I never added it up.
I graduated in Aero-Eng from a good UK university, then went to work in the industry. I did my PPL(M) during the next year.
Over the next couple of decades I slowly added both engineering and flying qualifications. In roughly the order:-
BEng
PPL(M)
CEng
PPL(SEP)
PhD
CPL
IMC
CRI
I've occasionally gone briefly up to about £6k into debt to pay for a lump of flying, but mostly I've done flying / training / whatever as I went along. I've used the flying experience to get the sexy engineering jobs, and I've used my engineering experience to get fun flying tasks - such as light aircraft test flying. I've also had a reasonable track record as a PPL and later as a CPL of using aeroplanes to travel for work - effectively building hours and experience in work time and subsidised by them.
Mind you, I'd hate to give up either engineering or flying, they're both too much fun. In that I'm probably in a minority, as most people decide that they only want to do one or the other. I've also not personally aspired to fly a big jet, but in many ways that's a personal and lifestyle decision.
Next stages for me are FI, IR, and Prof. I hope.