Destroying Debt Interview with Andrea

• First, decide the loans have to go now.
• Second, get your money on a written plan.
• Thirdly, put all extra money you find towards your debt.

Andrea is in the process of following those steps of paying down her school loans and has already paid back $15,000 of her $40,000 owed. 

She and her hubby have also paid off a credit card, the remaining balance from selling an unwanted house, cash-flowed a baby, saved a down payment on a new house and are paying for her Master’s degree with cash! Say what??

Andrea’s story is another Destroying Debt interview, where I bring to you a real person who has debt and is working super hard at paying everything off quickly! 

I always learn something from these interviews and leave inspired. My motivation gets a recharge after hearing these stories and I work to continue building up savings and paying for school even more. 

Show notes

• Andrea started with $40,000 in student loans, $2,000 on a credit card, and $6,000 underwater on an unwanted house. Now, there’s just $25,000 left to go. 
• Side hustles have been helpful in putting extra money towards the debt, from picking up extra weekends on time to commissioning artwork and teaching classes. 
• Getting a better job, Andrea puts the extra money towards her debt. 
• She wants to pay off her debts so she can have financial freedom. 
• Andrea and her hubby talked about finances prior to getting married, were open about the debts they brought in to the relationship, share joint accounts, and work together to pay off their debts. 
• Be conservative with taking on new debts (i.e they saved up a down payment to buy a foreclosed house). 
• Make budgeting a game to see what expenses you can cut and how you can save more money. 
• Andrea uses the snowball method of attacking the smallest debt first and the ‘spray and pray’ method of throwing any extra money at the debts.
• She budgets with a good ol’ pencil and paper.  
• Don’t worry about how much extra you can pay on the debt, just pay it! Even if it’s only $20 extra. It will still add up to be a lot over time. 
• Her advice to you: Follow a budget, cut expenses, visualize your goal, dream about what you can do without debt, pay whatever extra you can, stay focused, and never give up on paying off your debt!

Thank you, Andrea, for sharing your story with us and please come back again when all your debt is paid off so we can celebrate with you! 

Now, let me ask you. After listening to Andrea and how she is destroying her debt, can you do the same to your debt? 

Just think of the freedom you will have and the ability to do all the things in life you would like to do without any debt! 

What did you like about Andrea’s interview?