Had a great Christmas, Happy Boxing Day!!

Christmas was great, I had lots of fun with the future inlaws and got a wonderful and extremely warm pair of Ugg boots from FI. I'm at work on my overnight job reflecting on this year and wondering what next year will hold. I am so grateful for all the experiences that I have had this year and all the amazing people I have met.

This is my favorite week of the year because I don't have to work and I can spend a whole week planning my goals for the next year and reflecting on my blessings. This week I am creating a vision board and thinking about my goals and dreams for this next decade, as well as starting my new fitness regimen.

This week is all about me!

Back from a wonderful birthday weekend

(that included) a lot of spending! Besides the stuff my significant other brought for me, I also bought, 2 pairs of Coach sneakers, some new Nikes for working out along with some other workout gear, a pair of black heels from Banana Republic as well as some really cute blouses and trouser cute jeans from the banana republic, one pair high knee high killer black boots to go with a black sweater dress and black tights from Macys, and I think that is about it.

I received gifts from my Boo starting on Thursday which included, a carrot cake that was brought up to my school so my class full of girls could sing happy birthday and eat along with me, a manicure and pedicure, J'adore by Christian Dior, A necklace with a diamond crusted G as a charm ( my first name is very chic and extremely beautiful and begins with a G... think french), a pair of heels from Nine West, a Scorpio toe ring, the Marc Jacobs Lola perfume and lotion, and the Presidential Suite at an Atlantic city hotel.

But that's not all, I also received my beautiful and elegant, emerald cut engagement ring and one of the diamond bands( the diamond band was for our past, the engagement ring is for the present, and I will get a final diamond band at our ceremony for the future). I can't wait to show you pictures. Yesterday we had to take it to be resized, but I should have pics up by the weekend. It is absolutely gorgeous!!!

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

Planning for a big year

This coming week I turn 26, next thursday to be exact, and I am so excited! I feel like this year is going to be a big year for me. I looking forward to paying off close to $41,000 in student loan debt, graduating with my second masters from one of the top 3 schools in the country, maxing out my ROTH IRA for the first time in my adult life, becoming a married woman, probably buying another duplex and starting a job as an Assistant Principal, and will take my career to the next level by applying to a doctorate program. I am so excited for all the the growth and challenges that I will face i the coming years!!!

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Didn't stick to my Budget

I have not stuck to my budget this month nor have I tracked my spending, this month has been crazy. First a pipe burst, then my tenants decided they wanted to break their lease, then my car was making some kind of crazy noise. Its been one unexpected expense after another. Thank God for the emergency fund, and my rather low debt to income ratio.

It is also PSSA week ( standardized tests per No Child Left Behind) at my school so that is loads of stress, and I have a major research project due today for my research design class. I am so tired and worn out.

However, it is always darkest before the dawn and in two weeks I will be in beautiful Panama.


Until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

I got in!!!

My interview was yesterday and I am still in shock! I can't believe it, I was accepted to Columbia University. I am going to be in a wonderful program and will end up with a second master's degree in Educational Leadership. This program will open so many doors for me, and I am so excited.

But what did I wear?

This weekend I ended up going to King of Prussia mall, which rivals Willow Grove Mall as my favorite mall of all time, and stopped by Banana Republic. I ended up buying a black pants suit (it was buy the blazer, get the pants free) and ended up also getting some nice linen pants and some trouser jeans all for $150.00. I also put it on my gap card so I received an additional 10% off. Don't worry, it will be paid off next month.

Until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

MSN rates Philadelphia one of the seven great cities to live in!!

MSN rates Philadelphia as one of the seven great U.S cities to live in!!!

I love Philadelphia, yes, really I do. It is one of the few places on the East coast where someone my age could afford to buy a house. It is also close to New York City and D.C. The city is full of culture, green space, great universities and sports teams. I have read numerous articles that say Philadelphia is America's next great city. After living here for seven years I totally understand why!

Until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

4 Lessons From the Financial Crisis

Althoughmy finances have been on autopilot for most of the month that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about Personal Finance at all. I am still reading other finance bloggers, planning for the future, and of course reading articles. One that I think is very important for the time period is this great CNN Money article 4 Lessons Learned from the Financial Crisis. It basically talks about 4 things that every investor should have learned from these tumultuous times.

They are:
Financial Success isn't just about investing
Simplicity is better than complexity
Allow for the possibility that you may be wrong
Don't get to euphoric during upswings or depressed during downswings

I definitely learned the last lesson! In fact I have really stopped looking at my account balances.

My question to you is- What lessons have you learned from the Financial Crisis?

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Why are you waiting so long to get married???

Today DH and I had to run a few errands and we ran into some of his old friends. He proceeded to tell them we were getting married and when they asked when he told them the date which is August of 2010. What happened next is something I've grown accustomed to when I tell people I'm engaged. First its a look of extreme shock and then they ask the infamous question. "Why are you waiting 2 years?" and "That's a long engagement" I didn't answer the question but let DH answer it ( he is a lot more diplomatic in certain situations), but my dear friends in blogworld I will tell you why we are waiting so long to get married.

WEDDINGS COST MONEY!!!!

I don't come from a wealthy family and neither does DH. We have to work for everything we get. I worked my way through college, Rutgers University in hte house!!! In fact I worked full time overnight and went to school during the day. We are paying the down payment for the house by ourselves, although we are getting closing cost assistance from the seller.

1. Our wedding will be paid for by us. We have budgeted roughly $20000 for a wedding outside on the banks of a river in Philadelphia. The wedding and reception will be held at a historical mansion. We plan on paying for the wedding in cash split equally between us. That means we both have to save $10000. To make it easier on us we will be saving 5000 a year. That is will not be too hard for us at all. If worse comes to worse DH can always take some money from his 09 and 10 tax return and he will have his half and I can always get mine together during the summer when I teach summer school along with saving a little more during the year.

2. We refuse to start our marriage in debt so will be paying off all our consumer debt( student loans, car loans, personal loans) before we get married. The Bible says the borrower is slave to the lender, and we refuse to be shackled to any company or owe anyone money. It is going to take a little less than 2 years to pay off both of our debts (we are doing this separately and have committed to taking a portion of each of our take home pay to pay off our respective debts). I can only imagine how good it will feel to start our married life together with our only debt being our mortgage.

So people can keep on looking at us like we are crazy when we tell them our wedding is in 2 years, but we look at it like we are setting up a strong foundation for our lives, and we are changing our family trees. Dave Ramsey says live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else. That's what our plan is. If in many years we have a daughter who decides to get married it won't be no thing but a chicken wing, and we can bless her by having the cash saved up, and she can get married whenever she likes, because her parents sacrificed and planned for her.

Walking in prosperity is not just about it you. Life is not just about you. The choices that we make today will affect our children and our grandchildren, and generations down the line. My boo and I have made the decision to radically change our lives not for us but for them.

...long answer i know, but that is the very honest answer about why we are waiting two years to get married.

until next time, think prosperous thoughts!!!

YBP

Doing What I Have to Do, So I Can Do What I Want to Do

This is a great quote that comes from The Great Debaters. Single Ma over at Fabulous Financials applied this quote to her financial life and I believe that many of us can do the same. I have been thinking about this quote for over a week and realize that there are some things that I have to do so that I can do what I want to do.

Do What I have to do...

• Continue building my emergency fund until it is up to $10,000
• Diligently pay of car loan and student loans so that I can be debt free as soon as possible
• Pay all my bills of time
• Pay my credit card balances in full at the end of the month
• Complete my Master's degree so that I can remain competitive in my field and have options
• Save at least 10% of my income for retirement
• Fully fund my Roth IRA
• Every year buy 1-2 rental properties with positive cash flow
• Continue reading personal finance and personal development books to increase my knowledge

...So I can do what I want to do

• Stop working full time for 1-2 years so that I can begin working on my PH.D
• Spend my time lecturing, teaching, doing freelance work, and writing books
• Be able to fully fund and Educational Savings Account for my future children
• Receive my PH.D by age 31
• Buy my dream house in a community with Blue Ribbon Schools, and not have to stress over high taxes
• Tithe and give to charities and not worry how I am going to pay my bills
• Quit a job without worrying about my pension or retirement
• Own my own business
• Travel across the globe
• Live prosperously knowing that my family tree is changed and I am able to leave a legacy for future generations
• Take time out for a Spa Day at any spa (not just the one affiliated with the hotel I work at (because it give me a discount)

The things I want to do aren't really extravagant but I know that if I continue to do what I have to do these things won't be hard for me to fulfill. for me its all about planning ahead, practicing delayed gratification and putting everything on autopilot. In a few years I will be chillaxing in Barbados, truly living a prosperous life!!!

Until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

In the Beginning ( My Own Blog)

In the beginning there was a girl named Young Black and Prosperous who was a victim of her environment, who because of her age simply had to live with the hand dealt to her. During her early years she spent all her free time reading anything she could get her hands on and she knew that she could have a better life. At the age of 17 Young Black and Prosperous left her small home town and decided that she would create her own life, and forget the baggage of her past. Now she is in her early 20's and has the knowledge to create a prosperous life for herself and leave a legacy for future generations.

For the past couple of years I have been reading numerous personal finance blogs. Everyday as soon as I wake up I check my email to see if there is a new post from Fabulous Financials (Single Ma) or Sistah Ant. There are many other blogs that I read daily and weekly but I could not find any written from an early 20's black woman that works in the non profit/governmental sector. So Ta Dah!!! Here is my blog Young Black and Prosperous.

My first love is literature and reading in general which is why I teach high school English in a cash strapped school district in South Eastern PA, but personal finance and personal development are my other loves ( however, none of these come before God). I became interested in Personal Finance and Personal Development in the late 1990's while I was still in high school by watching the Oprah Winfrey Show. It was on her show that I was first introduced to Robert Kiyosaki and Suze Orman along with other financial Experts. It was also through her and The Bible where I learned that the past does not dictate the future and I can create a life of success and prosperity. So... this blog will document my journey of becoming financially independent and prosperous ( financially, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and in every other sense of the word).

As I become more financially literate, organized, and prosperous I hope to inspire others, especially young black females to do the same.