Drowning in 180k… survival tips??

My student loans (totaling $180K) are about to enter repayment.

I have a bachelor’s in Marketing and a master’s in Business Analytics. I’m 6 months into my first salary role: a Supply Chain Analyst making 57k.

I’ve been really motivated to pay off my debt little by little. I was planning to take the avalanche approach, and throw an extra $100 / month towards the loan with the highest interest rate.

Now that I have approximate monthly payments… I realize that’s going to be a lot harder than I thought. They will be well over $2,000, and my take home income is only $3,200. After I pay my rent, utilities, phone bill… I will have little to nothing left.

I am really unsure how i’m going to get by. I’ve been telling myself that if I genuinely can’t afford the student loan payments there’s IDR plans available… but with the Trump admin, I’m not sure whether that will be an option anymore.

I really enjoy my job so far… but I do believe I’m underpaid. The average salary of a SCA in the state I live is $70k, so I’m hopeful I can land a higher paying job after getting a couple years of experience.

I’m currently looking for side hustles / free lance opportunities I can do outside work. I know my biggest problem right now is the debt to income ratio.

I’m open to any and all suggestions!

Loan Breakdown:

$84,859 (Mohela) $38,225 (Firstmark) $58,153 (Sallie Mae)

$181,237 total