Back and better than ever. Updated November 12th

Way back in January 2012, I had an opportunity as a brand new husband to step up for my bride. Katelynn and I had gotten married in December 2011, just a couple weeks after she had graduated from college. She knew she had racked up some student debt over the past 4.5 years, but as is typical for students, she had no idea how much.

The great Unknown Number, she was sure, threatened to absolutely destroy us. Our newborn marriage would face its first great trial as we grappled with the huge chunk the minimum payment was going to take out of our fledgling incomes.

Katelynn was so anxious to look it up that I decided to step in and take the initial hit for her. I anxiously logged in to the Department of Education website, put in all the information Katelynn had entrusted to me, and clicked the button, finally turning to face this monster we had been running from for years.

I saw the account balances.…