How one Instagram model spiralled into debt on the search for 'the perfect gram'
Regular shopping sprees and trips always add up behind the scenes.
Social media influencers and Instagram models are a new type of career born of the digital age.
Some can be seen wearing high-end fashion apparel while others travel the world looking for the perfect Instagram photo. And while many have made a living from their smart phones, others are left struggling to stay afloat.
Take 26-year-old Lissette Calveiro for example. Calveiro had surpassed 10,000 followers on Instagram and was desperate to maintain her appearance.
Living in New York City, she would regularly shop, eat out and be seen in some of the hottest locations in town.
But secretly, she was amassing a huge debt that was quickly becoming over-whelming. "I wanted to tell my story about this young millennial living in New York," Calveiro told the New York Post. "I was shopping... for clothes to take 'the perfect gram.'"
After moving back in with her parents in Miami, Calveiro found work as a publicist but managed to spiral towards a debt of more than £7,000. The cost of maintaining her Instagram lifestyle eventually became too much.
"I was living above my means," Calveiro said. "I was living a lie. Debt was looming over my head."
According to the New York Post, Calveiro would regularly enjoy $200 shopping sprees and once a month splash out more than $1,000 on a designer bag or accessory. Travel costs also mounted - one return trip to Texas costing her about $700.
"Snapchat had these geo-filters and I wanted to collect at least 12," she said. "If you break it down, a lot of the travel I was doing in 2016 was strictly for Instagram."
Calveiro has now escaped her debt after budgeting and taking step back from social media. She moved back to New York City at the end of 2016. "I knew that moving to New York, I had to get my act together or I wasn't going to survive. A lot of it (social media posts) was recycled content."
"Nobody talks about finances on Instagram. It worries me how much I see girls care about image. I had a lot of opportunities to save. I could've invested that money in something. I find more meaning in what I'm doing. It goes back to me being more authentic. Whenever someones says they like my coat I say, 'oh, can you believe I got this coat at H&M for $50?'"
