I Saved ... $8,000

Andy Madeley, 35, London, England

How I did it: I moved out of my spacious, three-bedroom home, which was costing me about $1,200 per month, and rented a small bedroom in a house (at just $400) with four other people for a year. I stopped eating out, bought only supermarket-brand products, and—I'm not proud of this—I stole toilet paper from work so I didn't have to pay for my own. I also rode a bike or walked everywhere (even in the winter and the pouring rain!) , because transportation in London is expensive.

Why I saved: I went on a cycling trip between London and Sydney, Australia, that lasted 16 months.

I Saved ... $300,000

Roi Shlomo, 34, Atlanta, Ga.

How I did it: When I moved to the United States from Israel in 2000, I had $80 to my name. I dreamed of owning a frozen yogurt franchise, but I knew that I needed to build up the capital to make that dream come true. So I started a carpet-cleaning company because of the low overhead. I also lived in a small apartment with roommates in order to save every penny of my profits that I could, but it still wasn’t enough, so I invested in some cosmetic kiosks in the mall. I even became a makeup artist and an amateur photographer to supplement my income even more! At the height of my saving, I was putting away between $4,000 and $6,000 per month.

Why I saved: In 2009, I finally opened my first frozen yogurt shop, Yogli Mogli, in Atlanta. Now it’s a national chain! And I recently started a new business venture in organic juices and smoothies.

Businessinsider.com

—Erica Wong, 28, New York City

Where She Started: In 2009, about three months after Wong graduated with a degree in

civil engineering—and about $3,000 tucked away in savings—she started working full-time

as a structural engineer with a $59,000 salary.

How She Saved: "First I had to find out exactly how much I owed," recalls Wong, who was

fortunate enough to have parents who allowed her to live with them outside New York City

for below-market rent. "Then I listed loan institutions, interest rates and amounts on a

spreadsheet. I started with the highest interest loan and threw all the money I could at it."

Then, as each highest-interest loan dissolved, she'd tackle the next-highest one and so on.

While most of her loans were public, she also had one private, consolidated loan.

Wong paid her highest-interest loans manually (she submitted her payments each month

instead of automating her payments and letting the bank take care of it), and for the ones

with lower rates, she would set to automatic payment on the longest repayment plan she

was allowed by the loan institution—the longer loan period meant a smaller minimum

payment.

During a typical month, this meant putting about $1,600 toward the highest-interest loan

and $500 toward the others, which was no easy feat: Wong wound up devoting about 66%

of her post-tax income to her student loans, then another 20% to her parents for rent. "It

left me with about $400 of disposable income a month," she says. "That's about $13 a day."

The Hardest Part: "I was miserable for the first year, constantly questioning why I went to

work just to pay off student loans," she recalls. Living on $13 per day meant making

changes: buying clothing only when something needed replacing, scaling back lunches and

dinners out, and discovering affordable new hobbies, like hiking, through Meetup.com.

Dialing down her lifestyle wasn't easy. "It was soul crushing—it made me feel like a

failure," Wong says. "But I also knew if I wanted a life without the bondage of student loans,

I needed to pay it off. Mathematically, my best option was to pay the loans off as quickly as

possible and save on interest payments. So I continued on. I just took it month by month,

and I got used to it."

Where She Is Today: "I paid the final 10 cents on my last student loan in November,

approximately 4.5 years since I started working," says Wong. For now, she's shifted her

savings strategy to tackle other goals. "I would love to catch up on the retirement savings

I've been largely neglecting for the past 4.5 years," says Wong. "If I can pay off $90,000 in a

little over four years, what's to stop me from saving up $100,000 in the next five?"

While she is still living with her parents to help with their mortgage, she may move out in

the coming year. "Coming off paying most of my income into student loans, it gives me

tremendous satisfaction to begin building assets," she says. "I appreciate the experience

and the money discipline I gained from dealing with this amount of debt, and expect my life

will continue in a money-conscious, alternative consumer style."

Forbes.com

Bi-Weekly Date Amount Added Estimated Balance Deposited Actual Balance

1 $52 $52

2 $60 $112

3 $50 $162

4 $62 $224

5 $100 $324

6 $60 $384

7 $120 $504

8 $70 $574

9 $200 $774

10 $100 $874

11 $105 $979

12 $70 $1,049

13 $82 $1,131

14 $60 $1,191

15 $140 $1,331

16 $62 $1,393

17 $100 $1,493

18 $70 $1,563

19 $120 $1,683

20 $52 $1,735

21 $100 $1,835

22 $60 $1,895

23 $120 $2,015

24 $70 $2,085

25 $200 $2,285

26 $100 $2,385

Bi-Weekly Date Amount Added Estimated Balance Deposited Actual Balance

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

I Saved ... $8,000

Andy Madeley, 35, London, England

How I did it: I moved out of my spacious, three-bedroom home, which was costing me about $1,200 per month, and rented a small bedroom in a house (at just $400) with four other people for a year. I stopped eating out, bought only supermarket-brand products, and—I'm not proud of this—I stole toilet paper from work so I didn't have to pay for my own. I also rode a bike or walked everywhere (even in the winter and the pouring rain!) , because transportation in London is expensive.

Why I saved: I went on a cycling trip between London and Sydney, Australia, that lasted 16 months.

I Saved ... $300,000

Roi Shlomo, 34, Atlanta, Ga.

How I did it: When I moved to the United States from Israel in 2000, I had $80 to my name. I dreamed of owning a frozen yogurt franchise, but I knew that I needed to build up the capital to make that dream come true. So I started a carpet-cleaning company because of the low overhead. I also lived in a small apartment with roommates in order to save every penny of my profits that I could, but it still wasn’t enough, so I invested in some cosmetic kiosks in the mall. I even became a makeup artist and an amateur photographer to supplement my income even more! At the height of my saving, I was putting away between $4,000 and $6,000 per month.

Why I saved: In 2009, I finally opened my first frozen yogurt shop, Yogli Mogli, in Atlanta. Now it’s a national chain! And I recently started a new business venture in organic juices and smoothies.

Businessinsider.com

—Erica Wong, 28, New York City

Where She Started: In 2009, about three months after Wong graduated with a degree in

civil engineering—and about $3,000 tucked away in savings—she started working full-time

as a structural engineer with a $59,000 salary.

How She Saved: "First I had to find out exactly how much I owed," recalls Wong, who was

fortunate enough to have parents who allowed her to live with them outside New York City

for below-market rent. "Then I listed loan institutions, interest rates and amounts on a

spreadsheet. I started with the highest interest loan and threw all the money I could at it."

Then, as each highest-interest loan dissolved, she'd tackle the next-highest one and so on.

While most of her loans were public, she also had one private, consolidated loan.

Wong paid her highest-interest loans manually (she submitted her payments each month

instead of automating her payments and letting the bank take care of it), and for the ones

with lower rates, she would set to automatic payment on the longest repayment plan she

was allowed by the loan institution—the longer loan period meant a smaller minimum

payment.

During a typical month, this meant putting about $1,600 toward the highest-interest loan

and $500 toward the others, which was no easy feat: Wong wound up devoting about 66%

of her post-tax income to her student loans, then another 20% to her parents for rent. "It

left me with about $400 of disposable income a month," she says. "That's about $13 a day."

The Hardest Part: "I was miserable for the first year, constantly questioning why I went to

work just to pay off student loans," she recalls. Living on $13 per day meant making

changes: buying clothing only when something needed replacing, scaling back lunches and

dinners out, and discovering affordable new hobbies, like hiking, through Meetup.com.

Dialing down her lifestyle wasn't easy. "It was soul crushing—it made me feel like a

failure," Wong says. "But I also knew if I wanted a life without the bondage of student loans,

I needed to pay it off. Mathematically, my best option was to pay the loans off as quickly as

possible and save on interest payments. So I continued on. I just took it month by month,

and I got used to it."

Where She Is Today: "I paid the final 10 cents on my last student loan in November,

approximately 4.5 years since I started working," says Wong. For now, she's shifted her

savings strategy to tackle other goals. "I would love to catch up on the retirement savings

I've been largely neglecting for the past 4.5 years," says Wong. "If I can pay off $90,000 in a

little over four years, what's to stop me from saving up $100,000 in the next five?"

While she is still living with her parents to help with their mortgage, she may move out in

the coming year. "Coming off paying most of my income into student loans, it gives me

tremendous satisfaction to begin building assets," she says. "I appreciate the experience

and the money discipline I gained from dealing with this amount of debt, and expect my life

will continue in a money-conscious, alternative consumer style."

Forbes.com

Bi-Weekly Date Amount Added Estimated Balance Deposited Actual Balance

1 $52 $52

2 $60 $112

3 $50 $162

4 $62 $224

5 $100 $324

6 $60 $384

7 $120 $504

8 $70 $574

9 $200 $774

10 $100 $874

11 $105 $979

12 $70 $1,049

13 $82 $1,131

14 $60 $1,191

15 $140 $1,331

16 $62 $1,393

17 $100 $1,493

18 $70 $1,563

19 $120 $1,683

20 $52 $1,735

21 $100 $1,835

22 $60 $1,895

23 $120 $2,015

24 $70 $2,085

25 $200 $2,285

26 $100 $2,385

Bi-Weekly Date Amount Added Estimated Balance Deposited Actual Balance

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26