A few weeks before I graduated from law school, someone in our financial aid office spoke to our class about choosing a student loan repayment plan. To be perfectly honest, I don’t recall what was said in that meeting. But I do recall exactly how I felt afterwards– completely lost, confused, and stressed out about my student […]
HOW TO DO PORTLAND ON A BUDGET
My littlest no longer little brother got married this weekend in Portland. Everything was perfect, and I mean everything. First, on our way there, our son M and I got upgraded to first class, aka heaven. I literally put my legs out in front of me and they couldn’t reach the seat in front of me. […]
HOW TO NOT GET SCREWED BY PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS
Imagine that you are entering a contract. Let’s say for purposes of this example, you are going to paint the interior of someone’s home. The contract basically says you, the painter, have to perform your end of the contract. You have to paint the house. You have to buy the paint. All that good stuff. […]
HOW THIS NEW GRADUATE PAID OFF $300K OF STUDENT LOANS IN 1 YEAR
Are you paying off student loans? Do you ever feel totally alone when it comes to paying off debt? For me that is one of the hardest parts about our journey paying off $650k of student loan debt. Sometimes it feels like we are the only ones. But the truth is, there are plenty of […]
10 THINGS
Last month I started doing a 10 Things series. In case you missed it, each month I’ll share 10 things that have been on my mind that may or may not be personal finance related. Here we go! One of the best parts about living in Oklahoma to me is that Fall is basically just […]
MONEY SAVING RESOURCES
One of the most popular questions in my inbox is “what things do you do to save money?” I’ve spent the last few weeks answering that question with my new guide, Deeply in Debt’s Money Saving Resources! This PDF is packed full of my FAVORITE money saving resources. I was picky about what I included […]
SHOULD YOU BUY A HOUSE IF YOU HAVE STUDENT LOANS?
Sometimes people are surprised that we bought a house even though we have student loans. And that makes sense. Student loan debt can completely cripple your finances, including (maybe especially?) crushing your chances of buying a house. In fact, CNBC recently reported that 83% of people ages 22-35 with student loan debt who haven’t bought a […]
LABOR DAY ON A BUDGET
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, you don’t have to have the all or nothing mentality when you are paying off debt that you are not going to spend *any* money while you are paying off debt. You should live the same way while you’re paying off debt as you intend to live […]
SHOULD I SAVE FOR RETIREMENT OR PAY OFF DEBT?
Have you ever imagined yourself as an 80 year old? I don’t think many of us sit around pondering what life will be like at 80. I am forever struck by an experience I had working as a law clerk to a judge right after law school. I was sitting in on a garnishment hearing. The […]
HOW THIS FAMILY PAID OFF $180,000 OF STUDENT LOAN DEBT
Do you ever feel totally alone when it comes to paying off debt? For me that is one of the hardest parts about our journey paying off $650k of student loan debt. Sometimes it feels like we are the only ones. But the truth is, there are plenty of people out there paying off six […]