<prompt> Human: Hi,Ive been lurking these forums for a while specifically looking at the great advice people have been giving regarding student loans and now I may need a little advice from you experts. I graduated with roughly 130k in student loans getting a BFA in animation yeah I know I was a dumb young man. That was back in 2007. Since then Ive been paying roughly 1110 a month in minimum payments and by the grace of Cthulhu as well as some major spending cuts Ive been fortunate enough to keep my head above water and not miss a single payment. Currently I have around 63,000 left to pay off. I have 5 separate loans. 1 Federal and 4 private.Federal consolidated 11,000 at 5.25 fixed interestPrivate Loan 1 12,500 at 4.25 variable interestPrivate Loan 2 17,600 at 9.25 variable interestPrivate Loan 3 14,000 at 10.25 variable interestPrivate Loan 4 10,700 at 5.5 variable interestMy current working situation is pretty touch and go at the moment. I currently work a temporary job that just barely pays the minimum monthly payment for these loans and my rent 450 a month.I have around 20,000 in savings after taxes from a well paying job I was laid off from a few months ago and around 30,000 in my 401k from when was contributing during steady work. So Im not in dire straits at the moment and only have around 5 years left to pay off the private loans, but Im starting to feel that my debt is making the pursuit of my desired profession difficult. Specifically because all of the jobs are across country where it is expensive to live. Im also terrified of falling behind on payments someday and seeing my balance balloon uncontrollably. So basically my dilemma is should I keep taking this steady pace and hold onto my savings for emergencies or should I be more aggressive and spend my saving to paying off one of these loans? Honestly the thought of just killing off one of the higher interest rate private loans at the sacrifice of my savings is tempting, just because that would give me back over 300 a month, which I could use to rebuild my savings. Yet I know I could be screwing myself over at a later date if I fall into hardship or cant find more work. I want to make sure I approach this logically, so any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!  <response>: Interesting dilemma. You definitely need to have an emergency fund; yet you have A LOT to gain by paying off these loans.You obviously understand the cashflow pressure your situation puts you in. You may want to use this for motivation to get yourself out. It would be worth it to you to get a side gig to help dig you out AND provide some insurance against losing your first gig.If you are committed to a plan to kills these debts and you think your job is stable Id pay off the very highest loan. Afterward, you can use that cash flow boost your emergency fund a bit. 