How much are you willing to sacrifice to pay off your student loans? Some don’t even care if they get paid or not and some have such an extreme desire to shed debt that they go all out. How extreme are we talking, read below for some shocking extremes people have gone to pay off student loans.

Second Jobs: A second job is not too extreme, but we’ve seen people go this route from time to time. From busting tables at the local bar to working valet for the nearest hotel to joining one of the local tutoring companies, second jobs are more and more common among college graduates. Depending on how much debt they’ve incurred, a third job is sometime needed to repay the loan in a decent amount of time. One young college graduate I knew of worked almost 80 hours per week to fulfill her financial obligations. She worked as a teacher’s aid in the morning from 8 am – 1 pm, at the local UPS store from 2:30 pm – 6:00 pm and overnight at a local hotel from 8-2:30. Now, that’s extreme!

Pay Off Student Loans

Pay Off Student Loans

Side businesses: Another extreme tactic we’ve noticed is people starting side businesses to pay loans off. We’re not talking your normal fortune 500 companies; we’re talking brick and mortar, hard work businesses such as lawn services, auto detailing and babysitting services (Yes, babysitting is hard work! Try it and you’ll see why).  Anyone with the true desire to crush student debt can have a small business and be successful with it. Just think about what talents you have, put a plan together and give it a try.

Home equity lines of credit: For the people who’ve graduated, found great jobs and purchased a home, home equity loans have been a popular way to banish school debt. This involves taking a loan against the appraised equity built into your property. This method is highly debatable because essentially, one debt is traded for another. It has worked for some and depending on how much debt a person may have, it’s possible that this option is best. I would personally stay away from this one but if you’re looking for an extreme method to kill student loans, this one fits the bill.

Working “In-District”: This tactic works for people in certain career fields such as teaching and counseling. Some high school districts around the US will pay for your college loans if you return to the district to teach and council. That’s right; you may want to check into this one because it very well may work. Now you ask, what makes this extreme? Teaching in your high school district could mean moving back to the city where the district lies. That could mean packing up the house and all your belongings, which isn’t as easy as some may imagine. It also means you’re stuck teaching in the district until the loans are paid. Again, this method would only be for a select group of individuals.

Liquidation of assets: Lastly, the most extreme method of all, liquidation of your personal assets. I really don’t like this method because it involves selling things that are valuable and close to you. Expensive items such as watches, guns and cars all fit the bill for liquidation. Anything that’s valuable and can be sold for cash can be used for this type of remedy. I recently heard of one case where a young man sold everything he owned including his video game collection and his entire baseball card collection to pay down debt. He even sold his car and started riding local transportation to and from. He had an extreme desire to shed debt.