BI | In early 2017, the day came: Horton made her final loan payment.
In just over three years, she had put a grand total of
$220,561.21 toward becoming debt-free. Though it took longer than
her original goal of just one year, Horton's dedication to
repayment is nothing to scoff at.
"You have to stick with it," she said. "You have to be willing to
make some very drastic sacrifices, and you have to be creative in
the ways that you produce extra income."
Now that her loans are a thing of the past, Horton wants to
continue buying and renting out properties; she has her sights
set on finding real estate in downtown Chicago. Horton is also
writing a book, and she hopes to one day speak to high school and
college students about how to take on loans and responsibly pay
them back.
While everyone's situation is different — not everybody can move
back home, and not everybody will have a small rental property
gifted to them — Horton's willingness to ditch an expensive city
like DC to move back to the Midwest, cut down living costs, and
increase her earning power by purchasing more real estate helped
her pay off a mountain of debt in just three years, when it may
otherwise have taken a decade or more
To anyone who feels overwhelmed by the prospect of taking on
student loans — or paying back any debt they've incurred — Horton
has a simple message: "I just want them to feel empowered that
they can pay if off. If I can do it, anybody can."
