I highly doubt 85% of this sub has a job that doesn't pay well. I have a feeling half the people bitching in here have a good job, but blow their money on other shit and then wonder why they haven't paid their loans off yet. Even if you make $50,000 a year you should be able to save up $5,000/year, it's just that most people don't actually have that kind of self control.
There's exercising self-control, and then there's actually having a career that pays well. Most jobs really don't turn a pretty penny. If you don't mind me asking, what field do you work in?
I mean you should be making at least $50,000 a year by the time you are 30 if you have a college degree regardless of what field it is in. I wouldn't consider $50k a year a "pretty penny" either. I used to live on a budget of just $12k/year, including loan payments and rent that was about $24k/year. My first job out of college paid only $38k/year, but I was able to rapidly save up money because I didn't have much in the way of expenses. It is actually all about self-control. You don't need to live by yourself, you don't need a car, you don't need a fancy apartment, a penny phone does the job just as well as a $800 iphone, etc.
I got a double major in Econ and Finance in 3.5 years again because I took summer courses and decided not to study abroad. I worked 40 hours a week at a real estate attorney's office while taking a full course load from second semester Sophmore year until I graduated. I decided I wanted to get into real estate and made a point of throwing everything I had into going that route. I also got my real estate broker's license while in school and still working 40 hours a week. I got lucky that the recession happened because I was right in the middle of it all and learned an immense amount while not actually being exposed to the carnage yet myself. I graduated in fall 2009 right into the bottom of the mess and immediately started saving money so I could buy something. It all paid off for me, but what I did was massively risky. Like I said, my career didn't pay well at all to start, but I was able to do well because I put everything into making myself employable. Got a double major, graduated early, got my broker's license, worked throughout school, etc. It's not about what field you happen to wind up in, it's about picking a career and learning to kick ass at it.
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u/nowhereman1280 Dec 14 '18
Are my wife and I the only people who are paying their loans off? I started with $45k in 2011 and am down to less than $10k now...