Powerful Women of Purpose Series. Meet Trisha

This week we are excited to introduce you to Our Powerful Woman of Purpose who has navigated the treacherous waters of debt, and is on her way to financial freedom and taking millions of other women with her. We know you will be inspired to take a second look at your finances and see what changes, if any you need to make and start your own Mending Pocket story.

About Trisha -

Trisha, founder of MendingPockets.com, a personal finance blog grew up in Minnesota - land of “Uff da’s” and “Yeah, sure…you betcha’s”. She has even survived -66◦ F winters, and she loves telling people about stories of walking to school uphill both ways in a blinding snow storm. She loves travelling, photography, walks in nature, reading, and any activity near water.

Her love for travelling took her to every continent except Antarctica. She travels on ships teaching photography and slide show movie making to the passengers about eight months out of the year.

Tell us about your purpose, how do you define it, and how did you discover yours?

I would say that my purpose is to inspire and motivate women to get involved in their personal finances. Most of us don’t receive any financial training at school (or at home), I am no exception. I have made many sad money choices over the years that I now regret. Because of this, I want to encourage younger women to choose better money habits and gain financial freedom.

I believe very strongly that “The borrower is the slave of the lender” – Proverbs 22:7 (ESV).

I’ve been enslaved to my lender for twenty years and would love to prevent others from ending up in the same situation. How could we avoid debt in the first place, rather than work so hard to get out of it afterwards?

Reading the stories of others who handled a similar situation helps spark new ideas for our own circumstances, which is why I love sharing the stories of different women on my blog.

How did you start Mending Pockets and why you began this debt free journey? Tell us more about your initial steps, and how you got over the "fear of starting".

I started MendingPockets almost by accident. I’d researched opportunities for making money online for months, several years even. When I finally decided to dive into blogging it happened in a split second in February 2017. One day I just decided to do it and I took the steps to purchase my domain name and website hosting before I chickened out. I invested a chunk of money into this business and it makes me take it seriously and keep learning and growing. I can’t afford to fail, because I don’t want to waste that money. I do realize that it takes time to build a successful business. So, I keep going even when I feel overwhelmed many days. I seek out accountability groups for women entrepreneurs, because they offer encouragement to keep going and helpful advice each step of the way.

Let me share more details about my journey to starting a blog:

I’m in the midst of paying off the last $19K of my $120K in debt. As a result, I’m always looking for new ways to “side hustle”, because I am sick to death of owing student loan and credit card companies my hard earned money. But, working for a cruise line, I have limited options to earn extra income.

Most “earn more money” advice talks about driving for Uber, picking up a part time job on nights and weekends, or selling stuff on sites like eBay. That doesn’t work for me at all. I work random hours throughout the day, seven days a week, and my “house” changes countries daily.

Some sites specifically mention “online income opportunities” like Swagbucks, Ibotta, Inbox Dollars, and other types of couponing, survey, and web surfing for cash type sites. Those options don’t provide the amount of extra income that I hope to earn. They work great for some extra fun money, but I’m trying to pay off my remaining debt fast and then save for retirement. Money wise, I’m looking for a “real job” on the side. Survey and paid surfing sites also require fast internet connections to stream video content, which ships don’t have.

Have you ever been on a cruise? Internet via satellite connection makes me reminisce about the good old days of the dial-up modem. I think my 14.4K modem might have been faster than our satellite…carrier pigeons would be faster [and I hear they’re extinct]. Any doable online business for me needs to offer the flexibility to work offline right now as much as possible.

So, after stressing out about wanting to find another source of income (in my unique situation) I finallyresorted to prayer. I don’t recommend prayer as a last resort. It should be the first thing I do. I’m a slow learner, though.

After I began to pray, ok begged God to PLEASE SHOW ME a doable option, I read about someone who made a good living blogging. I had no idea that people could turn a blog into a viable full-time income until I read that. On the technical side, blogging requires internet access to upload the posts to a website, but otherwise many hours of work can happen offline. There’s potential here, I thought. [Disclaimer: It’s not an overnight money making machine, but bloggers can earn a nice income through building relationships and providing information and services their readers genuinely need.]

I thought about it for a few weeks. Logistically it would work, but I didn’t feel competent with my writing skills to see myself making a living that way. Basically, self-doubt tried to stop me. I kept coming across more articles from bloggers who made good money with their websites. After a few weeks of seeing this message, I came across something that made me pay full attention.

I read that great writers aren’t born, they are taught and anyone can learn how to write if they choose to put in the time and effort. In that moment, a lightbulb went off in my head. I love to learn and I CAN be taught! [I’m still learning, too, so no judging!] On February 24, 2017 I knew, as crazy and scary as it felt, that I needed to jump in the deep end and go for it! I hadn’t felt compelled to take action like this with any previous idea. So, when I finally made the decision to create a website it happened FAST.

Could I really do this? Yes! What would I write about? Good question…

Solid advice said to write about a subject that wouldn’t bore me months and years down the road. I’ve devoured the topic of debt elimination and debt freedom since 2014. I read and listen to lots of resources to inspire my own debt payoff journey.

All of those inspirational stories sparked an idea in my head. Lots of people have an interesting story to tell, let’s find them and showcase their journeys to inspire others. While getting started creating my website, I decided to add another component – women who’ve started a business. Fixing our finances often requires finding extra income, not just good budgeting and saving skills. Starting a business offers women flexibility in their earning opportunities, so I felt the need to share those stories also.

I haven’t completed my own journey yet, so it’s a group effort - a mutual inspiration fest! I’m not a financial guru, not by a long shot, but I’ve been in debt long enough to have learned some lessons that could help others avoid my mistakes. I’m also learning new ideas from the people I interview right along with my readers. I love it!

The name MendingPockets conveys my heart to encourage others while we fix our finances.

Too often money seems to just “fall out of the holes in our pockets” and we don’t notice until it’s too late. With a lot of inspiration, and some education thrown in, let’s begin fixing our finances onesuccess at a time.

Have you had your “Mission Accomplished” moment? What is it? Or what will it be?

I have not achieved my mission, yet. My mission is to share the stories of as many women as possible to create a ripple effect that inspires other women to start knocking down their debts and pursuing business opportunities. I would love to tell the story of someone who received inspiration from MendingPockets to achieve their goals and now want to share it with others - to inspire them. I never want to think my mission’s all accomplished though, businesses need to continue to grow and change over time. I look forward the future and what new opportunities it brings.

What is your top tip for someone trying to be debt free?

If you desire to become debt free you must spend less than you earn and save the rest. You need to choose each day whether a potential purchase gets you closer to your goal or not. I highly recommend the money management software called YNAB (which stands for You Need a Budget). I saved thousands of dollars the past 3 years using this software, and I always thought I was decent with budgeting before this. Check out their website: www.youneedabudget.com and sign up for their free 34 day trial - no credit card required. If I’d had YNAB software years ago I would be debt free right now. Instead, I’m still paying my student loans.

At Beauty and Purpose our mission is to encourage and inspire women to shine in their beauty by walking in their purpose. What does this mean to you and how do you celebrate your individual beauty?

God instills inside each woman a desire to make a difference in the world and have a purpose that goes beyond living for herself. “To shine in their beauty by walking in their purpose” means doing what God calls us to do. Our loving Father knows us better than we know ourselves and His plans for me have always been so much better than my own. When I take a step back and look at my life I’ve always felt the most fulfilled when I’ve surrendered my rights to my own life and allowed the Lord to move me and use me where He needs me. Wow, what an amazing adventure when you do that!

I love to teach, to entertain, to inspire, and so I love how both my cruise job and MendingPockets allow me to do that. God gave me a specific voice and I get to use it for His glory. What an awesome privilege to get to help others achieve success in different areas of their lives.

Besides the Bible, what is your favorite book?

I have so many books that I love. A theme that I love involves people who’ve learned to pray aboutall their needs, big and small, in day-to-day life, trusting that God hears our prayers and cares about what concerns us. A book called “God’s Smuggler to China” by Brother David first taught me this lesson of humbly praying about anything and everything.

In terms of little things mattering to God, one day Brother David lost his keys right when he needed to leave the house. He searched frantically and grew increasingly upset. At last, in desperation, he gets down and searches on his hands and knees under some furniture. In that moment God spoke to his heart that he was finally in the right position to get the help he needed.

Brother David realized he needed to pray for help. He’d struggled using his own strength when God knew exactly where to find his keys. When he prays God immediately tells him to check the cuff of his pant leg. How did they end up there? Who knows! But, over the next few days, each time he loses something he learns to kneel and pray instead of resorting to anger or frustration. God made sure he had many opportunities to practice that lesson, too, he said.

What a powerful message! The book goes on to tell many miraculous outcomes to seemingly impossible situations. Brother David learned not to rely on man’s wisdom, which leads to frustration, but to pray in all circumstances – just like he did with his keys. God never disappointed him, no matter how big the problem.

What's your favorite quote?

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – Chinese proverb. So take this first step and walk on this path of breaking all boundaries and flying through your life.

We want to express our gratitude to Trisha for sharing her inspiring story and wisdom with us. Check out her page.

If you are struggling, or need to talk with someone 1:1 reach out to us, and lets help you create a plan to get on your journey of life and financial freedom today.