3 steps a millionaire took to go from earning $50,000 a year to financial freedom by age 30

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

Paid non-client promotion: Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate investing products to write unbiased product reviews.

• Nicole Victoria is a millionaire, but she wasn't always great with money.
• After university, she had student loan debt and wasn't saving much money or investing.
• Then she got serious about her goals: She paid off the loan, invested in ETFs, and cut costs.

Nicole Victoria is many things: a mother, wife, money coach, real-estate agent, TikTok creator, and financial literacy advocate, among other titles. She also became a millionaire by the time she turned 30. Though Victoria lives and works in Canada, her current net worth equated to about $1,001,148 when she spoke to Business Insider in 2021.

This hasn't always been her reality. "I did what I thought you were supposed to do: I went to university, I graduated with a huge student loan, then I got the corporate job," she said. "I really thought I was going to have all the success, all the happiness, all of the wealth."

However, she soon realized that simply earning money wasn't providing her any of the triumphs she thought she'd have. After Victoria graduated from university, she was making 50,000 Canadian dollars a year, owed 40,000 Canadian dollars in student loans, and struggled to budget her money. She wasn't investing, and her savings strategy didn't amount to much more than seeing what was leftover at the end of the month.

She wound up spending more money on things that made her look successful, like designer items, without working toward any of the long-term goals she'd set for herself, like paying for her wedding, buying a house, or feeling financially secure enough to have kids.

"At that time I really was sad about not being able to reach those goals, but when I look back on it, I wasn't even actually working towards them," she said. "I was just kind of taking more of a 'hope-wish-pray' approach."

"I thought, 'Maybe the problem is I just need a promotion,'" she explains, thinking her financial struggles would disappear if she just made more money. But the people who made more than her didn't seem happier, and they had all of the same problems: they struggled to get into the housing market; they struggled to manage their money.

"I realized that more money wasn't going to solve my problems if I didn't know how to use it, and that's when I created this new model for myself, thinking, 'You can be rich making $40,000 a year and broke making $100,000,' and really it's all about what you do with it."

So Victoria began learning everything she could about personal finance. She repaid her debt, started investing, grew her net worth to over $1 million, and built the life she wanted.

She repaid her student loans using the debt avalanche method

When Victoria began paying down her debt, she used a method she created called the "ICE" method, which stands for illuminating, cutting costs, and education. The first step in the process is to illuminate your debt. "It's about understanding how much you owe, what the interest rates are, and what the minimum payments are," she explains.

Next, she cut costs. However, she didn't minimize the things that brought her joy. Instead, she downsized payments all the payments she could. "One of my favorite ways to cut costs without changing your lifestyle is to negotiate," she said. "I negotiate all of my bills twice a year, life insurance, internet, phone, all of that stuff."

Finally, she educated herself. After learning about debt repayment strategies, Victoria paid down her debt using the avalanche method, which involves paying off debt with the highest interest rate first. "From a numbers perspective, it always makes more sense."

She invested in the housing market and ETFs

"I didn't wait until my loan was 100% paid off to start investing," she said. "I believe the way you need to think about it is putting your money where it's going to work hardest for you."

Victoria began by investing in the housing market. She bought her first home while still paying down her debt with the idea of wealth-building in mind. "I purchased in an area and in a building that I thought was undervalued that I knew would have higher levels of appreciation," she said.

Instead of renting out the home, Victoria lived in it and waited while the value increased. "It wasn't my main choice; it wasn't the home of my dreams. It was the home I knew would help me achieve my dreams," she said.

She ended up selling the home two years later and making roughly 150,000 Canadian dollars from the sale. In Canada, where Victoria lives, there is a primary residence tax exemption, so she didn't pay taxes on the gains. She's used this strategy again with the property she lives in. "Most people don't think of their own property as a way to make money."

Victoria also invests in exchange-traded funds. "I don't look at buying individual stocks, I believe that's gambling," she said. "I just look at buying ETFs so that my money can make money for me."

She lives below her means

Despite achieving millionaire status, Victoria still has goals she hopes to meet with her money. She wants to be work-optional so she can spend time with her family, and she never wants to have to do anything just for money.

"I think it's really important when people are coming up with their financial goal is not to just have the number as a goal," she said. Her financial goals have more to do with lifestyle, freedom, and convenience.

To reach these goals, she lives below her means and only spends money on the things that bring her true joy. "I spare no expense on my son," she said, but she drives a Kia, shops at Walmart, and bought a house with a significantly lower mortgage than she was pre-approved for.

She enjoys life and spends on the things that bring her joy, but she never goes into excess: "I think the biggest thing people need to understand is finding what enough means to them."

This article was originally published in June 2021.