Pay our half of million dollar debt in private student loans off to Sallie Mae

Myself, my wife and a close friend all have recently completed school and obtained degrees in our respective fields - however even with our jobs, we find it impossible to make enough to pay even the minimum payments on our student loans ($1000+ each/mo). We can barely afford to put food on the table or pay other bills yet we are constantly harassed day in and day out by Sallie Mae. We do understand that we chose to take the loans out - however the payback terms have become so high - we cannot afford to live this way. Together we have just under a half of million dollars in debt before interest. It's impossible to start life out of college with this much debt over our heads. We will never be able to own a house or live comfortably. We need a miracle!