Overcoming Life Obstacles & Thriving With Vee

• Her Debt Payoff Strategy
• Handling A Divorce & Job Loss
• Starting Her Own Business
• Rover Side Hustle
• Saving Money On Prescriptions With GoodRx

Chris: Hi Vee!  Thank you for joining the show! Your story is very inspirational by the way you paid off debt while overcoming life obstacles.  Can you share that with the audience?

Vee: Thank you for having me on the show!  I’m Vee and I’ve been a part of the debt-free community since 2016.  I started when I was 22, newly married, and fresh out of college. I had a bunch of debt ($60,000) that consisted of personal loans, student loans, credit cards, and car loans.

Through my journey from the age of 22 to now, I’ve gone through quite a bit of upheaval during my life.  I got divorced, opened my business, and even moved across the country during my debt-free journey!  It’s been a wild ride and I’ve had fun. Met a lot of great people and my goal is to inspire people to become debt-free.

Overcoming Life Obstacles

Chris:  That’s the story I wanted people to hear!  What was the spark that got you started on your debt-free journey?

Vee: My parents never taught me about finances so when it came time to go to college nobody sat me down to tell me how I was going to pay for it.  So my parent took out a parent plus loan which is a terrible loan to pay for college it comes with about a 9% interest rate.

When I got out of college I realized I couldn’t pay my student loans after the grace period ended.  I also couldn’t pay for my anti-depressants which I need to survive essentially.  I couldn’t pay for both of those and that was my “Ohh crap” moment.  That was my moment when I realized I needed to make a change because no one was going to do it for me.

Chris:  So what exactly did you do at that point once you decided you wanted to make a change? What actions did you take?

Vee: Well, when I decide to do something I do it!  There is no in-between for me.  So I read “The Total Money Makeover” By Dave Ramsey, I committed to putting my credit cards in jail, and I made a debt-free chart on a poster board.  I started my Instagram @VeeFrugalFox to keep myself accountable and meet people doing the same thing.  Turns out there are many great people out there doing the same thing.

At first, people thought I was crazy to start this debt-free journey.  Crazy for going against the norm and living a different life than what is considered normal.

Debt Payoff Strategy

Chris:  What debt did you start attacking first?

Vee: In the beginning, we did the “Debt Snowball” and we started on my smallest loan which was $1,000 from my university and I knocked that out in a month.  I also did something I wouldn’t recommend doing.  I was so excited about getting rid of debt that I didn’t even care about the emergency fund.  This was a big mistake.  I would now always recommend an emergency fund!

The next loan was a personal loan that we knocked out.  We did the “Debt Avalanche” until we got to my biggest student loan which was $18,000 and my ex-husband’s car which was $11,000.  I was just so sick of my student loans taking so much in interest.

Debt Snowball:

The debt snowball method involves making the minimum payment on all your debt and then use any remaining money to pay off the debt with the lowest remaining balance.

The benefit of the debt snowball is that it helps build motivation for debt repayment by giving you quick wins early in your debt payoff journey.

Debt Avalanche:

The debt avalanche method involves making the minimum payment on all your debt and then use any remaining money to pay off the debt with the highest interest rate.

The debt avalanche method saves you the most money in interest payments.

Vee:  By the end of my debt-free journey I will have paid off over $80,000 in debt.

Chris:  Nice! Congratulations on that!

Vee:  Thank you!  Yeah, I think it’s really important to understand is that it’s not a fast journey.  It took me 6 to 7 years for my debt payoff.  So take your time, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.  I was “gazelle intense” which means I ate, slept, breathed, debt pay off and you can get burned out like that.  You can find a balance and still have success.

Chris:  Yes exactly and unfortunately during that time life hit you with some obstacles.  How did you handle going through a divorce and unexpected job loss while paying off debt?

Listen To The Full Episode For More Of My Conversation With Vee…