When I got into the college of my dreams and got scholarships to cover part of the cost, I thought I’d be stupid not to go. When I came out of college with over $100,000 in student loan debt I thought just how stupid I’d been to go. Over the last 7 years, as I’ve worked to pay off my student loans my emotions have ranged, but for the most part I’ve been mad at the loans. Really, really angry. All I could think of some days was the defeat of the student loans. I’ve been doing everything I can to knock out these loans as quickly as possible while trying to focus on the Big Picture behind my budget and what I plan to achieve now that my loans are dead. This week I made my final payment EVER on my student loans.
People have different experiences with the emotional impact student loans make on their life. For me, student loans were the dark cloud hovering overhead, the silent elephant in the room, and the thing looming in the back of my mind each time I made a financial decision. When my husband and I got married, I hated that we would spend the first few years of our marriage trying to dig out of my debt hole. I am so glad that we made it to the other side of that debt and I’m incredibly excited to move on to other financial goals. The defeat of the student loans marks the beginning of a new chapter, the start of the next monumental financial goal.
Now that my student loans are paid in full, I feel victorious. The defeat of student loans feels as good as I possibly could have imagined. A giant weight has been lifted and without taking small steps for the last 7 years I could not have gotten to this point. Each small money win adds up to big progress in your financial goals. As hard as it can be not to get too bogged down in the tough money situations, you need to try to keep your big picture budget goals in mind and know that one day all your hard work will be worth it.
I created Big Picture Budget as a way to help others overcome the emotional burden and stress that comes along with debt and an overall lack of financial clarity. I coach individuals and couples to help them not feel so alone as they walk their own financial journey and take charge of their lives. It took me 7 years to defeat the student loans, but by making one small good financial choice at a time, everything adds up and amounts to amazing change. What’s your next best step that you can take today to impact change in your financial future?
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