- Okay so why do you need Lynn's help? - I'm 29 years old so I'm reaching 30 and I want to get my finances
together before that big 3-0. I currently have a ton of credit card debt and school loan debt. And I haven't even
looked at my credit score cause I know it went down really bad in the last couple of
months between my transition from New Jersey to LA, and kinda
just getting life in order. So I would love Lynn's help. - So Lynn, Monique kinda shared with you her finances already. So let's start with her
debt, what'd you find? - Well you've got a lot
of credit card debt, as you've admitted. And most of your credit
cards, are store credit cards. So they're at the limit,
and you're charging them every month and then you're
buying something else and you have what many
people have Monique, a spending addiction. A spending addiction is
when you go to the store for toothpaste and walk out
with $179.47 worth of stuff you don't need, talking
about it was on sale. That wasn't on sale for you. So, ya it wasn't, that wasn't on sale. - Wait, you have nine credit cards? - [Lynn] Yes there are nine credit cards. - I understand the psychology of that. You go to work everyday,
you're paying all these bills, you want to do something for yourself. No body wants to go to work everyday and just don't do
nothing, so I understand. - So right now you're
spending 4,500 a month on all of your bills, and
that's about what you make. So what I did is, we're gonna decrease some of your payments. You're gonna call the
student loan company. You're gonna ask for an income
contingent repayment plan. We're gonna reduce your student
loan payment down to $350. Okay, that's gonna help
save you some money so then you can start to put
your money into paying off your debt, and getting some freedom. (applause) Yes Steve? - What happens if you don't
pay your student loan? I've never had a student loan
so I don't know how it works. What happens if you don't pay it. - If you don't pay your student loan, your life is pretty much over. You can not discharge it in bankruptcy. There's certain professional licenses that you won't be able to get, if you are not up to date absolutely. - You're lying. - Because you're going to pay less money on your student loan,
you're gonna have 178.68 available as a surplus. You're gonna add it to
your credit card payment. So your old monthly was 471,
you're gonna now pay 649.68. Your credit cards will
be paid off in 14 months. How does that feel? - Good. - That means by the end of the year, next year, going into 2020,
you will be credit card free. The goal is to get to a
minimum credit score of 620. - Why is 620 the number? - 620 is the number that
allows you to buy a home as a first time home buyer,
you can get into a home with 3% down or less. Now here's the interesting
thing, having no credit score is just as good as having
a 620 credit score. So in that case they can use their rent, their cell phone bill and
anything that they pay on a monthly basis to establish
their credit worthiness. A big part of your score, is your history. And if you shut that history off, now that portion of your
score decreases significantly. - See you can't win with
that system they got. That's what it sounds like to me. It's so unfair, if you try to consolidate, they hit you for that. If you pay it off and close
it, they hit you for that. That don't make no sense. You keep these people in a vicious cycle to where now then they gotta
go get another credit card. - [Lynn] Ya. - Oh, it's a cold hustle they got going. (applause) - Steve you're absolutely
right, that's why we're doing Money
Mondays, that's why people must learn the money game. And people don't know this, banks do not like people with good credit. Let me tell you why. Because if you have excellent
credit, you pay zero interest. - [Steve] That's right. - Banks make money off of interest. So the goal is to keep you there as long as possible until you make one mistake. You make one late payment,
you'll see a significant drop in your credit score, your APR will go up, your other creditors will start to shut down your credit lines. It is a vicious cycle, and that's why we're gonna get you out. In building your credit
you also want to make sure you're paying your rent, cellphone, cable bill and one more bill. And if you're ever in a situation where you have to establish
credit worthiness, it's called non-traditional credit. You'll get 12 months of on time payments, and it will allow you to buy
a home, you can buy a car, you can get many things that you otherwise could not get because
of a low credit score. I gotta tell you this too
Steve, it's very important because we've talked about bankruptcy. The bankruptcy does not
cause the decrease in credit, the late payments, the
judgements, and the collections. So the goal in cleaning up your credit is to pay your bills on time. People don't know that (applause) - You gotta pay attention to this. Y'all this stuff really
works and can really help you get to where you're trying to be. (applause) Listen Lynn thank you so much, thank you Monique, thank you for sharing. (audience cheers) Lynn is hooking you up
with her credit health kit and everybody in the
audience is going home with a copy of her book
Living Beyond Check To Monday. (audience applause and cheering) And, check this out. Lynn is going to be answering your financial questions
live on Facebook today. So head over to our Steve
TV Show Facebook page at 3 pm Eastern, and 12 pm pacific. We'll be right back.
