Episode•August 24, 2023•22 min

Building Wealth with Financial Flexibility | Ep. 257

It's time to get financially flexible! Chianté Jones, a full-time entrepreneur, is invited by Tiffany Grant for an insightful conversation about financial flexibility. Learn practical advice and activities to improve your money habits and free yourself from financial hiccups. Unveil the importance of saving regularly, strategic debt management, and investing in diverse avenues that can help you grow wealth. Hear Chianté's experience of taking the plunge into entrepreneurship after years of consistent saving and mindset shifts; it's inspiring! Join now to discover how you can become financially flexible too. About Our Guest Chianté Jones is a Financial Coach and the Founder of Dollars and Change. As a Certified Personal and Executive Coach, Chianté works with professional women who are ready to create more flexibility in their lives by confidently managing their money and executing a realistic plan to eliminate debt. Through personalized coaching, she provides education, guidance, and accountability to help them have more fun and fulfillment while still creating a solid foundation to build wealth. After becoming consumer debt free, accumulating over a million dollar net worth, and taking the leap from her 9-5, Chianté knows first-hand the freedom and options that come with having well-managed money. Her advice has been featured on PBS and numerous podcasts and her clients have said coaching with Chianté has changed their life and made talking about money feel safe and approachable. When she’s not helping women create more financial flexibility, you can find her binging a true crime show, Googling random things, or lounging at home with her husband and Yorkie. Connect with Chianté Instagram: @dollarsandchangecoach Facebook: Dollars and Change Coach Connect with Tiffany Visit the website: https://www.moneytalkwitht.com Facebook: Money Talk With Tiff Twitter (X): @moneytalkwitht Instagram: @moneytalkwitht LinkedIn: Tiffany Grant YouTube: Money Talk With Tiff This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

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Key Takeaways

1
Financial flexibility means having breathing room to make choices without money being a barrier
It's about the ability to choose, adjust, reprioritize, and take advantage of opportunities without money hindering you
Flexibility exists on a spectrum and increases as you build better financial habits over time
It enables pursuing entrepreneurship, career changes, or other life goals without being financially trapped
2
Consistent financial habits over time build wealth more effectively than perfection
Start contributing to retirement accounts and savings immediately, even small amounts
Consistency matters more than perfection—build the habit first, then increase contributions
Chianté became consumer debt-free, reached $1M net worth at 37, and achieved co-financial independence through steady practices
3
Strategic debt management preserves options and flexibility
Not all debt is bad—use it as a tool to build or move forward, not as free money
Always have a clear plan before taking on debt: know the cost, repayment timeline, and purpose
High-interest credit card debt from overspending feels different and more limiting than debt for assets like education or housing
4
Mindset shifts are essential for major life changes like leaving a stable job
Chianté worked through guilt about leaving a secure government job despite wanting something more
The fear of regret from never trying outweighed the uncertainty of entrepreneurship
Financial flexibility provided the runway and safety net to make the leap after 16.5 years in government work
5
Value-based spending and purposeful saving prevent over-saving while still building wealth
Being a 'recovering over saver' means recognizing that money should eventually be invested to grow, not just accumulated
Spend on things that matter to you rather than depriving yourself completely
You can't save your way to wealth—you must invest in markets, real estate, or other growth vehicles

Intro

Tiffany Grant welcomes Chianté Jones to discuss financial flexibility—a concept about creating breathing room and options in your finances to pursue opportunities without money being a hindrance.
Chianté Jones is a Financial Coach and Founder of Dollars and Change. A Certified Personal and Executive Coach, she helps professional women create financial flexibility through debt elimination and wealth-building strategies. After becoming consumer debt-free, reaching over $1M net worth, and leaving her 16.5-year government career, she now coaches women on managing money confidently.

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– What Is Financial Flexibility?

Chianté defines financial flexibility as having breathing room around your finances—the degree to which you can choose, adjust, reprioritize, and seize opportunities without money being a barrier.

It's really about the ability to make financial movements and choices with ease around your money.
– Chianté Jones

– How Chianté Used Flexibility to Become an Entrepreneur

After a disappointing performance review at her federal government job, Chianté realized she didn't want to stay forever. She honed her financial habits, became debt-free, reached $1M net worth at 37, and achieved co-financial independence before leaving her 16.5-year career in January 2022.

The uncertainty, the regret of never having tried and given myself the chance was greater. The fear of that regret was greater than the uncertainty of it not working.
– Chianté Jones

– How to Start Building Financial Flexibility

Chianté emphasizes starting where you are with consistent practices: contribute to retirement accounts and savings immediately, even small amounts. Build the habit first—consistency over perfection.

Consistent retirement contributions over time
Strategic debt minimization with a plan before borrowing
Building savings, then investing to grow wealth rather than over-saving

– The Spectrum of Money Habits and Value-Based Spending

Both hosts discuss being 'super savers' and the realization that saving isn't everything. Chianté reframes this as value-based spending—spending on what matters without depriving yourself, while still saving and investing purposefully.

You're not going to save your wealth, save your way to being wealthy. You have to invest that in some type of market or real estate.
– Chianté Jones

– Debt as a Tool vs. Debt as a Trap

Chianté shares how she was strategic about student loans and used 0% interest financing for furniture, always with a repayment plan. She distinguishes between debt for assets (education, housing) versus high-interest credit card debt from overspending.

Use them to build or move you forward rather than hold you back.
– Chianté Jones

– The Mindset Shift to Leave a Secure Government Job

Chianté describes the years-long internal work: guilt about wanting more despite having a 'good' job, fear of what others would think, and the eventual realization that life is short. Financial flexibility gave her the runway to try entrepreneurship without destroying herself financially.

Who are you to be wanting something else? So like kind of having that guilt of having made it.
– Chianté Jones

Topics

Financial FlexibilityDebt ManagementEntrepreneurshipMindset ShiftsWealth BuildingSaving vs InvestingCareer TransitionsFinancial CoachingValue-Based SpendingFinancial Independence