Millennial works works 3 jobs to pay off her student loans in Houston

This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Millennium money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.

Shonnita Leslie has always had a passion for education. But by the time she earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology and her master’s degree in education in psychology with a concentration in academic counseling in 2009, her student debt had ballooned to about $101,000 and she was struggling to make her payments.

“Because I graduated during the Great Recession, it was very difficult for me to get back on my feet and find my first stable job working full time to earn enough to pay the minimum,” she said at CNBC Make It.

Leslie was eventually able to find work as a certified school counselor in a public school in Connecticut, where she is from, earning enough to make the minimum payments on her student loan.

However, she wanted to be able to repay her debt more quickly. She ended up moving to Houston, Texas, where she makes $65,000 between her full-time role as a program manager at a university and her part-time job as a DoorDash driver and freelance writer.

“I’ve been welcomed with open arms here in Houston,” she says. “I love it here.”

Here’s how she balances multiple jobs while continuing to pay off her student loans.

Growing up in Connecticut, Leslie was surrounded by family members who were educators, which inspired her to pursue a career in this field.

However, she didn’t take into account how much she could earn working in education, compared to the student debt she would have to take on to obtain the appropriate degrees, she said.

“I always followed my passion instead of thinking logically about career field versus income,” she says. “Education is one of the few fields where you need a high level of education relative to the amount of money you will be paid.”

Although Leslie has been reducing her student debt for about 15 years, she says it was worth it to pursue her passion.

“It’s the work I love,” she says. “I like to give people information that I didn’t have.”

At the end of the 2017 school year, Leslie’s district suffered massive layoffs and his school ended up closing, prompting him to move to Houston. She had family in Texas and knew the cost of living would be cheaper than in Connecticut.

She first landed a job at a charter school. A year later, she was offered a position as a program manager at a university, which she still holds today. She continued to repay her student loans, but her payments only went toward covering the accrued interest. Despite regular payments, his principal balance remained at $101,000.

Fortunately, Leslie’s years as a school counselor had put her on track to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and continuing to work in public education brought her even closer each year.

In 2022, she finally got $60,000 in federal loan forgiveness through the PSLF program. “I was completely relieved,” she says.

However, because Leslie had private student loans that did not qualify for forgiveness, she still had a balance of about $40,000 left, so she decided to find a part-time job as a delivery driver DoorDash.

“I just wasn’t making enough money to reduce my debt and I knew I could do it a lot faster if I had something like DoorDash to help offset my full-time income,” she says .

Over a five-year period from 2018 to 2023, Leslie earned a total of approximately $72,000 working part-time as a DoorDash delivery driver.

She first bought a certified pre-owned car to make deliveries, but that came with even more debt. Leslie used her first DoorDash earnings to eliminate her car loan, then began putting the rest toward her remaining student loan balance.

The amount she earns each year depends on the number of hours she worked. When she started in 2018, she made around $6,324. By the following year, she had more than doubled her income, to nearly $18,000.

Leslie typically makes deliveries after work on weekdays and enjoys being able to use flexible hours to her advantage. At one point, she was working an average of 30 hours a week through DoorDash on top of her full-time job. Currently, she only spends about five hours a week on side hustles.

But Leslie’s hard work paid off. In 2024, she reduced her remaining balance to around $18,000.

“It was really important that I paid off a lot of my student debt because then I was able to get back to focusing on myself and my health and mental well-being,” she says.

In 2023, Leslie’s car was experiencing significant mechanical issues. One night, she almost got stranded while making a delivery.

Leslie decided to sell it and use the money to buy an electric bike, which she now uses to commute to work and make deliveries.

“I didn’t intentionally decide to buy a new car,” she says. “I had pretty much paid off a lot of my debt that I wanted to pay off anyway, so it was really the perfect time to move on and not have a car.”

Plus, she says not having a car allows her to save money because she doesn’t need to pay for parking, car insurance and other related expenses.

“Moving to Houston was actually pretty easy,” she says. “When I go to the grocery store, for example, I can put all my groceries in my bags and that takes care of everything. It’s also great to use the metro.”

Here’s how Leslie spent her money in February 2024.

• Housing and utilities: $1,408 to rent on a loft, heating, water, electricity and Wi-Fi
• Insurance: $622 in health, dental and vision insurance
• Discretionary: $436 on household items and groceries
• Pension saving: $400 to 403(b)
• Food: $271 on restaurant meals and groceries
• Subscriptions and memberships: $245 on his gym membership and Hulu subscription
• Student loan repayment: $238 for the remaining balance of his private student loan
• Phone: $47 for his phone bill

Leslie uses the zero-sum budgeting strategy to manage her money, which means she devotes every dollar of her salary to her various expenses.

“I allocate each dollar until it hits zero so I understand where each expense comes from,” she says.

She also makes sure to account for splurges in her budget, like buying workout clothes from GymShark.

“Even if you continue to pay off debt, you still have to have a certain lifestyle,” she says. “I like to make sure I have appropriate workout clothes and I like to make sure I look presentable.”

Credit cards are a financial tool that Leslie doesn’t use. Although, used responsibly, credit cards can help you improve your credit score and earn perks like travel rewards, she wants to avoid taking on more debt while she focuses on paying off her debt. his student loans.

“I could always go into more debt if I want to go into more debt,” she says. “In the meantime, I’m focusing on the debt I currently have.”

Leslie has about $1,000 in savings, which she says is enough to cover any unexpected expenses that might arise. “I haven’t really needed to build a bigger emergency fund yet because my liabilities are very low at the moment and I have insurance,” she says.

She also has about $96,000 saved for retirement between her 403(b) plan and Roth IRA.

Although Leslie says her student debt is at a more manageable level, she plans to continue working part-time as a DoorDash delivery driver for the time being.

“I don’t need to,” she said. “I like having the allure of having multiple sources of income.”

She also started her own small business, Noir in Color, where she offers her freelance writing services on topics like personal finance and side ideas.

She knows that one day she will want to own a house that she can rent out. However, she says she prefers to rent at the moment because it’s cheaper. After paying off her student loans, she plans to work on building her credit to qualify for the best mortgage terms.

“I thought it was also critical that I continue renting from now until I’m comfortable enough to want to take on significant debt again,” she says.

Ultimately, Leslie looks forward to one day being able to settle her debt and spend her time as she pleases.

“My version of the American dream is simply to be debt free and live on my own terms,” she says.

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