<prompt> Human: I was trying to apply my Economics degree to my current situation with some Freakonomics thought as to how a young adult out of college or in my case grad school - MBA should weigh his debt and standard of living.And I couldnt make up my mind. Opportunity cost would suggest that I should find a comfortable balance between paying off loans and living in a fashion I DESIRE reasonably, of course. The freakonomics view would go further and suggest I reduce some of my 401k investments, drag my loans to a lower monthly payment and take advantage of relatively inexpensive money and maintain this standard of above average living so that I can pay off my loans at a faster rate when Im a bit older and have a better salary.PF view is pretty obvious, live frugally and pay down your debt asap. Which I totally understand, but at what point are you sacrificing your youth and fun you could be having? I would hate to be living inexpensively just to pay off my loans, and by that time be looking down the barrel of a wedding and children I think I should be able to pay off my 60k student loans in about 4-5 years on my 45k salary, putting me at age 29.So PF, how do you balance your opportunity cost of your standard of living and paying off student loan debt?Edit: I feel like the point of my post was missed. Im trying to open a discussion to trying to leverage your debt instead of being its prisoner. Is paying an extra X k in interest on an extra year or two of payments worth the extra liquid cash in the meantime?  <response>: This is a question that everyone asks themselves and the answer is always the same. It depends on a ton of variables and will be different for each and every person.With that out of the way Ill chime in with my personal opinion. Sacrificing your youth is used as a stand in for making bad decisions. Spending 500 dollars a month at the bar isnt enjoying your youth...its spending too much money at the bar. Buying a luxury car that you can barely afford isnt enjoying your youth, its wasting your money. Living in that luxury condo isnt enjoying your youth, its not exploring the market enough. I think you can get my point.One of the saddest things I see over and over again is a person who enjoyed their youth at the expense of their adult selves. They stalled at mid-life and they are doing all of the things that they should have done at 25, but now they are 40. They are going to work longer and have less available to enjoy in retirement if it comes. Im much more concerned about that then I am about keeping to a 2 drink limit at the bar when Im in my late 20s.Now I keep putting enjoying your youth in quotes because Ive had a pretty good time in my youth. Ive traveled, volunteered, picked up hobbies, and still go out. I just budget. I have money that I put aside every month for vacations. I have a budget for eating out, entertainment, etc.Well Ive meandered a bit so Ill just stop here :. 