The bad news is that my student loans are due on December 18th. The good news is that according to the longer 25-year repayment plan I picked, I don't have to pay any money because of how little money I made in 2011. The plan I'm doing bases how much you have to pay on how much money you made.

I mean, obviously I'm going to still put money in rather than just let the interest run wild, but if I had gone with the standard 10-year plan I'd be looking at 700 dollars a month in payments. The bad thing about this is that I'll see much higher interest back dollars in this and take longer to pay, but the good news is that if I get a job and start making decent money I'll be able to start making more than the minimum payment. Also, you're allowed to switch repayment plans, so that helps.

I've got a pretty frugal life planned ahead for me- no house, no kids- so I should be able to swing that. I would like to be paid off by the time I'm 50. Then I'll work for 5 more years until I hit the retirement age of 55. When that happens, I'll retire, buy a trailer, and travel the North American continent. I'll start by visiting a 78-year old Mark Arbour in St. Louis, who can regale me with tales of greed in the corporate world in Reagan-era America, to research my future 1980's history book. I want to become the Ken Burns of 1980's Americana by my late 50's.