3 Success Stories From People Who Crushed Student Debt

When Student Loans Feel Like A Mortgage

College is a lot of firsts. Your first time living alone, your first steps towards your career, and your first introduction to debt. A student loan is meant to be a booster. It gets you into school so you can fast-track your career-track.

Of course, that’s only half the deal. You need a lot of money at a time where you likely haven’t had a chance to save up much. That means student debts are big. So once you get out of school and need to pay those debts, the payments can feel like a mortgage.

You Can Make Do It: Stories of Inspiration

At first, it can feel like you’ll never pay off that student debt. You’re not alone. In the USA, 1/4 of adults are paying off student loans with an average loan of $37,172.

The good news, paying off your loans is entirely doable. We take a look at 3 stories of students who crushed their student debt.

How I Paid $107,000 of Student Loan Debt

Meet Andrew Josuweit, a former student who paid off $107,000 in student debt. Andrew took on expensive loans banking on promises that his career path would have high pay right after graduation.

Unfortunately, the salary expectations the schools promised were nowhere near the reality. As a result, keeping up with the minimum payments for the first 3 years after school was a struggle. His student loan debt only got worse.

Andrew decided to take control of his situation. Buckling down and overpaying his monthly payments was at the core of this plan. This reduces the principal, allowing him to pay off the loan faster while saving money on interest.

To make this possible his lifestyle habits had to change. He made the move from New York to Austin and from driving to biking.

Today he has conquered his student loan debt and believes that others can do the same. His advice: never give up power over your finances, and that small changes can make a big difference.

Hailey Paid Off Her $16,700 Student Loan In One Year

Hailey Masterson managed to pay off her $16,700 student loan debt in just one year, even while moving to a city with a higher cost of living.

Some of the key components of Hailey’s success include budgeting, goal-setting, and finding ways to better manage her spending.

Dealing with student loan debt is hard. But if you want help, you have to seek it out yourself. For Hailey, this meant looking to self-help books that gave her insight into paying off debts and growing your savings. Self-help books aren’t for everyone, but anyone dealing with debt can benefit from seeking some type of help. Debt counselling and advising can help you create a plan and see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Her next step, like Andrew, was to create a budget. This was her first step in taking control of her financial situation. With a budget in place, she then chose to switch banks. Her current bank wasn’t great and she found another with a more user-friendly experience that made it easy to understand and her finances online.

To keep on top of these finances she worked – a lot. Landing a full-time gig right out of school is tough. Instead, Hailey balanced multiple part-time jobs until she was able to find a full-time position.

All this work wasn’t her only sacrifice. She chose to downgrade her living situation, getting cheaper rent with a longer commute and living with more roommates. Although it wasn’t her ideal environment she set the goal of staying there until paying off her loan. This goal was a big motivator helping her to stay on track.

Today, Hailey is living debt-free and has upgraded her living situation. It was a tough year, but she learned a lot about overcoming debt and saving cash through planning, goal-setting, and perseverance.

Pay Off $147,106 Debt, Just Like Jackie & Miles

When you’re looking at how to pay off students loans, that’s sometimes only one part of the equation. Jackie & Miles found themselves in a situation where credit card debt, car loans, a mortgage, and student loans all came together to result in a $147,106 debt.

With each of them entering the relationship with their own debts, there was a lot of pressure. Instead of letting that pressure break them apart, they used it to harden their resolve. They broke down the different loans by priority.

They started with paying off the credit card debt, then took on the student loans, and ended with the mortgage. Altogether, they cleared out their debts in 7 years – pretty impressive considering most people have 25-year mortgages.

To get there they changed their lifestyle. They accrued their debt by building their lifestyle on borrowings. Instead, they lost the luxuries and put the focus on building savings. With the money they saved, they didn’t return to lavish spending and put it towards the debt instead.

They took a big look at their overall plan and found all the little changes that would let them conquer their debts while maintaining a healthy home life.

They Did It, And So Can You

These stories aren’t just the exceptions. They’re stories of people like you who took the same steps you can take to conquer your own student loan debt.

Take control of your finances, build your budget and start a plan. Double down with a little help. Our debt counsellor can help teach you how to pay off your student loans. The sooner you start, the easier it gets.