[00:02] if you watch the news, or honestly, if you even woke up this morning, you'll see that a lot of people are panicking. Why? Because prices are going up. People layoffs. >> With Amazon announcing on January 29th,
[00:16] state. >> There's wars. With Iran continues to >> All of it. But let me tell you something. A lot of the fear that you are seeing is being amplified for
[00:29] clicks. Because fear gets attention, fear gets views, fear keeps you There is a lot that's happening right now. Yes, things are getting more expensive. Groceries, bills. I have to
[00:43] get premium gas. And let me tell you one thing, it is starting to look a little 87-ish right now. But I'm saying all of this to say that there is a difference between being aware and being controlled by fear. So, instead of panicking right
[00:56] now, we need to be prepared. And you know, I'm going always keep it real with you. We should have been prepared. But nonetheless, it is never too late to get your house in order. So, what we are about to talk about today is extremely
[01:09] important. So, please do not just ignore this video because I'm telling you, the people who stay calm and make smart moves during these times are the ones that come out ahead. So, let's be those people. Now, let me
[01:22] get up off this soap box so that we can talk about some real things that we can all be doing right now to be prepared. And when I say prepared, you're probably wondering, prepare for what? Prepare for Prepare for life. We are supposed to be
[01:34] prepared in season and out of season. That mean things change fast. And so, no matter which way the wind blow, we'll be ready for it. And there are a lot of ways that we can do that. But I know one of the main things that a lot of people
[01:48] are worried about right now is money. Lower-income Americans are missing car struggling to make monthly car loan payments, a sign that the lower-end pressure. Because we do know that money answers all things. We don't love it,
[02:02] but we definitely need it. So, I'm going to quickly go through three things that you can do right now to put yourself in a better position. So, the first is this, start paying attention. Not just to the news, but to your money. You need
[02:15] to know what's coming in and where it's going. You'll be surprised how many card and losing track. And then you have all of these automatic payments set up, things coming out, and by the end of the week, you are trying to figure out why
[02:28] in the world you have five insufficient fund charges. We are not trying to donate to the bank's cause. And let me tell you what keeping track of your people don't even know what that means in real life. All you need to do is grab
[02:42] yourself a nice little cute book, or you can open a Google Doc, or even use your notes app. Let's not just keep it in our mind. Why? Because our mind be lying sometimes. So, you just want to make two quick sections, incoming and outgoing.
[02:55] And every week or month, you want to check in and look at your bank statement and see all of the things that you spent money on and how much money came in and where it came in from. Just get it organized. And we have to do this before
[03:09] we do anything else because it all starts with awareness. But let me tell you one thing I was not aware of. I was not aware that I was paying Apple for Apple TV, Apple Fitness. I was paying for insurance on a phone that I don't
[03:24] even have anymore. And not to mention, I was paying a gym bill for 18 months, and I didn't even drive past that gym. So, clearly, I just love donating. Well, I
[03:36] actually do, but just not to those causes. So, I know I am not alone on this. Please let me know down below, what are some things that you were just spending money on and did not realize you were? Or things you're spending
[03:48] money on that you do know, but you just don't use anymore. Go ahead. I'll wait. Mhm. Now, once you finally understand your money situationship, the next thing that we need to do is start being more
[04:02] going. Now, at this point of videos that talk to you like this, people will start saying stuff like, "Oh, just stop buying those Starbucks coffee every day." You know, all the typical advice that you
[04:16] can go and just find on Google. But I'm not out here just trying to give you real life advice that I had to use myself. And one thing I do understand though that a lot of people don't is not everyone is in the same place. I don't
[04:30] people that are also out here just trying to pay the bills. Some people are having to decide whether you need to keep the lights on this month or the water. So, I don't want to just give you a basic plan. We need a real life
[04:45] strategy. So, no matter what season of your life you are in, this is what works. So, what we need to do is organize those expenses in order of importance from necessities all the way down to desires and not in the other
[04:59] way. And a lot of people are out here doing it that way and then just saying, what? Later is here. But I do need to mention things that we want, especially when it comes to heavier seasons like now where
[05:15] prices are going up. If you are a person like me that likes to spend money on eating out, and sometimes not because we just like it, but life is busy and is more convenient. It's time to cut back. Because that's how you end up spending
[05:30] Because that's how you end up spending an extra 200, 400, or like myself, an extra 200, 400, or like myself, $1,543.62 those things that we do not need so that
[05:44] we can focus on something important that a lot of people don't even have, and that's an emergency fund. Because let me ask you this, if everything stopped tomorrow, if you could no longer work, if you just feel like you didn't even
[05:57] off those people's job. Would you be able to survive for the next 3 months? And I want you to know that you are not alone in this because the truth is, a lot of people don't have any emergency savings at all. In fact, more than half
[06:12] of people would need to use a credit card to cover a $500 emergency expense. Now, listen, in an emergency, you have to do what you have to do, but why not build towards something that we can fall back on? If you can start saving
[06:27] something from every paycheck, start. And you don't have to start big, start small. Set small goals and don't focus on 3 months, just focus on 1. Figure out what it takes to cover 1 full month of expenses and make that your goal. Once
[06:43] you hit that, then move on to 2 and 3 and work your way up to 6. But let me tell you, getting 3 months is better than none. In fact, getting 1 will put than none. In fact, getting 1 will put you ahead of majority of people. Now, I
[06:56] "Yes, I know all of that sounds good. I know I should do it, but I can't even squeeze an extra dollar out of my income right now." So, what do you do in that case? And I am going to tell you, that's when we have to go on over to plan B,
[07:10] plan C, and maybe even plan D. You need to figure out what can you do to bring in some extra income. There is no other way around it. And some of the things that you can start thinking about right now is, can I use a skill that I already
[07:23] have? Can I sell something? Can I pick up something extra on the side? Because let me tell you, we are in a time right now that there are more ways than ever to make some money. But you have to actually decide that you're going to do
[07:37] something and then figure out what works for you. Because sitting there just hoping and wishing and praying that things work out is not a plan. And one thing I'm really going to encourage you to do right now is to build something of
[07:50] your own. Something that no matter what happens, no one else can take away from channel, you know that I have told you laid off from my job. Them people left me out there to sink or swim, and they
[08:03] didn't even pay me all the money that I was owed. But thank God, I was able to was owed. But thank God, I was able to swim, and now I am in a position that I no longer have to depend on anyone. In fact, I actually
[08:17] retired. And I didn't get here overnight. I got here by making talking about today. But out of everything that was said, the most right now during this time is to stay grounded and to stay rooted. Because
[08:32] when everything else around you feels shaky, you need something that's going controlling the world because that is out of our control. But the only thing we do have control of is ourselves. And
[08:44] that's how you win, even in times like these. Now, all you have left to do is these. Now, all you have left to do is go be