So my daughter starts paying her student loan in January

[Yo_Mama]

28. That's not that bad

A lot of them are paying more on less. Usually she will get to deduct the interest paid, so her take-home ought to at least $2,000 a month. She can stay home for a couple of years, pay $700 a month instead of the $350, and pay much less in interest overall. And with that take-home, she can cover everything else plus save $200 a month.

The other way is for her to move in with roommates - which everyone I knew after college did. No one could afford to live alone at that time. We all lived dirt poor for a few years.

Once she has paid down the loan somewhat, her future gets easier, because the principal is substantially down so the interest isn't accruing at the same rate. Her first priority should be to pay the principal down by $10,000.

The federal government does offer a deal that stretches out the repayments, but it's a bad deal for her. She would end up paying much more over the life of the loan. It's the deferred interest that has increased the loan amount that makes the payment so large now, and the quicker she pays down a chunk of that principal the better her financial future will be.