She paid off $15,000 of credit card debt in one year
I had the pleasure of chatting with Bridgette Vong, a beacon of insight into personal finance and maintaining a work-life balance as a young adult. Through our conversation, Bridgette shared her transformative journey, peppered with nuggets of wisdom on how she paid off her credit card debt within one year, and developed healthier mindsets for financial abundance.
The Journey to Personal Finance
In the midst of financial turmoil, Bridgette decided to make a shift in her social media content to shed light on her journey of getting out of debt and learn more about personal finance.
After blowing up on TikTok, Bridgette mentioned, “It filled me with so much purpose that this was not an isolating feeling.”
She explained how a big part of her journey in personal finance was pushing through discomfort. “I distinctly remember going numb,” Bridgette said, when she sat down and attempted to do her taxes in 2023.
Through meticulous budgeting and the daunting task of doing her taxes, she chiselled away at her financial challenges. That year she also focused on creating a healthier mindsets around money – releasing spending guilt, embodying affluence, and viewing money more spiritually.
Bridgette finds herself more enthusiastic about her monthly budgeting as she reflects on her situation in 2024. “It feels almost like an accomplishment every time I do it, whereas before it felt like a task” she emphasized. “It’s like a game. Did we do well? Let’s check in.”
Although the process is gradual, she believes the resiliency you learn from tackling challenges such as finances and taxes transcends into other facets of life—a testament to the transformative power of confronting discomfort head-on.
Money Mindsets for Financial Abundance
Do you have spending guilt? Same. To fight this issue, Bridgette recommends asking these questions before making a purchase: “How does a wealthy person act? How do they show up in a room? What are they spending their money on?”
Embracing the mindset of affluence became a cornerstone for Bridgette as she navigated personal finance. “For me, that helped shift the mindset of how I was spending money – for why it’s ok to buy an avocado toast and a coffee, or take an Uber for my safety instead of taking public transit.”
Bridgette thinks your financial mindset is equally important to any other mindset. “When you start to shift it, it will change the way you interact with money. In the way you spend it, and also in the way that you receive it,” she elaborates. “It’s actually such a fun and spiritual practice, of being able to lean into that abundance mindset.”
Reflecting on her journey, Bridgette underwent a significant financial shift in just one year. “12 months ago, I was still $15,000 in debt and not a dollar to my name,” she reveals.
Fast forward to today, and she's undergone a complete transformation—debt-free and having left her 9-5 job for freelance work. Yet, she acknowledges that newfound financial success, can influence your ego to intertwine wealth with self-worth.“There’s a dissociation that is healthy and needs to happen. It is just a tool to help be who you are. But it’s not the encompassing identity of a person.”
The Duality of Living Alone
Being an introvert by nature, Bridgette cherishes her alone time. She believes living alone in her apartment has allowed her to dive into different hobbies.
Yet, she describes how spending too much time alone has fuelled her hyper independence. “Now I can’t picture myself living with anyone else, or it’s hard to accept things that will disrupt my peace. But there’s definitely both sides… I’m actively growing and learning about myself as it goes.” she admits.
“For me it’s coming up a lot in relationships and in the dating scene, I’m just too hyper independent. While I love it and I think it’s such a wonderful thing about me, it’s hard for me to accept help, accept love and be able to lean into a more gentle part of myself.”
Bridgette also swears by listening to your body and that rest is productive. Every day she takes a break from work to replenish her energy. Whether that’s having a nap, grabbing a coffee, or getting some fresh air – she does what calls to her that day. To her, that is balance.
Being a freelancer and living alone has also given her the opportunity to create a more flexible schedule. Do some work in the evening with a glass of wine and tv? Sign me up!
Back to the duality of things however, discipline is important here. “Because you live alone, you have no-one to hold you accountable.” Bridgette warns. “If I slept for 18 hours a day no-one would know!”
To maintain this discipline, she asks herself.. “What does ‘productivity’ mean to me today?”
Get Bridgette’s Expense Tracker
I think I could have spoken to Bridgette for an entire afternoon. Her approach of showing the journey rather than the destination, allow more people to truly resonate with her. For someone who is also learning about all things personal finance, taxes, and investing, it can seem intimidating to listen to someone who (in my eyes) has already made it. When Bridgette showed her journey with so much transparency, it was the motivation I needed to finally pick up that personal finance book, and get to work.
Monthly budgeting is something we both bonded over in this episode, and if you’ve been wanting a simple way to track your expenses look no further! Bridgette's Expense Tracker Notion Template is here to change the way you manage your money.
Make sure to follow Bridgette on Instagram and listen to the entire episode where we also dive into her “detox” of what she needed to let go to dive further dive into her inner-power.
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Photo Bianca Venchiarutti, the writer of The Twenties Detox
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