Lack of money and constant debts are the scourge of modern youth. And older people often face the inability to pay loans taken at high interest rates. However, as financial literacy specialists assure, you can quickly get out of the crisis, repay all debts and always have a certain amount of money in stock. A young nurse, Christy Epperson, told how she owed $ 20,000, but managed to pay off all liabilities to banks in one year.
Naive dreams
The story begins with the fact that a 23-year-old nurse had debt worth $ 20,000 three years ago. At this time, she just graduated from college. The events took place in 2017.
Of course, the girl understood that her parents especially could not help her with money. But she considered the only right decision at that time to accumulate a "bunch" of student loan debts. It is known that payments on this type of loan can be made over the next 10-15 years. But these were naive childhood dreams.
College choice
The girl attended Ohio State College, which, according to her, was chosen solely because of its availability. For this, she scored a total of $ 20,000 in debt under the federal loan program. At the same time, Christie found a part-time job on campus, which allowed her to live for free in a hostel and receive three meals a day.
But while studying, when money was already missing, she acquired a car, which added to her debts. As a result, after graduating from Christie's University, it was necessary to pay about $ 400 per month.
Insight
Financial insight for Christie came at a time when she was not denied a loan to buy a house. At first, she was encouraged by the fact that even with so many debts, financial institutions were ready to give her a loan.
But after some time, the girl thought and realized that she did not know at all for what purposes all the money earned by her went. She had absolutely no plan where her income and expenses would be recorded. Christie realized that if something happened to her and she lost her job, then the financial crisis would come.
From that moment on, the girl began to carefully monitor all cash receipts and plan her expenses. As a result, only a year later, she was able to pay all of her debt.
How did she do it
The girl said that her first step was to track monthly expenses. To do this, she used a publicly available computer program.
As a result, the girl began to visually see how much money she receives and what they go for. But the main thing is how much remains after paying all the necessary payments.
Do not buy too much
Christy saw that she had at her disposal a substantial amount, and instead of throwing her away on stupid, frivolous purchases, it was better to use to repay the loan.
Christie decided to pay off her car loan first, because it was significantly less than her other loans.
She achieved her goal by simply cutting back on expenses such as buying coffee on the street and buying fast food while walking. The girl assures that it only seems that the amount is not significant. However, buying little things here and there a lot of money "flows".
Christie said that now she always brews coffee only on her own, packs lunch for work and buys food in bulk. At the same time, she stopped paying for everything that she could do on her own.
Soon, the girl realized that her car loan debt was not as big as it seemed at first.And a year later, she successfully repaid it, including other loans from her student days.
Pay cash
Another trick that helps save money. Payment by card, of course, is convenient. But you can’t see how real money goes. Christie began to monthly remove the salary from the card and share all the money on envelopes. They were signed in accordance with the cost categories:
- products
- entertainment;
- utility bills etc.
If she saved on products or entertainment, she paid the entire amount into the credit account.
The main thing is not to give up
Of course, Christie sometimes wanted to give up and just live, as she had lived before. But one day, quite by accident, I found a suitable community on Instagram.
As it turned out, the girl was completely financially illiterate. But after reading many posts on the topic of money and talking with like-minded people, she realized that the main thing is not to give up and fully control her budget.
Life without debts
Now Christie is completely free from any debts and claims to feel unprecedented freedom.
According to the girl, paying the debt was more than just financial release for her. This was the starting point in life, and she began to invest in her future. Now Christie continues to save money, so in an emergency she will always have a financial pillow.
Future plans
Currently, the young nurse is planning to travel more. But she considers her main task to explain to people the intricacies of maintaining a home budget. She leads her block on Instagram, where she lays out useful tips for a reasonable waste of money.
Tips from Christie
Of course, everyone has different situations and problems can be solved in different ways. However, the main actions are as follows:
- Choose an affordable college financially. According to the girl, one of her best decisions that she ever made was to go to the very institution where she was able to find a side job and she did not have to pay for renting a house.
- Remember that student loans are just one option for buying high-priced items. It is not at all necessary to get into debt if you can completely do without anything at the moment.
- It is worth developing a financial strategy that will really work. It’s important not just to think about your welfare in real time. You need to think about the future. Think about what will happen to you in 5 to 10 years and how you are going to pay off your accumulated debts.
- Find a part-time job even when you are in college.
- Use credit funds only as a last resort. If the thing is really necessary, then you should find other means to purchase it. If there are no options, then it is worth considering the feasibility of this acquisition. Only after weighing the pros and cons, you can borrow money.
Christie says that when she was in college, she earned extra money on the campus. It was thanks to this money that she was able to continue to receive higher education, despite the accumulated debts. In addition, the work gave her the opportunity to stay and board for free, which saves a lot of money.
Final points
Debt is an integral part of the life of almost any person. However, some get into a debt hole and, as a result, find no other way out than to declare bankruptcy. Others take all possible actions to pay off all loans and live according to their available means.
The ordinary girl Christie clearly demonstrated the obvious truth. She, like many young people, at first did not think at all about the consequences of receiving a large number of loans. But after I analyzed my incomes and compared them with expenses, I realized that in the event of an emergency, I’m very at risk.
As a result, the girl made a plan and clearly followed it.It turns out that it’s not difficult to save money if you don’t spend money on different things that are not vital.