During my journey to pay off my massive student loan debt, the toughest thing for me was the motivation. I was lucky enough to be in a position (no kids, single, disposable income, minimalist lifestyle) in which I could afford to pay more than the required minimum monthly payment. When you have a large debt to pay off, in my case $77,000, this amount can be daunting. I experienced my first case of demotivation in…
$76,524.22 was the exact student loan debt amount I fully paid off. I wanted to lay out what my student loan debt payoff plan was. The amount of time it will take to pay off your debt will depend on numerous factors, but hopefully there are some tips here that you will find helpful. 5 Step Student Loan Debt Payoff Plan Set a debt payoff goal focusing on the month and year you expect to…
I fully paid off $77,000 ($76,524.22 to be exact) in student loans! If you want to skip to how I paid it off, scroll to the bottom =) What a weight off my shoulders. One of my many money moron mistakes I made in my 20s can finally be put in the past. I went to an out of state college and I never worked part time. I used my leftover student loans on….stuff. After…
I am sure most of you have come across a 0% financing offer typically when buying large ticket items such as electronics (TVs, cameras), large appliances, jewelry, mattresses, and furniture. 0% financing is also referred to as 0% promotional financing or “no interest if paid in full”. You might also come across 0% financing offers on lower ticket items because banks know they can make money. I have worked in the financial services industry and…
Thanks to a variety of personal finance and side hustle podcasts, I have been motivated more than ever to pay off my student loan debt. In my 20s I defaulted on my student loans and I have been paying the price on that mistake ever since. I am now on pace to pay off my student loans a month ahead of my personal goal and pay it off entirely in February 2019. I have been…
Having a side hustle to make more money is a great way to achieve your financial goal. Aside from tightening your belt a bit more and squeezing every single dollar out of your income, budgeting will only take you so far. Here are 7 reasons to have a side hustle to increase income 1. Pay off debt quicker One major reason I started to take my side hustle more seriously this year is to pay…
Ever since I set my student loan debt payoff goal of March 2019, I have been motivated more than ever to continue seeing my student loan debt shrink and eventually paid off. I have been paying a bit more on top of the $2,300 a month I currently pay thanks to my side hustles. Although my payoff month goal is March 2019, I am aggressively pursuing a payoff goal by the end of February 2019….
For this week I rounded up the following blog posts that I enjoyed reading. OMG My Money’s favorite personal finance posts of the week (My first contribution! Thanks Michelle and Howard for letting me be part of this!) Which is better for getting out of debt, experience or knowledge by Debt.com – click here My take – you can check out my response here or check it out in full below. I basically said knowledge first, take…
Back in July (2018), I wrote a post about getting motivated to pay off my student loan debt. In that post I did not set a specific date and simply noted that I wanted to pay a little extra per month. I had a great start last month in August paying an extra $9,600 towards my student loan debt. That is on top of the $2,000 monthly payment, which makes the total amount $11,600 in…
What are some of the biggest debt traps? The word debt is about as cringe worthy as it gets. I am certainly caught in some of these debt traps. This post is inspired by this 2 Cents Lifehacker article.I hope many of you are in the process of getting out any of these 11 debt traps. Here are the 11 biggest money debt traps Student loans (government/federal loans or private loans) – I know all…
What are your favorite top money rules that you (try to) follow? I referenced blog posts from NerdWallet, The Simple Dollar, and The Practical Saver to create my top money rules. My 9 top money rules Pay yourself first – a lot of the financial gurus, ninjas, influencers preach this. Whether you work a traditional 9-5 like I do or work for yourself through your own business, set aside a percentage of your income and throw…
As a self professed money moron (I was and partially still am), attending an out of state college was one of my biggest financial regrets. It would not be a blog without the flipside, right? I try not to be such a negative person and when it comes to finance, you have to think beyond what happened in the past. The financial mistakes I have made in the past are sunk costs so I can…
In my 20’s I ignored my massive student loan debt and eventually went into default. One of the worst possible things financially you can do. I went into default only a few years out of college. This is the reason I started this personal finance blog. For cringeworthy money moron moments, give the post a look for a quick rundown of my financial mistakes. I experienced credit cards getting cancelled, paying a crazy interest rate on car…
