It is undeniable that saving money in order to devote more cash to student loans is extremely difficult. No matter how disciplined somebody is, one cannot resist the temptation to spend money forever, since humans naturally have the desire to purchase things that make us happy in the present. As a result, everyone is likely going to experience debt fatigue at some point during their student debt repayment journey.
There are a few descriptions of debt fatigue floating around the internet, so let me be more descriptive with what I mean when I use this term. Repaying student loans often requires years of discipline, saving, and commitment. This mammoth effort might wear someone down over time, since it is difficult to sacrifice creature comforts for an extended period. Also, the massive amount of student loans many people have might make the effort of paying off this debt seem futile. As a result, numerous individuals trying to pay off student loans early might reach a point when they can no longer make financial sacrifices in order to devote more cash to student loans. In some extreme cases, individuals might abandon paying off student loans altogether.
Although I read about debt fatigue at the beginning of my student debt repayment saga, I believed that this issue would never impact me. Man, was I wrong!
For 18 months following my graduation from law school, I lived extremely frugally and used any extra money I saved to pay down my student loans. I sacrificed many of the things I liked, such as meals out, trips with friends, premium coffee, and other things that cost extra money. I made the biggest impact on my student loans during this time, and indeed, I was able to halve my entire student loan balance through my efforts during my first year and a half after graduating from law school.
However, at the end of this 18-month period, I hit a wall. The daily sacrifices I made wore me down, and I could no longer live as frugally as I had previously done. In addition, I gave in to my materialistic temptations, and I spent thousands of dollars on clothes, electronics, and other items that made me happy. It took me several months to get over this hurdle and begin living frugally again. This challenge set me back when paying down my student loans, since I spent more money during this period than I would have if I just spent money more moderately while paying down my loans. All told, student debt repayment is a marathon rather than a sprint, and by overdoing my frugal lifestyle I might have negatively affected how much I paid toward student loans.
There are a few ways that you can avoid debt fatigue when repaying student loans. One strategy is to not sweat the small stuff, and make sure to purchase trivial things that make you happy. For instance, I am a huge coffee drinker, and I am a big fan of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks. However, I read many personal finance articles on the internet that described how one could save hundreds of dollars a year by making coffee at home. Following this advice, I bought a coffee maker during my student debt repayment saga, and stopped spending around $2 to $3 a day to purchase prepared coffee from a shop.
However, drinking that prepared coffee really made me happy, and being without this small creature comfort had a negative impact on my life. My morale really took a hit after discontinuing my coffee purchases, and the coffee I made at home never gave me the same enjoyment that I received from purchased coffee. I am convinced that forgoing that coffee broke my spirit and caused me to experience debt fatigue! As this story shows, it is important to pick your battles when choosing which creature comforts to cut out of your life, and do not sweat the small stuff when making sacrifices to expedite student debt repayment.
It is also important to not sweat some of the big stuff too. During your student debt repayment journey, there may be major purchases you need to make, and you should have the flexibility to go ahead and spend money when it is important to do so. Although it might seem like you are sacrificing your financial goals in the short term by making bigger purchases, you are actually playing the “long game,” since making some larger purchases might help you avoid debt fatigue.
While I was repaying student loans, major expenses came up in my life, and I almost always decided to forgo spending money to my long-term detriment. For instance, I never took a vacation or attended any wedding, family occasion, or other event if the cost of me attending exceeded a few hundred dollars. Not taking a vacation and not attending family events really hurt my morale and could have contributed to my debt fatigue.
If I spent the money to attend all six or so special events that occurred during the 46 months I repaid my student loans, I would have only delayed paying off all of my student loans for a few months. However, not attending these events impacted me on a personal level, and I encourage everyone to not miss out on special occasions that might arise while paying off student debt. Furthermore, future articles will discuss how I made $120,000 over three years while working side-hustles, and if you have money coming in from different income streams, you will not need to make the kinds of sacrifices that could lead to debt fatigue.
In the end, everyone has different breaking points, and some people can live a more frugal lifestyle without ever slowing down. However, it is important to note that debt fatigue is a real issue, and steps should be taken to ensure that you do not hit this roadblock on your student debt repayment journey.