I can't pay off my student loan

[StarswirlTheMustached]

I can't pay off my student loan right now. That's not the dire financial straits I'm in-- I am trying to cut them a check off the 'stache I managed to save up through 7 years of post-secondary. It's going to put a dent in it, yes, but she won't vanish, the 'stache. As much as I want the fucker gone, though, I cannot pay it off.
A Canada Integrated Student Loan has an interest-free "grace period" that lasts 6 months after the end of your studies. Then, the repayment period starts. It is apparently inconceivable to the National Student Loans Service Centre that someone would want to start repayment in that six-month grace period. I suspect, once I am actually able to access the repayment portion of the website, that a single lump-some payment will be equally impossible within the system, because nobody imagined it could/would/should be done. Tabernac.
You can laugh, or you can cry. I choose to laugh, so I exhibit it here, on the Wall of Shame and Comedy: behold, Mustachians, the Student Loan Program!

[gooki]

Hahaha, so funny.

[Jamesqf]

Yeah, though I must admit I can't really see why you'd want to pay off a zero-interest loan ahead of time.  (See comments elsewhere about zero-interest credit cards :-))  Leave the money in the market, and with any luck at all it'll grow another few percent between now and the end of the grace period.

[Donovan]

That's obnoxious. I just paid off one of my remaining student loans yesterday, and I haven't even graduated yet :p

Is there any possibility off talking to someone over the phone or sending a check with a special form saying that you would like to pay it off early? I remember someone on here saying that they had to do that to pay off one of their own student loans early.

[StarswirlTheMustached]

Yeah, though I must admit I can't really see why you'd want to pay off a zero-interest loan ahead of time.  (See comments elsewhere about zero-interest credit cards :-))  Leave the money in the market, and with any luck at all it'll grow another few percent between now and the end of the grace period.

I went onto their system to check where I was in the grace period-- as it happens, they think I'm still in school until April, though I left last semester; nobody taddle-- and thought I'd look at my payment options while I was online, because I've heard from others it can be a pain. That said, ja. Though because it's due in a few months, the money is only earning me a couple percent in a savings account. I'm a wuss like that.

That's obnoxious. I just paid off one of my remaining student loans yesterday, and I haven't even graduated yet :p

Is there any possibility off talking to someone over the phone or sending a check with a special form saying that you would like to pay it off early? I remember someone on here saying that they had to do that to pay off one of their own student loans early.

To be perfectly honest, I have not yet had the patience to make it through the telephone queue. I am hoping that that will be the case.

[DJDee]

That is strange. I had no problems paying towards my Canada student loan during the grace period. Just set up a bank payment online and choose the correct loan provider. It is better to do so as soon as possible as the loan does accrue interest during those six months. Hopefully you get it all figured out!

[totoro]

You can pay your student loans off at any time.  I paid my right upon graduation. You can even pay them while you are in school and the entire amount goes to the principal.  You save no money by doing this because the loan is interest free while in school.

By delaying your payment you are just accruing interest and losing money for no reason.  I would get on this right away if you have a lump sum to put down.  http://www.canlearn.ca/eng/loans_grants/repayment/manage.shtml

[StarswirlTheMustached]

You can pay your student loans off at any time.  I paid my right upon graduation. You can even pay them while you are in school and the entire amount goes to the principal.  You save no money by doing this because the loan is interest free while in school.

By delaying your payment you are just accruing interest and losing money for no reason.  I would get on this right away if you have a lump sum to put down.  http://www.canlearn.ca/eng/loans_grants/repayment/manage.shtml

Well, I suppose I stand corrected. I was logged in on the  NSLSC website, trying to look at my repayment terms, reasoning that things like lump-sum payments would be at least mentioned there. It was then I hit the wall of "your loans aren't in repayment".
I feel like they make "how to repay" deliberately obtuse-- nowhere are there simple instructions of "send your money here" that I can find; nowhere can I find what to use as the payee for an electronic transfer of funds, for example.
I can guess by plugging National Student Loan into the online banking site, but I feel like this sort of thing should be obvious/covered. Nowhere online can I find anything telling me that I can pay via electronic transfer-- for I all I know I have to ride a stagecoach full of gold bars down to Ottawa.

So, maybe not an antimustachian comedy. Just a comedy of errors. 

[totoro]

I think the stagecoach full of gold bars is the best approach :)  It would make a great dinner party story. :)

[DJDee]

That is what I thought too but then I just started throwing money their way. If I would have waited I would still be in debt - I just paid it off this month. Wooo!

You can pay your student loans off at any time.  I paid my right upon graduation. You can even pay them while you are in school and the entire amount goes to the principal.  You save no money by doing this because the loan is interest free while in school.

By delaying your payment you are just accruing interest and losing money for no reason.  I would get on this right away if you have a lump sum to put down.  http://www.canlearn.ca/eng/loans_grants/repayment/manage.shtml

Well, I suppose I stand corrected. I was logged in on the  NSLSC website, trying to look at my repayment terms, reasoning that things like lump-sum payments would be at least mentioned there. It was then I hit the wall of "your loans aren't in repayment".
I feel like they make "how to repay" deliberately obtuse-- nowhere are there simple instructions of "send your money here" that I can find; nowhere can I find what to use as the payee for an electronic transfer of funds, for example.
I can guess by plugging National Student Loan into the online banking site, but I feel like this sort of thing should be obvious/covered. Nowhere online can I find anything telling me that I can pay via electronic transfer-- for I all I know I have to ride a stagecoach full of gold bars down to Ottawa.

So, maybe not an antimustachian comedy. Just a comedy of errors.

[Le Dérisoire]

My girlfriend and I paid our student loan entirely just when the 6 months grace period ended. Yes, it was with AFE in Quebec.

If I remember correctly, you have to call the bank that lends you the money (AFE is not lending you the money - AFE is only paying the interests to the bank until the end of the grace period).

My girlfriend did this when she was at work and her coworker heard her saying "yes, please take the 11 000$ from my checking account".

Coworker: "what did you just do?"

My GF: "Paid my student loan, why?"

Coworker: "You mean that you agreed on the monthly payment?"

My GF: "No I paid it all. I didn't want to pay any interests. It was just 11 000$ anyway." (at that time, she did not know yet  that the majority of people, including the high-earners, don't have any money and a lot of debts, and that it is inappropriate to say to people that you happen to not spend everything you earn)

Coworker: "Haha funny! Ok seriously, what did you do?"

[eyePod]

My girlfriend and I paid our student loan entirely just when the 6 months grace period ended. Yes, it was with AFE in Quebec.

If I remember correctly, you have to call the bank that lends you the money (AFE is not lending you the money - AFE is only paying the interests to the bank until the end of the grace period).

My girlfriend did this when she was at work and her coworker heard her saying "yes, please take the 11 000$ from my checking account".

Coworker: "what did you just do?"

My GF: "Paid my student loan, why?"

Coworker: "You mean that you agreed on the monthly payment?"

My GF: "No I paid it all. I didn't want to pay any interests. It was just 11 000$ anyway." (at that time, she did not know yet  that the majority of people, including the high-earners, don't have any money and a lot of debts, and that it is inappropriate to say to people that you happen to not spend everything you earn)

Coworker: "Haha funny! Ok seriously, what did you do?"

I got to make this call while at work too.  Man did I feel fucking accomplished then.  I don't like huge chunks going out in one shot, but it was like a load off of my shoulders even though I wasn't having trouble making my payments.

[StarswirlTheMustached]

All paid off!
Huzzah.
Turns out they changed the rules at some point, because I was being charged interest during the grace period (or OSAP is just not as nice as AFE). Grace period started for me earlier than I expected due to a paperwork mixup--but since I was earning just about that same interest as what they were charging me, it's a wash. Good to have it taken care of, though.