The Power of the Ask

Making a Plan: How to Live Debt Free and Transform Your Future with Mayra Alejandra García

• Season 1 • Episode 12

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This episode of the Power of the Ask podcast features Mayra Alejandra García, certified Financial Coach and founder of Debt Free Latina, a website dedicated to empowering and motivating families to gain control of their money, bid farewell to debt, and watch their net worth soar. Mayra shares her inspiring journey from being $21,000 in debt to becoming financially free in just 17 months and her passion for working to help other families find the same freedom.

Growing up in a bicultural, bilingual household in East LA helped shape Mayra’s outlook on finances. She learned from her father the critical difference between offering a hand up and a hand out and emphasizes the importance of helping family without enabling dependency. 

What she didn’t learn was how to talk about money and to plan and budget for spending. That, Mayra notes, was the hardest lesson. When she found herself stressed about significant debt in 2010, she didn’t know where to start. So she grabbed the tools she had – a piece of paper and pen – and wrote every debt out. In the next 17 months, using Mayra’s rudimentary budget, the family paid off its debt and was able to move from a small apartment to a new home. Since then, her family has remained debt free. In 2017, she followed her heart to become a certified financial coach, offering her own cash flow plan sheet, one-on-one coaching and financial literacy resources on her website, DebtFreeLatina.com.

The website was a passion project for Mayra. When she couldn’t find the resources she needed online, she decided to create them herself, starting a blog about budgeting, empowering and motivating families to become debt-free and build wealth. 

“I know the struggle,” she shares. “I know that people may feel lost in that position, and that's where I love to help. My debt-free lifestyle enables me to focus my passion on helping other families.”

But it’s not just about a budget. Mayra concludes by explaining that it all comes down to having a written plan with a goal and specific ways to reach it. Start with small steps, she shares, like saving or cutting out impulse buying. While she says it will take hard work and time, the financial freedom is worth the effort.  

About Mayra Alejandra García:

Mayra Alejandra García was born and grew up in East Los Angeles, CA. She moved to Laveen, AZ, a Phoenix suburb, with her husband and two children and started living the American dream, including getting into debt. By 2010, her family had credit card debt, student loans, two car loans and a house they couldn’t afford. Mayra got serious and developed a budget and strategic plan. They sold their house and moved into a small apartment, and within 17 months they had paid everything off. They were then able to purchase their current home with a 20% down payment and a 15-year mortgage. With hard work and by following a budget, Mayra transformed her life from significant debt to financial expertise. Living debt-free has increased their net worth and given them financial independence. In 2017, Mayra was able to leave her career in media and train as a certified financial coach. She’s been teaching determined individuals and families how to organize their finances and become debt free with practical strategies ever since.


Important Links:
Savvy Ladies
Precious Williams' LinkedIn
Lisa Zeiderman's LinkedIn
Mayra Alejandra García LinkedIn

Lisa Zeiderman (00:06.723)

Welcome everyone to the power of the ask podcast the podcast that helps you get what you need financially and Personally, we are so glad that you're here today. My name is Lisa Ziderman I am managing partner of Miller's I Derman and I am one of the co -hosts with my dear friend Precious Williams the killer pitchmaster. Hi precious


Precious LaTonia Williams (00:29.612)

Hey, Lisa. Hey, Lisa. And I'm Precious Williams, the Killer Pitch Master and the proud founder and CEO of The Perfect Pitch Group. And welcome back. This week, we're excited to bring to you Myra Alejandra Garcia of Debt Free Latina. Did you ever hear Debt Free Latina? And hosted a Debt Free Latina podcast. And so let me give you a little background on this dynamic guest.

Myra Alejandra Garcia, Latina from East Los Angeles, California, now living in Levine, Arizona, transformed her life from significant debt to financial expertise. Ooh, that sounds juicy. In 2010, her family faced $21 ,000 in debt, but through a strategic plan, they paid it off in 17 months. I can't even believe it.

They downsized to a small apartment, enabling them to later purchase their current home with a 20 % down payment and a 15 year loan. Living debt -free has increased their network and given them financial independence. Since 2017, Myra has been sharing her knowledge by becoming a certified financial coach. We only bring you the best guests. Welcome Myra. We're so happy to have you as a guest on the Power of the Ass podcast powered by what? Savvy Ladies.

Mayra Garcia (01:46.317)

Thank you so much for having me, I'm so excited.


Lisa Zeiderman (01:49.967)

So Myra, I have so many questions for you, but the first question I have for you is, how is growing up bilingual and bicultural with your father supporting your grandmother in Mexico shaped your views on basically cultural traditions and managing your finances? Has this had an impact on you?

Mayra Garcia (02:13.727)

It has, and I think that it really built this empathy towards my family. mean, family is everything, but there's a very nice balance that I was able to see where my father was able to support my grandparents in Mexico, but at the same time didn't enable them and didn't enable the rest of the family that was there. And so I was able to really see this get done well. And I know that there's a lot of, you you try not to enable people, but there's this sense of care. And not only did my father move to the US to provide his future generations, right, me, my siblings and, the next generation, but he also wanted to make sure that my grandparents and honor them. And that was one way that in our culture, we honor our ancestors by caring for them. So that was what I saw and what I help clients do when that is an important topic that comes up.


Lisa Zeiderman (03:20.665)

I have to say, before you jump in, fresh is one thing, because this enabling concept is so important. And I see it with so many people who are trying to help family members that they actually enable them. it's been my, I would say one of my biggest balancing acts is not to enable, for example, my daughter. We want to help, but you don't want to enable.


Precious LaTonia Williams (03:21.046)

So we.


Lisa Zeiderman (03:47.587)

And I'm so sorry, Precious, to jump on you like that, but it's...


Precious LaTonia Williams (03:50.604)

No, I think that's a dope thing to talk about for real.


Mayra Garcia (03:57.099)

Yeah, the enabling, I would say when my dad did get asked, could you send this or that, it was more of trying to find out the whys, wanting to make sure that it was, if it was my uncle who was asking for something, it was always with, know, if the house needed something, my dad would provide it. If it was just for other reasons, he would say, I'm sorry, I don't have it this month, but. You know, I will try or whatever it was. There was always this sense of my dad always knew and had this, don't know if it was just gut feeling of when he would help and when he wouldn't. And there was many times that I saw my dad say, no, like we were sending money for for food and making sure the bills are paid and just make sure my mom and dad are good. And so that was his main priority. Everything else was like a case by case basis.


Precious LaTonia Williams (04:59.134)

I really like where we just went right now. I grew up with extreme independence. There was no one who was just gonna give money for anything. And so... the enabling to extreme in extreme independence, extreme, you got to do it on your own. And just saying that there is still a middle ground. And I'm glad that your father had that gut rash. I think that comes from experience too of knowing who's coming with who's coming with the real problem, who's coming to have everybody else solve it. And they're not going to do something on their own.

Well, we talked a little bit about in your, when I was reading your bio Queen about some of the challenges and some of the personal financial journey. were some of the other challenges that you personally faced and how did you learn to overcome them?


Mayra Garcia (05:47.073)

I think the number one and most, the hardest thing I had to learn was to budget. I didn't know how to put a budget together. Even though I saw this interaction with my dad and my grandparents, money was still a taboo topic in my home. And so it wasn't really talked about. I moved on and got married and had to figure things out on my own. But even after a few years into my marriage, I had never built a budget ever. So that was... very challenging when I kept hearing you should build a budget, but I didn't know where to start. And that was my biggest challenge. It's like, where do I go? Do I do? And so the very first thing I did was I just grabbed a paper and a pen and I just started writing everything out. And then as I started seeing things happen, I would start accounting for them. So it was like with experience, my budget got better. But then.

In my career, I learned Excel and I learned other things. So I started just adding tools through my toolbox. And so my journey has evolved from just paper pen to now. I love my Excel sheet. I know there's apps, I know there's other things, but my Excel sheet works for me.


Lisa Zeiderman (07:02.319)

Can you tell us what encouraged you to start Debt Free Latina? First, tell us what is Debt Free Latina? then how did you actually get started and what made you start it?


Precious LaTonia Williams (07:08.854)

Come on now.


Mayra Garcia (07:14.883)

Yeah. So back in 2010, when I started learning about budgeting, just Pete, that you should budget, I was looking for resources of like, who's talking about this? And I mean, Google was fairly new even then, like there wasn't a whole lot of blogs about this at the time. And so I was like, nobody's talking about this. Like, I wish that I could find somebody that I could relate to that could talk about it in a format that relates to me. And that was like the first seed of that kind of was planted, right? And so fast forward a few years later, I was like, I should probably talk about this now that I've have several years of budgeting experience, maybe I should do something about it. And so I got certified and went through the whole process. And then years later at that, after that, I, started the podcast, but Debt Free Latina is a financial literacy company. And so what we do is we have the podcast, we have free resources, like a budgeting template that is on my website. And then I also offer one -on -one coaching. And that's where my heart is. Like I want to help those that have never budgeted before that were Mida in 2010.

And so that's where my heart is. know that, I know the struggle. I know that you may feel lost if you're in that position. I know exactly what that feels like. So that's, that's where I love to help.


Precious LaTonia Williams (08:49.228)

Well, I love knowing that on Debt Free Latina that you do offer the one -on -one coaching and you do have the podcast that you do have the budgeting, the budgeting sheets. Where were you when I was growing up? Where were you? Because I definitely needed that help. And I'm black. I'm like, listen, I want to be debt free black too, like debt free Latina.

Now that we're in what some consider harsh economic times, what are some of the things that you are incorporating into debt -free Latina that are so helpful now? In the last four years, pandemic, economic downturn, social unrest, inflation, recession, and all these things that are happening, people losing their jobs, what are some of those new things that you've incorporated into debt -free Latina that helps people be able to breathe better?


Mayra Garcia (09:39.403)

think that first and foremost, it's okay to do one thing at a time. I feel like the overwhelm is so stressful that I start with you can save, you can just stop what you're doing and save money. You don't have to go right into debt freedom right away or debt payoff, right? You don't. You need some sort of cushion should something come up. You don't rely on your critic.


Precious LaTonia Williams (10:00.715)

Yeah.


Mayra Garcia (10:07.659)

And so there's steps that you need to take, but that is an amount that is very unique to everybody. There are some homeowners, there are some people that have children, some don't. And so just looking at your situation, you kind of have to gauge what does that risk look like in your life? Do you have children? Then you probably should have more saved up. Do you not? Well, then you probably have, you know, just you to care for, probably a smaller place, who knows? There's a lot of variables. And so I start with saving. You have to have some sort of cushion and then we can get to the debt payoff. But some of the resources that I have is like I mentioned, the budget sheet, you know, like I said, Excel is not for everybody. But at least when you download that, you can see the different categories that most people have expenses in.

And so that can help you if you're a paper and pen person, like I was at the beginning, you can write all of the different categories that are on that sheet and you can say, okay, these apply to me and these don't, so I'm not gonna include those. And then just really start allocating and seeing if that's something that you can maybe start saving for, or if you can't, like people might just eliminate clothing from their budget for a while because they have enough. And so,

That's fine, but having a list of you are eventually going to need something. So in the future, when you're able, maybe have some sort of sinking fund or a little fund of some sort for clothing in the future.


Precious LaTonia Williams (11:46.634)

Hmm


Lisa Zeiderman (11:48.185)

Are there financial myths or misconceptions that you've encountered within or even outside of your community when it comes to managing debt? And if so, what are they?


Mayra Garcia (12:03.391)

Yeah, I one of the very common ones I hear is that you need money to make money. And you'll always be in debt or you'll always have a car payment. Those are the most common ones. And when I hear the one about you need money to make money, and although sometimes that is true, you also can learn to save and saving is such a muscle that it takes experience. And time to really get good at saving. And so sometimes I might say, you may need to pause there. You don't need to go into debt to make this investment, whatever it is, whether it's a business idea or whatever. How about we save and build that muscle so that you have the ability to execute on your idea? And so there's, you know, don't need to be in debt forever.

And I've kind of proven that and that's kind of like what I always talk about in my podcast. Like you don't knock that freedom until you try it. Like just don't knock it. It's so like it really is the word freedom. I it's I don't have very much stress. I it's like this people don't even know what that feels like right now. I the calls that I get people are so stressed out they can't sleep.

And it's like those little things that we don't talk about enough. It's like, you know, I could sleep very well. like, those are just things that we take for granted.


Precious LaTonia Williams (13:45.438)

I'm listening to you and I kind of want to slow it down.


Mayra Garcia (13:49.047)

Okay.


Precious LaTonia Williams (13:52.788)

I don't want people to listen and this sounds like a very Pollyanna story and everything is so well now.


Precious LaTonia Williams (14:04.332)

You and your family did something so incredible to go from $21 ,000 in debt to owning a home and paying 20 % down. The fact that you can sleep at night and you feel good in your own skin. What did it really take to get there? Like if you can kind of walk us through. Some steps because I want people to emotionally hear. Cause sometimes I feel like when we talk about finance and those who have made it to the top, there, there might be a disconnect emotionally from what they had to truly overcome and we skip over it. So could you tell us about some of those personal habits, some of those family habits, some of the real heart stopping decisions y 'all really had to make in order for you to be where you are today?

And the second part of that question is.

What is something that you've been so astounded that you also have been able to do, you and your family have been able to do because of those personal habits and decisions?


Mayra Garcia (15:12.896)

Okay, this is so good. I would say one of the things that I had to learn fairly early in my budgeting journey was stop impulse buying. Just because it's in front of you doesn't mean that you need to buy it right now. I remember walking into the Arizona Mills, which is a local mall here. And I remember walking into Eddie Bauer. And it was the winter and I really wanted a coat. And I just remember thinking, I'm in Arizona, how many weeks am I gonna use this coat? But it was like at the point I had it in my hands and I thought, it's not in the budget, how am I gonna do this? At the time I didn't know how to move things around in my budget. I didn't know all the different things I know now, but it was like the one moment I was like, no, it's not in the budget, I need to put it back. And at that moment I owned, I can walk into a store now and I don't feel like I have to buy something. it's just that was like the it changed for me.


Mayra Garcia (16:23.971)

Now, your second part of the question was what have I been able to do now because I have built these habits. I am in 2024 for my family has been our travel era. We didn't travel much before. For 20 years, I've been raising kids and I didn't travel. We were always on a budget. Things were always something was happening. I had to say for college, whatever it was, there was always something we were doing.

And this year we have made it a goal to go somewhere outside of the Phoenix area at least once a month. And so I've been traveling and sometimes it's this month, it's like twice this month that we're gonna go somewhere. But really we have made an effort. I can tell you January through now and what we have through November planned out at least one weekend we go somewhere.


Lisa Zeiderman (17:22.479)

Good for you. You know, we see so many people, I'm a divorce attorney, and, and we see so many people who are facing financial uncertainty, and debt, and, and certainly through savvy ladies, you know, people come to us all the time who are so stressed and anxious about their financial situation. And

Luckily, they say when they leave us and after they've been connected to a financial professional to answer those financial questions, they feel less stressed and they feel more at ease, which is really what you've been talking about. This idea that you can have this freedom of pressure and anxiety and this feeling that you can travel now, right? Because you don't have all this debt that you're like, you know, losing sleep over at night. There's a message here, right? There's a message that you are really providing to others at this point. And I want to get what that clear message is from you of those people who are still struggling with debt, financial uncertainty, they just don't know how they're going to pay their bills, you know, this month. They don't know.

Whether they're going to have their jobs or whether interest rates have increased to the point where they can't make those mortgage payments You know What message do you have for for our listeners as to how to deal with debt and financial uncertainty?


Mayra Garcia (19:10.58)

It really comes down to a plan. You have to have a plan. You have to have a written plan with what it is that your goal is and how you're going to attack it. And you really cannot get away from it. And it takes work. It takes a lot of time, especially at the beginning. Reconciling my budget is something I do at least weekly. If not, probably every other day. And it just becomes like five minutes now where I just look over my bank and I make sure it's matching up with the budget and I make any adjustments. And so it don't underestimate the power of a plan. And I know the word budget sometimes is a little like hard to hear, but really a budget is simply a plan.


Lisa Zeiderman (20:05.519)

Thank you.


Precious LaTonia Williams (20:08.208)

Great answer. And as we come to the end of the Power of They Ask podcast, we'd to ask our guests these two special questions. Why is the power of they ask so important to women, especially financially? And why is it so critical? We'd love to hear your answers.


Mayra Garcia (20:29.997)

Well, it's important because women, we tend to be natural helpers. And I feel like for me, I'm a natural problem solver too. So it's important to have that partnership with someone that just gets us. And us women, we're wired a little different and we might stress over some things. We have so many different.

And so we need to be able to have that just ability to ask the question, ask people that have been there before or that just are one step ahead of you. It doesn't even have to be a complete expert, right? You just ask the question, don't be scared. And we're all rooting for you.


Precious LaTonia Williams (21:21.63)

As you can see, everyone, this is why we bring great guests on the Power of the Ass podcast powered by Savvy Ladies. My co -host, Lisa Ziderman and I are delighted to ask the kind of questions you want to actually have answered. We know there's so much going on in the world right now and people are feeling frustrated. And then you meet a queen like Myra who went from being in debt, her and her family went from being in debt to actually living a debt -free life. Please check out her resources, her website, and also know that as dark as it can get when you do have a plan, when you do have resources and you can get coaching. Don't forget to go to our Savvy Ladies website, www .savvyladies .org. Check out our financial empowerment resources. also have, and Queen Lisa, I'm forgetting what it's called, but you call in and you have these questions. You may be in transition, you may have lost your job. All right, help me out. See, that's what I'm talking about. See Queen, I always end up doing that.


Lisa Zeiderman (22:15.243)

Our helpline, our helpline.


Precious LaTonia Williams (22:20.78)

We have a helpline


Lisa Zeiderman (22:21.097)

special special sauce!

Precious LaTonia Williams (22:27.05)

And we're bringing you the type of guests that you see that the struggles that they've had to overcome to be where they are today. The fact that this queen says she sleeps well at night because they made the decision. And because of that, you see that her and her family are vacationing now. She's reconciling her budget and she's made it a priority to live a debt free life. Thank you, Queen Myra, for coming on our show. We're so happy to have you. And don't forget y 'all, tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend to what? Come listen and come view the power of the Ask Podcast, by Savvy Ladies. You can see us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. We'd love to have you back again. Thank you so very much and keep coming back. It gets better and better. Thank you.


Lisa Zeiderman (23:07.471)

Thank you