More Money Podcast - 214 How to Be Smart with Credit - Jay Acharya, Vice President of Card Partnerships & Customer Management at Capital One

Episode Date: November 14, 2019

This week is Credit Education Week, which is why I don’t just have one, but I’ve got two podcast episodes to share with you! Yesterday, I had Richard Moxley on the show to talk about how to win the credit game (or how to understand and be good at managing credit). For today’s episode, I’m talking to Jay Acharya, Vice President of Card Partnerships and Customer Management at Capital One, because Capital One is the sponsor of Credit Education Week, as well as my upcoming Millennial Money Meetup next week! Every year, there’s a different theme for Credit Education Week. Last year, as you may remember, I had Patrick Ens from Capital One to talk about the theme last year-money mindfulness. This year the theme is #MyMoneyVision, which just means on top of being mindful with your money, it’s important to have a vision for your money. Just like with anything in life, we won’t change any of our habits without a good reason for doing so. We won’t just start working out because we know we should for our health. We need a clear goal to work towards. I give presentations all the time about how to manage your money better, but I always try to emphasize that nothing I share about how to make a budget or how to pay off your debt will mean anything to you unless you set some strong financial goals. So I hope you take this opportunity during Credit Education Week to learn more about responsible credit use and to set some financial goals. It’s never to late and you don’t have to wait until the start of the next year. The best time to set a new goal is as soon as possible. Join the Conversation To see what other people are talking about for Credit Education Week, follow the hashtags #MyMoneyVision and #CEWC2019 Learn More About Credit Education Week To learn more about Credit Education Week, visit CEWC.ca and CreditCanada.com. To Check Your Credit Score for Free To check your TransUnion credit score for free through Capital One, visit their Credit Keeper page. Learn More About Capital One’s Cards As mentioned on the show, if you’re trying to improve your credit score but can’t get approved for a credit card, one route you can take is to get a guaranteed or secured credit card like Jay mentioned. You can take a look at Capital One’s various credit cards here. For full episode show notes visit https://jessicamoorhouse.com/214 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to the Mo Money Podcast. This is episode 214, and I am your host, Jessica Morehouse. Welcome back to the show. I have two episodes for you this week, which I never do. This is a bonus episode because it is a very special week in the financial world. So you know, maybe, in Canada, November is considered Financial Literacy Month. However, within the month of, you know, Financial Literacy Month, there is a special week this week, which is considered Credit Education Week. So yesterday, I had Richard Moxley on the show. Make sure to listen to that if you haven't already. He is a super expert and guru who just came out with a book called The Credit Game that you will want to check out. All about credit and so many, so good. So, so good. I'm also giving away his book. Go to

jessicamoros.com slash contest if you want to enter. But for this episode, I am chatting with Jay Ataria. He is the vice president of customer management at Capital One Canada. And Capital One Canada is the sponsor of Credit Education Week. I've worked with them, I'm pretty sure, for like several years now during Credit Education Week. And this year, I have Jay on the show so we can dive deep into this year's kind of main theme of Credit Education Week, which is hashtag my money vision. So last year, it was money mindfulness. Still sort of is. I mean, you should always be mindful with your money, but, uh, they're kind of going a step further and focusing more on your money vision. And what does that mean? Um, so if you want to follow the conversation online on Twitter, you can go to hashtag my money vision or hashtag C E W C 2019

for credit education week. Um, you can also go to the website cewc.ca or creditcanada.com for a bunch more information about Credit Education Week as well as just general credit knowledge and resources to help you in your current situation. So yeah, so I'm excited to talk to Jay and I'm going to get to that episode right now. Welcome to the show, Jay. I'm so excited to have you on. Thank you. Happy to be here. Yes. So before we dive in to talk about all things credit and credit education week, can you let listeners know who exactly you are and what your background is? Yeah, absolutely. So I'm born and raised in the UK, hence the funny accent. I am losing a little bit of it. The fancy accent.

I've been here long enough where it fades in and out depending on who I talk to. But I've been in Canada since 2003. And I've been with Capital One the entire time. So I joined Capital One in the UK business in 2001 and had a fantastic ride up until now with most of my time spent in Canada. Nice. I like it. It was up until now, up until this moment where it just went downhill. We'll see how this podcast goes. So I have worked with Capital One before. I've been part of Credit Education Week and I think it's so important

because as someone who has been in this space that obviously has a podcast about financial literacy but also is a financial counselor and works with clients one-on-one. So one of the biggest things I see with individuals, with Canadians, is their struggle with managing debt and understanding credit. And it's funny, it's the past month or so, I don't know why, but I guess I've just been really immersing myself

into the world of credit. It is surprising all of the questions that I still see and all of this, the misinformation out there. So I'm really excited that Capital One is part of Credit Education Week again. Now, every year, so it is part of like overall financial literacy month. Every year, there's kind of a different theme. And this year, it is hashtag money vision. What does that mean? What does that theme mean exactly? Yeah, so I'm actually really excited about the hashtag money vision. Because I think it really builds on what we did last year when we're talking about money mindfulness. And so in our 13th year with this, the focus really is now on taking it to the next step. So I think last year really focused on a lot of awareness and how do you build awareness and go from there.

I think as we think about my money vision, it's really about taking it to the next step, setting some goals, and then actually being able to take action against that and sort of laying a good foundation for your financial success in the future. So really excited about where this is going. Yeah, so like you mentioned, because I also had Patrick Enns on the show last year, I believe. And we talked about money mindfulness, which I think is super important. It means really just being more mindful with your money. Because again, that's what I see a lot. People have no idea where their money goes. They have no idea what they're doing. They don't know what's happening. And that obviously causes a lot of anxiety and stress, which we know are kind of big side effects of not being mindful with your money. So I like that. We're kind of like, okay, we've talked about that. What is the next layer? Because lots of people are asking, okay, I've got that down. What do

I do next? So money vision is really kind of focusing on your future and why you're being good with your money, your kind of financial goals, really. Yeah. And you know, the reality is being good with your money is actually a means to an end. You're actually trying to achieve something, some desired goal in life. And so I think having a mechanism to have that vision and establish those goals, whether it's be debt-free or to travel or own a home, whatever that might look like for you is really important. And having that vision actually gives something for you to hang out there, a little shingle, and then actually take action to get there.

Exactly. And what I've seen too across the board is if you don't have specific financial goals, you're never going to stick to a budget. You're never going to do anything because what's the point? If you're working out, we all know that we should be eating healthy and working out, but most of us aren't doing it. And it's most of the time it's because you don't actually have a specific goal. Losing weight is very vague. You need something a bit more specific. So I like to tie in finance and

fitness a lot. I don't know why, but there's a lot of correlation. And one thing I've noticed, me and my husband, we're always on the bandwagon, off the bandwagon, and all the time. And one thing that I said, you know, I think we need a specific goal. So our goal now is to run a 10k in the spring, which is terrifying because I've done one once and I almost died. He'll be fine. He has really long legs. And he said, Oh, I can already run a 7k. I'm like, I cannot. So having that goal is giving us that motivation to continue doing it. And the same thing is with money. You need specific goals. Otherwise, you're never going to change your old bad habits. Yeah, absolutely.

I think the interesting thing there is sometimes we stress ourselves out and add a lot more burden to our shoulders about what that goal needs to be and having a really audacious goal. I think the important thing is having something that you feel excited about, but then taking small steps to get there. And just like with training, you want to run a 10K, you start with running maybe a 5K,

and then you add a couple of clicks after that, and then you get a little bit faster. And so how do you take small steps to make that come to life? Absolutely. And I don't know, recently I was doing some research on goal-setting stuff, because we're heading into the new year, and so that's a big thing that's coming up.

And what I found, like the data shows that if you create goals in kind of small bite-sized pieces, you're more likely to actually fulfill all of your bigger goals. If you set a really big goal like doing a marathon, like that's just not going to happen. You need to do, yeah, 5K, then a 10K, then a half marathon, then a marathon. You have to break them into pieces. Otherwise, they're just not digestible. You just will get overwhelmed and just not do anything. Yeah, see progress and small wins. Absolutely, absolutely.

So because Capital One is a sponsor of Credit Education Week, why, and they have for a long time, why is Capital One so invested in educating Canadians about credit? Yeah, I think, you know, first and foremost, I think it goes to the core of who we are and why we exist. And fundamentally, how do we help Canadians succeed with credit? And I think credit education is really the foundation of ensuring that we're helping Canadians set that financial future and then be able to achieve it. And so, you know, programs like Credit Education Week and more broadly Financial Literacy Month

really draw attention to important topics, some which are really challenging to talk about. Frankly, finances, you know, and money is a taboo topic. And so Credit Education Week really allows us to shine a light on important topics like how do you navigate your finances? How do you make smart money choices? And actually, how do you even go get help when you need it? And I think that's probably one of the hardest things for people to get over. Absolutely. I find this a lot talking

to people. People don't realize that there is help out there. I think a lot of them typically think, oh, well, I don't have enough money to hire a financial advisor or I don't know who to go to. But there's actually a lot of great nonprofits and credit counseling agencies that help you for free or for a very small fee. And then people just don't have the awareness that there is help if you want it. But sometimes it's hard to get started or find out where to look for that information. I want to kind of switch gears and talk about some stats that I thought were very interesting that Capital One was able to find. 63% of Canadians are currently carrying debt, yet 83% of Canadians believe they have the knowledge and resources to get out of debt. So there's definitely a discrepancy there. Why are more than half of Canadians carrying around debt if more than three quarters believe they're able to successfully get out of it. Yeah, so I think let's start with a little bit of the good news on the story. And I think the encouraging piece here is that Canadians have the intention

of chipping away at debt and having a money vision. So from the survey, we saw that the majority of Canadians actually do have a money vision this year. On that list of goals for them, the top two, not surprisingly, are paying off their monthly credit card debt and saving a percentage of their monthly income. So the fact that they're being intentional and deliberate is a great start. I think on the flip side, as we look at debt in particular, Canadians are spending more. So about half of Canadians are telling us that they're spending more than they did last year. And as you said, 63% are currently carrying debt. So while they have really positive intentions, I think some of their behaviors and their

understanding and their awareness actually doesn't match the vision that they're trying to strive for. Yeah. So it's basically people know that they're in debt and they understand the ramifications, they understand what they need to do, but they're just not doing anything. And maybe that goes back to they don't have clear goals or clear action steps towards those goals. Yeah, I think part of it is you're absolutely right, is having clear goals. I think the other part is also finance in general adds stress. And so when you add stress to your plate, it's really hard to make traction. And every step that you make just feels that much harder when you're making it. And so I think

just the burden of and the feeling of being overwhelmed with some of these financial challenges, I think actually hinders a lot of Canadians in making more progress and making that progress a little bit quicker. Absolutely. Because as we all know, if you are overwhelmed by something, you feel almost paralyzed by that overwhelm. And then you don't do anything because you're like, I can't handle it. You just put your head in the sand. You're like, yeah, I can't. I just cannot.

You shut down. And sometimes you just need that help from the outside to give you that little nudge, give you a little push start that will get you on your way. Absolutely. So let's talk a little bit about just some actionable things because we mentioned lots of Canadians know what to do. Maybe some do not, and that's okay. So in your opinion, what are some key things that Canadians can do

to get a handle on their current debt situation? First, I think I'd go back to what I just said a minute ago, which is I think the first most important step is seeking out help from from our survey we saw that 86 percent of Canadians said that when they were suffering financially they were actually suffering in silence and so they're not talking to anyone about it and they're not getting the help they need and so they need to understand that they're not alone and there are tools and resources and services that are out there that can help them. And so I think that's probably the first one I would really encourage Canadians to go after. As I think about other tips,

you know, one of the ones that I subscribe to and is something I've done in my own personal life is really simple and really immediate, which is just start tracking your finances and look for ways to actually reduce your cost and your expenses on an ongoing basis. When my wife and I were actually looking for a house, I remember we did exactly this. We said, hey, what's our goal? And we wanted to save enough for a down payment over the next two years. And so we took a look at our finances and we took a hard look at where could we rein in spending. We ended up reining in spending on eating out, which I was not happy with. I do like my food. You may not be able to tell, but I do like my food.

And so small changes like that added up really quickly. And so we could see that positive momentum. And that actually gave us more energy to continue doing the thing we were doing. And so being really focused on setting a goal, and then tracking your progress against that, I think is really important. The second tip I would suggest is getting educated about credit and getting access to credit. Once you've had some of that education. Credit is really important, not only for emergencies, but also to establish a good credit profile for the long term.

Today you need credit to do pretty much everything. If you want to book a hotel, if you want to buy something online, credit is the vehicle that enables that. And so getting access to credit is really important. Once you have that access to credit, it's really important to practice what I would call good credit habits or good credit behaviors. And two that come to mind are really paying on time and paying on time consistently.

It's really important both to manage your balance but also to manage your credit score. And then when you're paying your monthly bill, try and pay more than your minimum payment so that you're actually paying down your balance and you're making headway against bringing that balance down. I think they're probably the two that I think I would suggest. Yeah, those are very helpful. One thing too is also like really taking a good look at your own habits. So we're all a bit different and personal finance is personal as everyone says, but we all kind of do things a little bit differently. Like as a personal example, I was realizing that I was actually getting really kind

of stressed out with my credit cards. I always pay them on time, but for some reason they were just like nagging me and I'm like, why is that? And so I recognized this feeling and I changed some of my habits. So instead of paying monthly and right before the bill was due, I actually now just paid off weekly. I take a look every single week and make sure I have the money in my savings account or my checking account and pay it off weekly. And it's something I don't worry about anymore. So it's one of those things too, just like checking what's nagging you,

what do you want to change and seeing what you can change so you don't feel that feeling anymore. Yeah, and I think you're hitting on something really important, which is it's not a one size fits all. It's something that works for you and can enable you to actually take the steps

and see the progress you need and build that momentum. Absolutely. So I want to talk a little bit about credit scores because I don't know why, but there's so much misinformation and confusion about them. I still get the question about, but don't I get dinged on my credit score if I check my credit score, which we should all know this is not true. This is not something that happens. Yes. Unequivocally, if you are going and checking your credit score, that's okay. It does not impact

your score. I think it's a healthy habit to have uh to keep it keep tabs on it i i don't know why but i feel like for a long time like when i first started getting into personal finance in my 20s there's a lot of books and blogs that would basically scare you into not checking your credit score and that's where i think lots of the confusion i don't know why this information was out there but it was and. And so I was terrified. I never checked my credit score in my 20s. I checked my credit reports because they said that was safe and good, but I never checked my credit score because I thought that was a negative thing to do, which was stupid because then I had no idea where I was at or what I, you know. Anyway,

so that's obviously something we have cleared up. So hopefully everyone will know. But you mentioned a little bit about how credit really is kind of a big part of our lives, whether we like it or not. And credit scores are a big part of that. What are some things that people may not know about credit scores? I know that's kind of a big general question. But like one thing that I kind of was reminded of is your credit score could be very important if you want to rent, you know, a place to live because your landlord may check your credit score. And most people don't actually know that. So if you have a low credit score could be very important if you want to rent a place to live because your landlord may check your credit score. And most people don't actually know that. So if you have a low credit score, you may be rejected from that rental. Yeah. So you bring up a great point. I think credit scores are being used more widely than we have typically maybe believed. And so

maintaining a good credit score is absolutely important to your overall financial well-being. Your credit score is kind of like your reports or your grades at school. It tells someone about how good you are at managing credit. And so from that perspective, it's really important that people who look at your credit score know that you're responsible with credit and you can use it wisely and so um you know sometimes as you said it's it's confusing for a lot of people around what should i do with my credit score how do i get access to it and there are a lot of services out there for example with capital one we offer a service called credit keeper which is a free monitoring tool that you can log into and get access to uh yeah it's a pretty pretty cool tool. I use it. I watch it maybe too much just to keep an eye on how I'm doing. And it feels good every month when you see your score

and you see some progress, it feels good and you know you're on the right track. And so I think using credit scores and having access to them is really important. I think the other piece to keep an eye on is visibility into your credit them is really important. I think the other piece to keep an eye on is visibility into your credit score is really important so you can flag and see unusual things. So when, for example, if unfortunately you're hit with fraud,

your credit score and your credit report will enable you to see some of those. So definitely something important to keep a tab on. It doesn't, you know, as an individual consumer, as you're pulling your credit score, it doesn't impact your score. And that's important for people to know. Exactly. It does not hurt your credit score. But that being said, when someone else like a lender or a creditor does check your score, like as an example, I opened up a new business checking account at a bank and they told me up front, which was very nice because I feel like no one's ever

asked me, hey, do we have your permission to check your credit score? Because we have to in order to approve you and open up this account. And I'm like, thanks for asking. No one's ever asked me that before. And then I asked them like, oh, what bureau are you with? Or what bureau do you send the information to? And they told me. And it was great to actually be educated about this. I feel like more and more people are talking about it. But again, that just goes back to, you know, when you as an individual check your score, not affected. If a creditor or a bank or something like that does check your score, it will get affected. But it's not like a bad – I think people freak out.

They're like, ah, but I don't want it to be affected. It's not permanent. Well, I think the thing I would make sure that folks understand is the more you are searching and seeking for credit. And so, you know, if you're looking for a loan, let's say, you try five different places and you continue to look for different loans, that is going to impact your score. Because lenders use this score to assess, you know, how responsible are you with credit, but also how hungry and how urgently do you need this credit? Do you live desperate? That's not a good sign. That's a sign of how much risk, you know, a lender might be taking on. So it's important to know that

the more that you are seeking credit, that will impact your score. Exactly. And I think that's important to notice. If you're going to shop around for a bunch of mortgages and you go to 10 different banks, that may not be the best idea because it will kind of affect you each time you go and seek out a mortgage and get dinged by that bank. But don't be afraid to switch credit cards because you're afraid of getting dinged. I've dealt with clients who are like, oh, but I don't be afraid to switch credit cards because you're afraid of getting dinked. I know I've dealt with clients who are like, oh, but I don't want to ruin my credit. So I'm just not going to look for a better credit card. I'm like, but you're paying an annual fee and you're not getting anything for it.

And there's way better options out there. Maybe it's worth the little ding, but it's not going to impact you forever. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's a little bit of like this everything in moderation, like being smart and sensible about those choices. I wouldn't suggest going out and looking for 10 different credit cards. But I think if you see a better offer in the market that is actually more suitable for your needs, applying for that credit card isn't materially going to impact you over the long term. Absolutely. Talking a bit more about credit reports. So they're tied with credit scores, but they're different. They don't have you, they don't just

include your score. Credit reports are important because they really list just, you know, basically what creditors have submitted information, basically, what is your credit profile, kind of like you mentioned, what does that look like? And I think it's so important. Most people, sadly, I don't think have ever checked their credit reports, but it is something that you can do for free with the Bureau. So make sure to do it. It's not necessarily like the easiest process. There's no, I've looked, there's still no online way to do it for free. You have to mail in a thing, but it's fine. But why do you think credit reports, checking that, keeping on top of that on a regular basis, like at least once annually is so important. Yeah. You know, we, we talked about credit

scores and that's kind of like your grade in a given subject. Your credit report is almost like your, you know, semi-annual or your annual report card that you'd get from the teacher. That gives you a lay of the land around what does your credit history look like? Are there any sort of public records or things like bankruptcies, for example,

that show up on there? Any inquiries that you've had? So how many times have you looked for credit? Then who's been looking for your credit? And so it's really good for you to take a quick snapshot and just make sure that everything's in order and checks out. So you know that, I remember, I looked for credit with this institution and that shows up versus if there are institutions

that you didn't check for credit with, they're on your file erroneously. And so I think it's important just to keep tabs on it and making sure that everything's in order, similar to watching out for fraud and making sure those kinds of things don't appear on your credit file. Yeah, and it's good to know also what is represented on that credit profile. Most people, I don't think, know that your phone bill may be on there. My phone bill is on my credit profile. Most people are like, oh, shoot, maybe I should be better at paying that phone bill may be on there. My phone bill is on my credit profile. Most people are like, oh, oh, shoot.

Maybe I should be better at paying that phone bill on time. It's like, yeah, it could affect your credit. That's something you should look out for. And I know now also your mortgage can be on there. Mine, for some reason, isn't on there, which I'm a bit like, hmm, I kind of wish it was because I'm really good at paying my mortgage. But that's another thing to look out for, too.

It's just important to have that clarity. And like you mentioned, too, it's also very important to see if there's any kind of fraud going on. If there's some, you know, things you're like, I never opened up that credit card, what's going on. And I've definitely had personal experiences with friends having that happen. So definitely important to kind of keep up with all of that. Now, is there any other tips? Because there's a lot of people listening that I know who are struggling with debt or want to improve their credit history and their credit scores. Do you have any helpful tips? Let's start with the debt.

We talked a little bit about that. What is your, like, one, like, number one tip for anyone struggling with debt? And it could be kind of anything, an action step or just a mindset thing. Yeah, I think understand how much debt you're in. Yeah. And being really clear about, you know about and understanding what outstanding debt you have and then make every effort to pay down more than the minimum. I think the more you can pay down more than the minimum, then you can actually bring that balance down faster and get yourself to a much better position. I think that's so important.

Yeah, there's so many calculators out there too that you can plug in all of your debts and see if you just put in the minimum or if you just pay the minimums on all of those debts, how long it will take. And when I show people this, it's like 20 years and it's not okay. But like you mentioned, it's actually astounding when I talk to or work with new clients, I ask them like, so what kind of debts do you have? And they have no clue. And so one of the steps you do is like, well, let's list all of your debts and their current balances and their minimum payments and their interest rates and their due dates. And that's just like one easy thing that you can do to have clarity with your debt. And it will probably be pretty, maybe shocking and hard to kind of deal with, but it's the step in the right direction. Talking a bit more about improving your credit

history or more improving your credit scores. What's something, if someone's like, oh my gosh, I'm not, you know, in that excellent or good category, what can I do to help improve my credit score? Yeah, that's a great question. And, you know, a lot of people who are struggling with their credit score are struggling because they actually can't get credit. And so it's a little bit of the chicken and the egg, which is, hey, I need a good score to go get credit, but I can't get credit because I don't have a good score. And so I think it's one of the ways that people can improve their credit score and get access to credit is actually through products that are out there to enable people to get access to credit. But one of the ways would be looking at a product we have, which is what we call our Capital One Guaranteed MasterCard. And so that's a product that really enables people to rebuild their credit if they've had challenges in the past.

And so unlike debit cards and prepaid cards, this Capital One MasterCard actually reports to the credit bureaus. And so good behavior, like we spoke about before, so paying down your balance on time, or paying down your debt more than the minimum payment, those behaviors actually enable you to improve your credit score on your credit report. So in case anyone is wondering, is this the same thing as a secured card? Because I know you guys also have a secured card. We do also have a secured card. That's right. So when you apply for the Capital One Guaranteed MasterCard, in some cases, you may actually be required to provide a secure deposit. However, in some cases, you might not. And so there is both of those flavors in there. Absolutely. And that's kind of like the number one tip too. If you have a very low credit score

and you can't get approved for a credit card, which is sort of the cart before the horse kind of thing where you need a credit card to help you build good credit. So you're like, okay, right? And so really, yeah, kind of the good solution is to get a secured card like you kind of mentioned where, yes, you do have to put a deposit on it, but it does go on your credit profile and it will help you build that credit. And then eventually you will be approved for like a different credit card down the road. So you won't always have to have it if you don't want it. That's right. Yeah, absolutely. Now, before I let you go, where can more people learn about Credit Education Week? And is there any other kind of helpful resources on the website or part of Credit Education Week that people should check out?

Yeah, absolutely. So I'd suggest visiting the Credit Canada website. So that's www.creditcanada.com helpful because for a lot of Canadians that are potentially struggling out there, they're going to see that they're not alone. And there's someone out there that's going through exactly the same thing that they're going through. And it's okay to talk about and move forward and share and learn from others. So I would definitely encourage folks to do that. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. It was a pleasure. I love talking about credit. Thank you so much. It was a pleasure. I love talking about credit. So thank you so much. It was a great conversation. And that was episode 214 with Jay Acharya. Again, he is the vice president of customer management at Capital One Canada. And Capital One Canada is the sponsor of Credit Education Week. So yay, if you want to learn more about Credit Education Week, go to

cewc.ca or creditcanada.com. You can, of course, follow the conversation at hashtag my money vision or hashtag CWC 2019. Make sure to check out the show notes for this episode to learn more about what we talked about and some useful tips and resources you may want to check out at Jessica Morehouse dot com slash 214. And again, you can check out the show notes for any episode just by going to Jessica Morehouse dot com slash whatever the number of that episode is. As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I'm giving away a ton of personal finance books throughout this whole season of the podcast. So I think there might be nine now. I can't remember. I'm going to have to look at the landing page. But basically, if you go to jessicamorehouse.com slash contest, you can enter to win one of the many books featured on this season of the

show. And also you can learn more about credit because one of the books I'm giving away is called The Credit Game by Richard Moxley, who was on yesterday's episode. So there is no reason for you to not continue your education for you to better your financial life. If you are listening right now and you're like, I have no idea what I'm doing, or I feel like it's just over, like I just, I cannot get out of this debt hole. I challenge you to just change your mindset a little bit because guess what? There is actually a ton of people who are in your place right now and they are slowly making progress, taking steps to improve their financial lives. It is not impossible to change your current situation. It's not easy. It is not easy,

but it is absolutely possible. So many people have done it. I definitely suggest that if you want to talk to other people and get some motivation and some maybe accountability or just just feel like you're not alone because you're not alone you are not i have a free community called uh well it's on facebook it's a free facebook group called the money life balance community um you can just go to facebook.com slash groups slash money life balance get right in there um and join us there's over 2 000 of us we talk all the time. It is a great place to ask your questions, to see what other people are talking about, see what's going on. And if you need any help, people are there to kind of answer your questions and give you kind of that support that you need. It is a judgment-free zone, just positivity. There's only just people that are

being helpful in there. So there's no reason to be shy or be afraid to kind of ask your question. There's no such thing as a dumb question. It just means you just don't know the answer yet. So hopefully you joined there. Also, I have a bunch of free resources on my website at jessicaburrhouse.com slash resources, a bunch of, you know, a budget spreadsheet. If you don't have a budget right now, a spreadsheet on how to track your net worth. If you've never, like you have no idea what your net worth is a bunch of great guides and worksheets past webinars also of course i've got a ton of videos uh on pretty much every topic of personal finance but a ton specifically about debt management and credit and credit scores so make sure to check all that out on my youtube channel

you can find that at jessicamorehouse.com slash YouTube or just go YouTube, search my name, Jessica Morehouse. I'll pop right up. So yeah, thank you so much for listening to this bonus episode. I really, really, really, really appreciate it. I will, of course, be back next week with a fresh new episode as always next Wednesday. Make sure to subscribe if you're listening on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you're listening. I would appreciate it. And if you like what you hear, which I hope you do, make sure to leave me an iTunes review. I'll give you a shout out on a future episode. And I'd love you forever and really appreciate it. Okay, that is it for me.

Thanks again for listening. I will see you back here next Wednesday. Have an amazing rest of your week. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.