An Imperfect Mold
While I didn’t grow up in the projects of St. Louis, burglaries were common and it’s wasn’t unusual to hear the “pop, pop, pop” sound of a gun not too far in the distance. After years of growing up in a rough neighborhood, I was fortunate to be accepted to one of the most prestigious private schools some 45 minutes away in the richest part of the city.
Seeing both sides of the fence as a child – the lower class lifestyle and the extremely wealthy lifestyle – had a profound impact on my mentality and how my life would eventually take shape. Being able to associate with kids of affluent members of society allowed me to see the luxuries that money can afford. However, on the other hand, going back to my “rough” neighborhood each night reminded me of the life I wanted to avoid and escape.
Despite being surrounded by high income-earning families, my mom and our family struggled to make ends-meet. As a child there was never conversations of budgeting, spending wisely, saving for retirement, or being financially responsible; we simply lived life paycheck-to-paycheck and hoped that someday things would eventually change.
After the struggle that most single mothers have, I’ll never forget the day in high school that my mom told me she was filing bankruptcy and we’d have to get rid of the house; later that Friday night I’d go escape and soak up the upper-class lifestyle: it was pretty nice to stay in my friend’s parent’s 5,000 square foot house.
Keeping up with the Joneses
Saying that I wasn’t ready to handle life on my own would be an extreme understatement as I headed off to college. Despite working jobs throughout high school, I’d never learned the basics of managing money…not even how to fill out a check!
Upon leaving college early I earned a small fortune: $56,000 in my first 7 months of employment (at 20 years old). Dining out for every meal, front row concert tickets to a number of events, and partying like a rock star seemed to fit the mold of the upper class lifestyle I had witnessed as a child. So that’s what I did.
However, my excessive lifestyle would eventually catch up to me and years of over drafted bank accounts, bounced checks, and credit card collectors would ensue. Stress, sleepless nights, anxiety, and hopelessness is what my life became.
Shaping Up
After a few years of racking up debt and living without regard to my finances, a few co-workers turned me on to the Dave Ramsey program. They didn’t know I was struggling with money as I hid it from everybody I knew, but little did they know that that introduction would change my life forever.
While I disagree with many of Dave’s opinions, there is little denying the fact that his budgeting principles work wonders for the average, ignorant Joe. With a new-found sense of hope and a way to get past my self-inflicted stupidity, my wife and I would eventually pay off 60,000 of our $110,000 worth of debt over the next 4.5 years ($25,000 in credit cards/personal loans and $85k in student loans).
My transformation eventually gave me the desire to teach other people how to overcome the financial struggles that the majority of Americans face. After working in an industry where I spent years climbing up the ladder, I’d forgo all that I knew to pursue a career as a financial advisor and coach.
Looking back, I can only be thankful for the lessons that life taught me and the way it’s shaped who I’ve become today.
The Start of WorkSaveLive
After personally coaching a few hundred families and guiding people to the path of financial peace, I was pushed by many of my friends to share my story and knowledge with others around the country. While I knew nothing about blogging (literally…nothing), I decided that I couldn’t overlook the opportunity to connect with hundreds and thousands of people on a monthly basis. Why only coach a few each week when you can reach many more with a single post?
Although there was quite a bit of hesitation on my end, I launched WorkSaveLive in November of 2011 and it’s been an incredible journey. For those of you that haven’t visited the site, I share my family’s journey out of debt, discuss a myriad of financial topics, and offer up a delicious recipe each week that I hope all of my readers test out.
I’m extremely grateful to Yakezie and the network here for giving us all the opportunity to connect and share ideas/concerns. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have gotten through the challenge and be officially inducted.
When I first started blogging it was a challenging road and the site didn’t really begin to take off until I joined the Challenge. I’ve developed some great friendships with many of the challengers in this class and I’m looking forward to getting to know the rest of you as time goes on.
Thanks for all that you do and taking part of our journey!
Over the next several weeks we will be highlighting the Yakezie Epsilon Member Posts. If you’re interested in partaking in the Yakezie Challenge you can find more information here.
Awesome and engaging story. It amazing to see how unique everyone’s story is, yet how similar many of our lives are. I’ve just discovered your blog recently and look forward to fully joining the community of WorkSaveLive. All the best – Jason
Thanks for the kind words, Jason! It is interesting to hear more about the people behind the URLs.
Welcome to the network! I love stopping by and reading your site!
Congrats! I personally love your recipie posts even though I should have learned by now to read them before lunch because I just get more hungry. Plus I’m still bummed I didn’t make it to the St. Louis meet up.
Pretty mega story. It’s always nice to kind of see someone who gets to understand both sides of the fence of wealthy and not so wealthy. As a kid I was not the richest on the block I’d say I was living in the middle class range. I started working when I was 15 1/2. I loved making my own money and still do. It has taken me a while to learn the value of a dollar. I have recently climbed myself into about 13.5k of credit card debt and about 9k of students loans( still not done with school). Now I have joined the pf community and have the opportunity to learn before I make even more mistakes.
I ‘m stoked you got to learn a lesson despite it being a rough one and now you are helping other learn financial responsibility before they dig themselves into a rut.
It always surprises me that so many of us have to learn the hard way. Despite being surrounded by such successful people as a teen, I had no real idea how to manage money or how many of those people became wealthy. It’s definitely a lot of fun to coach people and help guide them through the same misconceptions.
By the way…it’s pretty awesome that you’ve joined the PF community and are learning things as you go. I’d have given a lot to have been more financially responsible when I was just getting out of college (or in it for that matter). Good luck with your journey!
Right?
I actually took this course in highschool that taught me how to write a check and balance my checkbook. I have in a way always been responsible in know how much money I had in my account. it was the fact of spending is wisely is what i had issues with. it was hard for me to turn down fun. I have learned my lesson and cut up a few credits cards and just work on paying them back!
Have you shared this story on your blog? If you did I must have missed it. If you haven’t you totally need to!
I discussed how we managed a $70,000 pay cut…that’s when I made the transition from my old career to the new opportunity (coaching/advising). But no, I’ve never discussed my childhood or growing up. I might share it one day though; thanks for the idea Lance!
Wow, it was very fortuitous that your coworkers turned you onto Ramsey!
Welcome to Yakezie! Your inspiring story will be of great help to those that struggle with debt. Thanks for sharing your story.
Wow, what an incredible story. It’s really inspiring to see how you managed to pay off your debt, and even more inspiring to see you actively trying to help others do the same. I look forward to getting to know you better. ~ Veronica
Great story, great site. And well done for comleting the challenge.
@FT, Veronica, Maria: Thanks a lot!
Wow man, you really saw a lot and have been on all sides of the financial battle. And it sounds like why you got in debt and how you started to get out is a very very common story. Which makes your blog all the more powerful. You know what no money is like, debt, upper class, struggling, acheiving…all of it. You’ve got a great blog, so keep it up! And dude, you got out of a HUGE mountain of debt, awesome work!
We’re not totally over the mountain but we’re getting there. Slowly but surely.
P.S. Congratulations on being a new Yakezie official member! It’s hope for the rest of us challengers that if we keep working hard, we can do it too, lol.
Congrats on being a Yakezie member! It’s very interesting to read your story. Hope to meet you someday since we live somewhat close!
I totally understand where you are coming from. I wish I had been less clueless about how to manage my money for most of my 20s, but now that I am on the right track I feel much more in control and more confident in myself. I really enjoy the design and features of your site (as in, recipes :)) so I can’t wait to see what comes next!
Thanks ADP; glad you enjoy the recipes!
It was tough being totally clueless but it’s probably the only way I would have learned the lessons that I did and ended up being where I am today. So it’s all good!
Hi Jason,
Great story on congrats on making it through! I think your experience is very special given that you’ve seen both sides of the coin growing up and therefore have good perspective. I feel similar having growing up overseas and experiencing a lot of poverty.
What was it you did at the age of 20 to make $50K in 7 months if you are OK to share? Being a financial adviser and a PF bloggers must feel good!
Sam
Can’t say it was anything I did but in the state of Missouri if you work on a “government” building then as a construction worker you’re eligible for “prevailing wages.” I believe at the time the wages were around $40/hour and we had quite a bit of overtime. After the projects dried up that’s when I moved on from being a laborer to a salesman. :)
It’s a lot of fun to be a PF blogger and a finance guy. :) I’m just hoping my finance job continues to work out.
Jason, you know that you are one of our absolute favorites, and WSL is destined for great things. Your hard work and pure determination, is absolutely evident in everything that you write, and in how you present yourself to the world.
Thanks for sharing your story,
-J-
Thanks for the kind words, Jeff! I appreciate it and SDR is one of my faves as well!
I agree with Jefferson. You have been a great friend and an amazing person, Jason. We’ve never met, but I feel deep inside that our thoughts are similar. You’ve proven that no matter how difficult your circumstances are today, you can change your tomorrow with steadfast commitment and hard work.
That must have been quite hard on you growing up. Sometimes me have to learn things through making mistakes and thankfully you found your love in PF and turned your financial situation around. Thanks for sharing your story and welcome to the network!
Great story. I think it’s amazing how we all feel like our upbringing gave us the unique disadvantage of not knowing how to deal with money straight out of college. But the more we read about others’ experiences, the more we realize that it doesn’t really matter how our parents treated money – we’re all hopelessly stupid when we get out of college. We may all be stupid in different ways and our overspending doesn’t come from the same root cause, but somehow we all wind up as idiots after 4 years of higher education.
Jason, what a unique perspective you must have. I never knew that you grew up in the hood, but lived some life with the richies! You described me to a T, graduated with an education, but financially stupid. You’ve put together an amazing blog, and I just hope you remember me when you’re famous and all ;)
Congrats on becoming a member, let me know what it’s like on the “inside”!
Thanks for sharing. Private school does wonders fro your education but very little for personal finance. I learned a lot of my PF skills from my family and learned other things from going to private school.
I certainly would agree with that! Private school was an amazing experience and something I’ll never forget. I wish they would have taught some PF classes though!
This was an honest portrayal of your situation. Thank you for sharing. I’m sure it’s helped keep you grounded and this experience will undoubtedly make the difference.
I have to say that Dave Ramsey has come up a few times in my conversations the last few days, lol. Great story and congrats! I always love to see what get’s people motivated and especially love the stories that people share here :)