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Tiffany Haddish has never shied away from sharing her truth with the world. From her upbringing as a foster child to her love life with rapper Common, the comedian always lays it all out on the table. So, when it comes to her finances, why would it be any different? The Girls Trip breakout star recently spoke with Business Insider about building wealth, budgeting and how she was able to pay down debt.


Going in and out of foster care and experiencing homelessness, Tiffany wasn't always financially secure and she eventually fell into the trap that millions of Americans have: credit card debt. In 2020, CNBC reported that almost half of Americans have credit card debt. That's 120 million people. Many people fall victim to credit card debt due to the lack of financial literacy, something that Tiffany relates to.

"Getting a credit card and not knowing how credit cards work, buying stuff I couldn't afford and not having enough money to pay it back, thinking overdraft protection was like they're looking out for me—that's bad moves," she said.

The comedian urges people not to "spend more than what you've got," stating that she learned "the hard way."

Now that she's a successful comedian and actress, The Last Black Unicorn author has been working to clean up her finances. While doing so, she received a piece of advice that helped her get on the right track.

"If you spend money, write it down. Every time you spend some money, write it down. And then you'll be like, 'Oh, wait.'

"You'll be more conservative. When I received that advice from someone older, they were like, 'Every time you spend money for the next three days or the next week, just write it down, and then you'll see how much money you spend. Then you can start re-budgeting.' It helps a lot."

With her newfound knowledge, the Night School actress has teamed up with mobile banking company Chime and media company ATTN to co-produce Hotline Cha-Ching, a video series that focuses on financial literacy for the younger generation. She hopes to teach the up and coming generation how to grow and save their money.

"I wish I would have known that you could use other people's money and both of you grow in the process, like when you make investments and stuff," she said during the Insider interview. "I wish I would have known that no matter how old you are, you can buy a house."

Tiffany isn't playing games when it comes to investing and building generational wealth. During her appearance on the SmartLess podcast, the Nobody's Fool star revealed that if she were to get engaged to boyfriend Common, she wants him to propose with "the deed to a duplex or a 36-plex" instead of a ring "because a marriage is a union of two businesses, and the whole point of coming together is to grow yourselves, but also grow a family and make sure they have something to inherit."


She continued, "So this ring, they can inherit the ring, but what's that, $2,000, $3,000? Maybe $10,000? What is that? But if you get an apartment building that will increase in value, the children will always be able to go to school, we'll always have something. If we get sick or something, we'll have something to cash out and be able to take care of ourselves."

Featured image by Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Images

 

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