Mastering Borrowing Securely: Disentangling Debt Renunciation and Learning New Approaches
Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino, a renowned money and self-care coach, educator, and podcast host, is helping individuals, particularly BIPoC, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals, achieve financial independence. Her unique approach involves a holistic combination of financial literacy, self-care, and emotional healing.
To start unlearning debt avoidance, Fernández Paulino suggests exploring your own "debt story." This means questioning the messages you heard growing up about debt, the associations you have with it, and the opportunities you may have avoided due to borrowing. Understanding how your family, culture, and past experiences have shaped your beliefs and fears about debt is crucial in reassessing if debt avoidance still serves your financial goals today.
One of the key strategies Fernández Paulino advocates is financial neutrality. This involves shifting your mindset to view debt not as a moral failing but simply as data—a neutral financial tool. By doing so, you can reduce fear and emotional resistance, allowing you to engage with debt more objectively.
Another strategy is building financial self-trust through knowledge and planning. This means learning to think proactively and strategically about borrowing. Before incurring debt, plan repayment strategies, evaluate interest costs with tools like calculators, and treat interest as a service fee that can be managed and minimized.
Fernández Paulino also recommends conducting a full financial audit. This involves pulling your credit report to know exactly how much you owe, the interest rates, minimum payments, and terms. This knowledge empowers you by replacing avoidance with clarity.
Reviewing and managing spending is another crucial step. Analyze your expenses to find areas for savings and ensure your cash flow can support strategic borrowing and repayment. This aligns debt use with overall financial health.
Unlearning debt avoidance is a gradual process requiring time, tools, and compassion. Building a new relationship with debt involves trusting yourself to borrow intentionally and to leverage debt to create wealth on your own terms.
In summary, Fernández Paulino's approach involves deeply understanding the emotional and cultural roots of debt avoidance, shifting mindset towards neutrality and empowerment, gaining clear knowledge of one’s debt situation, planning strategically, and practicing self-trust and compassion throughout the unlearning and learning process.
Strategic debt is proactive, requiring thoughtful repayment strategy planning before borrowing. Review your monthly spending and current savings. Debt can be neutral when understood as a tool, with interest viewed as a service charge that can be evaluated, minimized, and planned. Explore how interest rates and loan terms affect repayment plans.
Aim to borrow with intention, considering factors like increased income, joy, long-term security, repayment strategy, interest costs, and alignment with values and goals. Expand financial literacy by understanding the impact on credit score, the difference between revolving and installment credit, and using online debt calculators.
Create a weekly money ritual of a 15-30 minute money check-in to build self-trust around leveraging debt. Practice financial neutrality by viewing debt as data, not a moral failure, and reviewing your credit report from Annualcreditreport.com.
Borrowing again can limit financial flexibility if done avoidantly. Debt avoidance is a habit that stems from fear, shame, misinformation, or a combination of these factors. Unlearning debt avoidance takes time, tools, and compassion, but leads to self-trust needed for intentional borrowing and wealth building.
Rita-Soledad founded Wealth Para Todos, an organization dedicated to guiding individuals toward financial independence using a holistic approach. Revisit your short- and long-term financial goals. Run mock debt scenarios, such as how you would pay off money borrowed to pursue a certificate.
Debt avoidance is often a survival strategy passed down through generations. By unlearning this habit, you can open up new opportunities for wealth creation and financial security.
- Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino's personal finance education and self-development resources, such as her podcast and Wealth Para Todos organization, aim to help individuals achieve financial independence by unlearning debt avoidance and learning financial neutrality.
- In the process of financial self-improvement, it is essential to conduct a full financial audit, leverage debt intentionally, and build financial self-trust through learning about debt tools, interest rates, and repayment strategies, all of which can be found in the holistic approach provided by Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino.
