Just really excited because I made my last payment on my student loans today!!! I'm not even a year out of school yet and my $6000 is paid off! Just also want to add my parents never helped me pay for anything. I put myself through school, got my own loans, and paid them all off today!

So anyone who is in school, this is how I did it:

1. I found scholarships. There's a ton out there that nobody applies for. Find them. Get them.
2. I don't buy stupid things I don't need. Half of my clothes are from 5 years ago. I don't have cable, don't have expensive shoes, and always dye my own hair.
3. I've been saving since I was legally able to have a savings account. When I was 14 I had my mom help me open a savings account. All my babysitting money, etc went in there. When I got jobs I would only take about 100$ out of my paycheck to put in my checking and the rest went in savings.
4. I've always had a job. Since I was 16 I'd had a job year-round. I worked in high school, I had 2 or 3 jobs over summers, lifeguarded in college, and I saved 90% of all that money. I might not be the smartest person on the planet, but I have great work ethic.
5. When I started making payments, I paid more than the minimum. I owed $56 a month. I paid $156 a month, plus whenever I could I would pay off $1000 at a time.

So there it is. The secrets to being debt free. By the way, right now I'm not broke. My loans are paid off but I'm not starving. And my SO and I are planning a trip to Russia!

Yeah!