money talks in another kind of slang

Cause I can't feel the field n!ggas chains
Though I covered mine, so I uncovered mine in bling
Then I bumped into a bum and covered mine in shame
Then I bumped into a hon and uncovered mine again

Somehow I have managed to do come out decently financially onsidering the money management training and upbringing and childhood that I had. I think back to the days of Durant Ave and that corner store I spent many dollar bills on chips, honey buns, and soda. You know, your regular ho-hum, junk food staples. Somehow, I managed to take the bad examples I had about savings and leveraged that into a thirst for not repeating the cycle of poverty. And I'm still not quit there yet, because my a$s is straight up on the cusp; barely with my head above water due to some unfortunate outcomes, but it's whatever. At least I am not living check-to-check....yet.

It's harder than sitting with a blind man and trying to describe yellow
-Lupe Fiasco, "Theme Music to a Drive-By"

I am proud of what I have been able to do thus far. Paid for seven years of school myself and ended up with less student loan debt than I had feared. Had (not the as tense) paid off all the credit card bills. Just copped the 2nd crib less than three years after graduating. Balling on a budget as usual. Well, more like scrimmaging. I cannot stomach too much flossing for fun. So anyways, I do recognize that I still have much to learn and there is plenty of room for improvement in terms of my financial acumen. I used to have a subscripion to Money magazine and always found each issue to be great. Speaking of which, I think my Black Enterprise subscription also expired. Hmm. Wonder how and when that happened? Oh well. Time to get the game face on and pick up the pace. I copped a couple of books to read to help get me on the right track (hopefully). Plus, the student loan debt does hurt, but I would love to accelerate the pace at which I get rid of it. At one point, I had a pretty good system and plan in place. I need to get back to that and then not only stick with it, but also enhance it. Things have gotten serisouly awry lately. Thus, while I'm gettin my shT togeher I think I'm going to share whatever joints I come across that I feel were worth my time. Starting with these three:

Don't chase equity with a pricey automobile
by Michelle Singletary

Even in sky-high market, buying beats renting
by Scott Burns

Lessons kids can take to the bank
by Michelle Singletary