Interview with Making Momentum

I was recently interviewed by Scott from Making Momentum. Scott is a Canadian millennial who is on a mission to take control of his money and life. He started his personal finance and personal development blog to connect with other like-minded individuals. If you haven’t checked out his site yet, I highly recommend you do!!

Here is my interview with Scott…

Yourself

Hello! My name is Deanna and at the time I’m writing this I’m a 45-year old single woman. If there is one word that can be used to describe my life it is transformed.  By the grace of God, I was able to get sober from drug addiction, out of an abusive relationship, and become debt-free. Now I get to be on the redemptive path of saving for financial independence. Moreover, my past is turned into something beautiful when I’m able to help other women.

Your Website

I started my blog about 4 months after getting out of debt. In addition to helping others, I wanted to keep accountable for my financial goals.

I know my story is one that resonates with people who may have thought it too late. Furthermore, I wholeheartedly believe that I have a gift as a result of recovering from addiction. The gift I possess is understanding. I am uniquely positioned to help other women who are coming out of the trenches as well. I help women one-on-one in recovery but my hope is that my blog can be a resource to a larger audience. Most women in recovery have financial wreckages to clean up.

Funny story: when I was at my 110-year high school reunion, they had a contest to see who had been in school the longest. I almost went up on stage because it had taken me 10 years to get my bachelor’s degree. I’m glad I didn’t because here’s how it would have gone down:

Hi, I am Cathy and I have a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering

Hi, I am Tricia and I have an MD in Internal Medicine

Hi, I am Deanna and I have a bachelor’s degree in Economics

Haha! In all seriousness, I just didn’t know what I wanted to do so here is why my undergrad degree took 10 years:

• Started out at a community college
• Transferred to Kent State University
• I switched majors a couple of times
• Partying was often my major 😉
• I took time off to travel and moved to Colorado
• Became a resident of Colorado
• Went back to school at Metropolitan State College of Denver and fell in love with Economics
• Three friends & I took a few months to backpack through Europe
• I was married in 1998
• Divorced & bankrupt in 2000
• Went back to school at Cleveland State University and finished in 2002

Phew! That is a journey. I often joke that while it took me 10 years to get my undergrad degree, I got my Master’s degree in 1 year. When I was in my early 30’s I realized I wanted to be a math teacher. I did some post-baccalaureate work and got into an intensified one year Master’s program at Kent State University. This is where $40k of my debt came from.