Listened to a debt payoff podcast at mile 18 of a training run and did the math in the shower aft…
T=0: The Decision
$71k salary. $89,000 in student loans plus a car payment — $113/month toward $8,400 remaining. I had been "managing" the debt for five years, meaning I paid the minimums, watched the interest accrue, and told myself it was fine. It was not fine. I was 29 and my net worth was deeply negative.
Listened to a debt payoff podcast at mile 18 of a training run and did the math in the shower afterward. I could be debt-free in 26 months if I treated it like a part-time job. So I did.
A zero-dollar loan balance before my 32nd birthday. Then I start investing.
6 Months Out
Paid $19,400 in 6 months. The math works. The social cost is real — I missed four weddings, two bachelorettes, and a group trip to Europe by saying no to everything. My friends are starting to ask questions.
“Automate the extra payment on payday so it is not there to spend. The 'out of sight' principle is not a cliché — it genuinely changes your baseline spending.”