LAHORE: Muneeb Ahmed, a Pakistani 24-year-old student of University of Michigan repaid his student loan of $61,400 in a short period of 1.5 years.
In an interview to Forbes, Ahmed said his elder siblings who had been schooled in Pakistan had ventured to the US for their university studies.
He added his siblings like other students were burdened with loans but unlike the majority they were able to pay off their debt quickly, thanks due to their austere and simplistic lifestyle.
Ahmed shared he was inspired by his siblings and followed their lead from the start and said, “I knew that short-term sacrifices would lead to long-term gains.”
Providing further insights into his life, Ahmed mentioned after successfully graduating, he started living in his brothers one-bedroom apartment and slept on the floor using a mattress.
Understanding that short-term sacrifices would lead to long-term gains, Ahmed didn’t avail a major discount available to him for a car lease, while working at BMW and decided against keeping a car.
He stated, “I chose not to keep one to save a few hundred dollars every month,”
To maximize his savings, he used public transport for travelling and if that wasn’t available then Uber Pool was availed as it was half-the price compared to regular Uber.
Ahmed added prioritizing his life was his focus, as he created a budget and tracked it with a separate Excel spreadsheet of how much expenditure was incurred monthly.
“If I came across any category on which I overspent, I would make sure I spent less in that category the following month,” he said to Forbes.
He said wiping the slate in terms of the loans racked up while studying had always been his prerogative and made him stick to his budget.
Ahmed shared health had always been very important, and incurred a monthly fee of $100 for a gym membership, which was a lot of money, he chimed. But” I knew that it was more important to me than going out to bars, restaurants and concerts like most people my age.”
