Nice!
I have about 70K to pay back. I'm considering a move to Denver. Would it be extremely tight to pay that kind of debt off there on a ~45K income? Rough budgeting tells me I'd have around $300-$500 leftover each month to pay over my minimum payments or spend if something came up. I'm not sure if that's a good cushion for someone living on their own for the first time.
For the move, would you get more in your field if you lived elsewhere? In my field (IT) Denver offers a sweet spot right now in terms of salary vs cost of living (Austin is similar). It's not anywhere near as expensive to live here as San Francisco, New York or DC. Rent here is about 33-50% of those places, but the salaries are currently about 80-90% of those other cities. How does your field compare?
Just like anywhere else, you can live in Denver on the cheap or lavishly. My wife and I live right by a light rail station which was the best decision we ever made. We can go into Downtown for work and fun events for next to nothing cost-wise, but we also live far enough out that it is really easy to get out to the mountains to do fun free stuff (though be aware, the mountains are a solid 45 min drive away which makes it expensive if you go every weekend).
As for the cushion, save up an emergency fund of $2-5k before you start putting the extra towards the loans and you'll probably be fine. A credit card you only use for points and to average out your unexpected expenses can help too because it allows you to spread a big expense out over 1.5-2 months without paying interest.
Also, if you do move here, you have an instant mustachian friend to show you around :-)
