I first moved to New York City in 2013 to pursue a dream internship, working as a press agent for Broadway shows and actors.
Every day, I found myself refreshing my social media news feeds to see what next trend was, where were the latest influencers eating and hanging out, and what were they wearing?
Little by little, these things I was consuming from other bloggers online started to become a part of a necessary lifestyle I wanted to chase. A lifestyle based on people I had never even met or spoken to.
I didn’t use the word ‘influencer’ at the time, although I was on the journey to becoming just that. At the time, I just wanted to keep up with the online personas I was trying to emulate.
This meant constant online shopping for a closet that enabled me to ‘never repeat an outfit’ for a picture, endless Açai bowls and brunches and a need to feed my newly acquired travel bug without consideration of the potential risks of being in debt – all to show off to my newfound followers.
Having a small but mighty presence on social media meant I could attend things for free and receive the occasional gifted experience but my entry-level salary was minimal, so I was paying for my rent and increasingly extravagant lifestyle using a small savings account, and a handful of plastic.
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Without any sense of financial literacy, I was paying a minimum credit card payment on time but disproportionately continuing to spend while not catching up.
Within three years, I found myself in almost $10,000 of credit card debt.
My financial wake-up call came when I finally sat down and tallied up how much debt I’d accumulated. I was shocked, scared, and disappointed. With all that debt looming over my head, it all felt like I was living a lie.
I decided that I would have to start living well under my means to quickly eliminate the credit card bills that were haunting me.
I took the $600 apartment with an hour commute of my work, went out with friends only a handful of times and learned how to cook for myself.
At first, this behind-the-scenes lifestyle change made me feel sad. I had had this vision for my new life in the big city, which now felt nowhere near reality.
Nothing about my social media presence indicated any of these sacrifices, because as my audience grew, so did the free experiences and perks of being an ‘influencer’ – meaning I could spend less and still keep up with the story I was telling.
I was also asked to travel a lot for work, so I extended trips and used airline miles to get to the places I wanted to.
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Somewhere along the way, I started to feel a ‘high’ of sorts about making payments back quickly. It felt like a huge achievement – getting out of debt became a game that I was winning.
I started sharing these hacks with my audience, and changed my voice online. The lifestyle I had been showing off now became a little more personal, and without explicitly talking about debt, I started to talk about the realities of being an influencer – including what is ‘real’, and what isn’t.
My audience numbers exploded but the growth I was more focused on was my change in perception.
By the start of 2018, I had cleared my credit card debt entirely, and also the dirty habits that got me there.
This was achieved by being transparent with myself about my finances, and prioritising my repayments over social experiences.
I also kicked my online shopping addiction and made use of the closet I’d already built, adding on services like Rent the Runway.
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I was now travelling well under my budget with the hacks, miles, and airline credit I’d accumulated through jet-setting during the previous years.
These days a consistent flow of deals with brands, as well as monetising my platforms and expertise, net me an average of $10,000 per month – that’s more than the debt I was in because of social media.
But here’s the reality. While that debt might just have turned out to be a ‘business investment’ for me, many of us are not this lucky.
I had a wake-up call right in time before it was too late and I had the luxury of what I call ‘offline’ income while pursuing new ventures.
With the costs of hiring professionals to create content and keeping up with a lifestyle that’s not realistic, it’s natural for up-and-coming influencers to run into debt quickly.
These days I try to be more mindful in my approach to social media. On top of reminding myself to continue to live responsibly, I have to stop myself from coveting the things I see online for the sake of ‘catching up’.
I ask myself: am I actually doing this for the pure joy of this moment? Or am I doing this because I want to show it off to my followers?
More than anything, I learned that there is no lifestyle worth the feeling of financial pressure. Being open and honest about my experiences is the biggest relief in a world where so much of what we see is fake.
Debt Month
This article is part of a month-long focus in November all about debt.
Scary word, we know, but we're hoping if we tackle this head on we'll be able to reduce the shame around money struggles and help everyone improve their understanding of their finances.
Throughout November we'll be publishing first-person accounts of debt, features, advice, and explainers. You can read everything from the month on the Debt Month tag.
If you have a story to share, a topic you want us to cover, or a question that needs answering, get in touch at MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/27/debt-diaries-becoming-influencer-left-10k-debt-11223276/
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