Michael Lacy 0:00

You're listening to Episode 50 of the winning to wealth podcast, growing through challenging situations.

Unknown Speaker 0:09

You're listening to the winning to wealth podcast where you'll hear real stories from real people who are on the path to building real wealth. These stories will show you how to earn more money, pay off debt, start investing, and make better money choices so you can build wealth for your future. Now, here's your host, Michael

Michael Lacy 0:31

Lacy, what's up? What's up? What's up teammates, Michael Lacy and this is episode 50. That's right, Episode Five of the winning to wealth podcast. Now before I jump in with today's episode, I just want to say thanks to all of you for tuning in on this milestone episode, I want to give a super special shout out to anyone, any one of you that's been here since episode one. It's been a fantastic journey with you all so far. And I'm having a blast. So this is definitely just the beginning. And I really do I look forward to all of you being around next year for Episode 100. Now, when I was 18, I met and then started a relationship with a girl who I thought was just the most incredible girl in the entire world. Like we had everything in common from our love of music, to our love of basketball, and other sports and even the important stuff like our religious views and how we saw the world. Everything and that relationship just fell, right just felt like easy, you know, not later on in that year, she moved away with her family. And although we tried, the relationship just started to fade, and we eventually called it quits. And I gotta be honest, it was one of the most devastating things to ever happen to me, up until that point in my life. Like I struggled for the longest time to even get through a first date. I mean, it was a really rough stretch for me. Over a year later, I noticed a friend of a friend was going through a really rough time. And so I reached out this was on Facebook, and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. And as it turns out, she had gone through a really rough breakup. And I can relate. So we just started this really great friendship where we talked about the UPS but mostly the downs of dating in our early 20s. And we really helped each other grow by not just being there for one another, but also calling each other out on our shortcomings as the dating field started to mount for both of us. So like, she'd go on bad dates and tell me things and I'd be like, yo, you really messed that up and she did the same thing for me. Until a few months into this friendship. Our mutual friends really started encouraging us today. And even though we initially resisted the idea, we became an official couple on September 1 2009. And we've been together since that date. The biggest challenges we face in life can sometimes lead to the best moments or our biggest wins. Today's guest knows that firsthand. Jennese Torres Rodriguez grew up in a household where money challenges were present. She now has a platform where she teaches fellow Latinas about money. The yo quiero dinero podcast, which is a nominee for best new personal finance podcast just like this one. And as you will see, Jennese faced numerous challenges on her money journey, including her own money mindset. And she not only overcame them, she's used them as a stepping stone to do even better. Jennese Welcome to the winning to wealth podcast. I'm so glad to have you here today.

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 4:04

Absolutely. It is my pleasure. I'm so excited to be here. And I can't wait for this conversation we're about to have. Yeah. So

Michael Lacy 4:10

I you know, I want to go back to the really the beginning of your story. kind of talk to me about the financial example you had growing up as a kid in your household.

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 4:23

Um, okay, so I don't think there was an example. So I'm Latina. My parents were born and raised in Puerto Rico. They came to the mainland us in the 1980s. And the earliest stories that I've been told about their financial experience was filing for bankruptcy dealing with like welfare. And my dad just struggling to keep, you know, jobs because the economy was really bad in the 80s. Right, and my dad worked in like, manufacturing and now he works in Computers and automation and stuff like that. But my parents, still to this day, they're like in their 60s, and I'm still kind of helping them recover from a lot of the stuff that they went through earlier on in their financial life. So I think when I, when I think about money, for the most part in my life up until I really started, you know, educating myself in personal finance and financial literacy, it was a source of stress, it was something that was never available when you needed it, it was something that you had to work really hard for. And it was something that was not abundant for people that look like me.

Michael Lacy 5:38

Wow. Okay, so that kind of mirrors my experience, like I grew up in poverty. My mom's single mom with three kids, my sister, she was with my sister's dad, he unfortunately passed away from cancer. And it just kind of left her hole in the bag for three kids. And she worked at a warehouse. So we didn't have like, a lot of money, a lot of stuff. And really, the extent of my money conversations as a kid was, we just don't have it, like when I would ask for things is like, we just ain't got it, bro. Like, you got to figure it out. So, you know, and what that did for me, like, I would see, like my friends and my classmates, they would have like, all of these nice things that I wanted. And I wanted a lot of those things. But you know, obviously, no, we couldn't afford it. Did you have kind of that similar experience with just like your peers and things like that middle school, high school years? And if so, how did that make you feel?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 6:30

Yeah, I was definitely bullied in school because I just didn't have the, you know, the Nikes and the Tim's and all the stuff that made you look really cool. And I grew up in an urban environment. So like, the mark of success was like a pair of Timberland boots like, I never had those I could not afford them, my parents cannot afford them. So it's funny because I feel like one of the first things I did when I started actually making money was buying all of the things that I couldn't, when I was a kid, or the things that my mom couldn't buy for me. Another one, it was like a North Face jacket, right? North Face jackets for like $500. So that's one of the first things I bought for myself, because I'm like, Hey, I'm successful. Now I can like, relive my childhood and make up for all this last time of looking fly for everybody. And yeah, that experience was definitely something that I think led to me really wanting to show my success externally. So as I started working out of college, I started working in biotech. So I was making great money as a 22 year old. And I started just buying a bunch of crap that I didn't need. And I think a lot of that had to do with just feeling like I had to validate my success with external stuff. Because that was what I was taught was the mark of success. You have the neck, the nice house, you have the big car, you got the fancy clothes, you're going on vacations every two weeks, you know, it's just it can get crazy. That's super

Michael Lacy 7:54

relatable. So like one of my first experiences when I got my first like, professional job, I think it was my second paycheck, I went and bought a brand new car and like off the trailer didn't have any miles on it. Like, I mean, that was just like what you did, you know, you like you made you have to have these outward expressions. And I think a lot of that comes from, like, I didn't really have access to a lot of financial education, like my parents. And my mom, obviously, again, single mom, she was working she working 12 hour days, she'd come home and just crash on the couch. And again, where where was I supposed to learn this stuff growing up in projects, like people say, Oh, yeah, you need to hang around more successful people. But it's like, Where are those people when you

Unknown Speaker 8:36

know, that's right.

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 8:39

I was going find them. I can't see where they are. But if you know, let me know.

Michael Lacy 8:44

Yeah. So I mean, where did you start to learn? You know, just some basics about how to handle money. When did that come about?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 8:52

Well, I the one thing that I will say that I learned that was a positive about money was my parents definitely emphasize like saving. So I always saw like my mom being really diligent with like the checkbook and balancing and making sure like she had a Christmas club every year. So she would save money for for Christmas gifts and whatnot. So it was always like a really good saver. And then another lesson that my parents gave me was that credit like bad credit will ruin your life, which they experienced because they had to file for bankruptcy. So I was always really afraid of like getting a credit card. And I didn't get one until I was about 19 years old. I didn't tell my parents because I was like, Oh my god, this is like the one thing they told me not to do. I can't tell them. So in that respect, like I was always really respectful of credit. Like I was never really the type to just be like, yeah, I'm gonna max this out and we'll figure it out later. But I would definitely say lifestyle inflation was my biggest issue as I started working. And I think the light bulb moment for me was like making six figures and still having like, a ton of credit card debt, and feeling like, Okay, I'm just gonna earn more money, but I did. It wasn't Making a difference. So I was like, Alright, something here is gotta give. And I don't know why I feel like so many people put like this thing on turning 30 that you have to like revamp your entire life. So of course, I did the same thing. And I was like, when I'm 30 I'm going to buy my first house, I'm going to be debt free, and I'm gonna get my life together. So I kind of started like down the rabbit hole of personal finance at that point, and I think it was around like 27 Oh, and I also said, I want it to be like, student loan debt free too. I started reading books by like Suze Orman, I discovered some podcasts like journey to launch. And the fire the fire show. Yes. And so then I found out about this thing called financial independence, which literally blew my mind. And I think that's when things really shifted in my brain.

Michael Lacy 10:53

Okay, so I want to go back to your what I would call your debt accumulation phase. Right. So is it safe to say that you really equated having stuff with having money? And that's kind of what led you into debt?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 11:08

Oh, absolutely. I was going on like multiple vacations a year, I was not budgeting for any of this stuff. I was like, I'll book this stuff. now. I'll figure it out later. And then it was just like this endless turn of credit card debt that I was like, yeah, I'm gonna pay this off, I paid it off. And then a couple months later, I have like, 910 thousand dollars in credit card debt again. And a lot of that just had to do with the fact that I was not actually saving for specific things. I just had one checking account and one savings account. And that savings account was like my emergency fund my travel fund. My I want to just do random things fun. And the money was never there to do all the stuff I wanted to do.

Michael Lacy 11:48

You know, so many people fall into that I fell into that where I get paid. And I'd be like, Alright, this time, I'm gonna do it right, I'm actually gonna put money in savings. And then like, the next Tuesday rolls around, and everybody wants to go do something and here I am transferring money.

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 12:03

That's it. It's just let the savings account became like a overdraft protection for my checking account. Oh,

Michael Lacy 12:10

that's, I love how you put that that's so perfect. Like, it's so right, like, but I do want to ask like, were you always aware of the debt that you had? Or was it something that like happened in your life that made you realize, okay, this is a problem, and I need to start addressing it.

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 12:27

I was always aware of it. But again, I think I was just focused on this idea that if I kept pushing myself in my career and kept earning more, at some point, this was kind of resolve itself. And it just didn't. And so I think one of the big breaking points for me was when I actually did buy a home, and I actually wrote an article about this for next advisor, I talked about the fact that like, I had achieved this amazing thing, quote, unquote, that is the mark of success for so many, especially in the Latino community, like buying a property that's like how you build wealth. There's no talk about the stock market or any other options for that. So I did it. And I actually bought a multifamily property. So I started my investment, my real estate investment journey, not only as a homeowner, but as a landlord. And I was like, completely emotionally and financially unprepared for this. So you know, we did the whole, me and my husband, we saved our three and a half percent, we got our mortgage. And then we were like, so broke, like all the time. Like we bought 114 year old house. So you can imagine, like the issues that come with this stuff. You know, there's like leaking pipes everywhere. It was just a nightmare from day one. And it made me realize that like, this whole idea I had about money and like what success was, it's just not it. Because this idea of me buying a house and then be poor just didn't equate in my brain. And so I think at that point, I really started just reevaluating everything I was doing with my money. Because up until that point, I had been following the prescription that society sells us. It's like make money, buy nice things, buy your house, you will be happy. It's like oh my god, this is a frickin lie, because I'm miserable. So that was definitely like a huge turning point for me. You

Michael Lacy 14:19

know, it's into something interesting. You said there was how in the Latin community, homeownership is like the pinnacle. I see that same thing in the black community. And I have this theory about it in the black community, because like there's so much history of housing discrimination and not having access, then like once we got that access, it was like that is the goal. That's something to strive for. And I think just that mentality carries over. But why do you think real estate is such a big deal in the Latin community in the same way that it is in the black community?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 14:50

Yeah, I mean, I think it has to do with the fact that that's all we know. That's all we're sold. We're not really approached by like financial organizations to discuss Hey, what are your investment goals like nobody's reaching out to us to talk to us about what we want to do with our money? Only thing that we have is what we see. And a lot of what we see in our community is just people striving to buy homes and the quote unquote, successful members of our families are the ones that buy homes. So I think that's one of the reasons why I talk about investing so much on my podcast, because I want people to understand that it's not just buying real estate that makes you wealthy, there, like so many different options that are out there. And if we don't know about them, how the heck are we going to participate in them?

Michael Lacy 15:36

Yeah, right. Right. And and that goes back again, to the earlier point we were talking about and just having access to the information, right. So talk a little bit about the lifestyle changes you had to make, once you had this awakening, and you realize, Oh, crap, like, I'm traveling all the time, I'm spending all this money. And this is where it's gotten me to this point. So once you have that moment, what were some of the things you had to do to really start turning your finances around?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 16:02

Yeah, so it was definitely a multi faceted approach, the first thing I did was I refinance my student loan debt. So I had about when I started this journey, I had about $39,000 left of student loans, and I actually refinance them four times in four years. So I was able to knock off the interest rate, get that lowered, and also lower or reduce the repayment length. And it was something that I had never considered up until I realized that like, the only true freedom and the only true mark of success that I need to be pursuing is like getting rid of debt, not about buying stuff. It's not about showing off my success. You know, that just was not it. So that's one thing I did, I definitely started operating with the sinking fund system. So I created a bunch of accounts to actually start saving for all the things that I wanted to do. Because that, you know, before this, I was just kind of using my savings account as a catch all for the random things I wanted to do. And then also hoping that there was some money in there, God forbid something bad actually happens. And then I had to sell that house. Like, I was like, I'm getting rid of this house. I don't care. Like who, what they pay for it. I'm just like, if I make no money on this, I just need to let this go. Because this was just not done. from a place of really understanding what the heck I was getting into. And I actually did something super drastic. I moved from New Jersey to Florida. And so I did that with my current employer, I negotiated a job transfer, I kept my six figure salary from the northeast and brought it to Florida. And that definitely helped me accelerate my goals, because now I'm living in a way lower cost area. And that's been a game changer. Yeah.

Michael Lacy 17:52

So I know, in just doing some research on just kind of your background, one of the things we have in common is we both credit, a job loss with our financial turnarounds. So I mean, obviously my listeners, they're familiar with my story about losing my job in the middle of our debt free journey. But can you talk a little bit about your job loss and what happened? And then kind of what that led to shortly afterwards?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 18:19

Absolutely. So I have only been laid off knock on wood once in life. And I was about 23 No, I was about 27. And I was newly married. We've got married like six months before. And I walked into work one day, and I'm, I should have known something was up because I had an 9am meeting with HR basically told me my job is eliminated. I had like 30 minutes to pack my stuff. And it happened to be a snowstorm that day. So then it took me like three hours to get home. So it was just like, insult upon injury, right? So then I get home. And of course I have like the expected meltdown. I'm like, Oh my god, what am I gonna do, we're gonna live in a cardboard box. And then, after I got myself together, I realized that this was actually the best thing that ever happened to me because I hated that job with passion. Like I think I walked in there just hoping to get fired every day. So then when it actually happened, it just didn't register for me that this is actually something that I want. So let me be happy about it. And so that actually triggered me to really have like a come to Jesus moment and be like Jennese

like, what are you doing with your life? Like, do you want to keep doing what you're doing because you're not really happy in this career path that you're on right now. So maybe this is a chance for you to start like self reflecting. And one thing I've always been passionate about is cooking. I been like in the kitchen since I was 11. I love the power of food to bring people together especially like growing up in Latina like food and music like that's the party. So I've always been into, you know the power of food to bring people together. And for a second, I thought I wanted to go to culinary school, I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna leave corporate America, I'm gonna be a rebel, I'm going to be like the next, you know, Gordon Ramsay or whatever. But then I realized I'm like, I don't want to be working 16 hour days. So this is not gonna work for me. And so I decided to start a food blog. And it really like, up until this day, I just cannot believe what it has manifested into. I started not knowing anything about blogging about food photography, about writing recipes, nothing. I had to teach myself all this stuff. And this year, I'm going to be making $60,000 or more with my food blog. And that's like, on top of the money that I make in my nine to five and other side hustles that I do. So I think, you know, if you are the type person that is not convinced that everything happens for a reason, I'm here to tell you today.

Michael Lacy 20:56

It absolutely, absolutely. I mean, there's just so many parallels between your story and mine. Like, my wife and I, we had been married eight months when I lost my job. And while I wasn't like praying for them to fire me, it was just kind of getting to the point where I was like, do I really like working for this company? Do I really, you know, like, I was just starting to kind of doubt my place being there, you know. So, again, it's just like you said, everything works out for a reason. I mean, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because it really sparked the drive to really develop that personal finance muscle. And it's gotten us to where we are today. So I want to know, like going back into the blog and really building that up. When did things really start to take off with with your blog?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 21:40

Yeah, so I would say it was probably a good like, 18 to 24 months before I started seeing some serious like, I should report this on my taxes profit. And it really happened organically, I just really focused on putting out the best content I could, on mastering what I'm trying to do on finding my niche. So when I first started my blog, I was just kind of cooking whatever and putting whatever random stuff I was making in the kitchen. And then I started noticing that whenever I would post Puerto Rican recipes, those things would go viral. And I quickly we came to realize that there's not a lot of Puerto Rican food bloggers. And but there's a lot of Puerto Ricans that want to learn how to make this food. And so once I actually started understanding my niche, and catering to that, and creating content that really resonated with them, things that really, really took off, like in a way that I couldn't even imagine.

Michael Lacy 22:31

So you said you didn't really know in the beginning, like how to do a lot of the stuff, how to write the recipes, how to stage the photos, and just all the stuff that comes with building a food blog. So how did you begin to are where did you begin to learn all of those things?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 22:47

Oh, that was definitely Google University. Like I just started searching for stuff on YouTube. Looking at other food bloggers, like literally, I taught myself how to food style by looking at photos of food styling. Like if I wanted to put together a dish, I would Google a photo of a similar dish so that I would know like, Okay, this is how I should set it up to make it look pretty. As far as the photography, I bought a refurbished camera and I taught myself how to use that dude, on YouTube. The only thing that I actually paid for education wise was during the layoff, I took a course at a local cooking school in New York City for like $75. And it was actually a course about food blogging. So you know, it was a miracle. Anyone found that? Because that's just really hard class to find back in like 2013 2014. But other than that, it's all self taught.

Michael Lacy 23:40

Wow. Okay. So let me ask this question for the people who just really may not be aware of, you know, how we do the things that we do in terms of this blogging space? How do you monetize a blog, you personally, what are you what are some things that you do to make money from your blog?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 23:57

Yeah, so the majority of my income definitely comes from ads. So I'm part of an ad network and they set up ads on my website. Another one is sponsored posts. So I'm part of different influencer marketing agencies and I apply for different jobs. If I get selected, I put together a custom recipe either using their product or advertising some service or some deal that they have going on, and I get paid for that. I also do affiliate marketing through things like Amazon Associates or shareasale. And yeah, it's just a couple different income streams, but it has resulted in like a five figure blog, which is just nuts. I mean, you hear the stories about people that are like, you know, quote, unquote, making passive income. And it's like, wait, passive income, like what like filling out surveys getting like $3 for an hour's worth of your time, and it's like, no, there's actually like legitimate ways to make a lot of money online. You just have to find out and like, Google University, all I'm telling you, that's where you find it.

Michael Lacy 24:58

So you so you've said a couple times. You have a six figure career while you're building this. So I want to tie this blog together with the other parts of your financial story and talk about like, how long did it take you to pay off the $39,000 worth of debt? And then how did your food blog impact the timeline of your debt free journey?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 25:19

Oh, yeah, absolutely. If I had not created the food blog, I would definitely still be in student loan debt. When I started my whole revamp of my finances, the one thing I wanted to get out of the way that felt the most realistic was getting rid of my student loan debt, you know, before trying to like figure out how to invest and do all these different things. So I was able to pay off my $39,000 of what was left in my student loans in 17 months. And that's literally because of the extra money I was making from the food blog. Because at the time that I started my debt pay off, I was still I still own the house, I was still in debt from other things, you know, I had taken out 401 k loan to deal with some house repairs, I was still trying to pay off credit card debt. And so without the extra income from my food blog, I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it.

Michael Lacy 26:10

Okay, so now you're debt free, five, figure side hustle, six figure job, what are the money goals that you're working towards in the future?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 26:20

I love talking about this stuff. So it's funny, I actually met with my financial planner. And we are, we created a custom plan for me to achieve financial independence. So my goal is to be financially independent by age 45. And so I'm doing that several different ways. I'm obviously doing the traditional stuff that people talk about when it comes to fire, I'm maxing out my retirement accounts, my HSA, but also as a self employed person, because I do own a business that is under an LLC, I was able to also reap benefits from retirement plans that you can open as a self employed person. So I have 2401 K's now, I have one under my own business, and I have one through my employer. So I'm maxing those out. And according to her calculations, if I follow her plan, I should be a millionaire by age 40. So I'm like, okay, 40 sounds even better than 45.

Michael Lacy 27:18

So why is something like? Well, let's let's go back. For the people who may not know what is financial independence, retire early? Like, what can you explain in your own words what that movement is?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 27:30

Yeah, so I mean, financial independence, retire early, it literally translates to freedom in my brain, like, that's how I see it. And essentially, what it means is, you accelerate your investing in your savings in a way that makes you be able to be work optional, decades before potentially traditional retirement, right. So a lot of us are told, get a good job, save your 10 to 15% in your retirement accounts. And then at age 65, you can retire and you'll be comfortable. Now, people that follow the fire movement, they're not doing the 10 to 15%, they're doing like 50% or more, with the hopes that you can generate enough passive income, whether that's through real estate investing, stock market, investing, a combination of the two, entrepreneurship, so that one day, you can just walk into work and be like, you know, what, it's been really all Thanks for the ride, when I'm done.

Michael Lacy 28:23

So why did fire and financial independence become important to you?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 28:29

So I've always kind of been this person that really does not see myself like working a nine to five, for the majority of my adult life, it's just, it feels so boring. I don't know, it just feels like this cannot be what life is about, you know, like, you're gonna work the best years of your life be stuck in a cubicle, and then hope that you live a couple years after the age of 65 to like, do things that you want it to do. You know, I think there's just, there's no guarantee that a gonna live that long, and be that you're gonna like, even be in a place where you can wait till 65 to retire, you know, especially as people of color, like, we already know, we're not making the same amount of money as our white counterparts. So we're behind the eight ball with that. Age Discrimination is a real thing. And so we can't rely on the systems that we've been sold as the solution to our problems, to fix them because they're really nice.

Michael Lacy 29:32

So you said something interesting there. And I want to touch on a little bit. I did this solo episode a couple months back where I talked about financial independence as a form of social activism. I want to get your thoughts on that just financial independence as a form of social activism.

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 29:52

Absolutely, I think it's definitely a way to opt out of the oppressive systems that have been put in place like it's no secret that Latinas make 54

cents on a white man's dollar. So over the course of a career, like that's over a million dollars in lost wages that we have to somehow try to make up for. And so when you're pursuing fire, you're really taking that out of the equation, because you're saying, you know what, even with these things that are built to oppress me, I'm going to maximize what I'm earning, so that I can start changing the trajectory of what the financial legacy has been for my family, right? If I'm able to be in a place where then I can lift them up. Like, that's super powerful. And when you're not reliant on a nine to five, like you can make decisions that are truly aligned with what you want to do. And what's important to you versus being subject to, you know, all these external forces that just maybe are not allowing you to live the life that you actually want.

Michael Lacy 30:53

Got it. I love that. I love that. So to kind of tie this entire episode together, back in the beginning, when we were talking, you mentioned that you equated having stuff with having money. So when you think about having money and having wealth today, as your present self, what does that look like to you in right now.

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 31:17

You know, I think when you pursue fire, or just you start optimizing your finances, and I think the pandemic has really highlighted this, for a lot of us, like, we really don't need all of the things that we think we need in order to live comfortably and to be happy and to, to get live a good life. So for me, like, I, I really don't do much other than invest in saving work, like I don't need all these things, this external validation anymore. Like I know what my goals are, I know what I want. And I'm focused on that mission like nothing that anybody's trying to sell me is going to make up for the freedom that I can already taste, because of the results of the work that I've been putting in.

Michael Lacy 32:05

So the last thing I want to ask is just kind of a hypothetical, I like to do this with every guest is kind of run you through a hypothetical hypothetical situation and get your take on it. So let's say that there's somebody listening to this person, and they are super excited about this concept of financial independence. But they realize that, hey, I just don't make enough to save 50 60% of my income, what would your advice be to that person?

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 32:34

So I think there's a big narrative in the personal finance community that like just cut things, just cut things in your budget, you know, go live on ramen noodles, and you'll be fine. That's not the way to live. So if you're in a position where you can't save, First, you need to look at what kind of debt you're in. Like, you need to just keep it real. If you're looking at your bank statements, and you realize every Friday night, you're at the mall buying crap that you don't need, like you need to be honest with yourself. So then you can start deciding to do something different. And then at the same time, you need to start focusing on increasing your income. And the way that I like to frame that is like your time is super valuable. And if your employer is not paying you for your time, you need to find a different employer.

Michael Lacy 33:21

Simple, simple as that. That's it. Very simple. So Denise, I want to thank you so much for agreeing to come on and record me this has been a blast, you've shared a ton of great information. The last thing I want to do is just have you let people know where they can find you where they can connect with you if they want to follow along on your fire journey.

Jannese from Yo Quiero Dinero 33:42

So you can definitely subscribe to the yo Quiero Dinero podcast I'm talking to all types of amazing guests on there about fire about budgeting about investing entrepreneurship, all types of stuff. And definitely check out the blog at Yo Quiero Dinero podcast dot com.

Michael Lacy 33:56

Yes, definitely wherever you're listening to this, just go search for the Yo Quiero dinero podcast Jennese has some just incredible interviews. And like I said, She's also nominated for the exact same award as me so you know that she puts out good stuff. Now I'm going to link to everything Jennese mentioned in this episode, including the next advisor article about her home purchase in the show notes page, which you can find at winning to wealth.com slash Episode 50 that is winning to wealth.com slash Episode 50. There's also a link to the show notes page in the episode description so you could just go there as well. All right, so now it is time for this week's win of the week. I really wanted to talk to Jennese and have her share her money journey because I know this has been a rough year for so many of you. Like maybe you or your spouse have lost your job just like I did. I personally know losing your income can make you nervous, or even afraid like Jennese mentioned in the episode.

She went through those same emotions as well when she was laid off. But I just want to take a second to encourage you. You've made it through all of the tough day so far this year. And this too shall pass. As I said earlier, sometimes our biggest wins on the other side of our biggest challenges. So this week, really take some time and reflect on what you can take away from this challenging year. So far, you may be like Jennese and realize you have a hidden talent or something that you're passionate about that you could monetize. And that could ultimately change your life. I mean, think about it. Jennese went from withdrawing money from savings to do literally everything, to now being on track to retire almost 30 years early. And that progress was really birthed from the pain of being laid off. So again, I just want to encourage you to spend a little time reflecting on this year so far, think about the lessons, or even the breakthroughs that you can get out of it. Like for me, personally, I refuse to go through all of the challenges this year is brought and get absolutely nothing from it to be the same person that I was, before this pandemic started, I just can't do it. And so I want to extend that to you as well. And I want to challenge you to do the same thing. Now if you need a place to chat about your struggles, or maybe you just have some wins, you want to share, head over to my private Facebook community. You can find that over at winning to wealth.com slash teammates. And like I said, it's just a place to come in and talk about money. Also, if you want to start turning things around financially, but you aren't really sure of the steps you need to take to get there. Grab a copy of my money playbook. It doesn't cost a single thing and it literally lays out step by step, everything you need to do to start turning your money situation around today. You can find your free copy of that over at winning to wealth.com slash playbook. But hey, that's all the time I have for this week. So until we talk again, keep racking up those wins. One at a time. Take care.

Unknown Speaker 37:06

You've wrapped up another episode of the winning to wealth podcast. To learn more about how you can start making winning money decisions head over to winning to wealth.com