How 11 Real Women Achieved Their Money Goals

"When I started my business, my husband and I went from living in a comfortable two-income household to living on one income. Before I left my job, we created a budget to reflect only his income, wrote down all our expenses, and started cutting back. It took time to adjust, but we managed to lower our expenses enough so that we'd still stay afloat if I didn't accrue a dime in my first year of business. Any money I earned before starting my business went into savings. 

"My advice for future entrepreneurs is to take a look at your budget today and create a hypothetical one of what it would look like once you're a full-time entrepreneur. You'll need to adjust your income and, if there's any room to cut expenses, do so. It will definitely help!" —Rianka Dorsainvil, CFP, president and founder of Your Greatest Contribution financial planning firm

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"After college, I had $25,000 in student-loan debt and I started a business where I earned a third of what I was paid at a real job. I bootstrapped the business and my debt. At age 49, I no longer have credit card or student loan debt. You may have to give up an hour or two of TV every weekend to analyze your financial situation, and may have to find time to reach out to other experts to help you in your journey. But the key to success is spending time knowing your numbers. When paying off debt, every penny and dollar counts." —Betty Brennan, President of Taylor Studios, Inc.

"My partner and I started our social media agency business while we both had full-time jobs. We knew that the only way to grow it from a side hustle to a successful company was to quit our jobs, but we had to be very strategic about it. First, we calculated how much money we needed as a bare minimum to pay our rent and other basic living expenses. We worked for 10 months to save that cushion and, in May of 2012, we quit our full-time jobs. We were able to cash flow our business from the beginning by being resourceful and never spending more than we earned. In the early days, we bartered for office space and legal work, hired freelancers to be sure our overhead wasn't fixed, and once we reached a certain revenue after five months, we leased our first office for $1,000 a month. As of 2017, we're in our dream office space and have been able to grow our business without the stress of debt." —Courtney Spritzer, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of Socialfly

"I applied to several colleges and chose the one I could afford without taking out loans. I didn't realize it at the time, but not having student-loan debt made it possible for me to start a business and buy a house by the time I was 22. I'm now 29 and, aside from a home mortgage, I've stuck to the rule of paying cash for everything (wedding, cars, vacations). Anticipating and saving for big expenses and having an emergency fund makes this easier. A couple of years ago my car died just weeks after we bought a new house. We knew this day would come, as the car had 212,000 miles on it, so we had already set aside money to purchase a new (used) car separate from the savings we had for the new house. We also keep an emergency fund to avoid going into debt for the unexpected expenses."—Andrea Miller, founder of Music Studio Startup

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"Eight years ago, I found myself divorced with a 1-year-old, right when the recession came crashing down. I had a large mortgage, an infant, a job that was uncertain at best, a lofty travel schedule, and a bank account that had just been wiped out as a result of my divorce agreement. I thought my financial challenges were insurmountable. (Get inspired on the daily with this mantra tank from the Women's Health Boutique.)

"Looking back on my situation, I realize that the one thing I had in my favor is my confidence in myself. I knew that if I continued to work hard and tune everything else out, I would find a way out of my situation. The bigger challenge was leaving my baby with a full-time nanny while I was traveling for work. But each month I become stronger and my future appeared a little brighter. During this time, I kept a journal of my financial progress and would reference it anytime I felt down or discouraged about my struggles. Today, I still have a mortgage, but no longer worry about my paycheck each month." —Heather Monahan a.k.a. Boss in Heels, Business Expert 

"I'd been struggling with fertility for years and the financial cost of testing, prescriptions, procedures, and doctors visits started taking their toll financially, as well as emotionally. I was sacrificing the things that made me happy, as well as my financial goals, in the hope for a baby. After multiple miscarriages and thousands of dollars later, I realized I wasn't myself.  I came to the realization that I'm most likely going to be here a long time, with or without a baby. I stopped fertility treatments altogether, and created a proper budget. 

"Financially, you can never forget your long-term goals. Whatever your struggle, always make sure you put aside something for your financial future. Never forget about your future self." —Tiffany Welka, accredited wealth management advisor with VFG Associates in Livonia, Michigan

"At the time of my divorce, I was deep in credit-card debt, most of which was created by my ex-husband. We split the liability, but I later discovered that debt created in marriage cannot be shifted back to another person if they don't pay their obligations. This was a hard lesson to learn, but I recovered by developing a plan to pay off my debt and committing to monitoring it weekly. I made a budget and stuck with it. I sold my three-quarter carat diamond at a pawnshop among other things, and used the proceeds to pay down my debt. I spent one-third of my income for expenses, saved one-third for income taxes, and reinvested one-third to grow my business. I stayed in my small house, in a not-so-great neighborhood, to keep my expenses down and build my savings up. One of my biggest goals was to become one of the top 10 clients in my firm, and I'm proud to say I've achieved it while not being dependent on anyone but myself." —Kathy Fish, CFP, President at Fish and Associates

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"I was first introduced to debt when I graduated with a larger student loan and lower salary than I was expecting. I had to take a serious look at my monthly bills, cut out every unessential expense, and scale back on the rest. I worked in a small amount for food, transit, and entertainment, and used the majority of my paychecks to pay debts. Being up-front with my friends and colleagues about my situation made saying 'no' a whole lot easier. They were sensitive to my lifestyle and never bothered me when I'd skip out on team lunches. They even offered free or cheap alternatives to accommodate my situation." —Larissa Hildebrant, program manager, marketing professional and blogger at Budget Undercover

"I was a producer for CNN and the BBC in Middle East war zones while constantly struggling to make ends meet, scrambling to pay out-of-pocket field expenses, and having no real life beyond the job. Getting sick and having to quit seemed like the worst thing that could happen at the time, but rebuilding my life and career by chronicling my journey to health turned out to be the best thing I've ever done. I've managed to pay off the debts accrued during my sickness and created a niche for myself as a blogger and author. It took me a long time to understand that the career I loved so much was making me sick. But after quitting, I built a business by embracing what I knew—my illness [histamine intolerance, which is when your body can't properly break down histamines, leading to allergy-like symptoms] and healing. I think my passion for the subject drives the success of the business and it means I have no problem working till the job is good and done."  —Yasmina Ykelenstam, former CNN and the BBC producer, now health and lifestyle writer at healinghistamine.com

"In 2008, I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a considerable amount of student debt. According to the debt-payment schedule, I'd be paying off that debt into my late thirties, which seemed like a really long time. At my first job out of college, as a front-end web developer for a publisher, I calculated how much I made in take-home pay each day and tried to spend below budget daily. Breaking down my budget to daily expenditures helped me simplify spending and keep it top of mind, which made avoiding impulse purchases easier. Additionally, I started doing photography and GIF-making for fun.

"After a year or so, companies started asking me to work on commercial projects. That built up a steady flow of freelance work and additional income, which I used to pay down my student debt and buy more photography equipment. In 2015, at the age of 28, I made my last student-loan payment. In 2016, I purchased my first home, rebuilt my savings, and decided to give freelancing full-time a try. Budgeting in my early twenties was occasionally a huge pain. I remember wondering how some of my co-workers were managing to travel, go out to eat, and shop all the time. But now, I feel that this budgeting and extra freelance work were what helped me get closer to the life I want." —Sandy Noto, freelance photographer and designer

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"Once I paid off a credit card, I didn't close that card—which means I've had relationships with several credit card companies for as long as 10 years. I frequently get zero-interest balance transfer offers, so I keep transferring balances to avoid paying interest. I had a 25 percent interest fee on an airline credit card, so transferring that balance was a huge help. You pay a fee to transfer a balance, but even a couple hundred dollars up front is worth it instead of paying all the interest on the back end. Between February 2016 and November 2016, I paid off the last $12,000 on my credit cards and paid off the final $2,000 on a loan leftover from when I closed my business. " —Lisa Rowan, personal finance writer