I understand the problem, and I feel for these people who have the crushing student loan debt. I left college with a lot of student loan but debt, too. I struggled but managed to pay it off in less than 5 years. This required sacrifice, hard work and lot of luck getting jobs.

I made some bad decisions in my 20s and early 30s and ended up with $40K in credit card debt. I met my wife, got married and had a kid - and in the course of four years paid off all that debt, saved $50K, bought a house and continue to save.

It was hard, and required a lot of hard work, coupon clipping and clearance sales.

Paying off your debts can be done.