Unlock the door to financial freedom and let Big Charles and I, Big Shay guide you through the twists and turns of your money's journey. Tax season doesn't have to be a drag, and with our Financial Literacy Series, you're gearing up to turn those receipts into receipts for success. We're dishing out our personal finance stories with a side of expert advice, serving up the secrets to building generational wealth and claiming the financial independence you deserve. This isn't your average money talk; it's real talk about how to make the most of every dollar, save wisely, and grow that financial safety net with purpose and power.
Dive into our treasure trove of resources by jetting over to the Bigdogtalk website, where my co-pilot Big Charles and I unpack our journey and offer you tools for yours. And don't miss out on the golden ticket to altering your financial destiny—our e-book. Priced at a value that screams 'investment in your future,' it's crammed with actionable steps that will set your wallet on a new path. Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to level up your savings game, our Financial Literacy Series has the map to your treasure chest of financial goals. So buckle up, Big Dog Talk family—it's time to take the reins on your financial future!
Unlock the door to financial freedom and let Big Charles and I, Big Shay guide you through the twists and turns of your money's journey. Tax season doesn't have to be a drag, and with our Financial Literacy Series, you're gearing up to turn those receipts into receipts for success. We're dishing out our personal finance stories with a side of expert advice, serving up the secrets to building generational wealth and claiming the financial independence you deserve. This isn't your average money talk; it's real talk about how to make the most of every dollar, save wisely, and grow that financial safety net with purpose and power.
Dive into our treasure trove of resources by jetting over to the Bigdogtalk website, where my co-pilot Big Charles and I unpack our journey and offer you tools for yours. And don't miss out on the golden ticket to altering your financial destiny—our e-book. Priced at a value that screams 'investment in your future,' it's crammed with actionable steps that will set your wallet on a new path. Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to level up your savings game, our Financial Literacy Series has the map to your treasure chest of financial goals. So buckle up, Big Dog Talk family—it's time to take the reins on your financial future!
It's tax season. If you're getting some Cheddar Bass, it's tax season. You can put that in step two it's tax season. You can put that in step three or step four it's t- that's just tell the truth.
Speaker 1:
Let's just tell the truth or the matter. In the beginning of our phase and we were getting tax money back, what? Were we doing with that tax money?
Speaker 2:
Step two and step four. As you all know, on the Big Dog Talk podcast, we have a slogan Therapy is always in session, and that is why we are now sponsored by BetterHelp. During hard times, it can get really difficult if you don't have anyone to talk to. Being alone with your thoughts can be an isolating feeling that can allow negativity to consume you. Betterhelp has customized online therapy that offers video, phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist, so you don't have to see anyone on camera if you don't want to. Some of the things that we have learned from our therapist on the Big Dog Talk podcast are how to be emotionally available, why it's important to practice self-care and calming activities to ease anxiety.
Speaker 2:
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Speaker 1:
Welcome back to another episode of the Big Dog Talk podcast. It's me Stop. Why don't you sing your song, big Charles, in a building, baby?
Speaker 2:
Hey y'all, what's up? It's your girl, big Che, and I'm back in the building. I'm super excited in this moment. Working with Big Charles, it's not easy. However, he came up with something I'm really excited about. For the next four weeks, we are going to do a series of episodes centered around finances. So we're trying to get in your business, getting your pockets, and we want to talk about generational wealth. We want to talk about financial literacy. We want to give you guys some tools, some stories, all the things to help you focus on creating financial freedom A series. What does that mean? It means the next four episodes. For the next four weeks, you need to tune into each and every one of them so that you don't miss the content and you get all the doggie trees to take everything that we say and put it in your pocket and put it into action. Listen, I said what I said. I'm getting in your business, I'm getting in your pockets.
Speaker 1:
Big Charles used to work in finance, and so I know what I'm talking about, know what I mean, and we're going to do things a little different. I like it. I don't think we've ever done a call to action like this.
Speaker 2:
We've never done a call to action and we've never done a series. I'm excited for that to provide continuous information and talks around the same topic I like it.
Speaker 1:
What I want to talk about today is how to create Financial freedom starting from nothing. We know about that, like us.
Speaker 2:
We know about that Starting from nothing.
Speaker 1:
You don't have any excuse to get your life in order. This is a call to action episode to get it in order.
Speaker 2:
I just want to point, put a pin in it. This is not to make an assumption that everybody that's listening to us. You know you're starting from a little something, but for us we started from nothing. The only way that we can provide information is to take it from nothing and build up. That's just where we're coming from with it, so can we start?
Speaker 1:
Let's kick it off. Let's go. Number one how to create financial wealth from nothing. First thing I would do is create a budget, a realistic budget. A realistic budget, real life. What do you make right now? Yes, how much money do I make? Where does my money go? I need to track my money. How much do I have on bills A month? How much do I spend on food? How much do I spend on partying Partying? I need to be able to track my money.
Speaker 2:
Gas food door dash all the things. Gas Ladies are nails Like where's my money going? Fellas your haircut. Where's your money going? Where's it going?
Speaker 1:
Cutting out the unnecessary Spending. Do you really need that? Do I need it? Do I need it as often? Is it a priority? Is it more important than me saving up $2,000, $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, five years from now? Can I sacrifice instant gratification for future wealth?
Speaker 2:
Start off with a six-month plan. We're creating that budget. So number one was what? Get a budget and, most importantly, stick to it. There's so many tools out there, too, that they can find and utilize in order to see where their money's going, track it and then create a more sustainable budget that, on the back end, can have you be able to save some money and put away some money for the future.
Speaker 1:
Here's the thing, though you have real bills. Bills, food, gas. These are things that you can't avoid Exactly. You have to count that. If this is how much money I have to spend each month, what do I have left over after that? And then what am I doing? Where am I spending my unnecessary money? Am I treating myself too much? Right, are we there? Did I make myself clear? I don't want to hear nobody saying that I can't do it. I don't care what level you on. That's the problem. I don't care if you're on level zero, level 10, level Go on it.
Speaker 2:
Don't care.
Speaker 1:
You can always get better.
Speaker 2:
Don't care. Number two Build an emergency fund.
Speaker 1:
There's a saying out there when I learned it when I was a financial advisor that you are supposed you should have at least six months of savings saved up for hard times, meaning like to pay your bills, food At least a month of that necessary bucket, bucket Times that by six. Minimum six months.
Speaker 2:
So if your monthly bills are 5,000.
Speaker 1:
You need to save up $30,000, minimum, minimum. Now, that may seem drastic and overboard, right, but you have to start somewhere. I'm giving you something to aim for that part In the banking world when I worked in for at least a decade, yeah, At least a decade. Yeah, you need to save up money for at least six months.
Speaker 2:
And it's probably more now.
Speaker 1:
Oh for sure, because that was years ago. Oh for sure.
Speaker 2:
For sure, but that's something I aimed for. That's something to aim for Okay.
Speaker 1:
Hold on, I'll call you. Go ahead, no, no no, keep going Sorry. Start off with having a small amount to save. I want to just save up $500 this month. Next month I want to see if I can save $700. The next five months, I want to see if I can save $2,000. Start off small. Start off small. Build an emergency fund for hard times. Listen, you can see the economy that we're in. Yup.
Speaker 2:
Yup. The second is, if you look at this these action items that we're action steps one and two go together. So after you create a budget and you have that bucket of necessary bills and you see what you have left over, that is where you pull your money from. I don't care if it's $25 a week. That's where you pull your money from to create your emergency fund. And that may mean that you can't eat out as much, that may mean that you can't go out as much, that may mean that you got to cook more meals at home, but that extra money that you discover in step one is what you're going to then use to create that emergency fund in step two.
Speaker 1:
And that emergency fund is a financial cushion for unexpected experiences, such as you can possibly get laid off. We just never know. You just never know Life experience, Absolutely, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:
And the thing that I will say just from experience with that once you start and you start to see that money accumulate slowly but surely, I don't care if I can do $100 every paycheck we started off with $25.
Speaker 2:
We did start off with $25 and we gradually improved, but it's motivating when you see that your account is starting to build up slowly but surely. It's motivating you to say you know what, like Big Charles said, I might have did 300 this month, but for next month I'm going to shoot for 500, because now you're motivated and you see that it's working.
Speaker 1:
You know what else helped, though. While we were doing that, we transferred it to an account that we had. We could not see every day, yep, yep, transfer that money from your checking account to a savings account. It can be an online savings account that you don't have access to. It should not be easy access to.
Speaker 2:
To transfer back and forth back and forth, back and forth. It should be difficult, yep, so one what was number one Create a budget and stick to it. Two build an emergency fund. Those two go together.
Speaker 1:
Now step three Step three focus on increasing your income. Oh, I like that one. What do I mean by that? I like that Exploring opportunities to increase your income, whether through a higher paying job.
Speaker 2:
Go ahead and go for that. Raise that new position. If you're in corporate, you got this.
Speaker 1:
Whether it's getting a side job, part time job.
Speaker 2:
Go ahead and find what you like in your creative juices and make a little change off of it. Whether it's starting a small business, come on and provide a service or a product to the people with your skills and talents.
Speaker 1:
Possibly even developing a new skill.
Speaker 2:
Baby go and take yourself back to school. Invest in yourself.
Speaker 1:
Take some classes, invest in yourself. Yes, come on now. True, so that was three Focus on gaining more income, raise side job, new skill, new business endeavor Additional training, like.
Speaker 2:
There are ways to increase your income. We just named them. They are ways I made them real, relatable when he called them out. There are ways to use what you have to create more getting your creative juices, time to create.
Speaker 1:
Number four.
Speaker 2:
Very important Eliminate debt. It's time to get rid of that debt. First of all, it's meant to stress it's pressure.
Speaker 1:
Listen, there's something called the. What is it having? In my notes it's called the. I think it's called the snowball avalanche. What is it?
Speaker 2:
Like the snowball effect. Yes, it's bigger and bigger and bigger.
Speaker 1:
No, it's a method that you do where you, it's a snowball avalanche. I learned it in the financial world, but my point I'm making is where you start paying off your biggest debt.
Speaker 2:
Oh, you start biggest one, okay yeah.
Speaker 1:
Or you can start off by paying it off your smallest debt. Just start, just start. Choose one, choose one. Yeah, honestly, big Charles, do both. Yeah, he's a big, I do both. Yeah, sometimes I need the small wins and sometimes you can get there faster. It's true, getting to the small wins.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, maybe you need something to celebrate in that little field right there.
Speaker 1:
Listen, this is just big Charles, I'm just to be honest with you. I had one credit card Maybe it was $1,000. I had another credit card it was, let's say, $4,000. Another card, maybe let's say $8,000. Right, I had to start off with that lower card Because in getting that lower card paid off, it eliminated some debt and it also gave me a small win, like, okay, I did something off my checklist. Yeah, so you have to figure out what's best for you, but the main thing is to pay your debt off.
Speaker 2:
Yes, start working towards that, yes, guess where that money going to come from.
Speaker 1:
Where's it going to come?
Speaker 2:
from Step one when you create that budget and find it. You got this little money hanging around because you overspending over eating, over drinking, over partying we getting our nails done too much. You're going to find it in step one Over eating. Over eating.
Speaker 1:
Over spending Snacks.
Speaker 2:
Over buying shoes. Using too much gas. Sit your ass home. You don't need that gas. Sit down, save the gas money for when you need it. You're going to find it in step one. That's where we found it, in step one.
Speaker 1:
This is a call to action.
Speaker 2:
We found it in step one. It's there.
Speaker 1:
This is a call to action.
Speaker 2:
We found it.
Speaker 1:
To get your finances in order. Yep, this is a call to action.
Speaker 2:
Can I just say that if it is a card like you described, once you pay that card off, get that card out your wallet. Don't let it be accessible to you at that point.
Speaker 1:
Okay For experience. Example Example Big Charles the credit cards that I don't need. I cut them up Because you don't want to just call and close your credit card because it lowers your credit. But we're talking about that another day. I'll teach you about that another day.
Speaker 2:
Hey, you giving gifts.
Speaker 1:
Aimee, I love y'all so much. He giving gifts. You got to pay for that. I love y'all so much, man. I love y'all so much. This is a call to action. I don't care if you're starting from nothing or you're starting with something. Start, go higher.
Speaker 2:
Yes, it's my elevation, baby, but elevation.
Speaker 1:
If you stick to these four steps and stay committed, I guarantee you the next five years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years of your life. It will gradually get better and better and better. Simple practical tools, if applied. Now here's the problem, big Shay. We cannot expect a big reward in a short amount of time. I ain't losing weight fast enough. I only been doing it for seven days, 30 days.
Speaker 2:
Come on y'all, the struggle is real.
Speaker 1:
This is a call to action Four steps. Listen to this episode, save it, share it with someone, y'all got this. Y'all got this.
Speaker 2:
Y'all got this. You know the last thing? Yep, it's tax season, it's tax season, no excuses, it's tax season. If you're getting some Chattabat, it's tax season. You can put that in step two. It's tax season. You can put that in step three or step four.
Speaker 1:
Let's just tell the truth. Let's just tell the truth of the matter. In the beginning of our phase and we were getting tax money back, what were we doing with that tax money?
Speaker 2:
Step two and step four.
Speaker 1:
Step two was building an emergency fund and step four was eliminating debt.
Speaker 2:
I'm talking about four years, years. That was not celebratory money and I'm not as good as Big Charles Like. So can we go somewhere? Nope, nope, that's not what the money's for. It's tax season, it's tax season, y'all. You can do step three I mean step two, three or four if you get some money back, if you get some money back. Simple as that.
Speaker 1:
Simple as that. We love y'all. And before we get out of here, man Big Charles created an e-god that will help create and change the financial trajectory of your future. I created an e-god on how to navigate your child to get a full ride academic scholarship to an HBCU. Hey, I know it worked because I've done it for my daughter and we're already going through the steps again with our second child and third child. The e-god is for $14.97. Simple, practical tools, resources that is it. It will save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Click the link bigdogtalkpodcastcom. Purchase the e-god for $14.97. It will save you thousands of dollars. And about that website?
Speaker 2:
go check out the website. You want to get a closer look at Big Che and Big Charles and our story and our journey and what we are offering to our community, bigdogtalkfamily, community, bigdogtalkcommunity All on the website. The website is flyandfire and while you're there, go ahead and click that e-book. I know what we gave today is worth more than $14.97.
Speaker 1:
Let's just change the financial situation for ourselves. Yeah, let's go Get that e-book. Get it. You cannot afford listen, you cannot afford to ignore this $14.97. Come on y'all. Come on y'all.
Speaker 2:
Come on, keep it up, y'all. It's Tag Feeder, yeah Glope, yeah, crouvin' on Crouvin'. Until next time, man, we love y'all Peace out Peace.