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The Most Frustrating Baby Step (and How to Get Through It)

Originally published by the DaveRamsey.com Blog. 

Lily graduated from a four-year university with a degree in business—and $35,000 in school loans. She didn’t have any savings, so she used her credit card to pay the deposit on her new apartment. And she swiped it a few more times to buy some nice furniture and appliances. A few months later, she decided it was time to upgrade to a new car, now that she was an adult in "the real world."

But then the bills began rolling in. The grace period on her student loans ended. The 90 days "same as cash" promise from the furniture store came and went. Suddenly, at 23 years old, Lily realized she was more than $60,000 in debt. Something had to change, or else she was going to drown.

It was time to buckle down and dump her debt once and for all.

Maybe you can relate to Lily’s story. Maybe you’re a recent college graduate, a single parent, or quickly approaching retirement. No matter your life stage, paying off your consumer debt puts you knee-deep in the most frustrating of the Baby Steps—Baby Step 2, where you pay off your debt using the debt snowball.

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Read more about the most frustrating baby step and how to get through it.

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