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Gentrifanatic is a one stop shop of everyday winning tips aimed at helping those of us who have a steeper ladder of success to climb.

This blog is an alternative to all the financial, health, and life hack gurus out there that aim their content at those born into privilege. Like most of you, I came from humble beginnings and had to teach myself how to improve all aspects of my life. Over the years I’ve wished for some guidance that related to my, and so many other people’s, situation. I mean a small loan of a million dollars? C’mon son!

These life guru’s today seem just as out of touch. If you’re telling someone how to budget their six figure income then you’re ostracizing a huge demographic of hard working people! Most of us have to scrap to get things that seem to get handed to others…but you know what? I like it like that. I wouldn’t have it any other way. You should want people to count you out so you can build that fire inside you and burn a hole through all the stereotypes.

In my mind there’s an education gap somewhere between being in poverty and being middle class…which is where I began my life as a bi-racial kid in a single parent household.

When my mom was pregnant with me in Norfolk, Virginia she was renting a room from an older couple. Once they found out my father was black they told her that due to “how they were raised” they couldn’t allow my mom to live there anymore. I say that to say my life started out with setbacks that were given zero attention and overcome.

I grew up pretty average I guess. I didn’t have a lot of extra things, I ate a bunch of garbage, and I went to public school. One day when I was 7 or 8 I remember my mom crying and when I asked her what was wrong she said “promise me you’ll never be as stupid with money as I am”. In my mind I was like “ohhhhh, my mom just called herself stupid” but I didn’t capitalize on the moment because I saw she was pretty legitimately sad! That moment always stuck with me because I wondered how money could be something so serious that it made this strong woman cry.

After seeing my mom so upset over money I decided, at age 8, to never let money do that to me. In order to begin to see money as a tool I had to split it into two parts:  assets and liabilities. Now some of you may have read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad which explains this concept really well, but all you have is me for now so pretend I’m smart.

An asset is something that makes you money, a liability is something that costs you money. Wealthy people buy assets, average people buy liabilities…and misguided people buy liabilities thinking they’re assets.

That’s it, you’re a millionaire now, congratulations! But seriously. That’s it. Understanding this and putting into practice in your life will make money work for you instead of vice versa.

Here’s what I mean…at one point in my life I had a 27.5K a year job, I lived in a sweet apartment, drove a BMW 530i with 20” rims on it, and had a T-Mobile Sidekick cell phone. I was kind of a big deal…people knew me.

Unfortunately for me my apartment wasn’t making me money, it was costing me rent; my fly whip wasn’t making me money, I was paying the note, the gas, and washing that pretty ride once a week (and twice on Saturday)! My only asset in that equation was my job, everything else was costing me money.

Why do we get caught in these traps consumption? Is it a cultural thing where we have to try and impress each other? It seems as if we’re impressed by the false narrative of wealth:  expensive liabilities. Real wealthy people don’t buy that type of stuff, they spend their money on things like startup companies, real estate portfolios, and their own businesses. But let’s keep it a buck, if you grew up like me your brain just wasn’t wired that way. It’s not our fault that we started that way, but it is our fault if we stay that way.

I don’t care if you work at McDonald’s, you can dig your way out of that hole, never let those who have never had to struggle in their lives win. Use the adversity to fuel you drive, passion, and innovation.

Doing that however will mean you need to change your idea of handling money. Let’s say I make the median wage for fast food workers which is $8.90 per hour…that sucks. In this worst case scenario as a fast food worker I simply can’t afford to do these ridiculous things I see on T.V., as a matter of fact, I can’t afford T.V., disconnect it. Get the cheapest phone plan possible and use a ton of WiFi hotspots. I’d buy groceries in bulk and never eat the fast food I’m selling cuz it’ll kill me. I’d keep my head down and apply for at least two better paying jobs a day. I’d live with friends or family as long as they’ll let me. Every time I pass a pay day loan or check cashing place I’d give them both middle fingers and keep it moving.

This doesn’t mean that if you have a terrible job you have to have a terrible life, you just have to be more innovative then someone with money. In many ways this is an advantage because people with money that don’t know how to make it work for them get into a vicious cycle of thinking that buying more shiney things will make them happy…it never will.

So here’s a challenge that doesn’t involve eating anything hot or passing out:  look at everything you have and ask yourself whether it’s an asset or a liability. Then look at someone you consider financially successful (i.e. rappers, CEO’s, athletes, etc…) and research their asset to liability ratio.

Questions? I’ll be around, just hmu.