Paying off student debt vs. starting my REI journey

[Evan Dieffenbach]

Hello all

I am currently at a fork in the road! I unfortunately was very uninformed/uneducated when I made some decisions in terms of college. Because of that, I now am in 80k of student debt. I know this is asked often, but should I go dave ramsey style and take the next three or four years putting everything i make on paying off the dept or use the nice chunk of money (15k) should have saved up by this summer to invest in OOS (currently live in north jersey). I know what I want to do, but i also know that might not be the best financial choice. Trying to get financially smarter day by day!

P.s. might have interested partner in matching my 15k for this summer if I decide to go that route.

[Alecia Loveless]

@Evan Dieffenbach I recommend paying about half of the $15,000 and keeping the rest for now as an emergency fund until you’re up and running making money at your job. Then I’d put the rest towards the debt and pay off the debt first.

My base salary is only $15.30 an hour but with overtime, savings and excellent credit (800+) I’ve been able to knock it out of the park recently with a mortgage I never thought I’d qualify for. $200,000.

But first I paid down $11,800 worth of credit card debt. Now the only thing I use my credit card for is purchases for supplies I need for the rental units and I pay them off the next month before any interest is ever due.