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Hope April's been going well for everyone. This month has been busy for me and I haven't been able to post like I'd like.  Its been awhile since I’ve talked about being a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). But right now feels more dire than ever. Honestly, I don’t talk much about it because I feel like most people have no idea what you’re talking about nor do they care about how they make you feel. I’m honestly tired of being so affected by stuff . Literally, it’s draining me to be impacted by every single thing that happens in my day. On the other hand, I'm not one to like being a "victim" so it's hard to open up about stuff. If you don't know what a HSP is, it's a personality trait that causes you to be more responsive to your environment. This can cause a range of emotions, sometimes good or sometimes bad. You're more sensitive to sound, imagery, social environments, and sometimes can feel drained easily and need to retreat. Right now, I've

    Delayed gratification is the ability to wait or put off wants/pleasures until a more appropriate time. You may think of the "marshmallow test"  where you give a child the option of waiting for 2 marshmallows after a certain amount of time or getting 1 marshmallow right away.  If that's not familiar to you, then think about how many times you saw something you wanted to buy even though you know you don't have the money to spare but you go and buy it anyway. If you are impulsive with purchases and your decision-making then you probably aren't very good at delaying gratification in your life. If we want, want, want, all the time then we're not going to be able to learn the value of waiting. Choosing to save for your dream vacation compared  to using money from your pay check that's suppose to be for bills is just irresponsible. It shows a lack of discipline and self control. This can hurt you in the long run if you have a habit of just gratifying your ple

I wrapped up my week of financial focused blogs and hope you all enjoyed the content. If you haven’t seen them yet, feel free to search the archive tab. I’ll be sure to include more financial blogs on here but for today I’m going to be shifting gears and sharing a recipe since it’s been awhile. Ingredients: Steak strips Shrimp Rice Chopped bell peppers  Butter  Extra Virgin Olive Oil Seasonings of your choice Directions: Clean Shrimp and set aside to cook. I usually cook my shrimp in a small amount of butter and a pinch of seasoning salt. It doesn’t take long for shrimp to cook depending on if it’s raw or cooked already. Once it’s finished sit aside and clean steak strips . Season steak strips with your choice of seasoning. I usually use garlic and onion powder with a seasoning salt. Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until meat is cooked throughly. While your steak is cooking, you can start your rice. If you have a hard time cooking rice on the stove, the microwave is a much ea

     Hope everyone has enjoyed my recent content. Thank you for all your reading and support! Today, we'll touch on the last bullet point from my blog, Generational Wealth and the Black Community. Making a business for your family that can be passed down is a good way to leave your children jobs and help keep money in your family. We, as black people must stop being afraid of being different. We have to stop fearing doing things on our own or fear being in the minority. We have to start using our interest and turn them into streams of income to help us with cash flow. If you are good at anything, see if it's something you can take seriously and use it to your advantage. If you like baking cakes out of the boxes at the grocery store, you can easily buy some baking cups and utensils and start selling baked goods. You can do a bake sale and start advertising on your social media showcasing your talent. Some people bake from scratch, but either will work if you're good and pa

    We're almost through all my bullet points from my blog post, Generational Wealth And The Black Community. Today, we're touching on how to save your money in high yield savings accounts. A high yield savings account helps you earn money faster than your traditional savings account. A lot of these accounts are offered online and many are federally insured just like a traditional bank.  You should look for accounts that are offering a high interest amount. For example, some regular accounts may have an APY of 0.05% (about $0.50) and a high interest account may have a 1.50%(about $15.00) .  One would be earning you more money over time than the other. Some of these accounts do require certain deposit amounts, but it's worth looking into for short term savings goals or as an emergency fund. These accounts have online access and usually it's not too difficult to transfer funds when you need them. These accounts are a great way to increase your finances and a good start

    We've wasted no time this week hitting on these financial topics. Let's not lose our stamina now. Today, I'm going to talk about 3 ways you can invest in real estate. It's so common to hear about those real estate classes people pay for and don't utilize, but some people don't know there's different ways to invest in real estate  other than just renting out their own  home.  REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST(REIT)  REIT's are real estate investment companies that let investors buy and trade stock. Usually these companies own commercial properties and they pay out dividends to the shareholders. This type of investment stops you from having to deal with the issues of being an actual landlord but still being able to reap the benefits. You're able to invest in a REIT just like you would invest in any other stock, but you should be well informed before doing so because some REIT's can't be traded and as with all stock there's a risk of loss. ON

    Previously, we discussed how investing is one way black famililies can work towards generational wealth. We then got a quick vocab lesson on select words that are important for us to be aware of. Today, we'll briefly discuss some first time tips for investing.  Create a financial plan. You have to have your finances in order first before you can find excess money to use for investments and savings. It's recommended you have sufficient income coming in. Get an idea of what your goals are and write them down. So have an idea what you want to invest for and figure out ways to cut back on spending or even what ways you could possibly bring in more income.  Start "Paying Yourself  First" this means you take some of your income and give it to yourself to put up. Work on paying your debt down and eliminating it. It's recommended to work on one balance at a time. Try writing down what bills you have to pay and how much spending you're doing so you can keep track.

      This is a continuation of my last post. We're tackling new vocab terms so we'll understand more about the financial world. There are more terms out there, I just tried to pick words I see frequently when I'm doing personal research.  Budget: Your money management plan.  Capacity: Ability to repay a loan.  Capital: The value of what you own.   Capital Gain: The difference in the price you buy stock at versus  the cost you sell it at.  Capital Loss: When you sell stock at a lower price than you purchased.  Cash Flow:  Your net amount of income coming in and going out.  Certificate of Deposit: A certificate issued by a bank to a person depositing money for a specified period.  Compound Interest: is when interest is earned on a previous amount of interest and it helps income increase more rapidly.  Consumer Advocates: groups or individuals that expose unfair business practices.  Endorse:  To sign the back of a check and make it payable to a specific person. Impulse Purcha

    As promised readers, we are going to get through this heap of information on financial literacy together. I know a lot of my blogs are aimed at African Americans and systemic issues we face, but this information can honestly be useful for anyone who feels that they lack information on financial literacy and want to make a promising change for themselves and their children. I'm pro black, but I'm also pro human (meaning I want everyone to be the best version of themselves that God made them) Now that I'm done with my dissertation, let's focus up! I think we should start with vocabulary. This will probably be broken into two separate post because it's lengthy.  If you want to make flash cards like my spouse or just jot these down then feel free to grab your supplies and get going!   Amortization: making payments on a loan over a period of time.  The interest and principle are usually included in the payments made.   Annual Fee: yearly fee credit card companies cha

    Happy April! Sorry for my absence. My children are on Spring Break from school and I needed a break also since I've been their formal teacher this year with virtual learning. Anyway, I'm glad to be back from my brief hiatus. This month, expect a range of blogs on informative topics. Today, I'd like to discuss generational wealth and where the black community stands on this topic. It's important during life that we as parents try to handle certain things so our children don't have the same struggles or lack of knowledge that we may have had. It's easier during their life if we can lay a strong foundation for our children. First off, generational wealth is financial means that are passed down in your family. This is important because children that inherit assets (a way to bring money into your pocket) are proven to have a financial advantage over their peers who may not. Having the extra funds can prevent your children from being in debt and making detriment