Know where to find your student loan details
Where to find student loan details such as payment amount and due dates or lender name and contact information? You can't manage your debts if you don't know where to find relevant information.
Create a spreadsheet with your student loan information
Being organized is an important tip for dealing with student loan debt. And creating a spreadsheet with your student loan information is the first step toward getting organized.
Calculate Your Total Debt & Total Monthly Payments
During the four years in college, you may have taken multiple loans. Each loan amount may seem relatively small, but together they can add up to a significant amount. Add the monthly payments to determine the total amount you need to pay back every month toward your loans.
Review the Grace Period for Each Loan
Most student loans come with a grace period during which you don’t have to make any repayments. You only start making payments after the grace period ends. For most loans including Stafford loans, the grace period starts six months after graduating.
Explore Your Student Loan Repayment Options
Private student loans generally don’t have repayment options but federal student loans do. With federal student loans, you’re not stuck with the standard 10-year term. If your income is limited and you can’t afford to make monthly payments, you can choose from multiple income-driven repayment plans.
Sign Up for Autopay
When you sign up for autopay, you give instructions to your bank to transfer the monthly payments directly to the lender’s account. This ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ repayment strategy has several benefits. For one, all payments go out on time every month. You don’t have to remember due dates or write out checks every month.
Pay Off Loans with Higher Interest First
If you have extra cash after making monthly payments on all your student loans, put it towards paying off the most expensive loan. That would be the loan with the highest interest. Keep doing this until that loan is paid off completely. Then start paying off the loan with the second-highest interest.
Consider Refinancing Your Student Loans
Refinancing can be one of the best ways to manage or even lower your student loan debt. But only if it’s done right.Refinancing involves exchanging your current loans for a new loan with a new interest rate and different terms and conditions. The lender will quote an interest rate based on your credit score and monthly income but you can choose the loan term.
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