Almost a year ago exactly, we paid off my car. Tonight, we eliminated another payment from our budget: my student loan. It’s been six years since I made the decision to leave Gardner-Webb without finishing my undergraduate studies, so that’s quite a while to be making payments for a degree I don’t have, and if Sallie Mae had her way, I’d still be paying for many more years to come.

Do I regret the decision? Nah. Not having the piece of paper really hasn’t held me back from working my dream job. I may not have gotten a degree from GWU, but I do have an amazing wife to show for it. Come to think of it, it was a small price to pay.