This is the first interview in a series I’ll be posting from time to time with various other travelers and budget savvy individuals. If you’re interested in sharing your story with me, or know of someone who would be great for me to talk to, let me know!
Meet Heather Bohlender
About Heather:
I’m from Colorado and met my husband in Nebraska. We were married for about a year before we came here to South Korea where we’ve spent the past 18 months living and teaching English. I like reading, blogging at heatherbo.blogspot.com about our travels and lessons along the way. I enjoy playing sports like Ultimate Frisbee and volleyball, and playing music.
What’s your top piece of advice for college graduates coming out of school with a lot of student loans?
Pay them! But do what you have to do to make it happen. When we were first married, we weren’t even making enough money to cover living expenses and loans. So I was able to temporarily lower our monthly payments to make it work. Don’t defer though, if you can help it. I know the number is completely overwhelming, but every little bit helps.
How did you determine your plan/time line for paying off your loans?
We never set forth with a well thought-out plan for when we hoped to be debt free. We just knew we had $50,000 to pay and that felt much too heavy, so we just started thinking about the fastest way to get out of debt without like selling our bodies for science or something! We’re aiming to be really close to paying them off by August.
What have you found to be most effective in paying off your loans?
For us, the most effective way to pay off our loans meant moving to South Korea where the cost of living was slightly lower and the pay teaching English was better than what we were making.
Here’s some info if you’re interested: A lot of countries around the world really want native English speakers to come teach in their international schools. I researched several different options around the globe and found South Korea to be a good match for us (based on our level of education and experience). For example, through EPIK (English program in Korea) they would take my husband, Jeremy, who has a masters degree and me, with an English education degree. Each program’s requirements are different. For some you just need a college degree (in any subject) and maybe a basic, TOEFL course or something to prove you can actually speak English.
We found this to be a good route for us. This particular program re-imbursed our round-trip airfare, paid our apartment rent, and paid pretty well. So Jeremy makes $2,000 a month and I make $2,000 a month. We live off of one salary and the other goes straight to our loans. Where we live, $2,000 is plenty to live off of for a month. We don’t eat out much, we cook a lot at home. We don’t shop at the fancy indoor, markets but buy most of our basics at the outdoor, local markets. We ride our bikes almost everywhere so we don’t pay for cars or gas. We live pretty simply and don’t often buy clothes or things we don’t really need. So usually there’s even money left over from our $2,000 a month that goes into savings where we are saving up for bigger future purchases like a car (whenever we get back to the States).
As far as month-to-month spending/saving, we really try to look ahead to the future at things we know we will need. There’s no need to be surprised, for example, at needing a car when we get back the States. We’ve known for 18 months that we’d be needing one, so we’ve been putting aside a bit ever since.
Another thing we’ve been navigating recently is the cost benefit of buying cheap things versus buying quality things. We both got through college living pretty frugally and always choosing the cheaper of two options. But now as we’ve been learning more about the amount of waste and plastic that goes into the environment, we’ve been re-thinking the stuff we think we need, versus that which we can save up for (and of course spend a little more on) knowing that it will last so much longer.
Some examples:
-plastic tupperware vs. glass containers and lids
-Payless pleather boots vs. real leather boots
-cheap clothes from Walmart vs. real, handmade, guaranteed clothes from Patagonia
Just because I’m paying five bucks for something doesn’t mean it only cost five bucks to be made. Someone is always paying the difference even if I’m not. Someone in Cambodia isn’t getting paid what they should to make the T-shirt I buy from Walmart where the employee might work 39 hours a week and still only quality for part-time pay and benefits. If something is super, super cheap it’s probably because someone else had to pay the difference. That feels terrible, so we try to avoid it when we can.
If you’re interested in more information check out The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard.
What’s one thing you wish you had known or done differently in handling the loans?
I’m not sure I have any regrets. I mean, loans suck. I hate them. And, it is what it is. I don’t feel that I was misinformed about it. I’m not sure we could’ve done anything differently because at the start of our marriage, we didn’t even have enough money to pay the minimums. It is what is is. You do your best with what you’ve got and go from there.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you’re debt free?
Jump up and down, probably cheer! Tell our friends and family! I’m just looking forward to seeing so much less of our paychecks get sucked away into the black hole that is Nelnet. I’ll be excited to start saving up for a sewing machine and Mason jars to start canning. Yay! I think we will just feel lighter which is a beautiful thing.
What has been your top travel adventure so far?
A year ago, since we were already on this side of the world, we were able to make a trip back to Cambodia where I spent a year abroad as a volunteer when I was nineteen. It was an incredible experience I didn’t think I’d ever get: to be able to show my husband this place that changed my life forever. It really was amazing. And that trip never would’ve been possible had we not had this opportunity to live and teach in Korea.
Where’s your next trip going to be?
This weekend we’re going to Japan, which is only a 2-hour flight from here. We found some decent rates and are using Air BnB to stay at a place pretty cheap. We wanted to Couch Surf but no one got back to us in time.
On our way back to the States in August, we’ll go on a short, little tour of southeast Asia. Gotta take advantage of the trip since we may not be back on this side of the world for a while!
Final words of wisdom:
Don’t get lost in the burden and dread of student loans. It’s big. It’s hairy and scary, but eventually you’ll get out from under it. And please don’t live in absolute misery until your debt-free. Make that once-in-a-lifetime trip if you can still pay all your bills. Don’t deny yourself all of your favorite things, but maybe set reasonable goals along the way that can be rewarded with sweet little things, like mangos in January. Yes, you rebel, you!
Take heart, there is life on the other side of debt. We’re all getting there. Slowly.
Read more about Heather’s story on her own blog: heatherbo.blogspot.com
Fire Round the World 