<prompt> Human: Ive been with my girlfriend for more than a year and while thats not a long time, were both in our late 20s and definitely starting to settle.One thing that gives me worry, however, is her 90k - in private student debt. We dont make a ton of money me35kyr, her40k, and this debt is weighing heavy on our lives. Shes handling all of it right now while Im paying most of the rent which still isnt much where we live as well as the lions share of groceries and when we go out.She jokingly asked a week ago if she could start stripping and when I didnt laugh, she said that is probably what shed be doing if we werent together which really depressed me. Im realizing that with this debt, were not going to be able to take real vacations, move to new cities, buy a house, etc.I grew up lucky and have money in the bank. Not nearly enough to do that stuff, but a good 4-6 month emergency fund.I know that if this debt was federal, thered be ways to lower payments or even forgiveness she works in public service, but no luck.Ive been thinking about going back to school for any job with a high salary to help out, but I dont know if thats a good idea.Anyway, this has just been weighing heavy on my mind. What have other people done to get out from under this?Assistant: Is she able to make to make payments large enough that the balance of the debt is going down? If she is making small payments, she may only be paying off the interest that is accumulating, rather than actually making any progress toward paying down the debt. This student loan payment calculator suggests that she would be able to pay off 90k at 6.8 interest in ten years if she made monthly payments of 1,035. That seems fairly doable on her salary if you are paying for rent and most of your other costs. A higher income for either of you would absolutely help. Maybe a weekend job? A few extra hundred dollars a month to contribute toward those payments would be a good start. Human: Yes, thats actually something weve just started. Shes contributing closer to 1,700 each month after realizing how little the minimum payment did over the last year or two. Its a serious strain, but doable.  <response>: At that rate, the calculator I was using suggests that she will only have another 5 and a half years to go! Thats far less than I would have thought. I think if you two can make that sacrifice for another five years, you will be on much better footing to save for retirement and a house or whatever it is that you want in your future. 