Paying off Debt. I'm Drowning in Student Loans
Maybe this is just a rant, but if you have any advice/ideas worth sharing that would be appreciated. I understand that real estate investing is a marathon and not a sprint. I don't have grand delusions about starting with nothing and retiring in 3 years because I struck some magical deal. But i would just like to be able to start this endeavor before I retire.
My wife and I do our best to stick to Dave Ramsey's plan, but in many instances, his plan is only practical if you make 6 figures. How often have you heard someone go on Dave's shows and do their debt free scream just to hear that they paid off $75,000 in debt in 36 months making making $50,000 per year. Rarely. Not saying it doesn't happen, but its usually someone making over $120,000 per year paying of $50,000 in 16 months just by not taking 2 vacations and selling their BMW.
Our household budget has been trimmed every way possible. Our house payment is less than 15% of our gross pay(half of the recommended maximum). We don't have satellite or cable and have the cheapest phone plan on the market. We have not been on a real vacation since our honeymoon(4 years ago). We rent a room out in our house for $100 per week(and its only a 1 bathroom house). The combined total value of both of our cars is less than $8,000(not complaining, just stating that we are not extravagant). We both work full time and take side gigs on the weekends(cleaning, parking lot attendant, moving).
We owe a few thousand on our vehicles and that isn't really the issue. It is actually quite manageable. It's the damned student loans that are killing me. Balance for my wife and I is around $75,000. But since we are on an income driven repayment plan all we are doing is pay interest. I have looked into every possible student loan forgiveness plan and I do not qualify. The only good thing about this is that I have an amazing credit score.
So does anyone have any ideas?