We were lucky to catch up with Lacresia Chestnut recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lacresia , appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I always say I should have started with Lavish and Thrifty back in 2015 when I got let go from my job in December right before Christmas. I lived alone and was responsible for paying for my mortgage, student loans etc. It was because of my spending habits that I was able to not only survive but thrive during the 4 months that I was unemployed. My good spending habits helped me to save a decent amount of money to have just for situations like losing my job. Because my parents would always call and ask me if I had found another job, I started looking for another job and eventually got one 4 months later in internal audit at the bank in 2016. I also started studying for my Internal Audit Certification which I received a year later, a month before my trip to Dubai. When I lost my job I really wanted to start helping people with their money, because I thought if I could do it, then others could too. I genuinely wanted to see people win. But because those around me wanted me to have some sort of security, I went back to work, even though I had a fair amount of money saved up to bet on myself for a while.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started Lavish and Thrifty 6 years ago in April 2017 as a blog after I took a trip to Dubai. While I was in Dubai, I would post pictures on my Instagram and Facebook and I got several messages on how I could afford such a lavish trip. While my trip was definitely lavish, I did not spend the money on the trip that my followers thought I had spent! So I wrote a blog and posted it on my Facebook to let my followers know exactly how much I spent on my trip to Dubai. They realized just how thrifty it was after I told them I booked the trip on Groupon! The Groupon was $1200 and included roundtrip airfare on Emirates my hotel, breakfast, dinner boat cruise, and museum tour. A lot of my excursions I booked on Viator prior to the trip and I bought $1,000 in spending money. Although my followers agreed that my trip was lavish and thrifty, I found a lot of them were telling me that they still would not be able to go on a trip like this due to the current state of their finances. That’s when I decided to start writing about money management, budgeting, and planning. If you stay ready you don’t have to get ready. When my friend showed me the Groupon, I immediately knew I would be able to book at that very moment as we only had about 8 days to book the trip because I had the money saved up. While we have to stay prepared to handle financial emergencies, we also have to stay prepared to jump on the deals as they come. Everything that looks lavish does not have to be expensive. When the time is right, we can have those experiences at deep discounts.

Although I officially started Lavish and Thrifty in 2017 after my trip to Dubai, I have always had good spending habits. I have always lived by the scripture “The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get” Proverbs 21:20 NLT. I don’t spend money before I get it and I live on less than I make. I actually buy everything on sale and deep clearance including food. I live by my tagline – spend wisely, live lavish.

When I got my new job in 2016, I started making more money but no one could tell because I didn’t do anything differently. I lived as though I still made the same amount of money and continued with the same spending habits and saved even more money. I knew I wanted to prepare for the future older me but also be able to travel and have as many experiences I could. Mind you I was still making 5 figures at the time and it was definitely more than enough.

Almost two years into the job I moved to Charlotte, NC to experience something new. I rented out my condo in Richmond, VA and I moved into an apartment thinking that I would just enjoy living in a new area…but my first month there I got a roommate to pay me more than half the rent and I paid my student loans off within 6 months. At the end of that year I moved back to Richmond, VA and within 6 weeks on my birthday I closed on a new house.

What I want people to understand is that it is important to spend wisely. In my opinion this is first adjustment to make if you know you’re living paycheck to paycheck. I say this because you can’t out earn poor spending habits. Sometimes you may have to scale back from the luxury apartment or either get a roommate so that you can save more money to actually achieve the goals you’ve set in life. It all starts by tracking your spending. If I can do it, then you can too.

I help my clients to audit their 30 day financial picture and make adjustments as necessary so they not only survive the 30 days but thrive during the 30 days. I’m not just selling hopes and dreams…I actually live everything that I post and my clients and my followers see that and feel that. That’s why I didn’t consider myself a business because Lavish and Thrifty is more like a lifestyle brand. I live the lavish and thrifty lifestyle daily out loud and I’ll never change.

I’m most proud of the people who have changed their spending behaviors based on something I’ve said or posted. I always get so happy when I get messages that say I took your advice and this happened or I heard you say this and I tried it and it worked! I’m just happy about the impact that Lavish and Thrifty is making on each and every bank account and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I would say the Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK by Mark Manson has really impacted the way I think when it comes to being a creative. For years I would hold back and not want to post on social media because I was afraid of what my family and close friends would think. Nevermind the fact that I had to realize they were not my audience to begin with. I never started Lavish and Thrifty in 2015 because people were telling me that I needed a job. I was afraid to tell people I got fired because a lot of people thought I was so perfect. All my life I relied on what my parents thought because I am a preachers kid and I relied on their opinions a lot. I recently quit what a lot of people would consider a “good job” but it was draining me mentally and physically. For so long I fought quitting the job because I was afraid of what people would think like my parents etc. So the only person I talked to about quitting was my husband and then I quit and didn’t tell anyone else. No one noticed because I was still going about my life the same except I was happier. However, just recently I realized that not even their opinions matter anymore when it comes to what I want to do in life and my passions. Sure their guidance got me here, but it won’t get me there. There is where I’m trying to go. Now when I write my posts often, I tell people all the time that caring what other people think is costing you money and most importantly time. Time is something we can’t get back. Now I wake up everyday and I block out the noise and I do what I want to do and I say what I want to say. As long as I’m not hurting myself or others, I wake up and I do not give a f*ck about living my life the way that I want to live it! Now I’m completely unstoppable.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My best advice for building a social media presence is to be your authentic self. In order to show up as your authentic self you have to not care what anyone thinks about you and then just show up as you! Easier said then done but it can be done. A couple years back after I began Lavish and Thrifty, I started doing Monday Morning Money Making Motivation Videos and I would state my introduction on every video. I would see people as I was out and about and they would try to say my intro how I would say it and then they would say ugh I can’t do it but I love your videos. Thats the type of engagement you want to see. Or I get messages from people saying ” I got these shoes, they are lavish and thrifty” and it just melts my heart because I know I’m making an impact. Also the amount of followers is not a concern for me. The right people who are going to engage will find you. I always remind myself that Followers do not equal dollars or impact; engagement does.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lavishandthrifty.com
• Instagram: lavishandthrifty
• Youtube: lavishandthrifty
• Other: Tik Tok – @lavishandthrifty