Keke Palmer is getting honest about her finances.
If you didn’t know, Keke, now 31, landed her first acting role in the hit comedy film Barbershop 2: Back in Business at age 10.
She went on to appear in several films throughout her childhood, including Akeelah and the Bee, Madea’s Family Reunion, and the Disney Channel original movie Jump In!
Keke later starred in the Nickelodeon series True Jackson, VP, which aired between 2008 and 2011.
Last year, Keke opened up about what it was like becoming her family’s breadwinner at 12 years old, revealing in a lengthy Instagram post that her parents stopped working to support her career.
“Due to traveling and scheduling both of my parents had to stop working to support my career and be present for my three siblings, leaving me with the financial responsibility around age 12,” she wrote.
While Keke noted that she “took great pride” in providing financial stability for her family, she admitted that the huge responsibility caused her “a lot of pain.” She explained, “I essentially had to abandon my childhood feelings and desires, becoming like a parentalized child… I am grateful but often feel like...I missed ‘IT.’”
Now, Keke has opened up further about her finances.
Speaking at the Building Wealth Today for Tomorrow Financial Empowerment Summit last week, Keke recalled filing for bankruptcy at age 18 — despite her parents hiring a business manager for her when she was 12.
“I was so spooked. I was like, ‘What went wrong?’” she said, per AfroTech.
Keke went on to note that she’s since decided to live well below her means in order to avoid anything similar in the future.
“If I got $10,000 in the bank, then my house would be $500 a month… I mean, because I can probably afford something $2,500 maybe, but I’m going way under,” she said. “You know why? Because I wanna invest in my business.”
“So if I wanna invest in my business, then the material things that I’m having currently might have to take a short back. Instead of wearing Gucci, I’m wearing Zara. I live in a good place. I drive a cool car, ’cause my money is going elsewhere… I got a Toyota right now in my driveway,” she added.