

Wiping Out $90,000 in Student Loans in 7 Months - thetabyte
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wiping-out--90-000-in-student-loans-in-7-months.html

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blacksqr
According to the article step one is getting a job with a six-figure salary.
Why didn't I think of that?!

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byoung2
_Mihalic said he spent months taking a flask of liquor to bars so he could
continue to go out drinking with friends without running up a tab._

Even better for the wallet, the liver, and the streets...you could be a
designated driver for your friends and have them pitch in for gas and parking,
and some bars will even comp your nonalcoholic drinks.

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thetabyte
His blog is nomoreharvarddebt.com, and includes a detailed breakdown of his
spending habits. I always see posts about bootstrapping on here, and as
intrigued as I am, they often lack specifics, so this was incredibly helpful
to an aspiring 18 year old entrepreneur entering college.

P.S. If anyone knows of a series of blog posts or even a book that breaks down
the expenses (business and personal) of bootstrapping I startup, I'd
definitely be interested!

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kristianp
Clickable: <http://nomoreharvarddebt.com>

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mcot2
Unless he had crazy high rates on those loans even the most conservative
investments would have put him in a better position over time. There is no
real reason to be frantic about paying debts, especially if you have a Harvard
degree and a six figure job.

Also, I doubt this article is going to help anyone. The majority of people
stressing about their 6 figure loans are not in his situation.

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joelrunyon
I'm pretty sure this was an emotional decision. I'm sure he had the tools to
figure out that he coud cut back a little and save it over time, but he wanted
nothing to do with it – what's wrong with being debt free anyways?

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mcot2
There's nothing wrong with wanting to be debt free and he's in a great
position now. I just think that it's possible that he left some money on the
table to do this quickly.

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joelrunyon
Maybe, maybe not.

Mathematically yes, but there's no guarantee that he could have done it over a
longer period of time if he was exhausted mentally.

This is the same logic behind Dave Ramsey's debt snowball where you pay your
smallest amount off first. It's terrible mathematical advice, but it's a
psychological trick that helps you focus on small wins after each other and
build rewarding habits

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reader5000
I don't understand the "student loan crisis". Go to college, start at six
figures, pay off loans. What's hard about that?

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pantaloons
Probably the "start at six figures" part, which for most (non-CS) graduates
is, at best, impossible.

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will_work4tears
Even many of us CS grads (though CIS in my case). Not all of us are the top
talent able to command a 6 figure income right out of college. :(

Edit: Also, cost of living differences

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larrys
I find it interesting that people are willing to take a mortgage out on a
house (he did this as everyone does) and fully understand that it is totally
reasonable to have to take 30 years to pay that off, or pay for a car over 3
to 5 years, but for some reason of all things, a Harvard education which they
owe $90,000 on, is a burden that needs to be retired as quickly as possible.

There is nothing inherently wrong about paying over time for something you
will use over time.

Added: Save the obvious publicity bonus (noted by the WSJ and in the WSJ of
all places) he could have done this more easily over the course of 2 to 5
years with normal cutbacks even assuming no salary increases.

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chrisaycock
Agreed. And worse, the article states he saved $40K by paying in one year vs
15 years, which implies that his interest rate was around 3%. That's
inflation! He could have effectively had the same savings by just _waiting_.

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antidaily
Holy shit. I know this guy - went to school with him.

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peterjancelis
Reading his blog, he also seems to have matured a lot in the past 7 months. He
now talks about early retirement, financial security etc.

