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Would You Take an Eight Month Paid Vacation?

admin — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 02:33:52 +0000

The Trump administration is offering almost every federal worker the “deal of a lifetime” with the Deferred Resignation program. The letter titled “A Fork In the Road” sent out by the Office of Personnel Management, had an amount of candor not normally used by a federal agency.

Some of it’s greatest hits include:

“The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work.”

“Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.”

“At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”
OPM Fork in the Road

They are making it astonishingly easy to resign:

“Upon review of the below deferred resignation letter, if you wish to resign:
1) Select “Reply” to this email. You must reply from your government account. A reply from an account other than your .gov or .mil account will not be accepted.
2) Type the word “Resign” into the body of this reply email. Hit “Send”.

And this doozy from the FAQs about getting a job while on deferred resignation

“The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector.”

The letter offered the employee a chance to resign but still collect a paycheck and benefits until September 30^th, 2025.

The administration says that over 65,000 workers have accepted this deal so far, although a federal judge has halted the program until lawsuits from unions and other interested parties can be sorted out.

The program comes with lots of questions and a rare opportunity to imagine a paid break from working. We (Monica and Shawn) got on the mics to discuss things to consider when deciding if you should take this deal.

Can you return to the government in the future? (Good news the FAQ says yes!) And will you retain your status, meaning if you left as a G11, will you be able to return as one?
What will you do with your eightish months of free time?
How can you use your skills to find other work in another area?
Do you want one less Native person representing in the federal government?*

*That last on is a bit of a guilt trip.

What would you do with your free time?

Shawn says he would probably do chores around the house and maybe finally build his daughter a tree house.

Monica says she would travel, likely start and not finish some crochet project and then panic and go get a new job.

Whatever the decision, it’s always a good idea to think through your choice, and weigh the pros and cons.

Here’s a sheet to get you started:

Pros and Cons to Staying or Resigning

Ready Made Side Hustle?

admin — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:06:42 +0000

Episode 7: Multi-level Marketing, what we really think

It starts with a direct message, maybe from someone you know or just a random social media friend. They have an opportunity for you! It’s going to make a lot of money!

Your new best friend wants you to join their multi-level marketing (MLM), network marketing, or direct marketing business. Some more well know MLMs include Avon, Mary Kay, Amway and Herbalife. The concept is fairly simple, sell a one of a kind product to people in your circle, and get them to sell to people in their circle. But let’s see what the Federal Trade Commission has to say about MLMs.

That’s right, most people don’t make any money from MLMs, and some even take a loss! That’s also what AARP Foundation found in their 2018 study of multi-level marketing.

In this episode Shawn and Monica share their thoughts MLMs and the questions you should ask yourself before getting into one.

New Episode!

admin — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 02:05:34 +0000

Monica and Shawn are back with an episode all about student loans. The Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan which would have forgiven up to $20,000 for federal student loan borrowers. We recorded the episode before the news, but our predictions were correct.

In this episode we cover student loan forgiveness plans, scams, if you should take out student loans to begin with and a new segment called Stupid Stuff People spend their money on. Shawn thinks it is bottled water and Monica thinks it’s exotic pets.

Here’s the links and other useful information from the show:

Legit Student Loan Forgiveness Information

Student Loan Forgiveness Scams

A wild cat was found in Cincinnati with cocaine in its system : NPR

Best pie recipe

Listen to the episode!

Music: It’s Not Over ‘Til The Bossa Nova by Shane Ivers – https://www.silvermansound.com

Episode 6-We’re back!

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 03:27:13 +0000

After a short break (only 2 years!) Shawn and Monica are back with the podcast! In this episode we catch up on our lives during the pandemic and past two years. We also talk about inflation and how to keep your grocery bill low. Hint: the key is planning ahead. Monica gives her annual rant on paying for tax prep services. See links below for places to do your taxes for free or low cost. We also give our list of upcoming show topics we’d like to cover. Enjoy!

IRS Website to file taxes for free (income limits)

Cheap and easy meal plans:

WE SPENT $25 A WEEK ON FOOD. HERE’S WHAT WE ATE.

ONE WEEK $50 MEAL PLAN FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR

Episode 5: Organize your life, organize your finances

admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 19:19:54 +0000

In this episode, Monica confesses to Shawn that she is a mess. When it comes to keeping papers organized, she uses the box method. Fill up papers in random boxes, then about three times a year go through those boxes and file everything, unless something is needed sooner. Keeping your papers organized can make a big difference in keeping your finances in order. Also in this episode tips for getting papers in order, a story of theft and a banking nightmare, and when to call it quits and file for bankruptcy.

from Imgflip Meme Generator

3-2-1 Backup Rule

Episode 4- The one where you get an emergency fund

admin — Sat, 23 May 2020 22:35:24 +0000

Listen to episode 4!

Everyone should have some kind of emergency fund, a stash of money to deal with broken down cars, or any number of unexpected expenses. This crisis that we are in right now is the prime example. If you can’t make ends meet right now, worry about putting together an emergency fund later. But when this is over, instead of going out and shopping because you can, put that money into an emergency fund.

We recorded this episode before the COVID-19 pandemic. But the advice is still solid. Here’s what Dave Ramsey has to say about emergency funds. He recommends getting $1000.00 to start while you are paying off debt. After that, you need to save 3-6 months of expenses.

What is an emergency?

It can be hard to know when it’s ok to use your emergency fund. Take this quiz to see what counts as an emergency and what doesn’t.

Here’s a few online savings accounts you can start today with a low balance requirement

You don’t use the savings account to earn money, so don’t worry about the interest. The point is to have money in a separate place, that you can get to for emergencies, but don’t use for everyday things.

No monthly maintenance fees or minimum balances.
Access to over 43,000 free ATMs via checking or money market accounts.
An above-average 1.25% APY on savings.

1.30% APY on savings
No minimum opening deposits for savings or CDs.
$5 nonsufficient funds fee

American Express

COVID-19 Scammers

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 02:45:57 +0000

As if we don’t have enough stress right now, scammers have a whole new crop of frauds related to the COVID-19 (also called coronavirus) pandemic. I’d really like to know how it works. Does a scam crew get together and the boss says “I need 15 new coronavirus scams right now, there’s no bad ideas, let’s go!”

Anyway Shawn and I are bringing you another podcast extra on these new scams that are popping up. We talk about a number of ones that are floating around, including the grandparent scam with a COVID twist, stimulus check scams and predatory lending, medical equipment scams and of course good old snake oil, cure scams. I talked with someone from the FBI in Albuquerque about what they are keeping an eye on. I’m guessing he looks like either one of these guys.

Just a note, Shawn recorded his part in North Carolina at home, and I recorded mine in New Mexico. We tried to make it sound like we were together. But let’s just say one of us works in radio and one of us does not. Enjoy!

Podcast extra, COVID 19 scams

Helpful resources:

FBI Urges Vigilance During COVID-19 Pandemic

Podcast Extra: Budgeting During COVID-19

admin — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 01:39:54 +0000

Shawn and Monica put together a quick special about managing your money through this crisis. Topics covered:

Stimulus package and what that means for you

How to prioritize what gets paid first

Unemployment

Student loans

Overspending and hoarding

And we answer one caller’s question about the financial benefits of being single or shacked up during this crisis.

Natives on a Budget Podcast Extra

Episode 3- Spending plans: from fanny packs to extra lives in Candy Crush

admin — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 03:26:56 +0000

Natives on a Budget Episode 3

In episode 3 we’re talking about spending plans. There are a number of ways to track your spending, we’ve got a list of apps below. Since getting started can be a chore, we recommend you either spend one month tracking all you spending with pen and paper or pick one category like entertainment and track in that area.

Shawn recommends the 50/30/20 rule. 50 percent of your spending is on fixed expenses, 30 percent is on flexible and 20 percent goes to saving. He also insisted that fanny packs are back in, Monica disagrees.

We also talk about the dumbest things we’ve spent our money on, and if coupons are worth the time. Airline tickets for internet friends and extra lives in Candy Crush were at the top of the list.

Sign up for our newsletter! You’ll get an email every once in a while that has good stuff! The only thing we’re selling is financial literacy!

Spending Plan Apps

EveryDollar is a zero based budgeting app, meaning you track your earnings and all spending and at the end of the month the balance should be zero. The app is free, but you can’t link your bank accounts in the free version. For EveryDollar Plus it costs about $11/month (129.99 a year paid up front). It also comes with access to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. You can not link credit cards in EveryDollar Plus. Ramsey is vehemently against borrowing money including using credit cards. The app is really easy to use.

You Need a Budget is also zero based budgeting. It costs 83.99 a year after the 34 day free trial or 11.99 a month, cancel anytime. Also students get a free year.

Mint.com

Mint is probably the most widely used tracking program. It is totally free. You can link all your bank accounts. The company has some ads and they also advertise financial products like loans. Some do report more glitches, but for the most part its a pretty easy app to use.

Wally

The neat thing about Wally is you can track by taking pictures of your receipts. It only works on phones, no desktop application. And it is free.

Check back soon, more to come!

Episode 1 transcript

admin — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 21:26:44 +0000

[00:00:33] You know, money was something that was talked about in my household, although we were not a family that had a lot of money. I was very aware of the value of the dollar and how hard my mother worked for money. She was a single mom and early on. The idea of having to work hard earned money was something that was taught to me. And so as soon as I was 14 years old, old enough to get a worker’s permit, I got one and have been working a job every sense. [00:00:33][0.0]

Edgar: [00:00:34] We didn’t talk about money when I was growing up, but I knew that it was the source of all of my parents fighting. It was the source of a lot of anxiety in the family. And I think that had a lot to do with how I view money today. I don’t like to spend it even though I can (laughs). I have to have conversations with like multiple people if I’m going to buy something like over 100 dollars or I feel like I don’t deserve to buy myself certain things. And I have a lot of anxiety over, you know, buying things that are more than 20 dollars except for food. [00:01:13][39.0]

Andi: [00:01:14] One of the things that I do with my children as I do my best to not let them know what money is. And it’s really difficult to work with my wife on this because she remembers as a child. People giving her money and that make in her day. But for me, I don’t want my kids to think of money as this way of getting something like I don’t want them to see money as the gateway for anything that they want to do in life. I got this. I don’t remember where I got this idea from, but like, I want my children to think, like, if they want to be if they want to become a radio deejay, I just want them to be able to do it. And money is just a sub resource of that. And if they have the opportunity to do whatever it is they want to do in life and succeed at it. That money isn’t the source for that isn’t the goal. You know, and I don’t want them to think that they need that in order to become whatever it is they want to become. [00:02:11][57.8]

Arlo: [00:02:33] Happy New Year. Welcome to the first episode of Natives on a Budget. I’m Shawn Spruce. My family’s originally from the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico. But I’ve lived most of my life in Albuquerque and I now live in Asheville, North Carolina with my wife and daughter. [00:02:47][14.2]

Shawn: [00:02:48] I’m Monica Braine. I’m from the Fort Peck, Assiniboine Sioux Tribes. And my grandfather was from Standing Rock. My day job is radio producer. Some of you may have heard me on the radio show Native America Calling. I’m senior producer there and I am single. I live alone except for my dog, which you will probably hear me talk about quite a bit. And here’s the thing, relatives, I’ve been thinking about money a lot, mostly about how little I have, how I could have had more. I’ve made a bunch of mistakes when it comes to money, like a ridiculous amount of mistakes that I’m willing to fess up to in this podcast for sure. But I want to ask you a question. Do you want 2020 to be the year that you make some changes when it comes to money? There’s something that drew you to this podcast. There’s something that drew you to listen to this and whatever that is, we’re gonna help you develop that to make some big changes in your life when it comes to money. [00:03:55][67.0]

Monica: [00:03:56] All of us have feelings about money. And I think the reality is that everybody feels that they need more of it. Whether you’re working a minimum wage job or whether you own some big company and you’re worth millions of dollars. Everybody, I think deep down feel some sort of insecurity worries that they’re not going to have enough worries that something could happen and they could struggle financially. So what we want to do is make sure that you understand that money is a resource and it’s a tool. And it needs to be managed wisely. And what we want to do is help you create a balance so that you handle money responsibly and in a healthy way. But it doesn’t become a burden. It doesn’t become an emotional drain on you. And it just is a tool of empowerment to make you and allow you to live the best life possible for not only you, but also your family and your community. [00:04:57][60.6]

Shawn: [00:04:58] We are starting and Native money cult here (both laugh). [00:05:06][7.6]

Monica: [00:05:06] That we are that we are you know, there’s a lot of podcasts out there and there’s a lot of people out there talking about money. But there aren’t a lot of people that are talking about personal finance from a Native perspective. And that’s where we come in. [00:05:20][13.9]

Shawn: [00:05:21] When I think about money and how much I’ve wasted and squandered through the years, and then I think about what my ancestors had to do for me to be sitting in this place in this moment. I feel like I owe it to them to live my best life possible, and that includes taking care of my finances, so I’m not calling somebody asking to borrow money, paying a bunch of money in interest. Sitting around thinking about how I’m never gonna go on vacation or when a funeral comes up, I can’t go home to go to it. And those are the things that we want to help you with. In the intro, you heard a few people talking about what was shared with them about money when they were growing up. What was shared with you, Shawn? [00:06:11][50.2]

Monica: [00:06:12] Here’s my first experience with money, Monica. I’m told that I was given a couple of dollars for my first birthday and, you know, babies and paper. So what happened? They all wound up on the floor, ripped up in shreds, properly drilled on until my dad comes along. He sees this confetti on the floor. He picks up and says to my mom, we’re gonna keep this because in a few years our sons gonna be a teenager and he’s going to come to us and he’s going to want money. And we’ll just him this confetti and say, sorry, we gave you money once. This is what you did with it. [00:06:43][30.5]

Shawn: [00:06:43] When I was growing up, my family. We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about money, but I remember after my parents split up. There is a lot more discussions about less money being available. And I kind of got the impression that money would solve all our problems. You know that if we didn’t feel good about something, we could just go buy something. Or if we just had a little bit more than whatever emotional issues were going on, they would just disappear. And that’s kind of a feeling that I’ve been reexamining recently. Money doesn’t solve everything. [00:07:19][35.3]

Monica: [00:07:19] I think that everybody has issues with money and on some level isn’t secure. Whether somebody is working a minimum wage job or somebody is really wealthy, owns a business or has some fabulously, you know, successful career. I think deep down, all of us worry whether or not we have enough money. We worry about setbacks that can impact our well-being and the well-being of those that we care about. We definitely want to address all these different concerns, but we want to do so from a Native perspective. [00:07:49][29.4]

Shawn: [00:07:50] Yeah, I agree with you, Shawn. I mean, the thing is, is like as I’ve become more and more obsessed with managing money, finances, things like that, I’ve been reaching out and trying to read as much as I can or listen to podcasts and things like that and everything that I’m hearing on our on finances. I don’t know. I can’t really relate to it. I haven’t found a single book or a single thing that’s just for Natives, where it talks about the complicated relationship we have with resources, with land, with money, how it is introduced to us and how we manage it today. So here we are. That’s why we’ve decided to do Natives on a Budget Podcast. And we’re going to give you a new episode the first of every month we want you to start off the month right with ideas and plans for how to manage your money. And we’re also going to tackle tough questions about managing money as well. You can join our Facebook group Natives on a Budget or check out our website. nativesonabudget.com. We’re going to take a short break. And when we get back, we’re gonna ask the question, is the American dream really possible for Native people? [00:09:05][74.9]

Monica: [00:09:11] (uplifiting music) Natives on a Budget is brought to you by the feeling you get when you get back from your debt free vacation, enjoy the feeling of calm, serenity, knowing you will be paying any interest on that trip to Gathering of Nations. How did you do that? By saving 200 dollars a month now till Gathering. 300 if you’re headed to Denver March. [00:09:31][19.7]

Narrator: [00:09:36] OK, Shawn. So, you know, it’s great to talk about budgeting and saving money, but that advice is for people who actually have money and we’re poor in Indian Country. Right? [00:09:46][9.7]

Monica: [00:09:48] That’s such an ugly word. But yeah, many native communities are. How do we say economically disadvantaged? I’ve got a friend who’s from Acoma Pueblo and he said something a few years ago that really hit home. He said, you know, “we Natives are experts at living in poverty no matter how broke we are. We always figure out a way to get by. The problems start when we get a few bucks in our pockets.” And the other thing to remember is that poor people, Native people, rural people, whoever we want to label is economically disadvantaged. We’re not the only ones with money problems. There’s a government study that came out revealed 39 percent of Americans, if faced with a 400 dollar emergency, would have to borrow money or sell something of value to cover it. [00:10:31][43.4]

Shawn: [00:10:32] Look, if that’s you, if you’re hearing that right now and you’re thinking. But wait a minute. That’s me. We’re not judging you. OK. I don’t want you to think that this is going to be a long lecture about the things you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to money. This is about utilizing your resources to live your best possible life. [00:10:57][25.1]

Monica: [00:10:58] So no matter how good a job you have, no matter how well you think you’re doing, you still need to make smart decisions when it comes to managing money. And yes, some reservations are poor, but others are doing OK. And there’s a whole class of hardworking Native people with good income. We’re going to focus on all of Indian country people from all backgrounds, all different communities. And we’re going to create something that I think everybody will be able to identify with. [00:11:27][28.5]

Shawn: [00:11:29] If you hear something and you’re like, that’s not me. Just hang on. Maybe something else you’ll connect with. OK, so Shawn, we get as this big question about the American dream, the way that I was raised. Is that capitalism is basically a corrupt system that holds the little man down. And that, combined with the historical effects of colonialism, really basically sets us up to fail from the beginning. Native people don’t have the chance to achieve the American dream. And when I say American dream, I mean anyone who works hard enough can have enough to live, can succeed, can thrive. All that it takes is just working hard enough. But I’ve heard so many people say, why bother paying off my debt? I’m just never going to get ahead anyway. [00:12:21][51.9]

Monica: [00:12:22] So now I know whose car that is in the parking lot with the Bernie Sanders bumper sticker. (laughs). [00:12:27][4.6]

Shawn: [00:12:28] I am not a communist. [00:12:28][0.6]

Monica: [00:12:30] No but you are a socialist. I just don’t buy it. When I hear people say the system is rigged, it’s impossible to get ahead. I know it’s tough, but most of my life I’ve worked really ordinary jobs. I was a seasonal firefighter. I worked in restaurants as a pizza driver. And through it all, I was still able to save money. I paid off student loans, kept out of debt. I invested, in fact, really everything I have today, my home, my savings, it all stems from a foundation of wealth that was created from service industry, gigs, tips, if you could on a side, hustles. If I can do it, anyone can. [00:13:08][37.8]

Shawn: [00:13:09] But you admit that our society is set up where some are privileged and some are not. [00:13:14][5.3]

Monica: [00:13:15] It definitely is. It certainly is. And you know, it gets tiring when you hear some of this, you know, pull yourself up from the bootstraps rhetoric. But I also think that I think, you know, if we listen too much to some of those messages, we just get discouraged and we just allow ourselves to kind of get overwhelmed with this feeling like it’s impossible. It’s impossible. You can’t do it. And now look at Indian Country. There were three million, roughly well over 3 million people in a country of over 300 million. And it’s not as I think to myself. Well, you know, we’re not talking about hundreds of millions of people or tens of millions of people. There’s three million of us. And I think to myself, can’t we just figure out a way to get three million people financially secure? I look at my own Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo or about 8300 tribal members. That’s not a huge amount of people. It’s not 10000 or you know, it’s not like the city of Albuquerque. It’s just 8300 people. I think surely there’s a way for 8300 people to become secure. [00:14:09][54.7]

Shawn: [00:14:10] I wanted to ask somebody else this question. So I reached out to Edgar Villanueva. He’s Lumby and the author of Colonizing Wealth Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance. His book challenges philanthropists to d colonize. They’re giving, you know, enough of the poverty porn, describing poor little starving Indian kids and letters to donors and more social justice like asking communities what they need. I asked him if you wanted to see the personal finance industry be colonized. And also, what’s the point of trying to get your finances in order if we’re so far behind to begin with? [00:14:45][35.0]

Monica: [00:14:46] Whether it’s philanthropy or personal finance, banking, what has to happen across all of these spectrums is for folks in this work to understand history and context, how we got to where we are. There is a reason that indigenous and native communities. There’s a reason that we have very high rates of unemployment, that we have gaps and achievement in education and that we see high rates of poverty. And that’s because we are in indigenous communities. Obviously, we have suffered from genocide of stolen land and wealth that was taken away from us. The same is true in the black community because of slavery and the exploitation of black folks. You find high rates of poverty in the black community. And so when we’re looking at present day situations and earning potential and we have to account for the historical racism and genocide and slavery and all those things that have not created an equal, you know, a level playing field for us, we also have to look at implicit bias or racism that still exists in our policies and our systems that can continue to marginalize in our press, our communities. Right. There’s a mindset in the United States that if we just work hard and we just pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, that we all can be successful. We do have a history and a context in this country that has created major, major disparities and that we as native people have to work against in order to be successful. And so, you know, my advice to my Native brothers and sisters is not to let that get us down right. We also have to tap into our Indigenous innovation and our resiliency to know that we are able to overcome that and succeed. But it is a fact. And industries that are trying to support building wealth and communities have to take all of that into consideration as they’re developing programs and outreach into communities. [00:16:49][123.5]

Edgar: [00:16:51] That was Edgar Villanueva, author of Colonizing Wealth. You can learn more about his book and listen to the entire interview I did with him at Natives on a budget dot com. In this podcast, we’re going to have a regular segment called Tough Questions. We’ll answer your tough money questions. I’m talking about those things you’re afraid to talk about, like should you get out of debt or declare bankruptcy or if you’re a bad relative for not giving a family member money, even though you know that they’re going straight to the casino with it. Don’t be shy. [00:17:24][33.2]

Monica: [00:17:25] We probably heard all. So send us your questions to Natives on a budget at Gmail dot com. [00:17:29][4.3]

Shawn: [00:17:30] Today’s tough question comes from me. How do you know when it’s time to trade up your war pony? I know if a car needs fifteen hundred dollars with repairs and it’s only worth two grand, it’s time to move up. But here’s my situation. My knees on has about 80000 miles on it and I plan to drive it to 200,000. But then this guy rear ended me and the car seems fine. There’s not even a dent in the back. But his insurance. Body Shop said the car is totaled. The insurance company gave me about four grand and they were offering six. But they wanted to take the car and I was like, no way. I don’t want to buy a car in the next few days because where I live, you really have to have a car. So I took the money and honestly, I can’t tell you if I should keep driving it or get a new one. Some in my family want me to get a new car. They’re saying things like you need to be safe and why bother buying a used car when it’s just going to go bad anyway? You should get a new car. And then there’s other family members who are like, fine, something used that’s reliable. And honestly, Sean, the whole thing is so overwhelming that I opted to do nothing. And I’m just driving the car and hoping for the best. [00:18:47][76.4]

Monica: [00:18:49] That’s a dilemma, Monica. So I’m gonna assume that in exchange for accepting the lower settlement, 4000 cars instead of six thousand dollars, you now have a salvage title on the car. [00:18:58][9.1]

Shawn: [00:18:59] Yep. [00:18:59][0.0]

Monica: [00:19:00] Okay. So that means the state acknowledges the vehicle has suffered a total loss, but that’s really not a huge deal as long as you don’t plan on selling the vehicle. So here’s my advice. You say the car runs fine, take it to a good independent body shop, not a Nissan dealer, because that’s can be expensive and independent. Get it inspected. They can put it on a frame machine, make sure the anybody’s in bed, check the alignment. And if it gets a clean bill of health, I say keep driving it. Usually salvage title cars have visible damage. But your point, he didn’t suffer any ugly battle scars. So I’ve owned a few Nissans. Good cars. They’re really hard to kill. And here’s a final thought. Too many Native people spend too much money on their cars. [00:19:40][39.9]

Shawn: [00:19:41] What? How dare you say that? [00:19:43][1.7]

Monica: [00:19:43] Sorry, but it’s true. I mean, driving expensive vehicles they can’t afford. And whenever I do financial counseling with families that are struggling, I find there’s almost always a bad car loan involved, high interest longterm and they’re usually upside down. Which means the vehicle is worth less than the note. And it’s just really hard to get out from one of those deals. So a good running war pony. That’s painful. It’s worth its weight in gold. Excuse me? Worth its weight in hay.(laughs) I really believe that for many Native people, the first step towards financial security is to lock down a good, affordable vehicle. Vehicles play such a huge role in our lives that once that’s secure, a person can begin building a future. [00:20:26][42.8]

Shawn: [00:20:27] And we’re going to talk more about borrowing money for a car or just saving up the cash. Things like that in later episodes. So stay tuned. If you’ve got a tough question you want us to answer and we’re not going to sugar coat it. Send us an email to natives on a budget at Gmail dot com. All right. Someone to say this. All my podcasts relations. I believe in you. No matter how much money you make, you can manage it. Let’s make 2020 the year you cut your debt in half. Sharpen your spending habits and get organized. If you’re tired of going to grandma for money or the pawn shop or selling your plasma or missing a car payment. This podcast is for you. And if you don’t make enough, we’re not going to promise you the world here. We will have tips for you to pick up extra jobs or maybe make that difficult decision about moving. In the next eleven episodes. We’re going to talk to you about managing your money debts, whether or not you should get into debt. Hint the answer is almost never. And how? Planning for the future makes your future better and we’re not going to sugarcoat it. We know that things are tough in Indian country for some of you, but we’re here to share with you our thoughts on this and make things just a little bit better. You’re excited, Shawn? [00:21:56][89.2]

Monica: [00:21:57] Hell, yeah. Let’s do this Indian country. We’ve got your back. OK, Monica and I, which really believe there is enough frybread right out there for every one of us to get his or her fair share. Look it’s tough. But remember, Mesa Verde wasn’t built in a day. You can get enough of a handle on your money. So you’re not stressing out on the rents. Do not scavenging under the couch cushions for gas money. Now living on spam and peanut butter and still have a few bucks left over to enjoy a night out once in a while. Straight shooting, no nonsense Natives only approach will strive to find that perfect balance for you between tough love, logic and understanding. OK? [00:22:34][36.5]

Shawn: [00:22:35] All right. At the end of the episode, we’re going to give you a little assignment. This is not school. It’s not homework. [00:22:41][6.6]

Monica: [00:22:42] Thank you. [00:22:43][0.4]

Shawn: [00:22:44] The best way to make change is to write it down, to be intentional, to keep thinking about it. So get out a piece of paper and write down what drew you to listen to this podcast. What is it that you want to change about your finances this year? What challenges do you expect to face? You can share your thoughts with us. Send us an e-mail to natives on a budget at gmail dot com or you can post them right into our Facebook group and we’ll see you in February. [00:23:12][27.7]

Monica: [00:23:36] (music) Natives on a Budget, is hosted by Monica Braine and Shawn Spruce, it’s produced by Monica Braine. Thanks to Andy Murphy, Marino Spencer and Art Hughes for their help. Music in this episode, River Flows is by Torrin Jacobs. And the underwriting music to Reach the Top is by Shane Ivers at Silverman Sound dot com. You can also sign up for Natives on a budget newsletter at Natives on the Budget dot com [00:23:36][0.0]