Twenty-five Year Old Pays Off $26,000 Debt in Two Years

After graduating from college, Brian McBride landed a job for $13 an hour as a reporter in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  He started his new career with $20,500 of student loan debt plus a $6,000 loan for a used car.  He worked six months in Green Bay before landing a better job that paid $25 an hour in Atlanta, Georgia.

McBride managed to repay both loans in just 24 months. His car loan was retired during his six months in Green Bay and his student loan was paid in the following eighteen months after his move to Atlanta.

 McBride’s income-saving tactics included:

 

• Skipping meals and substituting a protein bar or Ensure shakes.
• Keeping the heat or air conditioning off or low.
• Spending no more than 25% of his monthly income on essentials and splitting the rest between savings and debt repayment.
• Putting on-hold, dining out, partying, cable TV and other personal luxuries.
• Living close to work so that the commute was short.
• Taking advantage of employee discount programs for things such as a cell phone.
• Buying expired food products (although it came back to haunt him a couple of times).
• Buying grocery items that were on-sale and comparison shopping for the lowest-priced grocery items.

McBride never lost sight of the debt repayment goal, even when he felt hungry.  His months of sacrifice and poverty were worth the personal costs. “Now that I'm not tied down to any debt, I have the freedom to make decisions I couldn't before,” McBride said. “I can make a purchase without worrying about overdrawing my bank account or falling behind on my bills.” 

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