Believe it or not, the only true debt my husband & I have is our home mortgage and my student loans. Our interest rate on the mortgage is really low and it's fixed--so, no worries there. BUT, bless the U.S. government for helping me earn my graduate degree...but it was costly! Now, since the government basically gives me "until I die" to pay it back, I'll still be paying it off when my toddler is heading off to college himself.

Anyone else have this problem?

Any suggestions for paying off early--as a SAHM, obviously I can't afford to pay extra principal (if that was going to be your suggestion!)

I'm in the same boat. Grad school partly on loans and now staying home. We pay extra when we can, but that's rare. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to be 80 before its paid off in full. I do have a Upromise account linked to my loans and that helps a wee bit. Every time it hits $50 it goes toward the loan. We started college funds for the kids as soon as we found we were preggers so hopefully they won't have to take out loans.

Sorry- no advice, but I feel your pain. Good luck!

We are still paying on my dh's student loans. We also have a almost 21 yr old and 13 yr old as well as little ones. I just find it a fact of life. Without those loans we definitely would not be where we hare today.

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~Happiness is a large family~

Are you planning on working once your children are all in school full-time (all day, everyday?)

If so, I would think that you would most likely be able to chip away at it quite a bit faster if you aren't a SAHM- even if you only worked part-time.

I don't know what field your degree was in--but there are many creative ways to find work in various fields these days and still be at home if you need to. Pretty much the only way to make the loans go away quicker is to pay them off--unless you have a really high interest rate and you refinance the loans (consolidate them).

sigh. I hear ya. we have 25 more years of $1200/month.

Have you tried paying them twice/month or weekly? Your prinicipal balance would be decreasing and so will your interest.

Lena