Melanie Lockert joins us today to share her story of student loan debt and her subsequent inability to find a job when she graduated into one of the worst job markets America had ever seen, and her spiral into depression and shame over her debt.Melanie is not alone - as of 2018, more than 44.2 MILLION borrowers owe more than $1.5 TRILLION! (link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_debt)September is National Suicide Prevention month - and Melanie hosts a Suicide Prevention Blog Tour every year due to the sheer number of people who find her blog when they search "I want to kill myself because of debt".Melanie advocates sitting down and figuring out exactly how much your debt is costing you per day, which was both a big source of shame as well as a HUGE motivator for her to pay it off. She also shares her journey out of debt - and out of depression through therapy.Melanie also shares resources for people feeling overwhelmed. Find counseling options at www.openpathcollective.org, talk to someone through text by texting HOME to 741741, which is the Crisis Text line or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.In This Episode We Cover:

Melanie's journey with money

Experiencing mental health issues because of debt

Start blogging and wrote break-up letters to debt

How she paid off her debt

Her main side hustle

How much it costs her to pay her student loan debts

The reason why debt is depressing

The biggest mistake people are making

Her advice to anyone who has the same path with her

Five stages of grief that are similar to paying off debt

On living in denial

Steps to prepare your mindset and addressing the underlying issues 

Therapy hack

What keep her motivated

Talking about the first person who reach out to her

How she personally managed to pay off her student loans

On making more money

What her life look like after she paid off her student loan debt

And SO much more!

Links from the Show

Craigslist

TaskRabbit

FinCon

Mint

Open Path Collective

Crisis Text Line - Text HOME to 741741

Suicidal Hotline - 1-800-273-8255

Suicide Prevention

National Foundation for Credit Counseling

Annual Credit Report

Side Hustle Nation

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