<prompt> Human: Hi guys!I guess Ill lay out all the facts to start:Current pay: 18hr, 40-50 hoursweek, takehome pay is 550weekCurrent debt: 13.5k to US Dept of Education from student loans1.5k to my old university from student loansNo credit cardNo car loan520 credit scoreCurrently drive a POS 600 car and a 3000 motorcycleCurrent savings: 7000Current bills are:Engagement ring: 150mo 1000 leftCar insurance: 100moPhone bill: 50moFood: 200-300moGas: 50moNo rent, living at homeI would like to move up from my current job and the places I am looking at require an associates degree. I have plenty of experience in the fields and this is my last barrier of entry. I went to college for a couple years before I dropped out due to money issues and had AP classes that transferred in, so I am close to getting an associates, but my local community college requires at least 15 credits be taken at the CC, which means at least one or two semesters. I am planning on continuing to work full time while attending CC full time.Ive unfortunately been extremely behind on my student loans to the point that my tax return was just taken to pay the DoE. I would like to finally start paying them off and ridding myself of this burden.At the same time, I would like to be able to buy a house with my fiancée in a years time.The houses we are looking at are all in the 100k-150k range.What is my best approach for all of this?I was reading that in order to be eligible for student loans again, I need 6 months of consistent on-time payments for my current student loans, which would put me right at September, which would help with community college payments. According to the student loan calculator, my payments to the DoE would be around 150mo over 10 years, totaling 18000.Should I just pay off my university loan 1500 then try to aggressively pay off my DoE loan 13500 with the money I have in savings 7000? Is there a way I should be trying to refinance or settle on the DoE loans? Should I try just making regular payments on these while saving my savings for a down payment on a house?Thank you all for your help - I truly appreciate any advice you can give, even if its just directing me to a Google link for where I should start.  <response>: Honestly, with your income level, credit score, and debt, youre probably not buying a house in the next year. Id focus on lowering your debt and increasing your income; if the best way to do that is through an associates, then go for it! 