Student Loan Conqueror Okeoma Moronu Schreiner has Paid Off $140k - Less Debt, More Wine (2024)

Happy Friday friends! I’m excited for another installment of the Student Loan Conqueror series. Student Loan Conquerors is an interview series. I talk with some awesome people tackling their student loan debt head on. Finding out how they are doing it and what inspired them to start in the first place.

If you are interested in participating please contact me and share a little information about your student loan debt situation.

Today, I’m excited to have Okeoma Moronu Schreiner from the Happy Lawyer Project. Okeoma Moronu Schreiner is also an attorney working to pay off the usually insane law school loans. Now to find out more from her:

1. When did you graduate and with what degree?

I graduated in 2011 with a J.D. and an LL.M.

(editor’s note: same here c/o 2011 woot! woot!)

2. What was the maximum amount of student loan debt you owed and where do you stand now?

I owed a little more than $210,000 when I graduated in May of 2011. Today, I have a little over $70,000 left.

(editor’s note: That is $140,000 in just five years! That averages to just under $30,000 per year. WOW! Way to go!)

I was paying down my debt pretty aggressively until 2013 when my debt to income ratio allowed me to refinance all my 8.5% loans down to 4-6%. For the last 3 years, we have been focusing on my husband’s $100K of loans, which will be paid off by the end of the year!

Editor’s Note: If you have federal student loans and are struggling with your payments, consider utilizing an income-driven repayment plan at least temporarily.

Recommended Refinancing Company

If you have private loans or your debt to income ratio allows, consider refinancing with a company like SoFi. Learn more about what it’s like to refinance with Sofi. Refinancing my bar loan with SoFi ended up saving me over $1,000. Use my link to refinance your student loan and you’ll get a $100 bonus.

3.When did you start to focus on your student loans and what motivated you to do so?

I started focusing on my student loans shortly after I started having to make payments in December of 2011. I had heard all the rumors but was still shocked to see how hard it was to live comfortably in NYC on a six figure salary.

I’ve always been super frugal and had expected to be in a position to save a nice chunk of money on top of aggressively paying off my loans. Boy, was I wrong! Rent, taxes and student loan payments ate up about 75% of my salary.

4. What is the best piece of financial advice you’ve received?

I often think back to Robert Kiyosaki’s quote “At the point the money hits your hands, you have the power to determine your financial future.”

5. What is one piece of advice you would give to others paying down student loans?

Paying down student loans, especially high-interest rate student loans should be a focus early on, but don’t put your life on hold in order to do it.

There’s an abundance of opportunity out there and you won’t be able to access it if you are myopically focused on paying down your debt.

6. If you could do it all over again, would you? Why or why not?

That’s a tough one. On one hand, I think being burdened with this level of debt is a real struggle and it’s forced me to make certain sacrifices that have changed the trajectory of my life. On the other hand, the debt was the catalyst for developing my financial literacy.

Now that I think about my net worth, creating wealth and prioritizing financial independence I think that my life has so much more possibility that it might otherwise. I live a much more intentional life, focused accomplishing my goals and living life to the fullest in the time I have here on the planet. Now, I have much more clarity on the ways money can and cannot fuel my dreams.

I guess then the answer is yes. If I had it to do over, I would do it. Even if only for the learning experiences and relationships that have come out of it.

7. Are you actually utilizing your degree? If not, why not?

I am currently but I’m not sure that I will forever. For the longest time, I was really tied to the idea that in order to make all the debt and sacrifice “worth it”, I needed to continue using my degree. Now I know that law school has given me life lessons and relationships that I can carry with me no matter where I end up.

I’m enjoying what I’m doing now as an attorney but I’ve learned that I don’t need to tie my sense of self to the fact that I am a lawyer. I have lots of passions and interests and I continue to be open to pursuing a variety of them in the coming years!

8. Anything you’d like to share with LDMW readers?

I have a passion for helping young, high-achieving professionals, especially female big law attorneys, who are struggling to juggle their big dreams and their big debt. For those young professionals out there who are in a transitional stage of their debt repayment, whether that’s the beginning stages of paying down debt or seeing the end in sight and struggling to figure what to do next, I’d love to hear from you! I’m happy to chat.

The best way to reach me is by email at hellodreamplanner@gmail.com. I’ll soon be launching my new website Dreams Turned into Plans. I will be helping Type A planners turn their big dreams into real life plans!

The End.

Thank you, Okeoma Moronu Schreiner! I appreciate you being a part of Student Loan Conqueror Series. I’m excited for you and your husband’s journey toward student loan debt freedom! If you all would like to learn even more about Okeoma’s journey you can like the Facebook page for her podcast The Happy Lawyer Project.