Tl;dr: poor bastard graduates college. Pays off $35,000 debt in less than 5 months thanks to some lucky breaks.
I grew up in an extremely poor family, stricken by drugs and crime. I made it out of college with my twin brother, with a small $45,000 debt eagerly waiting for me. My first couple years out of school, my loans defaulted because I made $0 payments. I was so ignorant to the process from day 1. Interest built, the debt grew and I started to finally pay minimum payments in 2012.
At the end of 2016, I had only managed to reach the $35,000 mark. As of August 15th, I am officially debt free. I have paid over $35,000 on my school debt since May 1st. I also paid off my car in July.
I can't wait to realize what I've done - it hasn't hit me yet.
How I did this was a streak of fortunate events.
1. Put my first ever bonus in savings and left it untouched.
2. Feb 2017, I took a major risk and resigned from my management job at a fortune 50 company.
3. Company gave me a 7 paycheck severance, and 60 days paid leave for resigning.
4. April, I got my 2016 bonus (2nd ever) and put it in savings.
5. April I started a new job (6 weeks after resigning) making twice my last job as an hourly consultant.
6. In May I paid $20,000 to loans.
7. June, July and August I paid $4,000-5,000/month.
8. Still have the severance in my savings and will start building my future without the burden college debt.
Submitted August 16, 2017 at 10:49AM by SevenAImighty http://ift.tt/2uJldql
