"Traumatized by his student loan burden, a switch flipped at 20: he turned extremely frugal and adapted several side hustles to find a way to pay it off, embracing the life of underconsumption. "My brain in that one instant was like, I have to completely overhaul my life," Bradley, now 32 and known on TikTok as @BradleyOnABudget, tells Fortune. Since September of 2013, he's paid off $80,000 toward his loans. He still has $114,000 left in a Parent PLUS loan under his mother's name, which he hopes will be forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The federal loans in his own name-originally around $25,000 but grown to $35,000-were recently discharged through the Borrower's Defense to Repayment program."
"But the underconsumption didn't stop in his 20s. Since implementing these habits he still lives this way today. "I'd rather have my $2 lunch than a $20 meal, that's just how my brain works," Bradley says. "A lot of people spend money to fit in. I don't see the point in spending more for things when it's unnecessary like clothes, going out to eat, a newer car.""
Bradley enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America with limited interests outside baking and pastries. A week before graduation he learned he had $134,000 in debt, which with interest grew to about $147,000, and projected monthly payments of $1,500 while earning $12–$13 per hour. At age 20 he adopted extreme frugality and added side hustles to aggressively repay loans. Since September 2013 he has paid off $80,000. He still carries a $114,000 Parent PLUS loan he hopes will be forgiven under Public Service Loan Forgiveness, while his own federal loans were discharged through Borrower's Defense to Repayment. He continues to live modestly and avoid discretionary spending.
Read at Fortune
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