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Over the course of three years in law school, Cindy Zuniga-Sanchez accrued nearly $215,000 of debt from student loans and credit cards. While she was diligent about making the $2,000 monthly minimum payment on her student loans, the $24,000 she had paid off in her first year had barely made a dent in her debt's principal. When she received a tax statement noting all of her monthly payments, she was shocked to find that $20,000 had gone towards interest while a measly $4,000 went towards the principal on her student loans.
It dawned on her that she would have to get more aggressive about paying off her student loans if she ever wanted to be debt-free.
"The sort of obsession with learning about money really stemmed from that moment when I realized that so much of my labor had not even gone to repaying the actual loan that I had taken out," says Zuniga-Sanchez.
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Zuniga-Sanchez began to seek out educational resources to help her learn about debt repayment and personal finance. Like many people new to the world of personal finance, she found herself drawn to the advice of Dave Ramsey who preached about the importance of budgeting and debt freedom. Yet for Zuniga, the figures that influenced her the most were other women of color, specifically Yanely Espinal's Miss Be Helpful YouTube channel and Jamila Souffrant's podcast 'Journey To Launch'.
"I was really seeking information from women, specifically women of color," says Zuniga-Sanchez. "Our money stories are very much shaped by our circumstances… And so I wanted to see if I could get an education from those types of creators."
Zuniga's desire to pay off her student loan debt as quickly as possible was also motivated by her desire to help her parents out financially. She was raised in a low-income community in the Bronx, the daughter of immigrants from Ecuador and Honduras.
"When you're the child of immigrants and you're put in a financial position that is much greater than what your parents have ever seen. You do have an obligation to help your parents financially," she says.
While she notes that many people brush off her comments by claiming that immigrant children don't have an obligation to financially fend for anyone but themselves, she says that in reality, many immigrant children end up taking on the responsibility of helping their parents or relatives back home. In the past she had paid off her parent's medical bills and provided money to them for monthly expenses and wanted to do so again.
At the beginning of 2017, she got serious about paying off her debt. Her first step was to refinance her federal student loans with a private lender, SoFi. SoFi paid off her student loans with the federal government which meant she was now responsible for paying SoFi. (Zuniga-Sanchez is currently a partner with SoFi. When she refinanced her loans with them in 2017, she was not partnered with the company.)
- 0.25% autopay interest rate discount
- 0.125% SoFi Plus discount
- No origination fees, no late fees and no insufficient fund fees
- Private loans, which means you lose federal loan benefits
- $5,000 minimum loan amount
Fixed rates range from 3.99% APR to 9.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Variable rates range from 5.74% APR to 9.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Unless required to be lower to comply with applicable law, Variable Interest rates will never exceed 13.95% (the maximum rate for these loans). SoFi rate ranges are current as of 5/6/26 and are subject to change at any time. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed above and will depend on the term you select, evaluation of your creditworthiness, income, presence of a co-signer and a variety of other factors. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. For the SoFi variable-rate product, the variable interest rate for a given month is derived by adding a margin to the 30-day average SOFR index, published two business days preceding such calendar month, rounded up to the nearest one hundredth of one percent (0.01% or 0.0001). APRs for variable-rate loans may increase after origination if the SOFR index increases. You may pay more interest over the life of the loan if you refinance with an extended term. Autopay Discount: The SoFi 0.25% autopay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly payments as outlined in your loan agreement by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. This benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account. When the autopay interest rate deduction is added or removed, the next time the loan is re-amortized (quarterly for fixed rate loans; monthly for variable rate loans),the principal balance of your loan will be spread over the remaining loan term, and your monthly payment amount will change. This benefit is suspended during periods of deferment, grace period, or forbearance. Autopay is not required to receive a loan from SoFi. Member Rate Discount: To be eligible for an additional 0.125% interest rate reduction on a Student Loan Refinancing, you must, within 31 days of loan funding, either (1) be a SoFi Plus subscriber, (2) receive an Eligible Direct Deposit into a SoFi Checking or Savings account, or (3) receive at least $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits into a SoFi Checking or Savings account. You must continue to meet at least one of the above eligibility criteria every 31 days to maintain the discount. See the SoFi Plus terms for details on SoFi Plus subscription. For more details on Eligible Direct Deposit or Qualifying Deposits, please see https://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet. Once you become eligible during the initial period, the discount will be removed or reinstated depending on whether the criteria have been met. Each time your loan is re-amortized, your monthly payment amount will change based upon the interest rate that was in place. SoFi reserves the right to modify or terminate this offer at any time for unenrolled participants. You are not required to meet these criteria to be approved for a loan. SoFi Plus Discount: To be eligible to receive an additional (0.125%) interest rate reduction on your Student Loan Refinancing (your "Loan") for enrolling in SoFi Plus, you must enroll in SoFi Plus within 30 days of Loan funding, either by receiving an Eligible Direct Deposit to your SoFi Checking and Savings account, or by paying the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee. Once eligible, you will receive this discount during periods in which you have received Eligible Direct Deposit to your SoFi Checking and Savings Account, or during periods in which SoFi successfully receives payment of the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee. This discount lowers your interest rate but does not change the amount of your regular monthly payment. This discount will be removed during periods in which SoFi determines you have turned off Eligible Direct Deposit to your Checking and Savings account or in which you have not paid the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee. SoFi reserves the right to change or terminate this interest rate reduction offer for unenrolled participants at any time without notice. You are not required to enroll in Eligible Direct Deposit or to pay the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee to be eligible for Loan approval. See what qualifies as an Eligible Direct Deposit here: www.sofi.com/terms-of-use/#slr-discount
Eligible Direct Deposit means regularly recurring deposit of regular income to an Automated Clearing House ("ACH") Network during a 30-Day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Although we do our best to recognize all Eligible Direct Deposits, a small number of employers, payroll providers, benefits providers, or government agencies do not generate payments that are detectable by our system. So qualifying direct deposits are those where the student loan refinance discount rate is applied automatically for each month where you have an Eligible Direct Deposit of at least $1,000 per 30-day Evaluation Period. Eligible Direct Deposit does not include transfers between accounts you own, refunds, rebates, reimbursements, stimulus payments, merchant refunds, or payments from person-to-person payment services (such as Venmo). To qualify for the 0.25% interest rate reduction, the direct deposit must be recurring and paid directly into a SoFi Checking or Savings account. For the avoidance of doubt, deposits made via check, cash, or mobile check deposit are not eligible. Direct Deposit eligibility is determined by SoFi's sole discretion. The 30-Day Evaluation Period refers to the period starting on the "Start Date" and ending on the "End Date" set forth on the App Details page of your account, which comprises a period of 30 calendar days (the "30-Day Evaluation Period"). You can access the APV Details page at any time by logging into your SoFi account on the SoFi mobile app or SoFi website and selecting either (i) Banking → Checking → APV or (ii) Banking → Checking → APV Details. If you do not qualify for the discount during the initial 30-Day Evaluation Period, your loan will not be eligible for a discount unless you re-qualify in a later 30-Day Evaluation Period. If you qualify during the 30-Day Evaluation Period, the discount will be applied on a going-forward basis only. SoFi Bank determines eligibility. If you have a joint account, each account holder receives Eligible Direct Deposits into your SoFi Checking and Savings account, then you will be eligible for all SoFi Plus benefits, including on accounts you hold in your own name. Federal Loan Disclosure: Terms and conditions apply. SoFi Refinance Student Loans are private loans. When you refinance federal loans with a SoFi loan, YOU FORFEIT YOUR ELiIGIBILITY FOR ALL FEDERAL LOAN BENEFITS, including all flexible federal repayment and forgiveness options that are or may become available to federal student loan borrowers including, but not limited to: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), Income-Based Repayment, Income-Contingent Repayment, extended repayment plans, PAYE or SAVE. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. Learn more at SoFi.com/eligiblity. SoFi Refinance Student Loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. NMLS #696891 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).
By refinancing her student loans, she cut her interest rate and repayment period in half, from ten years to five years. Her monthly payments increased to $3,000, but she was able to pay off all of her student loans by the end of 2019 and saved herself from paying an additional $40,000 in interest.
How to create a student loan debt repayment plan
Now, Zuniga-Sanchez is debt-free and coaches others on how to navigate personal finance through her company Zero-Based Budget. When Select asked what advice she would give to those starting off on their debt repayment journey, she broke it down into three simple steps: know your numbers, create a budget and calculate your debt payments.
First off, you should know your outstanding balance, the interest rate and the value of your payments.
Second, you should create a zero-based budget, which means you should be able to account for all of your income, expenses and savings. With this method, when you subtract your expenses and savings from your income, you should get zero. There are a number of budgeting apps out there that can help with this, like Mint and You Need a Budget.
Lastly, you should use a debt repayment calculator to figure out how much more you can contribute towards your loans each month. Even if you can't allocate a large sum of money, any additional contributions can reduce the amount of interest you owe and the length of your repayment period.
While Zuniga-Sanchez saved money by refinancing her federal student loans, she recommends that people currently holding federal loans not refinance them because the current interest rate is 0%, and the Biden administration's current pause on student loan repayment (known as forbearance) lasts until Jan. 31, 2022. Since there is no interest accruing on federal student loans, you can save money by continuing to make your monthly debt repayments, which go directly towards the principal amount.
Furthermore, if you choose to refinance your federal loans with a private lender, you lose important benefits like income-driven repayment plans or forgiveness plans like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Teacher Loan Forgiveness. So if there's a chance you might use either of these benefits in the future, you might not want to refinance.
It's also unclear if the administration will take other steps, such as widespread student loan forgiveness or an extension of the current repayment pause.
For people with private loans, Zuniga-Sanchez suggests that people look into refinancing because of how competitive interest rates are right now. You might be able to go from a loan with a 10% interest rate to a loan with a 2% or 3% interest rate, which could have a dramatic impact on how much you end up paying, she says.
Bottom Line
Zuniga-Sanchez had to face the reality that it would take ten years to pay off her student loan debt if she continued with the interest rate she had on her federal loans.
While Zuniga-Sanchez was able to refinance her federal student loans and pay them off in less than five years, most people currently holding federal student loans should hold off on refinancing because of the forbearance period. And if they continue to make payments during this period they'll avoid paying more interest in the long-run.
If you have private loans consider refinancing to get a lower interest rate: This will lower the amount of money you owe and possibly shorten your repayment period.
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Fixed rates range from 3.99% APR to 9.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Variable rates range from 5.74% APR to 9.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Unless required to be lower to comply with applicable law, Variable Interest rates will never exceed 13.95% (the maximum rate for these loans). SoFi rate ranges are current as of 5/6/26 and are subject to change at any time. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed above and will depend on the term you select, evaluation of your creditworthiness, income, presence of a co-signer and a variety of other factors. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. For the SoFi variable-rate product, the variable interest rate for a given month is derived by adding a margin to the 30-day average SOFR index, published two business days preceding such calendar month, rounded up to the nearest one hundredth of one percent (0.01% or 0.0001). APRs for variable-rate loans may increase after origination if the SOFR index increases. You may pay more interest over the life of the loan if you refinance with an extended term.
