<prompt> Human: Not sure if anyone will be interested in this, but its something Im very proud of. After struggling for a few years and watching my student loans grow and metastasize, Ive finally started making very substantial payments.Quick background - After graduating college I got an office job I hated. Three years into it, my wife and I moved to Los Angeles where I enrolled in grad school to pursue a career in the music industry. I took on about 60k in student loans, thinking that with my wifes steady income paying our living expenses, I would be able to put anything I earned toward paying back the loans.A surprise divorce a week before graduation changed all that, and I found myself alone and unemployed in one of the most expensive cities in America.My first year out of grad school I made 14,000 and strongly considered just walking into the ocean. I had a hard time just making rent and feeding myself. Any extra money I had went toward equipment I needed to do the work I was trying to get.After four years of struggle and deferred loans, I finally had developed my career enough to be make a decent middle class income as a freelancer. After getting a lump sum payment of over 20k, I knew it was time to address the bloated loans.My first real payment was 17k at the beginning of 2014. After that, my deferment expired and I began making minimum payments of around 500mo.As a freelancer, I had learned to horde any cash I had. Once work became a little more steady, I decided to get more disciplined about balancing in the loan payments. I figured 10k was a suitable cushion as a freelancer. Any cash in the bank I had in excess of that would go to my loans when the bill came around. If I dropped below 10k, I would make the minimum payment. A few times I found myself with extra cash in the middle of the billing cycle, and would make a second payment for the month. Often my payments would be in excess of 5,000.So I decided this week to check how much I had actually paid in 2014. Did the math and it was 42,717.Ive still got 29,000 left to go down from a high point close to 80k and could be paid off in the next 6 or 7 months, at which point life will be completely different. Ive been living like I make 25kyr despite making 2-3 times that, plus this year I think I have the potential to earn six figures. I think it will be a completely different life.tl;dr - Freelance musician was struggling for a long time. Started earning 60-70kyr. Set a limit on how high I would allow my bank account to get and put anything above that toward the loans. 42k paid in 2014. 29k left to go. LETS DO THIS.  <response>: Well done! 