Serenity Hackett- Personal Finance Coach

07/18/2024

When my husband and I were younger, we were in A LOT of debt.

We had car loans, personal loans, credit cards, 401k loans, family loans. You name it, we had it.

Most of those loans were made in two types of situations:

1) Either we were feeling great financially and thought we could handle another payment, or

2) we were feeling the pinch and needing to create some financial breathing room and taking out or moving debt around seemed to be the answer.

In both types of situations, all we focused on were the positives of what this new debt was going to do for us.

We imagined the best case scenario where he always got the same amount of overtime, our bills never went up, and there was never an emergency room visit.

It wasn’t until after the dotted line was signed and we started experiencing the financial changes and pressures in life that we started to question whether we had made the right move.

By then it was too late and this loan that was supposed to save us was putting us in an even worse position than before.

It took a while for us to realize that the best decision to create peace in our life was to pay off and avoid debt altogether and we haven’t looked back since.

07/06/2024

When you get out of debt and vow to never go back into debt, a domino effect takes place.

For most people they can’t imagine living without debt because they don’t have much or any savings to handle emergencies, unplanned expenses, or future large purchases.

When you pay off your debt you build confidence in yourself that you can control your money.

Then once you’ve paid off everything but the house, you save an emergency fund of 3-6 months. Now you don’t have to rely on a credit card to replace the water heater or patch a hole in the roof.

When you’ve done those things you’ve not only freed up all of your income that was going to payments, but you get practice in patience and perseverance, and you get proof that you can save up for big things.

So now you’ve got no debt but your mortgage and you have a fully funded emergency fund and you look at your 15 year old car with 250,000 miles and decided it would be much more enjoyable to drive a 3 year old car with 36,000 miles and heated seats.

Since you just finished paying off $25,000 in debt the last thing you want to do is go take out $25,000 more and start over, so you see how long it would take you to save and pay cash for that car.

This new thought process continues throughout your life. You now not only have money, but you’re also saving and paying cash for big things, unexpected expenses and even going as far as to pay off your house. Imagine life with zero debt and no house payment!

I’m not just here to help you pay off debt. I’m here to help you take on a whole new mindset and change your entire life.

Send me a message or give me a call at 979-217-3111 if you’re ready to make the change.

07/04/2024

06/28/2024

What would you do if you had no debt payments? No car payments, no credit card minimums, no student loans, etc.

If you could free up $1,000 a month by having no debt, imagine the ways you could not only save for the future, but make life in the now a little easier.

You could:

📌Hire a housekeeper so you can spend more time with your family and less time cleaning.

📌Send your child to private school.

📌Take a lower paying job for a period to get out of a toxic work environment.

📌Anonymously gift a struggling friend a meal, groceries, or pay their electricity bill.

📌Take the toll road to make a long commute a little less of a headache.

📌Take the family out for a day at the water park.

📌Have a choice whether you take on the overtime, since now you don’t need it to pay the bills.

📌Increase your grocery budget to allow to buy healthier alternatives to your faves.

Getting out of debt creates options for how you can use your money. You get to decide what’s most valuable and important in your life.

What would you do if you had no debt?

06/24/2024

The choice is yours. You can stay where you are and let your past mistakes define you, or you can let it go and choose a different future for your family.

06/21/2024

Don’t settle for mediocrity. You can do big things but only when you allow yourself to believe you can get there. It’s worth it to dream bigger.

For everything you accomplish, your world gets bigger with more possibilities.

06/19/2024

When trying to overhaul your financial life, it can get really discouraging when you have a big goal you’re aiming for.

Try breaking that goal down into smaller steps.

If your goal is to pay off all of your debt, you first need to address where you’re spending money now so that you can focus it on paying off your smallest debt.

Track the steps needed to reach your goals and check them off along the way. The more checkmarks you make, the more confident and motivated you’ll be to keep up the momentum.

You’ve got this. Keep going.

Not sure where to start? Send me a message or give me a call at 979-217-3111 to see how I can help!

05/31/2024

When you take control of your money and get out of debt and build an emergency fund, you realize that you DO have control of your life.

Aside from just your finances you have the power to change your health, your lifestyle and your relationships.

Becoming debt free isn’t just about not carrying debt anymore, it’s about changing your life.

Call me at 979-217-3111 or send me a message to see how I can help you reach your financial goals and help empower you to take control of your whole life.

05/24/2024

We all have times in our lives where things get busy and we fall off track of even some of our core habits.

When that happens I need you to remember three things:

1️⃣ You’re not alone.

2️⃣ You haven’t failed.

3️⃣ It’s not too late to get back on track.

Take a minute to breathe and examine what’s caused you to go off course.

Then take your current situation into consideration and readjust your budget to get you through this time without losing too much progress.

Forgive yourself for not following the plan perfectly and get back on track as soon as possible. You can do this.

05/22/2024

Anyone who knows my husband and I know how anti-debt we are. Aside from our home, we have been debt free for about 3 years now.

We recently paid cash for a new to us car and are now saving to help the kids get through college debt free.

What you may not know is:
🟠 We initially took financial peace when we were 20.

🟠 We spent the first 15 years of our marriage “trying” to get out of debt.

🟠 We often would pay off one debt, then turn around and take another loan out (usually bigger.)

🟠 At the height of our non-mortgage debt, we probably had nearly $75,000 in car loans, 401k loans, personal loans, medical debt and credit cards.

🟠 We finally got serious about paying off our debt in January 2020 and our projected debt payoff date was December 2021.

🟠 We beat that date and were consumer debt free in July 2021 and we paid off $45,000.

The point in sharing this is to show you that it’s never too late to start over. Stop living in (and paying for) the past. Start now!

If you want to hear more about our debt free journey or how I can help you start now, just send me a message or call me at 979-217-3111.

05/20/2024