To save money while paying off your student loans, explore the following alternatives:
- Make your monthly payments on time.
- Some lenders have programs that lower your interest rate as a reward for a few years' timely payments. If you have one late or missed payment, the discount could be cancelled. At the least, late payment will affect your credit score.
- Have the payments made automatically.
- Find out if you can have your payments automatically deducted from your checking account. Some lenders will lower your interest rate by a quarter-point if you use this method of payment.
- Accelerate payments.
- If you have no debts that charge interest higher than the interest on your student loan, consider making double payments on the student loan. The shorter the amount of time your debt is outstanding, the less interest you pay.
- Consider consolidating your debt.
- If you have more than one student loan, consider consolidating all your student loans into a new student loan that pays off your other student loans. The objective is to lower your monthly payments, and your interest rate.Even if a consolidation doesn't lower your payments, it will make managing the debt easier, with only one payment to worry about per month. Keep in mind that you may lose a benefit by consolidating if you have been paying your loans on time. You may also lose the ability to defer loan payments. Check before making the move. To investigate loan consolidation, try this link -- www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov . or search in your favorite search engines on the words "consolidate student loan."
- Look for a loan with a lower interest rate.
- Make an alert to periodically search for loans with a lower interest rate. In the unlikely event you can find another loan with a lower rate of interest than a student loan, roll all (or as much as you can) of the student loan into the new loan. (To learn about debt consolidation, click here.)
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