Who's got them and how much of a burden are they?

Just wanted to see what the consensus is on the boards. A buddy and I had a chat about it and we both agreed that we would do just about anything to get rid of our loan debt.

Reason it was a topic is because a guy we both mutually know decided to stop the grind of working and just do nothing because his student loan debt was massive. Could just never catch up financially.

So he just stopped and took a Income Driven Repayment plan and he hit zero payments.

So I guess my question to everyone is, if someone had a magic bullet to get rid of all your student loans, what would you give?

My buddy and I kinda agreed that giving up our primary vehicles was good enough because we could instantly get that back sooner with all the burden and savings gained.

BattleGrackle said:

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I gave up plenty to get my loans paid off sooner rather than later.

No new vehicles, I waited 8 years after graduation to buy a home, I didn't go on expensive vacations, I lived with a cousin for maybe a year to cut expenses, I waited to get married until I was debt free.

The biggest thing was prioritizing, it can be done. I also did have the benefit of a desirable degree that was in demand.

Don't give up

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This is the way.

Learn to appreciate what you have, and as your income increases over time it will make implementing self control over larger or small purchases MUCH easier. You can then funnel the extra liquidity into debt elimination.

Do the Dave Ramsey thing, he has some outstanding advice.

AgOil55 said:

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Who's got them and how much of a burden are they?

Just wanted to see what the consensus is on the boards. A buddy and I had a chat about it and we both agreed that we would do just about anything to get rid of our loan debt.

Reason it was a topic is because a guy we both mutually know decided to stop the grind of working and just do nothing because his student loan debt was massive. Could just never catch up financially.

So he just stopped and took a Income Driven Repayment plan and he hit zero payments.

So I guess my question to everyone is, if someone had a magic bullet to get rid of all your student loans, what would you give?

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It's all choices. Choice in what school you attend and when. Choice in your major. Choice in how hard you work to get good grades leading to a good job. Choice to work and/or live frugally in school and/or after school to reduce expenses and thus loan size and ability to repay loans.

Sounds like your buddy didn't think about the consequences of his loans and just went to school where he wanted, majored in what he wanted, got whatever grades he did, then didn't live frugally. Not surprisingly at some point you have to pay the piper. He doesn't want to pay he wants to be bailed out for his bad choices and have people that made better choices or more sacrifices take care of him.

Student loans aren't fun. For some they are the only path and for far more they are something that people get into deeply without understanding the ramifications. Blame colleges. Blame the government. Blame HS's. Blame parents. Blame the person taking out the loan. Still the concept of just letting people have loans forgiven or gaming the system so they can get out of paying them back because they don't want to is a great way to break the whole system and it's deeply unfair to people who did make good choices or sacrifices or especially those who didn't attend college at all.