Invest, pay your student loans, live your life, and have fun!

So. who said you can’t have your cake and eat it too? One of the biggest mistakes I made on my debt free journey was thinking I couldn’t do it all when in fact, I simply needed to create a plan. And once I did...well, let me tell you what I’ve accomplished.

I’ve currently paid off roughly 25k of student loan debt —> a lump sum payment of 25k is saved and ready to go in September when interest ends —> emergency savings is fully funded at 9 months expenses —> I own a multi-5 figure side biz —> and my Roth IRA just hit 5 figures (so dang proud of myself considering it was at a smooth $0 just 4 months ago) & I’m not saying this to brag - just to show you that it is possible.

Here’s what I’ve learned on my journey, and I’m sharing in hopes that maybe you’ll learn something too:

💸 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘁: and you absolutely should! If there’s one thing I will get on my soapbox about, it’s this. When it comes to investing, time is literally money. You can be in six figs of student loan debt and still invest in a 401K and/or Roth IRA. I chose not to put as much towards my loans, which means it’ll take a little longer to pay off but investing is 100% worth it for me (and the numbers make sense)

💸 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: Listen, my budget makes my world go round. Each month I sit down and look at my spending, figure out areas to cut back on, or areas I can afford to throw a little extra towards. This allows me to ensure I’m on the right track with my financial goals while still being able to treat myself to my monthly hydrafacial 🧖🏾‍♀️

💸 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲: Becoming debt free won’t happen overnight - whether it takes you 2, 3, 5, or 10 years - there will come a day when you won’t have that debt attached to your name. It’s a journey…so don’t forget to give yourself grace, be patient, AND #treatyoself along the way 😉

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚?