<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > Student Loans

Student Loans

July 29th, 2010 at 03:24 pm

A long time ago, in far far away...oh wait, that is a different story that involves an orge and ends with happily ever after.

My story is quite different. When I became pregnant with my son many years ago, I needed to be enrolled in school to still be covered on my parents insurance. I went to a school that preys on the financially uneducated, as I was. They not only charged a HUGE amount of money to come out with a certificate, not even a degree, but they also talked me into taking out plus loans. So I owe over $30k in student loans.

Fast forward to today...Although I have been living in a budget and getting stuff paid on time, I have not been able to work my student loans into my payment plan. I received a call yesterday that they could go into default anyday. This is bad. Real Bad. That means that they will keep any tax refund that I get for many years to come. I had sent in a form for income based repayment, but I was told last night that I am too far behind for that to be processed. I plan on going back to school, hopefully in August(which is another long story!) so the loans will be brought current and go into forebearance. But this might not be soon enough. I called today to request an auto debit enrollment form. This will bring the account current. I just have to figure out how to work it into my shoestring budget for the next couple of months.

Posted in Misc Thoughts and Updates | 9 Comments »

9 Responses to “Student Loans”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 03:41 pm 1280418102
    1280418102

    Good luck! What is the minimum you can pay to keep them current?

  2. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 04:56 pm 1280422619
    1280422619

    Wow, that is sounding scary tough. Frown

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 06:10 pm 1280427021
    1280427021

    Another thought if it actually goes into default: You need to make sure you are not overpaying in taxes/withholding. Obviously, you want enough to cover the tax, but not much more because it would be garnished to pay your student loan. I'm not saying don't ever pay the student loan, but any refund you receive is your earned money that you should have the control of how it is used. I suggest using tax calculators at the irs website and running scenarios for withholding at paycheckcity dot com.

    Are you still working a second job? Are you looking for employment that may increase your income without needing more schooling? I would avoid school loans at all cost unless absolutely necessary. It makes no sense to take out more student loans that you eventually will have to pay to put the ones you already have into deferrment. My opinion of course!

  4. baselle Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 11:11 pm 1280445099
    1280445099

    Please tell me you aren't thinking about going to the same school that ripped you off in the first place to get a deferment. Frown

  5. north georgia gal Says:
    July 30th, 2010 at 01:29 pm 1280496559
    1280496559

    Baselle, I am going to a community college this time.

    CCF: I am not taking out student loans, rather I am getting grants this time around.

  6. ceejay74 Says:
    July 30th, 2010 at 04:11 pm 1280506264
    1280506264

    CCF has a really good point. If you're used to getting really big refunds, you should change your withholding so you have less taken out each month. Especially since you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, a bigger paycheck would really make your life easier. It makes no sense to give the government an interest-free loan--especially if they could garnish that loan money to pay off the interest-bearing loans *you* have with *them*!

  7. north georgia gal Says:
    July 30th, 2010 at 04:39 pm 1280507995
    1280507995

    I already don't have any Federal taxes taken out of my paycheck. My large refunds are due to the earned income credit.

  8. creditcardfree Says:
    July 30th, 2010 at 04:43 pm 1280508185
    1280508185

    Can't you get the EITC in advance? You might look into that as a way to get extra cash in your paycheck now.

  9. north georgia gal Says:
    July 30th, 2010 at 05:15 pm 1280510118
    1280510118

    I just faxed the form for the Advanced Earned Income Credit to our payroll department.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]