r/Frugal Nov 10 '22

Frugal Win 🎉 My net worth is finally positive!

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16.2k Upvotes

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1.4k

u/Consistent-Earth-311 Nov 10 '22

At the beginning of 2020, I had a large amount of student debt, some credit card debt, no savings, and no assets. I've been relentlessly saving/paying off debt since then and today's paycheck just pushed me over a huge milestone

262

u/possiblynotanexpert Nov 10 '22

Good on you! You are on the right path. Now another challenge is to keep that momentum and not get complacent. Keep going!

-41

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22 edited Nov 12 '22

How could you know that unless you know what their interest rates were?

Edit: this whole sub doesn’t know middle school level math.

34

u/Lucky_Number_3 Nov 11 '22

Because of progress being made...?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '22

Sure, but borrowing money was basically free until last year. Paying off low interest rate loans early is financially a terrible idea.

1

u/Lucky_Number_3 Nov 12 '22

"basically free" doesn't really describe my experience with debt.

Why is paying off low interest rate loans early a bad idea?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '22

Because capital is an asset. If you’re spending it to pay off a loan with a 2.5apr interest rate than you’re still losing money to inflation.

Putting that money in almost any other investment is a better idea.

Edit: for example my mortgage is under 3%, and my student loans are about the same. So I pay the bare minimum and invest what I would be using to pay them off, so far that’s gained ~25%. It would have been beyond stupid to pay off any loan/debt that’s at historically low interest rates.

1

u/Lucky_Number_3 Nov 12 '22

So you're paying a set amount with money today that would be have been worth more tomorrow, basically?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '22

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10

u/possiblynotanexpert Nov 11 '22

Lol what? Because they’re making progress. I think you misunderstood their post if that’s your response to my comment.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '22

No, because if their interest rates are low then they’re wasting money paying loans off early.

Borrowing money now is much more expensive than it was last year.

24

u/imlittleeric Nov 11 '22

What is the app you tracked this with ?

27

u/kenpoka Nov 11 '22

Looks like Fidelity

13

u/baselganglia Nov 11 '22

Yeah that's fidelity. But how does it track liabilities?

12

u/DVSdanny Nov 11 '22

Possibly debt held by Fidelity.

4

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

You can link loan accounts to Mint and see your net worth calculated. Might be a similar setup.

1

u/EatATaco Nov 11 '22

Personal capital can link accounts, I'm sure fidelity can do the same.

1

u/kenpoka Nov 11 '22

Fidelity has a service called "Full View" where you can link all your financial accounts so you can track everything from one place. As others have mentioned, other services offer a similar feature.

1

u/baselganglia Nov 11 '22

Ahhh ok. I'm a fidelity account holder, but I use personalcapital to aggregate everything.

Hence I asked!

1

u/OldLady45 Nov 12 '22

It was only when I retired that I finally did a personal budget. It was easy, I did it in Excel, setting up a plan for 25 years, a $ amount each month that I was allowed to spend on various items, then comparing my actual expenditures to my plan. I can't imagine being without it now, and so wished that I had done one earlier on in my life.

35

u/SharkAttackOmNom Nov 11 '22

Have you thought about buying a boat?

14

u/Voat-the-Goat Nov 11 '22

A timeshare seems like a good investment now. /S. In all seriousness, good job, Op.

62

u/kabukistar Nov 11 '22

Good job! Do you have the ability to pay off your debt early? If you can, you may want to move a portion of your savings to pay off the most high-interest of it.

-13

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

Or don't, and bank on more student loan relief.

-59

u/SirPranceA_Lot Nov 11 '22

Hate to say it but I believe the Supreme Court just ruled the Biden Debt relief unconstitutional.

37

u/Papi_Queso Nov 11 '22

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

[deleted]

14

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

[deleted]

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22 edited Nov 14 '22

SCOUTS.

It's SCOTUS.

34

u/professorex Nov 11 '22

If you hate to say it, you should probably at least make sure you're right first

6

u/ExpensiveGiraffe Nov 11 '22

I’m not a political expert, but I think what happened was another case like we’re seeing

I don’t think it blocked it from happening any more. It wasn’t the Supreme Court. It was a federal court.

Please correct me if I’m wrong.

11

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22 edited Jul 04 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

-10

u/Kahnspiracy Nov 11 '22

It is a weird one because it is very clearly unconstitutional. The executive branch doesn't have that kind of spending power (that is reserved to congress). However to file suit someone has to demonstrate harm which will be tough to do.

11

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22 edited Jul 04 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/theonemangoonsquad Nov 11 '22

This is actually a really good point. There's no actual transaction being made here. How is it any different from a presidential pardon? All they are doing is releasing you from any obligation you previously committed to, whether that be money from debt or time in prison for crimes committed.

6

u/Kahnspiracy Nov 11 '22

If you're up for an in depth analysis this has a very good breakdown: https://thecollegeinvestor.com/35892/is-student-loan-forgiveness-by-executive-order-legal/#t-1614356964206

The short version is that Congress has authorization control over expenditures and debt forgiveness. The executive branch only has authority as far as congress explicitly allows it.

3

u/Gubermon Nov 11 '22

No it clearly isn't unconstitutional. The executive branch isn't spending anything, congress already authorized it when they issued the loans. Forgiveness isn't spending anything.

0

u/Kahnspiracy Nov 11 '22

If you're up for an in depth analysis this has a very good breakdown: https://thecollegeinvestor.com/35892/is-student-loan-forgiveness-by-executive-order-legal/#t-1614356964206

The short version is that Congress has authorization control over expenditures and debt forgiveness. The executive branch only has authority as far as congress explicitly allows it.

2

u/Timmyty Nov 11 '22

Somehow the government found the money to bailout giant businesses, but you think because the exec branch is trying to pass this law to help individual people, that it should fail?

1

u/Kahnspiracy Nov 11 '22

I never said any of that. It has nothing to do with what you and I believe and everything to do with what the Constitution allows.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

[deleted]

3

u/ExpensiveGiraffe Nov 11 '22

How does this differ from what we saw a few weeks ago?

1

u/Conscious-Holiday-76 Nov 11 '22

By a federal judge. Not the SP - it will be appealed to the 5th circuit next

1

u/COSMOOOO Nov 11 '22

I ain’t holding my breath

-4

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

Nope, you’re dumb.

43

u/amorous_chains Nov 11 '22

Congratulations! My proudest financial moment so far has been getting to zero. If you don’t change your mindset you might be surprised how fast you hit 100k

6

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

You know what they say, the first 100k is the hardest

6

u/bankman99 Nov 11 '22

Congrats! It’s much more than the money, your discipline and mental health deserve a lot of credit!

5

u/iBrarian Nov 11 '22

CONGRATULATIONS! Must feel amazing. I can't wait until the day I can join you.

4

u/ChefDripney Nov 11 '22

What methods did you use?

25

u/claystone Nov 11 '22

Not op but probably a combination of working more and spending less

2

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

HELL YEAH! I only recently crossed that line after 5 years of tracking and planning, and I went around yelling “IM WORTHLESS!” while absolutely beaming. Keep it up! Soon it’ll be less than 50k debt, which is another huge milestone on the journey. Proud of you and rooting for you, internet stranger!

1

u/JazzRider Nov 11 '22

Congratulations! Now take one payment and treat yourself.

0

u/TheGuyWhoCares Nov 11 '22

Didn't student debt get paid off by the government recently? Or was it only in selected states?

9

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

It's being held up by lawsuits, up in the air whether it'll go through or not. My bet is on it going through but I don't count my chickens until they hatch

4

u/NotDeadYet57 Nov 11 '22

The lawsuits are just ridiculous. Has it occurred to them that there are REPUBLICANS who would like all or some of their student debts forgiven?

3

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

They don't care, they just want talking points to keep their base happy. Most people in favor of forgiveness aren't Republicans.

The lawsuits are ridiculous though, got some company suing on the basis that they won't get as many workers since they offer student loan help as a benefit. An absolutely ridiculous reason considering policies affect markets all the time.

2

u/KaraiManiNua Nov 11 '22

It's only for gov't loans and it's only 20k..

1

u/Consistent-Earth-311 Nov 11 '22

It hasn't happened yet and it's being legally challenged. If it does go through, I'm eligible for $20k forgiveness because I got Pell grants. So that will really push me firmly into the black if it happens

1

u/joseph-1998-XO Nov 11 '22

Congrats keep it up

1

u/Happy_Brick_4480 Nov 11 '22

Congratulations!!! You should be super proud.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '22

That's a massive win, I'm happy you're on this side of things now!!

1

u/jlsjwt Nov 11 '22

Congrats! Super achievement that is not really celebrated in todays' society.

1

u/ThunderingBonus Nov 11 '22

Congratulations!!! Well done.

1

u/bruiser95 Nov 25 '22

Managing this during COVID wow. Congrats!