Metro's Money Makeover: Turning Beyonce Into Big Bucks

Two young women want to change their lives by transforming their finances and creating a plan to achieve their top goals. For 27-year-old Yolanda, that is eventual home ownership and for 24-year-old Annick, that’s getting out of debt.Metro’s finance guru Lesley-Anne Scorgie is almost out of time to help the women tackle their largest financial burdens and teach them to allocate resources.Join the conversation #MetroMoneyMakeover @LesleyScorgie.The Situation: I have a dilemma on my hands. Three weeks ago Annick splurged to purchase a $322 Beyoncé ticket. To afford this once-in-a-lifetime experience, she missed this month’s debt-reduction target of $900 and only paid $550.We made a deal that if Annick didn’t reach her goal by March 15, she’d have to sell her ticket. Being a young woman of her word, Annick posted a compelling Kijiji ad. Here’s the thing though, when I clicked on the ad link, staring right back at me was a $500 price tag for Annick’s kick-ass Beyoncé floor seat.(Ed’s note: Reselling tickets at more than face value is legal in Alberta, and has been since the province scrapped the Amusements Act in 2009)Hello Miss Resourceful! Annick will make $175 off this transaction (after postage). I’m big into hawking things online for a premium price, so I want to reward Annick for thinking like an entrepreneur. Imagine if she applied this same principle in other areas of her life…There are three approaches Annick can take.1) School of hard-knocks. She sells her ticket and applies ALL the proceeds to her debt.2) Balance. She sells her ticket and applies $350 to her debt and uses the remaining $150 to purchase a less expensive ticket.3) Off-the-hook. I give her a 15-day extension to reach her debt-reduction target.I’m leaning towards option two because no financial lesson is ever learned without follow-through; and in Annick’s case that means being accountable to her financial goals.The Lesson:  Have you ever over-promised? Of course you have!Financially, and in the case of Annick, this often results in not achieving a particular money milestone like paying off one’s credit card balance, achieving a raise or foregoing that extra RRSP contribution. It feels rotten to fail.But, if you treat a financial failure as a lesson, and don’t repeat it, you’ll move on to achieve your next financial goal.The caveat however is to set realistic goals that stretch you, but aren’t out of reach.Annick’s going to pay a financial penalty for over-promising.But, she has a choice to either let that penalty sink her financial ship or motivate her to avoid splurges and make more money. Knowing her, and her newfound entrepreneurial spirit, she’ll choose the latter.The Progress: Annick has been hyper-vigilant about adding to her bottom line. Since we met in December, she’s improved her net worth by $2,675. Can she meet her target of consumer-debt freedom by July?Assets                    Dec-15            Mar-16          RRSP                        $350               $850Total Assets               $350               $850Liabilities Student Loan           $58,800           $58,350VISA                          $1,500             $1,200MasterCard                  $650                $475Other Loans              $1,600                $350Taxes                            $250                $250Total Liabilities         $62,800           $60,625Net Worth               ($62,450)       ($59,775)Published by Metro News on March 21st, 2016.