A single mom who “survived on credit cards” found a plan she could actually live with — and started saving again. Enrolled Debt: $14,331
Graduated: August 2025
Program Length: 1 year, 11 months
Meet Jenny
Jenny is married with a blended family and she just found out she’s going to be a grandma for the second time!
She’s an office manager at a local university and says, “I love the people I work with and I like what I do.”
For fun, Jenny and her husband love visiting quirky museums and road-side stops on their travels. They travel with a “burger book” to find “unique little burger hole-in-the-wall” spots, and have recently visited the high school where Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club were filmed.
What was going on before you decided to work with Five Lakes?
It completely changed my entire outlook on life. It’s almost like I was going through such a dark place before, just drowning in all this debt and then I could breathe again.
I was a single mom at the time and just keeping up on a single income, trying to provide all of the necessities. You have car payments and insurance and rent, and I became dependent on my credit cards.
A couple years later I found a lender that extended me a loan. I thought if I could get everything into one payment, that would be great. Well, the payment was so big, I was never making the principal — I was only making the interest. And so I was like, “I’m never gonna get ahead.”
I was a single mom at the time and just keeping up on a single income, trying to provide all of the necessities. You have car payments and insurance and rent, and I became dependent on my credit cards.
A couple years later I found a lender that extended me a loan. I thought if I could get everything into one payment, that would be great. Well, the payment was so big, I was never making the principal — I was only making the interest. And so I was like, “I’m never gonna get ahead.”
What did it feel like carrying that debt?
I don’t even think I realized it was that much until Five Lakes calculated it all up. I tried to focus on one at a time. Well, it never went down.
When you’re looking at 30% interest — it’s ridiculous. And before you know it, you have a hard time paying for even the smallest things. All of a sudden we’re charging gas on a credit card. And then you’re like, “Am I just living to work to pay off this debt?” It got overwhelming.
What made you go forward with Five Lakes’ help?
I talked to your team members several times and was just like, “Is this for real? You can really get these results?” I just felt like this was too good to be true!
What really was helpful was the time they took. It’s such a digital age — to speak to someone and have them listening to your story? They were just compassionate.
Then you go look up the website and you’re seeing there’s attorneys there, and they’re really gonna do all this fighting for you. It took all of that stress off your shoulders.
What was it like once you started your program?
That was the next mind-blowing thing: they had it spread out so that my payment was livable.
I could live. I could survive. I could help my son. I could breathe again. It freed me up to not be sick to my stomach with migraines, panicked like, “What am I gonna do if I need tires, an oil change, a major repair?”
It completely changed my entire outlook on life. It’s almost like I was going through such a dark place before, just drowning in all this debt and then I could breathe again.
I could actually go see a movie or something!
Was there anything else about the program you appreciated?
I loved the live chat in the app! I chatted with them all the time when I had questions.
The other thing I liked is you could see your debt going down — like in a physical way. You could see it decreasing and you’re like, “Yes, yes, yes! Just a little bit closer!” You start to see the long run: that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
What did graduation feel like?
Oh my gosh. It was amazing. I didn’t really grow up in a family that talked about finances — it was never looked at as a trainable thing.
It blows my mind — where I was at five years ago compared to where I’m at today? Five Lakes gave me that ability to make practical choices and save money. That’s something I never thought I could do before.
And with my grandchild coming, we’ve been able to help out our son and his family financially throughout this process and that’s something I never could see myself doing before.
What are you looking forward to now?
My husband and I want to do some remodeling on our house and we don’t want to take out a loan. So we’re currently making a regular payment to our savings account!
We’ve built up an emergency fund, and now we’re working on the construction savings.
If there’s a major repair, I have the money for it. If we want to do this remodel, we’re building towards it in a real way — that’s been a huge, huge blessing.
If someone feels how you felt back before Five Lakes, what would you want them to know?
This changed my life. I want to help people who now feel like I felt before — which was in a dark place.
I would tell them that there’s still hope and there’s people who can help you — they’re going to fight for you and take this burden off your shoulders and they’re going to let you breathe.
Success Post-Grad
With attorney support through Five Lakes, Jenny moved from feeling “sick to my stomach… panicked” to a plan she described as “livable.” She started seeing balances drop in real time, gained momentum with each payoff, and finished the program able to save again, build an emergency fund, and plan home renovations without taking out a loan.
Real client compensated for sharing their authentic experience — results and savings reflect their individual circumstances.