I paid nearly $50,000 of student loans in 6 months, and here are the 5 best pieces of advice I can give you about paying down debt by Adrienne Dorison on Oct 15, 2015, 11:00 AM Advertisement
 In the past six months, I've paid off all of my student loan debt — about $48,000 — quit my prestigious, yet passionless, corporate day job, and booked a trip to see my dad in Chenequa, Wisconsin (a 10-day trip, nonetheless!). I left graduate school with almost $50,000 in student loan debt, and no clue what to do about it. I launched forward on the typical corporate career path with a prestigious Fortune 500 company. I became president of the company's young professional group, obtained certifications in Six Sigma & Supply Chain as an efficiency expert, and in my spare time was racing as a USA triathlon competitor. I did all the things I was "supposed" to do … and I still felt like I was drowning. Like most people, I felt strapped to even make minimum payments on that debt for a solid three years after graduating. At $450 a month, it was an additional rent payment, and I knew I would carry it around with me like a small puppy in a purse for the next 25 years. I was searching for a way to get rid of the debt that I felt was constantly hanging over my head. I felt tons of shame and guilt surrounding my debt and I wanted out. I decided it was time to get serious and took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class. Dave’s course is a nine-week program that shows you how to get rid of debt, manage your money, and save wisely. It’s the foundations of personal finance for people who have been avoiding their money problems or feel stuck and unsure on how to make things better (i.e. me). Dave covers topics about our relationships with money, cash flow planning, budgeting, dumping debt, insurance, and retirement in this class. I created a budget, which showed me exactly what was possible when I got aggressive with this debt freedom goal. After trimming expenses, increasing my income, and purposefully giving every single dollar a place to go, I was able to put about 85% of my total income towards my debt each month. It took me from a 25-year repayment plan down to a one-year repayment plan when I factored in just my corporate income. Once I started the side business, things escalated quickly! Six months later, I had started my own business, paid off all $48,000 of my debt, and quit my corporate day job. I now use my own experience and strategies to help other entrepreneurs grow their business, ditch their debt, and achieve real success through personal freedom and fulfillment — and on the weekends I teach Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University course locally. The five main things that you must do to become financially free include: SEE ALSO: How one couple paid off $100,000 of debt in 2 years  1. Make a decision. If you want to achieve any big goal you set in your life, you need to get focused. That means making a decision and understanding the real why behind your goal. This creates real internal motivation that's going to keep you moving in the right direction. This means making a decision to not take any more debt on, to tighten the budget, to stay focused when you’re frustrated and to make some sacrifices in the short term to live free for the long term. I made a decision that I wanted to pay off my debt, and I made another decision that I desired to leave my corporate day job. I didn't worry so much about the how, it was more about the what and the why. I wanted the freedom to have more than five vacation days per year. I craved the financial stability to hop on a plane to see my dad without stressing about overdrafting my bank account. And I desperately wanted to do something I really felt passionate about.
2. Believe you can. You need hope. If this article does nothing more for you than give you hope that this is possible, then mission accomplished. You must believe you can do this or you'll lose focus quickly. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t — you’re right. — Henry Ford Belief is a powerful tool. At first, I totally didn’t believe this was possible. Who would?! But when I actually listened to other people’s debt freedom stories on Dave Ramsey’s podcast, and worked out the numbers for myself, I saw that I actually could do this! When you don’t believe things are possible, you won’t take the action to make it happen. You must believe in yourself and in the goal, if you want it to become a reality.
3. Create a budget. Every dollar needs to have a place to go. If you've been avoiding looking at your bank statements, it's time to pull your head out of the sand and give each dollar real intention. You can spend money while you get out of debt, but make sure you're spending it intentionally on things you really value. For months … okay, years … I thought I was living on a budget because I wasn’t overdrafting and I had real dollars in my account at the end of every month, but what I realized after putting together a real budget was that there were some leaks in my bank account that needed to be plugged. I was letting my money control me instead of the other way around and the budget allowed me to take that control back. If you’re not sure where your money is going, it’s difficult to make it go where you want it to go. Paying down my debt was not rocket science. I was just in avoidance mode for a long time.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
| 
0 comments:
Post a Comment