On Episode 59 of Your Financial Pharmacist Podcast, Tim Baker, founder of Script Financial and YFP Team Member, interviews Adam and Brittany Patterson. On Episode 31, Adam detailed how they paid off $211,000 of student loan debt in 26 months. Adam and Brittany are 2015 graduates from Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy. Brittany is a pharmacist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Adam is a pharmacist at Northeast Georgia Medical Center and Assistant Pharmacy Manager at Publix Pharmacy.
Mentioned on the Show
- YFP Student Loan Refinancing Resources
- YFP Episode 031: One Pharmacist’s Journey to Paying Off $211,000 in 26 Months
- Mint.com
- Script Financial
- Dave Ramsey
- Alabama Pharmacy Association (APA)
- National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)
- YFP Facebook Group
Episode Transcript
Tim Baker: Adam and Brittany, welcome to the Your Financial Pharmacist podcast. How are you guys doing today?
Brittany Patterson: Good.
Adam Patterson: Great, thanks for having us.
Brittany Patterson: Yeah, thanks for having us.
Tim Baker: So I would say, Adam, and you did a good job on Episode 031 when you were last on detailing your amazing debt-free that you did and excellent job of calling out Brittany and giving her credit to this journey of paying back debt, but I’m so happy, Brittany, to bring you on and kind of hear your side of the story. That episode, in particular, has been a huge success. It’s actually our third most downloaded episode with almost 1,600 downloads. And I think it just resonates with a lot of pharmacists out there. So kind of if you would, tell us a little bit about yourself and walk us through kind of — Brittany, I guess I’m talking to you of this debt-free story and kind of recap, you know, how it came to be, how you got through it. And let’s go from there.
Brittany Patterson: Yeah, so it’s great to be here. I know Adam talked a lot about our story. I guess he made it sound it like it was all nice and easy, but we really did have a big struggle, you know, those 2.4 years that we went through this. You know, we got that first letter, I guess six months when we got out, and it said, ‘Hey, great job finishing school, but you know, we need our money back.’ And that’s just something that we didn’t really talk about in school. And so we were texting all of our classmates, trying to figure out what they were going to do, and they didn’t know. And so we kind of bit the bullet and that’s why we just decided to refinance. Both of us came out working retail jobs, and so we refinanced, about a year into your retail, you got your job at the hospital. And that was hard because Adam was working night shift, and I was working day shift, so you know, he would be driving out of the neighborhood when I would be driving in the neighborhood. I think we would go three full days of not seeing each other. So it may sound real great, oh, only 2.4 years, but that was really — I mean, it felt very long when we were in the middle of it. It’s not as easy as it sounds. It was very hard work. But it was definitely hard work that paid off in the end. And we had that support of each other, we were on the same page with money. You know, that’s what we — when we just spoke recently to students, we told them that money is one of the biggest issues that couple fight about. And I feel like for us, that’s something that we never really have arguments about. We’re on the same page with money, and we’ve been kind of there since Day 1, knowing how we were going to refinance and everything. And so even though it’s been hard work, we’ve always been on the same page, and it’s definitely helped our marriage too throughout all of it.
Tim Baker: Yeah, it’s funny, when I was preparing for this episode, I went back and it’s one of the few times, actually, to go back as a listener. And I listened to Episode 031 again, and one of the things that Adam said was, smart decisions, hard work and sacrifices, those are really the three things that allowed us to propel you guys forward to pay off the debt. And another thing that Brittany, you mentioned was the refinance. I think you guys refinanced your rate of 6-7% over 10 years down to I think it was 4.25% over five years, kind of locking you into more of an aggressive payment process but also saving you about $65,000 in interest over the course of paying that off. So I guess for you guys, what has been since you paid off the loans, what’s been going on? Like what’s been the big driver of like where do you go from there? Like what’s been the big difference in life since the loans have been paid off?
Brittany Patterson: You know what’s funny is we were just talking about that this morning. I think we work more now than we did when we paying off loans.
Tim Baker: Really?
Adam Patterson: I can agree 100% with that.
Brittany Patterson: Yes. People are like, oh, your loans are paid off, you’re going to enjoy it so much. And I’m thinking, I think we work more now than we did then, but we’re so accustomed to it that it doesn’t seem like a big difference to us.
Adam Patterson: I think it’s about goal-driven too is setting your sights on what’s into the future and just trying to get there. But also, you have to enjoy every bit of it and take some time and have free time for yourself. But yeah, hustle’s been real. We’ve been hustling since we finished paying off loans, still keeping both jobs, Brittany’s been working a little bit extra too, and I work my full 70 and then turn around and pick up a whole other 44, 45 hours in my off week and then back around again, 70 hours again the next week. So it’s been nonstop.
Tim Baker: It’s funny though, because like I think what, you know, it’s kind of like the get-rich-quick schemes that are out there, one of the things I often say to clients and even when we’re speaking is, you know, the key here, especially if you want to retire early or if you want to get through the debt is a lot of it is just elbow grease and is just kind of putting your head down and working hard. There’s not a lot of fancy schemes or tricks. It’s about, you know, really maximizing income and being smart with, you know, budget. I know, Adam, you talked about how, you know, Mint.com was a big part of this. And Brittany, I know you are a Mint.com addict, it kind of is safe to say that.
Brittany Patterson: Yes.
Tim Baker: So and then just having that kind of 100% transparency between the two of you and really looking at it as your loans, but you know, so not much has changed. Obviously, I knew that you guys — and to kind of full disclosure here, you know, Adam mentioned he would be reaching out to me and Script Financial about working together. And you guys did in February, you kind of came on and became clients. And that’s why I have a little bit of an inside track to what’s been going on. But I was reviewing your finances, just in the time that you guys have come on, your net worth has grown exponentially. And it’s really just exciting to see because you guys obviously took a negative of the $211,000 and in two years and change, took that off the balance sheet. And now, you’re perpetuating that same type of mentality and really deploying your resources to your goals. So one of the things that you guys talked about when we did kind of the ‘find your way’ was experiences. And you guys took a vacation here recently. Where did you guys go? How was that?
Adam Patterson: We took a trip to Ireland. We went for a little under two weeks. It was breathtaking. It was amazing.
Brittany Patterson: So much fun.
Adam Patterson: Being able to cash flow pretty much everything and knowing you’re not having to worry about spending this, spending that, because you’ve worked hard, we’ve worked hard, we’ve saved for it. It’s a great payoff, treating yourself to something like that after you finish accomplishing one of those goals.
Brittany Patterson: Yeah, we didn’t have to limit ourselves on the trip, which is nice. We weren’t afraid about not being able to afford a dinner or buying a souvenir because we knew that we worked hard before we went on this trip, and we were able to, you know, buy the things that we wanted to buy. We didn’t go overboard on things, but we just knew that we didn’t have to limit ourselves while we were there, which was really nice.
Tim Baker: Well, and I know kind of when we talk about your goals, obviously experiences is a big part of that. And you know, like when I look at some of the things that we’ve done, you know, as kind of just simple, you know, we’ll get to kind of your next big goal here in a bit, but obviously vacations, so having a travel fund, you know, a savings account that you can cash flow, having a, you know, obviously a fully funded emergency fund, having your home purchase fund, which is kind of the next big thing on the horizon, I think those are just naming the accounts the goals that are out there, you know, psychology says that that alone is a big win. And you know, for me as kind of working with you guys, I know that, you know, if the next trip is Australia or New Zealand or Germany or attending a sporting event to the Panthers or Steelers or Cooperstown, whatever those things are that we kind of outline, my job is to kind of help you make sure that this is the next on the docket and we’re cash flowing those appropriately. So walk me through, you know, since the debt was paid, why did you guys — what was the genesis around, hey, we need to work with a financial planner? What was the big driving force to kind of email me and contact me and say, ‘Hey, Tim, we want to see if working together is a good fit.’?
Adam Patterson: I would say the first thing that got us talking about it is — and I tell other people this too — is we went to school to be pharmacists. We understand certain things when it comes to financial stuff, but we’re not a professional in that. So seeking out professional help, it was our No. 1 goal, whether we should have started before we paid off loans or not, that’s up in the air, but we tell people all the time, it’s never too early to find a financial planner or somebody to help you with that because that’s what their profession is. For us, it was being a pharmacist, serving patients and things like that. So seeking out a financial planner, it was our next step, our next goal simply because we wanted somebody to give us more directive, be able to help balance more things in our life.
Brittany Patterson: Yeah, and to hold us accountable. We know we do have a good income that comes in, but making sure we are putting that income towards our goals and making sure our budget is correct. Just we knew that you could help us more financially than we could help ourselves in that area.
Tim Baker: Well, and I think the other thing that I think resonates or resonated with me in the last story — I know, Brittany, like you just said, kind of confirms that is — I think one of the things that a lot of pharmacists do is they kind of drink that six-figure Kool Aid that says, hey, I come out, and I’m making x amount of dollars, I don’t really have to worry about the debt, it’ll take care of itself. And I think for you guys, and I know, you know, kind of the backdrop is Adam, you went through the Dave Ramsey — I’m not sure if both of you guys went through the Dave Ramsey stuff — but it was kind of this no-nonsense approach to paying off the debt. So talk to me, what’s the big thing right now that is kind of top of mind with where you want to take your financial plan and where we’re going? So I know the big one is the home purchase, right? So we’ve talked about this at length and what that looks like. So walk me through kind of where you guys currently are in that part of your financial plan and what you’ve learned thus far.
Adam Patterson: Right now, like you said, our next step is financially purchasing a home, working with you, setting up, figuring out what we can actually afford. I think that’s one of the biggest things and knowing that you’re not spending too much but you’re going to be comfortable. That’s something that we are working with you, getting approved, working with a bank to get approved. We have a real estate agent now, so we’re in the process of shopping for a home, whether it’s one month, two months, six months from now, we just know that we’re ready for it. And that’s what we’re doing right now is we’re continuing to work towards that goal.
Tim Baker: And I think, I think the idea was to be almost singularly focused on that, similar to what you were with the debt until you guys are moved into the house. And I know, Brittany, that’s kind of like, you want that to happen yesterday because you’re ready to make the purchase. But I think being smart about it and surrounding yourself with a team of people that have your best interests in mind. And I think sometimes that is lost in the home purchase process just because most people, most professionals are incentivized about how much you actually purchase in terms of the size of the house, but I think you guys are going about it, and I think when we went through, ‘Hey, what can we actually afford?’ it was with this discount that you guys are not going to be hustling like that for the rest of your life, you can actually afford something probably greater than you probably would be if you were kind of working consistently. But I think it’s been great working with you because I think you are very open to advice and kind of the education that surrounds a lot of these decisions. So from my end, it’s been awesome. And I think, you know, we see it a lot because I think your story resonates. So walk me through kind of what you’ve been doing speaking-wise since, you know, we’ve last had you on the podcast.
Brittany Patterson: I think — was it June, Adam?
Adam Patterson: Yeah, it was around June.
Brittany Patterson: Yeah, in June, we went to the Alabama Pharmacy Association convention, and we were invited to come speak to the students there. So there were Stanford students, and there were also Auburn students. And we went in, and we had a whole PowerPoint presentation, and it was funny because I don’t think we spoke until about 7, 8 o’clock at night.
Adam Patterson: Yeah, it was 7 or 8.
Brittany Patterson: And it was after they’d all been to the pool, they were all outside, all having fun, and I’m thinking, there’s no way they’re going to want to sit in here and listen to us talk about finances at all. And we walked in there, gave our presentation, and they ate it up. I was shocked.
Adam Patterson: It’s just — it’s crazy when we’re presenting and seeing these students’ mouths drop just because we’re providing them with this information that whether they knew about it or not, it’s just resonating with them and telling a story not in trying to convey that they have to pay off this much money in such a short period of time, but the fact that we’re giving them these resources that, you know, they’re just not provided in school. And I think Your Financial Pharmacist, I think we’ve all harped on this, is making the education relevant and putting it out there for everybody. That’s just something, it’s a passion that we’ve kind of taken up on now is wanting to speak at more events and do more things to try and share our story.
Brittany Patterson: Right, because I think it’s something that we wish we would have had too, coming out of school.
Tim Baker: Yeah, I think Adam, I think one of the things that you said was, you know, when you were looking around, kind of looked to your left and looked to your right at hey, what’s the best way to tackle the loans, there wasn’t really anything there outside of maybe like a colleague and a few opinions. So you know, I think shining a light on this and having more people kind of like just openly speak about some of the trepidations with their loans. We hear a lot of people say, ‘Hey, you know, if we would have known now what we know today, we would have made a lot better decisions,’ and I think that’s why, aside from the facts of, you know, the facts and figures around your particular case, you know, there’s no — like I said, there’s really no silver bullet. It’s just like, OK, we worked a lot, we sacrificed, and you wake up, and you’re through the loans. And now, it’s what’s next? So I think your story, you know, is amazing. But then, you know, the fact that you can stand in front of people and say, ‘A few short years ago, I was in a similar spot, this is kind of what we did,’ is really amazing. So do you guys see yourself speaking more? Did you enjoy that part of it?
Brittany Patterson: Yeah. We both really enjoy it. And we actually have another one in November coming up, and we’re speaking at the National Community Pharmacists Association in Auburn. And so we’re going to go back to Auburn and be able to speak to those students. They came up to us after, I think it was the president of NCPA from Auburn, she came up, she’s like, ‘Oh, we loved y’all so much. We really want to have y’all back. I feel like these students could really learn from y’all since this is something that we don’t hear much about in school.’
Tim Baker: Well, and I think, you know, and that’s what I’m kind of hearing more, especially from NCPA, you know, or at least people associated with, pharmacists associated with NCPA is, you know, the decision or start, you know, an independent pharmacy is so huge. You have to have your own financial house in order or at least have a plan to have it in order, so I think there’s a lot of — you know, especially with that group, you know, a lot of relevancy to say, ‘Hey, if this is something that I really want to pursue, you know, I need to make sure that, you know, this big kind of elephant in the room at least is accounted for and there’s a plan in place,’ and I think that’s a great group to be talking to. So I guess for you guys, if I’m a recent pharmacist grad, what are kind of the big takeaways — I’m a new PharmD, I’m out, I’m earning income, I have kind of the average $150,000, $160,000 in debt. What would be the kind of big takeaways for, that you would impart on me in terms of how to tackle it?
Brittany Patterson: I know no one likes to hear this, but the biggest thing that we did was we lived below our means, which I know everybody hates to hear that because you feel like you’re constricted, but we weren’t because we were so used to living like that in school. And I think that’s one of the biggest reasons we were able to pay off our loans. We weren’t buying expensive cars, we weren’t buying expensive boats. Nobody told the students. We had friends who went and bought cars and boats, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but we just didn’t want more debt on top of the debt we already had. So I think that was one of the biggest things was really watching what we were spending and not overspending.
Adam Patterson: Yeah, I would say that would probably be one of my biggest things is living below our means. Something other to add to that is, you know, work hard for what you’re given. I mean, there’s too many people that just expect or receive things, and it’s all about hard work. Like we’ve talked about before, you know, putting in the hours, trying to maximize that income. As a new grad, I mean, what else do you have to do?
Brittany Patterson: Right.
Adam Patterson: I hate to say it, but to go on top of that, while you’re working hard, you have to treat yourself every now and then. I think debt’s something that we all can get caught up, and just working nonstop but not ever reaping some of that benefit, some of that benefit is to take a vacation every once in awhile.
Brittany Patterson: Yeah, and we don’t really eat out much, and that’s something that, you know, we really appreciate when we do get to eat out. We enjoy those moments more because of the fact that we aren’t doing it all the time.
Adam Patterson: Right.
Brittany Patterson: So we don’t take those moments for granted when we are able to enjoy evenings out together, which is nice.
Tim Baker: Yeah, it’s a treat rather than the norm, right?
Brittany Patterson: Right.
Tim Baker: Exactly. Well, and maybe, you know, you grow an affinity for Mint.com and logging in every day, right, Brittany? And making sure that the spending is in line, and you’re good there, that would probably be another piece of that.
Brittany Patterson: Right, that is true.
Adam Patterson: What is it they say? Eat, sleep. And Brittany’s is eat, sleep, mint.
Brittany Patterson: Mint, unfortunately.
Adam Patterson: So I will add, you know, something we got a lot of questions about. As a new grad, don’t be afraid to reach out for help. Using your resources and everything, that’s huge coming out of school is finding the information and going off, adding to that is talking about a financial planner and stuff. You know, that question’s came up to us a lot. Should I invest in a financial planner early on? There’s nothing that hurts from investing in a financial planner early on because they’re going to be able to, you know, guide you to those resources also. So that is a big thing I would harp on coming out of school.
Tim Baker: Yeah, and I think to play on that, you know, in terms of extra resources, obviously, I think what we’re trying to achieve here at Your Financial Pharmacist is just with the Facebook group and the different guides, to have information and kind of a community surrounding the information to put you in a position to tackle the debt or investments or if it’s insurance questions, so you know, I know you guys talked about — to kind of bring it back to the loans is one of the big things you did is refinance. So if you are looking to refinance, you know, YourFinancialPharmacist.com/refinance, we have calculators, we have different refinance companies that will give you bonuses and we have podcast episodes that are about student loans. So there’s a lot of good information there if you’re a YFP listener that you can digest and kind of learn more about the process. And I think it’s key to continuously push the envelope in terms of what you want to do with your financial life. Well, Brittany and Adam, thank you so much for coming back on the Your Financial Pharmacist podcast and sharing your incredible story. It doesn’t sound like you guys have let off the gas at all. I know you took your trip to Ireland and took some of that time to decompress, but it sounds like with the home purchase and some of the other things you’ve got going on that, you know, you’re kind of going back to the hustle and making sure you’re making moves with your financial plan. So it’s been a pleasure working with you guys, and I can say that your story truly resonates with a lot of our listeners and just a lot of pharmacists out there that it’s truly inspiring. So keep up the good work, and we’d love to have you back for the next major milestone. So you’ve done the debt-free theme hour, maybe we’ll have you on for the millionaire theme hour when you hit that millionaire status for net worth. So again, thanks again for coming on.
Adam Patterson: Thank you so much for having us.
Brittany Patterson: Yes, we really appreciate it.
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