Pay As You Earn - alternative payment options

[rearly3d]

For a few months I've been under the PAYE repayment option for my federal student loans which has brought my "minimum payment" to $0. Of course letting them fester is very anti-Mustachian, so I've been making small payments to the Federal loans to offset interest. This has allowed me to pay extra into my higher interest private loans.

Apparantly, Uncle Sam will pay interest on subsidized loans and unsubsidized portions of consolidated loans for 3 years. So, I'm pretty sure my best option for the near future is to pay interest only for the unsubsidized federal loans. Sallie Mae makes this a huge pain in the ass so I'll probably have to send a check with a letter specifying the payment allocation every month.

If anyone has any suggestions or related experiences I'd love to hear.

[TeresaB]

We are doing something similar: Choosing the plans that have the lowest minimum payments so the maximum possible amount of our money can go to the high-interest loans. We're choosing graduated, not PAYE. I think we don't qualify for PAYE.

[Latwell]

We are doing something similar: Choosing the plans that have the lowest minimum payments so the maximum possible amount of our money can go to the high-interest loans. We're choosing graduated, not PAYE. I think we don't qualify for PAYE.

This is my method also, have the lowest payment plan but put a ton of money to the area of my choosing.

[Middlesbrough]

For 6 months after graduation, every 2 weeks I called in and had to talk through my payments. Then, I would have them verify each loan number I wanted and amount because some had lower interest rates. It sucked, but I set aside 15 minutes and did it. Now I am past the deferral period and it is simple to make payments online.

[Grateful Stache]

it is simple to make payments online.

For even more simplicity, sigh up for auto-pay.

I usually avoid auto-pays, but in this case it is well-worth it to avoid missing payments.

[TeresaB]

For 6 months after graduation, every 2 weeks I called in and had to talk through my payments. Then, I would have them verify each loan number I wanted and amount because some had lower interest rates. It sucked, but I set aside 15 minutes and did it. Now I am past the deferral period and it is simple to make payments online.

Wow, that's awful. We can do all this online even in the deferment period. It seems like the loan servicers vary widely in how user-friendly they are.

[taekvideo]

it is simple to make payments online.

For even more simplicity, sigh up for auto-pay.

I usually avoid auto-pays, but in this case it is well-worth it to avoid missing payments.

Why avoid it? I pay EVERY recurring payment with autopay... mortgage, utilities, credit cards, student loans, etc... it seems like it'd be a pita to have to pay them manually all the time, and I would inevitably space some of them off.

[rearly3d]

Sallie Mae, and probably other loan providers, give you an interest rate reduction with autopay (only .25% but it helps)