Simplifying Personal Finances with Eduek Brooks

Eduek Brooks is the founder of Two Sides of a Dime, which is a financial literacy platform focusing on making personal finance easy to digest and seamless to implement. I met Eduek in the Trauma of Money program and hired her to help me with my own personal finance journey. I love the way she combines practical advice and tools with the psychology behind money habits. Eduek has had an incredible impact on my relationship with money and I am so excited to introduce her to you today!

In this conversation, we talk about the ways that our financial systems here in North America are designed to encourage and incentivize us to acquire more debt. Eduek shares her own journey with debt and some of the ways she was able to pay off $47,000 in 20 months! She also gives some insights into patterns that may stem from childhood, and how awareness is the key to intentional spending. Follow her on Instagram @twosidesofadime to learn more about the resources she has to offer.

Connect with Eduek

Eduek is an Engineer, Financial Educator, Trauma of Money Certified Coach and Founder of Two Sides of a Dime, a Financial Literacy platform dedicated to making personal finance easy to digest and seamless to implement.

Eduek is passionate about equipping women with the tools they need to achieve financial freedom and build long-lasting wealth without giving up on the things they enjoy.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/twosidesofadime/

Website: https://www.stackmydime.com/

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In this episode:

• Eduek’s journey began with paying off $47000 of personal debt as an immigrant to Canada
• It was difficult to find consistent information about credit that applied to Canadian finances
• Eduek is passionate about making this information easy to understand and implement
• Her financial philosophy is to balance security with enjoying your life
• She always wanted to be a teacher but knew it didn’t pay well so she chose engineering
• Teaching is one of Eduek’s strongest gifts and people have always asked her for help
• Clients say that their financial advisors haven’t broken things down as well as her
• Eduek leveraged her engineering background and love for teaching and financial literacy
• In Nigeria, the culture was that people worked to build their homes and it took time to save cash
• Coming here, the culture of incurring debt instantly for cars and houses was surprising
• All of her personal debt came from being here in Canada
• Other countries don’t use credit as much and loans are based on income
• The finance industry is the strongest industry in Canada and we’re incentivized to borrow
• Credit cards give a false sense of security and small purchases over budget add up
• We get used to using our credit card as part of our income
• The system makes it so easy for you to have access to money, and live above your means
• You make irrational decisions with money when you’re stressed out about debt
• We cannot fathom not getting the things we want because of instant gratification
• Stores make money off of their credit cards and financing
• Growing up, Eduek had what was needed and what there was money for
• People want more than they grew up with, but before they can afford it
• We either mirror what our parents did or do the opposite
• After not being able to use cash in the pandemic, we started using credit cards again
• Customers also now pay for credit card processing fees instead of the store
• We don’t question what we’re charged or check our receipts for discrepancies
• We’re taught to get careers that pay well but aren’t taught how to manage finances
• Eduek had $47000 of consumer debt and had to look at the root cause
• She had the knowledge of what to do, but wasn’t implementing them
• If you don’t address the psychological relationship, you’ll go in debt again
• Knowing your spending triggers, like stress, can help you from jeopardizing budgets
• Eduek would buy things for her home, and then return them out of guilt
• Having a self care budget prepares you for times of stress
• Debt is emotional so focusing on the debt that causes the most pain is a priority
• Eduek didn’t use a credit card for two years to show that you don’t need it
• She also stopped buying clothing and shoes for that time period
• The accountability of sharing on Instagram helped for motivation
• By reallocating money, I’ve been able to save for an emergency fund and pay off debt
• The most important thing is to be intentional with your spending and track it
• Having a budget makes you aware of what you are sacrificing for if something comes up
• Ask yourself why you want to become more financially stable or have freedom?
• Making informed decisions takes the guilt out of spending your money
• The first step is to sit down and document what is coming in and going out monthly