Trying to conquer $153k student loans debt. A monthly budget perspective.

[rxdoc18]

whats the max i should spend on a home to get a low mortgage like you guys have?

I had a similar distribution of after-tax funds in 2016 based on my checking account statements. On a per-monthly basis:

Mortgage                     1,391 (16.8%)
Student loans                5,385 (64.9%)
All other withdrawals        1,522 (18.3%)

"All other withdrawals" covers all spending, utilities (Internet, Ting, Ooma, gas/electricity/water/garbage), vehicle gas, health care spending and after-tax contributions to Roth IRA ($5,500) so technically that's $12,764 left after IRA or $1,063 a month.

I did this with zero regard to budgeting BTW

You can do it and hoes ain't loyal.

Whats the max I should spend on a home to get a low mortgage like you guys have?
I live in FL and rent in a decent place goes >1200.
Should I buy a cheaper home, then upgrade to a better place once the loans are gone?
I have a similar loan situation and want to pay it in 3 yrs.

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[PharmacistFl12]

whats the max i should spend on a home to get a low mortgage like you guys have?



Whats the max I should spend on a home to get a low mortgage like you guys have?
I live in FL and rent in a decent place goes >1200.
Should I buy a cheaper home, then upgrade to a better place once the loans are gone?
I have a similar loan situation and want to pay it in 3 yrs.

I got lucky and bought my house at only $134k on a 15 year mortgage. I put $20k down payment. I figured if i'm going to end up paying around $1,000 in rent, I might as well buy a house and use that rent payment as mortgage instead. House value especially in low or no tax states like Florida will continue to climb. My house is worth almost $200k right now. My plan to is to knock off my student loans by July 2020. Then spend another 1.5 year putting everything into my mortgage to payoff my first house. Use that house as rental income. Then upgrade to a big permanent house by the beach. My next house will be in the $300k+ range.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

FWIW we waited till we could put 20% down.

While i highly recommend doing that, it is maybe not good idea in markets with rapidly rising home costs

 

[Zelda840]

$120,000 house with 20% down.

 

[Apotheker2015]

I might get a scolded for this but I dumped my girlfriend because it caused me too much money to drive and see her and spend money going out to eat.

LOL, no, we appreciate your honesty.

 

[PA_required_uh_oh]

Not bad at all but if you wanna be extra frugal (warning: this isn't for everyone) you can consider dropping cable, only use streaming services such as Netflix/Amazon prime. You can ask a friend/family to split the cost also. Torrent + VPN or Kodi for free shows.

Use artifical turf for grass to save water. And change your shower head to a low flow head + add a big block of stone/brick/bottle filled with stones into your toilet tank.

Change all your light bulb to LED bulbs. Unscrew a few of the bulbs if you don't need 4 bulbs ON at the same time. Don't have vampire drain on your electronics, unplug them if you don't use them in extended amount of time or use smart strips.

Don't run the cental heater, keep thermostat down. Use a space heater for a few hours instead of running central heat + good blanket.

Food budget is great! Hard to beat $200/mo/person. It's obvious to me you aren't eating out.


You obviously don't love this girl enough. Good call.

Lol this reply is God-like. You are absolutely savage when it comes to savings. I love it! I can only aspire to be like this...actually I probably have to but not by choice since I have an extra $100k in loans than OP. oh and the girlfriend thing is hilarious lol

 

[PharmtoCS]

Don't run the cental heater, keep thermostat down. Use a space heater for a few hours instead of running central heat + good blanket.

An electric space heater can end up costing a lot more if your central heater uses gas depending on the cost per unit of each. Otherwise, I agree with everything else you said.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Lol this reply is God-like. You are absolutely savage when it comes to savings. I love it! I can only aspire to be like this...actually I probably have to but not by choice since I have an extra $100k in loans than OP. oh and the girlfriend thing is hilarious lol

Sorry this has nothing to do with you but your name made me realize I really want to know what @PAtoPharm is up to.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Sorry this has nothing to do with you but your name made me realize I really want to know what is up to.

They likely hit an actual dead-end and couldn't bring himself to continue posting about that stuff

 

[PharmDminus]

An electric space heater can end up costing a lot more if your central heater uses gas depending on the cost per unit of each. Otherwise, I agree with everything else you said.

in a 2000 sq ft house, using electric heater in a single room while keeping the central heat turned down can save some serious $$$ (at least in the northern US). That is what we do, why keep the entire house at 70 if you are only in one or two rooms for the most part.

 

[mentos]

Water= $100 Electiricty= $100-$135 Internet/Cable package= $157 Gas= $200 Food= $200. No phone bills because I'm part of my parents family plan, so they help me complete with that bill. Any "fun" money is from Bank of America Rewards card. I get $35-40 cash back monthly. Use that for beer money every other weekend.

Your cable/internet is too high.

We pay $35/mo for high speed internet with Comcast. We don't watch TV anymore but Netflix, YouTube TV, etc are much cheaper than paying for cable.

 

[Sparda29]

Hello fellow Pharmacist, I am posting this to show what life is like with heavy student loans debt and what it takes to conquer it. I have a goal of paying off $153k in 3 years. As you can see from my budget, paying off your student loans quickly is very doable as long as you stay focus, work hard and adhere to a very strict budget. I hope this provides some motivation to all of you.View attachment 226746

Where do you live that your mortgage is $864? This plan doesn't compute if someone lives in NYC and has a decent apartment (rent easily around $2k).

 

[wagrxm2000]

Where do you live that your mortgage is $864? This plan doesn't compute if someone lives in NYC and has a decent apartment (rent easily around $2k).

Not everyone needs to live in the expensive cities. We don't miss out on really anything that we can't make weekend plans for.

It's really foolish if you ask me to live in expensive cities especially when there the pay doesn't make up for the increased cost of living

That is low though.

 

[owlegrad]

My mortgage is $750 and I live in central Florida, specifically near Orlando. And that’s on a 15yr mortgage to boot. You don’t NEED an outrageous mortgage in most places as far as I can tell. What are you going to do with all those rooms anyway?

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

Not everyone needs to live in the expensive cities. We don't miss out on really anything that we can't make weekend plans for.

That is low though.

Agreed, living in an expensive city is going to slow down your ability to accumulate wealth.

I live in an expensive city and have a large mortgage but my wife and I decided it was worth it for our family

 

[Rouelle]

My mortgage is $750 and I live in central Florida, specifically near Orlando. And that’s on a 15yr mortgage to boot.

Very impressive

 

[BMBiology]

Agreed, living in an expensive city is going to slow down your ability to accumulate wealth.

I live in an expensive city and have a large mortgage but my wife and I decided it was worth it for our family

How much is the mortgage?


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[Sparda29]

Not everyone needs to live in the expensive cities. We don't miss out on really anything that we can't make weekend plans for.

It's really foolish if you ask me to live in expensive cities especially when there the pay doesn't make up for the increased cost of living

That is low though.

It's not about needing to live in an expensive city. What if you already live in said city, have been living with your parents and want to get your own place without moving out of the city?

What the country needs the most is strict rent control so that landlords cannot jack up the rent just because it's a "premium" location? Brooklyn and Harlem are examples of this. In the 70s, you couldn't get people to want to live in these areas. Now these areas have some of the highest rents in the city. Rent price should be strictly based on the amenities in the apartment and size of the apartment, not crime, oceanviews, etc.

 

[Momus]

How much is the mortgage?


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His wife income is 3-4x his. So who cares lol... He can afford 5k/mo rent/mortgage easy. One of those E-ROAD specialities I bet.

 

[Momus]

It's not about needing to live in an expensive city. What if you already live in said city, have been living with your parents and want to get your own place without moving out of the city?

What the country needs the most is strict rent control so that landlords cannot jack up the rent just because it's a "premium" location? Brooklyn and Harlem are examples of this. In the 70s, you couldn't get people to want to live in these areas. Now these areas have some of the highest rents in the city. Rent price should be strictly based on the amenities in the apartment and size of the apartment, not crime, oceanviews, etc.

I don't agree with rent control, it's a free market. Landlord has no obligation to lose money on their investment. You can't afford it, move out.

 

[wagrxm2000]

It's not about needing to live in an expensive city. What if you already live in said city, have been living with your parents and want to get your own place without moving out of the city?

What the country needs the most is strict rent control so that landlords cannot jack up the rent just because it's a "premium" location? Brooklyn and Harlem are examples of this. In the 70s, you couldn't get people to want to live in these areas. Now these areas have some of the highest rents in the city. Rent price should be strictly based on the amenities in the apartment and size of the apartment, not crime, oceanviews, etc.

Leave?

How often do people see their parents, daily, weekly, couple times a month? We make our visits and they make theirs. Your parents should be near retirement, they can visit whenever they want. I know ours do.

Question is why did your parents destroy their savings opportunity by living in an expensive city? Sure you can say their job forced them to but I hope it was worth the increased cost of living because it isn't for a pharmacist.

I've said it many times already, pharmacists should be living the easy life, if not, you are doing something wrong.

Supply and demand, landlords shouldn't be punished.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

I don't agree with rent control, it's a free market. Landlord has no obligation to lose money on their investment. You can't afford it, move out.

Agreed, moving somewhere you can afford is the best answer but not a popular answer. Rent control benefits few at the expense of many.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Sorry this has nothing to do with you but your name made me realize I really want to know what @PAtoPharm is up to.

Come on @PAtoPharm, I promise I only want an update. No messing around. I can see that you still get on here.

 

[BC_89]

conquering loans....

Already lovin’ my gi bill

 

[BMBiology]

It's not about needing to live in an expensive city. What if you already live in said city, have been living with your parents and want to get your own place without moving out of the city?

What the country needs the most is strict rent control so that landlords cannot jack up the rent just because it's a "premium" location? Brooklyn and Harlem are examples of this. In the 70s, you couldn't get people to want to live in these areas. Now these areas have some of the highest rents in the city. Rent price should be strictly based on the amenities in the apartment and size of the apartment, not crime, oceanviews, etc.

Rent control only benefits the current renters while it hurts everyone else.

You are not entitled to live in a desirable city. If you can’t afford then move like everyone else.


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[Modest_anteater]

I might get a scolded for this but I dumped my girlfriend because it caused me too much money to drive and see her and spend money going out to eat.

I have heard that women/gfs are negative net investments. So if you are trying to pay off your loans asap probably best to avoid girls all together.

 

[Modest_anteater]

$714 a month for my cute little 2 bedroom house in flyover country - woohoo!

My rent is literally $0.00 a month so IMO you are wasting more than 8,500 a year. Don't ask me how.

Spoiler: HOTEL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX PROPONENT TRIGGER

I live in my car.

 

[PA_dud3]

I have heard that women/gfs are negative net investments. So if you are trying to pay off your loans asap probably best to avoid girls all together.

It sounds selfish but why spend money on other people when you can spend it on yourself, lmao

That's my philosophy, anyway

 

[PA_dud3]

My rent is literally $0.00 a month so IMO you are wasting more than 8,500 a year. Don't ask me how.

Spoiler: HOTEL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX PROPONENT TRIGGER

I live in my car.

Also, it's none of my business, but how do you manage this? Just for curiosity's sake. Not knocking your lifestyle, or anything.

 

[Modest_anteater]

Also, it's none of my business, but how do you manage this? Just for curiosity's sake. Not knocking your lifestyle, or anything.

I'd rather not give specifics on here because it honestly triggers people here making them troll/frame me and derails the thread. Feel free to private message me any questions and I can answer!

 

[Modest_anteater]

I got lucky and bought my house at only $134k on a 15 year mortgage. I put $20k down payment. I figured if i'm going to end up paying around $1,000 in rent, I might as well buy a house and use that rent payment as mortgage instead. House value especially in low or no tax states like Florida will continue to climb. My house is worth almost $200k right now. My plan to is to knock off my student loans by July 2020. Then spend another 1.5 year putting everything into my mortgage to payoff my first house. Use that house as rental income. Then upgrade to a big permanent house by the beach. My next house will be in the $300k+ range.

"big permanent house by the beach"

Have you considered that when global warming releases the methane in the permafrost it will raise water levels globally making your beachhouse underwater? Much of South Beach and Florida in general is expected to be flooded and undergo yearly massive floods.

 

[wagrxm2000]

"big permanent house by the beach"

Have you considered that when global warming releases the methane in the permafrost it will raise water levels globally making your beachhouse underwater? Much of South Beach and Florida in general is expected to be flooded and undergo yearly massive floods.

Sigh....

(More negativity)

 

[W19]

My mortgage is $750 and I live in central Florida, specifically near Orlando. And that’s on a 15yr mortgage to boot. You don’t NEED an outrageous mortgage in most places as far as I can tell. What are you going to do with all those rooms anyway?

You probably bought when the housing market took a dive. How big is that place?

 

[BC_89]

"big permanent house by the beach"

Have you considered that when global warming releases the methane in the permafrost it will raise water levels globally making your beachhouse underwater? Much of South Beach and Florida in general is expected to be flooded and undergo yearly massive floods.

LOL, Im still waiting for California to break in half by the San Andreas Fault plate...yet here we are...a century later...still waiting....

 

[Momus]

"big permanent house by the beach"

Have you considered that when global warming releases the methane in the permafrost it will raise water levels globally making your beachhouse underwater? Much of South Beach and Florida in general is expected to be flooded and undergo yearly massive floods.

I wouldn't touch a house that's on the center of hurricane/flood path every yr lmao... Other than that, all good.

 

[Modest_anteater]

LOL, Im still waiting for California to break in half by the San Andreas Fault plate...yet here we are...a century later...still waiting....

Yeah that will never happen. But i feel like you are misrepresenting my argument as hyperbole to make it easier to attack.

 

[owlegrad]

You probably bought when the housing market took a dive. How big is that place?

I wish! I wasn’t in a position to buy back then.

My place is a modest 2 story 1800 sqft townhouse. It lacks a garage though, which I hate. Otherwise it’s alright. Built in the 80s but well-maintained.

 

[BC_89]

Yeah that will never happen.

I have heard that women/gfs are negative net investments.

My rent is literally $0.00 a month so IMO you are wasting more than 8,500 a year. Don't ask me how.

It goes by many names, but I like to call it "Negative-Nancy-Debbie-Downer-Syndrome" (NNDDS). Albeit factual to a limited degree, negativity overrides the facts (for example, if you wish to remain alone in life as a means of avoiding financial burden that comes with companionship or avoid a low cost mortgage by living in a car that is on you). So lets drive this on topic: You are not a licensed pharmacist but a student so tell me how do you plan on graduating with loan debt using your own references of how many unemployed people you anticipate there being?

You enjoy statistics and tell people to get-out-while-they-can yet you see yourself as an outlier (as do I). Pure curiosity and not infringing the idea of calling someone out, but I really do want to know how you plan on avoiding the pitfall of saturation + student debt. Im able to pull it off with a wife and kids without having to live in my pick-up or go by starbucks for wifi. You love the idea of other career choices (and I agree for many they should) but you claim to stay to the end. So....what is the plan?

 

[Modest_anteater]

It goes by many names, but I like to call it "Negative-Nancy-Debbie-Downer-Syndrome" (NNDDS). Albeit factual to a limited degree, negativity overrides the facts (for example, if you wish to remain alone in life as a means of avoiding financial burden that comes with companionship or avoid a low cost mortgage by living in a car that is on you). So lets drive this on topic: You are not a licensed pharmacist but a student so tell me how do you plan on graduating with loan debt using your own references of how many unemployed people you anticipate there being?

You enjoy statistics and tell people to get-out-while-they-can yet you see yourself as an outlier (as do I). Pure curiosity and not infringing the idea of calling someone out, but I really do want to know how you plan on avoiding the pitfall of saturation + student debt. Im able to pull it off with a wife and kids without having to live in my pick-up or go by starbucks for wifi. You love the idea of other career choices (and I agree for many they should) but you claim to stay to the end. So....what is the plan?

Worst case scenario I work at Walmart stocking shelves 30 hours a week and do IBR or go back to living in the woods in a tent and getting food from the food pantry. As long as I have fast internet I could really care less about having money. It would be really cool if I got a job as a pharmacist though but I'm not going to assume that is a guarantee unlike many of the ill informed new grads.

 

[BC_89]

Worst case scenario I work at Walmart stocking shelves 30 hours a week and do IBR or go back to living in the woods in a tent and getting food from the food pantry. As long as I have fast internet I could really care less about having money. It would be really cool if I got a job as a pharmacist though but I'm not going to assume that is a guarantee unlike many of the ill informed new grads.

....why do something that YOU believe is not a guarantee for yourself? 6-8 years of schooling gone to waste and even though you dont care about "making money" how do you feel about "owing money?" IBR is still a group of people PAYING for your degree you feel you might not even use (My taxes for one)...If your willing to compete and think pharmacy is "cool" then Im sure you have other easier passions you think is cool (if pharmacy is the only cool thing you might want to broaden the imagination). If your "passion" and drive override what you know to be saturated then do you perhaps have a better possible contingency to pay loans if government in the future says "No"?

I mean, if I had a deathly illness I'd want 153k in student loans because it would feel like an eternity paying it off

@stoichiometrist I believe @Modest_anteater (your #1 follower) needs your guidance perhaps?

 

[Bimmaboy88]

Just looking over your monthly breakdown, it doesn't seem accurate to me....so you have 153k , and your paying it in 3 years with $2911 a month? (2911 x 36 = $104796)....and just out of curiosity, what interest did Sofi qualify you with?

 

[TheMadPharmacist]

YOLO........

 

[Prosperity8]

Where do you live that your mortgage is $864? This plan doesn't compute if someone lives in NYC and has a decent apartment (rent easily around $2k).

I live in Florida in an area with very low property tax (only $1,000 per year)

 

[Prosperity8]

Just looking over your monthly breakdown, it doesn't seem accurate to me....so you have 153k , and your paying it in 3 years with $2911 a month? (2911 x 36 = $104796)....and just out of curiosity, what interest did Sofi qualify you with?

It's $2,911 autopay. Then I'm doing $1,800 extra monthly.

 

[Modest_anteater]

....why do something that YOU believe is not a guarantee for yourself? 6-8 years of schooling gone to waste and even though you dont care about "making money" how do you feel about "owing money?" IBR is still a group of people PAYING for your degree you feel you might not even use (My taxes for one)...If your willing to compete and think pharmacy is "cool" then Im sure you have other easier passions you think is cool (if pharmacy is the only cool thing you might want to broaden the imagination). If your "passion" and drive override what you know to be saturated then do you perhaps have a better possible contingency to pay loans if government in the future says "No"?

I mean, if I had a deathly illness I'd want 153k in student loans because it would feel like an eternity paying it off

@stoichiometrist I believe @Modest_anteater (your #1 follower) needs your guidance perhaps?

"My taxes for one"

Actually it's not your taxes. The government is inept and failing and is borrowing massive amounts of money from China. So my loan was paid by china not you.

 

[HandsomeVampire]

I might get a scolded for this but I dumped my girlfriend because it caused me too much money to drive and see her and spend money going out to eat.

what did u guys eat anyway?

 

[BC_89]

"My taxes for one"

Actually it's not your taxes. The government is inept and failing and is borrowing massive amounts of money from China. So my loan was paid by china not you.

Wonder how government finds ways to pay back borrowed money from outside regions / sources (one of which is taxes...try again)

Of all I said that is the one thing you pulled from my statement(s)? Really? Thoughts on the rest?

Let me help based on your ideology: The failing and in-debt government decides to stop REPAYE - IBR - PSLF and fund the borrowed money for people like myself to have longer deployments and cycled out more often then not. What contingency do you have for 153k in debt ?

Bottom line: don’t be like the government: pay your own debt. If you can’t, do something else.

 

[Bimmaboy88]

It's $2,911 autopay. Then I'm doing $1,800 extra monthly.

I got you. Again, not trying to get into your personal space but unless you have bad credit or some negative incident in the past, you seem to have a very high interest rate...so your around 7% according to my calculations. If thats the case, you might want to shop around for a better deal.

 

[wucool33]

I got you. Again, not trying to get into your personal space but unless you have bad credit or some negative incident in the past, you seem to have a very high interest rate...so your around 7% according to my calculations. If thats the case, you might want to shop around for a better deal.

I thought 6.5-7% was standard for student loans?

 

[thecoolpharmboi]

I honestly think I’ll be in debt forever:/ no doubt