I know, I know. I apologize that it’s been almost three months since I last posted on here. In the last blog post, I shared my current debt progress and how I paid off one of my student loans. You can read about it here.
Today, I want to share what I’ve been doing toward my debt progress and how much I still owe.
The Debt
Personal Loans: $65k
Credit Cards: $ 11K
Student Loans: $51k
From my last blog post, I’ve been able to pay off $8000 towards my debt progress since September (almost three months ago). I have been trying my best to pay it off aggressively by working overtime.
However, during the holidays, our overtime got cut short. I’ve also been spending a bit more since the holiday season started.
As much as I want to pay off all my debt quickly, I also want to enjoy my life with family and friends. It has been a constant mental battle of guilt and joy. The guilt of spending, but the joy of having the privilege to do so (some may disagree, and I understand).
I also changed up my game plan of doing the snowball method and switched it up to the avalanche method. I did this because, although the time difference is only off by a month (Avalanche being a month longer), I would be saving $1100 in interest. That’s a lot of money to save! To figure this out, I used a free debt reduction calculator template you can find here.
I’ve also been slowly earning commission on my other blog, LoveSutivi.com. There, I made my first $100 in November and am now close to reaching $200 this month.
I will admit, I’ve been dropping the ball on that blog, too. No excuses, but with working overtime and the holidays, it has been a lot to manage. Unfortunately, neither websites have been a priority as of late.
Although I haven’t worked on my blog in the past three months, I have been studying and talking about money as much as I can with friends. Something I used to never do! Here’s what I’ve learned from some of my most successful friends who are financially savvy.
One of my girlfriends loves to shop. She also loves to build her networth. Every time I chat with her, she is always out and about. I was curious how she funded her lifestyle since she’s either traveling or shopping.
After multiple conversations with her, I realized that when it comes to going out, she is super creative. For example, she is part of MeetUp groups and Yelp’s Elite group. This means she’s always getting invited to free events all over the city.
Another creative way she saves money around her birthday is that she’ll make it a whole day event to collect all the free things she’s gifted from the likes of Dunkin’ Donuts and Sephora. She doesn’t buy anything, but instead collects what’s entitled to her on her birthday, which is free.
My other girlfriend is a high-powered executive who earns a lucrative living in New York City. She met someone from another (hot) country who came to visit her in New York. Instead of him buying all new clothes for the cold, which he doesn’t own or need in his own country, my girlfriend decided to ask her guy friends to borrow some of their clothes. She was able to loan him a coat, gloves, shoes, and pants.
I was so impressed when she told me this because it was such a creative way to save money. My friend could have easily had him buy his clothes, but instead, she considered an alternative to help him save money.
And yes, I understand that the latter situation is not a usual one, but it still took creativity to save.
Another idea I shared with my adult kids today was that if they have protein (like fish, poultry, or meat) that is going to expire soon and they don’t plan on eating it, they can boil it in plain water and give it to their pets.
I just did that today since I’ve been at my middle daughter’s apartment, cat-sitting for her this past week. I’m inspired by my friends on savvy ways to save money and waste less.
I’ve also cleared out my closet and sent four huge bags of clothes off to ThredUp. I had the intention of selling them myself. Realistically, they’ve been sitting in my closet for ages, which at that point wasn’t making me any money. I kept small items like hats, sunglasses, and purses to sell myself on Poshmark or Mercari.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my debt progress. There are moments when I feel like I will never get out of debt. Then I have to remind myself of all the progress I’ve made so far. When I really think about it, I’ve managed to pay off one student loan and $8000 in almost three months.
In the next couple of days, I also plan on cashing out some of my vacation and using that towards my debt progress. I’ve been at my company for 10 years now. Actually, it’s 10 years today!! I just realized. After 10 years, my vacation hours will also increase per pay period.
Overtime at work should start again in January (fingers crossed). At least, I’m hoping that it does. In the meantime, I want to focus more on both of my websites.
I’ve also been trying to learn more about options trading. It’s a lot harder than I anticipated it to be. Once I learn how options trading works, I feel like this will be another good source of income.
In my last blog post, which you can read by clicking here, I shared how my other girlfriend in New York uses her income from options trading to pay for her rent. I’ve been doing my own research on this and am considering paying for a course.
Here’s a recap of my continued steps toward my debt progress:
- Contribute to ROTH IRA
- Pay off the highest interest first aggressively (Avalanche method)
- Sell items at home on reseller platforms like Poshmark or Mercari
- Educate myself on financial literacy (debt payoff, budgeting, and investments, like options trading, ETFs, and indexes)
- Generate other avenues of income (at least 7 as suggested by some financial influencers)
- Remind myself of goals
- Manifest abundance and freedom
- Do monthly (if possible, weekly) financial check-ins (I’ve been doing really well with this and doing bi-weekly check-ins)
- Think of creative ways to save and make money
As always, thanks for reading!