I just had to take an Exit Exam from EDFunds yesterday and scored a 92%. I found out that I will be paying nearly $645 per month for my student loan. I am going to get direct payment so that I can get the 1% from Chase. I am not for sure if I want to consolidate my loans because I loose on interest and chances of deferment (or was it forberance). Oh well, I guess my husband better keep his job because he is paying for this one.....lol.

You know what really scares me? Finding a job in this messed up economy. I think that students should get a longer gap when we start repayment. 6 months is not enough right about now, I will be filling for hardship so quick until your head will spin.

I am in a community college now because I said I refuse to take out student loans. What I use is Tuition Pay by Sallie Mae. I register for my classes and give them the amount of my bill for the semester. They in turn break my payments down for me and I pay it every month. Most of the times I try to give them 2 payments within the month to help me pay it off faster.

All my credits will be transferrable when I go for my bachelors/masters. If anyone is interested they are called]

They are going to ask you what school do you go to and this is to see if your school has signed up with Tuition Pay.

So it's a better idea to pay off your loan before you graduate?

It would be nice but depending on how much the school fees are, it can sometime be impossible if you are running on average income. The university I attend is private and costs more than average per course. If I had the extra funds I would have paid them down, but I can not afford $7.5k every sememster (4-5 months). But here is one thing a cloose peer of mines told me that he is doing. He has put his money in CD (escrow or whaterver) and is not touching it until the last semester of school, then he is going to pay off his private education student loans and pocket some money. It sounds good, but I cant save that type of money.


Shark6 You could have never said that better about the defaulting student loans. Oh my goodness, you can not run nor hide from them. The only time they will forgive you is if you demise or became seriously permanently disabled. I am talking nor arms and legs baby, torso ONLY!

I ran from them before when it was only like $800 something odd dollars when I was 18. They caught me when I was about in my late 20's and boooooy looka-heya, looka heya, Just when I thought I was going on vacation, they offset my entire taxes. I was crying like a baby. hhhaaaaaaaa loooooooorrrddddd! I can still feel the pain and how my knee caps busted when I feel to them. SHATTERED!!!

HJm331, there are other options out there. Depending on what type or trade school you are looking for, sometimes community colleges are your best place to start. They only cost like $0-$60 per semester, but just make sure the courses you select are transferable to a 4 year college. This is what the Dean of my shcool is trying to work on with me becasue I exhausted my transferable credits already but since I never met my sorry counselor (who let me pick my own classes) and now I am screwed, they are thinking about letting me run the two math classes together (which will probably be a huge mistake) or let me take them at a cummity college and transfer them back. I hope they will let me do that, because then I could send Chase their money back and save for the future.

Meya, I wish that I had read this article sooner. we would have paid less attention to paying off the car and more to paying off the CC.

I have also stopped lying to myself after paying down Cap 1 several times and having the balances creep back up.

I have realized that in order for me to really work on getting my scores up, like you, utilization is the key and after I pay a card down, I should not use them except for the obligaratory small purchase every 2-3 mths.

I have also realized that I must take all of the cards out of my wallet except my gas card, one of my AMex and one small limit credit card incase of emergencies. Everything else must go in the drawer.

Now, what i have been doing is getting $30-$35 from my credit union every pay in denominatins of 20 $1 bills and 3 $5 bills that lasts me until the next pay day.

I am in the 630's now Fico wise and I'm hoping with the CLIs and payments, that by next month, my Fico should be around 650. My goal is 675 by Dec.

It's great that you all are in school. However, just some friendly advice, let student loans be your last resort and whatever you do, don't default. I have a large student loan debt that I defaulted on when I was ill. I was able to get a hardship deferrment but when that ended, I couldn't afford to make the almost $400 payment. Long story short, a student loan will hound you until the day you die and I mean don't mean that figuratively.

This is the only debt that can not be included in a bankruptcy. It has to be paid or they will come after you. They will take your taxes, and they will garnish your check at 15% of your income less taxes and SS so bewarned.

So it's a better idea to pay off your loan before you graduate?

Well, it does not really rely upon your credit for fed students loans but if you are going for a private student loan it is a little more challenging (even though you qualify of course). But they are running for 4.25-6.25% right now. They also fluctuates when the intr rates are up and down. Take my advice, pay the intr while in school. I did not and that is why I owe over $600 in intr now but it is still deferred. I am going to pay on the int to keep them from getting extra money from me.


Oh ps, I got approved for the Chase Private Loan. I asked for $7k because I have 2 classes left which cost $1689 per class and I can not get a fed student loan with one class per semester. They told me that I have to be there like half time or more. Oh well, I don't care I am going to get the loan, pay for my class and buy a cheap book, then I am going to pay my interest + some of the prior loan with the remaining funds. OH and maybe have a cold one might as well enjoy something because my payments are going to be a mother. Oh lets not get to ahead Meya, you forgot you are going to consolidate them

What's a decent interest rate for student loans? I will be applying for one soon with BOA and I hope they give me a competitive interest since I have a few other accounts with them.

I have my student loans from Mohela and I left college in 2003, so it's been five years. My balance is about 4,000 dollars but if I am ever in financail trouble you can do forbearences, deferments, etc. They are there to help you if you are in trouble BECAUSE they know you will be paying on that sucker for at least 10 years! LOL Unless of course you have the money to just pay it off. They know also if you file for bankruptcy that it can't be removed because it's a government debt, so if you do get laid off or something, there is help if you need it and have the right company. My loan company doesn't report you to the bureaus until you are 60 days past due but just recently they started tacking on late fees. Seems they are really crunching down.

Sometime back my cousin took the loan and did not repay for sometime.Then the bank people closed in on him and then finally a compromise was reached and he had to pay back the amount with some interest.The penal interest was waived off.

I heard about Salle-Mae, they are no good and dirty. I transfered my loans over to JP Morgan Chase, and they wont even give me a student card. Can you believe that?

In todays society, it is a
good investment for the government.

It is very true that by providing loan to students the government
is in a way is investing.As they are the most precious asset for
any nation.That is the section of the society which is going to
shape up the future.

Yeah, the government needs all those students to grow up big and strong and smart so they'll go enlist in the armed forces -- so we can invade more countries!

I still owe about $45,000 but word on the street is that Sallie Mae is hurting BADLY. I'm hoping I'll survive that rip-off company and my debt will be wiped off the books.

In todays society, it is a
good investment for the government.

It is very true that by providing loan to students the government
is in a way is investing.As they are the most precious asset for
any nation.That is the section of the society which is going to
shape up the future.

Now that is real talk. I know how you feel and I am not going to hide it either. I know that am working pretty darn hard to stay on track with my finances, but I will refuse to let anything on credit take food out of me and my kids mouths and a roof off of our head. As you can see, I am not a slim person, so ummmm therefore, I will eat and sleep somewhere...lmao.

Yeah, I am going to put mines in auto pay and we get a discount for doing that also. When i begin to pay my loans, I want to make sure that I am debt free, because I am not going to mix personal debt with business debt...nooo waaay buddie. I have learned a lesson, and I have the man above in my footprints. I feel so ucky when I can not pay on time and I do not like paying 1 week or so after the statement, that is why I have them all around the same time.

Our food bill is getting rediculous because the kids are growing and their appetite is much bigger than what it used to be, I did not realize that food can cost so much. I remember when my mom used to purchase my capn crunch for $2.99 per box or less at Safeway. I have to pay $6.99 for a box because my baby loves them to death. I run to safeway when they have them "buy 1 get 1 free."

If this don't pay off, I am going to pull a John Q on somebody, the school or the job I am applying for.

I know that's right!

Well, during my rehab my payments were $300/month which was really hard for me. Now I am at $75/month which is managable...but I know me...this student loan payment would be the first one that i would let go and not pay if i happen to have a difficult month making ends meet. My monthly budget is REALLY tight (who's isn't right?? ) so any little unexpected thing throws a big ole wrench in my world. I am really trying to get an emergency fund started (trying to put $25/paycheck in a savings acct.) so that I can breathe a little easier but it's so hard!!
Consolidating your loans I'm sure will make it easier...and maybe signing up for direct debit for the payments...I know it helps me I do it for everything that i can...if i know that the payment will come out of my account on a certain day every month it seems to force me to keep the money in there and not spend it. I REALLY don't wanna mess up my checking acct again and if a get too many overdrafts for direct debits that don't clear i know BofA will close me.
You seem to have great wisdom and smarts on this stuff i'm sure you'll be fine!