Thinking about higher education?

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this on more than one occasion, but I'm the type of nerd that loves to see my life organized into graphs, spreadsheets and lists. It makes life so much easier to have lists telling me what I need to accomplish and graphs illustrating for me how I'm managing my finances. But this particular graph just makes my soul whimper.

That's what my cash flow looks like, each and every month. That massive blue chunk comprising half the graph? Those are my monthly student loan payments. With the 20/20 clarity of hindsight, and in a nod to my aforementioned affinity for list making, here are the top 10 things I'd rather be doing with the funds in blue:

10: Replace my aged and battle-worn computer with a MacBook Pro.

9: Mid-winter mini vacation in Hawaii.

8: Sock it away in an IRA.

7: Replace the balding tires and cracked (in 4 places) windshield on my car.

6: Swap out my wedding ring set for new bling from a jeweler that isn't in danger of bankruptcy (I'm looking at you, Zales).

5: Weekend trip to DC to see the cherry blossoms.

4: Rebuild the savings account.

3: Buy ski gear and take advantage of the awesome skiing in Oregon.

2: Snag tickets to random Olympic events and take a road trip to Vancouver.

1: Monthly mortgage payment on a house.