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I bought nothing for 2 years and paid off $85,000 debt — Transcript

by Christina Mychas · 3,639 words · 492 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Today marks 5 years of being completely
0:01debt-free.
0:02>> I'm debt-free!
0:04>> Where I was able to pay off over $85,000
0:07of debt in under 2 and 1/2 years.
0:09[music] But not only that, since then
0:11I've been able to quadruple my income
0:13and build a multi-six-figure net worth
0:15that's growing every single day. So, how
0:17exactly did I go from broke shopaholic
0:19to someone who is finally building real
0:21wealth? I'll tell you that if I hadn't
0:23changed my money habits or my money
0:25mindsets that I had when I was first
0:27paying off my debt, it would have taken
0:28[music] me closer to 12 years to pay
0:30off. So, today I'm going to share with
0:32you not only how to fix your money
0:33habits, but I'm going to give you the
0:34exact road map I took to becoming
0:36completely debt-free and to build real
0:38wealth. Starting with the simplest thing
0:40I did that ended up making the biggest
0:42impact, especially when I realized that
0:44I was broke as hell, and that was I
0:46Googled how to stop shopping. I remember
0:48feeling a little bit ridiculous doing
0:49that too, because why would anyone need
0:51to Google on how to stop spending money?
0:53But the second I did that was the moment
0:55that I realized that I wasn't alone in
0:57this. I started discovering things like
0:59YouTube videos, Reddit forums, Facebook
1:01groups. Tons of people were talking
1:03about how they were struggling with
1:04overconsumption and how they wanted to
1:06get themselves out of debt. And even
1:08though it felt a little embarrassing and
1:10cringe, I'm actually really glad that I
1:11did that because it ended up taking me
1:13on the path that I'm on today. In 2019,
1:16I kind of hit a rock bottom moment where
1:18I ended up buying a pair of boots that
1:20cost more than my rent at the time, and
1:22I had every opportunity to return them.
1:25To me, these boots symbolized every
1:27version of my fantasy self that I wanted
1:29to be. They were cool. They were going
1:31to make me the cool girl. They were
1:33expensive so that if you looked at my
1:35feet, it would be like, "Hey, if you
1:37know, you know." But at the same level,
1:38I knew that every single day I would
1:40wake up stressing about money and
1:42wondering how the hell I was going to
1:44pay off my remaining $85,000 of student
1:47loan debt. Because I knew that I was
1:48making good money and I felt like I had
1:50done everything right. I had gone to
1:52college. I had gotten a good job. I
1:54moved to a big city out on my own. On
1:57paper, I was good, but behind the scenes
1:59of all of that, I was completely broke
2:01and struggling. And instead of doing
2:03what I knew was the responsible thing
2:05and returning these boots, I put them
2:07back in the box, I slid them under my
2:09bed, and I walked away. And it was in
2:11that moment of self-sabotage that I
2:13could feel in my bones that I knew
2:15something needed to change. But it was
2:17from that simple Google search that I
2:19not only felt less alone, but I started
2:21to learn exactly what I needed to do
2:23next with my money. Which brings me into
2:25step two, and that is to do a spending
2:28audit. In order to move forward with
2:30paying off your debt, you need to know a
2:32couple of things. One is that you need
2:34to look back at your past to figure out
2:36how you got to your present, and two is
2:38that you need to know exactly how much
2:40you make and how much you spend in order
2:42to move forward. And when I first
2:44committed to paying off my debt, I had
2:46no idea where my money was going. I knew
2:48that I made some money, I knew that I
2:50even made good money, but I had no idea
2:53what I was spending it on. I couldn't
2:55tell you exactly what my phone bill was
2:57or what day it came out. I couldn't tell
2:59you how much I spent on gas or groceries
3:01every single month, and I definitely
3:03couldn't tell you how much I was
3:04spending on clothes and makeup. I had to
3:06actually face and take a look at exactly
3:08where my money was going, and let me
3:10tell you, it was uncomfortable. So, what
3:13I did was set aside a couple of hours,
3:14and I just took a look at all of my
3:16credit card statements and my debit card
3:18statements from the past 6 months. And I
3:21started going through every single line
3:22of my spending with a fine-tooth comb.
3:24Because one of the first steps that
3:25everybody talks about if you want to
3:27become debt-free is to start budgeting,
3:29the spending analysis is what's going to
3:31tell you exactly how much you need to
3:33budget where. So, this is an absolutely
3:35critical step that you need to take. And
3:37if you're an overspender like I was,
3:39then you will probably feel pretty
3:41embarrassed and quite frankly pissed off
3:43at yourself doing this. But on the same
3:45token, this is going to be extremely
3:47powerful information that you're giving
3:48yourself. Because once you've done your
3:50spending audit, you're going to know the
3:51exact numbers. You're going to know how
3:53much you need to live, and you're going
3:55to be able to find the opportunities
3:56where you can cut back to put more money
3:58down on that debt. This is your
4:00opportunity to stop having an avoidant
4:02attachment style to your finances. If
4:04you're really serious about paying off
4:06debt and buckling down with your
4:07finances, then this is an absolutely
4:10critical step that you need to take. And
4:12once you've done your spending analysis,
4:13like I said, you might get a little bit
4:15pissed. But this is exactly where you
4:17can use that emotion to your advantage.
4:19Embrace getting mad, embrace getting
4:21embarrassed, and embrace getting a bit
4:23sad. Because that raw emotion that you
4:25feel once you look at the numbers is the
4:27exact thing that you can use to get
4:29yourself started. Feeling emotions like
4:31guilt or shame is very normal, and
4:33having things like debt or even being an
4:35over spender doesn't make you a bad
4:37person. But if you're trying to make a
4:39change, you can use that emotion to kick
4:42start your journey. And that's exactly
4:43what I did. Because even thinking about
4:45it now, I know that I'm a smart person,
4:47I'm a rational person, and so are you.
4:49But just having the know-how and
4:51knowledge that I was potentially over
4:53spending, it just wasn't enough. It
4:55really did get me to take action and to
4:57start thinking about what my life would
4:59be like without debt. You'll finally be
5:01able to build your emergency fund and
5:03stop living paycheck to paycheck. You
5:05might be able to travel once a year. You
5:06might be able to treat your parents and
5:08your friends to a nice dinner without
5:10worrying about the bill. Using those
5:11emotions on top of finding your why is a
5:14critical step in getting started and to
5:16keep you going when things get tough.
5:18There's a saying that I think rings true
5:20where I was just sick and tired of being
5:22sick and tired, and that's the energy
5:24that I used to get started. The critical
5:27thing that I had to do was that I had to
5:28stop pretending that there wasn't a
5:29problem, and I had to realize that
5:31nobody was going to come save me. I was
5:33waiting for it, believe me. I would have
5:35loved someone to swoop in and be like,
5:36"Hey, okay, I'm just going to pay off
5:38your debt." But I realized that I was
5:40the one that had to do it. So use that
5:41emotion, find your why, and use it to
5:44start taking the action that you've been
5:45avoiding. And now that you're fired up,
5:47it's going to take you right into step
5:48four, which is writing your first
5:51budget. I don't care who you are and how
5:53much money you make, you need a budget.
5:55And I know I probably lost a lot of you
5:57when I said the word budget, but it is
5:59the number one money habit that I still
6:01do even to this day because it gives you
6:03control over where your money is going.
6:06Your budget is basically your plan. You
6:09tell your money where to go instead of
6:11always just chasing after it and
6:12wondering where it went. And now that
6:14you've actually done your spending
6:15analysis, it'll take you like 15 minutes
6:17to write your first budget. It's really
6:19easy because now you know exactly how
6:21much money you make and how much you
6:23spend. And you can find categories in
6:25your budget that you're willing to cut
6:26back on in order to put that extra money
6:29towards your debt. And let me tell you,
6:31when I wrote my first budget and cut out
6:33all the extra nonsense like clothes,
6:35makeup, and takeout temporarily, and
6:37don't worry, we'll get to that, I felt
6:40like I got a raise because I could see
6:42the real numbers of how much money I was
6:44wasting on those things and how much
6:46more money I could potentially put
6:48towards my debt to get out of debt that
6:50much faster. And I would recommend not
6:52wasting too much time on how exactly
6:54you're going to budget and what tool
6:56you're going to use. These days I use my
6:58very own budgeting template, which is
7:00available linked in the description down
7:01below, but you can use literally
7:03anything. For years I used an app, I
7:05used an Excel spreadsheet. Whatever
7:07works for you to keep track of your
7:08money, just stick to it and do it. And
7:11if you want to see exactly how to write
7:12a realistic budget and keep track of it
7:14throughout the month. I did do a whole
7:16video on exactly how I budget with real
7:18numbers from my actual bank account in
7:20this video right here. So you can go
7:22watch that after this video, but the
7:23whole key about budgeting is not
7:26necessarily to think about it as
7:27something that restricts you, but rather
7:30gives you control and more freedom over
7:33your money. When I was in debt,
7:35budgeting was the tool that I used to
7:36find more money to put down on my debt.
7:39Now that I'm debt-free, budgeting is
7:41actually the tool that I still use to
7:43give me freedom over my spending.
7:46Nowadays, I use my budget to actually
7:47spend more on the things that I care
7:49about rather than restricting myself.
7:52So, a budget really isn't all about
7:53living as cheaply as possible or cutting
7:55back. It's a tool that you can use to
7:57have control over your finances and take
8:00them in the direction that you want to
8:01go. If you're the type of person who
8:03feels really chaotic about your money
8:05and you just have no idea where it's
8:06going, the budget is the thing that's
8:08going to give you back control. It's
8:10actually pretty cool. This next step a
8:12lot of you may not want to hear, but it
8:14is absolutely critical if you want to
8:16aggressively pay off your debt fast. And
8:19that is you need to start cutting
8:21out of your life for a while. For just a
8:23little while. As in challenge yourself
8:25to go on a temporary no buy or low buy.
8:28And that's exactly what I did. I was so
8:30motivated to pay off my debt as quickly
8:32as possible that I was more than willing
8:34to cut the crap from my budget. But I
8:37will say that if you absolutely refuse
8:38to make any adjustments in your current
8:40spending habits, then you're going to
8:42have to accept that you're just not
8:44going to be able to pay off that debt as
8:46fast as you might want to. That's simply
8:48the reality of it. If you have a really
8:50ambitious money goal, you can reach it
8:52quickly by doing two things. One is by
8:55cutting down your lifestyle and two is
8:57by increasing your income. And I would
8:59say one of the fastest ways to free up
9:01money in your budget is to cut out any
9:03excess spending. But this does not have
9:06to be forever. So, my advice here would
9:08be to structure your budget so that it's
9:10challenging, so that you're making
9:12progress towards your debt, but make
9:13sure that it's not uber restrictive or
9:15unsustainable in the long run because
9:18you're just going to rebel. But either
9:19way, the reality is is that you're
9:20likely going to have to cut a lot of
9:22spending in your budget, which may leave
9:24you needing to replace a lot of your old
9:26bad habits. So, this is where you need
9:28to find your dopamine menu. Because if
9:31you're a spendy person like I was,
9:32you're also likely removing your number
9:35one coping mechanism, which for me was
9:37shopping. And since you're committing to
9:39no longer doing that anymore and putting
9:41that money down on your debt, you need
9:43to find new things to replace that
9:45behavior. Because even though I was
9:47fired up and motivated to pay off my
9:48debt, a few days in I was already
9:50starting to feel the withdrawal. I
9:52started to realize that I was using
9:54shopping as my way to cope with stress,
9:57to cope with boredom, and if I didn't
9:59introduce new ways to deal with that,
10:01then I was going to go rolling right
10:03back into the way I was. And I think if
10:05you talk to a lot on their debt-free
10:06journey, they will tell you that they
10:08started finding new hobbies and new
10:10things to do. At the time, this is where
10:13I leaned into things like building up my
10:14YouTube channel and making videos. It
10:16was literally sharing my debt-free
10:17journey online that helped me build up
10:19this community that I have today. I
10:21started decluttering and going through
10:22my things. I went to workout classes or
10:24did workouts on YouTube to spend some
10:27time. Basically, you need to find new
10:29things that you enjoy doing that one
10:31occupy your time, but two that stop you
10:34from spending too much money. Because at
10:36the end of the day, you're doing two
10:37things here. You're breaking old bad
10:39habits and you need to build up new ones
10:41to replace them. And if I'm honest, it's
10:43actually kind of fun. A lot of the times
10:45if you find yourself overspending, we're
10:47more used to consuming rather than
10:49creating. This really flips that script
10:52and at the end of the day, I think it
10:53really makes you feel more accomplished
10:54and proud of yourself. This next part of
10:56the debt-free journey, I think not a lot
10:58of people talk about enough and it's the
11:00fact that you can only cut your expenses
11:02so much. And for a lot of people, the
11:05debt is not necessarily a result of
11:07overspending like it was for me. It's
11:09also the simple fact that the cost of
11:11living is astronomical and wages have
11:13not kept up. So, a lot of folks who do
11:14have debt have it because they're just
11:16trying to survive. And you can't
11:18necessarily budget your way out of
11:19situations like that. I can completely
11:21appreciate that, but I will say that one
11:23of the only things that you can do if
11:25that is you is to increase your income.
11:28And if you do have the option to cut
11:30back on expenses and increase your
11:31income at the same time, then that is
11:34going to be the fastest way that you can
11:36pay off your debt quickly. In addition
11:38to cutting non-essential spending from
11:40my budget, I also started working more.
11:43I ended up doing overtime. I took extra
11:45shifts on weekends and evenings. And on
11:47top of all that, I eventually started
11:49making extra money through my content.
11:51But at the same time, I will say that
11:52it's not easy and it can take a long
11:54time. I wouldn't put all your eggs in
11:56that basket, but there's definitely
11:57other ways that you can look into
11:58earning more money. You can do things
12:00like negotiate for a raise at your job.
12:02Or do you have a skill or hobby that
12:04you're particularly good at? Could you
12:05potentially start teaching classes?
12:07Could you sell an ebook or mini course
12:09on how to do that? Can you bake? Can you
12:11sew? Can you style people? Can you write
12:13an exercise program? I believe that
12:15everyone has a skill that they can teach
12:17and share, and I feel like there's
12:18opportunities there to share that. But
12:20the key here is that as you make more
12:21money, any of that extra money you put
12:23towards your debt until it's gone.
12:25That's exactly what I did, and in
12:26addition to cutting out my expenses
12:28temporarily, increasing my income really
12:30sped up the process. This next step I
12:33think not enough people talk about, but
12:34it's that you have to find joy in the
12:37process. If it feels absolutely
12:39miserable the entire time, then you're
12:41probably not going to stick to it.
12:43Because for a lot of us, paying off debt
12:45is a long game. So, if the entire time
12:47all I could ever think about was what I
12:49couldn't buy and how restricted I felt,
12:51then I would never have stuck to it. But
12:53if I actually look back on my journey,
12:54this is probably one of the times where
12:56I felt the most happiest and the most
12:58confident about myself. And I think it
13:01was because I was making real progress.
13:04I was sticking to my plan. I was doing
13:06the things I said I was going to do when
13:08I said I was going to do it. And any
13:10extra money that I made or saved, I put
13:12down on my debt. And I ended up getting
13:15pretty obsessed with watching that
13:16number go down. I kind of gamified it.
13:19And that's what I encourage you to do,
13:20too. If you do things like track your
13:22progress, find joy in decluttering and
13:25selling things, getting rid of things.
13:27If you can find ways to enjoy the
13:29process and track your progress, then I
13:32think you're going to have a lot more
13:33fun with this than you might think. I
13:35enjoyed doing things like decluttering
13:37and finding more things to sell so I
13:39could put that money down on my debt. I
13:41made sure to celebrate every extra
13:43payment that I made in that month and
13:45figuring out ways to get that number to
13:47go down faster kind of became my new
13:50motivation, which is kind of cool
13:51because instead of spending money on
13:53crap that I didn't need to feel that bit
13:56of pride and happiness, putting money
13:58down on my debt did it for me instead,
14:00which is also really cool because that
14:02was an act of true self-care whereas
14:04buying things to treat myself was me
14:06just self-sabotaging in disguise. So
14:08make sure you find ways to enjoy this
14:10process and have some fun with it
14:11because future you is really going to
14:13thank you. This step is something that
14:14you can save in your back pocket for
14:16when you do finally pay off your debt or
14:19when you're just about to. And that's
14:21acknowledging the fact that you have now
14:22set a new set of standards for yourself.
14:24Because if you're paying off debt,
14:26you're doing something hard. And even
14:27though the goal is to get that number to
14:29zero, it's actually the habits and the
14:31systems that you've built along the way
14:33because when that number eventually gets
14:35to zero, you are going to be a
14:36completely different person. You have
14:38built new habits, new systems, new ways
14:41of thinking, and you've probably built a
14:43whole lot of self-confidence along your
14:45journey. I especially know that I did
14:47because the entire time that I was
14:48paying off my debt, I realized that I
14:50was taking action to become the type of
14:52person who was good with their money. I
14:54realized I became the type of person who
14:56kept promises to herself. I became the
14:58type of person who could say no to
14:59herself. And I even became the type of
15:01person who could say yes guilt-free
15:03because now I started thinking about my
15:06purchases instead of just making them
15:07based on emotion or impulse. If you go
15:10on a debt-free journey, you are not
15:11going to come out the same person. And I
15:14think it's really important that you
15:15acknowledge that and make sure that you
15:17put systems in place so that you don't
15:19go backwards, which is exactly why now,
15:22even though I've been debt-free for over
15:245 years, I still budget every single
15:26month. I still track every dollar I
15:28spend. And now I do things like save and
15:31invest before I go and spend any fun
15:34money. The debt-free journey is what
15:35built me a new set of habits and
15:37standards when it comes to my money. And
15:39they're habits and standards that I
15:41maintain to this very day. That, you
15:43know what, I wouldn't have learned or
15:44built if I didn't do this. But like I
15:47said, none of that really works if
15:48you're not actively managing your money
15:50from day to day. So go watch this video
15:52next where I break down exactly how
15:54you're going to write your first budget
15:55step by step with real numbers from my
15:58own bank account. Thanks so much for
15:59watching, and I'll see you next week.
16:02Bye.

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