I know, I know. Enough about Cat’s financial mistakes! You already had to read about the time I paid three rents at once, but at least when it comes to this one, I know I’m not alone!
When I graduated, I had over $39,000 in student loan debt from undergrad and grad school combined and over $6,000 of credit card debt. Now, I am credit card debt free, and my loan debt is just under $35,000. My goal is to get it under $30,000 by the end of this year.
Reducing my student loans by $4,000 in the two years since I finished graduate school seems quite small, but I just recently started throwing a lot of money at them to the tune of $800-$1,200 payments. This should help me conquer another $4,000 by the end of this year.
Why Was It A Big Mistake?
I don’t regret my education. I just regret the way I funded it. I actually got a full ride to grad school plus an assistantship, but I took out loans to make things less of a squeeze. Obviously, I really wish now that I would have just lived with it. My assistantship was around $14,500 a year. I think my paycheck was around $1,100 or $1,200 a month. My apartment was $500.00 a month. I guess I just felt like it wasn’t enough, and I didn’t want to ask for help. I was driving 3 hours every weekend to see the hubs, who was my fiancé at the time, and that was quite a bit of gas.
Honestly, it all seems like a lifetime ago, and now I’m left with the aftermath. None of these are excuses. I’m pretty anti-excuses. It’s just me looking back with a much clearer understanding of money and regretting some of the decisions I’ve made.
It’s Been a Good Lesson
Still, I actually feel like my mistakes make me a more knowledgeable person. Do I wish I had a better understanding of loans when I took them out? Absolutely. Do I wish I would have taken out less? Yes, of course.
However, now I have this big lump sum of a loan that I am trying to conquer, and it’s kind of an awesome challenge. I feel like I am climbing a mountain trying to find the next rock to grab on to. I know paying off loans isn’t really anyone’s idea of a good time, but I take screen shots every time I pay a huge sum of money on it to keep me motivated. Also, I know that if I keep working hard and make the next 5 months count, I can really make a dent in it solely by paying it using my side hustle income.
Plus, let’s be honest: this is nothing compared to my husband’s medical school loans. His have surpassed the $200,000 mark only two years in. Don’t worry; I’m sure I’ll be writing about those for many years to come!
Check out DC’s new book Hustle Away Debt to learn everything you wanted to know about making money through side hustles!
Did you take out more student loans than you should have? How long did it take you to pay them off? I need some inspiration!
Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Check out some of our favorite personal finance resources:
Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
Make extra money: 15 ways to make money from your computer
Get the First Chapter Free!
Join our online community and get the first chapter of the book Student Loan Solution absolutely FREE!
You and I are in the same boat Cat! I could have gotten by without taking out much if any loans but I choose the latter. I worked full time and though i paid for somethings I could have paid for more. Instead I wasted money on the things I wanted and thought I was entitled to since I was working and other people weren’t. I am now starting to get on the pay down college debt movement in our home and the wifey and I have plans to tackle all we owe over the next 5yrs.
YourDailyFin That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing in the pain. I hope we both knock it out the park very soon!
I feel a similar sentiment. But I try to remember this saying “If I would have known better i would have done better” but when you don’t know, you dont know. I will try to pay for as much of my future children’s education as posible and make sure they know better than I did!
BudgetforMore Oh yeah we’ve been chatting about what to do with the future kiddos and college. Tossing around the idea of making them pay 1/2 of it.
I’m sure that most people wish that would’ve done something different in college! Greg got his first degree in theatre and he always talks about how he wish he would’ve got it in a field where he could actually get a job. His parents paid for his first four years of college so he feels like he wasted it.
Holly at ClubThrifty That’s so interesting. You guys are just way too cool. lol.
Everyone makes mistakes and realize it , Lack of awareness is mother of all mistakes. You are not alone, Even i would have been better if i would have know it .
Samgill Well I’m just glad my mistake was getting a masters degree ya know? Haha, there are way worse mistakes I could have made in my younger years.
I probably took out more loans than I needed to, but at the time I definitely felt like I didn’t have enough money! I ended my four year program with $42k in loans. Fortunately I was able to tap into a government resource program and got them reduced to $26k. That $26k took me 18 months to pay off, and it definitely wasn’t an easy feat!
Jordann I love your loan repayment story Jordann. You’re definitely smart for utilizing those resources!
I was in a similar boat and came out with too much in loans. I just wish I would’ve not taken the extra money because that adds up quickly. We paid mine off last January, finally, but were not serious about repayment until several years ago.
FrugalRules Congrats on paying it all off, John. That’s awesome!!
I took out a little more than I should have. When I was younger, I figured, what’s an extra $1K when I’ll probably owe $40K? MISTAKE!
SenseofCents Yes you’re a good inspiration for me Michelle since you started out with roughly the same amount!
I’m extremely fortunate to have never dealt with student loans, but I think your outlook is spot-on. What’s done is done. The best thing you can do is look at things objectively, learn from them, and move on with a plan to make it better. We all do things we regret. The important thing is to use them to make us better.
Matt @ Mom and Dad Money Thanks Matt. I really appreciate that!
One challenge with student loans is that so many students take out large loans for careers that will take them a lifetime to repay. To make matters worse, when they graduate, they can’t find a job in their field. Then they have all this debt and nothing to show for it. That’s why it’s best to keep student loan debt low or take none out all together. Or fund a degree which leads to a career that will hopefully pay you back…like a doctor! :)
Brian @ Luke1428 Haha so true. Good thing I married one right?
That’s a good goal for the year, I like that your goal is reasonable and attainable and not just a hopeless dream. I didnt’ take out student loans BUT my biggest mistake was buying a condo that I couldn’t afford and now paying thousands in interest each year. Hang in there!
Monicaonmoney Thanks so much! I’m glad you think the goal is attainable. Last year I would have never imagined I’d be in a position to pay them back so much. I’m very grateful for the work I’ve had this year.
You’re welcome!
Whenever I get down about financial mistakes in the past, I always think that I am where I am because of the mistakes. Who knows how different life would have been without the loans. It could have turned for the worse, you never know!
Tara Zee You’re right. They give me a lot to blog about, which I get paid for and then use to pay the loans haha!
I was lucky enough to get my undergrad schooling covered with scholarships, but like your husband, I had to take out loans for optometry school. Unless you are going into the military, I’ve never seen anyone get a full ride through med/dental/optometry school. I don’t regret taking loans, but like you, I probably borrowed more than I needed. It was offered, so I took it. I rationalized that I was coming out with less than most of my peers, which was not a good argument. I owed about $60,000 when I graduated. What I really wish I’d done differently is paid them back quickly. If I had buckled down and not let lifestyle inflation take over, I could have paid them off within 5 years I think. Instead it took 14 years. I think you are very smart to be paying yours off as quickly as you can.
Eyesonthedollar Thanks for saying that! I really want to go crazy on them and pay back all the med school loans in the 5 years after graduation. That would be so amazing!
Fortunately, my parents set me up well by teaching me to take out as little as possible. I still graduation with a little bit of debt, but I was able to take care of that within a year of graduating. It’s so easy to just keep taking out loans without even thinking about the future repercussions.
CommonCentsWealth We’ll certainly be teaching our kids the same. There’s a much longer back story with my college situation that I’ll write about someday, possibly next month since it’s the anniversary of Katrina which messed the whole thing up!
Oh man, 200k in two years?! The cost of med school just makes me sick. The more important thing though is how dedicated you are to paying them off and as effectively and quickly as you can. These posts do always make me grateful for my undergrad scholarships though! If I go to grad school though, I know I’ll probably end up in a bit of debt.
BrokeMillennial Yeah girl, it’s going to be a big number at the end! Eek!
I went to community college for my first year, and I had college credits from AP classes in high school. I also graduated a semester early and took summer classes so that I didn’t have to pay more than I had to. Unfortunately I’m still stuck with loans, and I haven’t made much of a dent in them this past year. I’m trying to ramp up payments though – there is so much inspiration to gain from others paying off their loans, it’s great! I’m sure you’ll have your loans under $30k by the year’s end.
JourneytoSaving Thanks for the kind words! Going to community college is a great way to avoid them!
I never took out any loans, but I sure did make some financial mistakes in my life that I regret. Having said that, I think I learned a great lesson because of it and now I have my financial mindset right.
DebtRoundUp Yeah I would agree with that Grayson. I feel like I learned so much and can only go up from here!
Debt isn’t easy, no matter where it came from. But big Congrats to you for already paying off so much of it and on your goal to pay off the rest.
TacklingOurDebt Thanks Sicorra! Working on it!!
Hi Cat,
After two years of undergrad I had $18,000 in student loans, and I decided I needed a change (both because of the financial stress and because the school ended up not being a great fit). I decided to move to California, establish residency, and go to one of the ultra-cheap CSUs (or at least they were at the time!). After my first semester I was able to get a full time job at the university, which meant free classes at night! And best of all, no need to take out more loans.
But I still let the student loans hang around, even well after graduating in 2003. Paying the minimums, and even missing a payment once…
I didn’t pay off the loans in full until 2009, when I just started dipping my toe into personal finance.
DonebyForty That’s quite a story! Working for a university is an awesome way to get college paid for. Way to go!
I took zero loans, a few friend of mine did for business school but I found a company to pay for it in exchange for part time work. My friends are still paying the loans and pretty angry about their decision, I think I would have taken loans only if I needed to have the best grades possible (like med school) and working on the side would have damaged the grades, meaning a lower paying career in the end. But it is hard to know that at 18.
RFIndependence It’s funny. What you said is so true. My husband worked 40 hours a week in college and paid for everything himself, and his GPA was low, which is the primary reason why he’s at an international school. Still life works in mysterious ways, and I’m so glad how it all turned out.
Luckily I avoided student loans. Your hustlin’ skills ought to get you out of student loan debt sooner than later. ;)
ayoungpro Haha thanks Nick. I’m trying!! :D
I also was pretty fortunate not to have a large sum of student loans. With that said, I still have them outstanding because the interest rate is so low.
For some student loans, if you make a certain amount of on-time payments (typically 12, 24, or 36) or sign up for direct debit, you can receive a discount on your interest rate (aka borrower benefits). If your loans have these benefits, that could be even more motivation to keep making payments – a lower future interest rate!
Roger@lifelaidout Thanks! I have heard of that but I should call and ask. I’ve never missed a payment, so I should get whatever benefit is there. :)
BudgetBlonde Roger@lifelaidout Yes, definitely! And if you don’t do it already, sign up for the direct debit if they’ll give you an interest discount.
As a new reader to YAM I can relate to your other post actually but for different reasons. We might be relocating soon and may end up having to pay 2 rents for a month or two to smooth the transition, 3 is pretty harsh though!
MoneyBulldog Hey Adam great to see you here! I know right? It was definitely harsh. Good luck with your move! Moving is no fun!
Wow..that’s a lot but since you have already taken the bull by its horns you will conquer. My student loans are smaller and even though I hate the debt, I do not regret it because at the moment I applied I had no other choice of paying my tuition.
BorrowedCents Yeah thanks! Hope to get it knocked out soon!
I wish I could be an inspiration, but I only ended up with $30K after seminary school and I wouldn’t say that it was a mistake. With the amount I make now, even paying off $30k is a huge challenge for me at the point, but this post is definitely an inspiration for me. Look forward to hear about your husbands loan.
ubersteward Thanks! I do write a bit more about his loans over on my blog, but I’m sure I’ll mention them on DC’s when we get a bit closer to paying them. :D