Student loan debt was a burden I lived with for just about my entire adult life.
But not anymore! As of today, I'm officially debt free.
It all started way back in 2006 when I had taken out a student loan to study abroad for a summer in Italy. It was 100% worth it and I had an incredible time.
When I graduated from college, my loan was in its magical grace period for a year. And exactly a year after I finished college, I started grad school. So I deferred my undergrad loan until I finished my master's degree.
Grad school was crazy expensive, and while I paid for summer classes out-of-pocket, I took out loans for the other 6 semesters. I finished the program in 2011 and had another year of that magical grace period.
BUT a few months before my grace period ended, I got laid off from my job. So I consolidated my student loans and made a call to my loan officer to have my payments deferred for a year. Interest was accruing but I didn't have to make any payments for a while. I took the worry-about-it-later approach and spent a year trying not to stress over all the debt that was in my future.
When it was finally time to face the music, I was completely overwhelmed.
From 2013-2016, I was on an income based repayment plan offered to people working in the nonprofit sector. The plan allowed for minimal payments and the promise that if I made on-time payments for 10 years, the remainder due would be forgiven by the federal government. Additional payments wouldn't be counted toward the forgiveness program - only 1 per month counted. This deal sounded too good to be true! And in retrospect, it was. I wasn't even paying off the monthly interest I was accruing. Each year my principal balance would
increase. Maybe it was the federal administration in place at the time or maybe it was my own naivety, but I somehow felt a hopeful security in the loan forgiveness program. Knowing my debt had an end date made it seem like less of a burden.
In 2017, when the first wave of public service loan forgiveness applications made their way to the government for review, the majority were denied. Nervous, a bit heartbroken, and not willing to put my entire financial future at risk, I decided to take my debt into my own hands. The federal government wasn't going to have my back, so it was up to me. So I got aggressive with my debt and, with Alex's support and encouragement, I paid off the balance in just under 2 years.
When I hit the final "submit payment" button, a wave of pride and relief washed over me. I'm free from student loan debt and all the stress that comes with it. And because Alex is a huge Dave Ramsey fan, I had a mini debt free
scream squeal in our apartment. Because in NYC, a scream can mean anything from a mouse to a murder.
