How We Paid Off Over $27,000 in 18-Months
This week, 20 years ago, I walked into my Financial Aid Office and signed my name on the dotted line to receive my first piece of debt–STUDENT LOANS. It was then and there that I became part of the American statistic. According to Student Loan Hero’s website,
- $1.26 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt
- 3 million Americans with student loan debt
- Student loan delinquency rate of 11.6%
- Average monthly student loan payment (for borrower aged 20 to 30 years): $351
- Median monthly student loan payment (for borrower aged 20 to 30 years): $203
(Source: https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics-2016/)
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And these stats only include student loan figures. Generally, Americans save the least and spend the most racking up tens of thousands of dollars of additional debt in credit cards, auto loans, personal loans and others.
Please believe I have had my fair share of spending frivolously, both while in college and after graduating; however, after getting educated about personal finances, I now know the consequences of “emotional spending”; the importance of buying what I need instead of what I want; and learning that “catching it on sale” doesn’t mean I am saving money, it means I am spending money. Through the good and the bad, and maturing financially, we are now on our journey to spending wisely, increasing our household income, saving for a rainy day, and getting out of debt.
So how have we paid off over $27,000 (and counting) in the last 18-months? Well, obviously, I believe in “Turning Your Hobby Into a Side Hustle” as a means to get extra income (which is what we did). But after that, we followed the steps in my “7-Steps to Leaving a Financial Legacy Cheat Sheet”, particularly #5. We tackled One Debt At A Time.
