You can find all manner of content on TikTok, but one thing that’ll make you sit straight up and stop mid-scroll is a teenager who has already managed to get herself into a jaw-dropping amount of debt.
TikToker Sierra (@skinnywiggy) is 18 years old, and she is half a million dollars in debt.
Naturally, the internet had a lot of questions. Now, she’s talking about how she managed to accumulate so much debt. For some context, she has been working full-time as the manager of a spa since she was a sophomore in high school. She attended online school while she was working.
At the beginning of this year, she purchased her dream car, a 2025 Honda CRV Hybrid. It cost around $49,000, and she still owes $23,000.
Her goal is to pay it off by next year. The brand-new car makes up just a small percentage of her debt. The rest is from the house she just bought.
“So, the other big portion is going to come from this house,” explained Sierra. “We just moved in and closed on November 1st. With that being said, I bought the house with my long-time boyfriend, so it is not on me. It is both of our loans.”
After the down payment, closing costs, and other fees, the total came out to approximately $503,000, which they must pay over 30 years. She hopes to pay that off as fast as possible.
“This is the debt I’m dealing with and working on paying off,” said Sierra. “I am making a goal to post about it and be transparent about it because I feel like it’s extremely realistic, and it’s hard for other people to…compare themselves to other people when it’s literally all just a bunch of debt.”
The response to her video was mixed. Some thought she had made a big mistake and that she was being irresponsible with her finances, while others praised her for being able to accomplish so much at a young age.
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Many TikTok users also took to the comments section to share how much debt they were in. Her story helped put their own lives into perspective.
“Our house was $525k. Our mortgage is $3,328. I’m not sure how an 18-year-old can afford it. My husband makes mid-six figures. But you go, girl,” commented one user.
“Makes me feel so much better about $10k at 20 (not counting medical bills due to my high-risk pregnancy). I love seeing people talk about it. It makes me feel so much more validated and comfortable speaking about it,” stated another.
“I have $25k in debt from staying three nights in a hospital for health stuff,” added a third.
“And I was upset my schooling was going to cost $32k,” wrote someone else.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
