More Money Podcast - 061 Listener Series - How Taylor from San Diego Paid Off $14,000 in 7 Months

Episode Date: September 29, 2016

Faced with the reality that she had to pay her own way through university if she wanted a degree, Taylor Milam is a true example that hard work and resilience can really pay off. Long description: My third episode in my special podcast listener series features Taylor Milam from San Diego. Her debt story may sound very familiar to you if you had to pay for school on your own, work a few jobs at night and still depend on student loans to finish your degree. But her story is also a great example of where resilience and hard work can take you. Sure, Taylor had to get student loans to pay for school, but she also worked relentlessly to pay them off as soon as she could. And she did! After only 7 months she was able to pay off $14,000 in student debt. Now, she's on a mission to help people just like her get out of debt, and more importantly stay out of debt, on her blog The Freedom from Money. Got a story that you think would be good to share on an episode on of Listener series? Please email me! For more podcast episodes, check out the Podcast page. Shownotes: jessicamoorhouse.com/61 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Mo Money Podcast. This is episode 61 and episode 3 of my podcast listener series. Not that anyone's counting. So if you don't know, if you're kind of new to the program, back in the spring, I did a blog post featuring four wonderful ladies who are doing some amazing things to crush their debt. And I'm like, hey, wouldn't this be great if I made this into a podcast series? And now, bam, it's a listener series. So if you have a story, and it doesn't have to be about debt, it could be what you're doing to save money, retire early, whatever, anything to do with personal finance. If you have a story that you would like to share with me on the podcast for this series, please shoot me an email, jessica at jessicamorehouse.com. I've already gotten several people who have contacted me that are now going to be on the show. And it's

so freaking cool. Come on, share your story. Because that's what this is all about. It's about making, you know, promoting financial awareness, financial literacy, sharing each other's stories so we can all be more financially savvy, right? So this episode is with Taylor Milam and she is from San Diego, California, a place that I recently went to for FinCon 2016. It was lovely. I loved it there. She is a social media strategist by day and also a blogger. She started her own personal finance blog called The Freedom From Money. And so I interviewed her for my blog post, which I'll include a link in the show notes if you haven't read it already. But I want to kind of get to the crux of things and really get into her story. And so I interviewed

her for this episode. And without further ado, let's get to that episode, shall we? Okay, so let's kind of start. So Taylor, tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? Where do you live? What do you do? Yeah, I grew up in a military family. My dad is in the military, so we moved around a lot. I lived pretty much all over the world, but during my last two years of high school, so when I was about 16, I moved to Southern California, and I've pretty much been here since then. Yeah. Oh, I'd love to live in Southern California. It sounds so nice. Yeah, it's super nice, but it definitely comes with a price tag, the sunshine.

Yeah, I know. But yeah, so I live in San Diego now and I graduated from college a little over a year ago. And right now I'm working full time in writing and digital marketing. I work for a university, so I write a lot of stories for the website and make videos and do their social media. So it's pretty fun. That's awesome. That's awesome. So kind of speaking about, uh, university and everything like that, that's kind of, is that kind of what started you on your kind of personal finance journey, but you know, like the, the debt part of it though. Yes. Yeah. So all of, all of my debt, um, which he wasn't going to help me out anymore

financially um and that was about a month before school started so uh yeah that's tough yeah I was kind of thrown into this really unfortunate and hard situation really fast. So a lot of things happened. So basically money became a really big part of my life really fast. Oh, absolutely. All kind of at once. And then you have to start thinking about things you never really had to think about and make decisions really quickly, especially if you wanted to, I guess, start the school year on time. Yeah, totally. If I exactly. So I grew up really,

um, I would say pretty middle class. Um, money was never a huge issue. There wasn't a ton of it, but there was more than enough. Um, and so like you said, this was pretty much the first time that I was in a bad financial situation and didn't have any. So I had to make really fast decisions in order to continue in school and not have to drop out. Yeah, exactly. Were you working at the time, like-time or anything yeah so I the reason that I was actually able to stay in school um because basically what happened is uh my dad had already filled out my financial aid forms and he made enough money that I didn't get any financial aid that year. Um, so I luckily had been working since I was about 16 and had close to $10,000 saved. Um, yeah. So it turned out to be really good. I, I, because I blew through

it to pay for my tuition. And then I started, I worked three part-time jobs as well, like to support myself. Oh my gosh. And did you live on your own at the time or did you still live at home? No, I lived on my own. Yeah. My, yeah. So yeah, it was a, it was like a very, very hard situation. And so the first year I was able to support myself without any loans, I actually wasn't offered any government loans because of the whole financial aid situation. And then the second year I had no more savings. So and my stepdad claimed me on financial aid and his salary was lower. So I got packaged accordingly and was able to take out some loans to pay for my tuition.

How did you manage to work three part time jobs and go to school? That's like that's crazy to me. Yeah. I definitely don't recommend it. It's not super fun. Um, it was really, really stressful. Um, I worked on campus, uh, during the days, like in between classes. And then at night I worked in a call center. I did fundraising for the university and then I also did freelance writing oh wow wow that must take that must have been like a big kind of you know uh time suck really yeah it was pretty much like school full-time that was your life working and yeah so it definitely I went from kind of having a normal college experience like what you think of when you think of college, like kind of having fun and like going to classes and experimenting and learning stuff to like pretty much being

a very poor adult. Yeah. So how much did you at the end of your degree, how much debt did you accrue? I had about a little under $14,000. Okay, so a lot of money still, but still not as bad as you know, you're not owing $100,000. Thank goodness. So you still so you know, even though you did have to take out loans, you know, the three part time jobs definitely helped you not owe as much as you probably could have. Yeah, totally. And I think that a lot of times I've had people say to me like on my blog or like on Twitter they're like oh like why are you even why do you even care like it's not even it's like no money like this is nothing like people have you know so much more debt like you should just be

lucky or be grateful that it's so low it doesn't matter and I think that the beginning part of like my story I think is what makes it so important to me becoming debt free that like I had this experience of being so poor and struggling so much and not having any money that it was so so so important to me to get rid of it as soon as possible even though I mean statistically it is pretty much half of what the national average is, which is close to 30,000 per person. So yeah, I totally I mean, it is way lower. And I was really grateful for that. But it still was really important to me to get rid of it. Absolutely. But it doesn't seem like you were lucky. I mean, you worked hard,

you you're the reason it was so low. It wasn't like anyone just handed you a bunch of money. It's like you were in this situation that anyone can find themselves in where they think everything's fine. And then, you know, kind of the rug gets pulled under them and they have to figure out figure it out. And so you did by, you know, yes, getting some student loans, but also working while in school. So props to you. It wasn't luck. It was hard work. Well, thanks. I appreciate that. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for saying that. I think it's always a little bit of a combination, but I definitely, um, definitely put in some work too. So thank you. So how long did

it take you to, um, cause you're debt free now, which is awesome. How long did it take you to get rid of it? It took me about seven months of like really aggressive repayments. But before then I had paid like little bit. So all in all, I was debt free within my first year of graduating college. Which is like a big deal. Like it took me, I think I only had $5,000 that I owed and it took me nine months to pay off. And I was like, whoo, I can't believe I paid it off. And so seven months and $14,000, like that's, that's pretty awesome. Thanks. Yeah. I was, I was really happy to be done. And like, you know, I mean, no matter what your debt amount is, even if it's just a thousand dollars or $300, it feels so good to just be done.

Absolutely. Because yeah, no one likes being in debt. And obviously, I think it's, you know, you're in a different kind of mindset when you are in debt. Sometimes it feels like it's never going to go away. You can never pay it off. You'll always be in debt. So when you do reach that point where you're finally debt free, it's an amazing feeling. And it's, you know, sometimes it takes, you know, longer than seven months. But you know, no matter what, that feeling of being debt free. It's an amazing feeling. And it's, you know, sometimes it takes, you know, longer than seven months. But you know, no matter what, that feeling of being debt free is probably the best feeling ever. Yeah, no, it, it, it totally is. It was amazing. Absolutely. So what kind of I kind of asked you this for my blog was what strategies did you use to kind of cut back or just, you know, find ways to, you know, crush your debt kind of as soon as possible? It seemed like you were very aggressive with it. You were, you know, had a goal to get

rid of it as soon as possible. How did you accomplish that in seven months? Yeah, so the main thing that I did is I really didn't, I pretty much kept living the same way that I had been living when I was really really poor so I actually had straight out of college I had in within two weeks after graduating I started my full-time job which actually came from an unpaid internship that I did during college so I had I pretty much had a salary right away, which was awesome. Amazing. Especially since I had literally no money. So I was like, I need to find something fast. Um, so even though I started earning a salary, I kept living pretty much this same and which is hard in a sense because you know that you you can upgrade something exactly um but it's also good because if you get yourself down to like the bare minimum of what you need

after that point any kind of small upgrade is feels huge so like during college I went at the worst part of supporting myself and being poor um I had a one-bedroom apartment that I shared with two other girls um who I didn't one-bedroom apartment with two other people yeah Yeah. Where did they, where did everybody sleep? We had, yeah, right. That's a great question. We had three twin beds like lined up in the bedroom. Oh, really? Yeah. So, and this is like in the middle of LA, which is where I went to school. So everything's super expensive. And so it was like this really intense housing situation. Obviously there's no personal space, there's no personal space there's no room there's just you're just basically trying to sleep there and that's it so after experiencing that like having my own even just having my own bedroom is like such a big thing so in a certain

way it was easy to not increase that much like even small increases like just having my own bedroom felt like a huge luxury at this point. Um, so that was like one of the things that I did, but I also sold my car, um, which I had had in LA, um, and I used for internships when I was in school. So I sold that, um, I started biking, I started Ubering, I started taking the bus. So that helped a lot because the car actually, you know, in cities, at it. So in addition to my full time job, I kept my freelance job as well that I had during college. And then I picked up a few more freelance writing and consulting jobs, too. Which I think is kind of becoming the norm with people our age is to have kind of the side hustle. I always recommend it I'm telling I've already told my sister if you when you get your you know full-time job after uh graduating university you know it's always good to have one or two other jobs yeah it helps right it does yeah

I have mixed feelings about it though because I guess a part of me is like is this what the world has come to that like I don't get paid enough that you have to like do this and then the other the other side of, you know, it's like, oh, it's nice to have extra money. So yeah, I kind of like I have like a love hate relationship with my I know what you mean. It's like you do. Absolutely. If you have a side hustle, a side job or whatever, you definitely sacrifice, you know, your time. And that's kind of and it also is true. It's like, you know, it's true. We aren't being paid as much as, you know, I think previous generations. But I mean, you can either kind of be like, well, this sucks, or you could do something about it, which is what I think both of us are doing, right? It's like, it is what it is fine. I'll just, you know, work a little bit more. But I'd rather, you know, stay debt free longer and be able to pay things in cash for what I want. So exactly, exactly.

So what would you say are some of the key things that you learned from your experience? It seems it was very impactful. You know, it kind of helped you also start your own personal finance blog, which I'll get to in a little bit. But what were some of the key things that you experienced that you want others to know? Yeah, I mean, this is this is like kind of weird. And I always feel kind of weird. But so money is really important. Obviously, like we all know that. And it's also like not important which I think sounds a little weird and blase and very bizarre for someone who like really likes to talk about money talk about money yeah but I think that because what I had experienced in college I really had and placed so

much emphasis on money because I had such scarcity of it and like so much fear and so much anxiety about it. And then that continued after I graduated with it manifested itself as me paying off my loans. I was like so laser focused on it that money still it had such a prominent place in my life. And I think that that's one of the things that I learned after paying off my debt is that my life, I mean, I'm still the same person. I still have the same partner. I still have the same friends. I still have the same family. I still have the same job. Like everything is pretty much the same. There's obviously a lot less stress in my life and that's great, but money is only one part of life. And I think that for people who either feel like they're drowning in debt or

paying it off or they're saving for something big or whatever their money kind of focuses, I think that it's important to keep that in mind that money really is only one part of your life and that it's great to work on it. And I applaud and respect anybody who does, but to just remember that it's not the goal. It's just a tool. Yeah. And it shouldn't consume your life. It shouldn't be the, yeah, the focus of your life. Absolutely. It should be a kind of a means to an end. Yeah, totally. Exactly. So I want to kind of get into your blog. So when did you start your own personal finance blog, The Freedom From Money, which is a great title, by the way, a great name. Thank you. I started it, I think it was October 2015. That was so recent. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. I started it um about a month after I got

really serious about paying it off but I'd been reading personal finance blogs for years I actually got introduced to Mr. Money Mustache when I was 18 like 17 I was like super young when I like first that's awesome awesome. Yeah. And I think that was part of the reason subconsciously that I had $10,000 saved. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I had been like sleeping in my brain. But yeah, so I've been reading them for a long time. And then I started mine this past year. That's awesome. So what do you focus on in your blog um I started it like to talk about paying off my debt obviously um but I think what I've been drawn to lately has been kind of like money and emotions um and kind of like how your emotions affect your money and vice versa and just kind of like my relationship with money and

all of that stuff. I think that's what I find like the psychology of money, I think is what I find most interesting about it and how I think about it and how other people think about it and kind of that whole element of it. Well, that brings up the question, how has kind of money affected you? Because you say, you know, you're still the same person, but because you went through that experience, like how, how has like that experience with money kind of changed you or, or how has like it affected your, the psychology, the emotions and everything like that with you? Yeah. And I think this is why I'm interested in it I still am working on my relationship with money

it's definitely I think it's an ongoing thing for life isn't it yeah I think it is it's like a work in progress for sure um but yeah I mean it's definitely a work in progress I think that I'm trying to be a little kinder to myself with my money and be a little less strict and like this sounds weird but like learn how to have fun with my money again oh absolutely yeah be able to enjoy life while still being responsible I think that's like what we're all aiming for and it's so hard it's hard. It's hard to find that balance because you don't want to be, you know, just spending everything and then Oh, it's okay, YOLO, I'll worry about it later. And then be in a funk and have to, you know, you know, figure out

how to get yourself out of that hole. But you also don't want to live so extreme, where you're so strict, you can't even enjoy the money that you're saving and making. And believe me, I've been there, especially when I was at my brokest point. I almost, you know, I just had, yeah, such a weird relationship with money where I'd almost feel guilty, even if I knew I could afford it to buy something. And it was like in my budget and it was okay to still kind of feel like, oh, I shouldn't. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And I think that that's no way to live either. Yeah, you don't want to, you know, have money have this hold over you where, you know, it is such a big force in your life and you feel guilty or just like a kind of any kind of negative kind of

emotion shouldn't be associated with money. If anything, like, you of any kind of negative kind of emotion shouldn't be associated with money if anything like you know kind of blogs like yours podcasts like mine should help people to understand themselves and their relationships with money you know in a positive healthy way yeah yeah totally i and i wrote this like a whole article about like comparing like spending money to basically like start um starving yourself and like binging like with dieting and I think that it's so easy to get in to one of two of those mindsets yeah with food and like eating disorders like I think that's really talked about like in our society like especially in the past few years which is great because there should obviously be more awareness about that and I think that we still have a ways to go

with money um but I do think that like the binging mentality of spending it all and like the starving mentality of like you were talking about of spending nothing um I think both are are unhealthy. Yeah, they're just not sustainable. So you need to find a way to, you know, save money and budget and, you know, manage your money responsibly, but also not do something that I mean, I always find especially when it comes to like the binging or whatever binging in any kind of respect, if it's like Netflix, or, you know, food, whatever, it's not healthy, we need to find a good balance of like being able to's like Netflix or, you know, food, whatever, it's not healthy. We need to find a good balance of like being able to live your normal life, but also be responsible with your money and enjoy your money. I mean, at the end of the day, you know, the purpose of

saving money isn't just to hoard it away. It's to eventually enjoy and buy things that you value in your life. Yes, I totally agree. Well, last question, since you are kind of still at the beginning of your journey in your life, and you know, you've started off on a great foot. So I'm excited for, you know, people who are maybe your age are still in school to kind of listen to our conversation and hopefully, you know, take some of our tips uh, tips and advice, where do you kind of, uh, see yourself moving forward? I mean, uh, I, I'm excited to see your blog grow and, and, uh, you know, you write more posts about the psychology of money. Um, yeah, I'm not, I'm not exactly sure. I, um, I haven't written about this yet, but I am actually planning to go back to school and pay cash this time. Nice.

Get my teaching credential and become a high school teacher. That's great. Yeah. So I'm really excited about that. And that's kind of like my next big goal and just keep hopefully kind of striking that balance and enjoy working and enjoy playing too and having fun. That's awesome. Well, thank you, Taylor, for chatting with me for my podcast. I really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

And that was episode 61 of the Mo Money Podcast with Taylor. And make sure to check out her personal finance blog. You can find it at thefreedomfrommoney.com. She is documenting her personal finance journey. And I know you will love it. So also check out the show notes for this episode, episode 61. So you can check them out at jessicamorehouse.com slash 61. And not that I, you know, I know I bug you for iTunes reviews. They just, they're just important for me. So if you want to give one to me, that would be awesome. I'll give you a shout out on a future episode. You know, just do what you got to do. And if not, that's okay. That's okay. I'm going to see you back here next Wednesday. We're still friends. Okay?

Okay. Okay. All right. Have a good day. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.