As a finance student myself I am well aware! But I have to somewhat disagree with the rest of your post. The learning years don't have to be expensive -- leaving school with debt is an automatic, acceptable thing for gen Y, and it pisses me off. Terrible, irresponsible mindset; not their fault. It's just what's done. But the fact that OftenBen is making a post like this means that his "learning years" can become saving years. Why not? Maybe life will be a bit harder for a while, but those are the times we live in. Your post makes perfect sense but -- why not start now? Start the plan from today instead of from post-grad and already a bit farther behind. It's hard though to hand out fiscal advice on the internet because every single situation is a little bit different.I would ask "what are you studying" before doling out that advice. It may make more sense to get to his true earning potential more quickly than "painting houses" for a year to pay off a small amount of debt.