<p>Hello,
I am a chemical engineering student in a top 3 program but by the time i graduate I will be $40k or more in debt. How long do you thing this might take to pay off,provided I live really frugally on a chemical engineers salary?Engineers/people who have been in this position please advice!</p>
<p>$40k is really not that much debt when you consider your earning potential after graduation. It is not unusual for medical school students to accumulate over $200k in debt by the time they graduate.</p>
<p>Yes, but after medical training is complete those med students will likely command high salaries that will allow them to service the debt incurred during medical training. For engineers it seems to be different since the training time required is much shorter and the market conditions are very different.</p>
<p>Let’s say the OP’s first job comes with a salary of $80k and the OP graduates with $40k in debt; 50% of the OP’s salary would be locked away in debt yet taxes, cost of living, etc. haven’t even been deducted yet. Hopefully the OP is young, single, and childless, so it’s not much of a problem down the road. Still, let’s not sit here and say a $40k debt “is not much.”</p>
<p>Techfreak, did you factor internships into your calculation? You could pay off a lot of that by doing internships/coops throughout your degree.</p>
<p>OP - if you live reasonably (not even frugally) and are single and childless, you should be able to put a grand towards debt each month even in your first year. $40k should be well managable in a relatively short period of time.</p>
<p>brad:i did not factor into internships/any kind of jobs for that matter…
and cosmicfish:i am single n wish to remain so for some time…all i have to take care of is myself…and i am not at all what you would call a heavy spender…i just spend on food,rent,some clothes…thats about it…</p>
<p>Why not just plug it into one of the online calculators? Take the average starting salary at your school, your living expenses, add in your interest rate, and play around with different payment structures. Only you know how much you need to live on.</p>
<p>Just because you start making a salary doesn’t mean you have to live like you have one 
What I mean is if you are living like a student, you already probably know how to live frugally. I think continuing to do so after you start working, so you can pay down the loan as early and as fast as possible is the way to go.</p>
<p>payoff possible in 3-5 years if you really try.
payoff possible in 7-10 years if you just follow payment schedule.
payoff possible in 12+ years if life’s stuff becomes an interference.</p>
<p>Its kinda of relative:
If the current bank savings rate is near 0% vs your student loan average rate of 8%, The advantage would be towards paying off the loans quickly. </p>
<p>If inflation becomes a factor, then paying off the loan would cause you to lose purchasing power.</p>
<p>I want to know from y’all who have actually been there:
how much can you save if you live like a student on a salary of $70,000-80,000 in a really expensive place like California? Again, my lifestyle will be frugal, with very little money spent on things which are not absolutely necessary?</p>
<p>You can’t do a budget?</p>
<p>Techfreak99,</p>
<p>The best answer is to keep your debt as low as reasonably possible. At this point, the debt you will accumulate is nearly guaranteed because you know the costs and you will likely cover those costs one way or another. The problem is that your future salary is speculation, so no one can give you reliable numbers but sets of possible scenarios. </p>
<p>You also have to keep in mind that living frugally requires strict discipline, and the reason many university students live like university students is because they have limited access to large amounts of money. Once you start drawing a periodic salary, temptation to spend that money will make itself clear.</p>
<p>Focus on your studies and on how to limit your debt now, and your future plans will have a more solid base.</p>
<p>Your future net worth will be more a function of how wisely you invest than your actual income. The real problem with debt is that it is taking away investment opportunities in the years that you can take the most risk and the decades of compounding you have working in your favor.</p>