This Nurse is Her Own Credit Expert and You Can Be an Expert Too! - Ep. 59

Good credit is a powerful ally in building wealth and something a lot of people, including me have struggled with. Meet Shantae who is an author, financial educator, certified credit consultant, holds a degree in nursing, founds a couple of nonprofit organizations.  It was her mission to empower people to rebuild, restore, and repair their credit.  She also helps individuals devise a consistent plan to manage their finances and debt. 

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TRANSCRIPT:

Naseema McElroy: [00:00:00] All right Nurses on Fire. I am super, super juiced to have my girl  Shanté Nicole of Financial Common Cents to talk about credit, everything. All you need to know about credit. Breaking  common myths and a common credit mistakes that people make, but ultimately. This is to educate you about credit.

so Shanté let's dive into like your background, like your story and how you  had to learn all this stuff about

Shanté Nicole: [00:00:35] credit. So I'm, I'm 41 now, but when I was 22, I was diagnosed with stage three cancer. And I was working full time, but because chemotherapy and radiation, you know, kicked in, it forced me to work part time and that took away some income.

That's a good way. My ability to take care of a lot of my bills. And I did not have a savings, the importance of saving at that time, I was 22, just trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I thought, you know, I went to college for this one thing, dropped out, wanted to do this. I was trying to figure it out.

So I had no savings, maxed out credit cards and tons of medical bills and collections that I could not pay. Not that I didn't want to after tonight. And so it was really about like, how do I, not only. Start establishing better money habits for myself. Like I should have had a savings account,  established, but also like how can I clean up this credit?

Like my bills are maxed out. My credit score is no, I have all these bills and collections. Where do I even start? I had no idea where to go. And so the internet I started and I just started researching credit. credit myths, credit mistakes that we're going to talk about today. Also how to build your credit up, what goes into a credit score back then?

There was no credit karma. So it really was just FICO was what people focused on. And then I just started listening to credit girls on the radio. Anytime I saw an article in a newspaper, I was just really like saturating myself with this knowledge because I wanted to not stay in the position I was in and like from reading and I'm like, Oh, there are things I can do.

So bounce back from this. And I was like, all right, show me, I want to do it. And so I just learned all this stuff back 20, some years ago.

Naseema McElroy: [00:02:18] So what about those people that say that focusing on credit? Like isn't important.

Shanté Nicole: [00:02:28] So I hear the thing like cash is King and credit is queen. Now I can see why people say that that is true.

Our, our whole goal in life should be to build the generational wealth. So build so to not have to rely on credit. But right now we're in a position where we have to, right. Unless you have, like I say, that Oprah money or that Tyler Perry money, you have to finance. And so the idea behind a credit is.

Showing the lender, how responsible you are with borrowing money and paying it back. That is what credit is all about. Now, there are several factors that go into that. It's not just about how responsible you are with borrowing money, paying it back. That's the key. So if you don't have enough money to purchase a car $16,000, that was a cash you need to finance that car.

What that means is you're asking a bank, can you please buy this car for me? And I will pay you back. The bank says, okay, well, I don't know how trustworthy you are with paying people back. Let me check your credit. So they look at your credit report and your score and they say, Oh, okay. She said, this account opened for some years.

She's been really responsible there. Oh, she's had a couple of collections, but those are so old. I see that she's bounced back since then. You know what? We'll go ahead and buy the car for you. You pay us back with this amount of interest. Now, the worse, your credit, the higher interest. The better, your credit, the lower your interest.

So again, credit is key. If you need to finance, can you buy a $300,000 house with cash? Most people can't. So you need to borrow money from a bank. They're going to buy your house for you. And you're going to whether it's 15 year or 30 year mortgage with interest. And so again, credit is really critical.

When you don't have the cash. I mean, that's just the bottom line. The

Naseema McElroy: [00:04:06] also, I feel like a lot of people that say that you don't really have to focus on credit now. I'm not one that's like credit is everything. But I think like in situation, especially like you were 22 years old, you didn't have control over the fact that you got cancer.

But you still had a whole life to live. And if you have a bad credit score means that you, they weren't in rent or have to pay a higher down payment. A low credit score means that you may or may not get that job because they don't run a background check and   see that your credit is bad, meaning that you're not trustworthy.

You know? So these are things that can keep people in cycles of poverty. Paying too much or things that other people have. Really affordable access to. And so, that's, you know, one thing, one reason why we, they should be educated about our credit. I'm not trying to find, you know, quick fixes, but understand that our credit is a sign of our, you know, trustworthiness.

And if we don't take immediate action to correct that, like I said, you didn't have anything to do with. Getting cancer and not being able to pay medical bills. I mean, that's the biggest factor for bankruptcy in America. Right. But, there are people that have made money, mistakes that have put them in a position where they have bad credit.

So,  usually it's those things that you have to learn from for you. It was like, I can't pay these bills. I need to figure out what to do. And so  let me research all of this stuff. So yeah,  that's the point I was trying to make, I'm trying to make is that like, like, I feel like people who blanketly say, you know, don't focus on your credit, focus on just money are missing a key component that maybe they didn't have to experience, but it's a real experience for us and, and holds a lot of people back.

So if you don't take anything away from this. Take away the fact that, you know, there are reasons why you should be looking at ways to educate yourself around credit. And it's not just to get like that coveted score it's because what, having a negative score costs you in life overall,

Shanté Nicole: [00:06:28] they asked me to, people join my group.

I have a Facebook group, or they, You know, when I do one on one sessions, one of my questions when they fill out the intake form is what are your goals? And I always see, I want a 700 score. I want a better credit score. And when I ask them, do you even know what goes into calculating a score? The answer is almost always no.

And I'm like, so all you know is that you want a high three digit number, but you have no idea. What's even going into calculating that score. That's the foundation of credit. Like your credit score is key, but you don't even know what it takes to get that 700. You just know you want a 700 because it sounds good.

Like, do you know what that means? Do you know how to get that? And so when I talk to children, I always say, well, tell me one way, mommy and daddy can determine how well you're doing in school. And they say my report card. I say, okay, well also there's a three digit number. They give you as well. with that report card with those grades, what does that call it?

My, GPA, I see. And where are they getting the information to calculate that GPA? My report card, same thing with credit, right? They don't even realize the information on your report is what they're using to calculate your score. So when people tell me, Oh, well, debt to income ratio goes into your score. I say, have you ever seen your income listed on your credit report?

No. I said, then that's not what goes. So just the foundational information of like, what are the five components of a credit score once you know that you can actually look at your own report and go, Oh, I need to do this. This is why that looks like that. But it's like you said, that education is key when you pay credit repair top.

And he said, yes, I'm doing air quotes. They are not repairing your credit. You are paying them to write the scute letters on your behalf. So your name is on those letters. Not theirs. You don't know what they're saying, but you're paying $89 a month, a hundred dollars a month to hope negative things. Come off.

Let me tell you the biggest misconception when it comes to credit. If I had nothing negative, that means I'll have good credit. And so that's, I mean, that's the opposite, right? Good, bad. Negative, huh? It's all. That's what people think. And that's what they want consumers to think, because they're like if you type in credit repair and Google images, it's going to pull up all the flyers, every flight of stairs, the same thing you rid of bankruptcy's car, you know, late payments, student loans, blah, blah, blah.

And you're like, yes, get rid of it all because that's going to give me good credit. That is not it. I had clients with no negative items on their credit report and they have low scores. How is that possible? You have to show positive credit history, not just not having anything negative. It's also possible to have negative items and have a great score.

I was there at one point, but you have to understand why is that possible? How is that possible? So it's really, again, the education piece. Start with how scores are calculated. Number one then start with, okay, how do I even read my report? You will be surprised how many people don't even know how to read their credit report.

What does this mean? What does that date mean? What's this number? I don't understand what this Mark means. What's this notation. So really just sitting down when people say, where do I start? I say, when's the last time you put a report. It's not about just get the negative stuff off and then I'll figure it out.

No, don't pay $1,500 for somebody to write letters for you. You can write those same letters yourself. Okay for free, except a stamp and the piece of paper and an envelope, but what is there on your report? Okay. How many lines of credit do you have open? How many were closed? Did they close a negative standing or positive standing?

How long has your, have you had credit? How many collections do you have? How old are the collections? Are they medical or credit card collect like this break down your report and then say, okay, where do I now that's the starting point. Then the thing is, if you don't, you won't know which direction to go, unless you know where you're starting.

So, would it make sense to you to say said, can you tell me how to get to the Chick-fil-A? And I'm like, where are you? Like, I can't say, make a left, make a U turn, make it right. If I don't know where you're starting, if you say, Oh, I'm at the corner of blah, blah, blah. I can say, okay girl, the highway go here, go here.

But if you don't know where you're starting, it, most people haven't looked at their report in years because they know it's bad. They don't want to face it. So they say, well, I don't even know how to access my credit report. This is what I hear all the time. But these people want 700 credit scores. Educate yourself people.

That's the key.

Naseema McElroy: [00:10:35] . Let's go back into your story because I want it. No. How did you overcome all the issues on your credit? I know you did the research, but what tools did you implement from that research?

Shanté Nicole: [00:10:48] I started looking at, okay, how are these negative things affected me? And when I saw that they were affecting me the most, then I started tackling those things.

So getting on the phone, with creditors or, the medical providers and working out payment arrangements, because, you know, even though another misconception is that paying a collection will increase your score. It doesn't.  once the damage is done, once it hits your report, but paid always looks better than unpaid.

So you have people that say, well, why would I pay it if it's not increasing my score? Because it's your debt. Like, I don't, I'm just saying that, like, I don't want to say this sound like, Oh, like boogie, but it's like, it's because it's yours. Especially if it's like credit card debt, like medical, I get, I'm a little more sensitive to that, but still like, what do you mean?

Why should I pay? Because you ran up the community bank stolen card, and then you let it get charged. Like you are wearing the clothes and they're in your closet. So why do you think you don't have to pay? And I always say, I'm glad y'all never borrowed money from me. And I make it as a joke, but it's like, you have this entitled mentality that will like.

They went to collections. Okay. That's just another third party saying, well, you owe us this money. You owe the money, regardless, wherever you owe Victoria Secret directly. Or enhanced recovery collection that you said you owe it. So, but my thing was like, okay, so get on the phone. ask for help. Do you have a hardship program?

Do you have some type of payment plan? I can go on. Okay. My credit cards, I started realizing that them being maxed out, even though I wasn't over my limit, that still looks unfavorable. So your credit, even if you have a thousand dollars credit card, you can't just say I'm going to use a thousand because they gave it to me.

It makes sense in my head. But if I go says no, when you start to Teeter over 30%, you look risky. So I was like, Oh, okay. If I get those bail, then they'll help my store. So I started looking. What goes into the score, how can I build better credit worthiness? And I started making those, taking those steps once I was able, well, to pay off those cards, some of them closed, which was okay.

So then I had no credit. So then I said, well, credit card. Cause I got to start showing I can borrow money. If they pay, I got me a little, $300 security card from bank of America. I had to put down $300 after a year. They unsecured gave me my money back. And then I had black carpet during that year. I was using it and paying on time.

So then capital one said, Hey, we got a car for you. And then orchid bank, which is not a rounding where they say, Hey, we got a car for you. So I started widening my availability. So. It was really about repairing and rebuilding simultaneously. How do I tackle the connections and the negative items while rebuilding myself to show good credit?

So I just took all the steps that I thought I needed to take to start doing that. And then, you know, Chris, some creditors started believing in me and get this opening, you know, offering me accounts and then just went from there. And now I have over $160,000 of available credit with no credit debt.

Naseema McElroy: [00:13:36] Awesome. Awesome. So what about your medical bills? Were you able to get  any of those written off?

Shanté Nicole: [00:13:43] no, they were, they weren't, it was a lot, but each one was not a large amount. It was just a lot of small amounts. And so I was able to just negotiate. you know, as a whole, you know, a lump sum and then this make payments on it.

And then eventually  they were marked as paid and then after seven years they fall off. So, you know, they, they don't stay forever. So I paid them, they were marked the state and then they fell off my credit report. So.

Naseema McElroy: [00:14:07] Cool. Cool. Yes, I love it. Okay. Now let's dive into common credit card, myths or misconceptions.

Shanté Nicole: [00:14:18] Okay. So. I think one thing people need to understand, I don't think it's really a misconception or myth is just a mistake. I don't think people realize it's a mistake because they're uneducated, right? So you use a credit card, $600. You get a bill that you owe $45 minimum payment. They're not doing that because they like you or they're your friends they're don't have, cause they want to make money off of you.

So you don't realize that. Until you've been making payments for a year and you're like, my bill does not seem like it's going anywhere because of that $45. You're not recognizing how much of that is interest and how much is going towards your bill. Most people don't dig deep into their credit statements, right.

We're just like, when is it due? How much is due? That's all they care about, but that $45 is not all going towards your. Which your ballots, maybe 20 of it is going forward and 25 is going in their pockets for interest. So I think people need to start really dissecting their statements. Or how about you just use credit cards for money that you have, so you can say back and forth and it's due and you don't have to worry about interest.

That is my mantra.

Naseema McElroy: [00:15:22] Yeah. So  are you saying that you should not carry credit card debt?

Shanté Nicole: [00:15:26] You have not credit card debt. That is where it's a Troy show you the dollars in debt and credit card debt. And I know people who are still paying off Christmas from last Christmas and Christmas, 2020 is almost here.

Okay. So those toys you purchased that TV, you purchased on black Friday, that you thought was a sale. You've probably nailed, paid more than the sale price and the regular price for it. By the time you paid it off. Think about the end. Don't think about that sale. You're getting, when you go and buy clothes.

Ooh girl. Victoria's secret had a great Semel Andy's well, now you spend a hundred dollars on underwear, maybe 300,000 and the way, so by the time you pay the card off, you probably pay four or $500 for those underwear. So think about, would you pay, do you want to pay more for items that you see? No, I don't want to pay more.

If it's on sale for six 99, I want to pay $699, not a thousand. So we need to start thinking with the end. But the bottom line is if you just use credit cards with money that you have when the bill is due, even though that minimum payment looks enticing, that middle payments going to force you to end up paying more.

And so you say, I don't want to pay more. I had the money. Why would I not? You know, I bought a couch, it was six 99. I have six 99 in my bank account. I wanted to use the credit card to get cash back rewards. Or points or whatever. And then when a bill is due, how much am I going to say? 699? Cause I had the cash.

I think most people have the cash and they don't want to put, once you buy the item, when the bill comes, you're like, Aw, man, I don't want to play this. It's like, but you have the cash for it. Or people can't afford their purchases. And so then they make payments for two, three, four years and pay double and triple the amount that they purchase.

I think it's really changing our relationship with money and changing our mentality about what that money is. A credit card is easy to use cause you're swiping it and it's the plastic, but it really is a loan. I think people don't recognize that it's a loan. So think about it. Would you walk into a bank and ask them for a loan for that purchase without feeling silly?

If not, then don't buy it. I mean, that's the bottom line.

Naseema McElroy: [00:17:32] No, I love it. I love it because it's like, listen. This is the game and you are getting gamed. It's easy for you to not even realize that you're  spending real money when you're swiping a card. And so it's super easy and that's intentional.

That's not on accident. They know what's up. It is not. A mystery that credit card companies have some of the biggest buildings they own, they finance and all these stadiums like it's no, it is not an accident.  they know the game. But the key to you winning is to learn how to play the game. And your best interests.

Right? And so that's getting those reward points by making sure you're only buying things that is in your budget, that you have money for that, you know, you was going to spend. Anyway, if you know, you're just going to spend $50 on gas, only spend that 50,000 gas go ahead and pay it right off. Okay. What about people who say that, you know, need to carry a balance in order to build your credit?

Shanté Nicole: [00:18:37] So I've done several videos on this topic and I'm going to keep it brief as brief as I can  okay. So let's talk about how credit scores are calculated. I'm just going to talk about the two. Hi, as components of the score, PayPal history is number one. Utilization is number two. You have to show that you can use it responsibly and then pay on time.

So they go hand in hand. The thing is people think you should carry a balance to show the utilization. They don't understand how credit cards work. Did that. First video, two years ago, people were blown away. Even mom. She was like, I never knew this is how credit cards work. You have a statement cycle and you have a due date, whatever the balance is, when your statements cycle closes, that is what gets reported to the credit girls.

Your bill is not due for about 25 days after that. So when you tell people, pay your bill, but leave $10. Why to show a balance that balance reported 25 days ago. So it already reported it. So there's never a need to carry a balance it's beyond a due date, because what does that cause you to do pay interest?

Whenever a balance is truly beyond the due date, you pay interest. If you. Sergeant Honda's and they say, you only have to pay us 25 and you pay 25. There's a $75 balance carrying over to the next cycle. And you have to pay interest on that. If you pay in full, there's never a need to pay inches because the money you borrowed, you gave it all back to them.

Interest means, I know you borrowed this money and I know you don't have it all to pay back. We'll let you give us installments, but we're going to charge you more for doing so. So the idea is that you want to show you  property by the time your statement cycle closes. Cause whatever that balance is, that's what they're going to report to the credit bureaus.

If you use 80% of your credit card, they're going to show you 80. If you use 80, but you paid it down to. 30% before the cycle closes. They're only going to report whatever the balance is when the cycle closes. So it's okay to use more if you pay it down before that. So know when your billing cycle ends.

So, you know, to have your ballot somewhere when they report, if you forget and they report the 80% or you didn't have it, then they're going to show that you use 80% of your car and your score is going to drop. There's no way around it. So leaving a balance, carrying a balance and not necessary, showing usage is necessary, but just pay off before when it's due.

Naseema McElroy: [00:20:58] Yes, yes, yes. Love it. But what about people who pay off their balance before the closing date?

Shanté Nicole: [00:21:09] That is very critical. And I'm glad you asked that, then you can't show you . So I hear all the time people say I use my credit card for gas, I think right off. And I said, well then, okay then what's your balance zero.

Right? I said, then what's going to be the balance when the cycle closes zero. So what's going to report to the credit Bureau. Oh, every month you use your card and you pay too soon. It's going to show up that you're use it zero times, zero times. Now your credit card company knows that you used it.

That's great. Maybe they'll give you more money. If you ask for an increase, maybe they'll, you know, I don't know, give you more points or whatever, but cycle needs to see that you're using your car and paying it back. And if we keep saying whatever the balance is, when the cycle closes, that's what gets reported.

If you pay too soon. It's going to report zero and every month. Do you think you're doing something I'm swiping at pants later? Zero. I'm swiping the day and next month, zero, the next week, zero. Wait until your cycle closes and then pay now. You don't necessarily have to wait. So the due date, once your cycle closes, that's 25 days.

Grace periods. You have, you can pay it off anytime then, but you don't want to pay it all off before. So that was a really great question because a lot of people do that and they're like, but why is my I'm using it? Like you said, John saying, why hasn't my score dropping because you're paying too soon.

Don't pay it off too soon because you may go now use your car. That's what it looks like to fight. So there's nothing to calculate what your utilization for your credit score is if you're not showing you that.

Naseema McElroy: [00:22:33] But I think what's also critical is that. By the time that closing day comes, make sure you pay your balance down to.

Under 30% or 10% or whatever. The key that key is like 10% that you want to keep it close to. You know, so pay it down to that amount. if you'll use more. I mean, if you just using it to build your credit, you shouldn't necessarily go above it. But if you do just pay it all the way down to that 10%, and then after the closing date, Hey, right, right off.

Shanté Nicole: [00:23:04] I have seven major credit cards. I use them every month and I use them to pay my bills. I have to pay my bills. Anyway, I have to pay car insurance. We have to pay our cell phone. We have to pay electric. We have to pay our internet bill. So I link each of my cars. So build my gym. I, or you share those cars.

Get linked to those. My bills, cars get linked to those bills. And then when the bills are due, I pay in full because I have the money. So pay them. Right. And I'm not paying the minimum cause why would I pay interest on car insurance? Why would I pay interest on a cell phone bill? I wasn't paying interest before when I was paying T-Mobile directly.

So why would I now pay interest? Even if you decided to go out to eat, if you want to treat your girlfriends, you know, bill comes up to $125, make sure you have $125 to pay in full, because why would you pay interest on food that you ate? And basically poop out your behind a month before, you know, it's like, it doesn't make sense that food is gone.

You've eaten 50 more times since then, but you're paying interest on foods you ate a month ago. , when I say that they started laughing, but they're like, that is so true. So I tried to make it like silly, but it's like, listen, like you're, don't give them extra money for food or gas. Why don't you use it for gas and then pay interest on gas.

You burn that gas out in a week. You filled up seven more times since then, but you're still paying on it. The guests from last month. It doesn't make sense. So really think about when you're using your card, have a, a goal for why you're using your cards. I use my cards for three reasons. I want to show activity so they know lower my limit or close my cards out for inactivity.

I like to take advantage of my points and my cash back rewards. And I'm using it to show utilization for my FICO score. Every time I use it in pay on time, I don't use more than 10%. My score is increasing. I'm showing good credit worthiness. So when I apply for the cars, I'm not sitting there biting my fingers.

Wondering if I'm gonna get approved. You don't ever want to be that person like, Oh gosh, I don't know. I don't know. And then you're like, Nope. I'll be shocked that you got approved. You want to get out of the position where you're shocked that you got approved for credit. You want to walk in knowing you're going to get approved for credit.

That's what we want you to be.

 Naseema McElroy: [00:25:08] I've definitely been in that position for longer than I liked  only because, you know, I mean, we all made mistakes. I mean, I've had bankruptcies, foreclosures, all those kinds of things on my credit and. Shoot. My bankruptcy don't even fall off until September of this year.

I mean, from 10 years ago, I'm like five other, no brand new people, but I'm still paying mistake. I made 10 years ago when I was like in graduate school, , so, you know, it's just pay attention. That's why education is important. Oh, what I wanted to ask you though? is, how do you set up.

Controls, because like we said, it's a game, the credit card companies, aren't stupid. They know that people slip up and make mistakes and that's how they get their money. A lot of times when you pay off your balance. So you wait the closing date, do you have an automatic payment? That's triggered.  or do you manually go in and do it and do you automatically have a way, like worst case scenario, you always have an auto pay for your minimum balance.

So you never have a late payment or anything like that, any kindiof gamafication tips you have?

Shanté Nicole: [00:26:18] Yeah. So number one, I have a bank account that's just for bills. So nothing else comes out of that. I don't use it for buying food from seven 11 or buying Chipolte, whatever it's just for bills. So what I did was all my major credit cards, except one myself with Carter.

 I don't have it linked to anything, but I have all my cards linked to my bills. So it's directly linked. So when a bill is due, it automatically charges my credit card. And then I have it set on autopay to take. The statement balance, which means I don't have to pay. Cause you know, if you use it in the statement closes and you use it again, you don't necessarily have to pay that full balance of what interest you can pay the statement balance.

So I have all my cards set up to pay in full whatever the statement balance is. And it's automated. That means. When it charges my credit card, it's automated. When I pay my credit card is automated. I'm doing this 7 cards. I don't have time or the bandwidth and charged stuff. And then log in to remember to pay.

Cause I would be that one, call it like, can you please remove the late thing? Because I forgot I've been that person. I just did it to my children's place card last month because they don't have autopay. And I forgot. And so I'm being honest. It was just last month where I was like, can you please remove the late payment?

Because I've been with y'all for seven years, I'll be late. And they did it, but I don't want to be that person every month. So automate your life, make it simple. Okay. I never go over 10%. Maybe everybody's not in that position to be able to not go over 10%. So unless you say you only have a $200 credit card, you link it to your water.

Bill water bill is $80. You want to get it down to 20 before it's somewhere Mark, which are. The statement cycle close date is so that every day, every month it triggers like, Oh, pay down to 20, pay it down to 20. So you're not forgetting, this makes your life easier. You know, I have a budget planner that sale for like $5, but I'm a written girl.

I know there are apps out here you can use. But I like old schools. I write it down and once it comes out, I highlighted in pink and I know it's done. I put an A beside it, if it's auto-pay and you know, I just do, I do that. And so just make your life simple. People say, I don't know how to budget. Write down what comes in and what goes out.

Whatever's left. Figure out how much to say, which you can cut back on. Do you need all the cans? Are you home enough to even watch all the cable channels that you need? Seven boxes and every woman in the house, like, so start looking at what can I cut out or cut back on, unless you have a lot more money than you than you do, and you can start utilizing it.

So pay off debt. Cause right now we're talking about how to use your cards. If you don't have debt. But people who are working towards paying off their debts, you have extra money somewhere. I don't, I'm not a believer of, I live check to check because most people do not live check the jet. They don't pay attention to where that extra money is going.

So I can freak out about that.

Naseema McElroy: [00:29:01] Yes. Less than let's talk about that. Let's talk about somebody right now. Who's struggling with debt. credit card debts, probably, you know, when I was paying off my debt. So, you know, I have a crazy debt pay off story, but I didn't have credit card debt because my bankruptcy wiped off my credit card debt.

So that's not something that I had to struggle with, but  Credit card debt is like real. It's the real, his dad's do loan. Debt is real, but credit card debt with those high interest rates will kill you with interest. You'll be paying forever. Let's talk about somebody who's checked a check, right?

And they have high credit card debt. what steps should they be taking to improve?

Shanté Nicole: [00:29:43] Like I said, number one, let's walk away now. I'm not going to say. Everybody doesn't live. Some people honestly are in the red, you know, but they're things that you can do. Like I said, right now, your budget, the numbers don't lie.

So write down exactly what you make in a month and then write down just your regular monthly expenses and see what's left and pull your statements for a month and highlight every time you ate out. And I guarantee you and I'm not lying. I see people do this. I do it in my group every quarter. I like, okay, guys, y'all know the deal homework.

And people put $600, $800, $750. Yes. Food. That's not even groceries. Groceries was $400, $1,100 in one month. So look at that then if credit cards are absolutely just unmanageable, you're like, look, I've been paying for three, four years. The interest is kicking my butt. It's not going down. I'm going to be doing this forever.

Every credit card company has a hardship program. You can come say, listen, I thought I was going to be able to swing this. I'm paying every month. It's no, I can't do this anymore. What can I do? You have a hardship program? I can be a part of, and then we'll lower your interest substantially lower your monthly payment, but they will close your card out.

So many people are like, Oh, I don't want my card to close when they keep on doing what you're doing, because if you're not managing it right now, so why not? Take that hit with the car closing. Yes, it's done affect your credit, but guess what? You can always open it on the credit card. You can't get that money back that you're wasting on interest.

So take advantage of these programs. Most of them don't know you're in this crisis. You have to call them and say, I need help. They don't know that even if you have things that got charged off or things that are in collections, when you're ignoring collections and ignoring charges off credit cards, they are just looking at you.

Like you're irresponsible, you're, you know, trifling because you just kick this to the curb. If you call and say, Hey, I want to take care of it, but I don't have the means. What can you do? They will work you little believe how many settlements they'll work out with you? like I said, the hardship programs, but you have to face the music.

Okay. I ask my clients all the time. When I see their credit reports. I see. Semi collections. Have you been yep. Where are the letters and the trash? Yep. No thought of letters away, because most of them sending you letters say, Hey, we'll settle with you, but you don't know that because your addiction Nicole's, you're throwing it away.

We all grown. You ran up the bills, you ran up the debt. It is time to face the music. You're not going to come out of this situation. If you're running

Naseema McElroy: [00:32:05] from it. Yes. Yes. Yes. So, what are some ways like medical debt? Actually, I want to share this point because this is actually, I used to run a department that forgave medical debt, by the way, so.

 a medical debt is like expected there's hospitals are not for profit in order to maintain their knowledge profit status. They have to have a certain amount of charity care. Right. And believe me, they're trying to find ways to give away money.

That also used to be one of my jobs to find ways to give away money so they can qualify for charity care. Don't be afraid. Listen, people are waiting for somebody to come in and reach out and do things for you. You got to take control of your own finances and your own financial destiny. Pick up the phone and call those people, even if it's in collections but you know, it came from the hospital.

You know, you can call the hospital, you can call them and say, okay, Hey, I cannot pay this. Is there a charity care program that I qualify for? They can reach back to that collection. Hold that back and work with you to either  totally wipe it out or a drastically reduced it so way that you don't have to pay it.

And I know this why, because I used to be the person that signed on the dotted line.

Shanté Nicole: [00:33:28] Amen girl,  can you please put a post in my group and say that I'm telling you every client I have, they may have credit card collection and medical. I say the way I tell you guys to handle, these are two different ways that the credit cards send a debt validation letter.

If they validate it, send letters saying, Hey, can we work out a settlement pay to delete whatever, whatever medical I'm like, call them directly. Say, Hey, you have a charity program, hardship program, assistance program. All of them do. I'm telling you, I'm like they will work something out. So no you'll need to be trying to get it disputed and all this stuff called him.

Call them directly.  They have these programs set in place for this purpose. So do that for, thank you. Thank you.

Naseema McElroy: [00:34:14] Okay. And let's talk about people with collections, though, people with collections, and then they pay the collections. Is there a way for them to get the collections removed from their, credit card, running from their, report.

Shanté Nicole: [00:34:29] Yeah. So, first let me explain three things happen. When things go into collections, people get really confused with that because I hear a lot of people say, can I call the original no creditor and pay them directly? I get that question a lot or to me, or in the group three things happen. It either stays in house.

So it's in collections, but still with the original creditor, they sell it to a third party, meaning they got money for it. They own the debt no more. Now the third party owns it. So you have to deal directly with them or like hospitals, they just hire a company to help, but you can still pay them. So with credit card debt, or most collections are most credit card debts, or some, at least you broke into the apartment complex or whatever the case is.

you want to negotiate a pay to delete.  That's basically saying, Hey, if I pay you, would you be willing to remove this now? Not all of them honor your request. There's some that actually have it in their protocol to delete once you pay. So how about you get on Google and check the FAQ to see.

So you're not sending letters. Oh, really? Nilly and that's their protocol anyway. Okay. That's their companies that when I first started the group, they didn't do that. You have to send straight to delete and they're like, Nope, all we will do is update it and say, that's the most we're going to do suddenly.

I guess they got tired of these letters. They were like, look, all right, we'll just delete it when y'all pay us, leave us alone. So now their new protocol is to delete once you pay, find that out first, but that's one way to get it off. If you just can't. Some of them has stipulations like Midland funding.

One of theirs is saying the collection has to be more than two years old before we will do that for you. So if it's a brand new collection that you paying full, they're like, sorry, you gotta let it ride out, you know? But. a pay to delete is one way. I'll tell you this though. If they say no, we're not going to delete it.

All we're going to do is Mark it as paid. Don't go, well, why would I pay it once again? It's your debt. Number two paid always looks better than unpaid. Imagine going to ask the lender for money or a mortgage lender. Hey,  I need to under $75,000 for this house, I want, they pull your credit and see a $200 collection that you didn't pay.

How dare you ask me for 275,000 and you couldn't take care of it to $200 collection. I say that to say, paid always looks better than unpaid mortgage lenders. Don't share that it's sitting on your credit as long as it's zero balance. They don't care about that. If you go a platform, mortgage loan right now with unpaid collections, they're going to tell you, go and pay that, and then we'll come back.

So you're so busy trying to get it removed and yes, most times if it's gone, it will impact your score positively, but I've seen an impact negative score. I've seen someone remove that collection and it dropped the score. That's a whole nother side of it, but don't think always you're going to see this massive jump in score if it's deleted.

But yes, if you can get it removed, we want clean credit reports. But if you can't, don't say I'm not gonna pay because they decided we're not going to delete it, you know, for you. So always pay anyway, but try to negotiate first.

Naseema McElroy: [00:37:18] Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah. So many, so many, so many gems and Shante, I really feel like  just have so much knowledge, but it's all because you made the mistakes, you done been through it all and you have a pure heart and really just want to help people.

And the killer part about it is the advice that you actually empower people with. Is so much more impactful longterm than anything out there, any credit repair company out there, but your services are so accessible and so affordable because I really feel like your heart is to really help.

And so that's what matters to me. Like, I feel like you're going to get paid, whatever.  Thank you for what you do, but I want you to share like what services you provide, share your Facebook with, first of all, let me just say humble brags. She talking about, Oh, I got this little Facebook group, her face.

What group is  83,000 people. Okay. First of all. Okay. So, yeah, so I think he's out here to win the damn thing, but let people know what services you provide.

Shanté Nicole: [00:38:31] So I do one on one credit coaching. So you asked me if I do credit repair note. My whole goal is to. Teach you how to be a credit paying person for yourself.

So I coach you the football coach on the floor, on the field, playing with the players. Okay. They come off the side, the coach says, go run this, play, run this play. They go out there and do it. Why the coach is watching. It helped them that they do what he said to win the game that I want you to win this game.

We talked about this over and over today. Credit is a game. Understand the rules, understand how to master it. You will be successful. So I'm a credit coach. I teach you how to. repair and rebuild your credit. Bye giving you a step by step plan, but not only here's the steps, but why I'm telling you to take those steps, not just go do this, go do that, but why piecing it all together?

So I do one on one coaching for individuals. I do couples coaching as well. Most of my couples are. Significant others, but couples Disney's couples, if you and your girlfriend want to do it, split that money. Cause it's cheaper than doing single and you can sign up like that. I do that. I also do webinars every now and then credit one Oh one.

People have no idea about credit. We'll do a, you know, it might be a $9 webinar. Just get in and understand credit. I teach it investing. One-on-one that's not my ministry, but I know a little bit about investing enough to get you started. So I do invest in one-on-one. I also do. I'm actually about to launch a four week kids financial literacy program since they're , at home anyway, learning, to teach kids about investing, about spending, earning about credit. They're never too young to start learning about credit. So I had that as well, and then I have products. So I have kids, financial planners. I have financial planners and workbooks for teens. I have kids financial literacy, flashcards, and I have a.

DIY credit repair workbook and guide. When I tell you, if you cannot afford a one on one with me, it's literally like having Shante  in the form of a book. I teach you from the beginning to the end, how to exactly clean up your credit. I have a workbook. So as you're looking at your report, you can write stuff down is divided by accounts, negative items, whatever it is, but , it's a 50 page.

We're booking guy. Literally you can repair your own credit with that book. and so I've had people buy the book

Naseema McElroy: [00:40:44] for way weapon for way cheaper than what you would pay somebody per month to do it for you.

Shanté Nicole: [00:40:49] Oh, and I don't have a monthly fee. If you sign up for a coaching session is one time. If you want monthly guidance beyond that, you pay.

But guess what? It's a 90 minute call. I've looked at your reports and the scores. I give you a step by step action plan and you go forth and be married. The idea is that I want you to understand, because like you said, you've been through stuff. I talked about my story when I was 22, that was the cancer story.

I didn't talk about my story when I was 25, more through a divorce and my ex left me with all the debt and he said he paid nothing. That's add stuff. I co-signed for him. He said I paying it. So that went to collections. And then I lost my job. That's talked about. And your job unjustly had to go to court for unemployment because she denied me unemployment.

I ended up getting it because I proved my case. So out of work for a year, but guess what? 25 year old. Shante said he didn't learn from 22 year old Shante. So I still didn't have a savings job making good money. I'm like I'm comfortable. I don't need no saving. So I had to max out all of them. Now it's way more credit card debt than it was.

Cause I would say I was better credit. So now I'm 50, $60,000 in debt. Now, this is 25 Shante who's well versed in credit at this point, helping other people with their credit is now back in that same situation. So my credit has been up and down for years, 22, got it back to 700 back down because of this backup back down.

But I say that to say, I had the education. So when I failed again, I was able to bounce myself back up. If you're just paying somebody to write letters and don't have the education, you're not learning anything. So if you hit rock bottom again, would you want to pay somebody else to write that you're not learning?

Learn how to bring yourself back up. That's why I call it DIY. Do it yourself. Credit repaired. You are your own credit repair agent. Okay, this is what I want to teach you to do. And also, well, your children, did your mother teach you about credit? No. Did she teach you about finances? Nope. So I don't want you to be that person for your children.

They grow up and say, my mama didn't teach me nothing. No, learn it so you can care for your own. That's the idea. So I have those products and services in place. So not only empowered you nail, it's a build yourself up, but also for future generations. Yes.

Naseema McElroy: [00:42:58] Yes. Yes. And I love it because I feel like this is a cycle we keep on perpetuating the cycle.

Number one, we keep on thinking that there is a quick fix. It took you a long time to get into that bad financial situation. It took a lot of bad habits that you built up over years and years and years. So to think that you could just snap your fingers and it can be fixed. Is not reality. It can't take some time and it's gone take you actually taking control.

Do you understand that Powerment education puts you in the driver's seat? It makes you.

It makes you the person in control. And once you, I think that you can pay somebody to do it, then you lose your control. How many times do we have to see the MC hammers? How many times we have to see all these other athletes that turn over their finances and their control over their money to someone else that gets them every time.

So why do we think we can repeat the same thing and get different results? You won't get guts. Learn something. And that's just not about your credit. That's about your finances overall, learn

something, use people, your circle of advisors is just to advise is not to do. And you, and it should be multiple people.

It shouldn't just be one person in your ear, X, Y, and Z. You should have a council of advisors. And I'm sure that's in the Bible somewhere, but you know, I'm not a biblical person. I don't quote the Bible, but I know it's there somewhere. So.

Wow, what an embarrassing chapters there. But anyway, I just appreciate what you do. I love how you keep it real. I love how you share your stories and your struggles and your ups and downs and how you're not too far removed from the struggle to understand what people are going through. So you know exactly what they need to help them.

And instead of turning a blind eye and saying, I got my shit together, I don't have to help nobody else. You constantly reach back and give and serve and make it super accessible. So I appreciate you. I appreciate everything you do. I really admire you. And I just want to say thank you for even coming onto my little platform and sharing with my people because they need to hear this.

Shanté Nicole: [00:45:24] I mean, I was excited when you asked me, a lot of people I've done so many in the last couple years, and I've just been blown away because you don't know who's watching you, you don't know who is looking at you or who was saying. And like, why? Like I just, I mean, you, you joined and they were just like, this girl is the real deal.

And, you know, we shared like our jokes about, you know, our conferences that we met at, but it's like, you just don't know who. Who you're inspiring. You don't know who like I'm here for my audience, but what people want to outside are saying this girl has really got something magical. And so we need other people to hear it.

So I'm all about spreading the word, spreading the masses. My husband's always like, like you say, it's really, I mean, it's about the money, cause it's my business, but like I know I'm going to get my blessing. Just from what I do, people like, you're not a charity, you're a business. I'm like, Oh, I'm not doing it for free, but it's just at wrestle with that because my heart is really in it to help people.

And I've already been blessed 10 times over just from what I've been doing. And so I will continue to do this until God saved those. No. Where else are the wheels fall off or whatever people say, but I just love it. I love the stories that I see. I love the successes. I love to see people say somebody was excited yesterday.

I finally came out of the four hundreds. I mean, that was big for her, you know, and people were just like, congrats. I mean, we celebrate the smallest victories because the small victories lead to the big ones. And so many people who cry these credit repair companies, they want to see that big victory within 20 days.

And because these companies tell you, we'll get your credit up in 90 days and you'll be like, okay, I'll pay whatever I need to pay. And then they, in my inbox, I just paid $2,000, you know? So it's like, it's really unfortunate, but I'm here to learn. If you don't want to learn from me, then I'm not the person that you need to become into because you're going to learn, you're going to learn, ask questions.

And because I want you to realize that you probably do also know a lot more than you think, you know, And it makes you feel that more power. Like I see. So, yeah, one on one coaching every now and then webinars, but the one on one is my biggest service and then the products for the kids and the DIY repair books.

So, thank you for just having me reaching out to me for your audience. You know, nurses are near and dear to my heart because yes,  I T. Graduated from nursing school. That's a different story as well, but, you know, we won't go there, but, but yeah, so I, for what you do, I've never seen anything like what you do, I think is, so awesome that you do that.

And, and I just thank you for just allowing me to share my platform.

Naseema McElroy: [00:47:55] Of course, of course. And you guys, for real, for real, if you want to see encouraging stories, empowerment, people biggy you up, people supporting you around credit and making sure that you really understand your credit is little mini Shantes in the financial common sense.

Facebook groups, you join there. So I will have all the links to, Shantay's services and the show notes. So don't worry about having to write it down. Everything will be linked there. So again, I appreciate you and keep on doing what you're doing. Cause you're blessing so many people.

Shanté Nicole: [00:48:30] Thank you so much.

Hey there I’m Naseema

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