Money, Student Loans

What Not To Waste Money On As A Young Attorney

Would you rather go on a fancy vacation or be debt free? Choose wisely.

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Many young attorneys like myself never had a “real” job before graduating from law school.  Like many others, I enrolled in law school right after obtaining my undergraduate degree, and I entered the workforce for the first time after graduating from law school and taking the bar exam.  As such, I never really earned a regular paycheck prior to becoming an attorney.

I still remember the amazing feeling I got after receiving my first paycheck, and it was exhilarating to think that I finally had my own money to spend on whatever I wanted.  I was tempted to spend this newfound money on creature comforts, since I worked hard to finally reach that point in my life. Nevertheless, I knew that I would be better off saving this money to help pay off my student loans.

However, I am sure that you do not need to look farther than your social media pages to see lawyer friends spending money on all manner of extravagant things, from exotic vacations to pricey electronics.  Regardless, in order to make the biggest impact on your student loans, it is important to save as much money as possible and not spend cash on items that are not absolutely necessary.  There are a few things that I see many of my friends spend money on that I myself did not, and this made a huge impact on my ability to pay off my student loans as quickly as I did.

During my student debt repayment saga, I never took any type of vacation.  I am much happier taking a “staycation” than heading anywhere for relaxation, and I never really needed a change of scenery to help me unwind.  However, many of my friends took expensive vacations to numerous exotic places around the world shortly after being employed for the first time as attorneys.

I have seen many of my friends post pictures from vacations they took to a variety of exotic locations.  Some traveled throughout southeast Asia, and I cannot even count how many times a friend of mine has posted a picture of themselves petting a sedated tiger!  Some of my other friends have taken grand European vacations, and one even traveled through Russian and other territories into China.  I have more than a few friends who have traveled throughout Africa, and others who made their way to Australia and New Zealand.

Some of these vacations are really expensive, and more than a few of my peers have told me that they spent around five figures on these trips between flights, hotels, and other costs.  This is a lot of money that could be devoted to student loans!  I may sound like a buzzkill, but if you can forego spending money on such extravagant trips, you can really make an impact on your debt.  Indeed, saving around $10,000 by not taking vacations while paying off student loans might mean that you can pay off student loans up to a year earlier than would otherwise be possible.

I am not saying that you should not travel at all while paying off student loans, and there are many ways that you can still travel on the cheap.  For instance, I personally travelled to Israel for free shortly after taking the bar exam through the Birthright Israel program.  I encourage everyone who is eligible to also take this trip, since this is a great experience that costs almost nothing.  Of course, not everyone can avail themselves of this opportunity, but there are a number of different ways to be creative about taking interesting vacations.  In the end, if you can save money on vacations or completely eliminate this expense altogether, you will be able to pay off student loans much faster.

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Another way to save money is not to spend too much cash on consumer electronics.  I had a “dumb phone” for the entire time I worked in Biglaw since my firm provided me with a firm iPhone, and this saved me a ton of money on data and equipment costs.  Furthermore, many firms these days have programs through which they will subsidize associates’ purchases of their own phones.  As a result, make sure to not spend any money on a new phone until you research whether your firm will subsidize your purchase of a phone.  Of course, if you are leaving a firm that provides this benefit, be sure to take advantage of this in case your next gig does not subsidize the purchase of phones.

It is also a good idea to not spend too much money on computers either.  Most firms typically provide associates with laptops, and you will likely be using this laptop far more than you could ever use a personal laptop.  Of course, you may need to have a personal laptop, but this does not need to be anything fancy, since the vast majority of your time will be spent working with a firm computer.  I have only purchased off-brand computers for a few hundred dollars each since graduating from law school, and there is no reason to spend more money on computers.  Any money you save can be used to pay down student loans.

In the end, although it might be tempting to spend hard-earned money on items that make you happy, it is best to save this money to pay off student loans.  Furthermore, there are a few “big ticket” items that many people spend money on that you should consider avoiding so that more cash is devoted to student debt.  Of course, it is lame to go without some of the things that bring personal enjoyment, but being free of high-interest student loans should be worth the sacrifice.

Jordan Rothman is the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a personal finance website discussing how he paid off all $197,890.20 of his college and law school student loans over 46 months of his late 20s. You can reach him at Jordan@studentdebtdiaries.com.

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