It’s Possible to Budget Your Way Out of Debt

It’s 2019.

I’ve just moved my entire life clear across the country. I didn’t have any job prospects. I didn’t even have an apartment to call my own. Juxtapose that against the fact that I was a fresh university grad who had just traveled to more places in that year than my entire life combined.

It was my best, worst year ever.

I share that context to illustrate just how complex life was at the time. So much can be going right in your life, but one string of misfortune can start to send you down a path of destruction. For me, that manifested through my finances.

I was told throughout my life that debt was bad. I was taught to guard that sacred credit score with my life because that was the key to accessing many of the privileges afforded to adults. And in many ways that is true.

• If you commit the cardinal sin of tarnishing your credit, it will impact where you can live, regardless of your income.
• It will impact your ability to obtain a vehicle to help you generate income.
• In some cases, it will even impact your ability to be employed by firms that look at credit to judge your level of responsibility.

Armed with all of that knowledge, I still found myself in a precarious situation financially…