Alisha and Marcus Paid off $89,000 in 5.5 Years
In the year 2017, the average millennial is burdened with student debt. The overbearing wave of this liability has so many people drowning that they have given up. According to Forbes, student loan debt is approximately a $1.3 trillion crisis spread across over 40 million borrowers. The average student from the class of 2016 had a balance of $37,172. That's only the average! Many people have balances far beyond this and even plan on the debt payment being a monthly liability for the full 20-year repayment duration. This can result in a $60,000 loan balance becoming $105,000 by the time you're done. That's $45,000 more dollars because you may feel defeated or are not making loan repayment a priority!
As a pledge, we learned a poem called "Don't Quit". At the beginning it clearly mentions the feeling of giving up regarding finances:
"When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit."
This is the part where I introduce the people of the hour: Marcus and Alisha Lewis. They have a phenomenal story about how they didn't quit and overcame the statistics that plague all millennials: student loan debt.
MARCUS & ALISHA
What are your ages and where do you currently reside?
Marcus is 27 years old. Alisha is 28 years old.
Recently relocated from Atlanta, Georgia to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
How much was the total debt that you eliminated?
Paid off approximately $89,000 in debt.
How long did it take you to eliminate $89,000!?
It took approximately 5.5 years to eliminate all of the debt, which comes out to roughly $16,000/yr.
If you don't mind, please share the range of income during that time?
Beginning of 5.5 years - Approximately $33,000
End of 5.5 years - Approximately $127,000
Story – what happened to accumulate the debt?
The majority of our debt was accumulated while in undergrad, at Auburn University, as a result of student loans and associated costs (housing, books, food, etc). A new car purchase from 2013 added more debt to the student loans.
Marcus lived in off-campus apartments throughout undergrad. He took out subsidized and unsubsidized student loans to pay for housing and other educational expenses. He paid the interest on one of the loans during undergrad, however, did not pay money towards the principal until after graduation.
Alisha grew up in Auburn and lived with her parents throughout undergrad. At the beginning of her freshmen year, she took out two loans to pay for incidental college expenses. The larger of her two loans was an unsubsidized Stafford loan which accrued interest that capitalized annually. She did not pay money towards either principal until after graduation.
What is your why for creating this goal of debt elimination?
Neither of us wanted to carry a large amount of debt long term. We desired to be financially independent and knew that eliminating debt would lead to financial freedom.
If asked, what was the toughest part AND what was the key to get it done?
The toughest part was being disciplined enough to save accumulated money (including bonus checks and tax refunds) and using them to pay off debts instead of on other things. We also realized that paying off debts with relatively high-interest rates was the better financial decision that would enable us to have more discretionary money in the long run.