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    Dear Debt: A Story About Breaking Up With Debt
    Dear Debt: A Story About Breaking Up With Debt
    Dear Debt: A Story About Breaking Up With Debt
    Ebook133 pages1 hour

    Dear Debt: A Story About Breaking Up With Debt

    By Melanie Lockert

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    About this ebook

    In her debut book "Dear Debt," personal finance expert Melanie Lockert combines her endearing and humorous personal narrative with practical tools to help readers overcome the crippling effects of debt. Drawing from her personal experience of paying off eighty thousand dollars of student loan debt, Melanie provides a wealth of money-saving tips to help her community of debt fighters navigate the repayment process, increase current income, and ultimately become debt-free. By breaking down complex financial concepts into clear, manageable tools and step-by-step processes, Melanie has provided a venerable guide to overcoming debt fatigue and obtaining financial freedom.

    Inside "Dear Debt" you will learn to:
    - Find the debt repayment strategy most effective for your needs
    - Avoid spending temptations by knowing your triggers
    - Replace expensive habits with cheaper alternatives
    - Become a frugal friend without being rude
    - Start a side hustle to boost your current income
    - Negotiate your salary to maximize value
    - Develop a financial plan for life after debt

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCoventry House Publishing
    Release dateAug 12, 2016
    Dear Debt: A Story About Breaking Up With Debt
    Author

    Melanie Lockert

    Melanie Lockert is the personality behind the award-winning blog, Dear Debt, where she chronicled her journey out of $81,000 in student loan debt. Through her blog, she inspires readers to break up with debt by writing their very own breakup letter to debt. In 2015, Melanie (and her journey out of debt) was named one of the top five most inspiring personal finance stories of the year by Yahoo! Finance. She currently works as a freelance writer and event planner. Melanie and her work have appeared in Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Finance, INC, and more. Originally from the Los Angeles area, Melanie moved to New York City to attend New York University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and a Master of Arts in Performance Studies. After stints in New York City and Portland, Oregon, she returned to Los Angeles, where she currently resides.

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      Book preview

      Dear Debt - Melanie Lockert

      Contents

      Introduction

      Part 1: My Journey Into Debt

      1 - The Moment That Changed Everything

      2 - Starting Over

      3 - I’m in Debt—Now What?

      4 - Which Debt Should You Pay Off First?

      5 - You Are Not Your Debt

      6 - How to Overcome Debt Fatigue

      7 - Starting Your Journey Out of Debt

      8 - Resources to Help You Ditch Debt

      Part 2: How to Save Money So You Can Rock Debt Repayment

      9 - How to Avoid Spending Temptation by Knowing Your Spending Triggers

      10 - How to Be a Frugal Friend Without Being Rude

      11 - The One Simple Mind Trick to Help You Start Saving Today

      Part 3: How to Earn More Money to Pay Down Debt

      12 - Why You Need a Side Hustle

      13 - How to Negotiate Your Salary and Boost Your Income

      14 - You Never Know Where a Connection Will Lead

      Part 4: Lessons from Paying Off Debt

      15 - The Secret to Getting Out of Debt

      16 - What to Do After You Pay Off Debt

      17 - How Paying Off Debt Changed My Life—and Can Change Yours Too

      Appendix: Dear Debt Worksheets

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      I bet you picked up this book to learn a little bit about the way money works, and how to get out of debt. Wild guess? You’ve come to the right place. In this book, we’ll break down how to get out of debt, save money, earn more money, and live a life you love. Sounds great, right? But who am I, anyway? Why am I, of all people, writing a book about money? How is a theater major and former nonprofit employee qualified to talk about money? It’s quite a funny story, really, which is what I hope to share with you throughout this book. Suffice it to say that I learned about money from the best teacher around: experience. Throughout my life, my choices have forced me to learn about money. Something I resisted so fiercely is now something I am fiercely passionate about.

      I’m writing this book not only to tell my story of getting out of student loan debt, but to inspire a generation of young men and women saddled with debt to write their own stories of freedom. I paid off $81,000 in student loans without making six figures or living with my parents. Getting out of debt was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it has taught me so many lessons about life and money that I want to share with you. Debt does not have to be forever. You can ditch debt for its friends, Savings and Investing. Money doesn’t have to be complicated, and more importantly it doesn’t have to be inherently bad or reflect your self-worth.

      This book is for anyone who has ever felt like they would never get out of debt. This book is for all student loan borrowers, or anyone who feels crushed under the weight of debt. If you feel like there has got to be a better way to manage your money, pay off debt, and forge your own path, this book is for you. I’m here to tell you that you are not alone. I’m here to tell you that getting out of debt is possible. It’s not just a pipe dream. There is a better way to live, and I want to show you how. By sharing my journey, I hope to inspire you to pay off your debt, earn more money, and feel awesome about your financial choices and your life. In the end, you deserve to live a life that matters, not one that is weighed down by debt, interest payments, and debt collectors.

      It’s time to break up with debt.

      Why is money important, anyway? Money: this one word can elicit a lot of emotions. It can bring out stress, anxiety, depression, greed, happiness, and joy in all of us. Many people often feel like there’s never enough money. Or, if you are like I used to be, you think money represents power: the separation between the haves and the have-nots. I was placed squarely in the have-nots section. I would never be rich. I would never have a lot of money. I’d always have just enough to get by. As a creative person, I always thought money and art were two separate things. I thought that you had to struggle to survive, and that’s the way things had to be. But after living on ten dollars to twelve dollars an hour and spending periods of time on food stamps, I have to say there’s nothing cute or fun about being broke. People like to say that money isn’t everything. While that’s true to an extent, I firmly believe the only people who say that are people who haven’t been face-to-face with being broke or feeling buried under debt.

      Once upon a time, I was that person that didn’t think money was important—that was until I didn’t have much money left and was struggling to get by. Suddenly, my options felt so restricted. There were no choices on the table. The only choice was the free or cheapest option. When you have no money, your life choices are narrowed, which can leave you stagnant, stuck, or worse, in a depressing situation. Imagine that you’re in a dead-end job and your boss is making your life miserable, but you can’t quit because you can’t afford to leave the job. Imagine that after living with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you realize that he or she isn’t right for you, but you can’t afford to live on your own, so you stay. Think of that childhood dream that you may have buried long ago. Did part of you bury it because it wasn’t practical? What do all of these situations have in common? It’s the difference between action and inaction. Having money means having choices. Once I realized this, I started to change my relationship with money.

      I used to think that money was evil and that having money was only for the rich. However, it became clear to me that money is just a tool. Money is not inherently good or bad. It doesn’t have a moral compass or a soul. We attribute our own feelings to it, but money itself is simply a tool for opportunities. Being able to have walking-around money or a go to hell fund can be a lifesaver. It can change the direction of your life and let you make the best choices for you based on what you think is best for you, rather than what you need financially.

      Money is important because it puts a roof over your head. It puts food on the table. It gives you the choice to stay or go. It gives you opportunities. While I do believe some of the best things in life are free, such as your health, love, family, and friendships, oftentimes our goals and dreams come at a monetary cost. You should be able to unabashedly go after all your hopes and dreams, and let your money help you get there. No one is meant to just work, pay bills, put money toward debt, and repeat. Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed…and some things cost money.

      The one thing that changed my life for the better was changing my relationship with money and how I thought about it. I stopped thinking that I was meant to be broke, or even deserved to be broke. I began to take action instead of dwelling on disappointments and complaining about all the things I couldn’t do or things that I felt were out of my control. After transforming my relationship with money, something interesting started to change. I committed to paying off debt and paid off all $81,000 of my student loans. I started to earn more through side hustling. I launched a new career, writing about, of all things, money.

      Having money in the bank has been a security blanket that has gotten me through tough times. Money also fueled me to quit my low-paying nonprofit job and become my own boss. Money has allowed me to travel to see friends and family at a moment’s notice. It has allowed me to say yes more often than no. If there’s anything I want to teach you with this book, it’s that money is not the enemy. Money is your friend—and if you work hard enough, it can be your best friend, and work hard for you in return.

      Before reading on, I want you to think about:

      • What is your relationship with money?

      • How would making more money impact your life? How would making $100 more per month affect your life? $500? $1,000? Write it down.

      • What is your dream salary? Think of the number, take out a check (if you have one of those soon-to-be relics), and make it out to yourself in the future, with your dream salary written on it. Keep your check on your desk.

      • What negative money baggage are you carrying around? These include long-held assumptions about the way money works, or things your parents taught you about money that no longer serve you (e.g. money is evil, I’m a starving artist, etc.)

      There are DIY worksheets at the end of this book to help you along your journey. Use them as you please.

      Part 1

      My Journey Into Debt

      1

      The Moment That Changed Everything

      Upon graduating from high school, I signed on the dotted line and took out student loans to attend college. Little did I know, debt and I would have a long-term affair that would last over a decade. At the time, I was seventeen years old and very naive. I had a vague idea of what student loans were—but really, I only knew they would help me attend college. Not going to college wasn’t something I considered, so I simply accepted my student loans as part of the process, without

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