Student loans

Sallie Mae is a thief.

 

And a whore.

 

yes, a filthy whore at that.

 

And her frozen danishes are substandard.

 

I am happy to report that I finally got the damn thing paid, and didn't get hit with late charges.










But I still hate Nelnet.

 

Get married and pay the loans off (thank you babe!!) Dual income is nice.

Screw auto payment. Do you realize you are letting someone automatically get their paws on your money without your involvement? They love it, its guaranteed and they do not have to fight you for permission, you've given them permanent permission to screw with your bank account. And if there's a mistake? You have to fight them to get your money back. I hate debit cards too, because its the same, you fight if there's a problem, not the other way around.

 

American Education Services.

And I'm with qtlaw, not a fan of auto payments. I do use my debit card entirely too much though.

 

Forebearance sucks, since you're gonna get ass-raped on the interest. I'd rather eat the Ramen now and have some steak later.

I had Educational Loan Services, which now is Xpress Loan Services. I rarely have issues with them. I write them a check once a month, and the check posts to my account quickly.

 

I'm not going to live long enough to pay it off anyway, so I have no qualms about using forebearance if money becomes an issue -- it has before and it will again, I'm sure of it.

I don't mind the auto payment. Knock on wood, but there's been no issues, and my scattershot mind is liable to forget a due date and get hit with a late charge. Credit card late charges are a pure bitch, and nowadays you get your interest rates fucked beyond all recognition if you're even nominally late on a non-credit card bill like utlities or cable. I also get a few bucks knocked off my insurance and a quarter-point off my student loan interest by doing this.

 

That's one reason I decided to set it up through the bank after it didn't work the first time. It gets the bill paid on time every month without letting them into my account.
I, like MysteryMeat, am quite liable to forget about my bill until a week after it's due or something similarly stupid.

 

Ding. Ding. Ding.

 

I lived off campus after my freshman year and went to a state U, so my student loan was manageable. I paid it off in less than three years.

My suggestion on whatever you're making payments on is pay something extra every month toward principal, however much you can afford. You'd be amazed how much money you'll save at the end.

I read that making the equivalent of an extra house payment a year on a 30-year mortgage will cut the term to 17 1/2 years. I've been doing that for the last year or so — and between that and appreciation, I've got about $40,000 in equity already built up. Once my Tahoe is paid off this summer, I'll be able to pay more and still be able to put money aside.

The key, though, is to concentrate on those credit cards first. Pay those suckers off as fast as you can. If you have multiple cards and enough credit, I'd take advantage of whatever balance transfer deals are available with a low rate and start chipping away furiously.