How I Paid Off Over $40,000 Of Debt By The Age of 25
Even as a kid, I was always responsible with money. I grew up with parents that dealt with finances completely differently, so finding a healthy balance between the two when it came to a relationship with money was challenging. But I was always counting the coins in my piggy bank, keeping track of how much I had and scheming ways I could make more, like the lemonade stand at our garage sale or selling toys I no longer wanted.
My relationship with money is still a work in progress and I'm no financial advisor, but the following is how I paid off $40,146.11, if we want to get specific, in just 3 years. I had saved up all through college, because I knew come graduation, I'd have some significant loans to pay off and the thought of paying interest makes me want to dig a 6 foot hole right here and now. I had even received multiple academic scholarships and the sad part is, my loans were relatively insignificant compared to what many graduates come out of school with.
If you're familiar with college loans, you typically have to start making payments 6 months after you cease taking classes full-time. So 6 months post-graduation, after saving as much as I could through college, with only a full-time summer job and not working during the school year so I could take extra credits and graduate early, I put $17,500 towards my loans right away. After that, I was scrounging. I literally put everything I made, which was pretty insignificant, towards those loans. I went without things I wanted because being debt-free at a young age was more important to me than getting that cute pair of jeans or going out to eat several times a week. I made as many extra payments as I could and gradually the numbers on my loans decreased.
But I wanted them to decrease faster than they were. Enter: starting my own business. I partnered with a makeup and skincare company and worked day and night in between racing horses. Most people would think this is an exaggeration for emphasis, but I'd often be up at 3 am working on my business just to be up at 7 with the horses. These loans didn't get paid off without a lot of sacrifice and hard work. But now I can say it was completely worth it. Soon, I had built that business to 5 figures, which allowed me to put a lot more money towards my debt. I could've kept more money in the bank and put less towards loans, but instead I threw almost everything at my loans and didn't have much in my account. I'm not saying this is the right way to do it (in fact, financial advisors would probably suggest not to do this), but I knew I wanted my debt paid off as soon as possible and that's what I needed to do personally to achieve it.
In the summer of 2019, it finally happened. I had paid off over $40,000 in school loans, and done it by myself. I had generously gotten offered help in paying them off, but it was important to me that I do this on my own. And with that, the feeling was so much sweeter when I did. I'm now doing the same thing with the new car I purchased shortly after. I have $7,000 left and after that, I will be completely debt-free for the foreseeable future. Bring. It. On.
