Seven Steps to Wealth is life-changing. My wife and I are finally making plans to work together after only four evening sessions. You have achieved what I failed to do in 35 years. We now have a vision of success.”
– Seminar Participant
I plan on sharing the good news with all nine of my children. This class will be valuable to young mothers who are bound by FIA. They need a lot of help with finances so that they can provide for their children.”
– KD, Pentecostal Church of God
My father always kept money in his wallet. His theory was that if you were as ragged as a church mouse but had $500 or $600 in your pocket and some in the bank, then you were Mr. __. My father worked hard, knew how to do many different things, and always had money. When people were in need, they borrowed money from him. I thought that act was crazy. So, I knew that I didn’t want to do the loaning because they were paid on Friday and borrowed by Sunday a.m. Senseless!! The lesson that stuck with me was to save something out of every check for a rainy day.”
At seventeen, I was married and had first child on the way; I had to finish school because Mother would have it no other way. I fell into the same trap most young ladies in the South sometimes do, thinking Mr. Wonderful can save you. But, in reality, you wake up and find out you are responsible for yourself. There is no man who can save you – only God and yourself. I learned you cannot have a home, eat, have clothes, go places, and do things on LOVE. You must have money. My first memory of money was this: You need money to survive. So, I have always worked. I keep a job. And by the grace of God, I move forward, trying hard not to go backward. I make mistakes, but I get up and keep going.”
At age 7 I saw a dress I wanted and asked my father to buy it. He said he didn’t have the money. That was fine until my sister asked for money for boots on the same day, and she got them. I was very upset and said I would make my own money and buy what I wanted. I began collecting store sales receipts to turn in for money, doing chores for neighbors, collecting bottles for refunds, etc. Eventually, I got a paper route. I continued to work for a very young age and never asked my father for anything until high school, and that was to go to college because he said he would send the first one to graduate high schoolto college. Although I was the youngest, I was the only one to graduate. However, he told me he didn’t have the money for college. That crushed me. At 17 after graduation, I moved away from home to never return, no matter what I endured. My father continued to provide for my sister until his death. She never worked until she was 35. I saved a little money and bought my cemetery plots at age 24. People thought I was crazy. At 24, I had invested in mutual funds and was preparing diligently until I hit my 40s. I then became reckless with my finances and I am paying for it to this day. Slave to debt!”
It was a Saturday in the summer of 1949; most of my friends were all excited about going to the movies that afternoon. They were going to see the movie The Gunfighter starring Gregory Peck. I don’t remember caring about the movies until that time. It cost $.12 to get in the theatre, and though I hustled by depositing bottles and flat out begging, my best effort yielded only $.11. I watched as my playmates cheerfully marched and faded into the distance towards the theatre. I sat on my porch with my head in my hands … propped on my knees … and cried.”
I remember living in a big house, but we still did not have money to pay our bills. I remember my mom crying one night because my dad had gambled away the savings.”
My mother and father were arguing about money. Daddy had walked out the door, and mother was about to lock it. He busted back into the door, hitting my mother with it and knocking her onto the opposite wall. She was lying on the floor with her head bleeding. This is my early memory about money.”
Once while living with my grandmother, I asked for a bike for Christmas. I was tired of walking to school and wanted to be like the other kids. Well, Christmas came, and I looked all over for my bike. But there was no bike. I asked my Grandmother, ‘Why didn’t I get the only thing I had asked for?’ She looked at me calmly and said, ‘You never once asked me if I could afford a bike.’ That introduced me to the reality that everything we wish for, want for, pray for, or plan for does not always come unless we truly can afford it. I have since returned things that I could not afford and did not plan for, only to get deeper into debt, trying to hold on to things. I only wish I sought the wisdom my grandmother had.”