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Advice on Managing Money While Paying Significant Student Loans
Hey everyone!
I'm a new member here, but I'd like to hear any advice that you may have for someone in my situation. Basically, I want to know if I'm going about this the right way, and to see if you have any suggestions.
I'm a 26 year old new attorney who just graduated law school in May of 2013. After law school, I was left with about 183,000 dollars worth of student loan debt (yes, I know it's bad). However, I have been able to pay about $11,000 of it off just since December (I had about 4,500.00 set aside to make my first payment, but I've been paying about $1,700.00 per month since I entered repayment). My goal is to have everything gone, or at least most of it in less than 10 years. Right now, I'm on track to do that, and I should start making more and more money each year (Lord willing).
Basically, this is our arrangement. My wife is a physical therapist who currently has a job where she's making pretty good money. However, she is in jeopardy of losing her job, as the hospital in which she's working is considering closing her unit. So we have that problem. (which may or may not really mean anything because she already has at least one, possibly two job offers waiting for her if she does in fact lose her job).
I basically pay my entire paycheck toward my loans, and leave enough to pay for gas, and taking my wife out to dinner/movies etc. every once in a while. My wife is currently paying our bills and for groceries. (we don't have any other debt other than my student loans). This obviously bothers me because I would like to be in a situation where my wife isn't the one who is responsible for the bills, but that's the situation we're in right now.
We have about $15,000 in savings at the moment (which would likely cover our living expenses for more than a year - this is something we will not touch unless absolutely necessary).
At the end of the day, we'd like to look into purchasing a house in the not too distant future and having some children. My wife is also going to need a new car pretty soon, which is going to be the number one priority before we look into purchasing a house. We both agree that we are not ready for the commitment of purchasing a home or having children at this point, but we are trying to figure out the best way to prepare for that day, considering that I have my loans to pay off.
But basically, I'd like to know if we're on the right track with how we're handling everything. We're both 26 and have spent most of our lives in school. I think we're doing Ok at the transition into being adults, but I want to make sure that we're making the best choices we can based on our current situation. I'm working long hours trying to build my client base and to bring in more money, but it's a slow process, especially when you've got to learn everything as you go with regards to being an attorney.
I hope this message isn't too confusing. If anyone has any advice that they would care to share with me, or any tips, or even if it seems as though we're heading in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks in advance, and God Bless!:)
I'm a new member here, but I'd like to hear any advice that you may have for someone in my situation. Basically, I want to know if I'm going about this the right way, and to see if you have any suggestions.
I'm a 26 year old new attorney who just graduated law school in May of 2013. After law school, I was left with about 183,000 dollars worth of student loan debt (yes, I know it's bad). However, I have been able to pay about $11,000 of it off just since December (I had about 4,500.00 set aside to make my first payment, but I've been paying about $1,700.00 per month since I entered repayment). My goal is to have everything gone, or at least most of it in less than 10 years. Right now, I'm on track to do that, and I should start making more and more money each year (Lord willing).
Basically, this is our arrangement. My wife is a physical therapist who currently has a job where she's making pretty good money. However, she is in jeopardy of losing her job, as the hospital in which she's working is considering closing her unit. So we have that problem. (which may or may not really mean anything because she already has at least one, possibly two job offers waiting for her if she does in fact lose her job).
I basically pay my entire paycheck toward my loans, and leave enough to pay for gas, and taking my wife out to dinner/movies etc. every once in a while. My wife is currently paying our bills and for groceries. (we don't have any other debt other than my student loans). This obviously bothers me because I would like to be in a situation where my wife isn't the one who is responsible for the bills, but that's the situation we're in right now.
We have about $15,000 in savings at the moment (which would likely cover our living expenses for more than a year - this is something we will not touch unless absolutely necessary).
At the end of the day, we'd like to look into purchasing a house in the not too distant future and having some children. My wife is also going to need a new car pretty soon, which is going to be the number one priority before we look into purchasing a house. We both agree that we are not ready for the commitment of purchasing a home or having children at this point, but we are trying to figure out the best way to prepare for that day, considering that I have my loans to pay off.
But basically, I'd like to know if we're on the right track with how we're handling everything. We're both 26 and have spent most of our lives in school. I think we're doing Ok at the transition into being adults, but I want to make sure that we're making the best choices we can based on our current situation. I'm working long hours trying to build my client base and to bring in more money, but it's a slow process, especially when you've got to learn everything as you go with regards to being an attorney.
I hope this message isn't too confusing. If anyone has any advice that they would care to share with me, or any tips, or even if it seems as though we're heading in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks in advance, and God Bless!:)
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Comments
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This is a UK-site, perhaps you should try something in the US.
Sounds like you're doing ok to me though!Thinking critically since 1996....0 -
As you are having study loans,you shouldn't think of buying a car or house right now.First of pay off all your loans...Or its up to you,if you can afford it.0
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somethingcorporate wrote: »This is a UK-site, perhaps you should try something in the US.
Sounds like you're doing ok to me though!
Haha, thank you! I realized this was a UK site after I posted. My apologies. Hope all is well for you across the pond!
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Not sure why people are so quick to say "This is a UK site" - a lot of the principles of good money management are effective globally.
How much interest do you pay on your student loan debt, if any, and is that a fixed rate or will it get higher over time? Is there a minimum amount you have to pay off the student loan each month?What will your verse be?
R.I.P Robin Williams.0
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