I had the opportunity to get my Phd for FREE which would have allowed me to switch into my dream career.
I started taking the steps to make it happen.
I talked to a few programs, started gathering the paperwork needed to submit
with my application and I researched the costs of living in each area.
But when I started comparing my expenses to the stipend amount,
it wasn’t adding up and no matter how I tweaked the numbers,
I still had a significant amount of money going towards debt payments each month.
That is when I had to accept that I couldn’t afford to go to school for free because I had too much debt.
I felt defeated and angry but I knew I could not let something like this happen again.
So I decided to change my story and start tracking how I was spending my money
I created a plan to pay off debt but still enjoy life and I increased my streams of income
Taking those steps allowed me to stop living paycheck to paycheck, pay off over $48,000 in debt,
fully fund my emergency fund, travel using cash, cashflow my wedding, and eliminate the feeling of being controlled by debt.
For you, It may not be an advanced degree, you may want to travel
but you can’t because of your debt or you may want to buy a home
but you can’t because you don’t have enough savings.
The end of your story is not just paying off debt, it’s just the beginning.