How I repaid my debt How I Made the Most of a Gig Economy

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How I repaid my debt: Making the Most of an Gig Economy
Written by Amrita Jayakumar Writer The Washington Post Amrita Jayakumar is a former special-assignment writer for NerdWallet. She also wrote a syndicated column on the millennials and money. She also wrote about personal loans and consumer credit and debt. In the past, she worked as a reporter at The Washington Post. Her work was published within The Miami Herald and USAToday. Amrita has a master's diploma in journalistic studies from The University ofMissouri.





Feb 5 2019, 2019


Edited by Kathy Hinson Lead Assigning Editor Personal finance, credit scoring, debt and money management Kathy Hinson leads the core personal finance team at NerdWallet. Previously, she spent 18 years with The Oregonian in Portland in capacities such as chief of the copy desk and team leader for design and editing. Previous experience included editing copy and news for several Southern California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. She earned a bachelor's degree in mass communications and journalism at the University of Iowa.







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The series speaks to individuals who have beaten debt using a combination of dedication, budgeting and smart financial choices. Responses have been edited for clarity and length.
Kara Perez has never had a full-time job. The 30-year-old entrepreneurial entrepreneur living in Austin, Texas, juggled multiple part-time jobs in her 20s such as catering to Nannying, to coaching high school lacrosse.
Perez graduated in 2011 with an English degree, and over 25,000 dollars in loan debt. Three years later "adulting" with no job opportunity coming her way, she realized she was unable to carry on with the burden forever. "I realized: No one is going to save me. I must save myself from the life which I'm currently living." she says.
Perez made profit from her gig economy lifestyle and shifted things into high gear by balancing five jobs and working seven days a week. She put every dollar she made toward debt.
Now debt-free Perez runs her own business, called , which is a financial education and event company that shows women how to manage their money. She shared her highs as well as lows to NerdWallet and her tale could inspire you to .
What was your salary and debt when you started?
I graduated in 2011 with a little over $25,000 spread across 5 different loans. When I was really focused [on the debt I owed during 2014, I only had $18,000 and am earning $18,423.
How did you end up in debt?
I went to my first choice school , Wesleyan University. I'm from a single-income household, and the need to take the loans was always part of my plan.
What was the trigger that prompted you to get out of credit?
I remember watching the people around me move forward with their lives, I felt like I was drowning. I was spending my time mostly crying and frightened. I was applying to jobs, but I wasn't employed. I was only three years out of school and working as a part-time caterer, and 10 hours per every week working as receptionist in the gym.
My friends were on the road and gaining promotions or real jobs, and I was stuck.
[When I was studying about money], I had to put one student loan over six month because I couldn't pay for the loan.
What steps did you take?
Two things I did: I cut everything even remotely feasible in my budget, and began looking for work. I drove a van for an athletic team at the high school. I was a freelance writer for 12 dollars an hour on small blogs and the management of social media for freelancers.
I also got crazy frugal. I would bring home leftovers from my catering business and eat them instead buying groceries for a few weeks.
(Perez had multiple roommates at the time]. My roommates were my best acquaintances, but they all came from very wealthy backgrounds with no debt. People were very supportive My friends would often come to dinner at home instead of requiring me to go out for dinner.
I'm still a bit frugal. I live with my boyfriend and a roommate and do not eat out too often.
>> MORE:
That must have been a hard juggling act.
I worked five different part-time jobs and worked seven days a week. I was absolutely exhausted towards the end, but I was also proud as hell.
Tell me about using the debt avalanche method to pay your loans.
There was one Federal loan with a rate of 6.8 percent; that was my highest interest rate. The focus is on the debt that has the highest interest.It is the debt with the highest interest. I put any extra money toward that and I made the minimum payment on all other debts.
Do you have a change in your income through the years?
Catering as well as the social media tasks I worked on was a per-hour job, so I requested more hours. I also negotiated for raises for my catering and nonprofit jobs, so that helped. I went from $12 an hour as a caterer , to $15.50 in the course of a year. In 2015 [the year she paid off the debt], I earned $32,249.63.
Do you have any suggestions for what you would have changed?
In retrospect, the most important thing I would have done was to invest in my retirement accounts in tandem with paying off the debt. I didn't begin investing until afterwards and that was the time when my money could have grown in the bull market.
What are your current goals?
I work on my company full time. I'm also a great saver. I'd like to accumulate enough in assets to have work be an option. In the last year, I kept 72% of my total income, using a and an .
How to ditch your own debt
Build a budget so you have the ability to pay off debt, but also save for emergencies and tuck aside some to have fun. To accomplish this we recommend the where your expenses are split between wants, needs and savings, as well as debt repayment.
The debt avalanche method that Perez used is a more efficient method of paying off debt since you lower interest rates, however, to get quick wins, you can also consider paying off the smallest amount of debt first.
As Perez states, this is something that can and should be considered in conjunction with debt payoff.

Photo taken by Shane Henderson.



About the writer: Amrita Jayakumar is a former writer at NerdWallet. She was previously employed by The Washington Post and the Miami Herald.







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