How To Pay Off Your Student Loans

How To Pay Off Your Student Loans Without Going Broke (Or Losing Your Sanity)

It was a great feeling to graduate from college, to be free from assignments and exams and ready for the next step — starting a career. That feeling lasted all of six months until I received a letter about paying back my student loans. The requested monthly payment seemed absurd to me, and I had no idea how I was going to handle it without having to give up my social life. With a bit of research, I came up with a great plan to manage my payments and still have plenty of leftover cash.

Rearrange Your Priorities

One of the first things you need to realize is that you are not in college anymore so you should no longer be living a college lifestyle. That doesn’t mean you can’t still have a good time, you just need to remember that you have responsibilities now — including that looming student loan payment. For me, all this required was a simple mindset change and honing my ability to say no. Contrary to popular belief, you are not missing anything groundbreaking when you choose to stay at home with a good book over going out to the bar on a Monday night.

This really sunk in for me when I watched my roommate call in sick on a Tuesday morning, clutching the toilet and complaining about how much money he had spent the night before. Since we’re co-workers and I had skipped out on the shenanigans, I happily picked up his shift and spent the day making money.

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Cut Your Expenses

The next step is to budget yourself so your monthly payment won’t deplete your entire bank account. To help with this, I use Mint.com — a free and easy tool to manage your money. It allows you to compare your income with your expenses and keep everything in check. Other than that, I cook my own meals whenever possible, using only the cheapest ingredients I can find.

Store brand products are usually a good bet, and if you’re concerned about the difference you can always compare labels. You’ll often find that the store brand contains exactly the same ingredients as the more expensive and popular brand — and it basically tastes the same too. With this alone, you’ll notice a few extra bucks in your pocket from week-to-week. Those dollars can go directly towards your monthly student loan payments — without much of a sacrifice to your lifestyle.

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Have Your Payment Adjusted

One of the first things I did when I got that bill was to call the lender and tell them that I thought my payment was too high. They were happy to work with me and offer a few different solutions, one of which was an income-based repayment plan. This allows you to adjust your monthly payment based on your income, so it will be more suitable to the amount of money you’re pulling in every month. You may even be able to get your payments deferred for up to 12 months, depending on your financial situation. Keep in mind, though, that your loan will continue to accrue interest, so you will end up owing more in the long run. But you can deal with that later.

Make More Money

Once you reach a level where you’re comfortable with your minimum monthly payment, you can work towards increasing your income — whether through a side gig or a full-time job. Remember, a lower monthly payment just means that the terms of your loan get drawn out over a longer period of time. That’s why whenever I have any extra money, it goes directly towards my student loans, and I always try to pay more than the monthly minimum. This ensures that I’m fighting those interest rates as much as I possibly can and that I am working to get my loans paid off as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, I’ve been spending my free time looking for a higher paying job so I can wipe away my student debt and never have to worry about it again. Student loan payments can certainly be daunting, but there are several steps you can take to manage them without going broke. Nobody said it would be easy, but if you are willing to put in the effort you can find a balance in your life that allows you to live comfortably despite the debt knocking at your door.

Once you find that balance, simply put your shoulder to the wheel and start chipping away at your student loan payments — a little at a time.

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