SAVING FOR THE FUTURE
My Journey: Overcoming the Treat Yo'self Culture &
BECOMING DEBT-FREE By Justina Solties, Gamma Theta, Director of Communications and Engagement
T H E AN C H OR
27
“Treat Yo’self!” Many of us recognize this famous phrase from the Parks & Recreation episode which revolves around beloved characters Donna and Tom treating themselves to essentially anything they want.
F AL L 2018
While Treat Yo’self Day originated as a fictional storyline, the Treat Yo’self mindset has become part of our society’s reality. The norm in our country’s culture is no longer to save for an item on a wish list. We’re now too dependent on instant gratification, so we purchase the items on credit or take out heaping mounds of student loans to cover the costs. Before this popular catchphrase even existed, I was unknowingly living the Treat Yo’self lifestyle in a way that’s more common than we all may realize. In 2012, one year after my college graduation, I found myself with $82,000 of debt. Of that, $65,000 was student loans, $16,000 was a car that I really couldn’t afford, and $1,000 was past credit card purchases. I ‘treated myself’ throughout my college days and beyond, and those choices caught up to me when it was time to begin repaying my loans. While I had a steady job, money was leaving my bank account faster than it was coming in, and I was living paycheck-to-paycheck trying to make my monthly bills. One afternoon when
I realized my $90 student loan payment was only reducing the principal balance by a few dollars, I hit my breaking point. I refused to accept debt as my reality and made a decision to take ownership of my situation. The first change I made was getting a parttime job to supplement my full-time income. While working seven days a week wasn’t how I envisioned my young adulthood, it was an undeniable factor in being able to achieve my goal of becoming debt-free. As a result, I learned how to truly value my time. The next inevitable change was cutting spending. I was able to immediately reduce my monthly bills by living with roommates, and I adopted a mindset where I kept my purchasing and consumption simple. I also switched to only using cash to pay for purchases, which was much more eye-opening than using a debit card. One of the hardest changes was learning how to resist feeling FOMO (fear of missing out) and saying “no” when activities weren’t in my budget. This lifestyle change helped me become more intentional with my spending. Lastly, I took every opportunity I could to meet my goal. Tax refund? Paid down my debt. Extra paycheck one month? Debt. Payment for helping my neighbor clean their house? Debt. Savings sitting in my lock box from
