April is a big month for us here at Atmos. Not only is it Earth Month – a time to celebrate our environmental impact – but also Financial Literacy Month! At Atmos, we know that mastering your finances isn’t always easy. But choosing a climate positive banking solution can be.

I'm Arielle Terry – the lending solutions manager at Atmos, and I know firsthand the interconnectedness of personal finance and climate impact. But my venture down both paths began long before I joined the Atmos team. Today, I’m sharing my own story from personal finance to climate finance advocate – but keep an eye out for more from me on how you can be an activist with your bank account.

“You know you’re bankrupt, right?” said the financial advisor at the fortune 500 company that I worked at. Disbelief, shock, and embarrassment washed over me as I heard those words. Whatever, I thought to myself. The debt I have is normal. Everyone has debt.

At that time in my life, I was $50,000 in debt. I owed $35,000 in federal student loans and another $15,000 on a car loan. My mom also had a parent plus loan in her name that she took out for me that had a balance of about $65,000. I was a recent college graduate less than a year into my career and earned $36,000 annually. I owed more money than I earned in a year. The only assets I had back then were less than $1,000 in a company 401(k) and a couple thousand dollars in a savings account. My rent was $900 a month and that did not include utilities such as water, electricity, and internet. 

I thought I was doing well financially because I was able to save up $6,000 for a downpayment on my car. I had been living on a monthly budget for the past few years. I lived by myself and was able to pay all of my bills on time. I was even able to save a few hundred dollars every month.

I grew up in a financially insecure household. My parents lived paycheck to paycheck and had little to no savings. I remember seeing final notices in the mail from utility companies on a regular basis and thinking to myself that I did not want to live like this when I was out on my own.

As I reflect on this experience almost 10 years later, that statement about being bankrupt was a wake up call – I began to question the amount of debt that I had.

In 2016, I started my debt free journey. I downsized from a luxury 1 bedroom apartment in a gated community to a studio apartment in an older complex to save money on housing.

My journey towards financial freedom led to a more sustainable lifestyle. I reduced consumption & lived a minimalist lifestyle while I paid off debt. During my debt free journey, I read over 100 books on personal & behavioral finance and really fell in love with the topic. A few of my favorite books include I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier, Get Good with Money by Tiffany Aliche and Clever Girl Finance by Bola Sokunbi.

Over 60% of my monthly income went towards my debt free goal. I made extra money by working overtime. I was known as the “Overtime Queen” at work. My shift at work was 10am-7pm but I would start work three hours early at 7am for overtime. I also earned extra money that I used to pay down my student loans and car loan by:

• Selling items that I did not need such as an old computer and router box
• Participating in online and in person focus groups
• Picking up gig work through an app
• Working concessions at a baseball game
• Working as a brand ambassador for a pizza brand at a convention
• Working as an elevator attendant
• Making sandwiches at the convention center
• Working a concessions booth at Comic Con
• Grading SAT essays and standardized tests
• Working at a water station at a 5k event
• Working part time after my day job at a retail company
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I was laser focused on being 100% debt free. I was the person who would take home leftover pizza at work so I could save money on groceries. I would bring home leftovers from friends' houses and kids' birthday parties. I even kept the same phone, an iPhone 5s from January 2014 until December 2020 to save money. Some called it cheap but I was being frugal because I had a goal in mind. Every small step that I took towards a more sustainable lifestyle made a difference, both for my own financial well-being and for the health of the planet.

All of my hard work and creativeness paid off. I paid off my personal student loans in July 2017 and I paid off my car in November 2017.  I refinanced the Parent Plus loan of $65,000 that my mom took out for my college expenses in August 2018. In August 2020, I made my final student loan payment and became 100% debt free. I thought paying off my debt would make me feel complete but I still felt something was missing.

I felt like I was missing a purpose, a “why” in my life. I wasn’t sure where my values lied or what I wanted to do with my life. This search for something more led me on my climate finance journey. And today, I believe my life’s purpose is to help individuals align their finances with their climate values.I’m excited to keep sharing my story with you here in the coming month. Stay tuned to learn more about how I went from a personal finance nerd to a total climate finance advocate – with helpful tips and tricks along the way!