DEFAULT...Student Loans

[ill steelo]

$75 on food in a 30 day month?

Jesus Christ I need to get like you.

I've got a roommate, all my like house bills bills are split in half. shoulda mentioned that.
But I'm eating low cuz i'm trying to build. I only do restaurants maybe 2 times a month when I feel like I've earned it.

Ex. rent is really $1,200. Groceries are around $150.

I admire the discipline bro.

 

[JVII]

I'm spending about $600-700 a month on food

God damn!

How is that even possible?

 

[RustyShackleford]

I'm there too. best I could do was get Sallie Mae/navient to lower my interest to 3% from the 8-9.25% my loans have been for the past 4 years I've been out of school....

before negotiating my interest down (temporarily they say) I've paid back about $20K in interest and my $70K balance hasn't moved.

The only reason I've continued to pay and not default is for fear of not being able to own a home one day because my credit is shot.

However, for an entire generation to not be able to afford a down payment on a home or a decent car...

Something has to give eventually....

I don't gamble irresponsibly or have an addiction to crack... I went to college at a state university. No reason I should have to spend the rest of my life paying for it...

are your loans consolidated?

no. Private and federal.

It probably hasn't moved because most of your payments go to interest not the principal, and with 70k you still might have a ways to go.

When you pay off all the calculated interest owed, then you will see the balance starting to fall.

If you wanna chew into the principal you gotta send in extra payments, and give specific instructions to put it towards the principal.


--------
Here is a good video discussing rising college cost. Dude presentation is nerdy as hell, but it is informative

 

[ill steelo]

I'm spending about $600-700 a month on food

God damn!

How is that even possible?

Complete lack of discipline

I would either eat out for both lunch & dinner, or I'd skip lunch & just eat out for dinner but it'd be a HUGE meal because I hadn't ate all day. Something like 2 entrees and an appetizer just for me.

I would do this 7 days a week. looked at my statement last month & I had spent $670 on eating out. Disgusting.

I gotta shape up.

 

[antidope]

670$ eating out whoa... I start questioning my decision if I'm spending more than ten dollars

 

[HankHill]

1 br apartment is a luxury?!?! Next thing you tell me a fridge with a freezer is a luxury and I should use a cooler and eat fresh.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Learning to cook, and cook well, is one of the best skills a person can spend their time to acquire.

Saves me a ton, even with eating out, buying high quality food, and splurging at Trader Joes.

 

[nazdrowie]

Aldis too, shopping there is awesome if I'm near one

 

[usabasketball08]

Where's the cheapest place to buy meats?

 

[crcballer55]

 

I'm spending about $600-700 a month on food

God damn!

How is that even possible?

You'd be suprised how many people I've talked to that are spending more like $800-1000/mo. on food. I went through a P&L for a client a couple months back and he was spending $600/mo. on just eating out during work.

 

[SneakerProSr.]

I know I spend 600-700 easy.

I'm buying my house next month and that's the first thing that's coming to an end.

Kicker is I don't emm like the food I be getting and I love sandwiches.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Where's the cheapest place to buy meats?

In my experience it really depends on which place is having a sale: butcher/supermarket/etc.

If you really want to save it takes buying in bulk, but that requires freezer space.

 

[antidope]

My idealistic dream would be to have student loans adjusted for cost of living. You live in a low cost of living area your take home is less so you have less to allocate towards the loans. The other expenses you can always find ways to cut back on, but not those loans. It's a flat rate regardless.

But that's an idealistic dream.

 

[HEATHEN]

Complete lack of discipline

I would either eat out for both lunch & dinner, or I'd skip lunch & just eat out for dinner but it'd be a HUGE meal because I hadn't ate all day. Something like 2 entrees and an appetizer just for me.

I would do this 7 days a week. looked at my statement last month & I had spent $670 on eating out. Disgusting.

I gotta shape up.

Same.


This was before I even had kids too.


Now my bill is even higher.


Back when I had roommates they'd eat up all my food. So I'd have to often spend extra to eat. After kicking them both out of the apartment my bill went down a lil but truth be told I enjoy eating out.


I don't like cooking, I don't like doing dishes.


I like going to a restaurant and grubbing.


Terrible, terrible habit I'm still to this day trying to kick. I guess cooking is an acquired taste if you don't innately love it, you've got to learn to love it.


I just ******* suck at cooking and I'm impatient.

 

[tomdiginson]

670$ eating out whoa... I start questioning my decision if I'm spending more than ten dollars

This. Purchased lunch 3 days this week and I felt terrible about it.

 

[moderndarwin]

How do you rack up 70k at a state school b?

Let me clarify.

If the fixed interest rate on a Stafford loan is 4.66%, for private lenders to charge 8%--especially when I deposit my funds in the bank from which I receive the loan--is usurious. But it doesn't end there. As a number of folks in this thread have mentioned, student debtors have watched the interest on their loans accumulate by 25K in a single year! Others have paid 20K towards the interest while the principal stood still. 

Your characterization of laptops, iphones, cars, and 1-bedroom apartments as luxury goods says less about the so-called "asinine" living standards of borrowers than it does about the inculcation of elitist ideology. Either you are a member of the 1% or you function as the working-middle class mouth-piece for those elites who have profited from the very arguments you hold deal. In your posts there is no mention of the irresponsible consumption patterns of elites. No mention of how the ability to legally get around paying taxes produces a regressive system of taxation that falls heavily on debtors. Your posts amount to a narrative of "spoiled" borrowers, who, had they traveled (how could they when in perpetual indebtedness?), would learn to be happy with non-luxury goods. 

Where you and I differ is in how we understand debt. For you, debt is primarily a moral story. Had students displayed the grit and work ethic common in other countries and in earlier times, there would be no need to secure private loans at higher interest rates. Had graduates moved back in with their parents, put off luxury purchases, and displayed "self responsibility," debt would be extinguished. Of course, as a recent NY Federal Reserve report notes, college graduates are giving up dreams of 1-bedrooms and moving back in with their parents (http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr700.html). 

By contrast, I understand indebtedness as a power relationship. From the deliberate practices by financial institutions to grant credit to subprime borrowers to loans made to Greece by the Troika, from the dicing up and obfuscation of student loans to the the stream of income debt provides to creditors, debt--mortgage, government, student, consumer--enables control. No matter how moral your compass, there is no end to indebtedness. It is infinite. 

If debt is about power, it is essential for the growing number of debtors to think strategically about how to contest the chains of bondage. 

You know what - I actually agree with almost everything you say. Debt is about power and your viewpoint is well thought out and accurate. My only contest is that compared to other places in the world it is much easier for Americans to break the chains of bondage. Primarily, because of our job sector and freedom to work toward a well paying career. In most other places the chains of bondage (power vs. non power) are much more difficult to overcome. They involve cultural and infrastructure problems as well that are almost impossible for any one individual to have an impact on by themselves. As Americans, we do have the ability to break our chains through self discipline and hard work. I appreciate that reality.

Life in general is not fair and to even have this chance I consider a blessing. Not everyone will view it the same way and think that the system is broken and needs to be fixed. While true, it is naive to think that the rich would not find another way to hold back people.

Healthcare and K-12 education are much bigger problems than higher education debt. The ridiculous cost of the American healthcare system routinely puts hard working people into insurmountable debt. That is a system I consider that needs fixing because it is almost impossible to plan for healthcare costs. We've taken a great step forward in the past few years. However, if we focus on something that is a bit more simple, such as higher ed debt, I'm not opposed to it either because ideally there will be a snowball effect and all other systems, both minor and major, will be looked at to be improved.

 

[adi934liife]

Going into my 4th year this year but not gonna be able to graduate so gonna have to do 5 complete years and to be honest, I don't even know how much i owe in loans.

 

[usabasketball08]

Going into my 4th year this year but not gonna be able to graduate so gonna have to do 5 complete years and to be honest, I don't even know how much i owe in loans.

Nslds.ed.gov

 

[...So]

.

 

[crcballer55]

 

Complete lack of discipline

I would either eat out for both lunch & dinner, or I'd skip lunch & just eat out for dinner but it'd be a HUGE meal because I hadn't ate all day. Something like 2 entrees and an appetizer just for me.

I would do this 7 days a week. looked at my statement last month & I had spent $670 on eating out. Disgusting.

I gotta shape up.

Same.


This was before I even had kids too.


Now my bill is even higher.


Back when I had roommates they'd eat up all my food. So I'd have to often spend extra to eat. After kicking them both out of the apartment my bill went down a lil but truth be told I enjoy eating out.


I don't like cooking, I don't like doing dishes.


I like going to a restaurant and grubbing.


Terrible, terrible habit I'm still to this day trying to kick. I guess cooking is an acquired taste if you don't innately love it, you've got to learn to love it.


I just ******* suck at cooking and I'm impatient.

Slow cooker. Throw it in before work, take it out when you get home and you just have to wash the crock pot & your plate. If you buy crock pot bags, that will even save a step because you can just throw that out when it's done.

 

[mr marcus]

Slow cookers are

But I eat out wayyyyyy too much but I hate cooking

 

[brandon3000]

anyone with Sallie Mae/Navient jammed up in private loans check this out... My interest was at 9.25% and it's now at 3%

http://studentloansherpa.com/step-step-guide-lowering-sallie-mae-interest-rate-payments/

 

[bartleby929]

cooking is somewhat impractical if you are living by yourself. whenever i decide to cook and "save money" - it seems like i end up with a solid $30-$50 receipt, of which i get maybe one or two meals out of it.

a lot of it is because i'm lazy and it turns out vegetables and fruit go bad really fast. if i had like 3 other people to cook for i'd do it a lot more often. 

i spend around ~200 a week on food but often i'm paying for both me and my girlfriend. i figure it more than makes up for the time spent otherwise cooking, cleaning, buying veggies/produce/meats, cooking equipment, etc

 

[moderndarwin]

Has anyone successfully paid down their student debt using a 0% balance transfer to a credit card?

 

[blkrstr21]

Has anyone successfully paid down their student debt using a 0% balance transfer to a credit card?

while i am still paying it, the 0% balance transfer did help alot. my grace period is over, but in that one year I was able to take signifciant chunk out of it. i only have one credit card, so i try to transfer any outstanding balances that my limit will allow.  i know its not good to use up most of you credit card but i like only have to pay one bill

on the plus side of doing that, im able to close unnecessary accounts, my credit score has gone up for some reason and my credit line has been increased numerous times. it works for me