Becky Blake went against her parent’s advice to go to a less-expensive state university to go to a private university out of state. When she graduated, she had $98,400 in debt from student loans. With interest, some of it high, the balance would grow over time. She understood the problem, and she came up with an aggressive plan to repay her nearly $70K in debt in under two years.
She Used the Debt Avalanche Method
She had different types of loans, including direct unsubsidized, subsidized, and Parent PLUS loans from the federal government. The Parent PLUS loans had the highest interest rate of the three. The debt avalanche method is where you list debt starting with the highest interest rate and work your way down to the lowest interest rate.
First, she paid anything extra to the highest interest rate loans while paying the minimum on the others. This allowed her to reduce her overall interest and save in the end.
Some Refinancing
When she looked at her loans, a few had interest rates up to 7.9%. She was able to refinance any loan over 6% interest with a loan that carried 4.7% interest. As an added bonus in her refinance, more of her monthly payment would go towards the principal.
Same Standard of Living
After college, Becky also decided not to change her standard of living until her loans were paid. She worked hard, lived with her parents for part of the time, but did what she could to achieve her financial goals. Although she had a job right out of college, she added side hustles to increase her income.
Through her planning and decisions, she was able to pay $2500 each month towards her loans. Not only was she able to pay off the debt in two years, but she saved nearly $24,000 in interest payments.
Being debt-free was worth taking the time to pay off her loans. She was organized, made a plan, and kept her focus.