This coaching success story is from one of my coaching clients that wished to stay anonymous. Her story is so inspirational that I wanted to share it with you.
She was able to pay off $14,000 worth of credit card debt in 2 years on a modest teacher’s salary. My client is currently saving to purchase her first house. She was able to achieve these goals by following my coaching advice and putting in the work.
Read how she did it so you can see it’s possible for you too. Sign up for a FREE 15-minute consultation to learn more about how I work with my clients!
Financial Coaching Success Story Of How She Paid Off $14,000 Of Credit Card Debt In 2 Years (On A Teacher’s Salary)
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a single teacher in my early 30’s who was struggling to make ends meet on a teacher’s salary. I have been teaching for over 10 years.
When did you start your financial journey?
I have started my financial journey a million times over the past few years. I got serious about dealing with my finances in 2016.
What were your financial goals when you started? What are your financial goals now?
I wanted to be able to save enough money to purchase a home. Throughout this process, my mindset shifted and my goal became to pay off my high-interest debt first. My current goal is still to save towards purchasing my first home.
What was the main thing that caused you to want to change your financial situation?
I was tired of being broke. It is emotionally draining to live paycheck to paycheck and constantly worry about money.
Although I was never in danger of not being able to cover monthly bills, I did not have much leftover to really live life.
I was tired of wasting money paying rent every month. I was tired of having no money left over to save towards buying a house or taking vacations.
What was your biggest financial struggle? How did you overcome that?
There are multiple “biggest” financial struggles! This has truly been a process.
My initial financial struggle was controlling my spending. After that my financial struggle became cutting monthly expenses (switching my cable package from ALL the movie channels to BASIC cable) including any unnecessary purchases.
Even after doing these things it seemed like an impossibly monumental task to actually save money. Going through my monthly expenses was tedious and off-putting.
Having the assistance of Dafina made the task more manageable and her guidance gave me some extrinsic motivation to do so.
What was the biggest change you made to achieve your financial goals?
Following the advice of my financial coach, one of the biggest changes I made was sizing down to reduce my rent. Then I moved on to get a roommate to help even more with reducing my monthly expenses.
In addition to cutting monthly expenses, I had to find additional income to supplement my salary. As a teacher, my salary made it hard to save anything after paying my bills. So, I added private tutoring clients and Saturday school to increase my income.
Have you done anything out of the “norm” or “extreme” to reach your financial goals?
Even though some wouldn’t, I would consider getting a roommate at my age an extreme act. This was the one suggestion my financial coach made that I absolutely refused to try for a long time.
In the long run, it allowed me to save an extra few hundred dollars a month. I also refused to go into malls or any retail store for long periods of time. Even if I gained weight I would diet just so I wouldn’t have the need to go to the store to buy new clothes (who really wants to spend their hard-earned money purchasing clothes, not by choice, but just because they got fat anyway).
How much debt did you have? Are you still paying it off? If so, when do you hope to be debt free? If not, how long did it take you to pay it off?
I had approximately $14,000 in credit cards/loans debt. I have officially paid off all of my debt (other than student loan debt which I hope to get forgiven for being a public school teacher).
In January of 2019, I finished paying off my debt.
How do you stay motivated to keep going on your financial journey?
The feeling of getting the weight of debt off my shoulders motivates me to prevent myself from ever accumulating that amount of debt again.
My journey is far from over. I have other financial goals that are so much more tangible now that I have already accomplished getting rid of the other debt.
My financial coach motivates me every step of the way. Her advice is relevant to each stage of my financial journey.
When we first started this journey, over half of my monthly salary was going towards rent. I was only paying the minimum on my credit cards. Now I am efficiently working towards saving for a home instead of just talking about, wishing, hoping, and praying for it.
Dafina is always there to provide guidance and support. I can rely on her to give me sound advice. Her budget plans allow me to enjoy life by budgeting for vacations while still saving towards my goals.
What advice would you give someone who’s just starting their financial journey, or feels like you’re a unicorn and can’t achieve their financial dreams?
Unicorn! Ha! I am far from unique. Everyone knows teachers’ salaries are deplorable. If I can pay off over $10,000 worth of debt in 2 years there’s hope for everyone!
You just have to get started! If you don’t know where to start, reach out for help!!!
Summary
I hope my client’s coaching success story will motivate you. She was able to pay off $14,000 in credit card debt in 2 years by following my custom financial plan. Once you have a plan, you just have to do it! You will stay motivated by working with a financial coach to provide guidance and support.
Paying down debt will allow you the financial freedom you need to not stress about money. As you can see, my client was able to enjoy life by budgeting for vacations while still saving towards her goals. Sign up for my 1-on-1 coaching to start your financial journey and have your own coaching success story.
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