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How do you deal with debt? (student loans and other debt)

Finder

Finder

Bluelight Crew
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Feb 29, 2000
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Student Loans (and other debt)

Ok, I know I should probably get a financial advisor, but I thought I would run this buy the BL community first. I'm abnormally stressed about this today as I have been dealing with Sallie Mae on almost a monthly basis due to their inability to process my online payments correctly. If I could have reached through the phone and killed the CSR supervisor I was on the phone with today I would have. I hung up on her instead. That's a whole other story, however.

I need help. I have a sizeable amount of debt in the form of student loans; let's just say about enough to buy a nice, brand new luxury car outright. One of the loans is a Stafford loan that I have consolidated and locked in at 3.37% and the private loan is locked it at 5.5%. I also have some credit card debt lingering from college and last year when I really had no choice but to charge things.

Would it be in my best interest to lower my month payments to the student loans as much as possible and focus on the credit cards until they're paid off? I'm thinking this may be a good idea as credit cards are obviously at a higher interest rate than the student loans. Also, what are my chances of getting my loans bought out by another company so I just don't have to deal with Sallie Mae anymore (I fucking HATE Sallie Mae with the burning passion of seven suns). Of course, all loan companies probably deal with people in the same shithead way as Sallie Mae.

Does anyone have any suggestions or helpful hints on how to pay off all this debt and still have a life? I understand that taking care of debt should be the biggest priority, but I don't want to hole myself in my apartment for the next few years and dump all my extra money into bills. I'm thinking a good way to start would be to purchase a money management program like Quicken and set up a budget for myself.

Any and all advice is appreciated.
 
I took care of all my debt by filing bankruptcy, however, unfortunetly that won't work for you because student loans do not get dismissed through bankruptcy filing. But, as far as my debt was concerned, that was my best option.

Setting up a budget for yourself is a wonderful idea. As well as keeping a spending log, if only for awhile. Get a little notebook or something, and keep track of EVERY expense, everyday. Review it and look at the things that probably weren't the best spending choices, and things you could go without.

Money problems are never easy, but I'm sure I don't need to tell you that. And, as if they aren't bad enough already, you often have to deal with a lot of crap from the people/places who are trying to collect money from you.

Best of luck! :)
 
I think you can generally consolidate student loans under a different lender if you have more than one lender to begin with, but you are only allowed to consolidate once anyway. If you've already done this, and/or all of your loans were with sallie mae then you're pretty much stuck with it. You may be able to get a deferrment for a short while based on your level of income, and then pour all of your $$ into the credit card debt for that time period, or you might could switch your repayments around so that you owe less now and more over the upcoming years when you'll be making more money. I'm not sure if that's still an option after consolidation. Depending on the level of credit card debt it might be a good idea to take a second (part-time) job just for the span of a year or so to pay that off, so you won't have it hanging over your head.
 
hehe, while I was grabbing some late dinner, starlightgemini and fizzygirl pretty much covered the ideas I was going to put down. I'll say it anyway. :)

I've always been under the impression that you were stuck with Sally Mae unless and until they decided to sell your loan to a different institution.

Definitely pay off your credit cards first, but only if you don't have to re-sign your student loans to a triple term to do so. It's really hard to say what your best course of action should be. I don't know how "tight" your situation is, what your current and future employment outlook is, what your outlook on life in general is. To someone who has their mind set on "american dream" goals (family, wife, kids, dog), I would say something different to what I would say to someone who has a "one day at a time", "shit happens", "everything happens for a reason" attitude. I'm fully okay with either, by the way.

some options in general:
- decrease payments, increase term
- consolidate
- defer/forbear (if you need a small break)
- stay home and suffer for a year
- speak to financial advisor

There are pros and cons with each one of those options.


I went through a realy rough spot a while back, one of many. :\ I tried many ways to get out, pay my way out, cut back and save my way out, counsel my way out, nothing worked. Stupid accounting/money management software didn't work. What worked? A month-at-a-glance style pocket dayminder. I picked one up at Staples for three bucks, on sale, but later found no-name ones at a dollar store. I din't stop smoking, I didn't stop going out, drinking, having fun. What I did was every time I bought a pack of smokes, I'd put aside the same amount of money in a savings box (or account). Every time I went out, bought drinks, had fun, I did the same - put aside 1:1. Each day, I would document what I'd put aside in that little cheap-ass daytimer. At the end of the month, week, round figure, I paid down a credit card. It was really rough for a while, but after a while I got sort of used to it. After a while longer, I stopped smoking, but kept putting aside the money that I would have spent buying cigs plus the money to match it. Anyhow, it was a rough beginning, relatively smooth sailing after that and lasted half as long as I'd expected it to. I've hit a couple of rough spots since then, but each time, that trusty cheap-ass dayminder got me through. Funny thing is, I'd started up smoking again a couple of times over the years, yet every time that daytimer goes into action, you can bet top dollar that I'll be off those smokes within a couple-three months. It doesn't make me feel bad or give me any guilt trips or anything, it just stops making sense (the smoking). It's really quite strange.

Anyhow, sorry to ramble on about my piggy-bank diaries. I was just trying to show that each person will have their own unique ways of climbing out of their financial pit. There is no magic way that fits one and all.

P.S. Even though I don't need it, I still get a dayminder at the beginning of each year. It's old school, I know, but you can't "forget" to recharge it or erase it accidentally like a PDA. Instead of doing a daily drop, I just set aside a preset round figure each Saturday. Still don't smoke either. :)

Best of luck with discovering your way. :)

edit: Sorry to the above two posters for repeating some of the things already mentioned. I had eye surgery this morning, am stumbling around with an eyepatch and groggy from medication and it's taking me forever to type stuff up today, or do anything for that matter. So I'm not throwing away my posts for nobody today. =D ;)
 
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glad i read this as next week i might take out a loan addition to stafford...i think i might just work a lot instead...
 
SLG, yeah, declaring bankruptcy is definitely not what I'm intending to do. I'm thinking the spending log is the way to go so I realize what a total moron I am with spending money of stupid shit.

Fizzy, I don't think deferrment is going to happen with my income level. :\ AND it sounds like I'm stuck with Sallie Mae. Ah, well, I guess that gives me incentive to pay off my loans as quickly as possible so they get as little of my money as I can manage.

SA, Your story made me chuckle a bit, but it makes sense. ;) Just for the record, my life outlook is pretty much this: I'm single, middle-class, not looking to get married or have kids ANYTIME in the near future, I have a stable, salaried position at a mid-sized company and should have a raise on the way in the next month or two, I own my car, my rent just went up $50 a month (because of moving to a new place), but will drop down to about $175 less than what I'm paying now once my third roommate gets a fuckin job, bills never run me more than $150ish per month. Does that help you see my position any better?

I like your 1:1 idea though...I can see how that would causes you to curb your spending rather quickly--that shit would add up! Especially buying smokes at $6.00 per pack these days...yeesh.

Anyway, thanks for the ideas. I really appreciate it. I guess I sort of realized today that I really need to take care of this instead of ignoring it like I've been doing over the last year.
 
Caught red handed, I guess. :D

I hope no one thinks I am trying to shift the blame on something, I wanted to post this thread to see the methods people have used to get themselves out of debt...and also to answer a couple of other questions.

Again, thanks for putting it into perspective, SA. :p;)
 
I wirte out a list of all the bills I have to pay, and the days they're due. I can then figure out, month by month, how much needs to be in my account on a given day. (A few of my bills automatically withdraw from my checking account.)

On Fridays, the day I get paid, I take all the "leftover" money from the previous week and either put it into savings, or make a payment on a credit card. (I tend to binge spend on my CCs... bad habit.)

You might be able to modifiy that system (depending, again, on your specific earnings, bills, and bank) when it comes to student loans, like putting x amount per month goes from savings toward the student loans.

I would absolutely suggest paying off the credit cards as fast as possible... a few months of being completely homebound are better than years of paying off 18% interest charges!

(on a total side note, does anyone know if Stafford Loans are deferred when you start school again, full time?)
 
Oh yeah that reminds: I got tons of fucking debt I was trying to ignore. Thanks alot Finder. Sheesh, ruin my day again why don't you. <j/k>
 
i this is related to school loans shouldnt it be in C&U
 
(on a total side note, does anyone know if Stafford Loans are deferred when you start school again, full time?)
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They most definitely are...just make sure you keep making the payments until the paperwork is totally processed that you've started back to school.

SA: I'm also a big fan of the paper-based planner...I keep track of my upcoming bills and where they lie in relation to my paychecks, etc. It really does help to see it all laid out.

Finder: it seems like you just need to suck it up and stop yer bitchin ;) However, I do like this thread to get some ideas on what I'll be needing to do in a year or so with my $500/mth payments (eep!)

I think this topic might be best suited here because it would deal with people that have already graduated college and how they are dealing with debt. Those people might not check the college forum as often as they would check this one...
 
^Better get on that, chief. ;)

If this thread would have been best suited for College and University, I would have put the thread there to begin with. I edited the thread title so there is no confusion.

Originally posted by fizzygirl
Finder: it seems like you just need to suck it up and stop yer bitchin ;) However, I do like this thread to get some ideas on what I'll be needing to do in a year or so with my $500/mth payments (eep!)


Yeah, my student loan payments are roughly $350-$390 every month. It's like paying rent twice! :X
 
dreamgirlie19 said:
i this is related to school loans shouldnt it be in C&U
Click to expand...

it deals with credit card debt and budgeting as well. Finder, if you want it moved, well you can move it yourself ;)
 
Don't hate on Suze. She has provided me with a wealth of knowledge. No cash wealth though. Oh I feel sooo good paying my debt off. I would rather not but it was my doing that got me there. Some worthwhile expenses (education/trip to Europe) and some not (going on another trip before Europe was paid off). Check this site out
 
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