This morning, like many mornings, I checked my Mint.com account. And I got really, really sad.

I’ve been throwing a lot of money at my debt lately. I even cashed out $3,000 in my savings to put toward my student loans. I was feeling great for the last few weeks, until this I checked in on my balance.

There it was: I still had over $8,000 in student debt.

My mind wandered…

Imagine what I could do with an extra $8K right now, if I didn’t have $600 in monthly payments? My life would be (financially) incredible. Instead, I have to keep chipping away at thousands of dollars in loans.

Sometimes it’s hard to keep your nose to the financial grindstone, especially when you’re not making progress as quickly as you want. I just want those numbers to go down now, and it’s only just creeping along.

As I was staring at balance on my phone, as the thoughts of frustration kept piling up in my head, I took a moment. I stopped. I took in a breath. I smiled.

Four years ago, I had $30,000 in debt. And now look at me.

That’s pretty awesome. In fact, I kick ass.

The glass is half full. In fact, it’s more than 2/3 full.

$22,000 down. $8,665.44 to go.

Keep up the positive momentum, friends.

Interested in refinancing your student loans?

Lender	Rates (APR)	Eligible Degrees	More Info
	2.47% - 7.80%	Undergrad & Graduate	Visit Sofi
	2.47% - 6.32%	Undergrad & Graduate	Visit Earnest
	2.47% - 8.72%	Undergrad & Graduate	Visit Lendkey
	2.80% - 7.02%	Undergrad & Graduate	Visit Laurel Road
	2.48% - 6.25%	Undergrad & Graduate	Visit Commonbond
	2.57% - 8.69%1	Undergrad & Graduate	Visit Citizens