<prompt> Human: I have been talking to a good friend about this idea for a while and he just doesnt seem to get it and I dont know why. I really want to help motivate him towards attaining the life he wants for himself and his family.To me, the amount of student loans my wife and I have are the biggest obstacle between us and the life we want to live. Saying goodbye to 600 of our hard-earned after-taxes dollars KILLS ME every month. Thats why we live incredibly frugally and have a singular focus of being debt free by the age of 30 were 26 and have around 50k left.A year or so ago I was in a real motivational slump when it came to paying off debt. It happens. But then one day I started adding up all of the monthly payments we no longer had either due to trimming the budget bye, Hulu or paying off credit card balances, our cars and other things. Thats when I realized that the amount of monthly payments we no longer have to make is around 700! Using this nifty little calculator for some helpful visualization I realized that the 700 per month was as if we gave ourselves a 4.04hr raise over the last three years. Or, put another way, 8.4k annually after taxes.Life is hard, debt sucks and it often seems insurmountable. Especially if the total number is in the tens of thousands owed. How much of a raise would you be giving yourself by paying it off? Any other mental tricksillustrations you guys would recommend to help motivate a friend into not thinking their own debt situation is hopeless?EDIT: Wow, thank you so much everyone for sharing your thoughts and stories. One of the reasons I love this sub and Reddit in general is the opportunity to cross paths with and learn from people I never would otherwise. Keep pressing on!  <response>: Paying off debt faster than was originally intended is one of the highest interest return short term investments you can make. Not only will the principle you pay off not accrue interest anymore, it will usually push back the date that you owe a payment. While its best to keep paying down the debt, its also worth mentioning that not having to pay a bill one month can save your ass if something comes up. 