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How I repaid my debt: Making the Most of a Gig Economy
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How I repaid my debt How I Made the Most of the Gig Economy
The article was written by Amrita Jayakumar Writer The Washington Post Amrita Jayakumar was a former special assignment reporter for NerdWallet. She also published a syndicated article on the millennials and money. She also covered personal loans and consumer credit and debt. Previously, she was an editor at The Washington Post. Her work was published in the Miami Herald and USAToday. Amrita holds a master's diploma of journalism at The University ofMissouri.
Published Feb 5, 2019 9:11 AM PST
Edited by Kathy Hinson Lead Assigning Editor Personal finances, credit scoring debt and money management Kathy Hinson leads the Core Personal Finance team at NerdWallet. In the past, she worked for 18 years at The Oregonian in Portland in positions such as copy desk chief and team leader for design and editing. Her previous experience included copy and news editing for a variety of Southern California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. She graduated with a bachelor's in mass communication and journalism from Iowa's University of Iowa.
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In this series, NerdWallet interviews individuals who have beaten debt through a combination of commitment, budgeting and intelligent financial decisions. The responses have been edited to improve clarity and length.
Kara Perez has never had a full-time job. The 30-year-old entrepreneurial entrepreneur who hails from Austin, Texas, juggled several part-time jobs during her 20s including catering, nannying to instructing girls' lacrosse at high school.
Perez completed her studies in 2011, graduating with an English degree and more than 25,000 dollars in loan debt. Three years into "adulting" with no job opportunity in sight, she knew she couldn't afford to carry on with the burden forever. "I realized that nobody is going to save me. I need to rescue myself from this existence that I'm in," she shares.
Perez made use of her gig-based life and put things in high gear -- balancing five jobs while working seven days a week. She put every dollar she made toward debt.
Now debt-free Perez is the owner of her own business named an event and financial education business that helps women learn how to manage money. Perez shared her successes as well as lows to NerdWallet, and her story could encourage you to .
What was your total debt and income when you started?
I graduated in 2011 with a just over $25,000 spread across five different loans. When I became really committed to paying off debt] in 2014, I only had $18,000 and made $18,423.
How did you get in credit?
I attended my first choice school , Wesleyan University. I come from a family with a single income, and taking the loans was always a part of the plan.
What was the reason that led you to eliminate debt?
Frankly, watching everyone around me move forward with their lives, I felt as if I drowned. I was in tears and panicking. I was applying for jobs, but had not been employed. I was three years out of college , and working as a part-time caterer and 10 hours a every week working as receptionist at a gym.
My friends were out on trips, getting real jobs or promotions, and I was stuck.
When I first started learning the basics of money, I had to put one pupil loan over six month, because I couldn't pay for the loan.
What steps did you take?
I did two things that I did: I reduced everything to remotely feasible in the budget I had set, then I started looking for more work. I drove a van on a high school golf team. I was a freelance writer for 12 dollars an hour for small blogs as well as managing social media on a freelance basis.
I also got crazy frugal. I would take the leftovers of my catering business and eat those instead of buying groceries for a few weeks.
(Perez had multiple roommates at the time. My roommates were my best friends, but they all came from wealthy backgrounds with no debt. People were very supportive My friends would often return home for dinner , instead of [making me] take me out to eat.
I'm still frugal -- I live with my boyfriend and a roommate and don't go out to eat too often.
>> MORE:
That is certainly a tough to manage.
I had five different part-time jobs and was working seven days a week. I was exhausted by the end of it but I was proud as hell.
Tell me about using the debt avalanche technique to pay your loans.
There was one Federal loan with a rate of 6.8 percent; that was my highest rate of interest. This is the loan with the highest rate of interest.] I put any extra payments toward that and paid the minimum for everything else.
Do you have a change in your income over the years?
Catering and the social media work I performed was hourly, so I requested more hours. I also negotiated for raises in my catering and non-profit jobs, so that was helpful. I made a jump from $12 an hour as a caterer to $15.50 in the time of the year. In 2015 [the year she paid off the debtI earned $32,249.63.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Looking back, the biggest thing I wish I had done was to invest into my retirement accounts in combination with paying off my debt. I did not start investing until afterward, and that was the time when my money could be growing during the bull market.
What are your future goals?
I am a part-time employee at my business all the time. I'm also a great saver. I'm trying to accumulate enough in assets to have work become an alternative. In the last year, I saved 72% of my total income using a and a .
How to ditch your own debt
Create a budget you can allocate money towards debt, but also save for the unexpected and put some away for fun. For this purpose we suggest the where your expenditure is divided into wants, needs as well as savings and debt repayment.
The debt avalanche method used by Perez used is a more effective method to pay off debt as you lower interest rates, but for quick wins, you can also attempt to pay off your smallest debt amount first.
As Perez says, it is something that can and should be considered in conjunction with debt payoff.
Photo by Shane Henderson.
About the author: Amrita Jayakumar is a former writer at NerdWallet. She has previously worked for The Washington Post and the Miami Herald.
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