Paying off Student Loan Debt
To preface, I know that I am not poor in the traditional sense of the word. The world is full of people who actually face true poverty. However, when you decide to pay off over $200,000 in student loan debt, you choose to live a very frugal lifestyle. We shop at thrift stores and go camping for vacation. Guys, I even make my own bread.
Student Loan Debt!
Student loan debt, as I typed that very word I could a hear a huge collective group of lawyers, doctors, physical therapists, and many other graduates exhale slowly. Many people can relate to the “mountain of student loan debt” problem. After my husband graduated optometry school, we put our heads in the sand and delayed focusing on our student loans for the first four yeas. Then, we heard about a guy named Dave Ramsey. He gave us the hope that we could actually start our debt free journey and tackle our student loan debt. Thanks Dave! That “thank you” was meant both genuinely and sarcastically.
“when you decide to pay off over $200,000 in student loan debt, you choose to live a very frugal lifestyle”
We have been working on paying off our debt the past two years. It has unified us as a couple and brought contentment. I’ve also learned some great skills but sheesh, it has been a struggle too. “Struggle” is the sugar coated, rose colored lens term for this experience. Sometimes, it just plain sucks.
Why are we paying off our student loan debt?
My husband is an optometrist at his own private practice. I’m a stay at home mom of 6 awesome kids. Compared to our mound of debt, “we gots’ a small shovel”. Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruz are financial gurus and amazing human beings overall. Although, they inspire us to keep going, we are left a bit disenchanted at times after listening to their shows. There are so many times, people come in to do their “debt free screams” and I’m hopeful that their story will be incredibly relatable to ours. Then I find out their $300,000 of debt was their mortgage or someone’s “Everest” of student loan debt amounted to $50,000, just a mere fraction of mine. Then I sit there and have to tell myself, “good for them… good for them… good… for… them… maybe it’s possible for you… wait, can I do this?”
Freebie! Download my Cute Debt Pay off Chart!
Keeping up with the Joneses?
Many of us struggle with “keeping up the Joneses” but I don’t. I don’t know any Joneses, but I do know the Smiths and they are “goals”. The Smiths seems to have it all figured out. But the the truth is, the Smiths are looking to the Johnsons. The Johnsons go to Europe every summer. While the Johnsons are sipping lemonade at their favorite French Cafe, they can’t help but think of the the “so and sos”. The “so and sos” just bought a yacht to travel the world . The Johnson’s fancy European vacation pales in comparison. The rat wheel continues to turn and we are stuck in a life of discontentment and constantly comparing. We are human and so, yes, we will compare. However, when you decide to pay off debt, you have officially decided to not care what people think or about who’s impressed with who. This is the awesome part about paying off debt!
A Blog is Born!
I knew I wanted to create a place where people like me can come without shame or embarrassment and support one another. And so, a blog is born… Mazel tov! I began mulling over in my mind what I should name my blog. My sister threw out the name “the poor doctor’s wife”. I loved it right away, thanks girl!
Paying off student loan debt will look different for each of us. Hopefully, I will be able to help you along your journey by sharing some tips and tricks that have helped me. I’m going to dive into budget friendly meals and ways to reduce spending. I’ll touch on how to have self control. And of course I’ll include ways to “treat yo’self” while on a budget, side hustles, and ways to stay sane as a mom/ wife/ human being going through this whole process. Don’t worry, I’ m gonna be real with ya’ll. I will also share the things that don’t work out and how hard this way of life can be. Hope you guys enjoy this front row seat to this crazy, awesome journey of “the poor doctor’s wife”.
Dave Ramsey and His Baby Steps
Here are the books that changed Josh (the hubs’) and my opinion on student loan debt. He also changed our overall perspective on money. Dave Ramsey’s story is great and he’s very open about sharing his “stupid tax” regarding financial decisions. I always appreciate someone willing to share their moments of stupidity because… I don’t feel so alone! (come on guys you know we all do it! Haha!)
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[…] As you may know, we started this debt free journey with $288,000 of debt, most of which was Student loans. But we have been focused and working hard and have made some serious progress! We are now down to $191,000 in student loan debt! WOOHOO! I know we still have a long, long way to go. But I have to take a moment to celebrate that we have paid off almost 100K in a little over 2.5 years. It has been a hard road but so worth while! Find out why we decided to do this here! […]