late twenties, early thirties and I'll send. They're going now what do I D'oh! I've got all these financial commitments. I've been making all this money, but yet I can't continue to do what I'm doing. And yet I have no education, and I think as you look at, even you're really starting that many times we get started making money too early and it's not a bad thing. But we need to be very careful to not get used to that lifestyle because there are other steps. Hopefully that we take that help us continue to progress down that prosperity path and get the financial freedom we're looking for exactly. So Alicia and one of the other things is, we look at your own story is you have this situation where you started only be also dropped out of college twice, a little bit about that. It's okay. People do it all the time. They drop out of college. But why twice? And what was going on in your life?

spk_0:   5:59
So at the time when I first decided to go to college, I was a manager at McDonald's and I was also a cashier at 7 11 and I was working like so many hours a day. I was working at some 11 from about 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then I would go to McDonald's and were there from 4 p.m. To about 3 a.m. So I was I had moved out on my own. I still had this overpriced Mustang that I couldn't afford, um, living with the roommate and trying to be, like trying the whole adult ing thing. And I was so tired. I was like, There's gotta be a better way. Like I kid, you know, sustain this. So I thought that college would be a fantastic idea for me. So I signed up for a community college and everything was great. I was on the dean's list and then I decided to I got accepted into Virginia Commonwealth University. And so I was like, I'm gonna go tell, you know, big Four Year University and try it out and have fun. And when I got there, not only was it super expensive, but I really got caught up in the lifestyle of the university, and I you know, of course, the partying, the going out, having way more freedom, being away from home. And so I decided that. Okay, you know, I'm just gonna drop out. And then I started waiting tables, and I decided to stay around the area of university, and I was like, Okay, well, Let's just give this one more. Tried to see what it's about and really, you know, stay serious this time. So I changed my major two more times. I would. I started out as nursing, and then I switched over to business. And then I switched over to teaching. And then I was just like, maybe this just for me. I didn't know what I want to do in my life, but I just do that like the university just wasn't for me. And I felt like I was taking the opportunity away from somebody that might truly appreciate it, because there was a long wait list and I just wasn't taking advantage of a really good opportunity. So

spk_1:   8:02
So how far did you get along? What was years?

spk_0:   8:05
I think I made it like my sophomore year.

spk_1:   8:10
A cool one of the other things you did to, I believe, as you looked at going in the military, is that correct?

spk_0:   8:15
Yes. Yes. So after the second time I dropped out of college, I was like, Okay, well, the workforce isn't, you know, doing it for me. College didn't work out both times. And so maybe the military would be a great option for me. So I went and spoke to a recruiter and we way had a chat. I got signed up the military and start getting in shape. And I had a boot. Can't date set for January, 13th year 2015. Sounds like Okay, this is perfect. I'm getting my life together. And so I moved from Richmond, Virginia, back home to bridging a beach with my parents for six months just to, like, save money and get ready for boot camp. And I found a job working for Geico and Geico was fantastic. I was a license insurance agent, and it was a great job, had great benefits. And I fell in love with this company, and, uh, they're training is pretty extensive, but long story short. I got fired on December 31st 2014 from Geico on New Year's Eve. Like 14 days before I was supposed to go toe who? Kip in the military. But I got so comfortable, that guy code that I told the military didn't want to go anymore. So once you kind of dropped out there like Okay, well, next person we're gonna replace you, and it was just so, so horrible. I put all my eggs in one basket and ended up with nothing. So, like, that was definitely, like my rock bottom point. And I was just like, I had no idea what to do. Which way to go. Um, cried a lot, but I was like, I had to, you know, brush myself off and keep going. And I was unemployed for about three months, So I had a lot of time on my hands to, like, think about what I wanted to do, and I told myself that I didn't know exactly where I wanted to go. But all I knew is that I wanted to see the world, and I just wanted to travel, and I was going to make that happen. Someway, somehow from there I went to my favorite school, Blue University, and I started finding different ways where you could travel. I literally typed in travel jobs, no degree required, and a couple of different things popped up. Crucial worker released like my interest. And so it just so happens. But I was applying for different server jobs on Craigslist, and a line popped up and it was like a tart. Every 9 to 5 come living work in Hawaii, and I was like, What is it really like? E was like it was just like like this. They're gonna be somebody I'll be like No, my life. Take it anywhere. So, like, let's not give it a shot. And it just so happens that there was an open house about 20 minutes for my parents house down at the ocean front and they were holding information session where Euclid Sending your resume and go and just have open interviews to work for a Norwegian cruise Lad's. So I went. I checked it all out after, like a 45 minute session to give us information on everything to us. What to expect. And then they were doing open interviews and border, which everyone arrived. So sat there for another 20 minutes and less than like 10 minutes. I had a job offer where I could go and work in Hawaii as a waitress. Um, it was only for a minimum wage, so I would be making 7 25 an hour. But they paid for everything they paid for the flight that pay for your food and then you live on the ship, so you were essentially didn't have any bills. But I was like, Hey, I wanted to travel. I want Hawaii. This'll be my first plane ride like let's just do it.

spk_1:   12:09
And from there became this desire to hit 30 countries and 30 days. It sounds like that it really spurred the true interest in travel and what you want to accomplish there.

spk_0:   12:18
Yes, definitely, definitely opened my eyes up to just like a completely different just life, just seeing that it's completely possible and seeing like the clear blue water like sunshine every day going to the beach. But the work was very, very hard. We worked seven days a week for five months straight. We worked about 12 to 16 hour days, so we went on vacation. But we definitely got to experience Hawaii definitely got to travel, and it was just an absolutely amazing experience. I recognized it for anyone that wants to travel and really not have to pay a dime for it.

spk_1:   12:59
You have such a great story. I love the fact that you've had all these different experiences, and yet with it you're still smiling. You're still super happy even though things haven't always gone exactly as planned, they haven't been the traditional path that many people would say. But I think the reality of it is is most people's lives aren't necessarily as traditional as we think they are that we all have these ups and downs. And we need to understand that as we go through them, they could make a stronger. We can still be happy as we go through the process and get to a point where not only your debt free as you are. But I guess my next question for you is what turned from you being debt free to saying, I really want to help people now

spk_0:   13:35
really just sharing, like, always think like what good is an idea, what that is any information about, like sharing it with people and seeing like my friends and family, like a lot of friends, one of like hey, I want to be able to travel But either I don't have money or I'm second a job I don't really like and just seeing people want to break out and do war and I'm like, Well, I could help you like I just won your first girlfriend I can show you weekend, you know, do different budgets do different things and we can really, like make it happen. And I'm also the friend that people come to for like, Hey, where do I go for, like, cheap flights? They're cheap vacation deals. Like here you go, here and there and there. So we can just, like, spread the knowledge and, like, tell a friend the Tele friend and, like everyone can just help each other out.

spk_1:   14:20
I'm like anal about my travel. I am always looking for the best deal. Its result. I don't have any status with anyone because they just fly every with everyone. Part of it is because off the fact that I have weird fight schedules of certain flights don't fly at the times I need. But the reality of it is is I'm just frugal and they don't like to waste money on fight. So with that, we have that in common. Any recommendations for people that are trying to save money on travel? Some of that things they could do to do this?

spk_0:   14:47
Yeah, absolutely. So first I would say Google flights is like your best friend, and then airfare spot. That calm is also a great one, based in doubt emails every single day. And on top of that, like sometimes just traveling like if you want to save up, maybe what I did was I would take my mind off my checking account and set up a automatic transfer to go to my savings just for every single week. That way, I could save up money to travel without it, you know, without really seeing it until it was time to go. So that was like a little way from me did not touch the money. And so keep it.

spk_1:   15:25
It's amazing how much difference there is in travel and caught the cost of travel. I have six Children. We go on big family vacations every year, and you start multiplying it by eight of us because there's my life and I and our six kids. It adds up quickly, and I guess maybe that's why I'm so cheap when it comes to traveling is I realized that there was a lot of us that we've got to pay for. In fact, I moved to Puerto Rico. My friends, I give me a bad time. I moved Puerto Rico on Christmas Day because we needed to be here by January 1st, and that was the cheapest day we could actually travel. It was $400 a ticket compared to $800 a ticket White Times that extra 400 times eight of us. And it saved the substantial My until the kids. We can use that for something else. There's no need to waste it, Yes, and kind of messing up your Christmas. But that brother provide you some extra Christmas benefits, then to have to take this $3200 just throw down the drain to an airline.

spk_0:   16:17
Yeah, absolutely. I actually flew to Tokyo on Christmas Day because it was just so much cheaper flying like the actual holiday. It's usually significantly cheaper than flying the day before or the day after, because the woman still no found that special day sometimes. But it could. It really doesn't make all the difference.

spk_1:   16:37
Are there also times that it's good to travel? I mean, if you're going especially different countries is a good to pick a seasoned vs necessarily going through the holidays are a busy summer season.

spk_0:   16:48
Definitely, I would say going during like the fall, especially if you want to go to Europe. It's very it's much cheaper. I found a flight from New York to Madrid for $140 non stop through the region airlines. And it was It was a great great flight. And then I paid an extra $50 to take the bus from Virginia Beach to New York. So I still paid $190 to get from Virginia Beach two minute and like overnight little.

spk_1:   17:18
That's amazing. We went to Madrid out of New York, and it cost us, said Double that and almost Tripoli, and they wanted to charge four or five or six times that amount. So, yeah, it's amazing how much you can save. What about timing of travel? As far as purchasing tickets is their advantages to buying an advance? Do you wait last minute with the belief that you may not be able to go if it gets too high? What are your thoughts?

spk_0:   17:39
I rarely ever wait last minute. I usually plan about 60 days in advance, and then I always look on airfare. Spot will send me different. When they sent me the e mails. I'll click on that and I'll see like Oh, cool, There's a flight from Let's just say Washington, D. C. To New Orleans for 145 round trip and I just look at those things will tell you the best times to travel. And also another thing with several flights is you can type in the airport that you want to start at, and then you can just click anywhere and you can put cheapest month. It'll literally break down every month and give you a calendar where every single day where it's cheaper to fly, so you're able to kind of play around with the lights a little bit and save money that way, which is a huge, huge money saver.

spk_1:   18:27
It's amazing how many tools are out there to help us save money. I know we do. A lot of Cruz is one of the sights. We use his vacation to go because we've been able to get amazing discounts at Berries, obviously, because you've gotta hit the timing. That's times you're playing a game between. Is there spying demand going on? Do we need to buy now? Do we need to buy later. I think you have some flexibility. I guess that's what I tell most people out there and Prosperity Nation. If you're looking a traveling in the future, start early, be flexible. If you can do that, you're gonna have a lot better chance of saving substantial money. Don't be afraid. Also taking kids out of school many times you can make him educational trips. I know for my family we do that lot because we can fly much cheaper when everybody else is in school. And if you're going to amusement parks and things, they're usually a lot less busy during that period of time. To

spk_0:   19:13
most definitely saves money, save side and then even with the kids like that, like the cultural experience and traveling like it's so so educational. Like I've learned so much just from traveling alone and it really opens your mind and like Oh, binger, they're not. It's really

spk_1:   19:30
cool way. We talked a lot about travel, but obviously that's not all you focus on. You focus on really helping people get out of the situation in Iran. If someone comes to you and want to start working with you, what's kind of the process for them to get started.

spk_0:   19:46
So we start out by doing like a simple, like phone call or weekend FaceTime. Or we could just message each other on email. Instagram whatever's most comfortable for you, and we kind of figure out where you're at where you want to go. And I just kind of asked people and kind of really get a feel for what direction they're really looking at, what they're bringing in and what they struggle with the most, because for some people they have a budget, but they don't really know howto let you follow it, or it is just not adding up. Um, so what I'll do is, well, I offered currency coaching, so I help people we do monthly coaching will meet up like we'll talk every week or, you know, some people want to talk every two weeks. Some people want to check in every day, so just really I really personal live every person's kind of goals to them just there, talking and chatting and figuring out what works best. And, yeah, I was just trying to go from there, and I'm also working on an online course toe help people go from financial mess, the financial freedom. And, yes, you know

spk_1:   20:53
what I really liked about your website is it really is like to me, almost like a hot light. You've got to set up that. I saw it where I could schedule a 60 minute meeting with you. I get scheduled 30 minute meeting with you. I almost didn't feel like it's hot lines okay by you one if I prepared and ready to meet. Obviously, it's great, but it's like if I'm having temptations, if I'm having struggles figuring this out, a quickly schedule a meeting with her, get on her calendar and start working with her to solve this problem. I think that's great that you made it so accessible for people. I work a ton on the Internet. I meet most of my clients through the Internet through videoconferencing or telephones, and it's just amazing how much work and really get done and how much impact we can continue to have on the lives of other people. One of the things you mentioned there, Alicia, is you talk about people. We all have some kind of struggle. It seems like there's always one thing that kind of holds us up any ideas or thoughts to help people really start getting over this one thing. Whatever it is, if it's spending, whether it's we just can't stop eating out. Whether we predicted to travel and we overspend all the time on that, how do we get people to really focus on the in goal?

spk_0:   21:59
I would say to just keep trying. They always they fail, fail again, feel forward. But take that lesson and kind of really look and analyze the situation and say, OK, what did this? Well, how can I do this differently? It's really hard to like break that that habit. Um, but one thing I did was really heat that angle in mine, and I kept like You have to keep tunnel vision or your angle and realize that you're gonna have to give up those the instant gratification for the long term goals like it's a bit harder when we live in like a microwave mentality where everything is instantly what we have. Instagram. We have like instant rice. Everything is at our fingertips and it's so easy to spend, but you just really got to think about it in the long run in. Sometimes you've got to change those like those articles triggers. So if you're constantly eating out, turns up okay. Hey, I'm going to either do cash envelopes for I'm going to make myself go to the grocery store and I'm going to cook or just start small. So if you go on vacation and you overspend so you overstayed my $500 those next time you go on vacation tryto overspend by 499 just do the best you can and cut bag just little by little by little, and it'll all make a difference. You just have to keep trying and just know that it'll all be worth it. But it's ultimately up to you. Anything is possible.

spk_1:   23:30
I talked to a lot of people like yourself that help people out there in the financial world. Obviously, we provide that service to one of the biggest things that I've seen is that for most people I talked to, it takes about five or six years to truly get all that old life that past behind us. But it's not know what I think and Prosperity Nation. I think that's one thing that you need to understand is it is not an overnight thing. There's gonna be hiccups. There's gonna be mistakes. There's gonna be things that happen. But if you stay true to the course, But over a period of 4567 years, you can get it behind you and then look at you. I mean, you've got a whole life ahead of you. You're not even 30 yet. You've got years and years and you've said, Hey, I figured it out already, and that was hard. But now I've got this beautiful life ahead of me that I don't have to have all the stress and worries that many other people are doing.

spk_0:   24:16
Exactly. It was worth the 80 hour work weeks working seven days a week. You know, having thio eat like rice and chicken for a week straight. But it just in the long run, it was all worth like I would do it all over again. I don't want you. But if I had to, I had completely and totally good. Just because, like just being able to just not have the stress is is worth it of itself, just to be able to do what you truly want to do is just truly a blessing. And I'm very grateful.

spk_1:   24:50
I think the biggest thing that you've shown our listeners and you showing your own life is it just takes work. You've worked a lot of hours. You didn't have a college degree and maybe that required to even work more hours because you weren't getting paid at a level that many other people were. But that's part of the journey. And just as you said there, I'm willing to do it again. I don't want to, but I'm willing to do it again. And I think for all of us out there, Prosperity Nation is realized. That works just part of it that if we don't have some effort in it, if it doesn't take this time, we're never gonna appreciate it. And as a result, the chances that we go back to our old way of life are gonna be way higher than if we have to really work and sacrifice a moment to get there. Now, that being said, I don't think it makes us unhappy. I look atyou, Alicia. I don't think you're unhappy. Maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong, but you and happy in the life you're living right now.

spk_0:   25:36
Well, have you ever met?

spk_1:   25:39
And that's what we see that these people get this behind them all suddenly have take away the stress that worry the challenges. And you get adapted this new way of life and become somewhat of a game. It becomes somewhat of an exciting opportunity. And now you can focus on your other goals. So one last question I have for you as we start wrapping this up, you travel a lot. Obviously it's your big old to go to 30 different countries. Is that hard to stay in a budget when you're traveling as much as you are?

spk_0:   26:06
Yes, most definitely. Because it's like you're in a country and you want to see things. No, I just want to be like hermit crab and just sit in the holds over when we're sitting the hospital. One experience the country, the the people of the traditions and everything, but still kind of like balance it out without blowing all of your money. But a lot of things I do is I take the same exact habits and things that I've do back home, and I adopt them here like I don't take taxis. I will take public transportation or I walk. Um, instead of eating out for three meals a day, I will go to the grocery store. And, you know, even if I'm just eating breakfast at home, it really does make all the difference. Doing certain things like you don't not shopping as much or shopping outside of the touristy areas where things are a little bit cheaper. And one of the greatest things about being outside of the States is that you can bargain a little bit. So it's like the first price is never the right price is. You've been always kind of like no kind of trade with people in a. I will prescribe all bad and then come to a meeting agreement. So it's It's very cool, very different, and then also back to Little University. I'll look up three things to do in the places that I've been, so you could say three things to do in Tokyo in you have, like YouTube is the best. So take it to YouTube video. You just take notes and find different. You know, different parts or different places, or sometimes even festivals that are completely free. Nuclear. Julie, the place that you're in without having Thio will your budget.

spk_1:   27:42
But you're such great information to help people. We all travel at some point in our lives that can become very expensive. But yet it doesn't have to be if you do some planning if you're willing to maybe take a little more time. I know we do a lot of public transportation now because with eight of us, it's obviously challenge to get a cab big enough. Number one, but two, it's just easier for us and much cheaper. I mean, we're if we're taking a cavalry maneuver, we're paying two or three times what the cost is to get us all there were on public transportation many times, we'd go for much less cost, many times even free, depending on where we're at. So your company name is We close up here. Your company name is my currency Canvas. Where did this come

spk_0:   28:19
from? So I was actually at putting my jobs in D. C. And I was working on creating a Web site, and I was asking my parents I was like, I want something that kind of has to do with money, but also something like creative, because I'm a very creative thinker. And after, like, I think, like six months, it finally just hit me one day and I was like, Okay, well, everyone's is, like, money and stuff like that. Well, what about currency? And I was like, Okay, cool. I like currency because it could mean much more than just money. It could mean energy, your time, your focus on what you're putting into it. And then I got canvas because I believe life is like art and everyone paints a different picture with their lifestyle. And so I came up with currency canvas because I believe that just whatever lifestyle you want, its life is like a clean slate. You can paint it which ever, way you want and design it and created your energy, your time, your focus. You can create the lifestyle that you want. It doesn't matter where you know like you come from, because you can just completely change that and quickly go in any direction that you want to.

spk_1:   29:29
I am actually a painter. I'm an amateur painter. I trained myself. It is cool because it can, but she can do anything you want. In fact, that's one of my biggest challenges. Sometimes is figuring out what I want to do with that campus. But then once I get started, it's amazing how quickly I can create something that looks amazing in my mind. Now. Maybe others don't think the same. They create some amazing art and really bring some happiness at times and gifts and stuff to others with by giving them my art. But I think the same thing in school that this is the navy or company, my currency canvas. It's such a cool explanation of what our financial lives really are. One of the great things is you can go to our website, my currency, canvas dot com. She has opportunities for you there to sign up for meetings with her. She's got a lot of free downloads. She's got a lot of great information to really help you. Alicia, thank you so much for being on her show today. Remember, today's show has been brought to you by each friends tax and accounting. If you've not yet done your tax return for 2000 and 19 make sure that you get in and go to eat friends root dot com. They will get you signed up for the various packages that will benefit you and allow you to get those returns filed accurately and on time. So you have been listening to the prosperity gap. This is the show where we help you bridge that gap between the life You're currently on the like. You should be.