She Strengthens

My Journey to Financial Freedom: Lessons Learned Along the Way

As a self-proclaimed frugal person, I’ve always been mindful of my spending habits. However, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes when it comes to managing my finances. Looking back, I realize that I had many misconceptions about money when I was younger.

The Burden of Student Loans

One of my biggest mistakes was taking out $40,000 in student loans to finance my bachelor’s degree. I believed that debt was a necessary evil and that it was impossible to get a four-year degree without student loans. I now know that’s not true, but hindsight is 20/20. I struggled to decide on a major, eventually landing on psychology, which wasn’t the best choice for me. I considered getting my doctorate degree in psychology, but the thought of taking on another five years’ worth of student loans was overwhelming.

A “Normal” Wedding

During grad school, I got engaged, and my fiancé and I decided to have a “normal” wedding. We wanted to keep things budget-friendly, but we also wanted it to be “nice.” Our wedding had 100 guests and cost us a total of $12,000, wiping out the majority of my savings. It was shortly after this that I finally had an epiphany. My husband and I had a grand total of $117,000 in student loan debt between the two of us. We felt frustrated and stuck.

Finding a Solution

I started reading personal finance books and websites, and I learned everything I could about the debt snowball approach to getting out of debt. We learned to live below our means, side hustle, and avoid debt. We made better decisions, but we still made a few mistakes along the way.

The Smart Car Debacle

When my husband’s car broke down, we didn’t want to take out a car loan, so we bought a Smart Car for $4,000. We paid cash and felt proud of our responsible decision… until the car’s engine died nine months later. The cost to repair the engine would’ve been more than we paid for the car itself. We sold the Smart Car and took out a car loan for a $10,000 Mini Cooper, which we paid off in less than four months.

The Credit Card Conundrum

I avoided credit cards for years, but when we started planning to buy our first home, I realized we needed to have a good credit score to snag the best interest rate possible on a mortgage. I finally got my first credit card, and I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. I improved my credit score, earned cash back, and paid the balance off in full each month.

Lessons Learned

From these experiences, I’ve learned to keep an open mind, explore different possibilities, and make decisions based on facts instead of emotions. I’ve learned that personal finance isn’t always simple, and I’ll never make perfect choices with my money. All I can do is make the best decision possible with the information I have at the time. Sometimes it’ll work out well; other times it won’t, but that’s okay. What matters is that I’ll learn from my mistakes and make better choices in the future.