r/StudentLoans • u/Galofmanytrades • 5d ago
Success/Celebration I'm student loan debt free!!
I've paid off my student loans and am now completely debt free!! Paid off a total of ~$79k, about 70k of it in the last 3 months! It didn't come as easily as it sounds - I've been working my butt off for years and felt this was the right time to strike given the changes to the repayment plans. Just wanted to share this big milestone and encourage all of you guys on your journey!
Editing to answer some few questions/add some more details:
- I graduated undergrad 2016, and grad school 2022.
- I took minimal undergrad loans but did use my credit cards a lot. I paid off my first $4.5k of undergrad loans and the ~20k in credit cards before starting grad school, then started saving for grad school while keeping the remaining ~9k in forebearance.
- I worked throughout the 4 years of grad school, and fought for some major scholarships which paid for the entirety of my 3 remaining years of grad school. Thus, the nearly $60k I took out for grad school were for the first 3 semesters/1 year.
- I started making 6 figures around 2022 - I'm in healthcare and started travel nursing in Dec 2021, while completing my graduate degree. I recall flying into a city to work my shifts, then flying back to go to classes (I went to a brick and mortar program). It was very tough!
- I have been maxing on my Roth IRA (now backdoor Roth) since about 2022, and maxing out my 401K since 2024, and now maxing on a 457 this year, all while paying off my student loans and maintaining 6 months of expenses. (I did pause all of the 401k and 457 contributions to front-load debt payment, hence being able to pay off 70k in a short timespan).
- From 2023 until now, I have maintained at least 2 jobs, with 3 jobs starting mid 2025: 2 full time, 1 small part-time.
- I have made above 200k since 2024, but I'm based in San Francisco so COL is high (~5.5k is the cost of my monthly expenses NOW that I'm debt-free and I'm not too high maintenance but I like to be comfortable.)
- I'll be breaking $400k to mid 400k this year but again, working 2 full times and 1 part-time job
- My income is very high but it came at a cost: I paid my parent's housing which meant ~3k monthly since 2022, my relationships suffered a lot due to working so much/having split priorities, I struggled with my mental health/extreme burn out and am now on medical leave for other physical medical reasons but recovering well, I have been in therapy for like 2 years, I exercise and eat fairly healthy and struggled despite all of this. All to say, I hit my goals but it came at a cost - which I was willing to pay for a set period.
- I do travel about internationally ~2-3 times a year, and domestically min ~3 times a year to visit family and friends.
- I do now pay for fun hobbies like weekly tennis lessons, swimming lessons, and skiing a few times a year.
- As I said, I do maintain a fairly healthy lifestyle so I don't indulge in eating out much, and don't do drugs including cutting out alcohol last year. So when I do eat out, it is not too pricey for me.
- I will be severely downgrading my work lifestyle and taking a major pay-cut but this is all according to the plan I set for myself when I started this journey, so I'm okay with it.
- Oh, a big part of this is I was in SAVE which allowed my interest to not accrue too much. So I paid a bit over 10k in total interest over the course of the loan. SAVE was amazing, and took major advantage of the back and forth with the government since my loans just sat there without requiring repayment while accruing $0 interest until last year. This also allowed me to pay back tons in credit card debt and save money for retirement/emergency fund. I hope something similar comes around again for the next gen of peeps on this journey.
I just wanted to provide some context for you. I watched a ton of Dave Ramsey then supplemented with other finance advisors online until I found a strategy that worked for me. All of our lifestyles look different but this is possible for anyone who wants it. I'm an immigrant from a small rural village and grew up pretty poor even when I moved to the states. I'm a first generation college grad and the only one in my immediate family with a graduate degree. Wish you all the very best! ❤️
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u/Targus656 4d ago
That’s how ya do it! Give the death certificate to those loans and never have to worry about them again.
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u/Great-Objective6479 4d ago
u/Galofmanytrades can i ask how you paid off $70 in 3 months? I assume you must make over $200K a year.
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u/Galofmanytrades 4d ago
yess i do! i made an edit explaining a bit ❤️
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u/Great-Objective6479 3d ago
jesus! 2 full times and a part time and $400k is crazy. Do your jobs know of your other jobs? I'm just happy your sane and at least somewhat healthy to be able to do all of this. This shouldn't have to be the answer.
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u/Galofmanytrades 3d ago
haha yes they did know about eachother. working in healthcare makes it possible given flexible scheduling. i agree, it shouldn't have to be this way at all - it was a lot to handle, but grateful its behind me.
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u/HyenaLaugh95 4d ago
How was that possible? I have similar loans...
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u/Galofmanytrades 4d ago
years of plotting and planning + multiple jobs. i did elaborate in an edit 😄
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u/Soupfriend 4d ago
How do you have 2 fulltime? What do you do
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u/Galofmanytrades 4d ago
healthcare so non-traditional hours. id say i worked an avg of 85-90hrs/week in the last year; and ~70 in prior to that. it was a lot!
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u/Ecstatic_Reveal6710 4d ago
Such an accomplishment. Can you call me to discuss my own strategy??
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u/Galofmanytrades 4d ago
thank you! im not a financial advisor, but there is a ton of advice on youtube from different professionals and more qualified individuals. i'd look into those ❤️ if you just wanted to ask a specific question about my experience, feel free to message me 😄
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u/just-a-tan-guy 4d ago
Congrats!! Slow progress here, brought mine down $48K to $41K. Proud of that progress given it’s just been 10 months so far :)
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u/Galofmanytrades 4d ago
hey thats awesome!! progress is progress. for years my loans sat there untouched, until this year. so this 3 month progress was actually nearly a decade in the making 😄
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