Comments on: Take Control of Your Financial Situation

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:54:48 +0000

I am sure you have looked at consolidating your loans. I would try and find the best deal and then lock in a low interest rate for as long as 30 years. As long as most of your loans are from the government and not private you can often get money at a cheaper rate than you ever will for the rest of your life. I locked in my rate on $70,000 at 1.625%. Financially it is stupid for me to make more than the minimum payment since this is essentially a negative interest rate (inflation averages 3%). Psychologically I don’t like having all that debt hanging over my head so I admit to making some extra payments but probably shouldn’t be.

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:05:11 +0000

Exactly. Control your finances or someone else will.

By: Jess

Jess — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:48:45 +0000

I’m a rising senior in college and this post is really quite helpful. Already having perused the field of personal finance for some time, I have a Roth IRA with automatic deposits of the minimum $50 that has been going for the last year. I also have a decently-sized emergency fund that I haven’t touched at all, despite being abroad for the semester right now. But I really am interested in how to go about setting up debt repayment and thinking about how to start planning for that. I have a fairly small amount of student debt compared to my peers, especially since I attend a private university, and would like to begin contemplating my options. I’m still not sure where I’m headed after senior year – like most others my age – so I suppose it’ll depend on if I return home for a bit, if I move to a metropolitan city, or if I stay or move to an equal city in size and socioeconomic status.

If you decide to post about student debt repayment plans for rising grads/new grads, I bet you’ll find a lot of interested people. I find a lot of information on student debt repayment for people with families or mortgages. But little is said for those personal finance fanatics like myself, who are looking to crush debt as soon as possible. (Though I know there is some validity to having student loans, in order to diversify my credit, I would prefer to have less rather than more debt.)

Thanks for the helpful post and links!

By: Studenomist

Studenomist — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:23:46 +0000

@eric Studenomics likes you too.

@Stephanie I completely agree with you that college students need some sort of a backup plan. IF you don’t care much for the term “emergency fund” then start a “when stuff happens fund.” We all need a plan B for when life throws us a curve ball.

By: StephaniePTY

StephaniePTY — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:27:02 +0000

I can’t agree with the emergency fund enough. Even while in college, I had things that would go wrong, or break, that I had to pay for. I was a commuter student for the second half of college – completely dependent on my car. I needed to have cash on hand to deal with repairs. One time, I didn’t… and I had to sink $400 into my credit card to pay for half of the repairs (my parents generously paid the other half).

On top of an emergency fund, I always recommend a Getting Established fund, for all the expenses you’ll incur in the 6-12 months after graduation. These two funds can be rolled together in one savings account, but you should figure out how much you need to have for each one.

By: eric

eric — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:15:23 +0000

I like Studenomics.

By: MissMartha

MissMartha — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:14:59 +0000

Man! I wish I had some of these resources when I was in college. I studied abroad one summer in Germany but I wish that I could have gone back other summers and worked. Maybe its not too late now… haha.