Just 60% of student loan borrowers made a payment when the bills resumed in October. "This is, in essence, a massive student debt strike," one activist said.
I graduated in 2011 from a state school in Minnesota. $90k in student loans. Private, parent plus, the works…first job out of school I averaged $50k on an hourly job, and only got up to about $65k by 2017. Got married with that debt, my wife had none. We both worked, my job and hers gave us combined income ~$75k. One bed apartment rent was $950 back then, we owned 2 cars, both beaters, no debt. Paid it all off in late 2019. No debt since then except a mortgage.
$50K is not shit wages. Minimum wage is, for example, $13.25 in MD. That is shit wages. And lucky you to find such a cheap apartment, and be able to share it. Nowadays, using MD again for consistency, you’ll be paying $1450-$1600 a month for a studio, if you’re lucky. And what if you don’t have someone to share that with?
And don’t get me started on the mercurial rise of food products. The luck you have to roll to have a beater not die on you with no way to revive it (mine just did; I can revive it, to the tune of $4,000).
You didn’t have it trust-fund-easy, but you still didn’t have it all that bad.
It was so nice of them that I paid those loans off too! They didn’t pay a cent. Also, I was upfront about my debt. She didn’t have to marry me. I’m grateful she did.
Or maybe it would be better for society, that bases its economy on highly educated people mind you, to not force people to go into debt if they want an education?
Like, sure great, your solution is “don’t take the debt so that you can get educated, work instead”, and then where would that leave society in 10 years?
Or we could do what a MAJORITY of the developed world does, and make college a public good (assuming your grades in HS are good enough), or heavily subsidize it like a lot of the EU does. France, for instance - someone on another thread informed me that for an entire 4-year degree, you pay roughly about 1500 euros in loans. Monthly wages in France hover around 13-1400 euros. So assuming you plan well, you could very easily pay off a 4-year degree with less than a year of minimum-wage work after you graduate.
Maybe don’t go into debt to begin with? And yes, I did go into student debt, but I paid it off. How? Shit wage at a few horrible jobs. It can be done.
can I borrow your bootstraps?
What year did you graduate?
How much was your debt?
What were those ‘shit wages’?
What were your other expenses? How much of those ‘shit wages’ were you able to put towards the loan vs. your cost of living?
What year did you pay it off?
I’m quite curious.
I graduated in 2011 from a state school in Minnesota. $90k in student loans. Private, parent plus, the works…first job out of school I averaged $50k on an hourly job, and only got up to about $65k by 2017. Got married with that debt, my wife had none. We both worked, my job and hers gave us combined income ~$75k. One bed apartment rent was $950 back then, we owned 2 cars, both beaters, no debt. Paid it all off in late 2019. No debt since then except a mortgage.
$50K is not shit wages. Minimum wage is, for example, $13.25 in MD. That is shit wages. And lucky you to find such a cheap apartment, and be able to share it. Nowadays, using MD again for consistency, you’ll be paying $1450-$1600 a month for a studio, if you’re lucky. And what if you don’t have someone to share that with?
And don’t get me started on the mercurial rise of food products. The luck you have to roll to have a beater not die on you with no way to revive it (mine just did; I can revive it, to the tune of $4,000).
You didn’t have it trust-fund-easy, but you still didn’t have it all that bad.
That’s so nice for you that you had other people to carry your debt burden for you.
It was so nice of them that I paid those loans off too! They didn’t pay a cent. Also, I was upfront about my debt. She didn’t have to marry me. I’m grateful she did.
“Just don’t go into debt,” they say while talking about a system designed to put people in debt.
Or maybe it would be better for society, that bases its economy on highly educated people mind you, to not force people to go into debt if they want an education?
Like, sure great, your solution is “don’t take the debt so that you can get educated, work instead”, and then where would that leave society in 10 years?
Or we could do what a MAJORITY of the developed world does, and make college a public good (assuming your grades in HS are good enough), or heavily subsidize it like a lot of the EU does. France, for instance - someone on another thread informed me that for an entire 4-year degree, you pay roughly about 1500 euros in loans. Monthly wages in France hover around 13-1400 euros. So assuming you plan well, you could very easily pay off a 4-year degree with less than a year of minimum-wage work after you graduate.
When did you do that? And how long did it take?
Answered in other comment. I appreciate the question!