Episode 5: How She Paid off $28,000 In Just Three Years Making $30K – Interview with Zina Kumok
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This week, I welcome Zina Kumok on the show to talk about how she paid off $28,000 of student loan debt in just 3 years making only $30,000 or less per year.
In November 2014, Zina made her last loan payment and her story went viral. So far she’s been featured in Time Magazine, DailyWorth and Business Insider. She’s also a writer, speaker and coach and loves sharing her story of paying off all her student loan debt. Zina now writes a blog on how she did this called Debt Free After Three, and she’s also just launched a course about how new graduates can pay off their loans quickly.
On this episode, Zina will be sharing some great advice from her own experience of paying off $28k in just three years.
Episode 4: How He Became Student Loan Debt Free in 18 Months – Interview with Jaideep Pathak
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My guest this week is Jaideep Pathak, who currently works at one of Canada’s largest banks in Toronto. Jaideep received his MBA at one of the top business schools, but it didn’t come without cost. Coming from India and with little means to pay for a college education, his only option was to rely on scholarships and take a major student loan for the rest.
The student loan he received from his home country however came at an 11% interest rate.
Jaideep’s story is a testament of perseverance coming from a foreign land and accumulating massive student loan debt. Through sheer determination, he managed to repay his college debt by means of additional scholarships, some creativeness in terms of getting the cost of debt reduced (covering the high cost Rupee debt into low cost Dollar debt), and last but not the least, pure sacrifice in the form of savings.
He was finally able to be debt free in 18 months after graduating.
In this interview, you’ll hear Jaideep share his story of perseverance, and talk about what it was like to make that final payment.
Episode 3: How He Graduated Twice Without Debt and Then Put 20% Down For a House – Interview with Nick Angelis
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My guest on The Money Champ podcast this week is Nick Angelis. Nick has never taken out a student loan in his life. While in college he lived below his means, found well-paying jobs that enhanced his studying and education, and applied for every scholarship possible.
Nick graduated from undergrad with a 3.97 GPA, and then went on to graduate school where he earned a 3.8.
On this episode, Nick will be sharing some of his own strategies for graduating college without the burden of student loans hanging over your head. One of Nick’s recommendations is attending the cheapest schools possible. This is especially important in standardized fields like healthcare where everyone is learning similar material anyway.
Nick also saved a lot of money, and worked hard to find high yield investments not in danger of bankruptcy or illiquidity. Through his diligence, he was able to put 20% down on a house after graduating!
Nick Angelis is now a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, and is the author of How to Succeed in Anesthesia School (And RN, PA, or Med School) and writes about student debt and finance frequently, most recently at http://www.nurseeyeroll.com.
Episode 2: Creative Ways to Earn Income in College – Interview with Voiceover Artist Sean Carney
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This week I welcome Sean Carney on the show to talk about creative ways students can earn a living in college, and build their career skills without having to work a 9-5 J-O-B. Sean, a student at Ithaca College in New York, is a voiceover artist on Fiverr, and makes $2,000/month through the site.
He uses the income from this to help pay for his school expenses and credits this freelancing opportunity with helping him gain experience for a future career in radio.
Sean is the Station Manager of Ithaca’s award-winning student-run radio station, leading more than 14 department heads within the station and over 60 other on-air staff.
Episode 1: Interview with Carrie Paetow
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For my initial podcasts, I’m doing a series of interviews with college students who graduated with no student loan debt, or were able to pay it off very quickly after graduating. My purpose in doing these interviews is to encourage other students who don’t want to graduate college with a burden of massive debt hanging over their head.
My guest this week is Carrie Paetow. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2004 with no debt. The day she graduated, every cent was paid off.
She’ll be sharing some tips today on our show on how she did it.
