Paying Down Student Loans, With A Teacher Income

So, as of right now, I owe $22,899 of my students loans. I was in forbearance last year and the year before. But I filled out an income based re-payment application. My credit was low, and this was the biggest thing hurting my credit score overall.

I am now finally in good standing, and my loans are currently with Great Lakes. During Covid and with all the money Uncle Sam was handing out, and also with the help of my side hustle, I was able to payoff my car loan. I think it was just over $6,000 pre-covid. Now that I do not have a car loan to pay any longer, I am going into the mindset that I have recently purchased a brand new car for $22,899. But I would like to payoff this car in two years. So without interest, my payments would be a little under $1,000 a month.

I was paying $270 a month for my car loan, my side hustle brings in $1,800 a month on average, and I would to eventually find a third source of income to help me pay the loans down sooner. I also work full-time as a teacher, so I think $1,000 a month is possible, I just have to manage my expenses well through the month.

So my target goal date is 6/2023. Two years seems like a long time, but with the car mindset, it helps. Because I had a 5 year loan out on my car, but paid it off in 4. Also, I can afford to pay it down, for now. And I’m using another mindset of, do I really want to worry about this the rest of my life, or into retirement. Or will I look back and thank myself for sacrificing two years to get it off our books.

Because you can’t get rid of student loans, ever. You can’t file bankruptcy to get rid of them. If you die, I believe they can come after any ingeritence you leave your kids. It’s almost like they follow you even after death. So ya, two years should be worth it, hopefully.

I’m also not waiting for the loans to be forgiven. I have a lot of friends who are just hoping that Biden cancels our student loans. I highly doubt he will, and frankly, I don’t have control over what the government does with the loans. So I would rather just sacrifice a short time, get it off my books, and not worry about it.

Please leave any comments you may have down below.

Best of luck!

-E