"Debt-Free"
Those words are like music to my ears.
The most beautiful sound to hear.
Did you know...
Based on a CNBC study:
It takes the average person 18.5 years to pay off student loan debt.
Wanna know why it takes people so long?
Because It’s not a priority.
Proverbs 22:7 says:
"The borrower is slave to the lender"
I don’t know about you...
But I don’t want to be anyone’s slave.
That’s why paying off debt as fast as possible became my #1 priority after graduating from college.
How did I get into that much debt? (My Story)
I walked onto the track team my freshman year at the University of Oklahoma (OU)
Boomer Sooner 🅾️🙌🏽
I did so well during my freshman year that I got a scholarship.
I guess placing top 3 at the Big 12 championship, and making Team USA as a freshman was good enough to get a scholarship 🤷🏽♂️
But I still racked up student loans throughout college.
Even though I started getting a scholarship, I still took out loans to pay for other things.
After 4 years, I collected over 30K in student loans.
Those loans add up fast. 😅
Pro Tip:
Here's a lesson I wish someone would have told me back in the day...
Be wise, learn a tech-skill during the school year, and get a tech-job in the summer.
Then save as much money as possible.
I wish someone would’ve told me about remote jobs back then.
It would've been a bigger focus for me.
My Biggest Problem:
The problem is that track is a summer sport, so I couldn’t get a "normal" job.
My track schedule had structure & discipline.
While my classmates were doing internships, I was working out 6 hours a day.
When you include:
Treatment before practice
Practice
Recovery after practice
And being in a summer class
Getting an office job goes out the window.
Which is why I'm such a big fan of remote work.
Back in 2012, there weren’t as many remote job opportunities as today.
Most companies don’t care when you work.
They only care that you get the job done.
Long Story Short.
I racked up a lot of debt in a very fast time frame.
So…
How did I get out of debt?
I watched a lot of Dave Ramsey back then.
But before that, let me take you back to middle school.
In 8th grade, I found a Dave Ramsey book at church.
I had about $100 dollars saved at the time.
So I did what any 8th grader would do.
I bought a book with my money 🤣
And I devoured that Dave Ramsey book in a week.
Fast forward to after college, I remembered Dave's book.
And then I went down the Dave Ramsey YouTube channel rabbit hole.
He gave solid advice.
He talked about the snowball effect.
Dave's main advice is:
"Live below your means and get out of debt."
And that’s what I did.
Immediately after college, I had a Salesforce Admin / Marketing Cloud Admin job.
I was making $65,000 per year.
I lived with a roommate in Oklahoma City.
Our total rent (between the two of us) was $900 per month.
After all bills, I was paying $500 per month.
I rarely went out to eat.
I didn't spend money on fancy clothes.
I didn't buy a new car.
Every paycheck I got, I saved at least 30% to pay off debt.
Every time I got a bonus, I took the entire bonus and paid as much debt as possible.
I didn’t even touch my bonus money.
I knew what my goal was.
But after 18 months in Oklahoma City, I needed a change.
I got tired of going into an office every single day.
So I started looking for remote Salesforce jobs.
After a month of searching, I landed a Salesforce Consulting job.
At that new job, I started making $90,000 per year.
As a 24-year-old living in Oklahoma, that wasn’t bad money.
In fact, I was making enough money to save 90% of my paycheck while I was living in OKC.
With my new salary, I paid even more debt off each month.
But as most people do.
I also started spending more money.
Making $90,000 and working 100% remote before you turn 25 comes with benefits.
I started traveling - A LOT.
I was visiting friends in California, Utah, Washington, Canada, Oregon, etc.
You name it.
If it sounded interesting, I was booking a flight and taking a trip.
Paying off debt took a backseat to enjoying my life.
It’s safe to say:
If I didn’t increase my spending, I would’ve paid off my student loans in 2.5 years.
But that’s not how my cookie crumbled.
I decided to move to San Diego.
My rent went from $500 monthly in OKC to $1,300 monthly in San Diego, CA.
While living in San Diego, I would put 10-15% of each paycheck toward student loans.
I wasn’t that serious about it.
I was saving money but it wasn’t a priority to get out of debt.
Fast forward another year, and my cost of living went up even higher.
I left San Diego during the pandemic in 2020.
I moved my family into a Houston townhome so I could teach them Salesforce.
During the pandemic I got a new job (paying even more money than the last).
I'm not going to say what my new salary became.
Let's just say it was a healthy figure.
My goal when I moved to Houston was to help my mom and sister learn Salesforce.
In the spring of 2021, I had a conversation with my aunt at the neighborhood swimming pool.
My aunt and cousin finished a Dave Ramsey course a few weeks before our conversation.
Naturally, we started talking about paying off debt.
My aunt encouraged me to pay off all my debt.
She told me to "stop slow playing it".
If I was saving money, I might as well pay off my debt.
So that’s what I did.
When we got home from the pool that day, I opened up my laptop, went to my student loan account, and paid off the rest of my debt.
I had about $5,000 left to pay.
And on that spring day in 2021 I became debt free.
So... How Do You Pay off YOUR Debt?
First, realize that your story isn't the same as mine.
You could be starting with more or less money than me.
Your rent/mortgage payment probably looks different than mine.
In fact, I know it does.
You could have kids and a family to feed.
Take everything I say with a grain of salt.
Your journey to debt freedom will look different than mine.
With that said...
Here Is Solid Advice To Follow:
Step 1: Cut back on spending.
Living below your means is the easiest way to save bank.
This requires discipline.
We’re human, which means we have emotions.
We want the finer things in life.
It’s not easy to give up luxuries.
But paying off debt requires sacrifice, discipline, and logic.
Step 2: Learn a high-demand skill that will pay you more money.
This is why I tell people that Salesforce is a great career.
It’s the skill that I learned to make the most money I had ever seen in my life.
If you're not making enough money to pay off debt, you need to make a sacrifice in some area of your life and learn a new skill.
You get paid based on the value you provide to the world.
Learn a valuable skill.
It doesn't even have to be Salesforce.
For goodness' sake, learn a high-demand skill (even if it means learning it for 30 minutes a day) and make more money.
Step 3: Switch jobs (and get paid what you’re worth).
It goes without saying that the job you're at likely isn't paying you what you're worth.
Learn a skillset and leave it.
Know your worth and get paid accordingly.
Step 4: Do a debt freedom challenge
Like the Dave Ramsey course, my aunt did.
I did the “Ramit Sethi” 6-week program and got my money on point with that.
I still use the Ramit Sethi system to this day.
Get his I Will Teach You To Be Rich book and follow his advice.
Keep it simple.
Automate your finances so you don't have to think about your money and let your system do the hard work.
Step 5: Be around people that push you to pay off your debt.
Not people that push you to waste your money on food and alcohol.
Your friends will influence you to spend your money in certain ways.
Some friends will party every weekend.
They'll go to every happy hour they can find.
And they'll be broke as a joke.
Other friends will cook their food, save their money, and encourage you to do the same.
Be around the smart cookies.
Step 6: Don’t get unnecessary payments.
While all my friends were getting new cars, I was driving my $3,500 Volvo s60R.
It's wild to me that people under 30 years old are getting into debt to buy brand-new cars.
They're driving something so they can impress people they don't even like.
They want to look cool when they pull up to valet. I get it. We're human. We want to feel important.
We want to be seen by other people. But don't go into debt to be seen.
Develop a personality and learn a high-demand skill if you want to feel important.
Trust me, quality people will want to get to know you when you're interesting.
If you need to pay for a car (or other material items), make sure it's in your budget.
Conclusion
There are other experts out there that you can follow.
And you should follow those experts.
Learn how to pay off your debt from multiple sources.
Pick a plan that works for you and have the discipline to stick with it.
There’s no better freedom than knowing you're debt-free.
When you're debt-free, you can make decisions that other people can’t.
You can take risks that other people aren’t willing to take.
Your life will look different than your friends.
And that’s okay.
In the long run, it’s about what YOU are comfortable with.
Do you want to be a slave to the matrix and work only to pay off your loans?
Or do you want to work on things you like and enjoy your life?
Everyone enjoys different things.
I'm happiest when I'm taking risks.
And to be in a position to take risks, I know I need to be debt-free.
Don’t take any of this as financial advice.
Take it with a grain of salt and see how YOU can become debt-free.
Alright, that’s all I’ve got for ya today.
Whatever you do, don’t stress about your situation in life.
Assess where you're at.
Identify the roadblocks.
Take massive action and improve your situation.
Don't blame luck or circumstance for where you're at.
Play the cards you've been dealt (and do it with GRIT)
Most of all, enjoy the journey.
Kaelan Moss - MinuteAdmin Out
PS - Want to land a high-paying Marketing Cloud job? Apply for mentorship here.
