Now that you have your college degree and hopefully have found a job in the same field that you majored in, you are now required to repay all the money you had to barrow in order to get that wonderful degree. That’s assuming you graduated, of course. So how do you begin to tackle the mountain of debt while still maintaining your currant lifestyle? Well if you have been in college, and we will assume you don’t have overly rich parents that can bail you out, then it is fair to assume that you have not been living high-on-the-hog, for the past however many years it has taken you to graduate. Not much fat there in the budget to cut. Let’s face it you still have to eat and have gas in the car if you are going to work every day. $1st ADD IT UP You will want to add up all the outstanding loans to get a good idea of just how high the mountain is that you are about to climb. By knowing the big, bad, awful true, it will get you one step closer to reaching your goal of paying back all your student loans.
$2nd MAKE A REPAYMENT PLAN Make a repayment plan and stick to it. Intuitively you will want to tackle the largest loan first, but if you can pay off the smallest one first then you will have that monthly payment to help pay off the next smallest loan.
$3RD CREATE A BUDGET Each month you must make some kind of payment to keep all the plates spinning like in a Chinese Circus. By reducing and paying off the smallest loan it will give you confidence in your repayment plan, but don’t use that extra money to get more cable. No, it goes to pay off the next, now lowest loan of the bunch, and by throwing any extra cash towards paying this loan down, it will be gone that much faster and you will have two less payments a month… and you put that towards the next loan. You see where I am going with this?
$4th EXTRA CASH CAN MAKE A DENT Any extra income that comes into the house is to go towards this repayment plan. If you get an extra shift at work it can be one less payment at the end of the loan. You survived 4 or more years on a strict budget and once you get the student loans paid off it will have been good training for a low debt, high income life style.
$5th IF YOU NEEED HELP, ASK! There are many good reputable firms out there that can help you figure out your repayment plan, or how to create a budget, and help in earning extra income, or maybe it is time to talk with a consultant that can show you other options. Repayment may not be possible at this time and you need real financial advice. If so reach out to a bankruptcy trustee at LCTaylor for a free consultation. Visit here for more options.
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