If there is nothing else going on but the rent……….

I wrote a post not that long ago sharing a Pic I saw. The words in the pic stated “ Paid the rent, now I can starve to death”.  This post hit close to home for me as you know, I’m a Financial Coach and not only do I deal with many people on the brink of being here, I have also walked in those shoes. Well in the post I shared that rent was not the problem and to change your behaviors you can change your outcome. I was met with a barrage of comments which were expected. Some even went so low to call me an idiot.🤔                                                                     

Now hold up I can feel you side eyeing me right now👀. I cant believe she said that🗣 . How dare she?  But hold up we often times discard another opinion that is not our own before hearing the rationale. If you know me personally then you know I am a freedom warrior. I am disgusted at the fact we CANNOT just get it right and love one another. To me that means that I may not have a 84,000 square foot home or even 5 square feet (who gone clean it?🤷🏽‍♀️) at that. To me that means that if my neighbor is hungry I feed him. To me that means if I have an employee I pay them fair wages for them to make it and be ok. To me that means that I treat others how I want to be treated. To me it’s the simple concept of loving our neighbor so I won’t be greedy and increase housing to where one cannot afford it but hey I am only me. Now let’s get to the meat of my statement. Although I may think something is not fair does not mean it will change. How can I still survive amongst wolves as a sheep? We cannot make anyone lower the prices of rent or make it more affordable and the truth is you spend  a lot of unnecessary energy trying to make a greedy man do something he is not Content on doing. We have already been warned that “The love of money is the root of all evil”. Trying to pluck the greed from amongst us is like trying to pull pull every seashell out of the ocean. The task is impossible. However,  should I die because one man has put a blockade in front of me or should I fight like heck to make it . As a woman of color in America, it is very true I have had experiences that I should not have had to fight through but my fight led to the liberty of others in positions their families needed. I say this to bring us back to the point that there are seasons in our life that not due to our choice to have done that things happen but we CAN be prepared for them and there IS life after these challenges.  Those seasons of my life, I had to work 3 jobs as a divorced mom. I would drive pizza, work at the banquet catering and call center. It was not easy but I made it and my kids were able to see determination. We have to remember that it rains on the just and the unjust. We are no exception to life happening.  I can spend my energy talking about what should be or making a way for me and others.

Now back to the title of the post. So if there is nothing else going on to talk about but the rent, then I say this again IT IS NOT THE PROBLEM. We must think past this moment and have a vision as how we may maneuver through this season. I refuse to NOT eat because eating NOW is getting harder to do. I refuse to let my seed not see the WILL of survival because the road I was taking changed on me. I refuse to not have FREEDOM because dying is easier to do. Can I Not pay the prices of getting my feet in the mud because it gets hard? I say this all the time and today is no different, change your mindset and you will change your life. Stop being the victim and you can achieve VICTORY.

Although life may happen and it may NOT be your fault, how you respond is.

Here are some life hacks that this Single mother from a family of 9 have had to do to make it during seasons that did not work in my favor.

🎬Consignment: Yes chile. 👗👚Believe it or Not there was a season where me and the kids were rocking fashions from someone else. My oldest can tell you we spend plenty of late nights consigning our clothes to bring in some money to replace their growing sizes.

🎬Side skills: I been doing this since 8 years old with Deborah’s cleaning service. Lol it sounds funny but true story.  What are you good at? Can you do a little hair? Daycare is the biggest need for many parents,  can you help a friend at a reasonable rate?

🎬Temporary Work: Can you work from home doing temp customer service jobs. www.vipdesk.com is a good one to start with as they have seasonal, part time and full time jobs. Check in your area with local temp agencies and see what they can do. And  of course my favorite, since I have no issue pulling up to your house with some groceries🛒 to deliver Spark.  Walmart delivery pays good, has good bonus incentives,  and allows you to pick your hours.

🎬Opportunity: I said this before and I will say this again, taking advantage of market opportunities is a MUST. When there is an economic issue, everything is impacted,  even the stock market. One great way to take advantage of stocks at their lowest.  Overtime. Bet you didn’t know that lack of those not working impacts inflation, that’s right and those not working can be your opportunity to get paid double and pad your account for a Financial goal, accommodating that higher rent or just padding your bank account.

🎬Menu: You did read this correctly. Prepare a menu for your family and challenge yourself to get your meals to $10 avg per day. It’s actually possible and will save you tons. How do I know? I was hoping you would ask 😁.  I literally do it for my family of 4 and if you did not know my mom achieved a grocery budget unbelievably low for a family of 11 including the 9 kids and my parents. Yes, they fed us as I am still alive lol. But planning your meals will remove the typical 4-5 times a week that a lot and I mean a lot of families eat out. This cost accounts for at least 15 – 20% of a families budget when this is done and adding that is very costly. 

🏡Buy a home. I’m no expert, well kinda, but renting does NOT appreciate in value for the renter. It gives you No money back.  It has no feelings when raising prices. This will not be last time we see rent increases.

🫂 Surround yourself with those that will speak life into you, Encourage you and help you MAKE IT!!

I could go on for days but I think you get the gist of what I’m saying. Take action.  Now I am not by any means saying this should be your life repeatedly. I am saying though we all have seasons but what we do with planting for the next season is up to us. They say there is nothing new under the sun and boy oh boy is that true. So that means we already have a knowledge that history repeats itself. Gas being high is  NOT new. Inflation taking over has happen before and WILL happen again. Housing market issues, remember 2009? Food on the rise has happened so much I can’t even ping a certain time. All these examples to say that it has and WILL happened again and NOPE you CANNOT control it but please Make it and don’t let it break you. Well that’s all for me and as I always say “Remember your Current situation does NOT have to be your Final Destination” Love your neighbor, never know who needs help. Stay ready since you never know when you have to be ready.. Many blessings to us all.  See you at the Top ⬆️

REFOCUS YOUR ENERGY!!!