Graduating college and getting that degree is exciting, but then shortly after you find yourself in the workforce with a mountain of debt to your name. THANK YOU STUDENT LOANS.
If you haven’t dealt with them you’re lucky, but if you have you understand the annoyance of seeing the amount taken out of your account for what could be years. So how do you pay student loans off sooner and save yourself the headache?
There are certain times when people come into a chunk of money, whether that be an inheritance, selling high ticket items, bonuses from work, or in some cases tax returns. These chunks of money can be useful for high student loan balances as they can eliminate not only some of the balance but the interest you’d also pay on that balance. If you have the money to spare, consider using that chunk of cash and applying it to a student loan balance.
In some cases, this isn’t always an option, however, if it is, why not? You’re going to owe the money either way so paying twice a month if you have the means to do it can only help you get out of debt quicker. The other thing that helps is your debt-to-income ratio (DTI), which is super helpful if you’re planning on getting a loan for a house or car.
Refinancing
This is a very common option people look into when wanting to lower their student loan payments or get rid of their high interest. How will you save money by refinancing? If you receive a lower interest rate you’ll end up paying less money overall. Refinancing might not be an immediate “out of the pocket” solution, however, it does benefit borrowers in the long run.
We can agree having student loan balances is not fun, and neither is paying them. Hopefully, these tips can at least help you to pay off your student loans sooner and shave off a few years of headaches!