How I got my 716 credit score

716 

These days I say my credit score with pride but I remain humble because less than 16 months ago I had no credit and didn't truly know what it was. This time last year my credit debt was building up. The truth is that I got a taste of the addiction lifestyle of living on credit. I was 5 credits in and it still didn't seem like enough. Then like an Angel my high school teacher Ms.Daley paid for my first financial class. Every Sunday I went to the one of a class at a church on top of a hill in Bel Air. By the 4th class I was convinced to cut and close every card I had and started my financial education of getting my hands on everything that taught me about how to rebuild credit score.

HOW I PAYED OFF 3/5 credits so far. Debt snow ball. 

Line up all your credits from smallest to largest.. Put all the extra $ you made towards lowest until you pay it off. When you pay off lowest then use that old minimum and add the money that would be used to pay the credit to the next lowest credit.

All the mistakes I have made, have turned into lessons learned.

*im not financial expert but I am a sponge and I'm learning everything I can about financials. Don't take my word study and learn about credit yourself but here are my tips. 

•ALWAYS pay the minimum on time.. But If you can pay more than the minimum, pay more. Creditors make $ off of interest, the longer you take to payoff balance the more interest you will pay on the money.. 

I was paying 19% interest so that means for every $100 dollars I was paying 19 dollars just to borrow it. 

•Don't use more than 30-50% of the credit limit. Example if the creditor gives you $100 don't spend more than $30-$50 of the 100. 

•Don't open to many credits at a time and don't allow businesses to run your credit score. 

-If I could do it all over again knowing what I know now.. below is what I would do (This is also what I will recommend to my little sister if she asks how to build her score or to anyone who has no credit at all.) 

1. First thing I would focus on learning to manage my own money. I came into a problem using credit because I didn't fully grasp how to manage my own money.. So borrowing more money made it worst. 

2. Save enough to get a secured credit card. What a secured credit card allows you to do is to build your credit with your own money. It is not a debit card but a secured credit, the difference is the secured allows you to build you credit score. 

3. Then when I learned how to manage and budget my own money and use my secured credit well I would apply for a credit card.. Either use it for expenses such as gas or emergencies and pay the amount back each month. Or I would only use the borrowed credit to build assets that bring money back into my accounts and not liabilities, things that depreciate in value after you buy them.  In the words of Tom G "invest in something." Use the credit to invest into yourself by getting a new skill or education something that will benefit you and your family. 

SN: the reason the average person gets into debt is because they have no financial education and because they buy things they don't need. I will recommend to anyone who doesn't want to make the same mistakes I made to get a few books and watch a few videos on what a credit score is compile of and learn to use it to your advantage. 

Open Letter

Dear You,

I’ve was a bio-polar lover. One day I’d be planing my life with you, and the next I would be listing the facts that made us all wrong for each other. The list started with the fact that we had nothing in common, from the music we listened to our worldviews...Nothing, but the fact that we loved each other. 

You wanted me to be a rider, but I felt you never gave me anything good to ride for. Then I wanted you to ride for me, but you didn't believe in me like I needed you to. Maybe I wasn't convincing enough, but I was trying. I tried so desperately to bring you up with me, not up in status but up in growth. Every bad thing bad made me better, but slowly and all before 21 you let it make you bitter.

I’ve always wanted you to be at peace. A place where you were satisfied and got everything you wanted in life…including me. See I told you I was a bipolar lover like that. Maybe I’m still not over you, maybe I’ll never be. Maybe 20 years from now, as I sit at the table with my husband and kids, my thoughts will go to you. I'll think about the what ifs, what if you were the man stilling across the table from me and if what if those kids still had my nose, but your freckles.

One day, I’ll tell my daughters about you when I tell them about my first love. I’m going to tell them the joys and cries, and then give them the warnings but still watch them go out into life and make similar mistakes. As Zora Neale Hurston once wrote, "There's two things everybody got to find out for theyselves: they got to find out about love, and they got to find out about living."

Your Me

The Male Version of Me #Volume1

    In all the miles we've traveled to get here, we arrived in the same city, a few feet away from one another...in this foreign city with a billion people surrounding us, I've only ever felt connected to you. We share the growing pains and our unwillingness to let go of the past.

    But everything's okay when I talk you, because every word you say reminds me that all this was destined. That 22 years ago and 24 years ago He'd already known we'd meet and how we were one and the same. 

That you would be the male version of me because we're both selfish and naive. I still think about him but you still think about her too. I'm your mirror, your reflection there to remind you all the good and bad that's in you but what I've noticed is your worst than me.

     You look at me and see your dirt that your even too afraid to tell me about. Never giving me the benefit of doubt. Still I want you to know I prayed for you. I couldn't have survived these last few years without you. You've been a constant player on my team, hiding away in my own personal locker room. Something like a teammate. A life coach too, always here motivating me, and above that putting me in my place. 

I've said all this to say that I miss you...immensely. 

How I made my first $1,000.00 in one week in 2015

2015 was a great year for me, I accomplished my goal to step up a second stream of income for myself. 
I wanted to create a form of passive of income, a term I was introduced to in Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad. Passive income is "income received on a regular basis, with little effort required to maintain it."  
My passive income came in the form of releasing my first book, Thriving Tool, a motivation book for young adults. Below I'm going to break down how I made $1,000.00 in the first week of selling my book. 

The product. I worked for a entire year to build a product worthy of consumers. I studied others books(products), and figured out how I could offer something of value you to a specific audience. Keep in mind that I'm talking about how I sold books, but the break down of how I applied things applies to anything you wish to sell.

Capitial. Every month I tackled a new aspect that would eventually bring the book to life; from paying for an editor, the cover, copyright, ISBN and barcode. I knocked out the expenses one by one, and lastly I put a down payment on the copies of Thriving Tool.

*Master P, Rapper, Business Mogul taught me via one of his interviews where he gave out some advice that I took advantage of and it was this that before you can sell a million copies, you have to sell 10, so I focused on selling one copy at a time. 

Selling. Most of my sells came from social media; Instagram, and Facebook...family and friends, and some people who had saw it on my pages, and thought it looked interesting. In the first week I stole the first 100 copies for $10 a piece. With the help of those around me, I focused on selling one at a time, until I stole every last one of them. And then just invested that money to buy more books. 

If I had to leave some valuable information with someone looking to take control of their life, and accomplish something that they always wanted to do. I would say study, study, and study whatever it is you want to do, whether it book music, writing, or boxing. So that you understand the ins and outs of what your trying to do. Next ask for help, we all want a mentor in arm's reach giving you the game to accomplishing tasks but sometimes you have to seek mentors and ask for help from strangers or take in advice for mentors far away, even if its from a TV interview. 
Lastly believe in whatever you do, we all have to start somewhere. 

If you're not continuously learning, you will be left behind -Harv T. Eker

For the third time in the last three years I have read Harv T. Eker's book Secrets of the Millionaire mind, and each time I take away something new to apply to my life.

The takeaway this time around is what I want to share with you. If you're ready to grow and move onward in your life, I know that it will be something that you'll find useful.

Here it is....

Wait before I continue I want to share a secret with you on how I was able to read this book in one week..

The secret is that everyday this week I have gotten up an hour earlier than I normally get up in order to read more. I usually get up at 6 to get ready for work but this week I got up at 5, just to read.

Before evening brushing my teeth I went to the table everyday and just read. While highlighting paragraphs and sharing quotes on my snapchat. SC:Everlecia

Now that I share my reading secret here is the takeaway: Act in spite of fear. 

You and me may have this common, we let fear stop us from moving forward with things we want to accomplish in life. Harv made me aware that the key is not to get rid of that fear but to tame it.  We'll never stop having fear, worries, and doubts but we have to act in spite of it.

"We are creatures of habit, we need to practice acting in spite of fear...in spite of uncertainty, in spite of discomfort, and even to practice acting when we're not in the mood to act." -Harv T. Eker

"I'm your comfort." The Sensations of Comfort Volume 3

They think it's you that keeps dragging me back in but no it's me. I'm the one always drawing you back in. I always do this to us. It's an impulsive text sent your way that leaves me anticipating your response.(You always response) Which then always leads into an easy 3 hour conversation that reminds us why we fell in love. In those conversations we avoid talking about reasons we both know we won't work out again for the 15th time. 

Still Like clockwork, like how the sun rises in the morning, there comes the subtle "I love you" that takes our  "friendship" to a new level.  That's unconsciously takes us back into dangerous territory, and all the months I practiced resilience against you fades away. Like how I trained myself to stop checking your Facebook, and Twitter moves where you pretend to be something your not. Still when I fall in love with you again none of that matters but just as quickly as I could throw myself in to you once more, I quickly hate you again. No, I never hate you, I hate the control you have over this mind, body and soul of mine. Your my weakest. 

The truth is that it all starts with me, but you don't stop me. I creep back in but your routine, your habit is to welcome me with open arms. What I now know is that you love comfort just as much as do. I'm your comfort.  And seconds, days, months don't change that, I'm home for you. 

Maybe I'll always be here or maybe I already left and the comfort that you feel is still here is merely an illusion. 

The Sensation of Comfort By Everlecia #Volume2

    They were magnets. She was convinced as yet again she found herself back in the arms of his comfort. Feeling that maybe they have never skipped a beat on their many months apart. But the truth was that they were on a ticking time bomb that intensified the moment. She knew better because they'd been there before, still In their limited moments together she wanted the fantasy to last. Naively forgetting that their comfort meant that neither of them could grow. They were trying relive the good times... But It couldn't and wouldn't last long, because they wanted different things. Differences that left them thousands of miles apart even when she layed right to him..

    So it seemed simple that their solution was to stay away from each other but it wasn't that easy. So much time was invested, unforgettable memories were made and families were introduced. And even when she thought she was moving on, someone would mention his name, and oh that alone brought her comfort. Because despite their mishaps he was the only one that had a true affect on her. She let him see every version of herself from the vulnerable girl who revealed her deepest dreams to the fighter who kept still kept everything suppressed inside.  He was the only person she didn't have to be the girl who had it all together. That's why he was the one who she dared to share so many firsts with.

     Over and over the foolish gal found herself longing for his comfort. Convincing herself that they would grow into the same direction.... But after months no years she found herself weary and without hope, and soon the girl he thought he knew would be exposed to more. The act of making love to ones mind, and without being touched she had found herself falling for another... And slowly but surely the sensations of comfort were replaced with someone like her equal, but soon she would realize that in the end that "comfort" still ruled her mind body and soul.. With a hold that was infuriating, and that wouldn't allow her to move on beyond her borders of comfort... 

The Sensation of Comfort By Everlecia #Volume1

She missed him but missing him had nothing to do with the love they shared, well maybe a little. It had more to do with comfort...he knew her inside out... He knew what buttons to push, he had even found her pause button, the one that in the moment made her feel like everything had stopped in time, and that what they had could last forever. 

        After years of persistence he slowly peeled back her layers. She was a type of science for him...certain faces had ways of telling him instantly when she was at unease.. She rarely had to explain her feelings because those looks always gave her away even when she didn't want them to. 

        She missed the comfort of someone knowing what she liked and didn't like, what made her body sing, and her favorite movies that made her cry. She missed him because of the comfort that he brought, the way he at laughed her jokes as if she was the funniest person in the world, the way he always let her have her way... 

What Will Smith Confirmed for me

    Sometimes I break my own heart, simply because I'm the type of person that looks at the bigger picture of things when it comes to a lot of my goals. When it instead I should be honing in on the small steps it takes to accomplish those goals. 

    The perfect is example is when I first started writing my book. I had this amazing idea on how my book would turn out once completed. But as I worked towards that idea it wasn't easy at all as I focused way too much on the bigger picture of things.

    As anyone who has ever completed anything before knows that in the beginning and in the middle of that process, often times its not always easy to see your vision, especially when you still have a long way to go. I had to realized that the key to completing anything in life was and is to focus all your energy on completing one step at a time, for me the first step was creating my first sentence, then paragraph then chapter. Until all the pieces and steps completed my first book in it's entirety; This Is Not A Book, This Is A #ThrivingTool.   

    Actor, Will Smith confirmed my new found concept with the way he tackles projects as well. When asked what he learned after building a entire wall for his dad's store, when originally he told his daddy that he couldn't because he thought it was impossible for him and his younger brother, as they were 12 and 9 at the time. After a year and a half they did it, and that is when he learned the the key was laying one brick perfectly, then another and another until he had a wall, and saw how everything was to be approach that way to make accomplishing things easier. We must look it the same, Every small step is a brick that is creating our wall/goal. 

Every small step is a brick that is creating our wall/goal. www.njhorseplayer.com

+everlecia taylor 

@Everlecia 

7 Major Changes that Allow for Self-Improvement

Today, I'm sharing simple but potentially life changing tools that have improved areas in my life and more certainly things that I feel can help improve yours as well if you give them a shot.


#1) Spending Time Alone 

 I have found that I have learned a lot about myself when spending time alone. I got a chance to learn what I enjoyed and didn't enjoyed without factoring in others feelings.  As I learned more about myself it was easier to learn and observe more about others while out.

#2) Daily Reflection

It's the daily goals that we set that allows us to eventually accomplish the major goals. And from personal experience I feel deeply that a little daily reflection is a game changer because when you force yourself to answer 'how can you improve for tomorrow', you come up with answers and you make little improvements that turn into big ones.

#3) Reading

1. It improves your reading skills. 2. Improves your social skills. 3. Because I said so lol.

#4) Writing Down Ideas

The best way I can think to improve yourself, is to simply think of ways to do so.  Example. the idea of cutting bad habits

#5) Working on Passion Projects

When I was working long hours at the mall making what seemed to be a lot of $, I still didn't feel more alive until I'd come home and start working on my book. I think it gave me hope that I was still moving forward to do something I love for a living.

#6) Reward your Progression! 

No matter how old you are, you still have the little kid in you that feels good when your hard work is noticed, so before anyone else starts notices, you reward your own progression and celebrate yourself.


#7) Help me Come with the last Self-improvement Tool.

All you have to do is comment a useful tool below. Please and thank youuu.  Also, if you have found this article helpful please share it with a friend.



@Everlecia

Money Wasted Last Year

                            How I started savings for the first time in my life.  

    Last year I wasted a lot of money. This new year I was determined not to do the same. I got introduced to a financially advisor last year in my sociology class and i kept in contact with Ms.Jen(name change) for awhile before we lost touch. But some of the things that she taught me stick with me to this day, earlier this year I started back up  some of her tools. The most helpful for me was the idea of recording ALL of my expenses.

    When I started back up I was able to see what I wasting my money on; a lot of clothes, candy bars, and just a lot of the things i could do without if i wanted better spending habits. 

Now unconsciously I always think about every purchase. It’s like this, I’ll see a dress in Angl that i want but then i’ll say that I can put that money into my savings account instead and watch it grow. So it turns into a no on the skirt. 

                                                Where my money goes?

    EVERY single source of income that I receive goes into the six categories below.  It’s something I learned at a seminar by Peak Potentials called Millionaire Mind Intensive. Where I learned that before you can have the right to want anymore money in your life you have to learn to manage whatever you have now to the last cent. It’s why there are millionaires living pack check to paycheck. Everyone no matter who you are have to learn how to manage their money well. 

Example: My imaginary $100 bill.

10 % Play Account = $10

Play Account, once a month everything in this account is to be spent on something nice for yourself. 

10% Education Account  =$10

On things that are seen as educational in your eyes. For me this is books, a kindle, or anything that helps me better myself through knowledge. 

10% Give Account =$10

Give account, is where you give it all away to someone/thing other than yourself, and if you think about it, the give money is giving away through holidays and birthdays gifts throughout the year anyway.

50 % Necessities Account =$50

Essential expenses that you can't function without, if you feel like you barely have enough already for this account its time to reevaluate where all your money is going by recording all of your expenses. Maybe cut back on some of those McDonalds trip, and eat at home more if thats one of your problems. Find your spending weakness. 

10% Long term savings Account =$10

This account is for unexpected expenses, or saving up for a big item, or even vacation.

10%Financial Freedom Account =$10

This account is the account that you don't ever take anything out. And my suggestion when it gets up put it a interest bearing account. Talk to someone at your local bank about it. 

    *I am no financial advisor, I am only sharing some tools that i have learned and applied to my own life that have worked for me. I’m not saying that the system will work for you, but it is worth the try if you want to make chances in your own personal finances. Even if finding another system to try other than the one above, because if you change NOTHING, NOTHING will change. 

CEO Styling: Pencil Skirts are NEVER going out of style!

Crop Top- F21

Plaid Skirt- ASOS

Heels- F21

Trend ALERT: Pencil skirts! You can wear them to meetings, parties, and the club.  It's an essential to have in your closet. 

"Dont Just Dress. Dess Well."

-Mauricio M. Moore

IG & Twitter: @Everlecia -

Photo credit: Dave Thompson (IG: @hellomynamesdave)