THREAD. Four years ago, my wife and I made the final payment on a collection of debts that were sizable. It took us 22 months of intense focus. It was, in retrospect, perhaps the most valuable thing we’ve ever done for our marriage. #DebtFree #TBT #babysteps #ThursdayMotivation The vast majority of this debt was student loan debt, potentially dischargeable through public service debt forgiveness. When I began telling people that we had decided just to pay it all off, some people thought it crazy to NOT coast for ten years and then watch it go away.