[USER]

Ugh… any advice here. A few months ago my hubby started paying on his school loans again. The total is roughly $80,000 and we are paying almost $800 a month which isn’t ideal but it is what it is.

I recognized last night as I made a payment that each time we make a payment only $40 is coming off the actual total.

The rest is interest and whatever else …There is like 10 loans total some as low as $1,000 but each one has their own interest rate. Some are say 3% some are 6% … how do we fix this.

I suggested we should get a single bank loan and pay it that way if it’s cheaper in interest in the long run.

Hubby thinks we should just pay off the smaller loans first to stop that interest from at least them coming in. But we really don’t have the $6,000 to drop on them.

It’s freaking ridiculous.

[Destiny]

I take my taxes every year and pay off one loan in full

[Aimee]

I spent YEARS with student loans. I wouldn’t advise consolidating right now unless you can get a better interest rate (I know it’s not likely).

I would look into income based repayments.

This is what I did because I couldn’t afford the massive payment.

I would then throw the other into savings and save up that 6000 and pay it off. I know interest is still accruing but it’s doing that regardless.

After 25 years of payments (it’s forever) (and double check me) federal student loans are forgiven.

[Miracle]

Consolidate the loans, and then it will be one big loan that you’re paying towards instead of multiple with different interests rates.

[Becky]

What does your husband do? Can he qualify for the pslf forgiveness?

[Dawn]

Pay minimums on the larger ones and focus on paying off the smaller ones. Once the smaller ones are paid for, you’ll have more available to pay on the larger ones (snowball method).

If you do decide to consolidate, consider only consolidating the larger ones that you couldn’t pay off at an accelerated rate anyway.

And pay off those small ones as quickly as you can.

[Jillian]

He should have a pretty high earning potential if he acquired $80k in student loans, right? I had about $45k back in 2019.

I got side gigs to supplement my income and decreased my expenses. I was able to quit the side gigs when my income increased.

I paid off the loans in 2021.
Also, we just had FOUR years of zero percent interest. If he had made even a $600/mo payment over the last 4 years his balance would’ve decreased by $28,800.

When the government announced they were pausing interest on student loans, I immediately knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The government will NEVER give me another interest-free loan. You’ve gotta strike while the iron is hot!

[Elizabeth]

I’ve never had student loans, so forgive my ignorance…Is it like a mortgage?

If so, pay the required payment, then direct them to pay the rest on the principal only.

[Tara]

Refinance if you can. We paid and paid ours but the balance never went down. Then we refinanced and boom!!!

Ultimately we were able to wrap them into our HELOC and deduct the interest which was awesome.

Now we are selling and they will be gone.

[Julie]

Pay the highest interest off first is the best route financially. Emotionally, pay the smaller loans off first, it’ll motivate you to pay faster.

You’ll have to make extra payments. Make sure your extra payments go to principal only.

Banks typically default extra payments to interest first, unless specifically told not to.

If they make you jump through too many hoops to do principal payments only, have your extra payments taken out on the due date, in addition to the minimum payment.

I wouldn’t get a private loan to pay, but some of the federal student loans might be able to be consolidated, preferably with lower interest.

Another work around is using a 0% interest credit card for small portions that can be paid off before interest starts again, look for ones with cash back rewards, and calculate if the 3% credit card transfer fee is worth it.

[Rachel]

Either method is viable. The snowball method (paying off smaller loans first) is recommended by many in the financial health community. Taking iut a bank loan has the advantage of a lower interest rate (possibly).

However, if his loans were through the federal loan program and you switch it to a private loan there won’t be the option of forebearance should you need it in the future or pay off programs if he’s in a field or a loan program that qualifies….just some things to consider when both of you make the decision. Good luck.

[Danielle]

Sadly, there’s no way around it. Students are mainly interest. Not sure what advice I can give other than agree it’s ridiculous.

[Kandee]

Snow ball it, smallest to largest. Use most of your tax returns to knock it down and pick up gig work to chip it away.

It seems impossible, but y’all can do this. Bankruptcy won’t get rid of student loans either so make a pact with each other and make it a game on a poster board to knock it out in 5 -6 years

[Nadja]

Yep, that’s the same with all amortized debt, even your mortgage. Combining an infinite banking policy with the debt snowball/avalanche system would crush your debt in a much shorter period of time, saving you a lot of money.

[Sarah]

I spent 10 years paying off 80k+ in student loans. High interest rates too.

1. Utilize the “snowball method” of debt payoff.

2. Do not consolidate them right now.

3. Make an Excel sheet of each individual loan. Columns need to include: loan balance, monthly minimum, interest rate, amount applied towards interest each month for each payment, amount applied towards principal balance each month for each payment.

4. Plan on paying the monthly minimum payment amount ONLY on alllll of the loans.

5. Analyze the spreadsheet. Pick 1 of the loans that is smaller AND has the highest interest rate. For this loan, pay significantly more each month to pay it off. Whatever you can afford to pay in a month reasonably.

6. Call up the company that owns that loan and set up a monthly payment with them in the amount you’ve elected. Make sure that for the payment amount you’re sending that is above the minimum payment is going towards the PRINCIPAL BALANCE ONLY and that it is not being applied to future interest.

For example, if the minimum payment for this one is $65 and you’ve decided to pay $200 a month, Make sure the extra $135 is being applied towards the balance.

7. Once this individual loan is paid off, pick another and repeat. Paying off 1 loan will lower the total monthly minimum you need to pay.

For example, if your total monthly loan payments was $800 but now you paid off one that was $65, now the combined total of your minimums is $735.

Since you were accustomed to paying a total of $935 (because you were paying extra towards that ONE loan), continue to pay at least $935 every month.

As you continue to pay off each individual little loan, the amount EXTRA you’re able to pay will continue to increase and the impact you’re making will be larger and larger.

Hopefully this makes sense. Please feel free to comment or message me directly if you have any questions.

I did this to 4 out of 6 of my loans. Once I got down to 2 loans and the interest rates were low, I refinanced them. I paid off more than half the debt quickly and brought my minimums per month down from $920 to $300.

And with the refinance, MUCH more of my monthly payments are going towards the principal balance owed.

[Brandy]

I would snowball it. Pay off the loan with the smallest amount due. Then put that payment towards the next lowest price loan.

Eventually you’ll be left with the biggest loan to pay off but now your $800 payment will go directly to that loan.

Student loans are so predatory. When I was a freshman in college I took out one student loan for $5k. I started paying on it my senior year.

I have paid $200 on that loan since I graduated in 2012. 13 years later I have paid $32k for a $5000 loan. My amount due is currently $5962.

[Johnson]

Snowball method is pay the smallest debt first
Can you get an 80k loan?

The debt is a result, symptom

Decide to not have debt going forward
Whatever you do

[Author]

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