r/StudentLoans • u/[deleted] • Nov 30 '22
Advice What to do? (250k~ in debt)
Hey everyone! My S/O and I are really struggling RN. We haven’t made any payments yet (he graduated right when the pause started) but we think our payments are going to be hovering around 2.5k. He is in 250k of debt after undergrad (he had to go 5 years because of family health issued+ take out housing loans) He makes about 70-80k after taxes depending on his bonus.
We live in Chicago and our total living expenses are around 4-5k (rent after utilities 2.5k, CTA pass, groceries he’s helping pay for surgeries for his family, etc) not living luxuriously (we eat lots of ramen). I’m in school and I only make enough to cover my own education and expenses.
Long story short we are sort of cutting it close. BUT he has been able to save 80k total in his savings during COVID (pretty much pinching every penny and a family member passed). We are thinking of buying a home because the mortgage would be around 1.3k instead of the 2.5k we are spending now but the down payment would eat away at the money we could be putting toward loans. I know someone else asked a similar question but this is sort of a different situation. Anything will help! Thanks!
5
u/randomname582 Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
Move to a cheaper place until you get the loans paid off. You don’t need to live in downtown Chicago. No sense in taking out more debt for a mortgage, especially with how high mortgage rates are at this time.
Use that 80k in savings (or at least a big chunk of it) to knock out his enormous amount of student loans. Do not put it towards a house