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It’s been a bit since we updated on our debt freedom progress with the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps. I have been slightly avoiding writing any update because it’s nothing exciting. We are still just plugging away with our small shovel. Progress is progress though right?
This journey is becoming so frustrating because we have student loans, which if you were living under a rock and missed this, are EVIL. Yes, we took out loans to go to college. Yes, we signed on the dotted line, and are responsible for paying them back. All statements that have been thrown at me in the past. What people don’t seem to understand about this is that it is nearly impossible to pay them back because of the interest rates. Instead of 1 loan, we each have several smaller loans, each with it’s own interest rate and then lumped together. Our minimum payments right now don’t even cover the interest that accrues each month.
Frustration
I think the thing that bothers me most in this conversation is the utter disdain most people have for those of us with student loans, like we are beneath them and should have to suffer. In my case, I was doing what was best for our family at the time. I was trying to get out of a dead end retail world. I did what I had to do to get out of there, and still be available at home for NotSoLittleDude. His Mom did several voluntary stints with her Reserves unit at the time, where she would be gone 2+ months and he would stay with us. Wildchild didn’t come along until my last year in school.
Now, the best thing for me is to stay home with Wildchild. Could I have kept applying to nursing school? Sure, but that would mean more debt and that’s just not an option anymore. My place is here at home, raising our children. Homeschooling the youngest and being available for any school breaks the oldest has so that he is able to have more of a relationship with his younger brother. It’s an extra sacrifice we make as a blended family. We also live with my parents and pay them rent, so that we can save a tiny bit more money to pay towards this mess. Is that something we want to be doing at our age? Of course not, but its what’s best for our family.
The fact that people don’t believe in legislation for student loan forgiveness is just so frustrating. People’s circumstances change. There’s death in the family, illness, family changes and all sorts of other things. If we can pay for all this other waste in government, than we can damn well come up with the money to better our society. The student debt crisis is a real thing and it is having far reaching implications. Probably farther than some in our government are even thinking about. Debt in general causes all sorts of issues, but this? This is on a massive scale and something needs to be done. Oh and I swear to all that is holy if another person goes “my taxes shouldn’t fund______” I will scream. We. All. Pay. Taxes. Our taxes would go to it as well. I am more than okay with that.
What Does This Mean?
So, what does all this mean for us while we are plugging away toward a debt free life? Does this mean we stop paying on our student loans in the hopes that they will somehow be wiped out one day? Of course not, we will keep paying what we owe, because we do owe it. We will still have hope though that maybe one day, things will change in the world of student loans and the student loan debt crisis.
Right now, I am looking for things around the house to sell. We don’t have much of value or even stuff that we won’t need again one day (I’m looking at you cloth diaper stash). The problem more has to do with convincing the husband to let go of all this stuff. He’s a bit of a pack rat.
Getting There
This is not an easy road by any means. It’s full of stress, setbacks, and a bit of tears. It is also full of progress, joy, and laughter. So. Much. Laughter. I am not sure we would survive these steps without a whole lot of laughter in the process. It’s a slow process for us, but we will get there eventually.
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