AVON, Ind. — A man from Avon had the day of a lifetime: All of his student loan debt was wiped out thanks to a phone app.
Ron Giles went to Indiana University and got his masters in human resources more than 10 years ago. He now works as a recruiter for Walgreens corporate and still had about $50,000 in student loan debt.
“You’re trying to plan ahead, what do you want to do in two years, what do you want to do in five years? Kids? Vacations and all that stuff, and it’s like that stuff is always on the back burner because you’re looking at that big amount you want to get paid off,” Giles said.
The Federal Reserve says more than 44 million Americans are in the same boat as Giles. The Fed estimates the average debt is $32,000 and the average monthly payment is nearly $400.
“It’s just always so stressful because you know you pay a certain amount each month and it only see it go down a little,” Giles said.
He said he started playing the trivia game Givling on his phone because he enjoys trivia games and wanted to help people get their student loan debt paid off but never thought it would be his turn.
By playing enough games and some good luck, Givling selected Giles to have his student loans paid off by crowdfunding through in-app purchases and ad revenue.
Giles said he knows he’s lucky and he plans to “start saving the money paid for the loans for something big.”
He also said he hopes more people play Givling to get their lucky moments, too.
(PHOTO: WISH-TV)
