January 28, 2022 marked my one year anniversary of paying off my student loans . Reflecting back on choosing to pay off my student loans leaves me with several take a ways that I want to share with you! In September 2020 I decided to become debt free by utilizing the debt snowball method to pay off all my debt. Before this I had struggled to save and really understand basic financial principles. As a first-generation college student, I received a scholarship to attend undergrad for free, but the scholarship did not cover summers. During the summers I took out student loans to cover costs without paying interest rates or how much I was taking out. By the end of undergrad I had amassed a little under $17K. Fast forward to graduate school I received another scholarship that covered my education. At the time I was a teacher in a new very expensive city and I had missed the cutoff to have my paycheck last me throughout the summer. So, I decided to take out a loan for two summers to keep
(This
a photo of a painting of a sunset with a large tree used as a thumbnail for my YouTube video
on Ms. Duggan Practices Self-Care .)
With so much happening in our world, self-care is a major deal for me right now. Sometimes I think we forget that self-care is an Adult Daily Living Skill. If you take care of everything else and not yourself then what do you have? Absolutely nothing! With social media sometimes, we think that self-care equals an expensive shopping trip or a spa day.
(This is a photo of a lady saying "Treat yo' self!")
However, self-care is essentially, what you make it.
While a fancy shopping trip or spa day may be it for you something as simple as
a day at the park or exercising can meet someone else’s requirements. I myself
took a virtual painting class about two weeks ago with a group of students that
I tutor on a Saturday afternoon. Honestly, after getting up early that morning
to run some run errands so I could be ready for the class I was not looking forward
to it. But once the painting began, I felt so calm, relaxed, and centered. I didn’t
want it to end!
(This is a photo of a painting that I completed in a virtual painting class of a sunset with a large tree in the middle.)
A few tips I have for practicing self-care are to make
it your own. Don’t feel the need to do what everyone else is doing. Create a
schedule so that when life gets hectic you have already penciled yourself in. Lastly,
try something new! While I have done a painting class before I had never done a
virtual one and I actually enjoyed the virtual better! Do you have anything
that you typically do for self-care? I want to know, so drop down in those
comments and give me some new ideas! If you want to see how my virtual painting
went be sure to click on the link below and don’t forget to subscribe!
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