If you follow me on social media. I’m pretty honest about my student loan debt and I’ve recently embarked on a debt free journey. I always feel a little weird about the topic because I take my bills serious. I’m one of those people who try to stay on top of their bills and be mindful of the items I’m purchasing.
To be honest, I think that I’m frugal at heart though. Since I was a little girl I would shop the clearance racks and save the money I made from babysitting. When I became a young adult and started to live on my own. Not really sure what happened. I hated balancing my bank book. I just hated it. When I got serious about my debt free journey. I knew that it was important to really pay attention to my spending habits. What I was spending my money on.
It’s also very important to know how much money you have. Thus a no-brainer for budgeting my checkbook. It wasn't an option for me anymore. It was mandatory if I wanted to be serious about this journey. 

Back History 

When I was a young adult. I honestly didn't know how much money I had in my account. My account was always in the negative (in my early twenties prior to having a credit card). Once I ventured into having a credit card. I started to pay attention and ran into a couple of hiccups due to not knowing my wants from my needs.
However, last year, I decided it was time to pay off my student loans. I don’t want to have students loans forever. I’ve been a fan of so many financial advisors like Suse Orman and Dave Ramsy for years. I’ve read several of their books and found myself eager to make better choices. However, not taking any actions. I wanted to start with the issues I was having and where my money was going.

The Problem  

A couple of years ago, I noticed that I had a hard time telling my family NO. The money and items I was giving them really added up and I was sick and tired of it. It was money that I could put to my debt. When I started to say no more. I started to see peoples true colors. However, I didn’t care or take it personally because I was on a journey to better myself.
I also started to look back and noticed that I’ve been out of graduate school for almost six years now and I haven’t made any major dents with my student loans and I honestly have no excuse. I would see the debt-free community and I would get so inspired.
People making the same amount of money as me, tackling their debt, paying off student loans and even their home.

The Plan 

Though I have a payment plan. I try my best to throw “for lack of better words” whatever money I have on my student loans. Even if it’s $10. Yes, I’ve made $10 payments. Because every little bit counts and I found that you have to tell your money where to go. But you always have to have a purpose/place for your money. If you get $200 dollars today unexpected. What are you going to do with the money? Go shopping, pay off debt, save it make a principal payment on your student loans or mortgage?” When you have no idea what you’re going to do with the money. That’s when the problem starts or at least that’s where the problems started for me. I would get money and make poor decisions with it. Let’s be honest the possibilities are endless when you're not making the right choices... Though I'm still new on this journey and I still have a lot to learn. I'm thankful for all of the motivation that has come my way and the success stories of people getting out of debt. I honestly believe it's a mindset. I told myself for so many years "oh, you're a single mother making "X" amount. You can't afford to save for retirement. etc. That's the type of mindset that gets people nowhere. I don't want that to be me, that will no longer be me. Taking small baby steps but I'm excited about this journey.


Are you currently on a debt-free journey?

Pin for Later