I'll pay off my 240k loan balance in 4 years by living cheap Forum

[09042014]

lol no you won't. Sure you can living on under 40k a year in the big cities, but you won't. Almost nobody does. It's awful having to work long hours and then living worse than your secretary and paralegal.

The first 17k you pay is just to keep your balance steady from interest.

[zozin]

Might be doable in TX.

[09042014]

Might be doable in TX.

This thread isn't about doable. It's about what people actually do. You could eat at soup kitchens, seamless, and commute to bumfuck new jersery and pay off 8k a month if you had to.

[rayiner]

Count me in that category of people who thought they'd pay it off in a few years. I had a big law family friend who was like "yeah, no."

Things I didn't expect:

1) Your friends will also make good money in their late 20's and will want to eat at nice places.
2) You have a lot of one a time costs. You spend the first year getting furniture, setting up house, repaying your bar advance. Your friends all get married and there are wedding expenses. Good chance that you get married.
3) You stop mooching off your parents. You pick up the check, buy nice gifts, pay your own car insurance, etc.
4) The job can be really miserable and its a huge psychological blow to work that hard then pay $4,500 to your student loans and have to carefully budget the rest. The fact you'll be better off in five years doesn't bouy you when you're working all weekend now.

[anyriotgirl]

I don't even succeed at living cheap on a paralegal salary LOL at me trying to live cheap in three years after I (hopefully) get a 400% raise and work double the hours

[BruceWayne]

I don't even succeed live cheap on a paralegal salary LOL at me trying to live cheap in three years after I (hopefully) get a 400% raise and work double the hours

I was just about to say this. I'm living in a low COL city on a low salary and to be honest, even being in a situation where I HAVE to live cheaply it's difficult. Life is just expensive in general. Rent, utilities, car payment, car insurance, cell phone bill, internet + cable. By the time you are done just paying for those essentials you're already in a situation where you are going to have a hard time keeping your monthly expenses low. Do people really think they're going to be OK with working brutal hours, after going through 3 awful years in a high competition environment, to then live WORSE than their typical college classmates? Hell no. You're going to want to go out on the weekends. Go to a bar, go to the movies, go on dates, have at least a few nice things for your apartment/house and your family is going to expect you to be able to pick up things here and there when you're together because they know you're working a six figure job. Food alone is going to hit you hard because you aren't going to have the time/energy to cook day in and day out to save money. Not that cooking is really that cheap anyway. I'm starting to realize that by the time you buy all the things you need to cook, especially when you're just cooking for yourself, it's not even worth it. Unless you're eating ramen and frozen meals over and over--and again lol at people thinking they're going to be able to stomach this while working 60 hours a week in a big corporate environment where most of their co workers will be eating out on the reg' spending money on going out etc.

[beepboopbeep]

I don't even succeed live cheap on a paralegal salary LOL at me trying to live cheap in three years after I (hopefully) get a 400% raise and work double the hours

I was just about to say this. I'm living in a low COL city on a low salary and to be honest, even being in a situation where I HAVE to live cheaply it's difficult. Life is just expensive in general. Rent, utilities, car payment, car insurance, cell phone bill, internet + cable. By the time you are done just paying for those essentials you're already in a situation where you are going to have a hard time keeping your monthly expenses low. Do people really think they're going to be OK with working brutal hours, after going through 3 awful years in a high competition environment, to then live WORSE than their typical college classmates? Hell no. You're going to want to go out on the weekends. Go to a bar, go to the movies, go on dates, have at least a few nice things for your apartment/house and your family is going to expect you to be able to pick up things here and there when you're together because they know you're working a six figure job. Food alone is going to hit you hard because you aren't going to have the time/energy to cook day in and day out to save money. Not that cooking is really that cheap anyway. I'm starting to realize that by the time you buy all the things you need to cook, especially when you're just cooking for yourself, it's not even worth it. Unless you're eating ramen and frozen meals over and over--and again lol at people thinking they're going to be able to stomach this while working 60 hours a week in a big corporate environment where most of their co workers will be eating out on the reg' spending money on going out etc.

First: I'll never get this kind of comparative attitude. Basing your happiness on the extravagance of your lifestyle relative to your peers is an easy way to always be unhappy.

Second: crockpots, yo.

DF this is like your third thread this past week on this issue. I enjoy the schtick normally but give it a rest, dawg.

[lawyerwannabe]

You can probably save close to $1000/yr by cutting out the "essential" cable you are paying for now but do not actually have the time to watch.

[09042014]

I don't even succeed live cheap on a paralegal salary LOL at me trying to live cheap in three years after I (hopefully) get a 400% raise and work double the hours

I was just about to say this. I'm living in a low COL city on a low salary and to be honest, even being in a situation where I HAVE to live cheaply it's difficult. Life is just expensive in general. Rent, utilities, car payment, car insurance, cell phone bill, internet + cable. By the time you are done just paying for those essentials you're already in a situation where you are going to have a hard time keeping your monthly expenses low. Do people really think they're going to be OK with working brutal hours, after going through 3 awful years in a high competition environment, to then live WORSE than their typical college classmates? Hell no. You're going to want to go out on the weekends. Go to a bar, go to the movies, go on dates, have at least a few nice things for your apartment/house and your family is going to expect you to be able to pick up things here and there when you're together because they know you're working a six figure job. Food alone is going to hit you hard because you aren't going to have the time/energy to cook day in and day out to save money. Not that cooking is really that cheap anyway. I'm starting to realize that by the time you buy all the things you need to cook, especially when you're just cooking for yourself, it's not even worth it. Unless you're eating ramen and frozen meals over and over--and again lol at people thinking they're going to be able to stomach this while working 60 hours a week in a big corporate environment where most of their co workers will be eating out on the reg' spending money on going out etc.

First: I'll never get this kind of comparative attitude. Basing your happiness on the extravagance of your lifestyle relative to your peers is an easy way to always be unhappy.

Second: crockpots, yo.

DF this is like your third thread this past week on this issue. I enjoy the schtick normally but give it a rest, dawg.

The one 1) wasn't mine and 2) was caught up all about if you could physically do it.

This is a big problem TLS has. It's aspilly caught on technicalities and ignores the big issue.

[PDX4343]

Just curious, if you had a SO who makes ~ $80,000 / year would you think that it would be more realistic to pay off the 240k in say 5 years time? Or would it still be ridiculous to assume you could do so.

[09042014]

You can probably save close to $1000/yr by cutting out the "essential" cable you are paying for now but do not actually have the time to watch.

You do have time to watch cable. Everyone and their mother in biglaw watches madmen and game of thrones.

Cable doesn't cost that much. Internet + cable costs that much. But switching from double play to just internet usually only saves you like 30-40 bucks.

[09042014]

Just curious, if you had a SO who makes ~ $80,000 / year would you think that it would be more realistic to pay off the 240k in say 5 years time? Or would it still be ridiculous to assume you could do so.

Sure, but make sure your wife/husband knows this is the plan. Subsidizing your ass for 5 years might (probably will) piss them off.

[worldtraveler]

You can probably save close to $1000/yr by cutting out the "essential" cable you are paying for now but do not actually have the time to watch.

You do have time to watch cable. Everyone and their mother in biglaw watches madmen and game of thrones.

Cable doesn't cost that much. Internet + cable costs that much. But switching from double play to just internet usually only saves you like 30-40 bucks.

Yeah I have cable just because it costs about $10 more than just internet, and no one is going to live without internet.

[09042014]

You can probably save close to $1000/yr by cutting out the "essential" cable you are paying for now but do not actually have the time to watch.

You do have time to watch cable. Everyone and their mother in biglaw watches madmen and game of thrones.

Cable doesn't cost that much. Internet + cable costs that much. But switching from double play to just internet usually only saves you like 30-40 bucks.

Yeah I have cable just because it costs about $10 more than just internet, and no one is going to live without internet.

Just go to the public library you fat cat.

[rad lulz]

.

[09042014]

What is this cutting cable garbage, it's like, oh cool, I just saved 400 bucks over the year that is going to make such a dent in my six-figure loans

LJL

Doesn't matter bro. The fact that you spend 37 dollar a month out of your 13 thousand dollar salary means you are a fatcat and you just cannot control your spending. 0Ls don't have to listen to you now

[jbagelboy]

You can probably save close to $1000/yr by cutting out the "essential" cable you are paying for now but do not actually have the time to watch.

You do have time to watch cable. Everyone and their mother in biglaw watches madmen and game of thrones.

Cable doesn't cost that much. Internet + cable costs that much. But switching from double play to just internet usually only saves you like 30-40 bucks.

you don't need to pay for cable to watch TV shows.

[09042014]

You can probably save close to $1000/yr by cutting out the "essential" cable you are paying for now but do not actually have the time to watch.

You do have time to watch cable. Everyone and their mother in biglaw watches madmen and game of thrones.

Cable doesn't cost that much. Internet + cable costs that much. But switching from double play to just internet usually only saves you like 30-40 bucks.

you don't need to pay for cable to watch TV shows.

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[ScottRiqui]

you don't need to pay for cable to watch TV shows.

TLS would like to remind its users that it is unlawful to share or distribute copies of copyrighted materials. Click here for copyright infringement notification information.

Interesting - it's as if you've never heard of OTA broadcasts, Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, or the fact that many (most?) networks stream their own shows on their websites.

[A. Nony Mouse]

you don't need to pay for cable to watch TV shows.

TLS would like to remind its users that it is unlawful to share or distribute copies of copyrighted materials. Click here for copyright infringement notification information.

Interesting - it's as if you've never heard of OTA broadcasts, Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, or the fact that many (most?) networks stream their own shows on their websites.

Except that those options kind of suck unless you pay more money or rip stuff off. God I miss Game of Thrones.

[09042014]

you don't need to pay for cable to watch TV shows.

TLS would like to remind its users that it is unlawful to share or distribute copies of copyrighted materials. Click here for copyright infringement notification information.

Interesting - it's as if you've never heard of OTA broadcasts, Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, or the fact that many (most?) networks stream their own shows on their websites.

Network TV? Fucking charity cases.

[SolidSolendon]

I think its possible, if you don't have expensive tastes and don't mind living in a small apartment.

I don't know if I'm being naive, but I'm looking to have about a $120,000 total loan balance by the time I graduate from Law School. I can probably pay it all off easily in four years or less if I get a good job and live on a budget. I just hope Law School doesn't change me and turn me into a Golf Aficionado.

[09042014]

I think its possible, if you don't have expensive tastes and don't mind living in a small apartment.

I don't know if I'm being naive, but I'm looking to have about a $120,000 total loan balance by the time I graduate from Law School. I can probably pay it all off easily in four years or less if I get a good job and live on a budget. I just hope Law School doesn't change me and turn me into a Golf Aficionado.

Again, sure it's possible, but you aren't going to live like a broke ass joke for five years while making well over 100k.

[hdunlop]

I can live cheap for a year or two to pay off 100-150K seems reasonable to me. I can live cheap for 4 years for sticker less so.

[09042014]

I can live cheap for a year or two to pay off 100-150K seems reasonable to me. I can live cheap for 4 years for sticker less so.

50k is extremely hard, 75k per year is actually impossible.