How to Pay Off 100k+ in Student Loans

Mitchel Burton was a pretty typical college senior. He was living in downtown Chicago, finishing a degree in computer science, and spent a lot of time on YouTube. (OK, maybe the amount of time he spent on YouTube was not at all typical, but you get the idea.)

One of his favorite YouTubers, Shay Carl, mentioned being on a popular financial guru’s program—a passing comment—that one could argue, changed Mitchel’s life.

After hearing that passing comment, Mitchel thought he should probably find out the total of his student loan debt (for the first time):

$104,766 in Student Loans Owed

Mitchel was stunned. “I actually couldn’t even believe it. I felt sick to my stomach. I called my parents, ‘Do you realize we just signed up for more than $100k in student loans?’”

And then he got to work.

How to Pay Off $100,000 in Student Loans

Not one to mess around (except, apparently on YouTube), Mitchel didn’t waste a second. When he finally figured out WHY he should pay off debt, YNAB paved the way for HOW to pay off 100k in student loans.

First up, he leveraged his “overwhelming student loan burden” in a conversation with his intern advisor and got a job offer to the tune of $47,000/year.

Step by Step Student Loan Repayment 

Because Mitchel had been living off of his loans, his post-college life with a real-job was a distinct downgrade: “I took my college lifestyle and dropped it quite a bit lower.” He moved into the least expensive studio he could find and he set about learning everything there was to learn about loans and repayment plans.

“I realized that I had a six-month grace period before I would be paying interest upon interest. So, for those first six months—there is really no other way to say it—I was frugal to the extreme in order to save money. I slept on a futon, ate noodles and peanut butter and jelly for days and piled up as much money as humanly possible before the end of the deferment period.” Every extra dollar went to making student loan payments. 

Mitchel continued paying off debt, attacking the smallest loan amounts first. Even if the progress was slow, it was progress, and that kept him motivated. But it wasn’t all small progress. There were a couple big milestones that helped him push through to the finish line:

• Hard Work—Mitchel took a new job and got a $20k raise. But he didn’t change his quality of life in the slightest.
• Some Luck—About a year into his epic journey of paying off debt, he got a random email about a small inheritance. A distant family friend had left him $10k. Mitchel didn’t even go out to dinner or have a beer—every single penny went toward his debt. It was a small fraction of what he owed but it was a huge mental boost.
• More Hard Work—During this time, Mitchel also picked up a side hustle, especially in the last year of his journey. By pursuing freelance work he was able to accelerate his payments in a huge way.

Less than five years after he started, Mitchel made his final payment to become free from his burden of student loans. In total, he paid off $104,766 in less than five years.

Mitchel’s net worth chart: orange bars show debt and blue bars show assets.

“It actually feels kind of weird,” Mitchel laughs. “I almost feel like I don’t give myself enough credit. Maybe I will go out to dinner one of these nights…”

But he quickly shifts gears to his next goal, “Now on to 3-6 months of living expenses, and a full emergency fund. Then I will feel more comfortable easing up a little bit.”

YNAB's Loan Planner tool can help you calculate the impact of extra payments and keep you motivated to continue moving forward.

Deep Thoughts on Deep Debt

And what does Mitchel have to say to folks that are overwhelmed and staring down massive amounts of debt? Turns out—a lot—of both wisdom and encouragement:

• Things change—“It is so important to remember that your life and your finances aren’t a snapshot. Things change. You get raises. When I first started I built a spreadsheet and forecasted that I would be debt-free by 35 (I was 23 then). I was already so frugal that I knew I had to get my income up to move faster. I switched jobs, got a raise, and started doing freelance work. As these happened I would keep updating my forecasts, which motivated me even more. This changed everything and made me challenge myself. What about being debt free by 30? This will happen even faster. And I did it at 27.”
• Lifestyle deflation—“Even in my highest income months, I maintained the same $47k/year lifestyle. You have to say no to purchasing things WAY more than you say yes. Before I ever bought anything I would ask if I want it more than I want to be debt free, and nearly every time I would rather pay off 100k in student loans. It made the steps go so much more quickly, and now I can say yes to way more things without any guilt.”
• Debt Doesn’t Have to be an Option—“For me, with what I know now, going into debt again is not an option. I won’t even consider it. I will own a home eventually, but there is zero chance I will take out a mortgage. When I have these conversations with people they scoff at me and I’m like, ‘I just paid off $100k in less than five years. You do your thing and I’ll do mine.”
• My Guiding Lights—“Dave Ramsey was my North Star. I was so overwhelmed and his plan made it so simple. And YNAB was the lynchpin, when it was time for the rubber to meet the road. I tried to make Mint work for a long time, but Mint just assumes you make X amount every month, and you have X expenses and go! I was always juggling due dates and sweating how much was in my account. YNAB felt completely different. YNAB’s concept of getting a month ahead is a game changer.”

Life After Paying off $100k of Student Loan Debt

As Mitchel looks ahead, his life is full of options and free of debt. He’s changed not only the trajectory of his entire life, but his family tree: “Now all these other options are opening up and I’m even more motivated than ever to see what I can do.”

Although he makes a lot more money than he used to, he continues to budget faithfully, every month. “I almost need it more now because it would be so easy to waste money and lose track of my real goals.” He leaves us with his favorite quote that inspired him to start freelancing heavily to boost his income in the final year of his debt free journey: “People that win happen to things, they don’t just let things happen to them.”

And that, folks, is how you get ahead.

Check out our free, short, and at-times hilarious video course on How to Get Out of Debt. With a run-time of just over an hour, it might be the best non-credit class you've ever taken.

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