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Victoria Szafarski currently has $10,000 in credit card debt.
The New Yorker’s outstanding balance peaked at $25,000 last year, before she took on a second job as a waitress for a few months. The extra cash Szafarski brought in helped her make headway paying down the debt and increase her savings.
“I felt very isolated, I felt embarrassed, I felt like a failure,” said Szafarski, 27.
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Her next tactic to reduce the balance: participate in “No Spend September,” a social media trend that involves a full month of cutting nonessential purchases. The #nospendchallenge hashtag on TikTok has more than 18,300 posts as of Sept. 16.
“‘No Spend September’ is a great way to check back with yourself,” said Szafarski, who is chronicling her attempt …