When starting out on your student life with any student loan, everything is a new experience. However one of the biggest downsides to all this is to ensure your student loan spending is kept under control. This is all the time throughout your student days. And this is made that much more difficult right from the start as you have to buy loads of new text books to start your studies. This is as well as having to buy your own laptop and printer. So there are a lot of costs incurred right from the start. Soon the amount on your student loan starts to look rather big. Next you have heard some of the horror stories of how much some owe on their student loan, when finishing their studies. And to make it even worse, the graduate jobs are no longer out there. All professions are cutting back. So it means you’ll be taking that much longer to pay back what you owe on your student loan. But you don’t want this hanging over you for years. So you now start looking at the various options. That is how to reduce your student loan and ways to subsidise your student life.
Most of us have a bunch of loans from a bunch of private lenders because school is expensive! Most lenders don’t shoulder the burden wholly so we are left paying different monthly payments, at different rates of interest to different lenders. Don’t let this situation get you down, debt consolidation loans could be the answer!
A debt consolidation loan is a loan that bundles up your debts, lowers your interest and streamlines your monthly payment to one lender. This sounds like a dream but it is reality and you can take advantage of the many private lenders out there to consolidate your private student loan debt. There are three important mine fields to consider when seeking out a debt consolidation loan.
I just read about a case where Dana Soderberg was suing her father to pay her tuition costs after having him sign a contract that he would handle her tuition until the age of 25. Well that’s one sure way to get out of your debt, not exactly one that I support but I suppose not everyone thinks along the terms of actually having their parents sign contracts when it comes to helping them with their education. I remember starting the local California State University with a graduation check from my grandmother and my mom telling me “you should apply that to your tuition.” I never thought otherwise.
So if you haven’t contractually binded your parents and don’t want to just walk away from those loans, consider your options. If the career you are working towards isn’t taking you on, then maybe you need to take on a part-time job. Find ways to budget your money, maybe sell some items on eBay or even have a garage sale.
Fees, Fees, Fees! Potential lenders have varied policies about fees so research your lender carefully and ask the right questions. Check with your lenders about application fees, credit check fees, late fees and any other hidden fees you might not expect or be aware of. Your lender shouldn’t charge you application fees or credit check fees, if they do, move along or ask them to waive those fees.
If you have federal loans, the federal government offers grants and your loan might qualify for forgiveness. If you are like me and you have private loans, military loans or any other type these will not qualify. Student loans are known as unsecured debt and the only guarantee that it will be payed off, is through the act of actually making payments! (In contrast to secured debt – like a mortgage, where you can lose your house if you do not pay).
Plan for your future by using student loan leverage Unlike most, when it comes to starting your working life in your chosen career, you’re under no pressure. You have your passive incomes streams still working for you. So you have regular income coming in all the time to keep you afloat. So even if you have no job there is no real financial pressure on you. And when you start work, you can set up even more passive income streams to supplement your main day job income. This could be so you can buy the right house or flat in the best areas. In the meanwhile other ex students with huge student loans struggle when they start their working life. They find it hard to make ends meet every month. They still have to pay off all of their student loan for years to come. This is your route map of how to stay ahead of others financially by setting up your own passive income streams that are residual in nature, just like those that do this for a living full time.
Harris Smith offers advice on home equity line of credit and obtaining credit. Utilities Debt Consolidation programs that will help you to get out of debt.