3 Sure-Fire Tips to Pay Off Your Student Loans in a Timely Fashion

By Amanda Cohen on March 8, 2019

College is supposed to be the best four years of our lives; blossoming social life, friendships for life, increased intelligence, a taste of independence, and so much more. However, after you toss your cap into the air and laugh and cry with your friends on your graduate day, the real world begins and you are plagued with the burdensome responsibility of repaying your mountain of student loans. As if true adulthood isn’t financially straining enough as it is (with rent payments, food payments, transportation, credit cards, and more), you have to have the worst part of college heckling you in the background (student loans, just in case you didn’t catch on).

I may not be a master of finances, but I can definitely give you some advice on how to repay your student loans in a timely manner so that they don’t curse the next 40+ years of your life. In addition, I will give you some websites that you can use to get help from a loan officer who can give you expert advice on a payment plan for your student loans.

Image via. https://pixabay.com/en/money-finance-mortgage-loan-2696229/

Budget

As an adult, there are so many things in life that you will have to budget for: food, rent, emergency money, savings, everyday expenses, and so on. If you’re already budgeting, then why not budget for your student loans? Some of you might roll your eyes and think that you already do this, but I’m talking about a strict budget plan for your student loans because just setting aside some money when you have some extra payday money left over isn’t enough; you need a plan! Most people get paid twice a month (every other week). Depending on what your paycheck is and how much your rent and general expenses are, the amount you can set aside for your student loans will differ. However, here is a doable way to set aside money. Every time you get a paycheck, put aside 5-7 percent of that paycheck into a separate bank account that is only for your student loan payback money. By having a bank account instead of, I don’t know, a “piggy bank,” will give you interest on your money; it may not be a lot of extra cash with the interest, but any little bit helps. Every two months, empty that bank account into the pockets of those you have to pay in order to pay off your student loans.

Refinancing Your Loans

Most students have multiple student loans that they need to pay off. All of these loans might have different interest rates and payment periods; because of this, paying them off can be extra stressful and it can be hard to keep track of everything. In most cases, students can refinance their student loans. What this means is that you basically combine all of your student loans into one loan that you pay interest on so that you aren’t paying interest on 5+ student loans (this will help save you time and money). I don’t know the specifics on how to refinance your loans, but the websites I gave you at the article and a simple Google search will help you find a reliable, efficient, and effective way to refinance your student loans. Before settling on one company to help you with refinancing your student loans, utilize student loan calculators, web reviews, comparison articles, and more so that you choose the best people/company to work with and to ensure that they aren’t going to add more of a burden onto an already stressful situation.

Be Smart on Birthdays and Holidays

This may sound silly, but you would be surprised how much money and help you can receive from family on your birthday and around the holidays. Instead of asking for that new top that you’ve been pining after, ask for cash or a check that you can deposit into your student loan bank account that we talked about above. That $20 you receive from your grandma and grandpa every year with the cute Hallmark card can go a long way! Just be smart about your spending and what you ask for once you hit true adulthood; $50 can make the difference between you having to pay an extra month of interest rates versus not having to.

Image via. https://pixabay.com/en/debt-finance-money-credit-loan-1157824/

Well, isn’t that easy? Okay, it’s not easy to pay off your student loans, but with these tips, I’m hoping I can make this responsibility less overwhelming. If you want more detailed information on paying your student loans, here are some websites for you to check out!

I hope my tips and this list of companies/websites will help you pay off your student loans as quickly and painlessly as possible! My very last piece of advice is to just be smart about your spending once you leave college. Live at home, if it’s in the cards, so that you don’t have to spend money on rent and that money can go towards paying off your loans. Small adjustments and smart spending can go a long way. Good luck; you got this!

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