Attacking Debt--suggestions?

[Easye418]

First off, you haven't ruined your life. You are just at a big disadvantage from others due to your debt burden. Don't feel defeated. There is a way out. Making well thought out decisions will help you pull yourself out! Take a breathe.

I also threw money away by living in expensive student apartments instead of opting for off-campus options...dumb, dumb, dumb...  Now, if I want to get ahead, I have to put off going to school for TEN WHOLE YEARS or throw OVER HALF of my salary to this stupid loan. If I could go back in time, I would shake my teenage self. I may be nearly 40 years old by the time all of this is fixed.

Everyone told you great advice, I hope you listen to it and get yourself on the right path because I feel you can do it.  Just want to share personal experience, thoughts on tuition, and feedback on what other people have chimed in.

1.  I was this [    ] close to doing the same exact thing as you (granted for a higher paying degree).  I applied for UIUC and UIC for Finance, I got accepted into UIC for Finance and denied Finance at UIUC.  If I would have been accepted into UIUC, I would have easily racked up $100k in Student Loans by the same method as you as girlfriend (now wife) went to the campus as well.  If we bothed would have stayed,  we would easily have racked up $200k of Student Loan debt.    Instead, I got my BS in Fin and MBA in Fin and my wife got her BSN for maybe ~$100k, and now we are making close to mid 100k income by 26 yo.  Close call for sure.

2.  I am going to say this because it needs to be said.  This should be a case study on why kids need to really think about how much income they will make after undergrad and graduate work.  You spent $100k for a $30k a year job.  The reason I am bringing this up is you better be damn sure your next trip to college town that you will come out making at LEAST $60k+ or you will be a slave to your debt for the rest of your life.


This one told you the nice way (@therethere , agreed with all of your posts on 1st page)

Good news. Your loans are not insurmountable.
Bad news. Depending on how long you continue to delay payback they will take a long time. If you stick to it, eventually they will be gone although it may be 5-10 years.
However, if you continue to delay spending cuts or go back to school you can wake up 10 years later and still have very high loans (maybe even higher if you are letting interest accumulate).
Which situation would you rather be in 10 years from now? That is the real question?

Going back to school right now is a poor idea. Interest can accumulate really fast on 100k and you will come out of school with a higher balance on that 100k AND additional school loans. You thought you were overwhelmed as it is?

I don't really understand your plans of prepaying for a purchase that you haven't made. The safest place for your money is not prepaying for tuition (or a car?!) in little bits and pieces. That's just a crazy idea! They would have no idea why you are sending them random money and likely have horrible accounting for it. If you want to save up for something in advance your best bet would be to open a checking or savings account at a bank separate from your normal account. Make it difficult to get money out of it by hiding or changing your password. Then you "pay" it with transfers from your normal bank so it is out of sight and out of mind. You are spot on when you say you should do this immediately when you get your paycheck. Better yet, most companies allow you to split your paycheck to multiple accounts.  Set up your direct deposit of your paychecks to split out whatever you want to save to the new account automatically and the balance to your normal account for spending money.

On a larger scale, vote for candidates that will improve your student loan situation and help prevent future students from incurring the same slavery.

This one told you how it really is aka reality and the truth.

I am speechless.

Are you depressed? Are you incapable of making rational decisions, taking responsibility for your past actions and your future? You sound like you are gone with the fairies most of the time. Your stance n loan  forgiveness ( ie you should have your debts wiped out because ou were too stupid totake them etc) is just outrageous. Even if legally you can do it, but ethically? You are running away from your responsibilities.

And you want to go back to school to study sth else. Because you are bored? Have nothing else to do in life? Studying law or vet science won't solve your underlying problems, will just add to your misery in the form of new debts. Work on your issues before you commit to anything else. That should be your priority right now. Make teaching work for you until this degree pays for itself ( ie pay off those loans) and then consider what else to do. Strive to be the best teacher.write a book. Work on curriculum development. Develop an online course. There is plenty of mental stimulation there. Teaching is an extremely rewarding career. (And what do vets do? Put down animals.would you like to do THAT?)

Pull yourself together and stop whining.you can do it.

It's embarassing, offensive, and really freaking tough at first, but you will get the hang of it and CAN and WILL get the hang of paying off debts.  Best of luck.

[Jakejake]

So doesn't that argue for a job abroad? I understand making excuses; I used to make a lot of them myself. Then I realized how much fear was holding me back. If there's one thing I would tell my younger self, it would be to embrace the fear and try new things.

If I understand the loan situation correctly, teaching abroad probably interferes with the loan forgiveness program. This is the dilemma with the forgiveness program. You can either commit to ten years of public service (likely at a very low salary) and have the loans forgiven, or pay them yourself and have the freedom to take a higher paying job.

This is the one thing that bothered me about the post where you found the $500-600 month budget hole. You talked about being able to save that amount each month, but seemed to have already planned a whole mess of exciting ways you could spend that money even before you've saved any of it. It kind of reminds me of army people spending their bonus money before finishing their enlistment, and finding themselves in a world of trouble when they end up taking an early discharge (for medical reasons, for example). Then they have to pay back the bonus that they already spent on things they didn't really need.

I would save the budget hole money and just stash it away, at a minimum until the loans are either forgiven or paid off. It would be tragic to blow that money on a new car, or yet more degrees, and then life gets in the way and for some reason you can't complete the ten years of public service. Maybe your district goes through layoffs. Maybe you get an amazing job offer you really really want. Maybe you start a family, or have medical problems. That savings should be your insurance plan, so that ten years from now you aren't sitting on even more debt, with no hope of ever paying it off.

[kmb501]

Everyone told you great advice, I hope you listen to it and get yourself on the right path because I feel you can do it.  Just want to share personal experience, thoughts on tuition, and feedback on what other people have chimed in.

1.  I was this [    ] close to doing the same exact thing as you (granted for a higher paying degree).  I applied for UIUC and UIC for Finance, I got accepted into UIC for Finance and denied Finance at UIUC.  If I would have been accepted into UIUC, I would have easily racked up $100k in Student Loans by the same method as you as girlfriend (now wife) went to the campus as well.  If we bothed would have stayed,  we would easily have racked up $200k of Student Loan debt.    Instead, I got my BS in Fin and MBA in Fin and my wife got her BSN for maybe ~$100k, and now we are making close to mid 100k income by 26 yo.  Close call for sure.

2.  I am going to say this because it needs to be said.  This should be a case study on why kids need to really think about how much income they will make after undergrad and graduate work.  You spent $100k for a $30k a year job.  The reason I am bringing this up is you better be damn sure your next trip to college town that you will come out making at LEAST $60k+ or you will be a slave to your debt for the rest of your life.

It's embarrassing, offensive, and really freaking tough at first, but you will get the hang of it and CAN and WILL get the hang of paying off debts.  Best of luck.

I still think that if I want to start paying these loans I need to either (a) work out a way to get free room and board AND a slightly better salary from my employer (this is where an overseas job really makes sense, because some places are so desperate for English teachers that they will award extra benefits like living accommodations to qualified applicants, meaning living there is almost free), or (b) change direction and try to use my current education and any free training I can get to get a better income (this could include taking jobs on the side as a private tutor, starting a small business, or anything else that could generate a better income).

[kmb501]

So doesn't that argue for a job abroad? I understand making excuses; I used to make a lot of them myself. Then I realized how much fear was holding me back. If there's one thing I would tell my younger self, it would be to embrace the fear and try new things.

If I understand the loan situation correctly, teaching abroad probably interferes with the loan forgiveness program. This is the dilemma with the forgiveness program. You can either commit to ten years of public service (likely at a very low salary) and have the loans forgiven, or pay them yourself and have the freedom to take a higher paying job.

This is the one thing that bothered me about the post where you found the $500-600 month budget hole. You talked about being able to save that amount each month, but seemed to have already planned a whole mess of exciting ways you could spend that money even before you've saved any of it. It kind of reminds me of army people spending their bonus money before finishing their enlistment, and finding themselves in a world of trouble when they end up taking an early discharge (for medical reasons, for example). Then they have to pay back the bonus that they already spent on things they didn't really need.

I would save the budget hole money and just stash it away, at a minimum until the loans are either forgiven or paid off. It would be tragic to blow that money on a new car, or yet more degrees, and then life gets in the way and for some reason you can't complete the ten years of public service. Maybe your district goes through layoffs. Maybe you get an amazing job offer you really really want. Maybe you start a family, or have medical problems. That savings should be your insurance plan, so that ten years from now you aren't sitting on even more debt, with no hope of ever paying it off.

That is something to consider. Although I had originally planned to teach overseas, I should probably talk to my lender to find out if any of the programs will remain active for me while I'm over there. If not, I better make sure I accept a job with a really good salary and great benefits, because I'll need to buckle down and make several student loan payments while living abroad. Really, though, if I can get a decent salary abroad and have my accommodations taken care of, I might be in better shape than I am right now.

Yes, I know. It seems like the best option for me right now would be to stash away that extra $500-$600 per month into a high yield savings account and forget about it. One thing that I don't like about this job, though, is that it doesn't always pay the same amount every month. I'm paid at the same rate, but on shorter months and months with holidays, I make a little less, so I'm not sure I'm going to be able to put away exactly $500-$600 each month. I also have expenses that I should probably take care of first, like getting my car fixed so that I can sell it after I've successfully moved closer to work.

[mozar]

Online degrees are worth less than brick and mortar non-profit schools to employers.

[kmb501]

Online degrees are worth less than brick and mortar non-profit schools to employers.

WGU is an accredited university, though. Actually, I have looked into it already.