Student loan cancellation…is there ANYTHING I can do?
So here is my problem…
I graduated from college last year and am struggling financially to repay my loans, (I know, who isn’t)?
I borrowed short of $56K during my college years, and due to my own error (being 18 and naive and thinking it was basically free money), I am now ending up paying over $100,000 back (payments of $400/month for 30 year).
My loans are split between subsidized and unsubsidized stafford loans and a private loan through a local Vermont company called VSAC. (Who say that I cannot consolidate or defer payments because it was private loans).
I am currently employed for a non-profit organization (I am an early education teacher) and told that there may be hope. I do NOT have a perkins loan and everything I have read has said that loan cancellation pretty much only pertains to that loan.
I guess the long and short of this question is, is there anything I can do? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks so much!
I just paid off my student loans and was in the same position you were in. I had 20K in credit card debt, 20K in car loan and 60K in student loans. I actually teach on this and have a presentation called ‘From College to Debt Free’ I’m putting into a book….basically you start by spending more by putting a small amount into savings, investment, a gift account and paying off your debt and automate these ‘fulfillment’ deposits. Then you automate your Fear deposits, those debts that have a penalty, credit cards, car, student loan, mortgage and taxes. Finally, what you have left over and it may not be much is your ‘Fun’ account and is everything else…what this does is stops you from having to worry about the bills and gets you to step 2. What to do with extra money. Now that everything is automated everytime you have extra money it’s split between Fulfillment (Savings, Debt Paydown etc) and Fun and in this way you begin whittling away at your debt. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Finally, You start going to trusted advisors to get you more money from these areas…you need a professional to help you spend less than you make and go from there up the ladder you came down…so an advisor for your ‘Fun’ or Discretionary Spending account…then taxes, mortgage, student loans, car, credit card, debt paydown, charity, investment and savings…you do it in this order because spending less than you make, taxes and a home is much more impactful than moving your savings interest rate from 2 to 5%. In this way I went from down 100k to up 300k. You see as soon as your ‘extra money’ is going to fulfillment and fun, it’s a joy to get a second job and I turned that second job into a thriving business. You can see my website at www.feeldebtfree.com but either way…hope this helps…
