Stress Free Student Loan Repayment
As of October 1, 2023 - student loan payments have started back up again and if you’re like many - you might be freaking out a bit. It’s okay, Boo! Student loans have been paused for 3.5 years! Naturally, you’ve created habits around NOT paying them, so feeling some anxiety is totally normal. Today, I want to give you 3 steps to getting back into the flow of your student loans with the least amount of stress possible.
KNOW WHAT IS COMING IN AND GOING OUT
No surprise here, I want you to have an idea of what your current money flow is. It’s imperative that you have an understanding of what is coming in and what is going out so you can make the best decision when it comes to your student loan repayment plan. This information is also going to be key in help you decide IF you need to adjust any spending and WHERE you need to adjust it.
DECIDE ON WHAT PAYMENT PLAN YOU WANT
For most borrowers, you will be given the standard 10 year payment plan. Over the long run - this is going to be the plan where you pay the least interest - HOWEVER, in my opinion - that doesn’t need to be the ultimate decision maker. For my money, if it was me paying back loans, I’d want to choose the loan payment that fit best into my money flow and felt the least stressful. Yes, that might mean you are paying more interest over time, but that’s not gonna matter if you default and can’t make your payments. There are 4 repayment plan options. Be sure to plug in your info into the student loan payment plan simulator to see what you will owe on each plan.
LET IT GO
Once you have decided on your payment plan I want you to let it go. It’s easy to get obsessed about the number we owe on debts. It's healthy to know these numbers and be working to pay them off, but we don’t have to create more stress for ourselves. Once you have a plan (And this goes for student loans or any debt), shift to focusing on your life. Seriously. Worrying each day about it isn’t going to miraculously give you more money or pay it off faster - it’s simply going to make you feel bad. Make a plan and work the plan. That’s it, Boo.
I know what it feels like to feel the heaviness of debt. And I also know what it feels like to feel the relief of becoming debt free. In our lifetime, you are probably going to flex in and out of debt and that’s okay. It’s part of life. We can choose to view it as neutral instead of giving it so much power.
xoxo -
Bri
