Celebrating 500,000 Members: Sobriety and SaverLife Helped Cheranda Buy a Home

In honor of SaverLife reaching 500,000 members, we reached out to members of our community to learn about their financial journeys and how they’ve seen SaverLife grow over the years.

Growing up in the foster care system, no one taught Cheranda about money—how to manage it, how to earn it, or how to save it. On her own, Cheranda struggled with alcohol dependency and homelessness from a young age. It wasn’t until seven years ago that she started thinking about her financial future when she got sober at a rehabilitation center. 

Newly sober, Cheranda got a job at a grocery store and has since worked her way up to Assistant Operations Manager. She also got into the Portland Housing Center’s first-time home buying program. While taking their budgeting class in 2017, she found out about SaverLife and became a member. 

Cheranda used SaverLife to help her pay off debt and save to buy a home. 

“SaverLife helped me start saving!” she said. “The emails, quizzes, articles, and savings incentives all helped.”

Since 2017, she’s paid off all of her debts, built a healthy emergency savings fund, and saved up enough money to buy a condo. 

“Now I’m looking to buy a car for my seventh anniversary,” she said, referring to the seven years she has been sober. She’s proud to have saved enough to buy a car with no financing. 

The articles and tips on SaverLife helped Cheranda set up sustainable savings habits. She set up a savings account with automatic deposits, learned how to budget, and regularly competes in SaverLife challenges.

“If I don’t save anything else, I always save $100,” she said. “The articles and quizzes helped me think differently—they changed my perspective about money.” 

Now, Cheranda is working to save up enough money to buy a property on Oregon’s coast. 

“It’s a long-term goal, but it feels attainable now,” Cheranda said. “If I keep doing what I’m doing, I can do it!”