105: Budgeting Yourself OUT of Debt and Into a Fantastic Life with Jen Hemphill

Jen Hemphill was born in Colombia and lived there for the first eight years of her life. The economy was really bad, and her earliest memories were of a scary time when her educated father did whatever he had to do to make money.

Her redheaded dad stood out in Colombia, and it wasn’t a safe place for him to be. So, they moved to the U.S. Jen remembers being embarrassed for not having money, knowing her friends had it.

She attended the same college where her mother was a professor. Discounted tuition coupled with scholarships and a bit of parental help allowed her to graduate with no debt. She bought a car, paid it off quickly, and felt very proud of herself for doing so.

Then, she met and married her husband. They took 15 years to pay off his $40,000 in student loan debt. She thought they were doing great, but a deeper look at their finances about 10 years in revealed a huge mess.

Thinking back to her childhood, she realized she needed to make big changes in order to get ahead. Her family went on a budget, cutting out all unnecessary spending to focus on paying off the debt. Jen uses a series of labeled bank accounts to ensure they stick to their budget and now saves for purchases rather than raiding the emergency fund to pay for things.

Jen took what she learned and became an Accredited Financial Counselor, knowing that there are so many others who need to be pointed in the correct direction. She calls herself a Money Confidence Coach, because when you have confidence in your money management skills, you can tackle any problem.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Jen's money story
• How she made money to buy things she likes
• Her position entering and leaving college
• The reason why she got a discount on college
• Having a mindset of being an extremely frugal person
• How long it took to pay off her family's debt
• The reason why she took a hard look at finances within her marriage
• Her financial awakening
• Her upbringing
• Her Thrift Savings Plan and emergency fund
• The importance of accepting and understanding individual money stories
• Having 15 separate bank accounts
• What her future plans are
• Money issues that she sees repeatedly in her clients
• Examples of variable expenses
• And SO much more!

Links from the Show

• BiggerPockets Forums
• Waffles on Wednesday: Make Your Own Free Mobile Expense Tracking App in 30 Minutes
• BiggerPockets Money Facebook Page
• BiggerPockets Money Survey

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/moneyshow105

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