How to Avoid Student Loan Debt
When people are ready to attend college, one of the first questions that pops into their minds is how am I going to pay for it? This is one of the best things you can analyze first before attending any college. Even if you have your heart set on a certain college, you should carefully weigh your options because the last thing you want is to spend your whole life paying off your student loan debt.
Student loans are available for almost any individual wishing to attend college. Before taking out student loans make sure you have tapped all of your other resources such as scholarships, grants and federal student loans. (Federal student loans carry a much lower fixed interest rate when compared to private-institution student loans).
Another option is attending a local community college to get all of your pre-req courses and requirements fulfilled at the fraction of a public, private or online university price. Community colleges are a great low-cost option of education and can cut student loan debt tremendously so you have less debt to pay off when you graduate.
Another tip, is making sure you know what you wanna do before spending to much time, energy and money in the wrong direction. Millions of students rack up additional student loan debt due to their lack of understanding and direction. While its understandable changing your major understand that additional time spent at an institution equals more money.
Try and avoid transferring state-to-state- Not only is out-of-state tuition more expensive but a lot of times when you transfer from one school in one state to another you lose credits or classes you previously completed don't count.
Get a part-time job- A lot of college students will take loans out to cover tuition, books and sometimes housing. But if you can manage pick up a part-time job or multiple odd jobs, this will help with spending money and minimize the amount you must borrow to get through school.
Don't use credit cards- Currently no one under 21 is allowed to apply and receive a credit card, unless their parent co-signs. Credit cards may be college student's number one debt problem when they graduate. Many college students use a credit card without understanding the high APR, compounding interest and dangers that are involved in just "Charging" items. If you need more money you are better off applying for more student loan money.
Take it one payday advance at a time
When using payday advances, it is important to remember the rule of one! Only use apply and take out one payday loan at a time. Payday lenders use a salary based calculation to determine you capabilities of paying back your loan by your next paycheck. That is why a lot of lenders DO NOT lend more than $500 to customers there first time or sometimes after if they do not have the salary or bi-weekly income to pay back the loan.
Lenders calculate your loan amount based on a variety of aspects but amount of income and existing opened payday loans are two of the biggest factors in determining your amount. Even if you think you can take out a couple payday loans and pay them back on time, multiple payday advances are almost always a bad idea. Because if for some reason you cannot pay them back on time the interest can quickly build creating more debt than you ever anticipated and if you don't pay your advances back, your cash advance debt can be sent to debt collections , which can be irritating and annoying.
When using payday advances it is best to follow the simple rule, its better to be safe than sorry. And take one day(payday) at a time.
Credit Card Debt Ruining You???
Credit Card debt can be one of the easiest debt to rack up and one of the hardest debts to payoff. When we live in a country where debt is a form of currency, how can we avoid racking up thousands of dollars in debt.
1) Don't ever open a credit card just to open one (unless its your first or second). Having too many credit cards open even if they remain unused can hurt your credit score. Also, it is just a temptation to use them
2) Pay the balance off completely each month. just like payday advances, Don't take one out (or spend the money) unless you can pay it back by your next paycheck or billing cycle.
If you do manage to pay off your credit card debt, don't cancel your cards. Canceling credit cards can hurt your credit.
Call and negotiate your interest rate, you may be surprised, if you have been a good customer they may be willing to take your interest down a couple of points.
And if you are really in over your head you may want to consider debt relief or credit counseling services.