35-year-old US woman paid off 20 lakh credit card debt using ChatGPT

Jennifer Allan, a 35-year-old realtor and content creator based in Delaware, revealed how she used Chat GPT to pay off nearly $23,000(approximately ₹19.69 lakh) in credit card debt. In an exemplary display of AI integration into daily life, Allan used ChatGPT to guide herself out of debt. She sought guidance from ChatGPT on how to manage her Personal Finance in a 30-day challenge. Each day, she employed one actionable step suggested by the AI tool to reduce her debt.

Jennifer Allan of Delaware, despite earning decently, was struggling with her finances following the birth of her daughter, medical emergencies, and the costs of her parenthood piled up her debt. "We weren’t living lavishly. We were just surviving. But the debt piled up while I wasn’t looking,” she said. Allan took advice from the AI tool to make small changes, such as cancelling unused subscriptions, identifying funds in forgotten accounts or brainstorming a side hustle.

How did ChatGPT help?

One suggestion prompted her to go through her unused accounts, and by doing that, she spotted $10,000 (approximately ₹8.5 lakh) in a dormant brokerage account. In the next task, she was asked to create a pantry-only meal plan by reducing her grocery bill by 50,000.

“It wasn’t some big financial hack,” she said. “It was the act of facing it every day, of tracking it, talking about it, looking at it. I stopped being afraid of my numbers.” By the end of the first 30-day challenge, she had already halved her debt by paying off $12,078.93 (approximately ₹10.3 lakh). She is planning to launch another 30-day challenge to be completely debt-free.

“Don’t wait until you feel ready or smart enough to start. You don’t have to know all the answers, you just have to stop pretending it’s not happening," she shared.

This story is inspiring considering that the personal debt of the United States is on the rise. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the household debt for the first quarter of 2025 has reached $18.2 trillion.