conversation: User (PFLawyer): "Gonna crosspost in /r/studentloans. So first off, I'm writing this post out of a sincere concern for the future.  This is not an attempt to showboat (not that I think there is anything below worth being exceptionally proud of). Nor am I looking for sarcastic responses suggesting that I have rethought past choices.  I have to work with what I currently have. Most of the following is build up, so bear with me. Just want to provide a complete picture. \n\nI'm in my fourth year of work as an attorney. This year I'll make $102,000 with a discretionary bonus (which I'll estimate as $10,000 just for the sake of argument).  My monthly take home after my firm deducts health care premium and a max 401k contribution (6% with 3% match) is approximately $5,200. I have about $14,000 in the bank currently.  I have about $4,200 in credit card debt (of which $3,700 is interest free on promotion). As for the remaining $500, I'm throwing about $100 a month at it to get rid of it. The credit card debt is a combination of Best Buy, clothing store and furniture store debt. In all, I am probably putting $300 a month towards that credit card debt. \n\nI own a house in a relatively low cost of living area of the country. I currently owe about $168,000 on my house which I financed for 30 years at 3.75%. I've been in the house since May 2013. My monthly mortgage payment (with PMI) is about $1190. I put some money into my home when I first bought it (kitchen renovations), so I expect I could sell it in the $190,000 range if necessary.  I currently lease a BMW (up in April 2017) with a monthly payment of about $540. I also pay your normal usage for gas, insurance (house and auto) as well as a small life insurance premium and supplemental disability income insurance. Those insurance premiums for non house and auto are about $60.00 a month. \n\nI probably spend $1500-2000 on basic living a month (food, entertainment, dry cleaner, medical, misc drug store/hardware store purchases, etc.) I used to track my expenses to the dollar but got away from it when I started traveling for work a good bit and it became an annoyance. I have a girlfriend so have the normal expenses associated with that. Other than my 401k contribution, I'm not really saving much it seems, but I'd need to look at that closer with some expense tracking. All in all, I'm not in a bad spot. I take trips when I want to. I'm never prevented from buying something because I can't afford it. (Normal items, not silly stuff like $1000 shoes). \n\nSo what's the problem? Well I have about $250k in student loan debt. $25k or so from undergrad with the balance from law school and some re-capitalized interest during some early periods of forbearance. It's all government student loan debt (no private lenders) with an average weighted interest rate of 7.4% (horrid).  I'm on an income based repayment plan now (based on my debt to income ratio) where I pay about $1,000 a month. This doesn't even cover the approximately $1500/mo in interest that is accruing. So every month I'm paying $1000 just to be only $500 worse than the month before. The only "light" at the end of the tunnel is that after 25 years of this, it all gets forgiven (currently in the form of taxable debt forgiveness).  The thing is, if I were to put $2000/mo towards the loans, I don't make an appreciable dent in it to move the needle in my favor and still end up paying for 20+ years while being more miserable due to having less income to use for things I could use. Short of living in a hovel, biking to work, and eating ramen for 10 years (while throwing $4000 a month at the loans), I don't see a way out of this crippling debt. Call it vanity, call it pride, but I'm not going to live a sad and miserable life for 10 years. I just wish there were a solution to get the debt paid off in a reasonable fashion without sacrificing my entire life to do so. \n\nDo I simply keep paying the minimum amount and hope that legislation down the road somehow alleviates the problem? (No guarantees.) If I can predict and plan for a large taxable event some 25 years from now, perhaps I can mitigate its effects. "
  Self: "&gt; Short of living in a hovel, biking to work, and eating ramen for 10 years (while throwing $4000 a month at the loans), I don't see a way out of this crippling debt.\n\nYour monthly expenses are quite high given you are single. There's a big gap between what you're spending and living on ramen (which I would classify as living on &lt;$1000/mo). Your fancy car, your nice house, and your very high monthly run rate could all be cut substantially and still be fairly luxurious compared to the average American experience.\n\nYou have two possibilities as I see it. You could get real, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and start putting $2-3k/mo toward your student loans, or you could keep putting in the minimum. Actually, the latter choice isn't even necessarily the bad one financially. Depending on what happens in the years to come, maybe saving the difference rather than putting it toward the debt will have you coming out ahead.\n\nAs far as which approach is better, that's somewhat of an open question and would require spreadsheets. It will largely depend on how much you are making in ten years. I hear making partner can have a significantly positive effect on your income. You may end up paying off the whole debt either way. Or perhaps you won't.\n\nIf I were you, I'd probably make a spreadsheet, do some projections, and then think about how I'll feel about the decisions I'm making now when I look back on them 25 years hence.\n\nBut in any case, I do strongly recommend you stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're in the top 5% of incomes even with your monthly repayment."
  