From $300K in Debt to Millionaire at 39 (Financial Freedom in 8 Years!)

BiggerPockets Money Podcast

BiggerPockets

Investing, Education, Business

4.6 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From over $300,000 in debt to a millionaire in just eight years?! No matter where you’re at, it’s never too late to get on the path to financial freedom. This entrepreneur is proof that a little discipline, frugality, and creativity can radically change your financial trajectory! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Today, we’re speaking with Bernadette Joy, founder of Crush Your Money Goals. In 2016, Bernadette had dug herself a six-figure hole—a combination of student loans, credit cards, and mortgages—simply by listening to bad money advice. But in just THREE years, she paid off all of her debt and has since built a net worth of $1.8 million! How did she create such an enormous swing in less than a decade? In this episode, she’ll show you the exact steps she took so that YOU can do the same! Want to accelerate your journey to FIRE? Bernadette has all kinds of budgeting tips, debt paydown strategies, and side hustles that will help you reach your financial goals much faster. Stay tuned to learn how to wipe out your debt as quickly as possible, save for retirement, and even make an extra $100 a day alongside your nine-to-five job! In This Episode We Cover How Bernadette paid off $300,000 in debt in just THREE years Making an extra $100 a day with side hustles (while working a W2 job) The three-bucket, zero-based budget that balances frugality and freedom Using the “snowball” method to pay off student loan debt faster Whether you should keep a large cash position (or invest it!) How to manage financial anxiety on the road to financial independence And So Much More! Links from the Show Mindy on BiggerPockets Scott on BiggerPockets Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Join BiggerPockets for FREE Email Mindy: [email protected] Email Scott: [email protected] BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group Grab Scott’s Book “Set for Life” Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area BiggerPockets Money 586 – Average Net Worth by Age (How Do You Compare?) Connect with Bernadette (00:00) Intro (00:59) Getting Into $300K of Debt (04:52) The Zero-Based Budget (14:00) Starting Side Hustles (18:33) Making an Extra $100/Day (24:44) Bernadette’s Portfolio (37:47) Connect with Bernadette! (39:16) Crush Your Money Goals! Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-598 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In 2016, Bernadette Joy found herself in $300,000 worth of debt, with the only financial education being work harder.
0:09.7	She paid off this debt in three years, making mistakes along the way, but taking what she learned and creating a plan that will ensure success.
0:18.6	Today, we're going to hear how she crushed her financial goals and how
0:22.7	you can follow her path to become a financial rock star. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the
0:27.6	Bigger Pockets Money podcast. My name is Mindy Jensen, and with me as always is my own financial rock star co-host,
0:33.8	Scott Trench. Thanks, Mindy, amped to be here. Bigger Pocket says a goal of creating one million millionaires.
0:39.4	You're in the right place if you want to get your financial house in order because we truly
0:42.3	believe financial freedom is attainable for everyone no matter when or where you're starting.
0:46.8	And that's why we've got a millionaire mentor here on the show today on Bigger Pockets Money.
0:51.6	Bernadette Joy, welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast.
0:56.0	We are so excited to talk to you today.
0:56.7	So much.
0:59.2	I am such a fan of y'all, so I am very excited to be here.
0:59.9	Woo-hoo.
1:02.4	Well, then you know how we start every episode.
1:05.3	Bernadette, where does your journey with money begin?
1:05.8	Sure.
1:14.9	So where I begin, I would say, is in 2016, and that was eight years from today where I looked back and I realized that I did everything right, quote, unquote. I got the good job. I married the
1:21.3	cute husband with the good job. We had not one, but two mortgages, two houses.
1:28.5	I was getting my MBA in a very good school and I had done really well as a college student.
1:35.0	And so I did all the things right.
1:37.0	And I realized in January 2016 that actually what I found myself in was a mess that I did not know how to get out of.
	...

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