I've set up a Discord! It's just the beginning and I'm new to it so lmk if you have any suggestions OR would like to be an Admin or Moderator! discord.gg/5k67RpC

I called to pay the final $6000 of my student loan off today!!!!! They are withdrawing from my account end of this month and it feels so freaking freeing Thank you aja for encouraging me to take this path

1. Paying off debt is hard. 2. Find your support system 3. Your budget. YOUR CHOICE! 4. Your journey will impact those in your life 5. There is no right way to pay off debt! 6. Say bye to haters 👋🏼👋🏼 7. Confidence will SKYROCKET - when your debt is paid off 🚀🚀

My debt payoff journey inspired my parents, and they’ve finally been able to pay off their credit cards and are heading to the bank today to pay off their car in a big lump sum! It’s been so rewarding to watch them get excited and motivated about the process, especially after getting used to carrying debt (and making never ending minimum payments!) for so many years

Culturally, it's like we are allergic the to idea of celebrating someone else's financial success - to our own detriment. More of us need to be discussing our financial health and goals openly. No one person's situation will mirror another's. So we need to exercise our emotional muscles to be HAPPY for each other. Plus, YOU ADVOCATE FOR DONATING TO OTHER CAUSES! What is there not to celebrate in that? Because you are debt free, you can give more charitably. That is worth celebrating.

My partner and I reached our Emergency Fund this month! Now time to chip away at a mortgage.... This is going to be a true marathon. Wish us luck.

I paid off my student loan debt in exactly one year of getting my first job🥰🙏🏾 I am forever grateful!

I just paid off my car, my next goal is to get rid of my student loans

I finished paying off all my debt earlier this year. I had been working 2 jobs in my quest to attain debt freedom. After finally paying off all my debt I realized that I no longer needed to work 2 jobs. So I quit the job that I liked the least and went with the other job even though it paid less. Being debt free gave me the option to walk away from a job I did not like because I no longer needed the money to pay off old debts.

I've paid off my debt last month and I'm really happy to start saving☺️

Aja I have great news to share I paid off all of my student loans on Friday, July 17th, 2020. Your videos were very encouraging throughout my journey.

I just paid off all my debt!! All $99736.37 of it! Ive never slept so well in a long time. Thank you for being such an inspiration and a support during my journey ❤️. You're a blessing!

Ever since discovering Dave Ramsey last year, I've been aggressively tackling my student debt and am soooooooo excited that I'm about 3months away from FREEDOM! Honestly, when I've felt down, I would watch your videos which helped me stay motivated :) You're awesome Aja.

My parents got $80,000 loan to built three storey house that I will have to pay. Dont know if we can even afford my masters degree. What scares me isnt the debt, it is how unplanned and carefree my parents are. They dont have any plans to pay it off.

Started with 90K and now I’m at 40K. It’s been a difficult and frustrating 3 years so far and hopefully just 2 more years to go. I cannot wait until the days when I no longer think about student loans!

I absolutely love the tip about people shaming certain things in budgets, or letting people feel ALLOWED to live their life. I seriously love that Ramit Sethi emphasizes this too!

The hard part of getting good with your relationship with money is the loneliness that comes with it

I was unemployed for a year when I made a move across several states to be with my fiancé. I racked up more than $14,000 in debt just trying to live ($550 in truck payment/insurance and $600 a month for Cobra insurance). A few months ago, I finally began following the Budget Mom's system strictly (I had tried several times before and given up). I'm finally IN IT TO WIN IT, and I'm down to $11,500 since the beginning of May. Chopping away at it slowly but surely. My husband doesn't understand, so sometimes it's hard to feel excited about the small wins. I'm glad I found your channel.

I just paid off one of my credit cards 2 days ago! Working on the others 🙌🏽 love how much you’ve inspired me to take control of my debt. Keep spreading your story and knowledge.

I paid off over $240K in 27 months. It feels amazing. I started sharing my experience to help and motivate other people but I don't think people around me are comfortable with me sharing. They are taking it as though I am showing off Instead of people being happy or using it as motivation. They act differently and don't seem to like it. I feel amazing to be finally debt free. And everything you said in this video is 100% true.

People always throw getting coffee in my face. Whenever I say I can’t do something because I didn’t budget for it, people would say “but you get coffee all the time”. I was like umm that’s the point I budgeted for the coffee not the new coat or going to a restaurant etc. I just stop telling people the details. Some people even doubted I was paying off debt because I would get coffee.

I can’t reply to everyone but congrats to all the commenters paying off debts and making moves 🎉🎉🎉

I tackled my different debts through the debt snowball method (credit card, car, student loans). When I got to my student loans (my last debt), I took the avalanche approach to tackle the largest interest loan to the smallest interest loan. I liked my blended approach. I became debt-free in June 🎉

I am on a roll as I am proceeding with paying off all my debt. I paid off 3 so far, I will pay off number 4 and 5 by the end of this year....that's a total $8,000. And then I will tackle my car debt and my biggest student loan debt. And yes I agree with you Aja, people are normally saying rude things to you because they are jealous! #facts

Love seeing everyone’s accomplishments. So far I have paid off two credit cards, and we are chipping away at my student loan. I already feel so much better to have started the journey.

Always awesome advice ❤️ I paid off my car (~$22k) in 23 months because I made it a financial priority and now I’m tackling the rest of my student loan debt (~$4.5k) and am paying it off this month. I found your channel while YT surfing and am so glad I did because it’s been the best accompaniment during this journey. Thank you for being you!

I will be paying off my last credit card this month. I was in $36,000 credit card debt I can’t believe it. So much interest was eating me alive. But not anymore. Now on to my student loans I’m actually excited to start paying them. They’ve been with me for years like Dave Ramsey says it’s time to give Sallie May her “eviction notice” Aja you have really encouraged me to keep going thank you so freaking much. Not sure if you will see this comment but thank you sis. Lol much love so happy for you for tackling your debt.

I will be paying off my debt this year 😀 I have less than $4000 on my car and then I'm going to tackle my school loans. Although this year has been insane I can see my finances coming together and in a way makes me appreciate the crazy year it has been so far.

Having community is a game and life saver and the online YT community is great. Unless it’s your significant other or confidant, no one wants to hear your money problems/debt free journey regularly. Your decisions get critiqued a lot and that can turn relationships sour. So, support and being supported by others who are doing what you are doing (aka becoming debt free) makes you feel less crazy and adds confidence that you can actually do it.

I finally paid off my huge student loan after 3 years of hard work. It was really emotionally & physically taxing. Your videos always kept me inspired & looking ahead during that time. Thanks for sharing your journey Aja!

What I've learned is that simply being debt free is not enough to feel financially free. Having savings (way more than $1000) is so much more important to feeling financially secure. It's only now that I have significant savings, even though I still have $8000 debt that I feel secure.

Last month i paid off my debt, and bought an expensive flat for myself to reward myself. Just wanted to share this as this video inspired me. Let's celebrate ladies 🍷

I just paid off my last debt payment last week. The journey was definitely hard and I felt the slog at times but so worth it. I'm looking forward to having a nice, hefty emergency fund next!

Last quarter I paid off a $2000 loan while still in school! Now I have $4500 in debt, and Im halfway through my undergrad degree. This weekend I found out that my school gave me grants to cover almost half of my tuition for next year, so I shouldn't have to take out much more loans next year at all. I'm hoping to graduate with less than $10,000 in debt so that I can pay it off quickly! Also this channel inspired me to start my own finance video, because I feel like people only talk about their debt after the fact, and not during school. I currently only have 44 subscribers but I LOVE making videos, and can't wait to keep making more.

I make far less than you and I still made room in BS2 budget for live music. Nothing crazy like front row Beyonce, but smaller bands at smaller venues. It kept me sane. Paying down debt is hard and depressing and you need a little something in your life to bring happiness in or you will want to quit. I was always so impressed by how hard you worked to increase your income. It’s not as though your career field changed, but you definitely hussled much harder.

i worked a year internship during my college degree and saved up enough to pay off my student loans!!! i'm gonna be paying it off at the end of august (we've been given interest relief because of covid) and i am SO excited to be DEBT FREE

You inspire me to pay off my debt. I just paid off my $2,000.00 credit card. Now I am working on my student loan debt and save for a house.

After being laid off while 3 months pregnant with my 2nd, I spent over a yr trying to get a job with the public sector. Started my Masters with two under 2 while hubs worked all the time and I took a night shift. Finally paid off, got the job I wanted and we have both increased our incomes A LOT. Paying off a consolidation loan 4 years early! You’re channel among many more have REALLY REALLY helped us.

This is what I needed to hear. It’s OKAY to budget for anything that will keep you sane and motivated to keep going. I’ve pushed off finally tackling $50k of student debt for too long. Just accepted a new position at work with a $10k bonus. I can do this!

Reg TiP #1 !!< IT IS HARD>!!! BUT the outcome is so rewarding. Im working on paying of 40k, im halfway there and its already more of a motivation. I dont have support system, i wish i did. I just know that i rather work my A$$ off the next 3 yrs than live the rest of my life just paying interest. Keep in mind A lot of people are not supportive, they expect you to continue bad habits. Be strong and keep ur focus on the goal. Good luck.. much health to everyone

I just paid off all of my student loans and honestly, I thought the feeling was going to be like super exciting however, I don't feel that excited. Maybe because I still have 6,000 to pay off for my car? Debt sucks...

I’m so glad KZfaq suggested your channel to me a second time because your budget content suited my life then! Re: your budget priorities are your own, maintaining your health on your financial journey, customizing your budget and savings to your situation, and the bird to naysayers; Amen! Amen! My husband of 9 mos and I have had to do just that. He’s more of the breadwinner so he’s handling paying off our joint debt as I focus on building our savings fund (and my personal sinking funds) in the meantime w my part time hustle (I’m an independent contractor too)! Thankfully I’ve resplit my work week and my part time gig is picking up again! I know it’s a long road, esp w us looking at houses to purchase, but I’m already feeling more security and financial freedom having 1 mo of our 6 mos emergency fund almost paid off. Like you, a 1K beginning ER Fund doesn’t jive w me, esp w 2 dogs, a husband who works in a sometimes financially volatile environment, and me being an independent contractor. I’m excited each week I transfer money to savings. To security and freedom!

$42k left to pay off! about 1/3 done

Aja!!!!! Thank you for great videos. I have saved 2k for a house this year so far!

I have enough saved up to pay off the balance of my student loan which I will do when the CARES act forbearance ends. It will be the end of my very long 100k debt free journey. So excited! Thanks for all your support and wisdom Aja!

Paid off and got control of my credit card debt this year! Still working on my student loan debt but Watching your journey has encouraged me.

This video today got me started on re-watching all of your financial videos from your playlist. And while I did watch every single one of those videos back when they were posted I freaking LOVE re-watching them right now so much. So incredible to see how far you have come! Love from Germany!

Agree- yes financially it makes sense to pay off debt with highest interest rate, but paying off the little smaller debt keeps you motivated and keeps you going to pay ALL of it off. Little wins make a huge difference! :)

I'm so glad you are talking about this!! it is so important to be debt free! I am on my journey and I can't wait to be debt free!

i subbed to your channel a little while ago but only binge watched your budget vids recently. 1 budget spreadsheet and financial plan later, i plan on paying off my student loans by the end of this year! if i had kept putting off watching your videos or had never discovered your channel in the first place, i definitely would've let my loans sit there while making minimum payments for the next several years. you inspired me, like many other people, to start taking control of my finances and aggressively pay off my loans, so thank you!

You are so beautiful and thank you for these tips! I’ve been trying to seriously pay off debt and it can be emotionally and physically draining FOR SURE. I will sometimes work 20 hours of overtime and then it feels like it’s being “wasted” because it just goes to a loan. But I like watching the numbers go down and knowing how much progress has been made is encouraging. Also tweaking the baby steps is very necessary. I want zero debt before purchasing a house but I don’t want to go on a savings journey after taking years to pay off debt so I’m doing both at the same time. It may seem counter productive but it makes me feel better to know that once the debt is paid off I’ll also have savings and a great credit score.

Yes to the adjust , I use Dave as well but over my 1000 I took time to get 1 month ahead of bills so I was always 1 month ahead on the main bills ... I am self employed and a single mom so I needed more to keep myself comfortable during the journey!

I've been working on my debt-free journey and it really was you and your first video about your debt and how much you had that really inspired me to try and pay it off, and not just have it in my life forever. Love your videos and thank you so much for all your inspiration. I've paid off 3 loans so far and am still kind of in shock. I've also been saving a lot during this whole pandemic, and I am someone who has multiple savings accounts for different things. I have so many goals that if I had all my savings in one account, I would never be able to track the progress of each one and would probably just end up spending it on something else

I started paying off student loan debt this year. I moved 16K from savings and paid off 5 loans!! Then covid hit and I stopped diverting money from pay periods so I could save more. 130k left 😣 and idkkk when I’ll start my debt repayment plan again. I’m frustrated that I had a plan and momentum but had to pause it. Hopefully soon I can put the money I’m saving in the meantime towards my loans!!!!

#7 is soooo spot on. I’ve only started my debt free journey last year but I’m always looking for opportunities to share my extensive budget spreadsheets and repayment plan to nobody who was even asking. But honestly, it makes me feel so adult and confident that I can smash these loans in the not too distant future

I appreciate you so much! I started paying off my debt slowly in 2018 while sitting at my reception desk, listening to the news. I decided then that I needed financial freedom to truly find a job I can happily do at a lower salary. Coincidentally, you started posted about your financial journey as well! I couldn't compare my amount of debt to yours, ever ( I am so proud and in awe of your journey and what you accomplished) but I listened and watched ALL of your financial videos to keep my motivated. I am now aiming to be DEBT FREE by summer of 2021. I can't wait for that moment and I want to thank you for all of you videos. You are so raw and true and real. If you EVER come to New York, I would LOVE to grab a coffee with you and chat about LIFE! Stay safe, Aja!

I finally took the time to make a budget spreadsheet. It has really helped me track where my money goes!

Hi Aja! I love your videos, my husband and I recently started our FIRE journey! We sold our expensive car and got a more affordable car, dropped our payment by almost half! We then paid off our smallest credit card and 80% of the second CC. We are down to one last CC, the biggest one, and we feel great. It was tough at the beginning, getting on the same page, but now I feel we are closer than ever. Thanks for talking about money and finances! I look forward to your videos 😊🥳💪🏽

I love that you're talking about this! Financial freedom can be such an exhausting journey, and you are never alone in feeling that way!!

I just wanted to say that your videos have inspired me so much and I just became credit card debt free! I'm in the process of tackling my students loans (6k left) next and have set a goal to have it paid off by the end of the year. Thank you so much for being so open and honest with us about your journey!

Your video was just what I needed tonight. I've been on my debt free journey since 2018 and it's been rough! Since Covid my payments to my debt have been smaller and I've thrown into the equation saving for a house deposit but watching this has got me geared up to step up my hard work another notch. Thanks so much Aja! ❤️ X

Your debt-free journey has helped and inspired me so much! I started paying off my debt this past January and I am well on my way! Doing what I can to reduce the overall time of paying off this loan. Thank you, Aja! 💓

Paying off my student debt came with regrets but it’s all part of life! I knew I could have graduated with less debt but it is what is. Celebrating 1 year of being student debt free in September! 😊

I paid off my car earlier this year! Next I’m trying to tackle my credit card debts I’ve accumulated after an emergency eye surgery I had a few years ago. But luckily the pandemic has been making it easier to make more aggressive payments towards it. Thanks for creating this little financial community! Love hearing what you have to say and your debt free journey is so inspirational!

I have been watching you on your journey since the beginning and I was in high school at the time. You inspire me to be more conscious about money and debt. Thanks Aja! I have avoided debt in college and have $1000 in savings which is a huge blessing.

So when I started to budget to be debt free - I was told “we will all die with some debt, don’t stress out about it, don’t do it.” It’s not just about paying debt, it is not being a slave to the lender. Gradually seeing it disappear has been -a weight off-, the income you make is your power to help yourself. You have helped my mind set - that that last pay off phone call is nearer than I think if I power through.

Allocting in your budget a way to treat yourself is so important. It's such a hard journey that taking care of yourself in small ways will help you stay sane. A beauty treatment or coffee is not a waste when it's the one time you spend money on yourself to recharge.

I've realized that sometimes people forget that, even if you are making $100,000 a year, that doesn't mean that you have $100,000 to spend in a month, so expecting someone with a higher income than you to just be debt free right away isn't realistic! Its so easy to say what you don't like about what someone else is doing, but actually taking the steps in your own life to change your own personal situation is so much harder, and the people who are bringing down other people often aren't even doing the things they expect others to do.

Ive paid off my 3 lowest balance credit cards. I still have a long way to go but that in itself has been freedom! It has given me confidence and has inspired me to keep going. Student loans next!

I’m almost done with my car loan. My student loans, one credit card, phone have been paid off. But I had to move back home to pay off all my debts and I’m trying to find another side hustle to work on financial freedom. Thank you for your great debt free journey videos!

I have to agree with we have different priorities in everyone's budget and yes I take paying my credit cards lowest to bigger card I only left with 2 now 😊

I feel like you’re my big sister that I’m going to for financial advice, you are such a role model

I learn so much from you about managing finances. Thank you for creating these videos. I was able to pay off my college debt a year ago in full. So so grateful!

Congratulations on all of yours and everyone's hard work towards financial freedom!!! Thank you for sharing✌💛☺

Paid off 6000 in cc debt since March 2020. I do feel proud of that and relieved, though it was only for a moment bc I have about 8500 left of cc debt to go. And then I will have to tackle my student loan of about 15,000 as my final stretch. Thank you for being an inspiration to us all! Love you sm

With this virus happening, I started putting more cash in my savings because I was just scared of something bad happening. I have some cash saved now and I feel happy. Now I’m comfortable and confident enough to keep paying off debt

Thank you dropping all of the financial knowledge, Aja! You look gorgeous with long hair, giving us major 70’s middle part, L.A. beach goddess vibes ✨

Yes yes yes!!!! Discord is such a great idea!! Would love to connect with the community toooooo. More than halfway with my debt free journey and IM SUPER DUPER GRATEFUL TO YOU AND THIS CHANNEL! 😭😭😭

Thank you for this! I dont know you and I'm so proud of you! I started this journey at the beginning of this year. I'm a single mama, working on passing my nursing boards to make some good money, working a side hustle and trying to keep sane.😳 I've been hitting a road block in confidence....it REALLY is hard and overwhelming. But knowing others are in the same boat with me and trying hard too gives me that little boost to keep going ❤ I cant wait to be debt free and have financial freedom🙌💰🤑

You're an angel for posting this. Finishing off paying some debt and this was so helpful!!

I just finished grad school last month and will be in the same boat as you aka 6 figures of student loan debt 😭 your videos give me some hope that no matter what, I’ll be able to push through this journey I’m about to take on! (Internally yelling at myself that I WILL NOT LET THE DEBT TAKE AWAY FROM MY SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT) can’t thank you enough for these videos Aja!!!

First video I’ve seen from your channel and so far feeling empowered! Thank you for sharing! More power to you and your videos!

Thank you for this! I'm also making Dave Ramsey's baby steps work with my lifestyle. And as a mother I realized that cutting out family vacations and outings wasn't fair or necessary during this journey. It's important that we make paying off our debt an exciting and rewarding time instead of a stressful and depressing one. Thanks for sharing!

I love this video soooo much. Thank you for being so open about your financial journey!! I just got my first paycheck from my postdoc position today and this video made me so motivated to budget my money well.

My bf made a comment like that when he overheard one of your videos while I was watching it and I defended you girl!! 🧡

Thank you fo sharing this.

Thank you for your honesty and for talking about your financials so openly. It's made me less scared of taking control over my finances.

I saved up my Emergency fund and I recently paid up my credit card!!! Now working on the other debt. Debt is so dumb. But the more I pay off, the ghetto and more free I feel! Thank you so much for inspiring me Aja

The 7th point you mentioned is so true. Being able to manage your money is such a boss move! I guess it is sth about having control & rationality over an emotional topic like money. Before budgeting, I always feared to look at my bank account and money was always sth I only wanna spend & not deal with. I'm so glad, how that completely changed now. A baggage less to carry :)

Thanks for the video, I spent a whole year paying down debt and focusing mainly on that goal. It was difficult watching others, travel, shop, eat at restaurants. Almost debt free and I can almost taste the freedom.

Just realized in this video you answered my curiosity about saving accounts.. Thanks Aja.. Watching your videos about debt free inspired me to start to pay off my credit cards debt..

Since watching this video 4 months ago I have paid off 6 debts! These were medical debts and were the smallest. Thank you for inspiring me to keep pushing and not listening to the haters.

Hey Aja! I've been following for years now and I just want to say keep up the good work. You inspire me as a creative, money conscious, animal loving, Asian woman. As a Chinese girl in my twenties I think that's so important to embrace our Asian culture. I will watch every one of your new videos and listen to all your podcast episodes. In your recent episode With Shana, I was really disappointed in the misinformation regarding COVID. As a doctor to be I would expect such a fantastic platform to be more careful with the information you share. I am commenting here because I want you to know I will continue to support your work, but I hope you can deeply evaluate your podcast guests before you broadcast the episodes. I have the utmost respect for you but I hope you be careful with the people you invite. You've been doing so well on all these platforms and I hope your work can continue to be positive, scientific-evidence based, and heartwarming (every video always makes my day). Thank you and sending lots of good luck. Stay safe! Xx

I can’t believe people would criticize someone for making a lot of money and not paying off their debt when they believe that person should have. Paying off debt is a struggle for everyone who has developed bad spending habits and is learning how to change that. Change in general is hard!!! I just paid off my car and have for more debts to pay off and it’s been difficult to dump large amounts of money towards what it feels like nothing, since you’re not getting anything in return (you got something in the past but you don’t really think about that). Thank you Asia for all your inspiration!!

These were very good thanks for sharing

Thank you for the middle fingers. The honesty, it all. I genuinely appreciate it. Because it is ROUGH but people always think what they want.

I came and watched this video again. Since watching the 1st time I have paid off 5 of my debts in 1 month. I'm following Dave Ramsey too and this is happening so fast. Thank you for posting this video. It's helping me stay encouraged.

Giirrrrlllll, I love how raw and real you are. The fact that people DID COMMENT that your income was high in spite of being in debt is proof that they are JEALOUS like you mentioned. People type-cast EVERYTHING. I follow you because I feel like I know you and never hold back on nothing which give me power and inspiration to keep pushing with paying off my debt

Glad you did this video. One size doesn’t fit all is true for paying down debt. First step is to admit you have debt problem which you bravely did in front of all of us. Next, I agree that pick carefully what you would cut back and what to keep. Each person is different. Saying cut everything isn’t for most people. We all need a little bit of something to keep us sane. I suspect also it is also part of identity because it isn’t the mere act of buying it but also the interactions and the environment that make us feel a little better about ourselves. For me it’s eating good food. When things got rough, I ate out a lot less at fancy restaurant but still ate hole in wall places. It was during these times that I would catch up with my friend and also get out of the house. I don’t really spend $$$ cars, gambling, clothes, haircuts. The point being is a spend a little like $7 to just hangout with friend sacrificing other items that are not critical in my current situation. The human mind is a powerful incredible machine that made so many incredible memories invention. Yet is also really really stupid like things like debt. We have to hack our mind to get things moving. Each of us need to find the right hack to make it work. It doesn’t matter what works for other people if it doesn’t work on you. Just keep trying to find the right hack and know that it may take awhile. The time to find the right hack is not a sign of failure on you but more a reflection of how incredible and magnificent your mind is. Keep on it and you’ll find your hack