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Practice Loan Repayment

The month-to-month expenses you'll face after you leave school will almost always surprise you.  Because this is a new phase of your life, it's going to take a few months before you settle on an income and expense pattern.  However, as soon as you can, start to practice adding your student loan repayments to your budget to see how you fare.

How do you do that?  Follow these 3 steps:

1. In your budget, include your anticipated credit card payments and any savings you wish to have, such as your "rainy day" fund and any long-term investments.
2. If you have any credit card debt pay that monthly amount you have in your budget plus your anticipated student loan payments.  This has the added benefit of paying down your credit cards faster.
3. If you do not have any credit card debt, then add your anticipated student loan payment to your savings or other asset-building account.  This has the added benefit of starting your savings pattern faster, which in turn adds to your compounding assets.  However, assets almost always grow at a slower rate than your credit card debts, so your credit card debts should take first priority.

If you're having trouble making these payments or investments, it's time to go back to your budget and reassess your needs and wants.  If you've done everything you can with your budget, then you may have to look into other repayment plans or, if you qualify, forgiveness options (discussed below) until you have a sustainable budget.

Chaperone Assist ⇒ Your Student Loan Chaperone can give you optimized payment plans for your in-grace and in-repayment periods.

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