I’m Student Loan Debt Free! Here Are 3 Things I Did to Clear My Debt & Stress

As a senior in high school, I was far from one of those people who had my future planned. I can remember feeling angry at the thought of having to make such a major life decision so young and feeling so unprepared.

When I graduated high school, I remember finally deciding to go to college. Previously, I had contemplated how much debt I’d be in after attending college for at least four years. The thought of having student loan debt was a big deterrent. According to Nitrocollege.com, Americans now owe more than $1.53 trillion in student loan debt.

The thought grew heavy on my chest. I even considered the Navy to avoid deciding to go to college. Then I fell in love with a psychology class I had taken senior year. I decided psychology would be my path.

My imagination was filled with aspirations of running groups full of people and seeing clients all day. I would cure whatever emotional ailments they had and send them off to the wonderful land of mental stability!

After attending college for seven years and obtaining two masters degrees, the monetary weight felt like a ton of bricks on my shoulders.

As the years went on, I had moments of feeling like a rock star-acing tests, doing well in my internships with clients and offering useful feedback in class. Other times, I felt as if I made a big mistake.

I began to slowly drown in a sea of debt due to student loans. I worked two to three jobs at a time. The amount of money I owed back became a scary number. I was confronted with this each passing semester. 

My husbands parents and my father got laid off after twenty plus years of working hard for their companies. I saw first hand how devastating this was for my father and the toll it took on him emotionally and physically. I’m sure many others have similar stories about loved ones and wanting to make sure they had a degree to fall back on.

I remember my parents saying how important it was to get a college education in such an unstable job market. This reality, among others, kept me going because I knew that having a career to fall back on would be so important to my future family.

Fast forward seven years after college, and I am proud to say that I am student loan debt free! I can’t speak for others, but I can certainly proudly share how I got here and the modest living behind this.

If You Do The Crime You Have To Pay The Time

I had a blast through my late teens and twenties. I didn’t really miss out on much by way of leisurely spending. There were many, many nights spent in the bar with my friends not holding back, going shot for shot. I went to different States or countries with my boyfriend and/or friends to vacation. I even went skydiving 5 times!

All this to say, I had a great time, but I was not living like there was no tomorrow. I still held back on buying that gorgeous $200 pair of boots or going to many fancy dinners.

The point is, if you do the crime you have to pay the time. How could I do all of this? I worked my ass off.

I can’t tell you how many weekends I did miss out on things or tell my friends “I’ll meet you after work,” which was typically 10 or 11:00 pm. There were countless times people said things such as “Oh, just take off this weekend, you work hard,” or “We really want you to come, can’t you just take off of work?”

But, I knew missing that $100-$200 night waitressing or bartending would add up fast. So if I went out and spent money, you better believe I was sentenced to not taking off of work and making that money back.

Get Creative With Your Free Time

To become student loan debt free, ditch the bar for a night or the dinners and stay at home with your significant other, family or friends. You can have just as much fun, if not more, playing cards, making dinner together, or hanging out in the backyard by the fire pit.

It certainly helped that I had a steady boyfriend for many years (my now hubby) because often  when you’re with someone you tend to stay in more. This isn’t me suggested to date anyone so you spend less money!

My husband and I would go to Europe, for instance, and make sure the hotel we got was modest because who cares about the hotel anyway? We preferred to spend our money exploring and going to places like museums and major monuments. We would make sure the hotel had continental breakfast so this didn’t add into the daily expense.

We would stop at the market in the morning and packed the backpack typically with cheese, bread, olives and a bottle of wine for lunch. Not going to lunch and spending possibly $20-$50 every day gave us so much extra money to use for museums or a night dinner at night. 

I recall one night on our honeymoon in Italy (which I saved five years to put money towards) when we got a pizza and a bottle of wine and sat by the ocean. It broke up the monotony of being indoors in a restaurant every day and allowed for a more exiting romantic moment. We were outside and under the stars where anything could happen.

 Ignore Envy or Even Jealousy

Social media easily allows all of your peers to post adventures that cause jealousy or envy. This one is going to Ibiza, that one got a new SUV. Do your best to try and be happy for them because they are maybe spending it because they work hard. Maybe it is a time in their life where they don’t mind running their credit card ragged.

Sure, it seems awesome, but don’t lose sight of the times that you have allowed yourself to let loose. Go through old pictures of past adventures if you need to remind yourself that you have had great times.

Don’t make the mistake of giving in to spending frivolously. I’m not saying mindless spending isn’t a ton of fun.  But, in the long run, would you rather have a ton of fleeting moments that become distant memories or a career to fall back on?

Be more cautious with your spending for the bigger picture.  Stress less everyday knowing you are doing the right thing to feel secure in the future!

How did you manage to pay off your student loans? Any tips?