How Four Millennial Sisters Joined

Forces To Demolish $182K Debt

Within Two Years ..
When four 20-something sisters in the small town of Plainview, Texas,
realized they were all drowning in debt and scratching to get by, they decided
to band together and tackle their problem as a family.
We had accumulated $182,000 in student loans, credit cards and car loans
collectively, said Rufina Barrientos, a clinical laboratory scientist, now 30.
Our yearly income came out to about $106,000, so it sounded plausible that
we could effectively pay down our debt in three years. Being the youngest, I
thought I was getting the best deal out of the arrangement. I was two years out
of college, when most student loans take 10 or more years to pay off. Score!
It was 2010 and Barrientos and her sisters Dee, Ana, and Amy were ready.
Wed had our disagreements in the past, but we grew to respect each other as
women out in the real world, Barrientos says. So not only did we decide to
live together, but help each other pay our loans and debt regardless of how
much we came in with.
The sisters met every Sunday to talk about their collective and individual
financial status, as well as what theyd need for meals during the week. These
sessions were like therapy too because only three other people in the world
knew what I was going through, and it was nice to have company during our
joint quarter life crises, Barrientos says. The emotional setbacks were
overshadowed by the amount of traction we were hitting with our debt.

How they saved money

They rented a $1,000 three-bedroom duplex in Dallas (the den was converted
to a fourth bedroom), saving them $400 a month off the bat. Then they drew
up a contract. The rules were relatively simple:
1. They direct-deposited all their paychecks to joint account, which paid
monthly bills, groceries, medical bills and car maintenance; all the leftover
income would be thrown to the debt.
2. They planned to tackle the smallest debt first , ala Dave Ramsey. That
meant credit card debt got paid off first, student loan debt last.
3. They each got $75 in spending money every two weeks.
4. They were religious about recording everything. We took advantage of our
sister Anas borderline OCD tendencies and she made spreadsheets for
everything: debt, income, monthly bills and even groceries, Barrientos says.
They stopped shopping for anything unnecessary. We basically became
minimalists, Barrientos said. They also became fierce bargain-hunters by:

Studying grocery store sales and going to Wal-Mart and invoking its price-match
deal.

Cutting cable and using Groupon GRPN +0.02% for going out to movies, the library for
books, and Redbox for renting movies. That also cut the advertising we were
exposed to so we didnt know what we were missing out on most days, Barrientos
says.

Scoring clothing at thrift stores.

Negotiating. Making phone calls and being that person who demands to speak to
a supervisor is something that we embraced during this time, Barrientos says. For
example, Amys loans had gone to collection, and she was able to negotiate
dismissal of fees in exchange for nine months of automatic payments. She also
avoided paying a traffic ticket by showing up at court and going on probation.

Shopping for the best deal on insurance. They found a policy that would take
payments automatically from Anas check at work, saving them $1,130 in a sixmonth period.
When dining out, they split entrees and drank only water.
When gifts were required, they got creative: For a baby shower, they donated
their organizational and decorating skills instead of buying presents. For birthdays
they made a happy birthday dance video. For Christmas they took a photo and
made their own cards.

How they made extra money

Barrientos took a second lab-tech job on weekends at a hospital in the next
town over. Sister Ana moonlighted at her insurance company marketing job by
waiting tables at night. Dee, who worked at a pharmaceutical insurance
company, was able to take advantage of significant overtime. That is when
our plan went into overdrive.
Perhaps most important, they learned to negotiate. During the course of our
time together we were all promoted at work, in no small part to being more
willing to speak up and letting our superiors know what we wanted and that
we thought we were worth it, Barrientos says. When I got my second job I
made sure to negotiate my salary there as well, I made $400 more a month
because of it.
By January, 2012, theyd increased their combined income by 50% and were
taking home more than $15,000 per month.

Results came quickly

Within one month, all their credit cards were paid off.
Within six months, all their cars were paid off.
Eighteen months in, all four student loans were paid off.
We invited all our friends to come out and celebrate with
us at a night club, and we danced all night long. And that

June we took our parents to Cancun to celebrate at our

first debt-free vacation. We paid everything up front,
Barrientos says.
Then they decided to stay together longer and help out
other people in their family, including $12,000 to their
father to get a work truck and $18,000 so he could
renovate their grandmothers home; and $5,000 to their
brother to help pay off loans while his wife was out of
work due to an injury. When Barrientos totaled her car,
they used the insurance money plus joint funds to buy her
a new one within two weeks.
Once they were debt free, the sisters felt like it was easier
to make big decisions. Barrientos moved to Los Angeles.
Dee, 33, took a job in Hawaii, Amy, 34, moved to Austin
and Ana, 32, got married. Once they all went their
separate ways, the money-sharing ended.
Lessons learned
Barrientos says that it was essential to know exactly how
much they owed every month. Tracking the debt to keep
us going, and making a pie chart or some representation
of what we had accomplished was a big motivator, month
after month, she said.
It all sounds simple enough, but it wasnt easy. Making
thousands of dollars a month but only being able to spend
a few hundred on our own was rough, Barrientos says.
Sometimes it felt like our independence was gone
because we always had to check in with three people to
make a simple monetary decision like asking for an
increase in allowance for gas because prices went up.
Also, working all the time was not good for our mental
and physical health. We would need to speak up for one
another and say, hey, you need a day off or youre going

to crack. We implemented a sisters day, where we would

all ask for the same day off and go to a museum or movie,
or go bowling, and get dinner together just to hang out
and unwind.
Dee left her job in Hawaii and is living with Barrientos in
Los Angeles, working a seasonal job at Dodgers Stadium
and the two of them are back at it. Barrientos said, We
are sharing money. We dont keep track but we use each
others incomes interchangeably for whatever is needed.