Yahweh’s Money®️: The Crossroads of Religion & Money

Discovering the True Cost of College: Tips on Unexpected Expenses with Adriana Lopez

• Crusaders for Change, LLC • Season 3 • Episode 75

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Welcome back to Yahweh’s Money!

In this episode, we dive deep into the hidden costs of higher education beyond tuition. I’m your host, Shay Cook, and I’m excited to introduce our new and improved format for more authentic, conversational discussions.

Joining me is Adriana Lopez, a military veteran, Accredited Financial Counselor®️, and the inspiration behind our podcast! Together, we break down overlooked college expenses—dorm furniture, textbooks, transportation, and unexpected fees—while offering practical budgeting tips to help you plan wisely. Inspired by Proverbs 27:23, we encourage financial stewardship and mindful preparation for these hidden costs.

Key Takeaways:

  • Hidden Expenses Matter – College costs extend beyond tuition. Being aware of extra expenses can prevent financial surprises.
  • Living Arrangements Impact Finances – Weigh on-campus vs. off-campus housing to determine the most cost-effective option.
  • Smart Budgeting & Planning – Leverage student discounts, loyalty programs, and meal planning to stretch your budget and avoid unnecessary debt.

Did we miss any hidden college costs? Let us know at yahweh@crusaders4change.org.

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Our podcast is proudly sponsored by Crusaders for Change, LLC (C4C) and hosted by our CEO and Founder, Mrs. Shay Cook. At C4C, we provide customized corporate financial wellness programs for businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Our services are tailored to create happier, healthier, and more productive work environments. We also empower individuals and couples to overcome debt, improve their credit, boost savings, and more. Ready to learn more about how C4C can impact your life? Contact us today at https://www.crusaders4change.org/!

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Adriana Lopez:

You know, we did the whole going to visit the campuses and I was blown away. I was just like there's Starbucks, there's the state of the art gym and you can live right here. And so I got caught up in that. Luckily, his father was also involved in the process and was like no, it's going to be too expensive, like that's all hype. And I don't think that that's hype for everybody. I think that there's, you know, those benefits of living on campus. You know you feel like secure, there's security, you're there, you're able just to walk to class for some students. So I think it's a good experience for some families. But I also want people to know that there are alternatives, like commuting.

Shay Cook:

Ever felt those awkward vibes when religion and money come up? You're not alone. Welcome to Yahweh's Money, the podcast where we tackle the crossroads of faith and finance. I'm Shay Cook an Accredited Financial Counselor and CEO and founder of Crusaders for Change LLC. Join us on our journey as we discuss topics like tithing, saving and conquering debt through religious perspectives. Let's get started.

Shay Cook:

Hey, everyone, welcome back to another episode of Yahweh's Money. This is Shay, your host. And before I introduce our special guest, I want to first thank our regular and new listeners and second, our to our new and listeners and second, I want to share some news about us leveling up this podcast. Today's episode will introduce our new run of show format, which will to allow us to be more conversational and authentic. Plus, we have a new podcast producer, the award-winning Crackers and Soup. Plus, new graphics are coming soon. So thank God and our special guest host for their inspiration to level up Yahweh's money.

Shay Cook:

And before I introduce our amazing guest, I wanted to provide a quick description of what we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about the real cost of college, beyond tuition. When most people think about the cost of college, they're immediately thinking of tuition and student loans. And yes, they are expensive. But according to savingsforcollege. com, the average 2024 to 2025 tuition and fees for tuition

Shay Cook:

in-state students at public universities are approximately $11,260 to $29,000 for out-of-state students. So I know my daughter paid more of that for in-state. So but let's take a step back and think about the real cost of college. We're talking about the hidden expenses that pile up over time, things like dorm furniture, textbooks, parking permits and the countless fees we don't take into account in our financial aid package. F

Shay Cook:

In today's episode, we're helping you think outside the box when it comes to college expenses and what the higher education really costs for you. So in Proverbs 27, 23, it tells us be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds. This verse encourages careful planning and attention, which is exactly what you'll be doing by bringing awareness for those unconsidered college expenses. So I'm so excited to introduce our guest host. She's just been pivotal in this podcast. She's amazing. She's sweet, kind, she's God-fearing. She's a child of God, mother, wife, military veteran, military spouse, finra Foundation Fellow and an accredited financial counselor. Former Yahweh's Money podcast producer again our inspiration for our podcast and now Crusaders for Change's lead financial counselor Adriana Lopez. Hey, adriana, hey friend.

Adriana Lopez:

Hi friend, Hi Shay, Thank you for that sweet introduction. Yes, ma'am, I mean I'm just blessed to be part of this, you know amazing journey and so thank you for having me on. I really appreciate you and all your mentorship, so I'm glad to be part of this. It's a blessing.

Shay Cook:

No, I'm so excited. I've been wanting you on this podcast for two years now three seasons but you have been pivotal in such you. Yeah, finally, we got you out in the front end because you were in the back end, so tell us a little bit more about who Adriana is

Adriana Lopez:

Well, like you said I am an Army veteran, Hoorah, Hoorah, I am an immigrant too.

Adriana Lopez:

That's a big part of my identity. I was originally born from Colombia, so I am just really excited about all the opportunities that I've been blessed with living in this country, being able to be part of the military, having two amazing kids you know my husband also just retiring.

Adriana Lopez:

So we're in this new chapter of our lives here in Florida just working with Crusaders for Change. Being in this sector, you know financial counseling for me was a pivot in my career because I was mostly doing logistics with the federal government and so this opportunity came up to be awarded and blessed with the FINRA Military Spouse Fellowship. I was, like you know, I really like finances. I know a little bit, and when I did the fellowship I said I don't know anything. And it's been a great journey. Ever since I've learned so much. I've been able to take those gifts and those talents and help others. So I am forever grateful for that opportunity because it is truly life changing. So just glad to be part of this.

Shay Cook:

It really is, and a shout out to FINRA Foundation for all they do. They are amazing. I found out about the fellowship back in 2006, Seven and man, has it been a game changer for my professional life as well. So let's talk about how we know each other. So how did you find Crusaders for Change or Shay Cook? Well, I remember that.

Adriana Lopez:

AFCPE. Yeah yeah, which are, you know, the ones that give us the AFC designation? They had a career fair and so they had posted it on social media, had seen it and I was like, oh, I'm going to, you know, attend this fair and you were one of the hosts there. So I remember going into your room because this was all virtual, this was still you know, during the COVID era, and so I was like, okay, you know, I really liked the conversation.

Adriana Lopez:

I was really interested in wanting to volunteer and work on my experience hours. You know, I didn't know you. I applied. I remember turning in my resume to you and hearing back from you and you told me yeah, you know, I want you to be a part of the team and help us in some areas, you know. So I was just really glad because then I got to know you better, got to know the mission of Crusaders for Change, which you know I was just so impressed by everything that you've done where you brought your organization to, so I was just like really glad that you took me on.

Shay Cook:

Yeah, and I think we met a little before that, when you were going through the actual course for the FINRA Foundation, the orientation, with Cherie Stevie. Yeah, yeah, so I remember you being on there, weren't you on the virtual?

Adriana Lopez:

The first orientation.

Shay Cook:

Yeah, so I remember meeting you there and us maybe meeting offline after that, but yeah, and you were in Italy then.

Adriana Lopez:

Yeah, I was in Italy.

Shay Cook:

So well, welcome back to United States Crazy, America. So, guys, in our new running show, our new process here, our format, I should say we're going to start asking like rapid fire questions and then we'll go into the main topics and teach tips about the topic of the day, which is the real cost of college. But let's do some quick rapid fire questions before we move into our main talking point. What was your last purchase that you were most excited about?

Adriana Lopez:

Oh, I sent you a picture of it. Oh, you did. It was the Eagles Super Bowl memorabilia, that's right, yeah, that was so nice. I love giving that to my husband for Valentine's Day and our anniversary because they go both hand in hand. So I also bought one for my best friend. Oh nice, she's a huge Eagles fan, so if the Super Bowl ticket, a big replica of it with all the players' signatures. So I was really excited. I haven't given hers yet. Her birthday was last week.

Shay Cook:

Oh, okay, she's going to be super excited.

Adriana Lopez:

Yeah, she doesn't even know, so hopefully this episode doesn't air before?

Shay Cook:

Oh no, I don't think it will. Well, she does. Happy birthday you're gonna get an amazing gift, and congratulations to the egos. That was awesome. That was awesome.

Shay Cook:

Yeah, for me, the last purchase I was most excited about was beyonce tickets oh, that's so exciting my sister and my niece sat online for two hours to get those dang on cowboy parter tickets and we're huge Beyonce fans. I don't know why. I just not, even I'm not ready to say I'm part of the Beehive. My husband's, like you, are part of the Beehive. I'm like no, I'm not. I always want to be different, but I'm super excited about that because Beyonce is one of the best entertainers of all time, so she is amazing and I mean I'm tickets for high. We're not going to talk about that. Talk about it in another episode. I felt a little bit of shame and embarrassment. I don't do a lot. I justify it by I don't do a lot.

Adriana Lopez:

So hey, I'm going to spend on.

Shay Cook:

Beyonce and we're sitting on the field, so wow, and all three of you are going, all three. My daughter, she said when she went last year and she was like it was too much, so she wants to go see Kendrick instead. I was like, all right, we go see Kendrick and SZA. But yeah, I'm excited about that, so all right. Next question what is your favorite way to save?

Adriana Lopez:

My favorite way is automate. Automate all day, every day, set it and forget it. That has been, for us, instrumental to be able to save our emergency fund, our gold funds. What?

Shay Cook:

about you into another savings so and another savings and another savings. So yeah, I love using like the club accounts too to separate Cause I like to have like specific, measurable, smart goals Like, all right, I'm going to save this amount for Christmas for my nieces and nephews, my daughter, my husband and so forth, or I'm saving for a new car, or I'm saving for the insurance that I want to pay off this year, whatever it may be, I love to do the club accounts too, so automate club so yeah, and I love to have the names of each savings.

Adriana Lopez:

When I log into my bank I edit the name and I it just my incentive every time I see. Oh, the vacation fund, you know, is getting there. Same, same. I have the vacation fund.

Shay Cook:

I got the holiday Christmas holiday fund. Let me tell you a story when I had my when he may he rest in peace Titan, my dog bulldog that died two years ago, going on three before we got him, we named it Titan Savings, like literally, we had a Titan Savings two years before we even had Titan. So cause we knew, as the English bulldog, they can be expensive, so we started saving for him yeah, I know you got many, so being able and then I kept Titan savings till he died because of all the other emergencies and all of the medical expenses. So that was always the saving. So may he rest in peace, my baby, all right. Last question what feeling do you associate with money? Money?

Adriana Lopez:

Security For sure. You know I just had a dental emergency that you know about. If I didn't have the money to cover that unexpected expense, I wouldn't be able to have taken care of it. And so for me, that security that I know this happened. I've got the money sitting there for us for this type of stuff, so let's go for it. I didn't want to go with the procedure, but I needed it, so I'm glad that I had the money there. So security for me is the first thing that comes to my mind.

Shay Cook:

Yeah, For me I would say freedom is a feeling Security goes along with freedom, but sometimes there is shame, there's still. Like I was thinking about that with the Beyonce tickets or when I went to this event this week and all these women were walking around with all these clothes on great clothes, and I'm like right now, for many reasons I'm not buying a lot of clothes. First of all because I have a closet full of nice clothes and I need to just lose some more weight, but also it's just like I don't want to be spending all my money on that. But then I have this shame about I should be looking a certain way. I battle with this and I'm sure it's from childhood and I probably talk about it in therapy. But there is still shame around money with me and I you know hey, I'm real and I'm a financial counselor almost shoot over 15 plus years and, yeah, it's still there's shame there. But the freedom is nice to knowing that I have savings in case something comes up. So that security piece too, yeah, well, thank you for that. I love that rapid fire. That's going to be fun, yeah.

Shay Cook:

So let's get in talking about the real cost of college beyond tuition. You know a lot of people focus on the tuition pieces or piece of college which can be really expensive in America and honestly shame on America for having tuition so high. But you know there's things like the dorm versus off campus living or other academic costs, so let's get into that. I know you have a son that was recently in college. You've been in college, I've been to college, my kid was in college.

Adriana Lopez:

I never lived on campus. My son didn't live on campus, so I don't have that experience. But he commutes and just that saving alone could be about $14,000 for a family a year. So I want my son to know that I'm saving him $14,000 a year by him living with us. So eventually you don't want to see that money back and the return is going to be, of course, in his education.

Adriana Lopez:

But I did the community college thing and then I went to a four-year school but I commuted as well. It didn't even fathom to ever live on a campus for me. I never thought that could be a possibility because I would hear that people say that it was expensive. And for my son, you know, I wanted I did want that experience because I was, like you know, we did the whole going to visit the campuses and I was blown away. I was just like there's Starbucks, there's state of the art gym and you can live right here, and so I got caught up in that.

Adriana Lopez:

Luckily his father was also involved in the process and was like no, it's going to be too expensive, like that's all hype. And I don't think that that's hype for everybody. I think that there's, you know, those benefits of living on campus. You know you feel like secure, there's security, you're there, you're able just to walk to class for some students. So I think it's a good experience for some families. But I also want people to know that there are alternatives, like commuting, like perhaps living in a residence off campus and sharing with roommates.

Adriana Lopez:

I know that you know your daughter Alana.

Shay Cook:

you know she lived on campus the whole four years, yeah, and I lived on campus two years and for me it was back in 97. God I'm old. It was because I needed to get the H-E-U-K-O what out of my parents' house. I was like I am not living here with y'all, you know what?

Adriana Lopez:

That's why I went to the army.

Shay Cook:

Exactly Right. It was independence. It was like I'm getting out of here. And even though it was so, I went to UMBC. It was like 20, 30 minutes from my parents' house, so literally I should have lived down at home, but I still had two siblings at home and it was just so much drama and I was like I don't want to live here. So I was just like, yeah, I'm going to UMBC and I'm going to live on campus. And, man, yes, I wish somebody had talked to me about that because it was so expensive. And actually I moved home my soft middle sophomore year because my roommate was all about doing certain things with her boyfriend while I was there.

Adriana Lopez:

And I was like yeah, it was great.

Shay Cook:

And so I was like my mom went up there and went off on her and stuff. I'm like man, hopefully she's not listening. You know, girl, I still love you. And so I had to leave and but I realized I have saved so much money because I moved back home.

Shay Cook:

but then I got married that summer or that yeah, that summer and so I was saving so much because living on campus was an extra like 10, 15,000 a year and that's, and I did the student loan route. So when I got out of UMBC, I had like 30,000 student loans. Back then tuition wasn't expensive. It was only like 5,000 a semester, which I mean still a lot of money, but it wasn't as much as what my daughter was paying. So it was really expensive.

Shay Cook:

And but the experience I had living outside, I mean because I got married young I was 20 when I got married so I think God was planning something, because he knew I needed to get out of my parents' house and experience living away from my parents before I got married, because then I've been married 25 years, so I would have never really experienced living outside with nobody, right? I always had a roommate, though, but so it was great. But, yeah, living off campus is the way to go if you have a good home situation, because I have to add that in there because not everybody wants to be at home and you can't afford it Like, let's be real, the affordability of it all. Not everybody's capable to afford the exuberant cost of living on campus. It's so expensive.

Adriana Lopez:

Yeah, and I think roommates too, like talking with your you know friends.

Adriana Lopez:

If you're going to the same school, you know that's an option too for you to discuss If you know that you're not going to be able to live on campus but you want to live off campus where you could save a lot more.

Adriana Lopez:

You know you're not going to be living at home or educationdata. org you're going out of state. So just looking into roommates and also, if you don't have friends going there, but looking at some of the you know postings for roommates for your college campus and I'm sure there's going to be a lot of information so that'd be a good option to share the rent, you know, with four roommates, of course, people you can trust and you know are going to be, you know. I mean, you know you're always going to run into things, but at least having still that experience, like you said, that independence, which I think that's such a great thing, because that's one of the things that I kind of would like. I wish my son would have had, that you Like. I wish my son would have had that you know, to be off on his own and kind of make his way in that aspect of it. But at least people that are looking for cost savings is to consider roommates, so you could save even more.

Shay Cook:

Yeah, and schools do a good job of trying to pair you with a roommate. You know, my two roommates only had two. They were amazing women. I mean, we were young though, we were in 18, 19. And my daughter's same situation, her first roommate. They didn't really get along, a lot of you know. You got the whole boyfriend-girlfriend situation in the mix. It plays it, it adds a little testy drama to the situation.

Shay Cook:

My daughter went to a different dorm each time just to try it out, and then she went to apartments on campus and then an apartment that was off the campus but was still owned by UMBC or affiliated with UMBC, so she got to experience all of that. But or affiliated with UMBC, so she got to experience all of that. But I've heard people that actually went and bought a house or rent a house outside of campus so their kid could get roommates and that's a huge cost savings. But I mean because when you live on campus I was about to say on base when you live on campus you're required to have a meal plan, kind of like.

Shay Cook:

When you're a single on base, you got to have like you know you got to have, like you know, be able to go to the mess hall or something, so that's extra cost.

Adriana Lopez:

Let's talk about food expenses my gosh. So according to educationdataorg, they said that a college student spent about $78 billion a year on food. I couldn't believe that. I was like there's no way.

Shay Cook:

Is that for the world? No, that's America.

Adriana Lopez:

I'm sure. But America we're expensive $7 billion on food and they said that the cost went up $10 billion a year. It's gotten up $10 billion more. So I'm thinking what has changed? Now it's so accessible to get food because of COVID, a lot of these delivery places are making a lot of money. Of course there's that convenience You're studying or you're on campus, you don't want to drive off, you don't have a vehicle but yeah that the meal plans and I know that you had experience with the meal plans for your daughter, but I just couldn't believe the cost of these meal plans. I'm like you know, I would definitely be using that kitchen in the dorm room instead of eating out, or you know. But of course there's got to be ways that you've got to balance all of this.

Shay Cook:

Yeah, because not every dorm room, like her first two years, she didn't have access to a kitchen. I think they had a community kitchen in the dorm but not in her room, and then she had a full kitchen in her apartments, of course. But the meal plan what I used to get mad of and I got mad about this in high school is you get these meal plans and these kids choose to go eat off campus or they don't use all of their credits or their points. It's just like, wow, ok, I used to get on a lot. I'm like dude, you got to use this money, because if you don't use it, you lose it Literally.

Adriana Lopez:

It doesn't carry over.

Shay Cook:

It doesn't carry over and I'm like girl so I wouldn't mind her. Today and I hated doing that to her I'm like you still got money. You need to go over there. Like at the end of the year, at the end of the semester, I was like you better go to the bookstore and use cause she was able to use the credit there. You better go get some books or some supplies, some gear from UMBC. She'll go get some shirts. I was like I call it a mess hall because we're military.

Shay Cook:

But going to the dining facility she would go to Starbucks Chick-fil-A there was this other breakfast place on campus and the money didn't go as far there as it did. So she would get a lot more food at the dining facility than if she went to Starbucks and only can get like a coffee and a bagel or something. So I used to get on about that. She's like but there's no, I don't have time to go over there. So I know I was a pain.

Shay Cook:

And then when she moved into an apartment you have a smaller meal plan so you can still get like your snacks and stuff, but then you have to start buying your own food. So she had a job throughout college and I'm like you're paying for your food, you're going to have to go to a grocery store, and so she started learning like store. And so she started learning like I'm going to go to Aldi or all these like Trader Joe's, where it's cheaper, and she would get her budget and she made like $50, you know, she would make use $50 a week to buy her food for the weekend. So she was really very budget conscious when it came to that. Thank God for that.

Adriana Lopez:

And you know, I think, that it's going to be hard, especially, like you mentioned, she didn't have a kitchen. And if you don't have that availability, you know, have a good balance. I mean, if you can have some snacks or things in your dorm, or, you know, of course, if you have a kitchen, even better, look up some recipes because, you know not, not every college student is going to know how to cook.

Shay Cook:

Yeah.

Adriana Lopez:

Or you may have that roommate that does know how to cook, so maybe that's something that you could think about, about saying, hey, we'll buy the ingredients, everything you need if you cook for us, something like that. But also if you're going to definitely around a college campus, I noticed that that's like where all the good restaurants and all the fast food places I mean, I'm here near Tampa, so we have the University of Southern Florida, and so I see all of these great places because the VA hospital's over there too.

Adriana Lopez:

So I'm just like, wow, I mean I can eat at all these places when I come over here, but I could see how enticing it is for someone young. And again, think of ways that you could save with those costs to have a good, healthy balance. Look for those student discounts, look for two-for-one opportunities where you can go with your roommates you know, sometimes there's those specials so maybe having loyalty or rewards to the restaurants you'd like to eat at because $78 billion that is definitely all going to like Uber.

Adriana Lopez:

It's a lot of money, but just finding ways because you know you're going to want to enjoy hanging out and eating with your friends, but definitely doing it in a wise consumer way. You know and I didn't know there was this website it's called Uni Days and that's where you can go and unidayscom, and then you can get different discounts on food tech, clothing. It's kind of like how the military, you know, has that verified for discounts as well.

Adriana Lopez:

Same thing for students where they verify their enrollment and then it shows them all the places that have discounts. So it could be some of your places that you're already enjoying, but now you can go there and get discounts.

Shay Cook:

Yeah, my daughter knew about all those student discounts because she used it on Amazon, she used it on Spotify, like she made sure she took advantage of her student discounts for that budgeting purposes. Yeah, but what about other unexpected expenses like health insurance, medical costs? Alana went on campus during that time. She was under our military TRICARE plan, but it don't matter what the medical issue was. But we got a $200 bill. I was like what the where does this come from? We got insurance but because she had to go on campus to get health care, they didn't take the insurance or whatever the situation may be, there's an outside of that, eating, which is a huge so living and eating, which is a big cost for most of us. You got the health insurance, you got the Greek life, you got the transportation, if they're out of state. You know, I always tell people like are you counting in the flights or the drive from Massachusetts to Florida? I mean, are you counting that?

Shay Cook:

You know the moving expenses the moving expenses yeah.

Adriana Lopez:

I know, like with the military, I think if you 500 miles from can't remember exactly what it was, but the military does give you the GI Bill.

Adriana Lopez:

I'm sorry, the GI Bill gives you a stipend if you if you're in a rural area and you have to move closer to the college that you're attending. But maybe also looking for scholarships that help you with some of those costs Not just always just tuition that scholarships cover. But no, it can get really expensive, I mean. That's why making a budget, creating a budget for all of those expenses I think tuition is something a lot of people always focus on.

Adriana Lopez:

And those little expenses, like you mentioned Greek life. You know being part of any fraternity or sorority, I had no idea, I've never been part of one, but that is a big expense for a lot of college students that are members of those fraternity. There's events, there's activities got to buy clothing, of course attire to attend certain things, and you know. Then you have to pay the entrance fees just like sporting events as well?

Adriana Lopez:

Yeah, so it can add up If you want to enjoy your college years. I think those, for a lot of people, are their most memorable years. But just being wise about how you're spending your money and having that budget and saying, okay, like you mentioned transportation, if you don't have a vehicle, you're coming from out of state and you know a vehicle wasn't something that was in your plan to purchase. You're going to be depending on transportation, but a lot of campuses have buses my mom got out to Rut, yeah.

Adriana Lopez:

She's a bus driver, so she is driving buses in the middle of the night picking up students from labs.

Adriana Lopez:

So there is that you know transportation. I mean you know, yeah, sometimes you'll have to maybe stand out there, it might be cold. But just be aware that if you are going to use these ride sharing, share ride companies, make sure that you either maybe share with your fellow classmates, put it in your budget, have a certain amount. If you know you're going to work, staying late at the library, so have a plan for that. Know the bus schedule on campus so you know what's available, maybe with your classmate that does have a vehicle working something out to split the cost of gas to help out. So those are things that take into consideration and get some savings there.

Shay Cook:

That's what I did. I had a car and Alana had a car coming. Man, we're sounding really bougie and rich and we're not, but I had a car my first years of being on campus. Alana had it the whole four years. I used to be like back in the day gas was 99 cents a gallon y'all, so I was like y'all you pay, oh no, you spend exactly, man I was like I'll have $5 to try to fill up, or half way, my little red neon I had back in the day, and so, and Alana did the same thing.

Shay Cook:

I'd be like, girl, if you're taking your friends somewhere, like she would take them to the grocery store or something, I'm like you better get some money for that gas, girl. But then all the other expenses you got to still make sure your tires are good, your oil changes.

Shay Cook:

Like insurance, Like there's so many like you out here in these streets living like a real full adult life on campus, Like you got to make sure tuition, the housing, the food, the car, the books and supplies, the Greek life, the insurance, the health insurance oh my Lord, it's like a preview.

Adriana Lopez:

It's a preview, it's almost like real life already. You know you're getting a way to being a good steward, just like you said. You know that's what we want to do. We want to be good stewards of God's money, the money that he entrusted us with. You know having that responsibility to whom much is given. You know much is expected.

Shay Cook:

Yeah, exactly, responsibility to whom?

Adriana Lopez:

much is given, you know much is expected. It's something that I think, in the end, we want to make sure that we're using all the gifts that we're being blessed with, and using it wisely and using it responsibly, because, you know, it all belongs to him. We're just here to manage it.

Shay Cook:

We're just here to manage it. Y'all I mean that's what y'all waste money about that crossroads of religion and money. God gives it to us to manage and be responsible, and that includes college and you have kids, you get married and you're out in this work world. Wherever you're at, you need to be responsible with God's money. So, wow, this is great. Lot of people didn't realize all of the extra expenses to go into college, because a lot of people don't talk about this. They're always focused on the tuition, which is the biggest expense that we should be talking about that. But sometimes, if you add all the extra expenses, it's probably just as much, if not more, as tuition.

Adriana Lopez:

Yeah, that's crazy. And I would love to hear from listeners other expenses that maybe we're not even thinking about or covering because and how were you able to save? So I definitely want to hear from our listeners and ask you know what other expenses are there, those little expenses that you know you don't think about and once you're there you're like, oh OK, you know yeah.

Shay Cook:

Drop it in our social media platforms or send us an email, an email at yahweh, at crusaders4changeorg. We would love to hear that. So any last thoughts. Brianna, first of all, I have to stop because, girl, where you been all my life, this was great. I know we always had great conversations offline and I know you feel a certain way about being out front, but you're amazing. That was amazing. I love this conversation. Any last thoughts?

Adriana Lopez:

Just remember those little expenses. Having a budget is essential. Being a good steward means you're being intentional, so managing your money in the best way that not only is going to help alleviate so much, help you save, help you stay out of debt if you can help it, but also help you be generous.

Shay Cook:

Yeah.

Adriana Lopez:

And that's going to be such an important thing. You know that's God's intent for us to have generosity with our money and be able to bless others. Just definitely. You know, remembering what being a good steward is. And, of course, again, this sets you up for the future. It's going to help you because if you can manage now, you're going to be able to do so much better when you're definitely growing a family. Now you have a mortgage or a home. You know it's going to set you up for success.

Shay Cook:

That's so true and then try to stay away from the debt y'all the credit cards and all that, because that can just lead to even more.

Shay Cook:

I was there. I got all those credit cards in college and it was like, oh my God, now I got to pay this debt off after I had a baby and all that good stuff. But that's for another episode. So thank you, guys for joining us. Thank you, adriana, for your beautiful spirit and everything you do for us and beyond, and we'll see you soon. Guys, a big thank you for listening to this episode. We hope you found today's chat about the intersection of religion and money insightful. We would love to hear your feedback. Hit that subscribe button or follow the podcast, and please feel free to leave us a review. For the latest Yahweh's Money content, visit us at crusaders4changeorg or find us anywhere you listen to podcasts. Until next time, stay financially fit and spiritually inspired and remember it's always better Yahweh's way.

People on this episode

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Shay Cook

Host
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Adriana Lopez

Guest