This Person Used an App to Repay His Student Loan and Reached the 800 Credit Score Club in Just 4 Years

Student loans often stay with people for many years after college graduation. Oftentimes, they even become a major hurdle that keeps people in vulnerable financial situations during their early working years. Zachary from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania found himself in a similar situation.

After graduating high school in 2005, Zach enrolled in a culinary school in Philadelphia with a student loan. Later on, he was transferred to the Johnson & Wales nutrition program in Denver, Colorado. After making the move to Denver, he realized that the culinary credits he had earned in Philadelphia wouldn't count at his new institution.

This compelled him to pursue a second degree in culinary science for the earned credits that didn't get transferred from his time at Philadelphia. In the process, he had no other option but to take out more student loans in addition to the existing ones.

Like many of us, it took Zach a while to figure out what was best for him. During his tenure at Denver, for instance, he heard about a teacher who traveled continents including Antarctica, and wished he could do the same thing. By the time he graduated, Zach was in a debt of $35,000 in student loans and was working without breaks for 12 bucks an hour.

Although Zach had a knack for culinary science, he was still exploring what could inspire him to get up every morning and work passionately towards making society a better place. Before he finished college, Zach met someone studying public health whose story and experience intrigued him so much that he pursued a graduate program in public health. Once he finally found a path that he believed in, it was time to make the best out of his current financial situation - one that mainly revolved around student loans.

How Zach Became Debt-Free in 4 Years

When you're in debt but have dreams that you want to fulfill, smart work and financial literacy are more important than simply working hard without breaks. Zach could see that if he wanted to earn a degree in public health and travel the world, he needed to understand his credit profile in depth and repay his loan as quickly as possible.

His dreams drove him to sign up for an AI-powered credit monitoring app. This app fetches your credit profile from the major credit bureau TransUnion, offers you financial insights on how to prioritize loan accounts, helps you raise disputes for incorrect entries on your credit reports, and improves your credit score.

Why is all of this important, you ask? Well, your credit profile actually determines your creditworthiness. A high credit score shows that you are financially responsible. It also improves your chances of securing loans, insurance policies at affordable premiums, mortgages, and even jobs.

Credit scores generally depend on your loan repayment history, credit utilization, loan applications, and mix of credit accounts like personal loan, mortgage, credit card debt. A credit profile from any of the major credit bureaus like TransUnion, Experian, or Equifax details your active and closed loan accounts, loan applications, late payment fees, and credit score.

Zach had emotional ties to his dream of going to Antarctica. That was the driving reason behind his wanting to get out of debt as early as possible. He thought that if he earned $60,000 annually and lived on $30,000, he could dedicate his savings towards taxes and debt. Credit Sesame helped him monitor his progress every step of the way.

Zach always reminded himself that he had to become debt-free. This helped him sort out his priorities. He didn't use a smartphone and stayed away from any luxuries that could derail his plans for a bright and financially stable future. For four years, he lived like a student; but in the end, he felt like it was worth it. He believes that Credit Sesame helped him evaluate his financial moves and become financially aware by providing him with a vivid picture of his monthly progress.

At present, he is completely debt-free having repaid $96,000 in student loans with a master's degree in public health from the University of Texas and years of experience in the field. Zach also feels that even though he took out more student loans than he needed and had some missteps along the way, it was all a part of his learning process.

Not too long ago, Zach finally fulfilled his dream of starting a new job in Antarctica. He shares that he is grateful he prioritized paying off his massive debt in his early working years. Because of all of the hard work he put in, he was even able to build a strong credit score above 800.

Credit Sesame Could Also Protect You Against Cybercrime

Millions have gotten in trouble because of data theft, especially since the pandemic. Credit Sesame happens to offer a free credit monitoring service for this, as well. It will notify you of any changes to your credit limits, loan accounts, and personal information so you can review them and directly dispute errors with credit bureaus as needed.

Credit Sesame helps over 15 million people monitor their credit rep and fetches free TransUnion credit reports every month. They can even help you file disputes for erroneous entries on your credit report. This is very important since any loan account you don't recognize or incorrect inquiries could stay on your report for years and tank your credit score.

Sign up for Credit Sesame for free in just 90 seconds here.