In this testimonial video, Ihalani and Chris DeMello recount how they discovered the One‑on‑One (101 Financial) program in 2011 while struggling with $30,000 of consumer debt. After completing the 99 Financial course and applying the system’s “smart banking” strategies, they eliminated $20,000 of debt within six months. The financial turnaround enabled them to plan a debt‑free wedding and a month‑long honeymoon, marking their first vacation without incurring new debt. By 2015 they purchased their first home and, using the same budgeting discipline, paid off the conventional mortgage in just 1 year, 4 months, and 29 days. In 2016 they bought a second property in Waimea, which they renovated and now rent out, turning their first home into a rental income source. Chris admits he was initially skeptical, calling the program a scam, but after seeing the results he became an advocate. The video concludes with a house tour of their second home, showcasing a kitchen, office with inspirational quotes, and living areas, serving as visual proof of their financial transformation.
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Aloha everyone, I'm Ihalani DeMello and this is my husband Chris DeMello. And we got introduced to One on One back in 2011. It was a great time for us. We were in a fairly new relationship, 4 kids between the two of us, and struggling to make minimum payments on $30,000 worth of consumer debt. That was pretty much our truth. We accepted it. It was tiring and exhausting and One on One fell into our lap at a perfect time and showed us a way out. So basically, we jumped on that 99 Financial course and we worked our system, got organized, brought us together, understanding our money and being able to communicate better about it. And what it did was it brought us together. We eventually jumped on the one-on-one program and we tackled our debt. We started off with about $30,000 worth of consumer debt, and within 6 months of implementing the smart banking strategies, we were able to knock off $20,000 of that. Like, $20,000 to me was a million bucks, you know? I was ecstatic. I was just like, okay, what else can I do? So it got me digging more, and then— what did I do?
And then, well, once we figured that out, we're like, we finally— she decided to marry me because she would not before. So it was just like a credit, basically a new chapter in her life. So we were like, okay, let's plan our wedding. So in true Portuguese fashion, we, we planned our whole honeymoon, and then a 1-month honeymoon, and then We were celebrating our wedding, so we did it up. We spent a week in Florida, in the Caribbean on a ship. We went to New York for a week.
Universal Studios, played with the kids for a minute, circled back to Maui. But it was fantastic for us personally. We focused more on the honeymoon just because we have kids and we just really wanted that time. But it was our first vacation ever that we took that we didn't come back in debt. So that was exciting to start We wanted to start our marriage off with a solid foundation of I do, debt-free, on the right page, you know? Fast forward in 2015, we hit another milestone. We became first-time homeowners. I gotta fist pump for that one because that's exciting because we never even fancied the idea of us becoming homeowners. What's even more exciting is that we put it on the system and we, you know, we worked hard, we focused, and we paid attention to our budget and just attacked it with a vengeance. We were able to knock out that conventional mortgage in 1 year, 4 months, and 29 days. So here we are now, fast forward to 2017, you know, in our second home where that first home is now our rental. So it's super exciting that the opportunities that's been presented with us because of the education we received with One on One Financial.
Yeah, when we heard about One on One, I was the biggest skeptic. I actually spent a year of fighting her, telling her that this is a scam, and you know, You know, just not knowing, right? So, you know, if you are skeptical about this, you know, I understand. But, you know, just give it a chance. Watch the video. You just see thousands of people in Hawaii, all over the mainland. You know, the system works, you know, 100% of the time. It's awesome.
So welcome everyone to beautiful Waimea. This is my house that we just purchased back in October of 2016. This is house number 2, for the record. We purchased it, did a few minor adjustments to it, bring it up to market value here. Put in a new driveway, just painted, made it pretty, made it nice and homey. So come in and check it out. So welcome to the kitchen. Look who's on the fridge. It's Akina Ohana! So this is the beautiful kitchen where not much cooking gets done. I'm not a big cook, but I try. And then if you come on in, welcome to my office area here. As you know, I'm big on quotes and I love words and anything inspirational. So you'll see a lot of words and different quotes around my house, but it's just something that I need to see every day to kind of get me going. And then over here, this is our dining area. Opens up into our living room. And again, I got all my little words and everything going on. This is one of my personal favorites here. If Alan can zoom in on this, because this is what I totally live my day by. And that's about it, guys. Thank you for joining me.
