How Nick Loper Made A Life Of Side Hustling | Side Hustle Nation

Pretty much everyone knows that paying off debt is not an easy task. It takes conviction, a strong "why", a plan, a budget and LOTS of encouragement. And as a coach, I've seen that one of the best ways for our students to stay motivated is to hear other people's stories, listen to their struggles and live vicariously through their wins.

This is the whole reason I started this "Journey To Debt-Freedom" series. I wanted to curate a reservoir of personal stories that will help you "find your own story" and keep marching forward toward your personal finance goals and ultimately to debt-freedom and beyond. 

Along those lines, if you have a "debt-free" or "on-my-way-to debt-free" story, I'd love to share yours with our audience. It's always such a gift to our subscribers and fans to hear your particular story AND will help you, especially if you have a a blog/platform/YouTube channel you want to promote (although that's not at all necessary).

Next up in our "Journey To Debt-Freedom" series, meet Nick Loper!

Introduce yourself, Nick.

Nick Loper, outside of Seattle, mainly focused on helping people earn extra money through The Side Hustle Show and SideHustleNation.com. 

Give me a little bit of background about your financial situation and your decision to "tackle it". Tell me about how much debt you've paid off so far and in how much time. What is your debt made up of?

So I'm extremely grateful in that I've never really had any non-mortgage debt. I graduated college debt free thanks to a combination of scholarships, part-time work, and help from mom and dad. They instilled a solid frugality and approach to money that always had me living below my means.

Looking for a way to get started on your own debt-free journey? Check out my: 

 “Debt-Elimination Quick-Start Guide”. This free resource will have ALL the tools, forms and printables you’ll need while moving through this 30 day challenge.

What was "the moment" you decided, "enough is enough" and what actions did you take or resources did you use to get the process started?

I realized I didn't have much desire to climb the corporate ladder, but obviously needed a way to support myself. How do people without jobs afford to live? Usually one of 3 ways: 1. They have a huge investment portfolio. 2. They own real estate. 3. They have their own business. I opted for the 3rd path — the sweat equity path — and even though it took a while, I was determined to figure out a way to be my own boss and take back control of my time.

Looking for a ways to live more frugally and address your debt? Check out my: 100 Frugal Ways To Save Money And Get Out Of Debt.

What was your "why"? What kept you going when you wanted to quit? How did you stay motivated?

It was humiliating as a "grown-up" to ask my boss' permission to take vacation. And I only had like 10 days a year — and he never said no, but it just felt pretty lame to not be able to control my own calendar.

Check out my video review of Nick's book:

Describe your "belief system" about money and (if/how) has it changed? Maybe even talk about how you were brought up to think about money and how that changed as you progressed through the process.

Somehow mom and dad instilled positive spending habits, probably through their own example of intentional spending. They had no problem spending money on things they valued, but were excellent savers in other areas. Early on, I chased money for the sake of money. I think that's evolved to a better understanding of money as a tool to buy back your time. When income from assets you control exceeds your monthly expenses, you're free.

What have been the biggest/toughest sacrifices you've made in your personal finance/debt-elimination process?

It never really felt like much of a sacrifice, but there were a few lean years trying to turn the business around that in the short-term, I would have been better off getting a "real" job. It was one step back for what I hoped would turn out to be two steps forward.

Describe how it feels to be debt-free. 

We're debt-free aside from our new mortgage. I like the idea and the challenge of paying it down on an accelerated schedule, but since the rate is so low I'm not sure it's the best use of excess cash right now. I think we'll play both sides — throw some extra cash toward the principal every month, but also make sure to keep investing.

This “$1000 In 30 Days Challenge and Resource Pack” is designed to help you find, cut and/or earn $1000 inside of 30 days so that you can: pay off debt with it, save it or invest it.

Here's the free downloadable/printable PDF.

What are some pieces of advice you would give to someone who's ready to get serious about tackling their finances?

It's a team sport, with a FI-nish line. When my wife and I stopped tracking everything separately and started looking at our assets and net worth together, we became a lot more motivated. Gamify it. I once read that on any given day, Amazon is testing 1000 variables on their site, trying to eke out incremental conversion rate gains. You can apply the same broad optimization strategy in your own life, tweaking one variable at a time in short-term experiments to see how they make you feel.

Where can we find you (website, social media, etc.)?

https://www.sidehustlenation.com

https://facebook.com/groups/sidehustlenation

https://youtube.com/nickloper

The new book is at http://1k100ways.com

Free list of side hustle ideas —> https://www.sidehustlenation.com/ideas/

Call To Action

Now that you've heard Nick's story, maybe you're ready to take a closer look at a "framework" to start your own "journey to debt freedom". And, if you’ve hung out on this platform for any length of time, you’ll know I’m all about helping you to take action. And here are two very easy next steps to keep you moving in the right direction:

1. Download our free PDF guide that goes along with this series: “Debt-Elimination Quick-Start Guide”. This has a very comprehensive and dedicated video on establishing your “why”.
2. Head over to YouTube and start with the “Day 0” video. You can totally binge-watch the whole series if you want. That “first pass” will give you an idea of where you are and what it’s going to take for you to get to the next level with your own personal situation. And again, starting with your “why” is the absolute most important step.

I want for you to capitalize on any and all emotional momentum you’ve gotten from this piece of content by committing two just getting started by completing those two actions I mentioned above. If you’ve done that, congratulations, you’ve started! Now just follow the breadcrumbs and please let me know what’s helpful and what you might need more detail around.

Struggling Or Feeling Alone?

Join Our Private FB Group: Zero Debt Tribe

Now, if this decision process is something you struggle with and you constantly feel isolated about, I’ve got some great news for you and it’s free.

Our private Facebook group, ZeroDebtTribe. It’s a group of like minded people that are all somewhere along this P2P/debt-elimination/on their way to FI continuum. So click the image above and apply to join us. :)

Call To Action 

So, we’re all about taking action around here, so I wanted to offer you this free little resource that will help you get your finances organized an on track in less than 4 hours. It’s called our “Debt-Elimination Quick-Start Guide” and the link is in the video description below.

Looking for a way to get started on your own debt-free journey? Check out my: 

 “Debt-Elimination Quick-Start Guide”. This free resource will have ALL the tools, forms and printables you’ll need while moving through this 30 day challenge.

How can ZeroDebtCoach help you? 4 ways...

1. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the notifications bell to make sure you get our new videos every week. 

2. Download one of our free personal finance guides. You’ll learn some of the exact strategies I teach my private coaching students on how to organize and optimize their finances, obliterate debt and move on to financial independence by starting and growing online businesses.

3. If you’re looking for a community of motivated and like-minded people, go ahead and get on the waitlist to join our private financial coaching community. We only open it for new students a couple of times a year, so make sure to get on the waitlist.

5. If you need some help right now because you’ve got a burning issue, you need a problem solved, you want to talk through a complex situation, click on the button below.

All that said, let's keep on building your financial acumen and make this your best year yet!

Thanks so much for reading and we’ll see you in the next video post!

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