“Student loan debt is leading some borrowers to put off buying a home, saving for retirement or even getting hitched — and many now regret taking out the loans in the first place.”
CNN Money recently published this article on the harsh realities of being in debt because of student loans. The aforementioned quote is a scary truth of what student loans have caused.
Who would have thought that you would have to delay a marriage or home purchase just because you’re still in debt from your education? That totally sucks. Not that I’m a fan of getting married early (far from it), but I feel for those that want to move on with their lives but can’t just because they’re sinking in student loan debt.
It gets even scarier. The article goes on to mention more scary details on student loans hurting those in their 20s…
And debt only continues to grow — exceeding $1 trillion nationwide, with about one in five households carrying student loans. Meanwhile, the average debt load jumped 5% to a new high of $26,600 last year.
That sucks. I hate debt and I’m on a journey to be totally financially secure by 30. I know that most of you are on a similar journey as well. Student loan payments make it virtually impossible to travel the world or do anything cool in your 20s. Screw that!
I’m only one person in this battle against student loans. But guess what? I’m ready to take on this issue and help anyone that’s struggling. There’s no time to waste being in debt. I want to help as many folks as I can with my articles and a select few with one-on-one help (learn more on hiring me).
I’ll keep this article short and sweet. I’ve separated student loans into two stages: before and after college.
Let’s see how you can handle student loans before and after college.
I or someone I know is about to go to college. What do I do?
I wrote about how you can graduate college with zero debt. Yes, it is possible.
You must read that article or share it.
I graduated college with zero debt and I never missed a party I wanted to attend. I had a great time and went away for Spring Break every single year. Everything is totally possible. If a crazy punk like me can do it, what’s stopping you?
How can you pay off student loans while in college?
- Apply for a program with work terms.
- Work part-time.
- Working during the school year.
- Apply for free money (bursaries, scholarships, and grants).
A quick rant on student loans…
Please do NOT apply for insane amounts of student loans if you’re studying a major that doesn’t have a history of paying well.
It’s noble to study something that interests you and could help the world out. But if the program doesn’t have a history of paying well and doesn’t lead to any sort of guaranteed job, then why get into debt? This makes no sense. It’s just like getting wasted. If you drink and mix a ton of booze, of course you’re going to be hungover. What did you expect to happen?
You should read up on college majors that pay well and guarantee the big bucks. If your major doesn’t guarantee anything, then I strongly recommend not racking up any debt to earn it.
No offence, but if your program is easy and you study a bunch of general crap, why get into thousands of dollars of student debt? How do you plan on paying this off?
Let’s look at the other side of student loans now…
I graduated college and am in huge debt. What the hell do I do?
You can start off by checking out my extensive piece on what to do after college. I received input from experts on the topic. You need to read it.
Then you should check out the only post on student loans you need to read. This will help you figure out what to do next with your student loans.
The process for dealing with student loans is pretty simple…
- There are no shortcuts here.
- Get yourself into action.
- Get a job.
- Get a few jobs.
- Start freelancing.
- Do anything possible to have an income coming in.
- Then work on reducing your expenses.
- Then put every freaking penny towards your student loan payments until you’re debt-free.
You can make a sex tape with a celebrity or win a reality show. Do whatever possible to beef up your income so that you have more money to put towards student loans.
That’s all I’m going to say on student loans today.
Great post. I’m glad your diving into this issue more deeply. I feel this is only the tip of the iceberg, everyday I get alerts from google of a new issue with student loans. It seems more and more people are educating themselves on this topic and looking for alternatives for college.