A 30-something who had $100,000 of student loan debt shares the steps she took to pay it off in 6 years

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Melissa Jean-Baptiste graduated with $50,000 in student loan debt that ballooned to over $100,000.
Feeling overwhelmed, she resolved to pay it off quickly, and started with a phone call to her lenders.
Then, she planned a time frame for total repayment and started paying the high interest loans first.

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Melissa Jean-Baptiste is a first-generation college graduate with not one, but two degrees.

After graduating in 2010, Jean-Baptiste was in more than $50,000 of student loan debt. Despite making every single payment on her loans without fail, over time and with varying interest rates, she saw her student loan debt balloon to over $100,000.

Jean-Baptiste wasn’t aware of how interest would impact her loans, she says in her book, “So… This Is Why I’m Broke.” “I should have known that my federal unsubsidized loans were gaining interest the minute the funds were released to the university,” she writes. “I also should have known that my private student loans could be sold at a moment’s notice and operated at a variable interest rate. This is how I wound up with student loans that started at 7 percent interest with Citibank and ended up at 16 percent interest with Navient.”

It wasn’t until she tried to purchase a home and was approved for an amount that would only allow her to purchase a broom closet that Jean-Baptiste, who was working as a teacher, resolved to pay off her student loans.

“It is hard to consistently remember that your current debt situation is not your permanent financial situation,” she writes in her book. “The best way to start your journey forward is with a single step.”

Here are the steps Jean-Baptiste took to pay off over $100,000 in student loan debt in six years:

1. Call your loan provider and ask as many questions as you need to

When dealing with debt, whether it’s student loans or credit cards, many people avoid talking to the lender. That is a mistake. When you avoid your lenders, you are stripping yourself of your choices.

By calling your lenders, you can work with your lender and get on a payment plan that works with your budget. There are also programs that take your income into consideration. It is also important to understand what payment plan you are on. Jean-Baptiste learned after speaking with her lender that she was on an interest-only repayment plan, which means that none of her payments were directed toward the principal.

“That first phone call gave me all the information I needed to make an informed practical decision about my student debt repayment journey,” she writes. “If I did not make that first call that interest-only repayment plan would have cost me well over $200,000 throughout the life of my loans.”

2. Create a 3-step plan of action

Use the information your lender provided as the stepping stone to creating your plan. Jean Baptiste planned the following:

Set up a time frame for the total debt to be paid off. You have to put yourself in a position to see the finish line. Having already been paying interest for three years, Jean-Baptiste set a goal of being finished in another three.Next, use the debt avalanche method to pay off the highest interest rate loans first. Those loans are costing you the most money, so get them out of the way. Create an account specifically for paying off student loans. Jean-Baptiste contributed to hers every time she got paid and made lump sum payments in addition to her monthly payments. She writes, “creating my three-step plan helped me see my goals in black and white and kept me on track with paying my debt off.”

3. Follow through — easier said than done

Your plan will change and go through several iterations, but at the end of the day, working the plan is up to you. So whatever your plan looks like, you must take action. “Hoping, wishing, and dreaming about debt freedom isn’t going to make it happen,” Jean-Baptiste writes. “Your ability to follow through on your plan will.”

Also, let me give you a tip from my own personal experience: Student loans were the bane of my existence for seven years. Thankfully, I was in a position that afforded me the ability to double up on my payments, but people reach out to me all the time and ask how, in today’s economy and with today’s inflation, they are supposed to pay off their student loans and live.

I always say that a side hustle will be your best friend. It’s going to take earning more income, and it’s hard, because it might mean working two jobs until you can start a business. But knowing the way that student loans can stall your life — homeownership, investing for retirement — a bit of hustle now to pay them off will be worth it in the long run.

Jennifer Streaks

Senior Personal Finance Reporter and Spokesperson

Jennifer is a Senior Personal Finance Reporter and Spokesperson for the Personal Finance vertical at Business Insider.
She started her career covering personal finance at Black Enterprise Magazine, went on to CNBC where she covered personal finance, women and money and tech and then Forbes, where she reported on personal finance, business, tech and money matters related to the economy, investing, credit and entrepreneurship.
Jennifer is also the author of Thrive!…Affordably: Your Month to Month Guide to living your Best Life without breaking the bank. The book offers advice, tips and financial management lessons geared towards helping the reader highlight strengths, identify missteps and take control of their finances.
In addition, she has extensive experience as an on-air financial commentator and has been a featured expert discussing credit and savings, investing and retirement, mortgages and all things money and personal finance. She has an ability to discuss and simplify complex financial issues and make them easier to understand.

Follow her on Twitter @jstreaks.