Back in November of 2012, I wrote about my $40,000 worth of student loan debt. This was the total amount of student loans that I accumulated while I was getting my undergraduate and graduate degrees. When I wrote that post, I had hardly paid anything towards my student loans. Interest was slowing building up, but not that much, as most of my loans were still being deferred.
Ever since that post was published, I have been attacking my student loans like crazy. I have been applying any extra money towards my student loans, and I am now proud to say that they are almost gone. We have enough money in the bank to completely pay them off, but have chosen to wait as we don’t want to withdraw everything out of our emergency fund to pay my student loans off. We don’t want to tap into retirement funds as well, so those funds will stay where they currently are.
As a refresher, I graduated in May of 2010 with my B.A. in Management and my B.S. in Business Administration. I applied for jobs and was hired on at a financial firm right after I graduated. I then took a year off from school and decided to go back for my Finance MBA. I then graduated in August of 2012 with my Finance MBA. I continued working full-time throughout this and still hold my same job today. I graduated with a decent amount of debt, but I am happy that I don’t have more.
I am guilty of taking out more in student loans than I needed. Right after high school, I needed a place to live and I probably took out an extra $1,000 or $2,000 to help fund my living. So, not too horrible, but that’s still an extra couple of thousand that I probably should not have taken out.
June is my student loan payoff month.
I am so close to being done with student loans forever. I am very grateful for everything that has happened in my life, and I do realize that when it comes to student loans, that I have been lucky with the fact that they will be gone so quickly. I have worked very hard though!
I started by working on my extra income. As you all know, my extra income has been through the roof lately. I’m glad that I am able to share my journey with my extra income with you all. I hope that I have been helpful with all of my posts. I never thought that my extra income would be anywhere near where it is today, and thankfully to it I am able to pay off my student loans much more quickly.
I also have been attacking my student loans according to interest rate. The loans with the highest interest rates are the ones that I have been eliminating first. It has been nice watching each student loan disappear!
What are you doing to eliminate your loans? How much do you pay each month towards them?
Did you take out more than you needed?
Recommended reading: How To Pay Off Student Loans Faster by Starting a Side Hustle
Leave a Reply
I think SALT is great – they are getting ready to partner with the school I work for and I just sat in on the first meeting! I'm starting grad school this summer, so I'm gearing up to pay back my loans. I'm going to start paying on them NOW, rather than waiting until I've completed it. I'll hope to pay about $200-300 a month.
That is awesome! I hope your loans are gone quick 🙂
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
We budget like crazy to make sure we are spending our money appropriatel. Anything left goes towards paying off ourntudent loans!
Same here! 🙂
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
Honestly, I didn't have a large student loan, just about $5,000, because I worked 3 jobs while attending school to pay for it at the time. But credit cards are another story. I'm currently doing the snowball technique, where I pay the minimum amount on all but one, and pay as much as I can toward that one until paid off, and have paid off two in three months. It feels so rewarding to pay off a credit card!
I worked full-time through college also, but I lived on my own and spent my money on stupid things like clothes! UGH! I still regret that.
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
$850?! You are doing awesome Jordann!
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
I am working two jobs to pay off the loans. In retrospect, I think I took more loan than was needed but now I'm actively working to pay it off as soon as possible.
When do you think that your loans will be gone? Good job on working two jobs to pay them off more quickly! 🙂
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
Sounds like you are doing awesome Tina!
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
We have over $150k of student loan debt: two undergrad degrees, 2 graduate degrees. We are just now starting to make them a priority– and to answer your question, yes, we took out more than we needed. We were living way beyond our means– not nearly as financially savvy in our early 20's….
We were the same. We spent some of the extra money on going out to eat. Not very smart of us.
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
Currently trying to get a handle on my student loans. I took out more than I needed to pay off previous loans, so that I now only have two loans (as opposed to 5 before). I'm trying to pay off the one with a smaller balance first, then I will tackle the BIG one.
Good luck! I hope they are gone quickly 🙂
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
Right now I'm focusing on paying off some other debts with much higher interest rates (or potentially higher rates). I personally have just under $10,000 in loans taken out and my girlfriend has somewhere around $25,000. Since she took these loans out before we met, I'm not sure how much of that was necessary but I know for sure I took out more than I needed. Probably about $2,000 more.
My recent post It’s Not About What You Want, It’s About What You See
When do you think your debt free date is Kyle?
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
We're shooting for January 1st 2019 being our first full day without debt.
My recent post It’s Not About What You Want, It’s About What You See
Awesome! It'll come sooner than you think 🙂
Our student loan story is really a nightmare story,so I won't go into it. But we will never finish paying them while we're alive, unless a miracle occurs. I'm happy you made these choices. My advice to others is dont ignore them( which was done inadvertently because of a lawyer), part of the nightmare story. Anyway, we will start a repayment program. You can read some of my story on my blog.
What's your blog link? I'm sorry about your nightmare student loans.
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
I am happy to report that I am loan free! I did not go to a fancy college so there was no student debt in my past. In life, the only loan I ever took out was for a modest mortgage, which I paid off not in 30 years but in 12. I always pay my credit card bills in full. Debt just makes me anxiety-ridden, so I avoid it. But I am in a situation now that is not ideal. My hubs and I were hit hard by the downturn in the economy and now find ourselves prematurely retired, with only one social security check coming in. As for the Salt site, I can see that it would be a helpful tool for money management and greater financial savvy.
WOHOOO that is awesome that you have no loans!
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
Four years after graduating, my husband still has just under $50K in student loans. We have been paying the minimum ($515 per month) while focusing on wiping out other debt with higher interest rates. Now that our other debt is gone, I'm hoping to put an extra $300 to $500 per month towards the student loans.
I know we have a long way to go in wiping them out completely (at least 2-3 years)… but by paying off individual loans we can at least reduce the minimum monthly payments and cut out a lender or two.
2-3 years is not bad at all. Good luck and good job!
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
When my Grandmother passed she left me the money to pay off my student loan in full
Sorry about your grandma, but that was very nice of her.
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
I visited Salt and learned the difference between net and gross income. Luckily I was able to pay off my student loans within a few months of graduating with hard-earned savings!
Good job!
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
Fortunately I don't have any student debt but I know it can be a real weight around the neck for a lot of people. Sounds like you're doing a great job of getting rid of yours Michelle. Loving the Giveaway!
That's great! And thanks Adam 🙂
My recent post How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway