How This Couple Paid Off $40,000 In Student Loans

Welcome to our Debt Free Living Series!! We recognize that a lot of people have the goal of being debt free, we’re right there with you!

That’s why we’re creating an entire series on our blog dedicated to paying off debt. We’re interviewing people who have either already achieved becoming debt free or have paid off a large amount of debt fast.

What better way to learn how to achieve your goal of becoming debt free than to hear from people who have already done it!

This week we had the pleasure of chatting with our friends Kelan and Brittany from The Savvy Couple about their debt-free journey. They were able to pay off an astonishing $40,000 in student loans in just over 3 years!!

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

We are Kelan and Brittany Kline over at The Savvy Couple where we help families learn how to budget their money, organize their life, and unlock the freedom to do more of the things they love!

We live in upstate New York and have a baby girl named Kallie. We absolutely love growing our online business, traveling, staying active, lifting weights, going camping, and going to church.

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Everyone is eager to hear about your debt free journey. Let’s start with how you ended up in debt and how much debt was it?

We ended up in a good amount of student loan debt after we both finished college. Kelan received his bachelor’s in business and I graduated with my master’s in childhood literacy. Kelan and I had a combined debt of close to $40,000.

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What was the turning point for you where you decided to start paying off your student loans?

The turning point for us was watching our monthly payment of a few hundred dollars go to this mass amount of debt and not seeing any progress.

We decided enough was enough and it was time to crush this debt! We wanted the freedom that comes with being debt free.

What was your motivation to pay off $40,000 in student loans so fast?

Our motivation for paying off all of our debt was financial freedom. We wanted the emotional burden of paying someone else every month, off our shoulders.

We both wanted more freedom in our monthly budget and paying off our student loans was what needed to happen.

How long did it take you to get rid of all your student loans?

It took us roughly three years to go from our starting $40,000 down to $25,000. Once we made the decision to become debt free as fast as we could, it took us only 5 months to pay off the rest of the $25,000!

Fortunately, while we were paying off our debt, our online business was really taking off. Our dream of making money online was coming true and it helped fuel our debt free journey.

$40,000 paid off in just 3 years is impressive!! Did you run into any “bumps in the road” when you were trying to pay off your debt? If so, how did you overcome them?

Yes!

Kelan changed jobs and took a HUGE pay cut when he left law enforcement. It took me a few years to find a teaching job in New York State.

I started as a long-term substitute not making very much money and it was hard to make those student loan payments on a low salary. We had a slow start to our adult life finding the right jobs after college.

Did budgeting play a factor in you being able to pay off your student loans so quickly?

Budgeting was the only way we were able to pay off our debt, hands down! We are big time believers that sticking to a budget gives you freedom in life and our story is a great example of that.

We stuck to our budget very closely, every single month, when we decided to attack our debt. Kelan and I had to learn to say no to friends and be very selective on what we would spend extra money on.

If you are looking for a free easy to use budget template click here.

What steps are you taking to ensure you stay out of debt?

We are sticking to our budget, have an emergency fund, and continue to grow our nest egg. We now have a great cushion of money that we can tap into when big purchases come up like a new used car, home repair, or vacation so we are never forced to go into debt.

We have both made a promise together in our marriage that we will always and forever live debt free.

Now that you’ve paid off your debt, what financial goals do you have next?

Just hearing “paid off your debt” brings back incredible memories. It’s such an amazing feeling and I want everyone to be able to feel the weight that is lifted off of you after making your final debt payment.

YOU NEED TO IT TO ACHIEVE IT! You can become debt free, make the commitment to make it happen today!

For our financial goals, we really focus on one number, our net worth. We have our budget set up where we “pay ourselves first”. Meaning we make deposits into our savings and investing accounts before anything else. That makes sure we stay on track with our savings goals.

We recently topped the $100,000 mark in our net-worth and we are working on growing that to  $250,000 in the next couple of years. We also have the goal to grow our blogging business from six-figure per year to seven-figures per year.

Wow, what awesome goals, thank you so much for taking the time to share your debt-free journey with all of us. I think your story is inspiring for anyone who feels like you’ll always be in debt and it’s just part of life.

Here is proof that life is possible without the burden of debt. Find the motivation, create a budget and start attacking that debt.

Make sure you join our email list below so you don’t miss out on the next interview for our Debt Free Living series coming soon.

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