Per the last post I did, Sarah and I had $24,931 in student loans as of May 5, 2015. Since that time, we have paid $24,931. We made our final payment in February 2016! I cried when I pushed the submit button while sitting at the local café. It was an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment, satisfaction, blessing, and thanksgiving. Going forward, I want to help others prevent their own bondage and for those in chains, help them to get out. Sarah and I could never have done this alone and we are thankful to a great family who battled with us, friends who listened to our struggle, and God for providing for our needs.
Just to give a little context, I finished grad school in 2010. Sarah then completed her undergrad in 2011. We both graduated from the University of Oregon; Sarah spent her first two years at a private school in California. Between the both of us, we had $100k of student loans, or $33k for each degree. Note that the strategies we implemented to conquer this beast will be discussed in a different set of posts.
To add to this challenge, Sarah started graduate school in 2013. She has since graduated with her masters in in 2016! I will cut to the chase and say that we prioritized not adding onto our debt burden and choose to pay for her school as she went. After her graduation, her school tab was $0! This certainly slowed our slaying of the other tranches of debt, but it was worth it to us.
Again, this is not a victory declared on our own strength, smarts, or stamina. This was a team effort that really started from my parent's encouragement to get a financial plan. Now I hope to be a voice to others facing their "insurmountable challenges."
Current Remaining Balance = $0 @ 0.00%
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