It's a position many Millennials say they find themselves in: drowning in debt.
MJ Bridges was no different, and found himself nearly $100,000 in the red.
"$96,942. I had student loan debt, credit card debt, and of course I had a car note," Bridges noted.
It was a breakdown on the interstate that really hammered his situation home.
"I was driving on I-20 and a ran out of gas, and I didn't have any money," Bridges recalled. "It was at that moment that I realized, I'm really bad with budgeting".
So the math teacher began devising a plan. He started by picking up side jobs as a tutor, then a DJ at a local club. The extra money he brought in went directly to the debt, and he started seeing progress.
"I was able to knock off about $25,000 in fifteen months," Bridges said.
But it was a new craze taking over the Atlanta streets that helped him reach his debt-free goal.
"I was running in Midtown and i saw this guy putting all these scooters in his car, and I’m like, 'Yo what’s goin' on?'"
Bridges soon found that the guy hauling off the scooters was getting paid to charge them, and he wanted in.
He began signing up for charging stations from the e-scooter companies. Soon he was packing as many scooters as possible in his car.
"I went from picking up 10 limes, to 20, to 30," Bridges said. "On the weekends I can pick up about 40 or 50."
"The scooter culture here has increased, and there’s more scooters on the streets," he added.
And more scooters equals more money. Money that got Bridges to his ultimate goal.
"I made about $28,000 charging e-scooters in just 10 months," he said.
Bridges paid off the full $97,000 in August, and now wants to help others do the same.
He founded Young and Debt Free, a brand to help guide millenials and students on their financial journey.
"One thing I'd like to encourage everyone is to just be intentional about your money. I’m just preparing to continue to go around and talk to college students and young professionals as a personal finance educator helping them create budgets, helping them build credit, and ultimately build wealth."
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