Student Loans

July 6, 2007
In the “good debt/bad debt” argument it can be said that student loans fall in to the “good debt” category. Many like me had to rely on them to help pay for a higher education. When I graduated with my bachelor’s degree seven years ago my loan balance was $18,068 and now the balance is $10,813. I feel like I have made a dent in it.
My loans are consolidated at 6%, which at the time that I consolidated them was a good rate. A few years later the rate had dropped considerably but that is water under the bridge. For those of you that don’t know…you can only consolidate once. So in the event that interest rates drop even lower after you consolidated you are out of luck. That is one thing that nobody tells you.
Recently I came across the Upromise website and there is now a way to link a Upromise account to your student loans. Sallie Mae services my loans but I think there are other loan servicers that also participate. Anyway, I signed up for the program. I have accumulated a grand total of $1.18 in my account so far so I know that this is not going to help me significantly but, hey a buck is a buck right.
Many of the grocery items that earn rebates are geared to children but there are many that are not. I haven’t changed my pending habits to go out of my way to purchase items that would earn me rebates, I am just buying what I normally would. There are also ways to earn by dining out and also purchasing from online retail stores and gas stations.