Mindy: Welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, my dear listeners, and happy, happy New Year. Today, we are talking to Britney Reynolds, who is a TikToker and has been documenting her journey of paying off over $36,000 in credit card debt.
Scott: We’re going to learn about the decisions that Britt made to pay off that debt super quickly. Um, and we’re doing it today, and we’re excited to talk about this topic because Americans recently eclipsed 1.08 trillion in credit card debt. And we think that the spreading the story about how Britt is attacking that debt may help you pay off that debt all all the faster or avoid it altogether.
Mindy: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money Podcast. My name is Mindy Jensen, and with me as always, is my New Year, new him co-host, Scott Trench.
Scott: Thanks, Mindy. Great to be here with my new year resolute co-host, Mindy Jensen. I think that kind of works.
Mindy: It kind of works. It’s a new year. It’s brand new. Welcome to 2024. Brittany Reynolds, welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money Podcast. I am so excited to talk to you today.
Guest: Thank you. I’m so excited to chat with you guys as well.
Mindy: So, Britney, let’s jump right into this. When did you get your first credit cards?
Guest: Yeah, I got my first credit card, which was a Wells Fargo card when I was I think just out of college, so like 2017.
Scott: How did you find it? Were they on campus?
Guest: How did I find it? That’s a great question. My, I honestly already had my Wells Fargo checking and I was like, sure, I’ll just do this one, I guess. Like I didn’t put a single, a single thought into it. I was like, that sounds great.
Mindy: How big of a credit limit were you extended in your early 20s?
Guest: I think it started at about 1500 and then just like kept increasing and increasing and increasing. Not necessarily with the Chase card, but I signed up for a travel card or with the Wells Fargo. I signed up for a travel card with Chase was where it all really went downhill.
Mindy: Did you sign up for the travel card for the travel rewards so you could earn points and then travel for free?
Guest: Yep, I signed up. I was like, great. I I’m I surely can spend like $4,000 in the first like three months and get the X amount of points. Like that’s awesome.
Mindy: Oh, yeah. It’s super easy to spend $4,000. Now, did you pay it off right away?
Guest: No, I honestly don’t think there was ever a time in my credit card journey, like up until now as I’m paying it off, where I was actually paying it paying it off. I was just kind of slowly chipping away a little bit.
Mindy: Did your parents talk about money when you were growing up?
Guest: Yes, we, I grew up very suburban middle class. So we talked about money. We’re very much like a TJ Max family. So we would save a lot on little things, but um it was more of like a scary type of topic thinking about over spending. We never really like bought really expensive things. So I think once I had a credit line and like had quote-unquote access to that, I was like, yeah, let’s buy all the expensive things that I want.
Scott: So, you know, you you got this first one for 1500 bucks. I would love to hear the journey of how you accumulated all this credit card debt starting with, like, did you just max that out and then go up? What did you buy? What did that look like? Do you remember all those all of those things that you spent the money on?
Guest: Yeah, yes and no. I think in the very beginning, um it was just kind of random purchases, maybe like lunch with a friends, going to get drinks. Um, and then again, once I got the Chase travel card, I I saw that as a way to put my big purchases on there, basically just like financing any like big purchase that I had. Um so a lot of it was a mix between travel, so I would really, really over spend on Airbnbs. Um I was very much because I didn’t live like a luxury lifestyle growing up, I was like, I want luxury. So when I was traveling, I was like, why would I book like just a regular Airbnb, I want to book an Airbnb that’s like really nice and makes me feel this way and and whatnot all for like the aesthetic, basically, and those would run me like $2,000 for just like lodging for the Airbnb. Um and then on top of that, like I never had any rules for myself when I was traveling. I was like, whatever, like I’m on vacation, like I’m going to spend whatever I I want. Um and then some other really big purchases were furniture when I moved like out from roommates in the Bay Area, I got my own apartment, which the apartment was totally priced. It was 1750 for a one bedroom in the Bay area, which was like an incredible deal, honestly. Um so I bought a an infamous uh $4,000 couch, which wasn’t originally I I bought it as, it was a modular couch. I uh, bought the first three pieces and then they discontinued the color and I was like, oh no, so now I need to buy the fourth piece. So it ended up being like, I don’t know, I think like $4,800 or something and it didn’t even fit in my apartment. So
Mindy: Wow. Do you still have the couch?
Guest: I still have the couch. The couch is in my storage unit right now. Yeah. The couch I always joke. I’m like, the couch is is coming with me to my grave. Like I’m keeping this couch forever. But I also have like such a love hate every single time someone like came to my apartment and complimented the couch. I was like, that couch.
Scott: Oh, I I I think it’s it’s both horrible and great. It’s the symbol of kind of this part of your journey here. And and I I I think it’s it symbolizes a lot about this this period of of of accumulation, um of debt accumulation and credit card debt. So, thank you for sharing all of this. So, what was the kind of turning point where you said, this is not sustainable and I need to make a change? Was there a moment that hit you?
Guest: Yeah, it was kind of twofold. I was in a relationship in the Bay Area, living with my my partner. Um rent was just like extremely high. Uh I had at that time like maxed all of my cards cuz I just could not keep up with paying rent and paying bills and my credit card minimums were outrageous. My chase card, I believe my minimum was like 700 and something for the month. So, um the relationship also was just like not like mentally healthy for me and so I knew I needed to end the relationship, but I also knew that I didn’t have savings or literally anything to move out on my own if I was going to do that. So I knew in my gut that I was like, I’m, I got to call my mom. I got to call my mom and I need to like make this choice for myself and like, yeah, a lot, it it’s a huge 180 of just like leaving the Bay Area, moving back down to Southern California, moving back in with my parents. Um, but I knew that like for so many different reasons, that was what I had to do.
Mindy: When you first got your credit cards, did you know how they worked and did you understand like interest and and realize how high the interest was or did you just look at the card and be like, hey hey! I mean cuz I did.
Guest: Yeah. Yeah, I think in the very beginning, I was really afraid of them. In the very beginning, I was like, okay, like, I remember I had a friend who had a credit card, she had a Nordstrom Rack credit card and she would talk about like her credit card balance and I was like, that’s so stressful. Like I would never do that. Like that’s such a memory in my my early credit card days. And I think I just got really desensitized to it, uh as time passed and as the debt grew higher. I was like, you know what? Like, sure, I’m in this credit card debt, I’m going to pay it off someday. I don’t know, I don’t know exactly how, but um you just kind of I feel like people hear because I my number that I had before I started actually paying it off was 36,000 and people hear that number and they’re like, that’s so crazy. Like to me, I was so familiar with that number because it had just like slowly accumulated and I was like, well, yeah, it’s, it’s high. Like it’s high. I know that it is. But um yeah, I just got desensitized.
Mindy: I think that that’s not an unusual journey in this or an unusual uh reaction to this in this uh, you know, debt accumulation phase that so many people find themselves in. And I’m so thankful that you have gone on TikTok to share your journey with other people because there can be a lot of shame in this, I have debt mindset and you know, the the the idea that you have this debt and, well, I guess that’s just how my life is going to be. I’m never going to get out of debt. So why would I bother paying it off? I’m just going to keep accumulating it. And then, you know, at some point it just becomes this like, I can’t even function. I’m I’m so lost and I love the the part of your story that I love the most, uh spoiler alert to all of our listeners is that you moved back home with your parents to pay off your debt. What was the impetus behind that? Was it, was it the relationship in the Bay Area that was just not healthy and like coupled with the debt?
Guest: Yeah, yeah, it was definitely a mix of both cuz I I mean, obviously, I I was so sick of being in this credit card debt and I was like, I looking at what I make cuz I make like a pretty solid income. Um and then factoring in like, okay, if I move back in with my parents, I will be able to pay down at minimum $4,000 a month. And so for the first time, I feel like I was able to plan for the future, whereas when you’re in credit card debt, like you just kind of can’t cuz you’re like, well, I I like, I want to move. I I was ready to move from the Bay Area, but I was like, I don’t have hop up and move money. Like moving is so expensive. Um even moving back in with my parents, it was $800 for the U-haul to drive my stuff down and it’s like, okay, that was my like final big purchase on my credit cards. I was like, we’re putting the U-haul and then we’re stopping. Like we’re stopping forever.
Scott: So, you know, what I’ve noted, what I’ve noticed with a number of people who amass debt is a you you almost kind of stop looking at it and you don’t even like think about it, you don’t know the balance, you don’t want to look, you’re kind of afraid to know, um and it just kind of compounds and that’s how it goes on for a period of years. Is that paralleling, you know, any part of your journey? Was that how you approached it for some time leading up to that?
Guest: Yeah, I think I I was addicted to looking at my debt. Like I was addicted to like checking my bank accounts and checking my expenses. And I still am. Like I I feel like I’m logging in sometimes multiple times a day to like look at my accounts. It just really became like my whole entire identity of just like, oh, I’m always thinking about it. Like when I go out and get drinks with a friend, I’m always thinking about it or like, I don’t know, it was kind of the opposite of of just addiction to the whole, the whole thing.
Scott: Wow. So yeah, you know, I would say that’s unusual, right? For at least in my experience is a lot of folks just don’t don’t don’t want to look and don’t know. Um but your your experience is almost like I’m I can’t help myself. I’m watching it go up and up and up with it. And so all the more impressive that you’re able to just pivot the, you know, turn the corner, pivot and and begin attacking it. When did you move back in and make this change?
Guest: Yeah, I moved back in officially in the beginning of August. Uh so the relationship ended, we were in a lease and so we had to break the lease, um which thankfully we were able to, we just had to find someone to fill the apartment. Um and that was, it’s funny. That was kind of like the turning point where I realized that I wanted to end the relationship. I was like, before I had even really thought about it, I was Googling like how to break a lease? I was like, okay, like I I think there’s something here. So, yeah, officially moved back uh in August and started like really, really actively paying it off.
Scott: Awesome. And how much have you paid off so far?
Guest: Um I have paid off, I think about like 12,000. So I started at 36, I’m now at 23.
Mindy: That’s awesome. That’s fantastic.
Guest: Watching it. It it feels like I similar to how I felt like looking at the number, I almost feel desensitized towards the fact that that’s like so much money, like the fact that I’m like able to pay it off so quickly. I’m like, yeah, like I, I feel like I have to sit and be and remind myself to be like proud of that progress because it’s like, it’s just such a big number, yeah.
Scott: What does the day-to-day life look like for you? You know, was there an abrupt chan I mean, obviously you moved back in with the parent your parents, but are you, is it just like all work and no fun right now? Are you just grinding out this debt until it’s gone or is it pretty manageable and and if so, what’s the change been like from before the move?
Guest: Uh complete 180. Like my life looks so wildly different than what it looked like in the Bay area, which was really, really difficult to adjust to, like right when I moved back in with my parents cuz I was like, oh my gosh, like I’m someone who was so surrounded by friends and community and I don’t know anyone who lives by my parents anymore. Um so I moved back in and I was like, whoa, like I am isolated right now. So, um but honestly, I I kind of needed that after like after living in the Bay Area, going through a breakup, I was like, you know what, like, I’m going to lean into this right now. I’m going on a lot of walks. I am cooking dinner with my parents, just like hanging out and reconnecting as adults, which has been fun. So it’s like, I just always am reminding myself like it’s temporary. I am going to be like come back into my own like identity again. But right now I feel like very like stripped sort of.
Scott: Awesome. And remind us what you do for work.
Guest: Yeah, um I work in brand marketing.
Scott: Brand marketing, and this is a remote job that allows you to work from from home?
Guest: Yeah, so very, very, very thankful for that. Um my work was like very understanding about moving and um the whole process there. So it’s been and they know all about the TikTok and everything, which is fun.
Mindy: That’s awesome. So, well, let’s, let’s talk about TikTok. That’s how we found you. Um why did you start talking about this on TikTok? Why did you choose to share your journey?
Guest: I honestly don’t even remember like thinking through at all posting like the initial video that I posted about my my credit card debt. I was just like, I’m going to be rand like this is random. Like I’m just going to like talk about this because I think it’s interesting that I like am moving back in with my parents, whatnot, who knows. Um and then that video like quickly went viral for several reasons. Like half of the comments I would say were like, this girl’s an idiot, like she sucks, she’s stupid. Um and then half of the comments.
Mindy: Oh, all those people suck.
Guest: Horrible. Like it was it was horrible. Um I mean, I found, like I thought it was funny, honestly, like I I didn’t really like, they were annoying comments, but it didn’t really like affect me much mentally because I was like, you know what, like whatever, they can think what they want about the whole situation. Uh, but it’s just again, like the shame spiral that so many people go into with debt. There’s so much misinformation and people are always like, oh, well, if you’re in this debt, it must be because you did, you had this like emergency or whatever, and it’s like, okay, sometimes people just overspend and like, was it the smartest decision I’ve ever made? No, like, of course not. And I’m not saying like those choices I made were good. I’m just saying they are what they are and like let’s just call them what they are. Um and pay off the debt. So it’s been interesting.
Mindy: Well, and you’re not even remotely the first person that has ever found themselves in debt. And quite frankly, when you said people thought 36,000 was a lot, I’m like, I kind of think that’s low. I’ve spoken to a lot of people who have way more debt than you. So for people to say, oh, you’re so stupid. First of all, anybody who says that, you’re stupid. You are wrong. This happens to a lot of people and you know, it’s real nice to sit there behind your keyboard and be all mean, but Brittany is a real person and she’s doing a lot of good by sharing her journey because I’m sure you have also gotten comments that say, hey, I’m in the same position and it’s so nice to hear from somebody who is doing the things I’m doing and, you know, I I don’t feel so alone.
Guest: Definitely. Yeah. I think now as it’s moved past that first initial video, most of everything is like very positive and it’s like this fun community of people who are like, I’m getting these messages that are like making me tear up. They’re like so like I’ve never like been able to feel okay before and it’s like it’s amazing. So it’s been really fun to connect. And so after that initial video, I was like, you know what, like something and there’s like a community here and let’s just like pay off my debt like all together on the other end of it too. Like I’m isolated. I’m in my parents’s house. Now it’s fun to have this sort of like internet community.
Scott: What um what strategy are you using to pay off your debt? I assume that this debt is not all one giant balance at one interest rate. There’s probably multiple tiers of it on different cards and different interest like how are you approaching it and what’s the order of operations?
Guest: Yeah, so there to start with three cards. Um my first credit card that I ever got, the Wells Fargo card, um the Chase travel card and then another Wells Fargo card which I did a balance transfer for. Um so my initial strategy was, it was kind of random. I paid off the smallest one because I was like, I want to like wipe one out. And now I’m going to the highest interest rate, which is uh Chase and chipping away at that one. And then my Wells Fargo, the other Wells Fargo card, uh is a zero interest card. So I’m paying that one off last.
Scott: Awesome. The debt snowball lynch.
Guest: Yes, yes, exactly. Yeah. I know. I was like, you know what? And it’s just it was so interesting. I mean, you get like a million and a half different like feedback and advice from like everyone in the comments and uh it’s it’s really interesting. People are like, you have to do it this way and you have to do it this way. And I’m like, I’m just going to try to do it.
Scott: You know what, it’s, I love that mentality because like the the game is keep generating $4,000 a month in cash to pay off your debt. And it doesn’t matter, it will impact you by a matter of a week or two potentially, whatever strategy you pick. And so I love it, it’s just like there’s no there’s no point in using brain power against that, whatever feels right.
Guest: Yeah, I think people get really in the weeds with with paying off their debt and trying to figure out like what the exact method is. I think there are absolutely strategies you can utilize and um like different things you can utilize like a balance transfer or like personal loan or or whatnot. Um, but that doesn’t work for everyone. And I think just got to simplify it a little bit.
Scott: So when will you be debt free?
Guest: I will be debt free by June.
Scott: Awesome. You know, that could be May May 28th if you followed the optimal just. No, that’s awesome. That’s fantastic. We’re super excited.
Guest: Could be May, yeah, May 30, 30th if I do this if I do what Joe said in Arkansas. Yeah.
Scott: No, that that’s fantastic. And so what are you gonna do when you’re debt free? What what’s the uh, what’s the, what what comes after that?
Guest: So it’s interesting because I I just trying to figure that out. I’m like, I haven’t really even been able to conceptualize what my life looks like debt free. So it’s like, okay, I make a good amount of money. I am going to obviously build up a little bit of savings before I move out for my parents’ house. Um which I’ll be able to do like fairly quickly without putting $4,000 onto my credit card. Um so the plan is to uh move to LA after, which is about an hour and a half away from my parents.
Mindy: I’m so excited for you. Look at this. You could have stayed in the Bay Area, moved out and moved in with a friend and then chipped away at your debt little bit by little bit while also probably still accumulating debt because you’re there with your friends and that’s where everybody is, you know, everybody goes out and friends give you a lot of peer pressure to spend money and it’s, it’s a lot easier to not spend money when you’re not being constantly bombarded by, you know, hey, you want to go out, you want to go out? No. It’s, you know, sometimes it’s hard to say no. and there’s, you know, the the shame, I abhor the word shame when it comes to money because we’re not taught about this. Like, how much money, how many money courses did you have in high school and college? Zero?
Guest: Literally no, none.
Mindy: Zero. So, same. Um so we’re not taught about this and then you’re thrust into the world and hey, here’s your first paycheck and you’re like, wow, that’s a lot of money. And then the next paycheck comes and you’re like, oh, yeah, I gotta pay rent. Uh okay. Well, that’s this paycheck, but then I also have to eat, I’ll just put it on my credit card and then oh, electric. I got to put my electric bill on my credit card and so on, and so on. And then all of a sudden, you’re $36,000 in debt and you’re like, how did I find myself in $36,000 in debt? I I don’t know how I’m gonna pay this off. Ugh, I guess this is just my life now. And I think that a lot of people go down that route. You said in in one of the videos that I watched, you said we have a plan. Who is we?
Guest: Me and the girlies on my TikTok. I’m like we’re, I I feel like it’s just like a like a little community where it’s like we’re all, I don’t know, I always try to remind people like we’re literally all doing life for the first time. Like all of our first times doing everything that we’re doing. So it’s it takes time to learn everything. I don’t know it’s been like such an a interesting, interesting journey.
Mindy: I love that.
Scott: Once you move to LA, what are what are what are the uh uh things you’re going to put in place to guard rail against this and you know, build wealth uh on a go forward basis If you’ve thought about any of those?
Guest: Yeah, uh I definitely feel like, I mean, obviously, a strict budget, understanding my expenses, understanding the income that I’m bringing in, I wasn’t paying attention to my expenses. I was paying attention to my debt getting higher, but I wasn’t paying attention to like literally anything else um before I started paying off my credit card debt. So, yeah, as far as like other things I want to do, I have a high yield savings account, which I’m excited about. Um I would love to learn more about investing. I don’t know anything about it really. Like I’ve, I understand that it builds a lot of wealth, but I don’t really know like where, I mean, like Mindy, like you were saying, it’s like where do I don’t even know where to begin. Like, I don’t, like what to look at, you know?
Mindy: Oh, Britney, we are going to be such best friends.
Guest: I love that. Let’s do it.
Scott: Can we put can I put one, one bug in your ear about an idea to explore? When when you moved to LA, LA has a new uh a new rule, I believe that allows ADUs to be built in many houses. If you can find a house that makes sense, you know, you could put down 5% once you get out of your debt. Um your income’s pretty good, it sounds like to be able to to pay $4,000 on that, you might be able to buy a house. And if you bought a house that, you know, moved into one of the ADUs, you might be able to rent out the main house and cover most or all of your mortgage uh depending on how much research you do and, you know, all those different types of things. And that can be a really powerful way to free up things and you still get to you know, have have housing. We call it house hacking. So, and we’re a real estate nerds. So we love all that stuff. So,
Guest: That’s awesome.
Mindy: Do you have a 401K at your current company? Do you invest anything into your 401K? Do you contribute anything?
Guest: Uh, a small amount. So, I decreased it. I think I’m contributing like like 3% or something of my paycheck to my 401K. I feel like the temporary decrease in that for this like short amount of time was well well worth it to me. I’m like that’s not going to like affect my my future really. I think again, people get really nervous with stuff like a 401K or like I have to always be contributing, like this is my future and totally. Like I think that 401K is great and important. You should have one. but also like my priority right now is get getting the debt down, not my retirement fund, so,
Scott: You know, arguing with Joe from Arkansas again here on this point. Um, I I just I love the approach of I’m going to put 100% of everything towards the most important thing, get that done and move on to the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. Like, yeah, you can like there’s just this pressure of like, oh, you should be maxing out your Roth and your 401k, and you should be saving up for a down payment, and you should be paying off your debt and you should be doing. It’s like, well, sorry, we don’t all make a bajillion dollars and can’t go down this like wonderful list that would be ideal all the way through it. We have to prioritize and pick the most important thing and I love the approach that you’re taking with it and agree completely with it. Sorry, Joe.
Mindy: Yes, sorry Joe. I also think there’s, there’s a lot of value in being able to sleep at night and having this weigh on you is very stressful and it can, you know, stress, too much stress can cause health problems too. So if your best mental state is to be debt free, then throw it all at that. The only thing I would encourage you to do is to see if your company offers any sort of 401k match.
Guest: Yeah, right now they don’t, so I work at a startup, so it’s like early stages. So they don’t. So I was like, I’m not missing out on any anything right now as far as like a 401k match. So hopefully, hopefully they’re able to match 401k soon, but they don’t need to yet because I can’t contribute to my retirement. So.
Mindy: So you’re going to be debt free in June. That’s super, super exciting. Um what are, are you going to continue making TikTok videos after that?
Guest: Yeah, I, I definitely will. I’m excited to like go on the apartment hunt and see what we find. I’m excited to like figure out budgeting, learn about investing and and whatnot. I think like it’s, I’m just taking it day by day at this point. I’m like, okay, we’ll like see what, what comes up, um and where that goes. I, I don’t know like if I’m gonna keep making like payday videos or what, I’m making money from TikTok now, which is crazy. Um so that has been like a good addition. Yeah, it’s been nuts. I’m like, this is so ironic. Like all of this. Um but so that, I mean, who knows, like maybe I will be able to pay it off a little bit sooner, but um yeah, it’s been crazy.
Mindy: I’m going to send you a copy of the book that Scott wrote. He is too modest to say that he wrote a book called Set for life, which is a kind of blueprint for how you can grow your wealth and become set for life. Uh and it’s it’s a really awesome book. It’s aimed at people that are your age, uh and it will uh kind of walk you through the beginnings of investing and just accumulating cash so that you can start thinking about buying a house if that’s your plan. Uh our company, bigger pockets teaches people how to invest in real estate. So real estate is kind of our jam. But if it’s not your jam, then just rent. It’s perfectly valid to rent. Scott is actually the CEO of the company and he used to be a renter.
Scott: Yeah, I was just a, and and you know, there’s another book that Bigger Pockets has called The Book on House hacking. Um if you’re interested in that, we’d be happy to send you a copy on that one. That was written by uh Craig Curlop who has kind of mastered that and has a bunch of creative approaches, like how do I Air B and B this section and live here and, you know, make crazy cash flow um because the Airbnb laws often don’t let you Airbnb unless you live in the property. So it’s crazy it’s a great way to
Guest: You got to celebrate yourself. You wrote a book, you’re, you’re killing it.
Mindy: You’re killing it.
Guest: I feel like that’s like been a part of the like paying off the debt celebration of like it’s okay to like be happy about the things you’re doing. I feel like people get very in their head about like, oh, I’m excited about this thing, but I don’t want to talk about it. And I’m like, hey, no, like we can all like be excited. If you’re surrounded by good people, they should also be excited for you. Um, there’s just yeah, a lot of shame also around celebrating yourself, which I think let’s we got to.
Mindy: We do have to celebrate ourselves. Woohoo for everybody on this call. So, Britney, have you considered doing anything to accelerate your debt payoff, uh, outside of just, you know, all the awesome things that you’ve already done like moving back home with your parents and not going out and spending money. Um, have you considered anything like side hustles or getting a second job or anything like that?
Guest: Yeah, I did when I was living in the Bay Area, I dog walked, uh, and I was the most depressed I’ve ever been in my whole life because I was like working my full time job and then on the side, house sitting, dog walking, just like spending pretty much like any of my extra time like trying to do side hustles and make more money, um, which I just like was not set up mentally to be paying like paying off my debt really. I think like there’s a lot of strategies to pay off your debt quicker, but if you’re not in the head space to really like utilize them and take advantage of them, I think it can like hurt you in the in the long run. I, I feel like a lot of times, and I’ll say like I’m, I’m very privileged that I get to like live with my parents and not pay rent and I make good money. I think like I have peace with the timeline of paying off my debt. I haven’t really thought much now about, I mean, now the side hustle is Tik Tok, I guess. but like getting an additional uh an additional job. Um yeah.
Mindy: Are you using the TikTok money to pay off your, to throw it your debt or are you doing something else with it?
Guest: Yeah, a mix. So, I’m putting some of it away cuz I have to pay taxes. And then I am putting a little bit onto credit card debt and then putting a little bit into my high yield savings account. Um because I’m trying to like save at the same time. I feel like there’s been 50 50, yeah, I’m so excited about that. Um but there’s been 50-50 reaction to that as well of people being like, why would you be saving and not just like putting everything onto your credit card debt? And for me, that savings account, I mean, first of all, I think a savings account is gonna help me prevent being in credit card debt long term. But also, uh just mentally knowing that like, okay, like I have some money and it’s building a little bit and that’s exciting and I can like now look towards the future and not just at my credit card debt.
Scott: What’s a, what’s something a piece of advice you’d give somebody, um that wants to follow in your footsteps? You’ve given a bunch here, but what’s kind of the one thing you’d you’d love to have, um stick in in someone’s head if they’re trying to replicate your journey in the big moves you made?
Guest: I mean, first of all, just be honest with yourself about where you’re at and what is serving you and what isn’t serving you, whether that’s financial, whether that’s a relationship, whether that’s the city you live in. Um be honest about where you’re at and like think about what you can prioritize to get to the place where you want to be. It takes time to reach your goals. Got to be patient and that’s hard. It’s, I’m just like sitting like twiddling my thumbs at my parents’ house right now. just like, I want to move. But yeah, got to be patient.
Mindy: I love that so much. Everything about your story except for the whole I got myself into debt thing. I love,
Guest: Except, except for that like we
Mindy: Except for the beginning, the whole reason you’re here. But no, everything that you’re doing shows a maturity far beyond your years. And I know that you’re going to finish up your debt payoff journey in June or before and then start your, hey, let me learn more about money and teach my people along the way. So where can people find you online?
Guest: Yeah, um you can find me primarily on TikTok. Um I would say my like I should know my username off the top of my head. I think it’s Britt Reynolds, but like I should have know but yeah, primarily TikTok. I have Instagram and whatnot but I don’t usually post debt journey stuff. People are welcome to follow my Instagram if they want as well. Um, but yeah, primarily TikTok.
Mindy: Awesome. And we will include these in our show notes so that you can go and check her out as well. And I kind of love that you don’t know your TikTok name. You’re not just out there shoving it down everybody’s throats.
Guest: I was like, I don’t know.
Mindy: Well, I know your TikTok handle and it’s @britt_reynolds. So that’s b r i t t_r e y n o l d s. If you want to follow along with Brittany’s debt payoff journey, go check her out on TikTok.
Scott: And please give her some advice on how to speed it up by a handful of days in one direction or the other. She really appreciates that.
Mindy: I’m looking for all the advice. Like let me know. That’s awesome. Oh, start a Go Fund me. Everybody help me pay off my debt.
Guest: I know, people have been like, you should put your venmo. I’m like, no, I’m not doing that. Like, yeah.
Scott: Brittany, thank you so much for sharing your your journey here for making the big changes and inspiring, I think a lot of people to uh uh attack their own debt. So, um really appreciate it and look forward to seeing the step payoff journey and where you go next and how you build a lot of wealth uh with the new, the new uh uh approach to finance you’re taking. So thank you so much.
Guest: Yeah, thank you both. This was a pleasure.
Mindy: This was so much fun, Brittany and we will talk to you soon.
Guest: Yeah, sounds good.
Mindy: Holy cats, Scott. That was Britney Reynolds. She was fantastic. I love her so much. She’s my new best friend. Scott, what did you think of the show?
Scott: Yeah, I thought it was great. I mean, we need, we need, you know, to share more stories like this, right? Because this is how wealth is created, right? Is, is, you know, folks are imperfect. They don’t know what’s going on. Uh they don’t have a lot of financial education. It’s it’s challenging, you know, getting started in your 20s with, you know, here you go, go figure out finance uh here and we and we make mistakes and she had her aha moment, she made the big changes, she moved back in with her parents and humbled herself and is going to attack this debt in a six to nine month period and we need more people to do that uh in this country and in general, um with whatever means that they have available to them. Not everyone can move back in with their parents of course. It’s a a great opportunity, but it’s it’s uh we need more people to to make these kinds of decisions because that is empowering. And one thing that I kind of stuck with me is that she felt trapped in that relationship partly because of the financial situation that she was in. And that’s a really powerful statement. It’s something to think about. There’s real world consequences to this, um besides the number on your, on your, on your uh personal financial net worth statement. It’s freedom and the ability to feel like you have control over your destiny and you’re economically independent. You don’t need to be financially free to have that, but you know, it’s good to be debt free and have and have the and and have some of that more flexibility to get away from, you know, a bad situation or whatever it is, not saying it was a bad situation necessarily, but you know, she wanted out of the relationship and she felt like she couldn’t for a little bit. And we need and and this stuff has real world consequences. So really proud of her for making those decisions and you know, hope she’s inspiring other people, um, to make similar decisions and to go hardcore in paying off that debt because it can help you, it doesn’t necessarily make you happy, but it can help you avoid unhappiness in certain situation situations.
Mindy: Yeah, I’m glad you brought that up, Scott, because I think that that gets glossed over a lot in the personal finance world. There’s this ideal that, oh, just spend less than you earn, invest widely and you can become financially independent. But not everybody has these ideal relationships and that is a serious consequence of not having any liquid cash is you can’t make moves, financial moves, moves for your safety, moves for your mental health. You can’t make the moves that you might want to make because there’s simply no money there. Um I love that she isn’t just throwing every dime at her debt. She’s continuing to put a nominal amount at her 401K but she’s still continuing to put money into her 401K. She’s putting money into a savings account so she doesn’t get her debt completely paid down and then start from zero trying to then save. And the but the number one goal for her is to pay off her debt and that’s what she’s focusing on almost to the exclusion of everything else. But what I hear from her is, I’ve got a plan. I’ve figured out how I’m going to do it and this is where I’m going.
Scott: Just in case you’re wondering, we did connect with her and she’s only made, I think maybe a thousand or two off of TikTok so far. Um so that’s not a material part, I mean it’s helpful obviously, of course, right? It it’s not a material part of her payoff journey here. Um so this is not like a big, big money TikTok pa paying off debt story. This is this is just making one big decision, right, right? which is housing and taking advantage of an opportunity that, you know, was again, humbling but the right one. And will set we’ll, we’ll help her knock this thing out and get on a new trajectory with her personal finances going forward.
Mindy: Yep. And I have made a note in my calendar to check back in with her in June to see how her journey is going. So stay tuned later this year and we will check back in with Brittany to see exactly how she’s handling the debt payoff. All right, Scott, should we get out of here?
Scott: Let’s do it.
Mindy: That wraps up this episode of the Bigger Pockets Money Podcast. He is Scott Trench and I am Mindy Jensen saying, buy for now, curious cow.
Scott: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please give us a five-star review on Spotify or Apple. And if you’re looking for even more money content, feel free to visit our YouTube channel at youtube.com/biggerpocketsmoney.
Mindy: Bigger Pockets Money was created by Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench, produced by Kalen Bennett, editing by Exodus Media, copywriting by Nate Winejob. Lastly, a big thank you to the Bigger Pockets team for making this show possible.
