Woman in $23K Debt Asks ChatGPT for Help—the Result Is Eye-Opening

Newsweek

a day ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A woman desperate to pay off her $23,000 in credit card debt has made a major dent in the money owed, after using AI to help her change her habits.
Jennifer Allan, 35, a realtor and content creator living in Delaware, told Newsweek she has "struggled with money my whole adult life."
"Not because I don't make enough, but because I was never taught financial literacy. I avoided budgeting and I figured if I just kept working harder, I could out-earn the problem. That worked... until it didn't," she said.
Things "unraveled" after her daughter was born, after a traumatic start which involved the NICU along with general postpartum recovery and everything else that comes with becoming a parent to a newborn.
"I shut down emotionally, and I used credit cards to keep our life afloat. We weren't living lavishly. We were just surviving. But the debt piled up while I wasn't looking," she said.
Eventually, Allan knew she had to make a change—and she used AI to give her the "momentum" she needed.
After being inspired by online 30-day challenges, she decided to challenge herself to "use ChatGPT every day for 30 days to help me pay off debt—whether that was brainstorming side hustles or just giving me a little structure."
And it paid off.
Each day, the bot would suggest one challenge for Allan to save or earn money, from cancelling one subscription, selling items on Facebook Marketplace, filing for any unclaimed money, and even searching for coins in old purses and between couch cushions—which earned Allan over $100.
A major win for Allan was the bot suggesting she look through every app and account—and between a brokerage account she wasn't aware she had, and finance apps such as Venmo, Allan discovered more than $10,000.
Jennifer Allan speaking in a video about her finance challenge.
Jennifer Allan speaking in a video about her finance challenge.
TikTok @_jenn.allan
In June, Allan shared a clip to her TikTok account @_jenn.allan, revealing she had hit day 30 of her challenge—and over the past month, had paid off $12,078.93
"I'm super, super happy with that. I've essentially paid half of my debt off," she told the camera, revealing one aspect of the challenge was to create a meal plan for the rest of the month based only on the food she had in her pantry.
She had saved almost $600 in a month, having previously spent around $800 a month on groceries.
TikTok users had a big reaction, one calling it "so impressive," and another writing: "I might need to do this as a single mom, that would be life changing money in savings."
Allan is now planning to take up another challenge, this time changing the prompt to pay off the remainder in 30 days.
"It wasn't some big financial hack," Allan told Newsweek. "It was the act of facing it every day—of tracking it, talking about it, looking at it every day. I stopped being afraid of my numbers. I built a debt tracker.
"I started sharing my journey publicly. And for the first time in my life, I didn't feel ashamed. I felt empowered, like I could conquer anything."
Read more
5 unexpected things you should be using ChatGPT for, according to AI expert
5 unexpected things you should be using ChatGPT for, according to AI expert
Allan's situation is far from unique: household debt across the United States hit $18.2 trillion dollars in the first quarter of 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
For anyone else struggling with debt and considering making a similar change, Allan advised: "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 suggested finding a way to "make it fun," explaining: "For me, using AI gave me a sense of structure without judgment, and TikTok allowed me to hold myself accountable because [the] community I had built was showing up every day waiting for the next task."
Do you have a similar monetary dilemma? Let us know via [e-mail]. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.