How has student loan debt negatively affected you?

[turnandburn]

For those DVMs who had to take loans for part/all of their education and are currently in the repayment phase (or if you've already paid off your loans), what is/was the most stressful part of that? Or had the biggest downfall? Check all that apply! If you have any other comments please add them below! For the record, I had to borrow the complete cost of attendance for both undergrad and veterinary schools, and I'm just curious how others have felt about the impact it's had on your life.

**Responses are anonymous**

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[Minnerbelle]

I was lucky that my parents paid for my entire undergrad education, and if it hadn’t been for the market crash of ‘08 they would have paid my entire vet school bill. So I graduated with *only* ~150k in debt.

my husband is a PhD who doesn’t earn a whole lot, but had a sizable savings account. We did the math, and paying it off ASAP was going to be in our best financial interest. So we continued to live like we were poor grad students for 4.5 years and paid upwards of $4000/month. Essentially we drained our checking’s account every month and put it into my student loans. I started vet school a little later so it meant that I didn’t really start enjoying life until into my thirties. But then it put us on good footing financially.

To get there, we made some sacrifices. It meant we didn’t have a wedding or engagement rings or wedding bands or a honeymoon. We did buy new cars (hubby didn’t have one at the time, and mine died at the end of vet school) but the most basic ones, nothing to be proud of. We didn’t even think about buying a house until my loans were almost paid off or starting a family until I hit advanced maternal age. For a couple of years, between the two of us we were driving 200 miles a day to commute in a densely populated state. I worked all day every day. Thankfully hubby had enough cash and I had a high enough salary that together we could buy a decent house at the end of it all (mortgage company preapproved me alone for only 40k or something ridiculously low like that - median home price in the state is >$400k).

we’re in a good place financially now debt free. But I was incredibly fortunate to have well off family and in laws who paid for a majority of my education and could bail us out if needed at any time. That being said, it still wasn’t easy for the first 5 years. We still don’t live extravagantly by any means, but we’re comfortable and don’t have major financial stresses on a day to day. And I’ve been able to take lower paying jobs for a better quality of life. Only way I can continue to enjoy this line of work. I would be way burnt out had I continued to work as I did my first 5 years out.

 

[DVMDream]

Is the poll anonymous?

 

[JaynaAli]

Is the poll anonymous?

I just voted and can’t see names of any other respondents. Not sure if OP can see them though.


I was/am in a better position regarding loans than most, which I fully recognize. I didn’t pay anything for undergrad...I actually made a little money most years of undergrad because I had scholarships pay out more than my cost of attendance. I did a 3+1 program where my first year of vet school counted as my senior year of animal science degree, so since some of my UG scholarships were 4 year awards, they paid a large portion of my first year vet school loans. I paid maybe 4,000 that year out of pocket from savings. My parents paid my vet school living expenses...they bought me a cheap house and I got a roommate to help minimize their costs. Then when I graduated they sold the house for what they paid for it to recoup a lot of what I would have paid in rent.

So all told, I only took out loans for three years of vet school tuition at a cheap in-state school, which was about $60,000. I specialized, so my loans were in income based repayment for those four years...that did set back my repayment some. My required payments were zero but since it was obvious I was going to pay off my loans at some point I paid $100-200/mo all those years of training, which covered my accrued interest but didn’t pay down balances significantly. Now I’m a specialist and pre-COVID was throwing any “extra” money I had after paying bills at the loans, usually about 2,000-3,000 a month. Even with just that little bit of debt, I didn’t feel like I could buy a house or new vehicle anything until it was paid off and I didn’t really have a significant amount of savings. I had a small emergency fund but everything else went to my loans. I realize it would have been possible to buy a house and stuff but I wanted to be rid of my student loans ASAP. With COVID and the interest pause, I started saving that money and now I’m planning to go ahead and buy a house in the next 6 months or so. I graduated 6 years ago and still owe about $24,000 but it’s now low enough I am less worried about it. Without COVID and the interest+payment pause though I probably wouldn’t be buying a house or anything for at least another year or two while I paid my loans off and re-saved a down payment.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Without COVID and the interest+payment pause though I probably wouldn’t be buying a house or anything for at least another year or two while I paid my loans off and re-saved a down payment.

Yeah that down payment is a b@&$!@. Needing $20k for every $100k of house is tough if you want to avoid PMI or other loophole avenues like physician’s mortgages.
It’s stressful to look at cash in your bank account like that if you are looking to pay off your student loans at like 7-8% interest...

 

[turnandburn]

Is the poll anonymous?

Yes it's anonymous. I'll edit the OP to clarify that.

 

[turnandburn]

I was lucky that my parents paid for my entire undergrad education, and if it hadn’t been for the market crash of ‘08 they would have paid my entire vet school bill. So I graduated with *only* ~150k in debt.

my husband is a PhD who doesn’t earn a whole lot, but had a sizable savings account. We did the math, and paying it off ASAP was going to be in our best financial interest. So we continued to live like we were poor grad students for 4.5 years and paid upwards of $4000/month. Essentially we drained our checking’s account every month and put it into my student loans. I started vet school a little later so it meant that I didn’t really start enjoying life until into my thirties. But then it put us on good footing financially.

To get there, we made some sacrifices. It meant we didn’t have a wedding or engagement rings or wedding bands or a honeymoon. We did buy new cars (hubby didn’t have one at the time, and mine died at the end of vet school) but the most basic ones, nothing to be proud of. We didn’t even think about buying a house until my loans were almost paid off or starting a family until I hit advanced maternal age. For a couple of years, between the two of us we were driving 200 miles a day to commute in a densely populated state. I worked all day every day. Thankfully hubby had enough cash and I had a high enough salary that together we could buy a decent house at the end of it all (mortgage company preapproved me alone for only 40k or something ridiculously low like that - median home price in the state is >$400k).

we’re in a good place financially now debt free. But I was incredibly fortunate to have well off family and in laws who paid for a majority of my education and could bail us out if needed at any time. That being said, it still wasn’t easy for the first 5 years. We still don’t live extravagantly by any means, but we’re comfortable and don’t have major financial stresses on a day to day. And I’ve been able to take lower paying jobs for a better quality of life. Only way I can continue to enjoy this line of work. I would be way burnt out had I continued to work as I did my first 5 years out.

Wow, that is really impressive! I admire your dedication to paying them off- I'm not sure I could have survived what you did! What an amazing feeling though to have paid them off so quickly. I'm envious

 

[DVMDream]

So my reason is up there (kind of) but not really accurate (ok trapped in the career isn't up there).

Basically the student debt has forced me to have to stay in veterinary medicine in general, but I definitely don't get paid well. I found what fits me best and gives me less stress and something that I do overall enjoy, but I would love the option to leave the field entirely and explore other careers, but I can't because of the student loans.

 

[DVMDream]

It has actually not impacted my ability to get loans-- home or car, shockingly. Now if I weren't doing REPAYE or any other income based repayment, I definitely would not qualify to obtain a car or home loan.

 

[turnandburn]

So my reason is up there (kind of) but not really accurate (ok trapped in the career isn't up there).

Basically the student debt has forced me to have to stay in veterinary medicine in general, but I definitely don't get paid well. I found what fits me best and gives me less stress and something that I do overall enjoy, but I would love the option to leave the field entirely and explore other careers, but I can't because of the student loans.

Yeah I kind of feel you on this. For a long time I wished I had gone into a different field. I ended up going PT at a practice that I'm really happy at, and I'm more at peace with my decision, but if I could do it again, I'm not sure I would have gone into vet med.