How I Paid Off $30,000 Of Student Loans in 16 months.

Having “bad debt'' is one of the worst things to have in your life. This is debt that is not helping you in any way, and seems to just hang around. Student loans, credit card debt, car payments, and things of this nature all come to mind. These stop you from making any true progress in your financial goals, and is just another thing you have to worry about. To be honest, I am pretty lazy when it comes to certain things, and having to log onto some website and send off money at a certain time each month is one of them.

Paying off student loans is probably the least fun thing that comes to my mind. So why not document my super fun progress? Below I have documented the progress I have made on my student loans, starting from 18 when I entered college, to where I am now as a 25 year old teacher. Let me be clear, the information below is in no way bragging about my success. I want so desperately to help others be exposed to this awesome information, because with basic financial foundations, there is no way to truly have that financial freedom.

18 - 19 [2013 - 2014 school year]: First year of college with essentially no money saved up from my jobs in high school = -$14,000

19 - 20 [2014 - 2015 school year]: Second year of college with all money from work study and summer jobs going to booze and partying = -$28,000

20 - 21 [2015 - 2016 school year]: Third year of college with the same pattern as above = -$42,000

21 - 22 [2016 - 2017 school year]: Started my final year of college. Status quo = -$58,000 by the time I got handed my piece of paper on graduation day.

By the time the interest started rolling in on these payments (my parents were kind enough to pay for the accruing interest while I was in school), that roughly $58,000 in debt had already ballooned to just over $60,000.

22 [Fall of 2017]: My first year of teaching, where I started making the big bucks (cue laughs here). I will begin to detail the specific amounts I have paid off below, just rounded to easier numbers.

Beginning of November 2017 Total Debt: $60,000

Total Bank Of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid by November 2017 since graduating: $3,000

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid by November 2017: $200

End of November 2017 Debt Left: $56,800

Beginning of December 2017 Debt: $56,800

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid in December 2017: $4,300 ($1,300)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid in December 2017: $400 ($200)

End of December 2017 Debt Left: $55,300

Beginning of January 2018 Debt: $55,300

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid in January 2018: $6,000 ($1,700)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid in January 2018: $600 ($200)

End of January 2018 Debt Left: $53,400

Beginning of February 2018 Debt: $53,400

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid in February 2018: $6,000 ($0)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid in February 2018: $800 ($200)

End of February 2018 Debt Left: $53,200

Beginning of March 2018 Debt: $53,200

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid in March 2018: $6,000 ($0)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid in March 2018: $1,000 ($200)

End of March 2018 Debt Left: $53,000

Beginning of April 2018 Debt: $53,000

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid in April 2018: $7,200 ($1,200)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid in April 2018: $1,200 ($200)

End of April 2018 Debt Left: $51,600

Beginning of May 2018 Debt: $51,600

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid in May 2018: $8,500 ($1,300)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid in May 2018: $1,200 ($200)

End of May 2018 Debt Left: $50,100

Beginning of June 2018 Debt: $50,100

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid in June 2018: $8,500 ($0)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid in June 2018: $1,400 ($200)

End of June 2018 Debt Left: $49,900

Beginning of July 2018 Debt: $49,900

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid: $9,900 ($1,400)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount: $1,600 ($200)

End of July 2018 Debt Left: $48,300

Beginning of August 2018 Debt: $48,300

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid: $11,900 ($2,000)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $1,800 ($200)

End of August 2018 Debt Left: $46,100

Beginning of September 2018 Debt: $46,100

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid: $13,700 ($1,800)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $2000 ($200)

End of September 2018 Debt Left: $44,100

Beginning of October 2018 Debt: $44,100

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid: $15,900 ($2,200)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $1,800 ($200)

End of October 2018 Debt Left: $41,700

Beginning of November 2018 Debt: $41,700

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid: $19,900 ($4,000)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $2,000 ($200)

End of November 2018 Debt Left: $37,500

Beginning of December 2018 Debt: $37,500

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid: $26,000 ($6,1000) -- I was blessed with a great gift from my grandparents as well as my parents.

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $2,200 ($200)

End of December 2018 Debt Left: $31,200

Beginning of January 2019 Debt: $31,200

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid: $29,000 ($3,000)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $2,400 ($200)

End of January 2019 Debt Left: $28,000

Beginning of February 2019 Debt: $28,000

Total Bank of North Dakota Loan Amount Paid: $30,000 ($1,000 -- Paid off!)

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $2,600 ($200)

End of February 2019 Debt Left: $26,800

Beginning of March 2019 Debt: $26,800

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $2,800 ($200)

End of March 2019 Debt Left: $26,600

Beginning of April 2019 Debt: $26,600

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $3,000 ($200)

End of April 2019 Debt Left: $26,400

Beginning of May 2019 Debt: $26,400

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $3,050 ($50)

End of May 2019 Debt Left: $26,350

Beginning of June 2019 Debt: $26,350

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $3,600 ($550)

End of June 2019 Debt Left: $25,800

Beginning of July 2019 Debt: $25,800

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $3,900 ($300)

End of July 2019 Debt Left: $25,500

Beginning of August 2019 Debt: $25,500

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $4,100 ($200)

End of August 2019 Debt Left: $25,300

Beginning of September 2019 Debt: $25,300

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $8,000 ($3,900)

End of September 2019 Debt Left: $21,400

Beginning of October 2019 Debt: $21,400

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $8,000 ($0)

End of October 2019 Debt Left: $21,400

Beginning of November 2019 Debt: $21,400

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $8,800 ($800)

End of November 2019 Debt Left: $20,600

Beginning of December 2019 Debt: $20,600

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $9,200 ($400)

End of December 2019 Debt Left: $20,200

Beginning of January 2020 Debt: $20,200

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid: $9,800 ($600)

End of January 2020 Debt Left: $19,600

Beginning of February 2020 Debt: $19,600

Total Federal Student Loan Amount Paid in 2018: $10,600 ($800)

End of February 2020 Debt Left: $18,800

Now the math may not work out exactly in terms of amounts I paid, simply due to a lack of the Bank of North Dakota having records that are easy to understand. At the end of the day, one of the two loans are gone. The statistic that I am most proud of is completely paying off my Bank of North Dakota Loan amount of $30,000 in just under 16 months! This immediately freed up almost $300 a month for me to do with what I pleased. Had I been more intentional, I could have cut down that time by many months.

Looking ahead, at this point, I have deferred my Federal Loan until I reach my 5th year of teaching, where I will most likely get $17,500 in student loan forgiveness for being a secondary math teacher. Once this amount is reduced, I will make the final payment of a couple thousand in full, and will officially be debt free! Then I can turn my sights on more long term goals.

If you were curious about a few of the specific amounts and dates, they can be found below.