It’s been in the news, it’s been in Congress–student loan debt is a real problem. Many individuals are drowning in debt before they have even started their careers, or maybe you just paid off your loans and now you are paying for your children’s. It’s no secret, college is expensive. But here’s the good news, you don’t have to get swallowed up by debt.

Here are 5 ways to avoid personal student loan debt or student loan debt for your children.

1. Start with the end in mind

Nearly everyone going to school or talking about their future constantly hears it– “Go to college.” Children and parents stress about grades so their children can get into the right school. High School counselors stress the importance of a high end college.

Here’s a secret, that isn’t really a secret. College is NOT necessary. In some cases, college may do little more than send you spiraling into debt. We don’t talk about it, but here’s the deal, colleges are businesses. They are invested in their own advancement. They really don’t care if you get a worthless degree that will only qualify you for a handful of jobs and leave you in debt for half your life.

So before you start forking out money or signing away your firstborn to student loans, determine if you or your child really needs a degree to build a career. There are many, many great careers that don’t require a college degree and just as many successful people who never received their college degree.

Decide on a career first and then talk to those working in it and find out the requirements. For many professions a degree is required–doctor, professor, therapist, lawyer, teacher etc. But if you or your child wants to work in web design, or start their own business, learn a trade they likely don’t need a degree and there is no use in paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for something you don’t need. There are so many more options today and so many ways to acquire your education than via a traditional college degree.

So, you’ve explored careers and it turns out you do indeed need a degree. That’s perfectly fine. That doesn’t mean you are doomed to debt for the rest of your life.

Be smart about it!

2. Skip the name-brand colleges

Here’s the reality; a teacher who graduates from Harvard is not likely to be paid significantly more than a teacher who started at a community college and then went onto a state university. Community colleges, hands down, offer the greatest value. Not to mention teachers there are often more invested in teaching because they aren’t distracted by research or accolades. They are simply there to teach and likely because they love the subject they are teaching. For general requirements, classes are likely to be smaller than at the local university.

Not to mention you can eliminate the stress of all the tests and spotless grades required to get into a name-brand university and instead do your best and invest some in your mental health. Even though children are often made to feel that grades are everything, in reality, grades matter very little. Five years out of college no one will care what grade you get or even where you went to school except in a few select circles, which may or may not be worth the hundreds of thousands more you are likely to pay at a name-brand college.

3. Be mindful of your spending

Yes, college costs money. Yes, living while you are in college costs money, but you can live moderately and, even better, frugally. The sacrifices you make during your college years will make a huge difference in the end. That $30 purchase that adds to your possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, plus interest really adds up down the line. Go cheap, eat cheap, live cheap. It’s for a short time, and when it is over, you will make great memories and enjoy the luxuries you went without even more once you have disposable income.

When my husband completed graduate school we had about $100,000 in student loans with 3 young children. Many of his friends who graduated, without any children or spouse, had twice as much debt as us. They are still paying on their student loans and ours have been paid off for years.

How did we do this?

We lived in a run down, less-than-lovely apartment. We shopped sales and bought food that we could get cheap. We had one cheap, old, economical vehicle. We participated in free activities. We rarely ate out. We went without lots of things we wanted and instead focused on needs. We didn’t take many trips and we passed on a lot of expensive activities that we would have enjoyed. We sacrificed and in the end it was worth it, and it will be for you too.

Just because you have the financing or can get the loans, doesn’t mean you should take them. You are committing to pay them back, so be wise as you decide if they are really needed. Every dollar you spend will add up to much more after interest and opportunity cost, so make sure whatever you are spending it on is really worth it.

4. Work for what you want

Every student should contribute to the costs of their education. Yes! Even if parents can 100%, no problem pay for college–the student should still contribute.

Why?

When we make sacrifices for things, they are more meaningful to us. When we know a class is costing us thousands of dollars we are much more likely to complete it. When we realize we had to work X amount of hours to pay for our class, we are likely to listen and to work hard. Students should work while they are in school and contribute to the bottom line of the cost of their education. It provides an appreciation you just can’t get any other way and knowing it wasn’t handed to you, but you worked for it leaves you with a much greater sense of both commitment and future abilities.

5. Take time to decide and then stay committed

Be sure of your goal and once you start, stick with your goal. It won’t be easy, but there is a reason you set the goal to go to college. The more you jump around, the more your degree will cost you.

Maybe you don’t know what you want to do. That’s okay. Figure it out before you start paying for possibilities.

If you have something in mind, find someone you can shadow or get an entry level position in the field you want to work in to see if it is something that you are going to enjoy spending half of your life doing.

Do your research first. Spend your time and energy there. Once you have decided don’t look back. Move forward on a steady and directed course and don’t stop until you have finished what you set out to do.

6. Consider your debt to income ratio

When you are deciding on a career be sure to look at what your projected earnings will be. If you choose a career with limited earnings, such as a teacher, it’s really important to be mindful of keeping your debt at bay. You want teaching to pay you, you don’t want to spend the rest of your life paying to be a teacher. If you are going to medical school in neurosurgery, this is a time where it might be more beneficial to be picky about the school and let things pass a bit on the money side of things as you will have more income to put towards your debt at the end of the day and you will benefit from the best of the best teaching you. Whichever way you go, be mindful and conscious of the cost and benefit of each choice you make

College can be a great option, but it’s not a necessity, so don’t give your life to student loan debt as if it were.