Aaron R. Feist

Aaron R. Feist

Aaron Feist, a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, sought financial counseling at Lutheran Social Service because she had gotten herself in financial difficulty due to her student loan debts and her habit of subsidizing her income as a student with credit cards.To make matters worse, she was unable to find a job in her field of child psychology after graduation and had fallen into a less than satisfying relationship and become dependent on her partner's financial support.

Aaron broke free from this relationship, stayed temporarily with her parents and finally found a job that allowed her to live independently.Although Aaron wasn't able to start a debt management plan for some time, she finally got a second job and managed to begin her debt repayment and consolidated her student loans.After one year on the plan, Aaron acknowledged, "It's been a hard, hard year, giving up credit, sticking to a budget and learning to purchase everything on a cash basis."

Aaron learned in financial counseling that she had been overspending without a clear sense of what she could realistically handle in debt.She is now in control of her spending, is living on a budget and even saves money regularly through a 401K at her job as a subsidy counselor for the Greater Minneapolis Daycare Association.We congratulate Aaron on her hard work and perseverance.