#249: How Justine Paid Off $35K on a $37K Salary
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
What we're doing right now in paying off the debt and creating the emergency fund savings, this is all temporary. This is not a land of permanence. This is something that we are temporarily getting through and we can make this as long or as short of a journey as we want to. You can make this a marathon or you can make it a sprint and that's your choice.
hey this is allison baggerly and welcome to the inspire budget podcast where we talk all about budgeting debt and saving money today i'm sitting down with my friend justine nelson founder of debt free millennials she paid off 35 000 of student loans on a 37 000 salary and she is now helping millennials manage money without giving up the fun i really enjoyed our conversation i'm recording this after the fact but we talked about the emotional side of money mom guilt, comparison, and trying to out-earn your habits instead of changing them. Justine also walked me through a fun game from her coaching program called I'm the Protagonist. So you can play along and start noticing where you're confident with money and where you might still be downing yourself.
Let's dive in. Hi, Justine. Welcome to the Inspire Budget Podcast. I'm excited to have you here today. Thank you so much for having me. whenever you were paying off debt and then growing your family and now you have two kids. And so it's really cool to just watch you change as a person with, as your life changes with your money. But I know when you started really getting into your finances, it's because you had debt and you paid off, you said $35,000 of debt on a $37,000 salary. So Give us the information. What type of debt was it? What made you want to start that journey? And then how long did it take you?
So my debt journey was not maybe too uncommon than what many of us have dealt with. So I had graduated with $35,000 in student loan debt and And that was a compilation of federal loans, private loans, and I actually owed a family member some money as well.
How did Justine pay off $35K on a $37K salary and what started her debt-free journey?
And I remember very clearly starting my very first job, I was making $10 an hour. And I got the notification from the Department of Education saying that I owed $123 a month, plus this $50, plus this $300. And I was thinking, oh my gosh, I'm I can't possibly realize my dreams of living in a high-rise apartment, doing the happy hours, going on the sushi dates, and owing all this money, making $10 an hour. And so it was hitting that rock bottom of this is not how I wanted finances to operate in my life in order to do something about it. So I started reading personal finance books. I started figuring out, okay, what is a budget?
Okay.
How do I – how much am I making and how much am I spending? I had no clear idea of how much I was spending. I remember thinking I drove a 2002 Ford ZX2 Escort. Basically, it's a go-kart with doors. Oh, my gosh. Small little car. Yeah. And I remember thinking, I probably spend like $60 on gas a month. And when I actually went through and did an audit of my spending on that particular category, I was spending $170 on gas a month. I just thought that's how out of touch I was with my spending. Once I got that on Fast Track and I was able to categorize those expenses, I was able to diligently pay off the debt. And for anybody doing the math at home, I was bringing home take home about $2,400 a month. And at one point I was putting $1,000 per month towards the student loans because I had it in my brain that I didn't want to owe anyone anything.
And this was right after you graduated college?
Yeah, this was about six months after I graduated college.
Right when they come in, right when they hit your account.
Right when you get those notifications. And it was interesting, Allison, because right when I made that commitment, to pay off the debt that I didn't want to be shackled to debt payments anymore. I was driving home. I can remember very clearly one icy January evening, I was driving home after a late night at the office. I was stopped at the bottom of a hill at a red light when it was like, bang, I got hit hard from, from behind on my car, through the car and parked
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:29
2
How did Justine pay off $35K on a $37K salary and what started her debt-free journey?
2:29–18:26
3
What specific sacrifices and decisions did Justine make while paying off debt (car story & budget changes)?
18:26–26:43
4
How did becoming debt-free change Justine’s opportunities and life path?
26:43–29:57
5
How do emotions like guilt, shame, and comparison impact women’s financial progress?
29:57–36:49
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Inspired Budget
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