In the “middle income” world” financial success is often measured by how much people have in savings versus how much debt a person has. This is different for “low-income” people. Many attending Money & ME are in a survival mode. The focus of Money & ME is to create an awareness of how behaviors (habits) impact spending and develop a plan to change. Just changing ONE behavior can have lifelong results. For example, one of the activities is to have participants identify an item that is purchased regularly (i.e. cigarettes, soda, fast food, etc.) and calculate how much it is costing them a year. A pack a day smoker will spend $2,555 a year at an average cost of $7.00 a pack. It is usually a BIG surprise!
Andrea first attended the Money & ME program at Calvary Church in Albuquerque in January, 2017. Through ongoing classes and coaching (mentoring), Andrea is transforming her life. Andrea says that the best thing she learned from Money & ME was “how to make a plan.” She says her parents never taught her and it was not intuitive to her. She says “I was surprised at how simple it was, but I didn’t know how to do it.”
As her Trainer and Coach (mentor), I have seen amazing changes in Andrea since January. Andrea was diagnosed with diabetes 8 years ago. She says it was scary in the beginning and she wasn’t sure how to manage it. In January of this year, her blood sugar was 340. Andrea was able to put together a plan to improve her health. Through a combination of adjusting her medication, watching her diet, drinking more water, and consuming less soda, she has lowered her blood sugar to 148! (A person without diabetes blood sugar is under 100.) One of Andrea’s habits was drinking soda and/or sweet tea daily. She wasn’t ready to give it up. As her mentor, I encouraged her to drink more water daily. It has been a process, and last week, she went 3 days without drinking soda or sweet tea!
Andrea also has many more goals that she is working on. She started attending a cosmetology school to get a better job. Once that happens, she wants to get her own home (she is currently living with her mom). She also wants to have her daughter come live with her since her daughter is currently in foster care. These are great goals, and now with a plan she is more likely to achieve success! Congratulations to Andrea and all the Money & ME participants that are making positive changes in their lives!