I make a lot more than a lot of GenY, and have less student loan debt, and it is a MAJOR part of my budget. I don't see how someone with an average salary and average student loan debt could get a loan for a car or for a house.
This is one thing I think a lot of young people here (Denmark) don't really realize about their advantages. Yeah, the taxes are higher, but they have no student loans to pay off. (Not to mention: they can start a business without worrying about healthcare premiums.)
How long will it be a major part of your budget? Someone with a typical state university student debt load making a typical SV software engineer salary can be out of debt in 5 years without much discomfort.
