What's the number one way to pay off your student loans and buy a house?  Get on an income based payment plan for your student loans.  Whether you've got $15,000 or $300,000 in student loans, the income based plan counts as full payments that are not deferments.  Why is this important?  Because all student loans end and are discharged in their entirety twenty five years (25) after first repayment plus deferments.  What is this so important?  Think about it this way….if you were sued by your student loan servicer and a judgment was obtained, the servicer can garnish your wages for at least 15% of net income and sometimes even more.  Plus all of your tax refunds are seized until the loan is paid off.  Compare this to an income based program where you may pay 5% to 15% of your income voluntarily, without a judgment, garnishment or seizure of your tax refund.  Not only is your credit rating great but so are possibilities to move forward with your life, such as buying a house, starting a family and building wealth through home equity, retirement planning and paying off long term debt.