Want to learn how to pay off student loans fast? Here’s how I paid off my $40,000 student loan debt in just 7 months.
In July of 2013, I finished paying off around $40,000 in student loan debt. This still does not seem real to me. I honestly thought that I would be paying this forever. The minimum payments scared me as well. Many people have asked me how to pay off student loans fast, and I am here to help.
We were saving for quite some time, and then towards the end I just started plopping down as much money as we possibly could towards my student loan debt.
I worked like crazy as well. We both increased our day job income significantly over the year before and put this increase in earnings towards paying off our student loans quickly.
We also never really increased our budget. Yes, we did buy new cars, but weirdly enough our budget did not increase.
This is because we switched to more frugal entertainment (such as hiking, riding our bikes, etc. – and not focusing on spending every last penny on clothing), and we also focused on cooking better meals at home for ourselves. So our income kept increasing, but our budget did not.
How to pay off student loans fast.
See if your employer will reimburse your education expenses so that you can pay off your student loans fast.
Some companies will pay your student loans quickly if you work for them. I even know of someone who receives a $2 bonus for each hour that she works for student loans.
$2 may not seem like a lot, but if you work full-time then that’s over $300 a month. $300 a month for student loans is a good amount! And, it’s free money so it can all just be put towards paying off your student loans quickly.
Reduce your interest rate for your student loan repayment plan.
If you automatically pay your student loans each month or consolidate them, then sometimes you can get an interest rate reduction. With Sallie Mae, I believe the reduction is 0.25%. Not a ton, but that is something!
Related tip: I highly recommend Credible for student loan refinancing. You can lower the interest rate on your student loans significantly by using Credible which may help you shave thousands off your student loan bill over time.
Pay extra towards your loans each month in order to pay off student loans fast.
If you’re wondering “How can I pay off my student loans faster?” – then this is a major tip!
You will, of course, have to start paying extra towards your loans.
Even if you don’t have a ton of spare money in your budget, even an extra $25 is important. Most people can find a spare $25 in their budget, so go and look!
Increase your income to pay off your student loans fast.
It’s no secret that I love making side income. It makes life so much easier. Without it, I definitely do not think that I would have been able to pay off my student loans as quickly.
You can completely pretend that this extra income is not in your budget, and just shuffle ALL of this extra income towards student loan debt so that you do not miss it. If you have any extra time, then I’m sure that there is something out there that you can do to make extra money.
For me, the main thing I did to make extra money was by blogging and freelancing. If you are interested in starting a blog of your own, I have a tutorial that will show you how to easily make a blog of your own in just minutes. You can find the tutorial here.
Related articles:
- 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money
- 10 Ways To Make Money Online From The Comfort of Your Home
- 10 Things I’ve Done To Make Extra Money
- Ways To Make An Extra $1,000 A Month
- How to Earn Extra Income Part 1
Decrease your spending for your student loan repayment plan.
There are plenty of ways to decrease your spending. Decreasing your spending can really help you pay off your loans more quickly because you can throw all of your extra income towards your student loans.
There are plenty of ways for you to lower your income. Check out the articles below:
- How To Save 50% Or More Of Your Income
- Saving Over $2,000 A Year With Republic Wireless Review – How Much Money Could You Save?
Think about your goal for your student loan repayment plan.
Yes, student loan repayment can seem very stressful when you think about it. Many people owe thousands and thousands in student loans. And, no matter how old you are, it can seem impossible. However, think about your goal and how good life will be once all of your student loan debt is gone.
Try to not let it get you down. Think positively and attack that debt so that you can pay off your student loans fast!
There are many creative ways to pay off student loans, so if you are feeling like you don’t have much motivation, I recommend creating a vision board.
Is it smart to pay off student loans quickly?
This depends on the person and their own personal finance situation. If you have debt, then it can be a good idea to pay it off quickly.
I recommend reading Pay Off Debt Or Save Money – Is One Better For You? to help you make the decision.
How long will it take to pay off student loans?
The amount of time hat it takes you to pay off your student loans will vary. This may depend on factors such as:
- how much money you put towards your student loans each month
- the amount that you have in student loans
- your interest rate
- What is the smartest way to pay student loans?
Some people pay them off quickly, and others may take longer.
Leave a Reply