I Was Buried in Student Loan Debt: Here’s How I Climbed Out
Written by
Nicole Spector
Edited by
Gary Dudak
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When Blanca Garcia, a registered dietitian nutritionist and nutrition specialist at Healthcanal, graduated in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in nutritional science, she had racked up $40,000 in student loan debt.
“But over time I ended up paying over $70,000 with loans with interest rates of 4%, 5%, 6%,” she told GOBankingRates.
The debt was cumbersome, to say the least, but Garcia and her husband (who also had student loan debt, but much less) made it their goal to pay their debts down as quickly as they could. The good news is they’re now free of student loan debt. Here’s how they did it.
Committed to the Decision and Set a Motivating Goal
Garcia and her husband didn’t just think about paying down their student loan debt, they committed to doing it. They were also super motivated by declaring that once they paid off the debt, they could finally buy their own home.
“We decided that we would pay off all of our student loans before we bought our home,” Garcia said. “We so desperately wanted our own space, and as a motivation we decided to completely pay off our student loans, and our reward would be to buy a house.”
Garcia points out that technically they could have bought a house before wiping out the student loan debt, “but the idea was to have breathing space in case we needed extra money for repairs on the home.”
Making the decision to eliminate student loan debt first and foremost is Garcia’s top tip for those looking to get out of crushing debt. “It’s all in the mind and it’s quite powerful what you can accomplish when you set your mind to something,” she said.
Detailed Planning Using Excel
“I had multiple small loans, so I added them to Excel sheets and ranked them based on their interest rates; the highest-interest loans were our top priority to pay off,” Garcia said.
“I paid extra on top of the minimum amount only for the ones with the highest interest rates and the minimum payments on the rest. That means I got rid of the higher interest rate loans faster.”
Ditched the TV & Shared Streaming Subscriptions
Garcia considerably trimmed her monthly expenses by sacrificing wants, including TV. She also limited streaming subscriptions.
“I reduced my expenses by not owning a TV and sharing a streaming service with another family member,” Garcia said. “This saved on the cost of a TV and TV subscription. I was only paying about $8 dollars a month for one streaming service.”
Made Meals at Home
Dining out can demolish your budget, so Garcia and her husband gave this luxury up altogether.
“We did not eat out; only cooked meals at home and took lunch to work,” Garcia said.
Took Camping Getaways and Traveled Cheaply
Garcia and her husband didn’t sacrifice joy and adventure in order to pay off their student loan debt, but they did get crafty with traveling in order to save money.
“My husband and I took weekend getaways by camping; we would pack food already in our refrigerator and only pay $14 a night at the campsite,” Garcia said. “We hiked, hung out, read a book, and looked for birds.”
They also took advantage of cheap airline tickets and hostels to make the most of their travels on a frugal budget.
Bought a Car in Cash and Shared It
To save on transportation costs and prevent yet another debt from sinking their finances with high interest rates, Garcia and her husband bought a car in cash and shared it.
“This allowed us to save on interest on a car loan, get lower insurance and only pay for one gas tank,” Garcia said. “We bought a small 2-door car that was fuel efficient.”
Got Cheaper Cell Phone Service
Garcia and her husband shopped around for cheaper phone services offered by budget companies, landing on one that cost just $30 per line a month.
Paid $1,000 – $2,000 Extra Every Other Month on Lower Interest Loans
Making just the bare minimum student loan payments can be a challenge, but by cutting down on other life expenses, Garcia and her husband were able to double down on repayments. This allowed them to focus on the lower interest ones to get those wiped out quickly.
“Every other month we would pay between $1,000 to $2,000 extra for lower-interest loans to help them also get lower faster,” Garcia said.
Celebrated With a Motivational Music Video
Committing to paying back student loan debt may feel inspiring at first, but for how long can you really tap into that inspiration? You can do this by celebrating your wins, which Garcia and her husband did joyfully.
“Every time we paid off extra on my student loans, we watched Dee-1’s Sallie Mae Back music video to get pumped up and motivated to pay more,” Garcia said. “At some point, we watched it one last time with our loan at $0 and it was so sweet.”
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