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Do you have student loan debt?

  1. mfa_lady

    pomegranate / 3921 posts

    Yes, so much. We're on a ten-year repayment plan for graduate school loans, which would have us paying off by 2023 in the worst-case scenario. Our loan payments monthly add up to way more than our mortgage.

  2. Mrs.KMM

    grapefruit / 4355 posts

    No - DH and I both graduated with no debt.

  3. Littlebit7

    nectarine / 2243 posts

    Oh yeah. Gosh probably 80k for DH for his mba. And 25 k for me? We paid off 20k of mine last year. My interest rates are tiny so we've just been sitting on this.
    Our monthly payment is probably close to 1k per month. My portion is 300
    Both were programs that significantly increased our earning capability. The mba tripled or quadruped his, and mine was a doctorate of physical therapy. So basically you can't work without that; it's a good reliable salary with good job prospects in every state.

  4. Autumnmama79

    pear / 1703 posts

    No. Eternally thankful to my parents for paying for university.

  5. KT326

    pomegranate / 3438 posts

    I only have about $5,200 left! I only started with $25k though, which seems like nothing compared to some!

  6. Alba4

    nectarine / 2951 posts

    No.

  7. hellobeeboston

    honeydew / 7235 posts

    I don't, but DH does - law school.

  8. looch

    wonderful pear / 26210 posts

    I did, yes.

  9. skipra

    pomegranate / 3350 posts

    Yes but only around $3,000 I think. I would have paid it off already but the interest rate is like 1%.

  10. MK0180

    kiwi / 545 posts

    Yup - both DH and I have loans, combination of UG (me) and GR (both). Since we both work in the public/nonprofit sector we can qualify for the Public Loan Forgiveness program. After 10 yrs of monthly payments, they (Ed) will forgive the remaining balance. I'm 5 years in. We are applying for an income-based plan (PAYE probably) to get the monthly payments down as much as possible. I have another loan from my UG days but I'll pay that off either this month or next.

  11. mrsjd

    clementine / 777 posts

    I did but we paid off 150k last year!!!!!!!!

  12. Charm54

    cantaloupe / 6885 posts

    No students loans for either of us. one of the best gifts our parents gave us was helping us through school so we could graduate debt free. It wasn't a free ride by any means , we both worked to pay our spending money, got scholarships, didn't go on grad trips or have a car, etc...but their help meant we could start out by saving and not paying off debt. Tuition is also much cheaper in Canada so that helps.

    My parents were always clear that they wouldn't be paying for a big wedding , their gift to me was my schooling and I am eternally grateful. We will try to do the same for our DDs.

  13. fussygal

    pomegranate / 3580 posts

    I have about $12,000 left and DH has a RIDICULOUS amount. We will be paying for probably the next 15-20 years

  14. ms.line

    pear / 1770 posts

    @mfa_lady: Ditto, we have a ton. Our student loan payment is twice our mortgage.

  15. travellingbee

    hostess / papaya / 10219 posts

    I have 20K left. DH has none. We are in no hurry to pay it off. Just keep paying the normal payment since interest is so cheap.

    Eta: I really got screwed by Congress. They didn't pass a budget the year that I took my loan out and so I fall into this annoying window that doesn't qualify for loan forgiveness. Otherwise my loans would have been forgiven by now since I worked in low income schools.

  16. MediaNaranja

    pomegranate / 3244 posts

    Ha, YUP. I am on an income-based repayment plan, so payments aren't horrible, but I also feel like I will be paying them forever. I *hope* that in the next year or two I can find a better-paying job and work on getting that number down a bit--especially since some of them are at 6.5% interest, ugh. I'll work on those first. I just paid off a small $3000 loan I had w/ my tax return so that felt good!

  17. brownepiano

    persimmon / 1467 posts

    No. I graduated with no debt. I worked really hard to pay about 1/3 of it and my parents paid the rest as we went. I didn't think much of it at the time but not as I manage my own household, I'm not sure where they came up with an extra 1,000 a month. We worked really hard to pay off dh's. We finished 1.5 years after getting married (2.5 years after he graduated) and right before having DS 1.

  18. mfa_lady

    pomegranate / 3921 posts

    @ms.line: It's seriously so depressing. We'll also have to change our payment plan (to longer than 10 years) when we have a second child, assuming we'd have two in daycare. BLAH.

  19. ms.line

    pear / 1770 posts

    @mfa_lady: It is depressing! Mine's on a 10 year plan but DH's is 25 - he financed undergrad and two master's degrees, so it's a lot. BUT, his education allowed him to break free from generational poverty, addiction, and abuse, so I try to remind myself of that every time I look at the remaining balance....

  20. ShootingStar

    coconut / 8472 posts

    I have about $10k in grad school loans. Totally worth the expense as I will officially quadruple my pre-master's salary later this year.

  21. petitenoisette

    pear / 1521 posts

    I have 5 more months until mine is paid off! I could pay off the balance now but the interest is so low that I'd rather keep the funds in cash. As it is I'm paying extra each month to pay it off a few months early.

    Though now I'm pondering another grad program which we'd need to take out a loan for...

    @travellingbee: That is so frustrating and unfair!

  22. FancyGem

    clementine / 769 posts

    I have some debt. I just started paying it. my goal is to pay it all off within 5 years. My husband never had any debt.

  23. yerpie110

    nectarine / 2771 posts

    So thankful we have none. dh paid off his undergrad loan many years ago. I went to undergrad for free (dad is a professor at the university) + stayed at same school for my masters degree and had half covered for the same reason. My parents paid the other half (incredibly grateful for that!). I went to a different university for my doctoral degree and had half paid for in scholarships. I was married by that time and dh paid for the other half.

  24. Boogs

    hostess / papaya / 10540 posts

    Fortunately neither of us do. It took me a little longer to graduate because I worked to pay for it, but thankful now to not have the bill to worry about.

  25. peaches1038

    nectarine / 2047 posts

    Ugh yes. Combined we have over $300,000. I have a doctorate and DH has his masters. His parents couldn't help at all. Fortunately, I qualify for public service loan forgiveness and will be done in about 6.5 years. We are doing income based repayment so the monthly payment is manageable. I try not to think about it.

  26. BKCaribBaby

    pear / 1672 posts

    Heck yeah. Undergrad and professional school.

  27. SeptMomma12

    pear / 1849 posts

    @winniebee: Where did you get that interest rate?!? Mine is 6.625% and I'm currently looking to refinance.

  28. winniebee

    hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts

    @SeptMomma12: I graduated law school in 2005; they were FAFSA/Safford loans and I consolidated them when I graduated in 2005. It was crazy low then, not the same now!

  29. Pumpkin Pie

    persimmon / 1431 posts

    No. It was the first thing we paid off, and we were super strict about budget so we can pay it off. I know everyone thinks its "good debt", but I felt so horrible having that huge debt loom around us all the time, and you can never ever get rid of it, even if you go bankrupt. So, I made it my mission to get rid of that asap.

  30. gotkimchi

    nectarine / 2400 posts

    @SeptMomma12: FYI I refinanced with drb from 6.8 -3. Also checked sofi but the rate was higher (4 or 4.5)

  31. blackbird

    wonderful grape / 20453 posts

    Not right now, but i will when I go back to school, and I'm already trying to figure out the best way to pay off 85k. I'm hoping to have maybe a third of it saved up for, up front?...we'll see =\

  32. MaryM

    pomelo / 5129 posts

    I was down to 6 or 7 K last year

    We paid it off with money left over when we sold our house.

  33. SeptMomma12

    pear / 1849 posts

    @gotkimchi: Thanks! Did you go through the application process with both to compare rates? I started the DRB application last night - it's quite the process!

  34. gotkimchi

    nectarine / 2400 posts

    @SeptMomma12: yes i did both at the same time. Took about 3 weeks total for me to apply and them to transfer my loans. I've been very happy with their customer service so if you need help with the application just call them!

  35. agold

    grapefruit / 4045 posts

    I also have a 1% interest rate on my rather larger amount of student debt for myself. I'm not paying anything beyond the monthly minimums, though, because the interest is so low. I had other student debt with rates of like 5% and 6% that I continuously threw all tax returns, end-of-year bonus and extra monthly income at for the last 9 years since after I graduated. My husband has some shitty loans with 5% and 6% interest rates that we are now focused on paying off. Bummer but we are so happy with our college experience that we aren't too bitter about all the debt.

  36. LindsayLou

    persimmon / 1322 posts

    No. I saved like crazy the last few years so I could pay them all off before we had kids. Paid the last one off last June, two months before baby arrived. Such a great feeling!

  37. gingerbebe

    cantaloupe / 6131 posts

    @peaches1038: We were right there with you mama! DH was unemployed for like a year and a half after he graduated from law school (he moved across the country so we could be together and get married, had to take the bar exam again out here, and then wait to get licensed before applying, etc) so his loans were on IBR (with $0 payment because he made no money) and his loans ballooned by more than $30K by the time we started paying them back in earnest. It was scary when we bought our house last year how it didn't cost THAT much more than our original student loan balance. That and our mortgage was less than our monthly minimum payments!

    @SeptMomma12: DH refinanced with DRB too. We went from like 7.85% to 2 point something% (we did an adjustable rate, 10 year repayment with the idea that we would pay it off way faster than that). Its currently at 2.77%. His minimum payment on this play is lower than his 30 year repayment from Direct Loan - oof!

  38. ValentineMommy

    pomelo / 5791 posts

    Nope. I graduated with no debt. 8 years of college.

  39. Mrs. Cookie

    blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts

    Yep! About 40K left. It seems like the number never guesgoes down...

  40. Dr. Pepper

    apricot / 461 posts

    Yes. I started with $94k in 2011 when I graduated. I am down to $26k right now. They will be gone in October of this year. I will have paid them of in 5 years!

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