I’ll just pat myself on the back if it’s okay with you all Student Loans |
- I’ll just pat myself on the back if it’s okay with you all
- Best Student Loan Calculators?!
- On the right path
- Recent Grads: Warning for Auto Pay!
- When to sign up for IBR
- Getting married!! Effect on loans is the only aspect I'm not excited about.
- Advice for my younger sister
- Refinancing private loans as an international student?
- At a complete loss
- Great Lakes - Recurring issues with documents being rejected due to "legibility" issues
- If you recertify with paystub due to income change does it calculate your AGI (like if you used your taxes) or is it from your full gross?
- I am scared to make a repayment to Navient
- re-certify income early, before switching to higher paying job?
- Refinancing Private and Leaving FedLoan as is - worth it??
| I’ll just pat myself on the back if it’s okay with you all Posted: 31 Dec 2019 01:02 PM PST I think one thing I really like about this sub is how others join in to celebrate others accomplishments. I feel weird talking to friends or family about my debt, because debt isn't considered a normal conversation even though I think people should talk about it openly because it really helps with mental health (and some people are more financial savvy so good to hear their thoughts too). Even when I want to celebrate accomplishments I don't have anyone to celebrate with because most people don't want to talk about debt. I even wanted to throw myself an anniversary party after the first year of making payments but I told some friends about my idea and they expressed it was a little weird. So much of my time and energy goes into paying them off that it just makes sense to celebrate each successful step but oh well. So if it's okay with you all I'd like to share my story. I'm 35 I didn't take out any loans for undergrad but I had to take out loans for my masters, which I finished April 2018. I tried working throughout school and the entire first year I was either in classes or at work every day, 7 days a week! It was exhausting. By the time I graduated I had acquired around $120k in loans and a strange autoimmune disease(there's other subreddits for that part). Life wasn't looking that great, I felt buried in debt, and I had reached a level of sickness that I didn't know if I could work, I thought I had absolutely ruined my life because of working myself so sick and being buried in debt. I pay the total amount I owe $1,300/month and an extra $400 towards the highest interest loan (there are 6 federal loans interest 5.1-6.8%) Here's what I'd like to celebrate, today my highest interest loan is less than $1,000!!! I think I'll be able to pay it off completely by the end of January. Then those extra payments I've been doing can start tackling the next highest interest loans!! I'm also down to $103,000 and will soon be breaking below $100k which I'm super stoked about. Oh and after being really sick for 2 years my health has totally turned around and I feel pretty healthy again (just some residuals from all the prednisone) I pay on my loans weekly instead of monthly since the interest accrues every day I just assume dividing the payments up and paying more often may save me a little money over the long run, even if it's just pennies i don't want to give the loan companies a cent more than I have to. So since someone in the comments might ask. My salary is around $45k/year, and I live in the SF Bay Area and everything is hecka expensive (and I almost cry every day hoping I don't lose my apartment). I've been able to get side jobs by running peoples social media's for them. Apparently the only requirement to be a social media manager is to be a millennial (even though I don't have a personal social media I still spend about an hour a day on it haha). I make $2k/month extra just posting stuff on social media for 3 small business owners who don't know how to do social media. So that is how I'm able to pay so much towards the loans while living in one of the most expensive places in the world. I live off my salary and pay the loans with the social media money. So thanks for giving me a small outlet to celebrate! It's so incredibly useful to reflect on the hopelessness, depression, and desperation I felt last year versus my excitement today. I hope someone is inspired by this if they are feeling overwhelmed. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is a way out, you can actually start to get ahead on your loans, and there might be some easy side gigs for you to generate extra income. Thanks and best of luck to you all [link] [comments]  |
| Best Student Loan Calculators?! Posted: 31 Dec 2019 03:47 PM PST Could anyone recommend the best student loan amortization Calculators? I'm super bad at calculating this stuff and need something simple. I'm trying to calculate how much sooner a $180 dollar overpayment would lower my loan term. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Dec 2019 02:51 PM PST Just updating our student loan journey (my wife's debt) for anyone interested. Beginning of 2018: owed about $180k. Original debt from 2003-2009 totaled about $155k but had ballooned by $25k because of capitalized interest and interest beyond minimum payments. Income (family of 4) about $100k that year and we paid off $25k. Beginning of 2019: owed about $155k and paid around $38k of which about $5k went towards interest. Income this year around $110k. The loans are a blend of government and private with a combined interest rate around 5%. Beginning of 2020: owe about $122k. Hoping to pay it down to around $85 or $90k by the end of this year. Lessons learned along the journey so far: 1) don't put off paying down your loans, start ASAP. 2) extend the repayment period to the max (usually 25 or 30 years) to lower minimum requirements, then throw extra money at highest interest rate loans first. 3) keep track of what you're doing, seeing the numbers in a spreadsheet will motivate you. 4) use tools like unbury.me to help. 5) strike a balance that works for you. For example, we have taken 2 big vacations and I bought a used motorcycle for $5k. Yes, I'd save interest and pay off the loans sooner if we didn't travel at all. However, I didn't want to wait 5 more years for a bike I'd already waited 20+years for. And it's important to get away with the family for some quality time together, so we traveled a little too. That's my story so far. The journey continues. Happy New Year everyone! [link] [comments]  |
| Recent Grads: Warning for Auto Pay! Posted: 31 Dec 2019 03:29 PM PST Before graduating, I set up auto payments for my student loans to be greater than the minimum due each month. Once the repayment period began, the service provider automatically changed my auto payment amount to the minimum. They really don't want me to pay my loans faster! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Dec 2019 11:17 AM PST My loans enter repayments end of March. Don't think I can throw anything at the interest before than, so sadly it will capitalize. Should I apply now or wait till March? If I did apply now, would that mean entering repayment sooner? Ideal situation would involve applying now, getting approved, and still having my end of March repayment start date. [link] [comments]  |
| Getting married!! Effect on loans is the only aspect I'm not excited about. Posted: 31 Dec 2019 01:38 PM PST I am currently on the REPAYE plan (~170k direct sub and unsub consolidation combo) My soon to be spouse is on PAYE (100k, not sure what the mix is) and is on track for PSLF in about 5 years. I am self employed and my income is variable. From interneting, I am thinking that our options are (a) not get legally married which would be a huge bummer or (b) it might be best to get him to switch to REPAYE so I can keep the interest subsidy and we can file separately without his income affecting mine. This ups his balance but if we are pretty sure he is going to get PSLF, I think this is the right call. Is there anything I'm missing or not considering? Thank you in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Dec 2019 10:13 AM PST So my little sister is having issues getting student loans and aid because of my father. She's 18 and lives at home, our father hasn't filed taxes in at least 6 years. When she looked into loans and aid, they are requiring that she provides tax return info from both parents- but because he's a moron, she's unable to. My college days were about 8 years ago, so I'm not up to date at all on the loan process and honestly can't even remember how I went about getting them. Any advice I can shoot her way to prevent her from having to pay 100% out of pocket would be much appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Refinancing private loans as an international student? Posted: 31 Dec 2019 08:27 AM PST Hi! I've got about $54k from a private lender at a pretty high APR of 13% - are there any options available for me to refinance without requiring a cosigner, ideally within the next year? I have a sub-700 credit score that I'm working on improving now that I have a full time job (no late payments on the loans, just a high CC balance that's getting lower). Currently on an F1 visa with work auth (OPT). [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Dec 2019 06:08 AM PST I'm 20 and living at home with my family. I moved back home when I transferred schools and now I deeply regret it. I was extremely suicidal growing up due mostly to intense emotional abuse--physical abuse was less common, so it had less of an effect--and now I'm dealing with that again. I need to get out. I'm afraid I might try to kill myself again if I stay here. But I can't move out. My parents make me pay their bills. I don't have a car (yet), so without them I can't get to work, so I am reliant enough on them that they feel like the money I make is owed to them. Maybe they're right, but it means I don't have the money to move out. So I need a loan. But I'm a college student with only a part time job and a 650-something credit score, so I can't take out a loan on my own. I need a cosigner. I don't know a single person who can do that for me! No one in my family has good credit. And everything I've read says I need at least a 700 score to get one without a cosigner. What can I do? Is there some sort of service that provides co-signers for people? Does anyone know of a loan service that I could take out a student loan alone with my credit score? At this point interest rate doesn't matter to me--I'm just desperate to get out. [link] [comments]  |
| Great Lakes - Recurring issues with documents being rejected due to "legibility" issues Posted: 31 Dec 2019 12:49 PM PST This will now be my third attempt to submit copies of my 3 most recent pay stubs as well as a letter from my wife confirming her current zero taxable income (she was recently laid off). The first time, I was told the documents were illegible (I had used a photo > PDF converter so I let that slide). The third time I used stubs printed directly from my employer's payroll software, and then scanned in at 300dpi to PDF. The documents are legible past 200% zoom, and legible when printed to an old black and white printer. They're legible on my mobile phone when scrolled to maximum on the PDF and when I spoke to the customer service rep, they "couldn't read a single letter or number on any of the 3 stubs I submitted, and that my wife's hand-written (in cursive) note was way more legible." Am I just being messed with here because they don't want to lower my IDR payments? Has anyone had a similar experience? I was actually told, "try using our mobile app to take a picture of the PDFs on screen because that will probably be better quality." Uhhh.... What? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Dec 2019 08:03 AM PST My income got much lower and I'm trying to see which option to choose. [link] [comments]  |
| I am scared to make a repayment to Navient Posted: 31 Dec 2019 11:38 AM PST I just started college and planned out my finances in a way that I will be repaying most of my loans through the semester... My federal loan financier is Navient and somehow I am dead ass scared to make the payment. I am planning on paying off the entire $1750 loan that I owe but I am scared that somehow the money will leave my account but never reach theirs. What if Navient messes this and I lose my entire semester earnings... Is my fear unreasonable (perhaps it is) or has this happened to anyone? [link] [comments]  |
| re-certify income early, before switching to higher paying job? Posted: 31 Dec 2019 07:31 AM PST Hi, my gross household income is going to increase by 30% starting next week. I am currently on re-paye. I do not have to recertify until May 2020. My annual income has increased slightly since I last re-recertified. Is there a way I can recertify my annual income now, before I switch jobs, so that my payments for the next 12 months will be based off of my present income (and not my +30%) income? [link] [comments]  |
| Refinancing Private and Leaving FedLoan as is - worth it?? Posted: 31 Dec 2019 07:09 AM PST I'm 25 and make $52,000 a year, with pretty good potential for raises over the next 5 or so years. I have around ~$88,000 total in student loan debt: $28,000 of that is federal loans, and the other $60,000 is private (Sallie Mae and Navient). Interest rates for the FedLoan is around 4.5%, while my interest rates of my private loans ranges from 10% to 12%. Now that I'm making more money, I've been paying what I'm supposed to for Sallie Mae and Navient (about $1050 a month total), and paying on a graduated repayment plan for FedLoan, where the amount increases every few years ($177 a month). Other than these loans, I live within my means and am generally good with money. However, my savings is extremely small and an unexpected large cost could really mess me up. My FedLoan payment just increased $55, which in my situation, is enough to make me panic a little. So I'm looking into refinancing options. Clearly between the amounts owed and the high interest rates, the private loans are a bigger problem. Would it be wise to refinance just my private loans, and keep paying on my federal loans as they are (so as to still be eligible for any future forgiveness, etc.)? From quick researching it seems like my monthly payment to the refinancer would be low enough that I could handle a higher payment on my FedLoan. I don't have a specific refinancing company in mind (though suggestions are def welcome) but would like to avoid ~if possible~ needing a cosigner. Just wondering if anyone has done something similar, and if it's worked out well for them! [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from /r/StudentLoans: Reddit's hub for advice, articles, and discussion about educational loans. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment