Episode 8: Angela – A Journey Through Homeownership

In this episode, our guest Angela discusses her journey through homeownership and the financial decisions she and her husband had to make along the way.

Angela spent a number of years at GreenPath in several roles. Her first role was as one of our Advocates— helping people who call GreenPath for the first time. Angela empowered people to take steps to improve their financial health.

She eventually took on a role bringing innovation to the technology that supports the services we offer. Angela not only grew professionally during her time at GreenPath—but as you’ll hear, she was able to apply the financial expertise she learned to her personal life.

She entered her GreenPath career saddled with credit card debt. It’s interesting to hear how her credit card debt slowly snowballed over time. Several years later, she and her husband were able to purchase their dream home… but there were lots of twists and turns along the way.

As you listen, consider what parts of her story you might connect with. What might you do differently? What might you draw inspiration from?

Key Moments

2:09 Angela discovers the world of credit at the age of 18.

3:50 Her credit card debt starts to get unmanageable.

6:45 Angela applies what she learns to help GreenPath clients to help herself budget and get out of debt.

9:27 She aggressively pays off debt and saves up for a down payment for a condo.

14:17 As a new homeowner, her credit card debt creeps back up by spending on furniture and home improvement.

16:25 Angela describes the mindset that led to impulsive homeowner spending.

18:02 She discusses the pros and cons of being a landlord.

20:03 Angela offers homeowner advice to her past self.

29:47 Angela and her husband discover their dream home—but will it be a dream or a nightmare?

35:27 She describes what was keeping her up at night financially.

39:04 After getting denied for a refinance, her credit union works with her to find a new option to get her debt under control.

43:19 Our hosts share lessons learned from Angela’s story and home buying in general.

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