Hahna: Awesome. What if your debt level is greater than your income level? How can you effectively minimize that gap?
Melanie: Yeah. I definitely understand that problem because when I started my blog, I was making between $15,000 and $20,000 a year, and at that point, I had $60,000 in debt left. I just thought, “My student loan balance is so much higher than my income. What can I do here?”
Hahna: It's like, how do you dig yourself out of this hole when you're just getting deeper into this hole.
Melanie: Yeah. I had cut back everywhere I could. I share a small studio apartment my partner, which I still do. I don't have a car. I don't have a gym membership or cable. I had pretty much cut back in almost every way possible. Then I sort of realized that I couldn't cut back any more unless I wanted to go on a fast or move back in with my parents, which wasn't really an option for me.
Hahna: [crosstalk 00:31:31] happen.
Melanie: I thought, “Oh, gosh, I'm really at a plateau here with my debt. What can I do?” I realized that my only option was to earn more money. When you're making a low income, earning more, even if it's just 100 bucks a month, 100 bucks a week, it can make such a huge difference on your psychological mindset and also paying off debt. I encourage people with low incomes and high debt balances to rock the side hustle. Yes, unfortunately, it means working more. That means nights, weekends, early mornings. I know how much it can suck, especially when you just want to sleep, but you have to keep your debt freedom in mind and realize that the more you work now, the less you'll have to work later.
I found gigs working events. I worked as a brand ambassador as a side hustle. You see those people at concerts and sporting events handing out free stuff. That was me. That was my main side hustle for 3 or 4 years. It paid roughly $20 an hour, and it's a pretty flexible schedule. That was a good side hustle. I worked a lot of holiday parties. Any time from October to December, there's tons of different holiday parties. I worked as a coat checker. I worked as a caterer. I poured alcohol. I did so many different things. If you have a driver's license and a car, you can be an Uber or a Lift driver. You can be a Postmates food delivery driver or even on your bike you can deliver food on Postmates.
You know, there are so many ways today in the share economy that you can make extra money. It really is just about your mindset. Then also I encourage people to really figure out how they can monetize all of their skills. You know, I didn't really think I was that good of a writer, but I started blogging, and then other people had contacted me about writing, and I thought, “Huh, maybe I can make this into a side hustle,” and then now it's my career.
You know, if people have a low income but they want to grow their income, look at the various different share economy websites to get started now. Then also for more specialized gigs, really look at sort of where your skills lie and then also sort of what are the questions that people are asking you?
Are people always saying, “Oh, you're really good with kids,” or, “You're a really great teacher,” or, “You're really great with pets.” Maybe you can be a babysitter or a pet-sitter or a coach or a consultant or freelance writer or a designer. You know, whatever your skills may be, people will pay for them. It's really just about finding that market and growing that part of it.
My advice is to really grow your income because I know what it's like to have a low income and not be able to cut back any more. Really focus on earning more as much as you can.
Hahna: Awesome. For me, I changed my ringtone to remind myself to hustle, to “Everyday I'm Hustlin',” and so every opportunity I had to make money, or I will say debt, like trying to figure out how to pay off my debt as quickly as possible, has made me more creative.
Melanie: Yes.
Hahna: Now, it's like everything I look at, I see what's an opportunity here to somewhat monetize? It's not all about the money, but this experience has taught me to look at things differently and see how can I take what I already have because I already have what it takes to achieve my goal and in this case, of making more money, I can do this right now with the skill sets that I have, the knowledge that I have, the expertise and experience, and so it's just a matter of, “Okay, how are people currently monetizing this, and how can I do the same?”
Melanie: Exactly.
Hahna: Tell me one thing that you learned from your debt journey.
Melanie: Oh, one thing. I've learned so much in my debt journey. I think one of the things that I've really learned is how much you can accomplish once you set your mind to it. It sounds so cheesy and so cliché, but-
Hahna: It's so true.
Melanie: … when I started my blog and I said, “I'm going to be debt-free within 4 years,” you know, at that time, I was making $12 an hour. There was no way, in actuality, at that moment, that it was possible to me. I had shifted my thinking and shifted what I went after once I had said that out loud. I realized the power of having big audacious goals that seem completely out of reach, and also realized the importance of writing them down and having accountability partners. That was like a huge thing that I realized, sort of going out of your comfort zone of what you think is possible. I think getting out of debt, being a solopreneur, doing your own thing, all of these things require that you get out of your comfort zone. It's so important, and it's scary at first because …