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How I repaid my debt to make the most of an Gig Economy
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How I Repaid Debt: Making the Most of a Gig Economy
By Amrita Jayakumar Writer The Washington Post Amrita Jayakumar is a former special assignments reporter for NerdWallet. She also wrote a syndicated column on millennials and money. The column also covered personal loans as well as consumer credit and debt. Prior to that, she was an editor at The Washington Post. Her work was published in newspapers such as the Miami Herald and USAToday. Amrita holds a master's diploma in journalistic studies from the University ofMissouri.
Published Feb 5, 2019 9:11 AM PST
Editor: Kathy Hinson Lead Assigning Editor Personal finance, credit scoring, debt and money management Kathy Hinson leads the Core Personal Finance team at NerdWallet. Prior to joining NerdWallet, she worked for 18 years with The Oregonian in Portland in roles including copy desk chief and team editor and designer. Her previous experience included news and copy editing for various Southern California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. She graduated with a bachelor's in journalism and mass communications from the University of Iowa.
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In this series, NerdWallet speaks to individuals who have beaten debt by combining commitment, budgeting and clever financial decisions. The answers have been edited for clarity and length.
Kara Perez has never had a full-time job. The 30-year-old entrepreneurial entrepreneur living in Austin, Texas, juggled multiple part-time jobs in her 20s, from catering to the nannying industry to coaching high school lacrosse.
Perez was a 2011 graduate with the English degree, and over 25,000 dollars in loan debt. Three years into "adulting" with no job offers coming her way, she knew she could not afford to live with debt forever. "I realized that no one can save me. I need to rescue myself from this life I'm living," she says.
Perez decided to make the most of her gig economy life and kicked things into high gear, juggling five jobs and working 7 days a week. Every dollar she made toward the debt she incurred.
Now debt-free, Perez runs her own business named which is a financial education and event company that teaches women how to manage their finances. She shared her highs and lows with NerdWallet and her tale might inspire you to .
What was your debt and salary when you started?
I finished my degree in 2011 with less than $25,000 spread over five distinct loans. When I was really committed to paying off debt] in 2014, I only had $18,000 remaining and had earned $18,423.
How did you get in the position of being in
I attended my first choice college, Wesleyan University. I come from a single-income household, and taking the loans was always a part of my plan.
What triggered your decision to pay off your debt?
It was a bit depressing watching everyone around me go on with their lives and feeling as if I was drowning. I was mostly crying and frightened. I was applying to jobs, but had not been employed. I was only three years out of school and working as a part-time caterer, and 10 hours per day as an office receptionist at the gym.
My friends were traveling, getting actual jobs, or even promotions and I was left behind.
(When I was first studying the basics of money, I was required to get a student loan over six month, because I couldn't pay for the loan.
What steps did your take?
Two things I did I cut down everything possible within my budget, and I started looking for work. I drove a van on the high school team golf. I was a freelance writer for $12 an hour on small blogs and managing social media on a freelance basis.
I also got crazy frugal. I would bring the leftovers of my catering job and eat those instead of spending money on groceries some weeks.
(Perez had multiple roommates at the time]. My roommates were among my best acquaintances, but they all came from wealthy families with no debt. Everyone was very accommodating My friends would often return to dinner at home instead of making me go out for dinner.
I'm still frugal -- I have a partner and a roommate, and I don't eat out often.
>> MORE:
That must have been a hard task to balance.
I worked five different part-time jobs, and often had to work seven days a month. I was exhausted by the end of it however, I was extremely proud of myself.
Do you have any suggestions on using the debt avalanche method for paying your loans.
There was one Federal loan with a rate of 6.8%; that was my highest rate of interest. [ focuses on the debt with the highest rate of interest.The loan with the highest interest rate. I made any additional payments towards that debt and I made the minimum payment on everything else.
Did your income change over the time?
Catering and the social media tasks I worked on was hourlywork, and I requested more hours. I also bargained for increases in my catering and non-profit jobs, which was helpful. I went from $12 an hour as a caterer to $15.50 over the time of the year. In 2015 (the year in which she paid off her debtI earned $32,249.63.
What would you have done differently?
When I look back, the main thing I wish I had done was to invest into my retirement accounts in combination with the repayment of my debt. I didn't start investing until afterwards and that was the time when my money could be growing during the bull market.
What are your goals now?
I'm a business owner and work full-time. I'm also a super-saver; I want to build up enough assets so that work as an option. Last year , I managed to save 70% of my net income by using a an .
How do you get rid of your personal debt
Make a budget to ensure that you can put money towards debt, while also saving for emergencies and tuck in some money to play. For this purpose, we like the , in which your spending is split between wants, needs and savings, as well as the repayment of debt.
The debt avalanche technique that Perez used is a more efficient method of paying off debt since you reduce interest costs, however for those who want to win quickly it is also possible to try the and pay off the debt with the lowest amount first.
As Perez states, this is something that can be accomplished and should be part of repayment of debt.
Photo by Shane Henderson.
About the writer: Amrita Jayakumar is a former writer for NerdWallet. She has previously worked for The Washington Post and the Miami Herald.
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