*Loan,banking and credit>>>college loan

Is paying off college loans manageable?

I just finished undergraduate school with no loans. I am very glad. However, my degree is such that I can't do much with it unless I get a Masters. So, I'm in graduate school right now. I have to take out loans, and I'm expecting to take out a considerable amount to pay for two years of grad school. Now, even when I get my Master's degree, I will likely get a job that only pays $35,000/year, if that. I'm planning on going into teaching, and at a Catholic school.

So, my question is: should I be overly concerned about paying back my loans? Has anyone else here taken out college loans and was able or are able to pay them back, even though one wasn't in a big-bucks paying profession?

I really appreciate the advice!

Hey! Congrats on graduation and wtg on getting through without debt! That's awesome!

Now comes grad-school...and you should absolutely be concerned with paying back your student loans. Aside from it being the right thing to do, you will thank yourself years down the road for not letting the debt accumulate to astronomical proportions from all the interest you'll be charged if you don't pay them back! (Interest differs depending if you have a federal govt. subsidized loan or a privatized loan.) Having said this, however, there is no need to stress out over them.

Student loans (as with any other debt) are completely managable. The key is to have a plan...a budget. Be prepared to make a few sacrifices. It's amazing how little a person can survive on IF he/she is willing to scrape for a while.

Don't panic...the belt tightening only lasts a short while. Sit down and write out a budget, listing all of the *necessary* expenses you know you will incur (i.e. rent/mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, etc.). Get rid of those items you only *think* you need, but really don't (i.e. cable or dish TV, subscriptions, spa treatments, froo-froo hair care, gym membership, eating out, etc.). Set your budget for what you can afford and still pay yourself first and your creditors 2nd. Here's an example:

$35,000/year = $26,250 after taxes (assuming 25% fed. tax)
= $2,187.50/month budget

Savings @ 10%: $ 219.00
Rent/Mortgage: 900.00
Food: 250.00
Utilities: 150.00
Phone: 50.00
Car (gas, ins.) 200.00
Medical exp. 30.00
Miscellaneous 100.00
_______________________
Total $1,899.00

This leaves you with $288.50 to divy out to other expenses. If your minimum loan payment is $150/month, you could pay $200 on it which has a twofold positive effect: 1) you make your payment on time, thereby avoiding additional interest, and 2) you knock down the principle by an additional $50/month. This will shorten the life of your loan and cost you less in interest in the long run. Just how short or long your loan life is depends on the terms and amount of your loan. But just to give you an idea of how this can work, my husband and I pay an extra $100 dollars per month on our mortgage. What this is doing is shortening our loan from 30 years to 18, and we'll save something like $150,000 in interest. That's HUGE incentive to pay back the loan, and to pay it back early! 30 years seems like forever...but 18 is like light at the end of the tunnel. I'm guessing your student loans aren't anywhere near the cost of a house, so you could be looking at paying off within 5 to 10 years. That's certainly manageable for a young person just out of college!

So, make a budget, decide what are your *essentials,* decide what you can reasonably pay for those essentials, resign yourself to doing without for a season, and make sure you PAY YOURSELF FIRST! It may seem crazy to sock away 10% of your income when you think about all you'll be giving up for 5 years. It doesn't have to be 10% to start...just put away what is reasonable 5%, 3%, whatever. As your salary increases, you can increase the amount you put into savings...and your loans will get easier to pay, too. But just to show you what 10% looks like...$200 savings per month, over 5 years will add up to $6,000 savings (and that doesn't even include adjustments for salary increases and bank interest earned). How many people can say they have that? A little discipline now pays huge dividends later...and you can buy a lot of froo-froo hair care with $6,000! lol ; )

Good luck to you and God bless you for being a teacher. : )

P.S. Here's a cool little student loan interest calculator website: http://www.ecampustours.com/payingcolleg...

You're welcome...and thanks for the vote! And if you want step by step practical advice, there's a book by Suze Orman (financial guru) called "The Money Book for the Young: Fabulous and Broke." She fantastic!

A good rule of thumb is, add up all the loans that you would have to pay, and then estimate the payment. If the payment, monthly, is not more than 10% of you gross income, you are doing great!!!! And remember, it all comes down to happiness. If you are truly happy, it is worth it, no matter how long it takes to pay it back. Great job with teaching, thanks!
Yes, I have paid back loans for education, though many years ago, and so have my children. It is really in your best interests to try to pay them back as it will affect your credit rating. If you are making a good effort to pay them back you may find there are special programs to help you. There are here in Canada - not sure about the US. For a while you may need to look at extra work - tutoring, etc. to make a bigger dent in the debt. In the end it will be well worth it, and the record that you did it will always be there. Best of luck with it.
Someone will always owe more money back in student loans than you, so don't worry. Yes, they're manageable, there's consolidation, forbearance, deferrment, low payments over a period of time, it's easy. I dropped out of college and owe student loan creditors enough money and I certainly don't have a job equaling the pay of a job with a college degree. You make it work somehow. Bills make the world go 'round... or something.
I think there is a program that you can get your student loans waived if you work in a public school with at risk students, for a few years. Any chance you would be willing to do that, before moving on to the Catholic school?