Melanie Lockert graduated from college with $81,000 in student loans, and spent several years paying the minimum amount due every month.
She then put her energy toward earning more, took advantage of any freebies that could lower her cost of living, put cash back toward her loans, and adjusted her tax withholding.I had just graduated with my Master's in Performance Studies from New York University. For my BA, I had borrowed $23,000 and for my MA I borrowed $58,000. Between graduating with my BA in 2006 and getting my Master's, I treated my student loan payment like a bill and just paid the minimum.
My Grad PLUS loans had interest rates of 6.8% and 7.9%, whereas my undergraduate loans had interest rates at less than 3% . When I calculated how much money I was spending on interest, it came to $11 per day. After that, I knew I had to ditch my high-interest debt first.where I paid the minimum on all my loans, while throwing extra cash at my highest interest debt — the 7.9% loans. I continued to do this, until that was paid off, and then threw extra cash at the 6.
The holiday season was especially lucrative. I worked for a wealthy family assisting with their Halloween party. I worked as a coat check for holiday parties. I pet sat during Thanksgiving and passed out appetizers during Christmas parties. Any gig I could find, I'd do. I put all that extra money toward my debt.One way I was able to keep my expenses low was to take advantage of free stuff. I was lucky enough to get some free samples of soap, free coupons for food items, etc.
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