<prompt> Human: And Im poor again. And I still live at home. And I still dont have a dog. Just one more year...just one more year...just one more year...PROOFEDIT: Some interest in how this came to fruition. Details below:1 Graduate with a B.A in Economics December of 2012 with a student debt load of about 74K across three different lenders. 2 Find a job paying 30K in Feb 2013 with about 5K in savings from previous jobs and internships during college. Get 10 raise around November for 2013 to make 33K. I now take home about 2,100 a month3 Minimize expenses. I live at home with my parents so I dont pay rent or utilities. Health insurance through my folks until 26. 20 cell phone bill, 100 entertainment bill girlfriend expense, gas eats up about 150 a month used hybrid car ftw paid in full, car insurance, and the occasional video game for my PC so I dont go stir crazy working all the time.4 Pay off 29K5 I now have about 3K-4K in the bank. Ill be able to save about 1200-1400 a month depending on how my expenses turn out for each month. I have about 44 K left in student loan debt.6 The plan now is to pay off about another 23K, save up enough so I can move out, get a dog, and then cry because Ill love said dog. By the end of 2015, student loan debt should no longer hamstring my life.  <response>: Its embarrassing that this is a hot thread in rpersonalfinance. OP needlessly paid thousands of dollars in loan interest while accumulating money for a bulk payment and is now missing out on all the markets compound interest. I sincerely hope no one reads this and follows the example. 