I'm Breaking Up With My Debt!

Let's talk about it! DEBT!

This thing that most people have normalized. Well guess what? I don't wan't to be normal anymore. Let's just say I've been "normal" since I was 18 and I am now 31. That is THIRTEEN years of being in debt. That is almost half of my life. For 13 years I have owed somebody. Well no more! I don't want to be shackled to my debt anymore. 

Now, I've tried to get out of debt before. Back in 2018, I had a high paying job and I was putting $1500 a month towards getting out of debt. But sadly I got laid off only after six months so my plans were thwarted and I fell off the wagon. Back then I only thought of my debt as my credit card debt, because I just thought oh I'm going to be in student loan debt forever. That's just the way of life. Boy, was I naive. 

But let me back up for a second and be SUPER transparent about how much debt I'm actually in. Let's just say I am less than $21,000 in debt but more than $19,000. I know that may not seem like a lot compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars I know some people are in but any amount of debt in my opinion is scary. So here is my debt breakdown (from largest to smallest rounded to the nearest whole number):

Student Loan: $7,800

Car Payment (for a car I don't I drive anymore but my mom drives it): $6,800

Credit Cards: $6,000

In total that's about $20,000 in debt. Lord help me!

I've made some mistakes during quarantine, but one thing I've learned is that I NEED TO GET OUT OF DEBT! And I'm going to use Dave Ramsey's baby steps to do it!

1. Save up an Emergency Fund of $500-$1000 ✅

2. Use the debt snowball to pay off all debt

3. Save an emergency of 3-6 months expenses

4. Save 15% for retirement

5. College Fund for the Kids (I don't have kids yet so I won't be doing this one)

6. Pay off the House (I don't have a house. But maybe I'll start saving for a down payment)

7. Build Wealth and Give

I am currently on Baby Step #2.

The crazy thing is that I've decided to embark on this journey while being unemployed. But no time like the present right? But that obviously means that the first step I need to take is getting a job. Which I am in the extensive process of doing. I've created a budget and plan to live on half of my income. I've figured out the amount I need for my base level expenses (keeping a roof over my head without Netflix/Hulu or any extra subscriptions and keeping food in my fridge) and will use all extra income to get out of debt. With this plan and depending on my income (I need to make at least $40,000 a year after taxes) it will take me about a year to get out of debt. A year of sacrifice and intense budgeting. I've worked three jobs before and can do it again. I've worked 70-80 hour weeks and can do it again if I need to. I've already started selling books and putting any extra money I earn towards debt. At the beginning of this month I paid off my Amex card which is why it's not included in the 20k.

I'm ready!

If you've read this far thanks for coming on this journey with me!

-Sheri