Today’s blog post is truly a testimony, and emphasizes the importance of setting goals! I’ve been trying to figure out when I should write about this huge accomplishment, but I wanted some time to sit with it and hold it close to my chest while I celebrated in private. Well, I’ve finally celebrated enough in the confines of my own mind, and my immediate circle. Now, I’m ready to shout it from the roof tops. As of February 5th, 2020, I am officially DEBT FREE!
This goal was a long one in the making, and at the time I started the process, it felt nearly impossible to achieve. Honestly, I didn’t know where the money was going to come from, but I was determined to make it happen. I wrote down in my Journal that I would be debt free in 2020 and started planning. I was living in NYC, where I was serving tables and basically living from paycheck to paycheck. I wasn’t struggling, but I definitely wasn’t thriving. I was on a payment plan with my federal loans, where I was basically just paying the minimum, I could pay so that my loans wouldn’t go into default. Fast forward about 8 months later I am rehearsing for my first Broadway show, making a consistent paycheck that I could count on! $$$$$ (You truly attract what you put out! The mind is a powerful thing)
Now don’t get me wrong, the restaurant I worked for before this treated me very well. The thing about tips though, you never know how much you are actually going to make each day. Sometimes it’s a $200 dollar kind of night! *WOOT WOOT! * Money honey! Other times it’s a $50 dollar kind of night. That’s just the way it goes. So, because of this, I wasn’t able to ever really put myself on a sustainable budget (This also reflects a lack of self-discipline on my part. Gotta be honest lol).
Anyway, having this steady paycheck was a God sent, and allowed me to really sit down and look at my finances. I ended up cutting out so many unnecessary things that were eating up my money, and I used every extra cent I had and put it directly toward my loans.
Fast forward to now, I am DEBT FREE and it feels SO GOOD!
If you want to know more about how I achieved this, please let me know. I can put together another post and give you a step by step guide of how I paid my loans down, and also the budget that I put myself on. It wasn’t easy, but it was definitely worth it. It Also showed me the difference between a need and a want. We live in a world that is full of so much excess, that it feels like we constantly have to spend in order to feel like we are living. IT IS A LIE! Straight up.
Love you guys!
See you next week,
XOXO
-G