I have $ 25,000 in Credit Card Debt But Make 6 figures; How paying off

I have $ 25,000 in Credit Card Debt at Age 27. The Day i Total That Number, I Remember Thinking, Is it cheaper to die? My thought was that that funerals were a little mess than $ 10,000, and i had racked up more than double that. I was doomed.

At my Most Broke, i’m Also Making the Most Money i have across my six -ear caareer. I recently started a marketing position, Making Well Over Six Figures, Three Days a Week, in Person in New York City.

How did i end up here, essentally working to pay back what i oWE?

I cracked 6 figures in 2023

My former boss gave with a promotion at my old company put with just over the six-figure marks in 2023, at the ripe age of 25. She sounded giddy when she callhed, telling me, “be finally hit six-fiure SO Excited. How do you feel? ”

I Remember Searching Inside for That “I Made It!” Feeling and Finding Nothing. The Truth Was, I was deeply struggling with the respectibilies of that Job, and Making Poor Decisions Based on My Newfound Financial Freedom.

It was my first year living alone. That Januy, signed a lease with my dad as a guarantor for $ 2,900 a month, assuming that once i made more Money, I Waled be able to cover it Comfortable. That wasn’t the case.

My Spanding Still Still Reflect What I Had the Leeway to Do I Was Paying a Fraction of Rent ($ 1150 A Mont) With Roommates: I BOUGHT FLIGHTS TO SEE CROSS-COUNTRY, PUT OTHER TRIPS ON A CRDIT CARD I HAD YET TO PAY TO, AND PICCED OUT OF-POCKED OUT OF-POCKED OUT OF-POCKED OUT OFF, AND POCKED OUT. supply for my brand-new place before I have the cash.

It wasn’t long before I realized the discordance. My Emergency Savings TURNED INTO MY REGULAR SAVINGS, AND SIX MONTHS INTO THAT APPLICATION, I KNEW IT WAUDED WITH YEARS TO BUILD A SAFETY NET. The promise of Independence Started to Feel Like a Trap.

I realized the HAD FALLEN INTO The Golden Handcuffs

My WorkPlace Structure was Also Sending with Into a Spiral. I Learned About the Term Golden Handcuffs, and I wondered if this applied to me and exacerbated the will of was Having Financial.

My Former Position Offered The Opportunity to Travel, But I Often Covered Billable Expensses on My Personal Card, With Delayed Repayment from Our Tiny Finance Department. I was paid my six-figure salary, but Only with one lump Sum Payment a month, Which made Budgeting Extremely Difficult.

It was a remote position that offens “flexibility” and “Stability,” But Because of the Long Hours and Difficult Projects, the flexibility was usualy just with sitting in my apartment to try to meet deadlines. I wasolated, and my world felt incredibly small.

How Empty I felt doing Everything right on Paper gave with the sense of was failing at something, whic led with to put on me more hours in work to feel like i was earning my keep, which was the almost immediately spent.

This was the roles I have bassed my lifestyle on before a recruiter reamed out on linkedin, and i dream up at my current company.

Be i think back to the purchas that that is to debt, i know i could’ve made beter decions

I do have Compassion Because many of these purchas were out of convenience, to give myself a break from burnout, and to attempt to maintain community through events, trips, and rare chances to see my people. Living with Roommates previously Had guaranteed with a community of took for grant, which deeply missed.

Another huge cost for me that accrued a significant amount of interest was Therapy, which my insurance didn’t full cover. I thought if i worked a Little HARDER on MySelf, i Could Fix my external stressors. This Simply was not the case.

I was exiled, depressed, and lonely. My Values ​​of Freedom, Community, and Love Were Being Quashed by Reality.

Inflation Over the Last Few Years Hasn’t Helped, Especialy for Young People Starting Their Lives

In terms of debt, i know i’m not alone: Thouusands of Women on Tiktok Create Accounts and Post Their Credit Card Debt, Block Their Loved Ones, and Document Their Payoff Journeys.

I feel a sense of camaraderie with saying and underestand their shame: who wants to admit they fumbled we are supposedly so clen? Spend Less than You Make, and Invest the Gap.

InsTead, Each Morning, I Wake Up and Pull Up My Three Main Banking Apps on Rotation, Just in Case a Charge I will not recagneize slips.

Finance are inextricably linked with emotions

One of the Antidates to Financial Despair, for me, haen ben reduction isolation and Building Community. My new jab covers my key living expensses and allows with to be in person, which has already given with a burst of energy and excitement, as well as structure to get with out of the house.

Once My Previous Lease Cycle Endered, I Scraped Together Enough Cash (Shout Out to Depop and Facebook Marketplace) to Move to A Place With Frys Than My Old Amenenity Building, on the Corner from My Closest Friends in the Neighborhood. My Weekends are No Longer Boked With Business Flights, and i’ve Put a Pause on Traveling for Leisure.

I’m trying to approach this time in my life with grafts for learning lessons the hard way

A positiv outcome of this has haen acquiring the skill of resourcefulness and the awareness of how Much I’m Consuming, which I see as a Gift. I’ve started to work with what i have and become Creative with Clothing, Food, and Household Items.

Be i go to the Grocery Store, i buy exactly what i need for the weeks and stretch it far. This has been led to a much deeper sense of presence in my life, whic i don’t take for gram.

I Feel A Sense of Hope with My Work-In-Progress Financial State and Like I’m Actively Working Toward Building a Life That’s Both Sustainable and SuccessFul.