Can you imagine what being in over $600,000 of student loan debt must feel like? From the bottom looking up, student loan debt can seem like an anchor that just keeps pulling you down.
The interest keeps piling up and your minimum payments don’t seem to be making a dent. Pretty soon, the hours you have to spend at your dream job just to pay your bills seem more like a nightmare.
No one should have to work for 25 years just to pay off student debt, right? That seems pretty obvious, but most loan companies would never tell you that… unless you learn how to ask the right questions.
On today’s episode of the His and Her Money Show, we will introduce you to Nii and Renee Darko, a team of money management warriors who made their $600,000 student loan debt disappear in just three years.
They both dream of being physicians, so naturally came medical school and residency. Shortly after landing their first positions as working medical doctors, the Darko’s made the startling discovery that despite their income, they were living paycheck to paycheck.
It was shortly after their wedding when the couple realized that something wasn’t right with their bank accounts. They were making money, but at the end of the week had nothing but empty pockets and receipts to show for it. They realized that something needed to be done and as any diligent doctors would, they hit the books.
The more they read, the more they realized that their expensive college educations neglected to teach them even the basics of personal financing. They were spending without thinking and that needed to change immediately if they wanted to pay off their debts before retirement.
The Darko’s began to formulate a game plan. They reduced their expenses by more than half… A big (and expensive) lesson learned was to be wary of insurance salesmen working on commission. Capitalizing on the strength of their marriage, they worked together to pay off around $200,000 of their debt a month until, at long last, they had paid it off.
It wasn’t easy but in the end, Nii and Renee paid off their debt and are moving on to bigger and better things. Nii works on his own podcast, Docs Outside the Box, and Renee keeps busy with her premed coaching business over at PreMed Strategies. Because when you aren’t struggling to pay off your debt, you can finally live the life you want.
What You Will Learn
- How The Darkos were able to pay off over $600,000 of student loan debt
- The tremendous importance of creating and sticking to a budget.
- Questions to ask your creditors about your payment schedule.
- Why you should already be tracking (and reducing) your daily expenditures.
- How to defeat the crippling debt of high-interest student loans.
Resources Mentioned
- Why We Have 13 Bank Accounts (Video)
- Every Dollar Budget Tool
- PreMed Strategies
- Docs Outside the Box
- Equal Access Health
- Total Money Makeover
- Stacking Benjamins
- I Will Teach You To Be Rich
- Four Hour Workweek
Thanks For Listening!
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Today’s show was sponsored by Teach Me How To Budget. If you are ready to gain freedom in your finances once and for all then enroll in our brand new personal finance course Teach Me How To Budget.
