your student loan debt

[sandwitch]

What's your approach to this bullshit? Has anyone gamed the system and won?

(anyone without student loan debt is welcome to not contribute to this discussion.)

[pensive_pilgrim]

I've got just barely under 20k. I was taking the full amount the first couple years but now I've got a great scholarship and a couple internships lined up that will pay well. I'll probably have more than 20k by the time I graduate but I'm counting on getting a decent job so that it hopefully won't take me too long to pay it off.

[LordLatch]

I pretend it doesn't exist.

I choose the fat juicy steak in the Matrix over dumb ole reality where I gotta eat the same goop(single celled protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins, and minerals) every day.

[sandwitch]

My grace period ends tomorrow. I just paid the interest that accumulated during school so it doesn't capitalize (otherwise it'd bump up to 40k). Assuming that I get the job I've been training for, I'm planning to work toward the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. At first this seemed like a perfect way to make minimal payments for 10 years and then it would go away, but apparently you get hit with a high-rate tax on the remainder. Also, it requires *actually being employed* in a public service institution *full time* during the time it requires to make 120 payments, which is harder to make happen than one might expect.

My other plan is to instigate a revolution, after which the current financial situation will be used as nightmare tales to scare children away from capitalism.

[Faust]

I've got approximately $18,000 left. Managed to qualify for payment assistance for about 6 months (after grace period), so the interest was paid and I could forget about it until I made some cash. Once that was up I threw a $7000 lump sum at it and now pay about $300 a month for both the principal and interest. I'm going to increase that to $500 or more, but wanted to wait till I got settled here and stopped spending on large items. I'd like this killed in 2-3 years.

[TeresaJ]

<20k for the moment, but I was stupid about mine. I got more than I needed and then I failed to appreciate the necessity of paying it down when I had a chance. Now I'm about to triple the amount as I go for my third (!) bachelor's degree. My plan is to live as cheaply as possible until I can pay it all off. And then when it's paid off, go back to school for even more debt! At least I have something closer to an actual career plan now.

[sandwitch]

Managed to qualify for payment assistance for about 6 months (after grace period), so the interest was paid and I could forget about it until I made some cash.

Interesting. This is something I should make happen.

[Blorg]

It would end up somewhere around 20k post-graduation, but I probably won't graduate so it'll be a few thousand less. The system has gamed me.

[Ptah]

Zilch.

[LordLatch]

Zilch.

You 'J'