Howdy!

You’ve probably read the title and are here to find out how I got myself into this pickle (pun intended)

Well here’s the tea……..

*going back in time to 2015*

I had just graduated from the University of Otago and was about to leave New Zealand for the Disney College Program.

Costs associated with getting to the US:

$2500 – Overdraft for my Canon 600D

$4682 – Flights and spending money….Thanks, Dad!

$1000 – Spending Money….Thanks, Mum!

$500 – Legal costs, applications, visas (ad-hoc) etc.

$400 – Disney Fees….Thanks, Meena!

$1500 – US Health Insurance

Total = $10582

Now, this was before I even got to the US (sigh). After my program ended, my boyfriend at the time and I went on a month-long tour around the US.

We visited several cities including New York City, New Orleans, Washington DC, and San Francisco. Many of you know that Motels in the United States are not like in New Zealand. Often they are in the *cough* less nice parts of town and have a lot of unsavoury characters. Therefore my boyfriend and I decided to stay exclusively at hotels (Airbnb wasn’t fully around then). Coupled with expensive domestic flights our month-long trip ended up costing:

$2100 – Flights

$3500 – Accommodation

$2200 – Spending Money

$1000 – Food

Total = $8800

GRAND TOTAL =$19,382

Okay so now that I’ve come clean…here is the good stuff. What’s my secret to getting rid of so much debt? Here are my tips:

1. Live at home for as long as you can handle. Doing this meant that I was able to get rid of my debt relatively fast, whilst still being able to save for a house deposit and international travel.
2. Stop lifestyle creep. You’ve started a job and have a steady stream of income. Don’t start doing things you normally never used to do i.e. buying coffees and scones every day, going out for dinner and drinks every weekend, signing up to monthly subscriptions
3. Unfollow influencers who tempt you to buy things

I used to watch a lot of ‘haul-type’ videos on YouTube or makeup gurus who would have the trendiest new makeup item on the market, which then, in turn, made me want to buy it. This is clear ‘peer-to-peer’ marketing.

4. Debt Snowball – pay off the smallest debt to largest. Small wins are good for your mental health

5. Treat yourself after every debt payoff. It helps to have something to look forward to