Money Matters
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Student Loans ?!
I had to pay for college on my own and I have a very large significant amount of debt attached to it, all at different interest rates. I'm paying $1300 a month just for my student loans. I work full time, at least 45 hours a week and bring home at least $2476 a month. I like to have at least $500 in savings at all times (I know that's not a lot by any means and I've gone down to $300 at times) I pay $10-$15 over my minimum payment amount for my Student Loans. I know I really need to step up my game in terms of my loans if I want them paid off before I'm 45 but I'm not just sure how to begin doing that.
Any suggestions would be great! Thank you!
Re: Student Loans ?!
I need more specs.
I agree with PPs that you should try to consolidate if possible.
Have you looked into income-based repayment? I know that will just prolong paying off the loan, but if you're having trouble living on the $1100/mo that's left over, even sometimes, you could lower your minimum payment. You could put a little more in savings to start out, and then you could continue to make payments as high as you can afford - but you wouldn't be in nearly as much trouble if you have an unexpected expense in the future.
"You know you're in love when you don't want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." - Dr. SeussI have to agree with PP, the only thing I really have to add would be can you pick up a second job a couple nights a week? Deliver pizza a couple nights a week and you could maybe add like $1000 to your monthly income to help with emergencies and pay down your student loans quicker.
But we really need more details! Are you working in your field? What exactly do your loans total? Do you have income growth potential in your career- like you will be getting bonuses or good size raises every year? Are you looking for a higher paying job?
I went to school for Psychology (crazy part is I got scholarships & grants for this school the most out of any others I was accepted to) and am currently working in Human Resources, so there are career opportunities for me. I've been with my company for 7 1/2 years and I do get raises (percentage of raise based on performance/pay bands based on company) and I'm not at the top of what I can make just yet but I will be within the next 2 years. I also have a lot of room to get promoted within my company and I'm paying very little in health benefits which are pretty great, I'm very fortunate for that aspect.
My DH and I were just married in March and he's paying the household bills including the mortgage but excluding our car payment ($370/month) & cell phone bill which I pay. Our grocery bill we split, and it's normally every 2 weeks.
My concern with consolidating is once I do it, I'm locked into that rate in most cases(please correct me if I'm wrong!) and I can't do it again for a certain time period or sometimes at all.