'How I Paid Off $16,000 In Student Loans' | TheGrindstone

When Gina Nykerk paid off her student loans, credit card, and car, it was a major Financial Turning Point for her?and and an inspiration for several friends. You can read more women?s FTP stories?here, and?here.

When I was 23 years old, I paid off all $16,000 of my student loan debt.

I can?t tell you how empowering it is not to owe anything, financially.

After I graduated from college a few years before, I did what most college students do. I started spending all the money I was barely making. After all, $32,000 a year straight out of college feels like a lot of money after working part-time for $12 an hour.

I got an apartment of my own, a gym membership, and a weekly date at the nail salon. I hadn?t even started to pay my parents back for the used-car they had given me. But life felt fun and carefree?as life after college was supposed to.

Then I met a man, my now-husband, who continually asked me why I wasn?t doing more to pay down my debt. ?It?s only $16,000,? I?d respond. I knew that it would take me years to pay it off. Most people had much more debt than I did, walking away from a private university. Shouldn?t he have been impressed that I wasn?t in more debt?

After months of prodding from him? followed by a night with my calculator and my bills laid out in front of me?I had an epiphany. I realized that by the time I paid off my debt using only the minimum payment the government required of me, I?d pay nearly as much in interest as the principal of the loan.

That $16,000 would nearly double by the time it was all said and done. I was furious.

I decided then and there to take action. I was on a month-to-month lease at the time, so I called my landlord and told him I?d be out by the end of the month. I searched on Craigslist and found a roommate, and for the next eight months we shared a small house in a fun part of town.

Within a week, I?d arranged to cut my monthly expenses by more than half.

Having a roommate wasn?t my favorite prospect, but I knew it was required to seriously, diligently tackle my money goals. So with the money I was saving monthly, I first I paid my parents back for the car. Within four months, I owned it outright. That felt incredible.

To finish reading this post, head on over to Daily Worth.
To finish reading this post, head on over to Daily Worth.

Source: http://www.thegrindstone.com/2013/04/05/work-life-balance/how-i-paid-off-16000-in-student-loans/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-i-paid-off-16000-in-student-loans

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