How I Paid Off 30K in Student Loans in 1.5 Years After Graduating College

People used to ask me how I was able to pay off my loans so fast, and honestly, I never knew the answer.

Magic?

It just happened?

Not knowing the answer to the question kind of bugged at me, and I thought I must have done SOMETHING different to make that happen...

...otherwise people wouldn't ask me about it like I'd performed a friggin' miracle or something.

Which, let's be honest, my knee caps are hairy...

If I can't even shave my legs correctly, you can rest assured knowing I can not perform miracles.

So, what did a hairy knee-capped girl like me do to pay off my student loans?

😁Step 1: Move back in with parents. Imagine you are a dog who just did something wrong and had to come crawling home with your tail between your legs.

😁Step 2: Wonder what your tail would look like if it were visible

😁Step 3: Feel shame.

😁Step 4: Compare yourself to your peers. Wonder why they are married, have bought houses, and have nice cars... while you have to watch youtube videos to figure out how to fix your spark plugs.

😁Step 5: Slowly realize that your frugality is part of the reason you are paying off these loans like a boss. It's easier to do when you have a crappy car, and obviously don't spend money on shaving cream (see hairy knee caps above).

😁Step 6: Take a job that kills your soul, but pays you more than you would earn if you worked at a job that was nice to your soul.

My job only paid 48k per year, but that was enough to make the difference between being able to pay the loans off so fast.

😁Step 7: Don't travel no matter what. Just stay there in your boring hometown and enterain yourself in a Walmart parking lot...for free.

Maybe find a friend who is also poor and willing to do nothing in a parking lot with you for 3 hours on a Friday night.

😁Step 8: Wonder why it never occured to you to do the math on what you would earn after graduating vs. how freaking high your loan payment would be with interest.

😁Step 9: Realize getting into debt made no logical sense in the first place. Drop to your knees. Shake your fist at the sky and yell, "Whyyyyyy" very dramatically.

Maybe do this somewhere very public, for the entertainment aspect of it. After all...you're too poor to afford paid entertainment like going to the movies right now...remember?

😁Step 10: Cook all your meals. Don't eat out, unless it's tacos. Tacos are cheap. And they help heal your broken debt-enslaved soul.

😁Step 11: Shop at walmart even if you don't like it. I mean, they do have low low prices. Or, if you get lucky, you can grow some of your own veggies and fruits and save money there. Or find a local who grows things and just buy produce that's in season, which also tends to be cheaper.

😁Step 12: Think about your invisible shame-tail again and wish you actually were a dog so someone else could take care of you and you wouldn't have to "adult" anyore.

😁Step 13: Ok, so this step is honestly one I got VERY lucky on...and I'm not sure if most people would have this advantage. Once I figured out that I was paying $500/month towards loans (almost half my take home salary at my teaching job)... but $300 of it was going towards interest and not even paying off my loan, I did some math.

According to my calculations...I was going to be able to pay off my debt... never.

So I told my mom and dad about it, and they took out a house loan at the interest rate of 2%, whereas the interest rates on my student loans was 6-8%.

They used the loan to pay off my loans, and then I made monthly payments to the with the much lower 2% interest rate.

That made a HUGE difference.

Without them doing that...well, I don't even want to think about it.

Do whatever you can to get a low interest rate loan, seriously.

I mean, don't rob a bank or strangle somebody. But, do whatever morally acceptable thing you can to get a low interest rate loan (or avoid loans completely in the first place).

😁Step 14: Be a frugal mcdougal! Honestly, I lived on the bare minimum I could. I paid my parents $100/ month to live at their house. When I wasn't doing that, I had tons of roommates to keep costs low.

I lived a 3 minute drive from my job (on purpose) so that I didn't have to pay a lot of money in gas. I earned extra money tutoring on the side. I worked overtime like a boss...some weeks were 70-80 hour work weeks. That overtime pay, though.

When I got my tax return, I used 100% of it to make a big payment towards my loans.

I had the cheapest cell phone plan I could find.

When I wasn't living with my parents yet, I didn't have cable. And I didn't want to pay for it, because my end goal was much bigger than that.

😁Step 15: Do something a lil' crazy
I literally walked next door and told the neighbor her wifi signal was strong in my house, and asked her if we could just split the bill. She said yes. I think after splitting with my roommates, my portion of the bill ended up being $10/month for wifi.

😁Step 16: Work a side job at a restaurant so you can eat free food. If you're single, go on lots of dates and con the other person into paying?!? Make a note to yourself that you'll pay it forward someday?

Step 17: The most simple step ever: Don't spend more than you earn. Oh, you know how I do that? I mentally trick myself into thinking I have way less than I really do.

Step 18: Credit cards aren't for spending more than you have. They're for building credit and maybe getting travel poitns and stuff. Don't spend more than you have in your bank account just because you have a credit card. Mkay? I know it's hard. But resist! You'll be proud of yourself maybe.

That way, I don't have to do lots of math to stick to a strict budget.

Example: If you earn $2,000 per month, just pretend you earn $1,600/month.

Now you have an automatic $400 cushion. Wee!

I guess that's all I've got for now.

I did lots of cheapo stuff, and I guess it all added up.

I went dumpster diving for furniture.

I checked out the "free" section on craigslist when I needed stuff and would sometimes find it there.

Sometimes I'd flip stuff on my down time just for an extra $50 here and there.

It wasn't easy.

But I did it.

And in the end, that's all that matters.

Any short term sacrifice I made was entirely worth it.

But I do have to thank my parents for their sacrifices, also. Because without that... I couldn't have done it so quickly.

Thanks forever, you guys.

P.S. @steemcafe helps people deal with their student loans...so, if you don't want to do the suggestions I just mentioned, or can't...you should hit him up.

He'll probably have some great advice.

(Even though I'm guessing his knee caps are probably hairy, too )

---

View this post on Steeve, an AI-powered Steem interface