This Future Nurse is Living Debt Free- Ep. 14
How to Become a Debt Free Nurse
If you decide to go back to school for nursing, you don’t have to go into debt to do it. Danielle, my guest on episode 14, proves that going to school debt-free is possible. She is a full-time nursing student, wife, and mother of two young girls. Thanks to her and her husband’s motivation to get debt-free, they paid off $73,000 in debt in three years.
Then, Danielle decided to go back to school and pay for her semesters with cash flow and savings. In this article, I share the techniques Danielle used to get debt-free. I also include what she is currently doing to meet her family’s financial goals. For the full scoop and to learn more about Danielle, listen to the full podcast episode.
Ignite Your Fire
For Danielle, a trip back to San Diego in 2015, inspired her to transform her relationship with money. She visited one of her favorite beaches and for the first time noticed the wealth around her. That’s when she realized she didn’t want to have a care in the world. Instead, she wanted to be free to do what she wanted and to do that she had to be debt-free.
She came back from vacation and read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey in a day and a half. Then, applied her new knowledge to create a plan to improve her finances.
Danielle started with Dave Ramsey’s baby step to save $1,000 in an emergency fund.
But for Danielle and her family, $1,000 wasn’t enough. So she was determined to boost their savings before doing anything else.
Double Down on Debt
In the podcast episode, Danielle admits she used to pay the minimum due on her debt. However, when she got serious about paying off debt, things changed. After boosting her savings, she doubled down on debt.
Danielle started with the Debt Snowball method. When you use this method to pay down debt, you focus on paying off the lowest debt balance first. At the same time, you only pay the minimum on your other debt. All extra money in your budget goes towards your smallest debt until it’s paid in full. Then you transfer the money you used to put towards that debt to your next lowest debt.
After paying off some debt, Danielle switched to the Debt Avalanche method. Unlike the Snowball Method, the Avalanche method focuses on tackling the debt with the highest interest rate first. This helps you save money on interest, but it might take longer for you to see results.
Be Flexible When Life Happens
Danielle made a conscious decision to boost her savings as her life changed. For example, when she was pregnant with her first daughter she and her husband stopped paying more than the minimum on their debt and saved until her daughter was born. Then, she switched to a part-time job so she could spend more time with her newborn.
The savings she accumulated she later applied to her debt in one big chunk. Then, her family grew again, this time with her second daughter. With two children, Danielle decided to become a stay at home mom.
From this experience, she learned you can start a family and pay off debt at the same time. You just have to make paying off debt a priority. What’s important is that she adjusted her savings and debt payments based on her work hours and the specific situation at that time.
Danielle set a goal and was very intentional about how she spent her money.
Cash Flow Big Investments
Danielle is currently a full-time nursing student, and she hasn’t taken out any loans. She is in a dual admission program. So, Danielle is studying at a community college but is considered a BSN student. She can take her first 18 months at the two-year college and obtain an RN license later. However, after the community college courses, she can start working as a nurse immediately.
Then she can continue her education at any point, at the university for the BSN portion. This last portion can be done in as few as three semesters, but it’s at her pace.
The best part is her community college classes are affordable ($300 a unit, $9,000 total) and are paid throughout the semester in three easy installments. Danielle is using her current cash flow to pay for school and avoid debt.
Y’all don’t understand how smart Danielle is for getting her degree this way. Some BSN programs cost $80,000 nowadays. Just like Danielle I already had my bachelor's degree when I went to graduate school for nursing. But I was fortunate to get a job in the Bay area where salaries are higher than anywhere else in the country.
However, I know people that are making, like $50,000 a year that have paid over $200,000 for their education, which is really unfortunate. So, you know, I don't take for granted the fact that I work in a place that pays nurses well.
Get On the Same Page As Your Mate
In the podcast episode, Danielle admits she and her husband were on the same page when it came to their financial goals and paying off debt. During their debt-free journey, they made sacrifices, but being on the same page helped things flow a lot smoother.
Danielle recommends if you and your partner are not on the same page you should read a book related to finances and relationships together. Then, take the time to discuss the book and your individual insights on the content. Together, come to an agreement on your goals and journey.
Furthermore, I recommend, don’t let being on a different page financially discourage you from starting your journey toward financial freedom. I mean, it is definitely harder when you have to do it alone. But I think that any progress is better than no progress.
So I would say if you're really committed to paying off debt, and your partner isn't on board, go ahead and get started. Do frequent check-ins with your partner. I like to call these check-ins dream meetings. Share with each other what your ideal life looks like.
Setting goals that inspire and motivate you will encourage others to be more willing to have money conversations and get on board with you.
When my partner and I got together we were in two different places financially. I was paying off a lot of debt. He saw what I was doing and eventually got on board. Then, he started thinking of ways he could do better. Today, he’s surpassed my credit score and increased his net worth like 200%. I couldn’t be more proud.
Blaze your own trail, and let family and friends catch up.
Get in Wealth Building Mode
Danielle is saving for retirement, her kids’ college funds, and paying cash for her nursing degree. In general, Danielle and her family do not live a lavish lifestyle so they can save and pay for her education along the way.
Nevertheless, what Danielle is doing can be replicated. She is a great example of how the habit of paying off debt instills in us great momentum to save and build wealth after that debt is paid off.
If you just take a few of the tips from this article, you too can go from debt payoff mode to wealth building mode. Make sure to enjoy the journey.
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Danielle is a full-time nursing student, wife, and mother to two young girls. Her passion for debt-free living began in 2015, she and her husband have since paid off $73,000 in debt and have a goal to cash flow her way through nursing school.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema McElroy: 02:44 Alright. So, on this episode of Nurses on Fire, we have Danielle joining us. Hey, Danielle.
Danielle: 02:52 Hey, how are you?
Naseema McElroy: 02:53 I'm good, how are you?
Danielle: 02:56 I'm good. I just finished my first nursing exam, so I passed. So, that's great start to my week.
Naseema McElroy: 03:03 That is a great start to nursing school. More power to you girl but I could not go back to nursing school but you know you'll get through it and then you know, the real learning starts when you become a nurse.
Danielle: 03:20 And that's great. Exactly. One day at a time, that's for sure.
Naseema McElroy: 03:23 So, we just jump right into it. But Danielle, can you tell everybody a little bit about yourself?
Danielle: 03:30 Yes. I am originally from San Diego, California, lived there most of my life, did my undergrad there, met my husband there, my now husband there. And then, we moved over into live in the Midwest and we've been here for about seven years. We have two girls, ages three and one and a half. And as I mentioned, I am now in nursing school. So that's an interesting journey that has just started. But we're here and we're settled in and I'm enjoying it so far.
Naseema McElroy: 04:02 That's awesome. Yay. Future nurse in the house. Is there a particular area of nursing that you want to go into?
Danielle: 04:12 Right now? I say NICU and I know that can change. Our youngest daughter was in the NICU for 4 days, although we came to the conclusion that there was nothing physically or anatomically wrong with her. It was an experience that kind of opened my eyes and I think that's where I'm leaning towards right now.
Naseema McElroy: 04:31 Yeah. NICU is a very special place. I really have a special place in my heart for NICU nurses. I can deliver the babies and I can do a little bit of the recovery. But when it comes to dealing with sick babies, you know, I leave that up to those nurses. They do a good job and they have a really big heart and I love my NICU nurses. So yeah, I think that that would be an amazing experience. And NICU nurses are in high demand, so I'm sure you won't have a problem finding the job. So, let's talk about your journey to debt freedom. So you are debt-free now, correct?
Danielle: 05:14 Correct. Yes. We paid off all of our debt and actually it will be a year, next month, October. We paid off all of our debt.
Naseema McElroy: 05:21 And how much debt did you pay off?
Danielle: 05:25 $73,000 was actually the amount we had when we became proactive. But we started out with more and from the beginning, but from when we started documenting it was 73.
Naseema McElroy: 05:37 Wow okay. And what inspired you to pay off your debt?
Danielle: 05:40 Yeah, we've always, you know, paid the minimum, paid the minimum and we weren't, you know, proactive or anything. But we had made a trip back to San Diego in 2015 and I specifically remember paying a visit to one of my favorite beaches. Solano beach, and I just remember looking at all the wealth and not necessarily, you know, I wanted, I didn't feel like I wanted to be wealthy, but I thought to myself, what are these people do for a living? Are these cars paid off that they're driving? And it just made me realize, you know, if I did not want to have a care in the world and do the things I wanted to do, I had to pay off my debt. That's kind of how it started for us. Then we came back to our home after that vacation and read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover in about a day, day and a half, and just knew right then and there we're going to do this.
Naseema McElroy: 06:34 That's awesome. So how did you pay off the debt? Like what, did you do follow the baby steps or what approach did you take to pay off the debt?
Danielle: 06:42 Yeah. Well I know from the beginning Dave Ramsey's baby step number one is the $1,000 of emergency fund and we knew that was not enough. So you know, heightened that quite a bit and made sure that we had a good chunk in our savings account before we started anything else on top of the minimum payments toward our debt. So we sort of did a mixture of Dave Ramsey and our own rules. We started off with the debt snowball to get that gratification of paying off those small amounts first to get that win feeling and then we swapped over to the debt avalanche once we were falling on board and started tackling those high interests debt payments.
Naseema McElroy: 07:26 I like that. I like that strategy. Yeah. I think personal finance is personal and while I love Dave Ramsey's approach to paying off debt and gradual approach to building wealth, there is not really one cookie cutter way that'll work for people. But, I think that it's definitely a good starting point for most people and I also worked the baby steps and that's how I paid off my debt. I actually was okay with a $1,000 emergency fund because it was honestly the most money I've ever had in your savings account. That just like stayed there consistently. So I was like, ah, I can work with that even though my expenses were really, really high. Yeah. Like I said, that's why personal finance is personal because it has to work for what you're comfortable with and I love that. So how many years did it take you to pay off the debt?
Danielle: 08:18 So let's see, we started may of 2015 and paid everything off in October of 2018. So the three years in a couple of months.
Naseema McElroy: 08:29 So over $70,000 in three years. That is incredible. That is incredible.
Danielle: 08:37 Yeah. So during those three and a half, three years and four months, during that time I was working full time and then we had our first daughter and we stopped paying off debt and saved and Leslie and then I switched over to part-time once she was born and we have applied all of that savings towards our debt in one big chunk. And then, after our second daughter was born, I swapped to staying home full time. And, the same thing during that pregnancy we stopped paying over the minimum and applied all of that. That was saved toward those nine and a half months toward all of our debt toward the end. So what did me saying that is starting a family and paying off debt can be done at the same time. It is, you know, even if you lessen your work hours, it can be done. It's a journey and you have to be specific to your situation.
Naseema McElroy: 09:34 Well not despite, but you were able to pay off all this debt in three and a half years and you had a lot of transitions. You had two kids during the time, from working full time to work in part time to transitioning to staying at home. Like a lot of people think that once you're on a journey like this, in order to accomplish it, you have to like grind hard and do all these things and like be super uncomfortable. But really it's just about setting a goal and really being intentional about where your money is going. That makes the difference. And that's what most people just don't do. They just don't take that first step. So you know, it's not linear you guys. You know there are setbacks, you know, you had a sick baby that was in the NICU. There's all these things that can come up in the way. But just because these things happened, tell me that they have to be a deterrent. So I love that you guys persevered and you kept on pushing through it. Another thing that I love that you talk about is during the time when you were pregnant, when you're going through that stage, you actually stop paying above your minimums and you build up your savings. And I think that that's a super important strategy because you kind of never know, especially with childbirth, people always think that, Oh, you know what is child birth is just another thing. But you never know what can happen during childbirth and speaking as a labor and delivery nurse and you know, it can go from a very pleasant situation to a very unfortunate situation in a relatively short amount of time and that can be a heavy financial burden. So just, and I think that, you know, and the labor and delivery world, we have all these kinds of superstitious things that we do, but basically always, if in the event, I mean, when we have everything ready, nothing bad happens. But on those days where we're worn out and we don't cross our T's and dot our I's, everything falls apart. So it's just like you know, and that's why I love to stay ready. And I liked that you guys had that in place and then fortunately you didn't really need to use that money and then you pad that to throw at that debt. So it didn't really set you back. So yeah.
Danielle: 11:46 Right. It did not, you know, instead of ahead, I guess you could say during the, you know, months after giving birth to both of my children and you know, it felt like it gave us a headstart. But really we just applied what we saved up and one lump sum.
Naseema McElroy: 12:02 So now you're going to nursing school and you're committed to going to nursing school debt free, right?
Danielle: 12:10 Yes. Not taking out any student loans. We're done with that. So yeah, the program I'm in is a little different and I realize this pretty unique because the more I talk to people about their programs, they say, what kind of program are you in? So my program is a dual admission program. I am at a community college, but I am considered BSN student. So yeah. So how it works is that you take your first 18 months at the two year college and obtain your, well sit for your boards and then obtain your RN license. You can start working right away and then you can take however many semesters you want off afterward and continue on at the university for their BSN portion. And that it could be done in as little as three semesters is at your own pace. So I don't know exactly what I'm going to do yet, but I mean just to know that that option is there and I'm guaranteed a seat in that BSN program upon graduation is a really good feeling. I don't have to go through that application process again and you know, my seat is there for me. So..
Naseema McElroy: 13:23 That's a pretty awesome program actually. Because you're getting the education, your RN education, community college prices. How much is like your community college there?
Danielle: 13:34 Yeah. So the community college, well I have a bachelor's degree already, so my costs for the community college education was a lot less, but that came to about $9,000 and after digging into it more, I start actually sat with a counselor at the university this week. And to my surprise it's only again $9,000 for the BSN portion. It's a 30-unit program [Naseema says "or the BS community college"] or both. So Separate. So $9,000 for community college? Yes. And then, $9,000 for the BSN portion and it surprised me it's 30 minutes for the BSN at $300 a unit and you can go as slow as you want, as quick as you want. So I don't think it's a bad deal at all.
Naseema McElroy: 14:20 I think that that's an awesome deal. I'm like that's crazy. I mean like of me coming out of my RN program with it was like $180,000 total after I finished all my degrees. But like 110 of that was just for my RN program. So that is a deal and I wish I would have known about a problem like that because of course I had a bachelor's degree too. And my program was similar, right? Like it was the opposite way. So you went to a community college that can't necessarily award the BSN. I went to a graduate school that couldn't just necessarily, that couldn't do a BSN, you can get an MSN, but the RN portion was a self-funded portion because it can be like, it was, I went to a UC, a University of California school. So that part wasn't necessarily covered under like the UC subsidies and all that kind of stuff. So it was considered self-funded program, therefore it did not follow the same tuition guidelines as the master's program. So that one year of the RN portion was, I want to say like $50,000 but because it was full time, had to account for like all your expenses. So just for that one year it was like $80,000.
Danielle: 15:41 Wow. Yeah. And that seems to be the common, you know, amount seems to be the common cost of, you know, BSN programs nowadays. So yeah, a little, little on the high side I'd say.
Naseema McElroy: 15:54 Was it worth it? I beg to differ. But you know, at the end of the day, at the end of the day, I was fortunate to get a job in the Bay Area where our salaries are higher than anywhere else in the country. So that worked out. But I know people that are making like $50,000 a year that had paid over $200,000 for their education, which is really unfortunate. So, you know, I don't take for granted the fact that I work in a place that actually pays nurses really well. So that's cool. So how are you paying for it if you're not taking out any debt?
Danielle: 16:28 We are just saving and right now we even, you know, find things in our house and so, and you'd be surprised how much that can add up. I used to teach online with VIP kid and I applied, you know, my earnings from that. We put that in savings. But mainly we are just, you know, saving whatever we don't put toward, you know, our kids' college fund or you know, savings account, retirement accounts, you know, we kind of set aside for my education. We don't spend lavishly, although now we do treat ourselves a little bit better than we did when we were on our debt-free journey. And thankfully my school does allow us to pay in installments, you know, without any fees attached. So we have opted to do that.
Naseema McElroy: 17:20 That's pretty cool. And I learned that you guys are cashflowing it and, but you guys are kind of used to now basically saving because you have been throwing all this money at your debt and so now it's nothing to shift and throw it out a goal. And I love that that's the habit that paying off debt instills in you that now you build up all this momentum around your debt, pay off and you hit that goal. Now it's like anything is possible financially is now, you know, you can totally use that money towards investing. You know, now you use that moment to building wealth and definitely attaining your education is about building wealth. So I think that is phenomenal. So...and I love that the portion of your BSN you can go back and do because you can easily find a job as an RN. You know there's tons of hospitals that will hire you on. And so, I just recommend when you're going and doing your clinicals and stuff, get really close to those managers on the floor. Go talk to them. Say, what do I need to do to get in here with my RN license if I don't even have my BSN and do those things. And you know, all you have to do is ask. And I really feel like just you coming to them and asking, you know oftentimes is a difference between you getting a job and other people getting a job. It's really about building those relationships because I know it was a very challenging time when I graduated from nursing school and out of our class of 83, only three of us had jobs. And that was because of the relationships that we have built. It was like right before nursing school, I worked in the nursing administration for a hospital and kept those relationships strong, but other people was through networking with their four managers where they were a student nurse and I know that's made a difference even in being a nurse now, like I see some of those nurses students and they come and they talk to the director of the floor and they say, you know, I really want to work here. What are the things that I have to do when I see them, you know, later back working on the unit. And so I loved those full circle moments. But oftentimes people are afraid to put themselves out there and I think it's to, you know, a disservice to them because you know faster to get to work or opportunity costs are on your side, more opportunity. You have to start now building your wealth. Now you're using that income and that power that you have economic power to save and invest more than you've ever been able to do because you went from being on this debt payoff mode to now being in school mode and now you're going to be in wealth building mode. The other thing also is a lot of these hospitals have funding to pay for your nursing, your BSN, so they'll pay the 20 [inaudible] some of them totally pay the cost of your BSN, you might have to pay like the enrollment fees or things like that, but other than that, they'll pay the cost and so your program is really dynamic in the fact that they allow you to go at a JC level, obtain your army and for associates and they didn't take your time with a guaranteed spot in a BSN. I love it.
Danielle: 20:38 Exactly. That's what was so appealing about it, knowing that I didn't feel like I had to rush into it right away and they just told me, you let us know when you want to start your first semester and they have a layout of the order you could take the classes in. There's only seven courses in this BSN level program and I think I can guarantee I'll probably go that route. But it's nice to know I don't have to rush into it.
Naseema McElroy: 21:06 I really love that. And I just love that you guys have gotten debt-free and you're staying debt-free. Let's talk about any challenges that you experienced on your debt elimination journey.
Danielle: 21:18 Yeah, so our biggest challenge was I would say just sticking with it and feeling confident in ourselves. There were be months that would come by where you know, we didn't follow through with our goals and just falling off that wagon of, you know, being on top of things that kind of discouraged us at some point. But you know, we were quick to refocus and get ourselves back on in line and you know, continue on in that straight path. But you know, discouraging moments are sure to come up in a debt-free journey does not mean you're a failure. It just means you've got to reassess and come back together and you know, kind of iron out those wrinkles and figure out what you need to do to ensure that you stay on track. Let me think about a moment, a specific...
Naseema McElroy: 22:09 No, that was good. That was really good because I think that, yeah, I think that that's important to note. Like it's not just linear, it's just not like, Oh, you're on this path and you achieve this goal. There's setbacks, there's things that come up, there's struggles, there's times that you don't hit your goals. And the discouragement is real, I mean like just being in the midst, this feels like you're never going to hit it. And then you know, we share the story like yeah, it only took you three years, but I'm sure when you going through, you were like, this is taking forever. Like I wish I could get from under this. And it's really, it can be very stressful, but at the same time, now you have this incredible journey that you're able to share to encourage other people. So, you know, this is just some hope to spread to other people. Like you can do this, you'll go through setbacks. I mean, during my journey, what I went through an abusive marriage, I went through a divorce. You know, all these life challenges happened, but I still did it. And if I can do it, if Danielle can do it, you can do it. And so, you know, keep the faith.
Danielle: 23:16 Yeah. I always tell Individuals who asked me, how did you get started? I always say it's so important to admit to yourself first that you actually have the debt and that it's not intended to be there. Because once you accept it, it's going to sit there and you're going to be comfortable paying off those minimums and not seeing a debt being made at all. But once you admit to yourself and realize that you know, you can live without this debt and you should live without the debt, your mentality is going to change. Everything's going to re-shift itself. And you'll surprise yourself the amount of effort that you put in to paying off your debt and know that you can actually do it.
Naseema McElroy: 23:56 Right. And that's why the snowball works initially because it gives you like those wins. I saw psychological wins because you know all this stuff, money is like very emotional, right? The way that we spend money is tied to our emotions and paying back money and paying off debt needs to be approached with the same kind of emotions. And so, the debt snowball really works when... Because you see those wins and you're like, I can do this, this is possible. And I got this. We're in and it didn't really take all of that. It wasn't like as scary and as painful as I thought it would be. And I love like you started with the debt snowball but then you got into, you got into the swing of the things, you already got that momentum up and so you were able to transition into the debt avalanche where you focused on your interest rates and higher-balanced debts. So you know, I think that the importance is just getting started and gaining some momentum and then you'll see what you're capable of. Like you guys, you can totally do it. So a question that often comes up is how you and your partner can be on the same page during this journey. How did you guys stay on the same page?
Danielle: 25:08 We both are, I would say we're both very frugal individuals. We don't like to spend, we don't like to travel really. So we were on the same page in that sense. But as far as when I'm going back to traveling, my family lives in California. So that was our biggest struggle is when are we going to go back for vacation? When am I gonna, you know, be able to spend $300, $400 on a ticket and go back home. And during our debt-free journey, we had to make that sacrifice and not send me home every couple months as I had wanted to, but we couldn't. So just coming to the realization that sacrifice, we have to be on the same page when we make sacrifices, you know, as a, I mean, we're married, we're doing this together. So when it impacts the finances at that magnitude, we had to agree. And that was a struggle in the beginning. But once we were on that same page, everything seemed to flow a lot smoother. And I'd say if you're not on the same page with your spouse or your significant other, I would honestly find a book related to finances and relationships and read it together, come together. If you read in individual and discussed, you know your individual insight on the content and see if you can come to an agreement on your specific journey. That's one piece of advice I like to give to people who are not on the same page as the person they're going on a debt-free journey with.
Naseema McElroy: 26:42 Yeah, I think that that's great advice and I also think that you shouldn't let that discourage you from starting the journey. I mean it is definitely harder when you have to do it alone, but I think that any progress is greater than no progress. So I would say if you're really committed to paying off debt and your partner isn't on board, go ahead and get started. But do frequent check ins with your partner and I like to call them my dream meetings. Like, what would the ideal life look like? And then you know, later on being like, Oh, well, you know, if we did X , Y, and Z with our budget, we could actually do that like next year. You know? And you kind of tie those goals to your dreams and then it makes people more willing to have those money conversations and also more willing to get onboard with you financially. I mean like me and my partner for example, came from two totally different. Like we got together after I had paid off all my debt and stuff and he, you know, was still in the midst of a whole lot of financial issues. And so we weren't necessarily on the same page, but he saw what I was doing and you know, it's not like he was like, Oh yeah, I'm going to jump on board 100% but slowly, you know, slowly he was just like, Oh, okay, well these are ways that I can improve and okay, these are ways that you know, I can save and this is what I could be doing to my retirement funding. And like in the course of two years, even though he started off way behind me, he's surpassed my credit score. His net worth has increased like 200% you know, it was just like, you know, people, you know they're watching and hopefully your love has your best interest at heart. And, it's not like they're not on board with you because they're bad people. They just don't necessarily see things like you see them or don't necessarily have the same motivation behind doing things as you want to do. But I say, you know, blaze your home trail and they'll catch up. No worries. It'll happen, you know? But again, don't let that be a deterrent. So you have dropped some gray gems. And I love that advice that you've given. Let's talk about like what are your financial goals are? What is your immediate financial goal besides getting out of school debt-free, what's the next thing that can, what's the next goal that you want to achieve financially?
Danielle: 29:13 So the next goal that I think I am primarily focused on to achieve financially is obviously paying off our house. We have, I guess it would be a long term goal of paying off our house within over that short term goal. Is that five years? I can't remember. So I can't remember which is long term or short term.
Naseema McElroy: 29:32 It's up to you to define them.
Danielle: 29:35 All right. Okay. The next goal that we would like to achieve is actually paying off our house. We have been in this house for a little over a year. We actually have moved here last August and our goal is to pay it off within the next five to six years. So that is, you know, contingent upon me graduating nursing school and landing a good paying job and we fully intend on not using that anticipated income for anything else except for putting toward the house to pay it off. So, I think it's actually pretty doable that pay rate for nurses here and how much our current mortgage is. Seems like we could get that done within five to six years. So that is one of our biggest goals that we're focusing on right now.
Naseema McElroy: 30:29 Yeah, I think that's pretty incredible because owning the place where you live brings a whole lot of peace of mind for some people. And I know that there's this debate in the community, you know, paying off your house versus investing. And I feel like you can go either way, but at the end of the day, like I said, personal finance is personal and it's good, it brings you peace of mind. So I think that, that's a great goal. And yeah, I would call that definitely a short term goal. Yeah. It's like paying off a house. 'Cause if you think like you guys just owned the house for a year, so that's like within seven years of owning a house, you're going to pay it off versus the traditional 30 plus years. Cause most people refinance their loans in the 30 years. That's an awesome goal to have. And yes, very short term. I know we talked a little bi of, well actually we didn't talk about investing. So during your debt payoff journey, did you guys invest at all? Because you know Dave Ramsey, once you're in debt payoff loans, it's not right investing?
Danielle: 31:27 Yes. And you know, we can always talk about how debt-free journey is specific and it's not cookie cutter. And so we still contributed to our retirement accounts while we were employed, although I'm not employed right now, but that's one thing that we did not do away with and that worked for us. So we always put in toward our retirement accounts and had the employer match. [Naseema says "so you funded your retirement up to the match."] Yeah. Yes, that's right.
Naseema McElroy: 32:07 What are you guys doing right now as far as investing? Are you just focused on saving and paying off?
Danielle: 32:12 Yeah, so we're focused on saving now and my husband still contributes to his retirement account and he also, you know, does stocks, which I have no knowledge of, so I can't speak to that. But he has some money in some stocks out there. But yeah, I think once I get employed I will be jumping right back into the swing of things and contributing to my retirement accounts as well.
Naseema McElroy: 32:35 I think that that's good, but you guys are gonna be so set. Like I said, you have been used to paying down debt, paying for your education. And so imagine even if it was just like that $9,000 that you put a year towards your investing, like how fast your path would be towards financial independence I think is so beautiful. So on top of all the other advice you've given so far, what other advice would you have for people who are like really looking for a way to turn their finances around and to not feel like they have to live with limitations? I know we talked about you wanting to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. If I have to say, like being basically wanting to have a limitless living experience. So what advice do you have for people who aspire to live limitlessly?
Danielle: 33:38 I would say first reach out to people who you know, would not mind hearing your frustrations, how to get started. Because honestly, when people ask me questions, I am more than willing to share, but I only share it if they ask, you know, I'll post on social media and everything like that. But, if it's a personal individual that I know personally, you know, I would hope that they could trust that I would give them advice if they ask. So seek out people who you feel that would give you advice how to help you get started. There's blogs out there, there's podcasts such as this one.
Naseema McElroy: 34:15 It's just expand your circle of influence, right? It's just like make sure the people that you're surrounding yourself with are people that you aspire to. If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room, right? You should continuously be learning. You should continuously be growing. Stay off of social media for gossip and start getting on there for inspiration. I have a Facebook group where you know, you can come in, it's totally free, you come in, you can ask a question and you'll get my opinion and you'll get other people's opinion and you know, just take action. And I think that that's super important. So I love that you share that, you know, reach out, just ask the questions. Don't feel intimidated. Just ask. And you never know how far you can come by just asking. Good question. So yeah, that was a great response. And Danielle, to wrap things up, if people want to follow you on social media, how can they do that?
Danielle: 35:15 Yeah, I am on Instagram and my handle is onward.to.RN, my own words. I'm, you know, on my way to getting my nursing degree and I don't plan to change it, you know, even after the fact. So that's the reason. Find me. I post inspirational messages and finance related stuff, nursing related stuff. So yeah, that's where you can find me on Instagram. I'm not active on any other sites. So...
Naseema McElroy: 35:40 Make sure you follow Danielle at onwards.to.RN on Instagram. And Danielle, it has been a pleasure speaking with you. I am wishing you the best and get into nursing school and girl, just get through it. Don't worry about it. You'll do it. And...
Danielle: 36:01 I believe in myself. Thank you.
Naseema McElroy: 36:03 I cannot wait to have you as a nursing colleague and I know that you will be a phenomenal nurse and you will pour into those babies just like they need.
Danielle: 36:14 I appreciate that so much Naseema, thank you. It's been an honor to be here and share my story with you guys. So thank you.
Naseema McElroy: 36:21 And I'm looking forward to just going along with you on this journey. So thank you so much for coming on.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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