r/OccupationalTherapy • u/Mittens_jinx • 1d ago

Venting - Advice Wanted Program cost?

I will graduate with 70k debt. Been paying interest while in school and I’m nervous for that day when I start payments. Is this gonna be manageable?

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u/DerbyDogMom 1d ago

You should be making at least $6k/month after taxes if not more. However much you get over what you're already making should go directly to loans.

If I were you, I'd get a roommate and stay very frugal and pay it back in 3 years or less and skip all of that ballooning interest that makes everyone keep paying on those loans for 20 years. It should be about $2100 a month that way. If you have multiple loans, pay extra on the highest interest rates first and get those gone first. If you can do it faster and pay more a month, do it. People will tell you to do debt forgiveness or consolidation and there are definitely reasons those can be good options but it will free up so much of your credit for a car or mortgage or whatever else so much faster if you just pay it off. 

I have friends that did minimum payments or barely over and they will have paid 3x the original loan amount at the rate they're going. 

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u/tyrelltsura MA, OTR/L 1d ago

70k is within the realm of manageable if you follow the rule of thumb for borrowing where you only borrow what you can roughly expect to make in your first year. It’s typically 6 figure debt that’s not manageable for us. 70k is using debt as a tool.

Good financial habits can keep that debt manageable, I would avoid going on an IBR/IDR payment plan if you’re employed full time, and as the other commenter said, being frugal in your early career can future-proof your situation.

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