This is a continuation of my student loan debt story. You can read Part I here: My Student Loan Debt: Part I.

Graduation

When I entered the workforce after receiving my Bachelor’ degree, my student loans were on a hiatus as I waited for them to be dispersed. Meaning, the final dollar value owed is calculated. Additionally, there is a small waiting period upon graduation. Here, the loan companies graciously allow you to find employment to pay for the loans as they finalize your payment options.

I was only able to get a part time position for the first few months. So once the payments were due, I had to put them in forbearance. This is where you basically tell the loan company that you do not have enough money to pay.  The interest, however, still accrues.  But with a part-time job, I just didn’t have the money to pay.

When my position was finally changed to a full time position, I thought that I could finally start paying down this debt. I soon realized that my base pay was not much more than I made as a waitress. Then, after taxes and such, it was even less. There was definite disparity between my wage and the cost of my education.

The Plan to Increase My Take-Home

By the next year, I decided that my Bachelors degree was not filling my career cup and was not going to yield me a livable salary. In addition, I had a limited scope of practice within my career choice because I did not have a nursing degree. At a hospital, not being a nurse can definitely be limiting when you want to work closely taking care of patients.

So, from forbearance, I put my loans into deferment and went back for my Associates in nursing.  Deferment puts your payments on hold and your interest- in most circumstances.  This happens automatically when you re-enroll in school.

In 2004, I was finally done with my undergraduate degrees. Now, I had a Bachelors and an Associates degree and had never made a payment on either.  After the same period of time as after my Bachelors degree, my loans were finalized and my payment options needed to be chosen.

I could now start paying them off!

The Plan

I had a few options from which to choose to pay off my loans.  One was income based where I would pay a certain percentage based on my income.  This would pay down my debt faster.  Another option was a fixed payment schedule whereby the monthly payment would gradually increase as time went on.  This was a middle of the road option.  The last option I had was based on a low payment.  I could have low payments but extend the length of the loan.

I chose to make the smallest monthly payment so that I could pay off the loan but still have money to live.  I understood that this would increase the life of the loan and increase the payoff amount.  However, I went into it with the thought that if I had extra money, it would always go towards the loan.

Putting the Plan into Action

Overall, it took me 15 years to pay off my student loans.  According to the website, www.savingforcollege.com, my loan should have taken me about 25 years to repay. So, being 10 years early was a win for me.  By no means, was this an easy win.  There were sacrifices.

When my friends of the same age were graduating college at 22 and going out into the real world, I became a mother.  As those same friends were becoming moms, I was going back to finish my Bachelors and obtain my Associates.  When my friends paid off their student loans, I started my payment plan.  When my friends bought lake houses and went on trips, I paid cash for my Masters and still paid on my undergraduate student loans.

Yes, in my quest for a great career, I also decided to get my MBA.  As stated above, I paid cash for this degree.  While taking my online courses, my student loans were automatically put into deferment.  This allowed me to keep paying on them while interest did not accrue.

Over the years, I was certainly off schedule from everyone else and was never quite in the same season of life as my friends.  This is where I needed to see the forest through the trees.  I needed to continuously remind myself of my long term goals.  I wanted to have a great education, a great career, and no more student loans.

Stay tuned for Part III of My Student Loan Debt journey where I will share the real dollars…