Shout out to those who don’t have any extra money to pay down your loans! Student Loans |
- Shout out to those who don’t have any extra money to pay down your loans!
- I'm done. Paid off $19,537 in 9 months!
- Paid Off Student Loan!!
- On New Year's Eve we made the last payment on husband's student loan.
- FREE AT LAST ($56,000 in Student Loans)
- 80% of my monthly income is what I'm being asked to pay back for my loan... is that normal?
- First time getting a loan... what steps??
- Can you refinance an already refinanced loan?
- Monitoring period
- Partial Student Loan Refinancing?
- I have $4300 in student loans left after paying off aggressively over the last year. Should I zero it out in the next few months or start saving?
- Help! Student loan payments approaching
- Could use some advice for my situation. Should I pay off my student loans, or hope that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program works out?
- Parent Plus Loan - In ex-step-father's name he won't cooperate
- Disabled and GI Bill?
- IBR question, spouse “eligible loans”
- Advice on whether to take PAYE or REPAYE?
- Can refinancing student loans affect future mortgage qualification?
- Repayment options
- Deliquent payment
- Nelnet has the wrong graduation date for me
- Question about paying student loans while in school.
- What’s my likelihood...
| Shout out to those who don’t have any extra money to pay down your loans! Posted: 04 Jan 2020 09:34 AM PST Hey, I know you are here lurking on this sub, feeling that pang of jealousy when you read someone just paid $25k+ on their loans this year or someone details how they paid off all their loans in 2 years! Maybe you struggle to make the minimum maybe you don't even make $25k per year, never mind paying that amount in loans. It's okay. There are others out there struggling behind all these success stories. It's okay if you are stuck due to health issues/ job issues/ life or family issues. There is lots of great advice on this sub, but I wish sometimes there was more support. There are many out there (myself included) who for whatever reasons don't have extra money to pay off student loans. It's not as simple as "make more money" as you don't know what obstacles others face. Anyway feel free to comment if you want. I'm not seeking advice just want others to know There are others out there. [link] [comments]  |
| I'm done. Paid off $19,537 in 9 months! Posted: 04 Jan 2020 02:04 PM PST I graduated in May 2018 and it took me a while to find a job, was hired late 2018 and started saving up to buy a reliable used car for work. Bought a car in March 2019 and made a budget to throw every available dollar to my student loans after paying the minimum every month (I've lived at home over the past year). I just made my last payment today. There was a weird anticlimactic feeling that followed, no friends to tell that would care or understand how hard it's been. Not sure what to do now to celebrate, did any of you guys do something special to celebrate? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2020 06:04 AM PST In the beginning of the year 2019, started with loan balance of $27,121 with about $4 added per day on interest. Came across Dave Ramsey podcast and soon after I started following this forum. Buckled down and paid it all of in 1 year. Details: Graduated August of 2016. Degree: Bachelors /& Masters in Engineering Actual Borrowed amount $25,500.00 (Undergraduate loan: $5,500.00, Graduate loan: $20,000.00) all fed student loan. Total amount Paid back: $30,850.00 Salary: 50K/year right after graduation- 86K/year(end of 2018)- 94K/year(early 2020) Thank you fellow Internet stranger for the motivation. That was quite a ride. [link] [comments]  |
| On New Year's Eve we made the last payment on husband's student loan. Posted: 04 Jan 2020 08:09 AM PST This is kind of demoralizing because I started typing out a nice long post then accidentally refreshed the page. Anyway, here we go again. My then boyfriend (now husband) graduated music school back in 2006 with around $25k in student loans, not to mention hefty credit card debt. I later went to art school and graduated in 2014 with $32k debt (we both work in our respective fields). There were a lot of bumps in the road -- at one point I was hospitalized and temporarily disabled due to a bleed in the brain and we had to go down to interest only payments. We racked up more credit card debt, took on a loan for a used car and jfc you guys know how it all goes. We were not raised with financial know-how. We were completely ignorant. It was just about managing (juggling) monthly payments. Then, a few years ago I came across this post from u/0ops-Sorry in the r/personalfinance sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5x3yzr/the_door_of_student_debt/ It was really inspiring because it never occurred to us that you can actually take control of your debt, instead of letting it control you. So we decided to start chipping away at the credit cards and car loan -- doing the "snow-ball method" which apparently is a Dave Ramsey thing (he's helpful but can see things a bit too black & white at times). We still didn't have a budget or anything, just making some larger than usual payments. Near the end of 2018 it was just our students loans left. I had around $18k left and he had $11k. But I suffered an injury that flayed the thumb of my dominant hand but also cut the index finger to the bone. I could not work or really do anything for a month. Not being able to sit still, I combed through our bank statements for the last 12 months and tallied up what we spent on gas, groceries, coffee /energy drinks, restaurant meals, subscription services, etc. then created a budget. A lot of what I'm about to type is obvious stuff that's already been meme'd the sh*t out of, but yeah, once we realized how much money could be put toward the loans instead of these "extravagances" and how quickly they could be paid off, it was an easy choice. An easy choice but difficult to implement. It's hard practicing restraint after freely spending money on whatever you want, whenever. We decided to each have small monthly allowances so we could still get things we enjoyed and not feel burnt out. If you're interested in what we changed / cut out, I'll list it below, otherwise feel free to scroll down: canceled adobe creative suite, instead opting for Photoshop only (went from $55/mo to $10) unplugged all appliances when not in use (internet router is a big energy suck - unplugged before bed and during work hours) turning down the heat at night and layering up blankets instead only shopping at Aldi, sticking to the grocery budget and no more "fun trips" to Target or other stores for random things and snacks (buy cheap cuts of meat and in-season produce / sale items) meal prep which just involved making a huge pot of stew and eating that all week (simple and no need for side dishes) sold items that we still liked but hadn't used in years sold my car to save on insurance, gas and repairs (I now bike / take the bus / walk -- we are now a one-car household)) for holidays we only purchased gifts for relatives children (18 and under) purchased used instead of new appliances we live in a one-bedroom apartment in a LCOL area Once my hand healed, I picked up a side-gig working 12 hours / week that ended up paying more per hour than my "actual" job and was also more enjoyable. Every paycheck immediately went to my own student loans, I never touched a penny of the earnings. Once those were paid, the money went into his. I also run an online store and this past Christmas brought in much more revenue than anticipated so all of that immediately went to his student loan, which paid off the balance on his loan. All-in-all, we paid off my student loans 5 years early and his 10 years early. It feels crazy and hasn't quite sunk in yet but the last 12 months of insanity was worth it. We don't make much money either since we're both artists. But we basically lived on a shoestring budget so anything "extra" could be thrown at the loans. At points, especially nearing the final payment, it felt like it would never end. It was weird, because you'd think as you're closer to the finish line, the more excited you would be, but it always seemed just out of reach. Now that we're here, it still doesn't seem real. Anyway, I hope you all found this helpful and hopefully there's something here you may find helpful or inspiring. That original r/personalfinance post changed my life, so I figured some of this may be worth sharing. edit: corrected reddit username for post [link] [comments]  |
| FREE AT LAST ($56,000 in Student Loans) Posted: 04 Jan 2020 11:27 AM PST I'll preface this by stating I realize my situation is better than most, but hopefully others will gather some motivation in my story. I've enjoyed reading others success stories along my way and wanted to share that I'm not free of student loans! Loan Summary: Total Borrowed: $56,000 Total Paid: $73,300 Total Interest: $17,300 (31% in 3.5 years after graduation!!!) I graduated in May 2016 after earning a Bachelors in Computer Science at an average state school in the normal 4 years. I took out student loans to pay for dorms, books, tuition and apartment rent, while working part time jobs/internships to pay for 'normal' college expenses such as eating out, drinking, spring break (x4), and social life (fraternity dues). I didn't hold back on spending money in college as many do, but my attitude was very much work hard, play hard. Doing a masters program or more school was out of the question as I already couldn't help but think of the student loans and interest piling up at my feet. I didn't apply/earn any scholarships (my fault) prior to college or qualify for any FAFSA help as my parents are both working parents and earn a decent income. I ended up receiving a single $2000 scholarship from being involved in in a student organization, which is negligible in the big picture. I was able to take out $25,000 in federal loans in my name, and my parents took an additional $33,000 of parent plus loans to support my education that I was expected to pay back. My interest rates were 3.8%-4.5% from federal, and my parents ranged from 7-9% also federal. If you are also going this route, it's important to realize that parent plus loans start accumulating interest at disbursement date, when the loan is granted. After 2 years, I refinanced the federal parent plus loans in my parents name through SoFi into my name. This got me a 5.25% interest rate at the risk of moving loans from federal to private (no federal protection like forbearance, etc). It also relieved my parents from any concern of default or late fees. I was fortunate to have my parents help in taking out loans for me, however I repaid them all back. My payments initially were about $300 on my federal loans, and another $650 on the parent plus loans. After refinancing and avalanching the higher interest loans I was able to get to a total of $700/month After graduating, I was able to receive a very competitive offer with a starting salary of $65,000. In the following 3 years I would earn up to $85,000. My rent ranged from $550-650/month and I lived with roommates where most friends were paying $1000+ in the area. I wasn't necessary living cheap, but cut expenses where I could. I would still travel and take some vacations as my peers would, but I tried to be more mindful with large expenses. I didn't buy a new car after graduation and instead drove my car into the ground before upgrading to a $23,000 brand new SUV - base model in late 2017 (also financed; 4% APR and still making payments). My goal was to pay off all my loans in 3 years, and I fell about $15,000 short in May 2019. Later in 2019, I left my former company and joined another company that offered a very competitive starting salary and sign on bonus. I took that sign on bonus and shoved it at my student loans to be freed of my education expenses! If I could offer one piece of advice from my experience, I'd say to work hard in school and again in your career. The only reason I was able to dig out so fast and while not sacrificing much is because I did well in school and was able to get very competitive offers. The job outlook after college is always tough, but apply to many places. I applied to close to 50 positions when graduating, and another 50 or so this past year when looking for my next career move. Once you land that sweet job, grind for a few years and move on. There's a good chance that you won't be compensated fairly for the work you're doing unless you look into the job market again and see what others with your experience are earning. [link] [comments]  |
| 80% of my monthly income is what I'm being asked to pay back for my loan... is that normal? Posted: 04 Jan 2020 07:59 PM PST I graduated from dental and in March it's time to start paying Uncle Sam. I make about 3700 bi-weekly after taxes. When I went online to see how much my monthly repayment would be it was 5900 a month. Rent is 1200, car is $490, utilities are about $200. I understand that IBR is capped at 10% so why does the gov think I can pay 8x that right off the bat? The lowest option of repayment is 4.8k a month. Is it normal to be such a high percentage of your income to student loans? [link] [comments]  |
| First time getting a loan... what steps?? Posted: 04 Jan 2020 10:02 PM PST i was recently disqualified from receiving financial aid form my university and that includes state federal aid loans. i know i need to look into other sources of money such as private bank loans. the amount would be to finish my bachelors (~10k) my questions are, how soon can i expect the loan to be approved and transferred to my school? what would be a good bank to stark looking at? getting quotes? will i be given a loan with no previous credit history? will it make my interest sky high? i have no credit history and really wish i do not have to have a co-signer [link] [comments]  |
| Can you refinance an already refinanced loan? Posted: 04 Jan 2020 05:55 PM PST I'm planning on getting my student loans refinanced. Are my refinance terms set for the entire length of the loan? Or can I refinance them again in a few years once I get a better paying job and improve my credit score? Example, in a few years my income increases and so does my credit score. I take my loan and decrease the payoff period from 15 to 10 years and try to get a lower interest rate. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2020 09:27 PM PST Does anyone know if one can use their GI Bill during disability monitoring period for loan forgiveness ? [link] [comments]  |
| Partial Student Loan Refinancing? Posted: 04 Jan 2020 02:20 PM PST I have about $80k in student loan debt (all federal) and my worst loan is a 6.6% loan worth $21.6k. My IBR is $260 a month, but I also wanted to make sure the interest doesn't continue to eat my future alive as much as it does. I thought about just doing a partial refinance because I can slightly minimize the interest expense and still have federal protection on the other loans I have. I know my monthly payment won't change, but it's just the interest expense changes w/ a lower fixed rate refinanced loan. Is this worth doing? Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2020 11:29 AM PST I started off with $17k in student loans - all federal loans. Background - I went to a state school, became an RA which paid off the big chunk of my cost and had lots of pell grant/ other scholarships. I started paying almost 2k per month to bring this down. My goal was to finish by April of this year. Now I really want a car and want to start saving for a house etc. Should I stretch my payments to another year or just pay it off by April as I was originally intending to? I live with parents so cost of living is very very low. I only pay my medical bills (ongoing orthodontics treatments and weekly therapy sessions). Not sure what the financially smart thing to do is. [link] [comments]  |
| Help! Student loan payments approaching Posted: 04 Jan 2020 11:03 AM PST I wanted to see if anyone could advise me on the best option I have in handling paying off my student loans. I graduate in about a week and have about $45,000 in loans. I just got a job offer that I'll be making between 55-60k per year and have about $17,000 to my name but obviously don't want to put all that towards student loans. Currently I've been on an income driven payment plan where I am not required to make any payments. Should I look into paying a large sum upfront and then doing monthly payments? I'm really unsure about what is best. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2020 05:40 PM PST I have $100k in federal loans (at 6.2% average interest) and $30k in private loans (at 4.9% interest) left. I applied for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and my application was accepted. I could theoretically have almost $50k of my federal loans forgiven in 8 years. My question is: do you think this is worth the risk? I have some extra money at the end of each month, and I can't decide if I should a) put it all towards my student loans and pay them off early, OR b) if I should stay on the REPAYE plan, hope the remaining $50k gets forgiven, and put my extra money into index funds instead. Any advice is appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Parent Plus Loan - In ex-step-father's name he won't cooperate Posted: 04 Jan 2020 07:35 AM PST While in college a parent plus loan was taken in my stepfather's name. Also in college my stepfather and mother divorced. During this time I was not really savvy or interested in learning about parent plus loans or what it really meant in general; the idea was that I was going to have to pay for those loans myself. I found out later that during the divorce, the loan was kept by my stepfather. Now, after years of grad school, where the loans were in deferment, the time has come to start paying. However, my stepdad has not been paying attention either and he left on pretty bad terms with my mom. I have contacted him a few times and reminded him of this loan, which he was not happy about as he seems to have pretended it never existed. I made a plan, but I needed his assistance. My idea was to consolidate the loan and use income contingent repayment as currently I do not have the wherewithal to pay them back in their 10 year period. I told him this plan but he again wanted to pretend they didn't exist and aren't his problem. I've continued to tell him they are his problem and I am trying to reach a solution that would involve me paying the loan back fully but with his help to create a contingent repayment plan. He is now completely ignoring my calls, texts and other messages. I am just wondering what repercussions I will be facing, as I imagine initially the loaner will start punishing him for late payments and I want to know what could happen to me from that. Finally, I am wondering if anybody here has recommendations for a good organization that deals with this sort of thing who I can contact by phone or email to discuss this further. Thank you all! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2020 05:13 PM PST I was medically discharged from the Army and am currently using my GI Bill to attend school 12 hours a week, as much as I can. I just was granted SSDI and was wondering about student loan forgiveness from my undergrad. I know I can not take out another loan during the monitoring period, but will using my GI Bill affect my forgiveness? I can not work. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| IBR question, spouse “eligible loans” Posted: 04 Jan 2020 05:04 PM PST Hey guys, Sorry in advance if this is obvious and I'm over thinking it. My servicer also isn't open on the weekends for me to call and ask, so here I turn to you all. In section 3 of the spousal info of the income driven repayment plan request form (looking at the pdf): complete if any of the following apply to you. File a joint tax return and spouse has eligible loans. Joint tax return is a go....but... What constitutes an eligible loan anyway? Is it the loan being over a certain amount? He is actively repaying the one small federal loan he has that is maybe 8,000$. Monthly standard payments are only two figures. Clarification is appreciated. TIA. Edit: Applying for IBR if it matters [link] [comments]  |
| Advice on whether to take PAYE or REPAYE? Posted: 04 Jan 2020 12:37 PM PST 27 years old, single, 75K in debt, of which 60K is unsubsidized direct loans (and one DIRECT PLUS) earning 65K, don't really ever see it increasing beyond 80K at most in my lifetime, tbh. I'd also like to get married at some point. Also, I'm my parents' retirement plan, for what that's worth Been putting off submitting my application while deciding and when I asked NAVIENT to explain the differences they literally said "there are no differences between the two plans" and recommended REPAYE which is like...come on [link] [comments]  |
| Can refinancing student loans affect future mortgage qualification? Posted: 04 Jan 2020 09:42 AM PST I am considering refinancing my student loans. Current weighted interest rate for my federal Stafford loans is approximately 5.7% and I was approved for a refinance of 4.6% through Earnest on a 10 year fixed interest repayment plan. I am not really concerned with the actual act of refinancing (weighing the federal protections vs. private refinance risk, etc.), but more of how it could potentially affect my ability to purchase a house within the next 4-5 months. I am planning on putting 20% down on the house and currently have a DTI of approximately 6%. Are there any potential negative consequences of refinancing now that would hinder my ability to qualify for a conventional mortgage? One final note is that I do not anticipate refinancing my student loans to increase my DTI by a significant amount. Thank you for your help! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2020 09:27 AM PST I have been on the standard 10 year repayment plan for ~3.5 years now. My current job seems unstable and future employment status seems uncertain if things go south. It's tough job market and I need to take steps to protect myself financially. I would like to maximize liquid savings fast. Lowering my loan payment will help me achieve this and also lower my monthly expenditures if/when I find myself unemployed. Starting balance $115,000. REPAYE $670 Is the repayment term extended 20/25 years from the day I select the new repayment plan? Please share insights, experience, and recommendations relevant to these options. THANKS! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2020 09:32 AM PST I recently enrolled in grad school and my bank account was changed over to a student account, thereby changing the account number. The account number I entered for the new account was wrong and has led me to become delinquent in my student loan payments. I have fixed the issue with the wrong account, however, I am so scared that this is going to hurt my future income with governmental garnishments, hurt my credit, and do other things that I am not aware of. Could someone who knows about this or has experienced this please give me some insight as to what is going to happen to my future income/credit/etc.? [link] [comments]  |
| Nelnet has the wrong graduation date for me Posted: 04 Jan 2020 09:27 AM PST It says I am graduating in May 2020 but I'm on track to finish by May 2021 at the latest. Should I be worried about this or will the school update the loan provider? [link] [comments]  |
| Question about paying student loans while in school. Posted: 04 Jan 2020 08:47 AM PST It looks like I'll finally have to start taking out private student loans. At my university, if you go over 134% of your degree plans total hours, you're ineligible for financial aid, and that includes federal loans. Due to changing my major and coming into the university with almost 60 hours of dual credit that didn't count towards my degree, I'll have about 2 years left of school that won't be covered by financial aid. My total costs this semester for tuition and fees will be $6,330. I also think I'm going to take out a little more to consolidate some other debt that has a higher interest rate. So I'll probably take out $8,000. Currently I get some money from the VA for being in school because of my dads disability. That is $1,224/month which covers my rent/food/utilities. I had a job last year where I was making about $1000/month while in school and I think that I should easily be able to funnel all of that into my student loans. My school offers an installment plan, but that would be $1600/month which I can't afford. Does anyone have experience with paying off their loans while in school? I'd like to do the best I can to not have a massive amount of loans hanging over my head once I graduate and I'd do anything I could to make that amount less or even manageable for when I graduate. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2020 10:02 AM PST What's my likelihood of getting a private student loan for graduate school, strictly for tuition, if I'm in default under federal loans? I want to pay out of pocket but some options aren't available to me UNLESS it's in a loan format. I'm wanting to pay month-to-month, but it MUST be through a loan company the university doesn't allow it directly from them. [link] [comments]  |
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