PI with solid LRAP, should I still minimize loans? Forum

[elfin88]

Here is the situation (it's a great situation):
- Current 1L
- Max aid at HYS
- Taking out max Federal Perkins (5% interest) and max Federal Stafford (6.21% interest)

Skipping over all the math, I'll graduate with somewhere just under $100k debt.

My situation is that I could definitely live on less than the loans I've been taking out. I've lived my whole life on a tight budget (qualifying for max aid gives you an idea) and I have been spoiling myself a little bit with these loans, especially because I unexpectedly found an incredible deal on housing after I signed up for these loan amounts.

I am PI-committed and, being HYS, my school has a dependable LIPP/COAP/LRAP. I can't imagine a situation where I'm in a job that doesn't qualify for this program, though of course anything is possible. As such, I don't expect to actually pay my own debt (but I know this is not a sure thing).

If you were me, would you cut down your loans and live as frugally as you know you are able to, if doing so can lower your overall debt to, say, $90k? Or would you keep living the good life?

[FSK]

Life the good life. Won't matter much in the end.

[Dipper]

So it's frugal life at $90K versus the good live at ~$100K?

Live it up.

[Auxilio]

Even if you were not going to depend on LRAP 100k is fairly manageable anyways, so I would still probably tell you to spend the 5k or whatever a year to live the good life.