Anyone have strategies to pay off your student loans quickly? I really don't want these things hanging over my head for 20yrs. Advice?

As is the case with any debt, there are no secrets or shortcuts. You need to (a) make sure the interest is as low as you can get it, (b) pay as much as you can each month to reduce the debt until it is gone. Here are some tips on how to do this in the least painful manner.1.

Check if you can find a lower interest rate with other terms being comparable, either as part of consolidation or some other means. Perhaps your parents would be willing to lend you enough to pay off the debt, and charge you a lower interest rate. If you set this up with a legal contract, you could pay them a higher interest than they can get from a savings account, yet lower than your loan rates.2.

Each time your income increases, use at least half the increase to pay more against your loans. For example, if you're paying $100/month, and you get a $200/month raise, start paying $200/month against your loans. Since your after-loan income will be going up, you will feel no pain, yet your debt level will drop much more quickly.3.

Each time you have an opportunity where someone asks what to give you as a gift (birthday, holidays, etc. ) ask to get cash and then apply that money to the loan principal.4. Look at what you spend money on without thinking. Are you buying a coffee every morning for $4?

See if you can't make a coffee at home for yourself for under $1. The savings can be applied to your debt, dropping the principal by an extra $1000 or more per year. The above is just an example.

It could be you buy books to read, in which case you could borrow library books instead.5. It is very difficult for most parents to cough up thousands of dollars each semester when a child goes to college, but coming up with an extra $100 or $200 each month to help pay off school loans may be more doable. If your parents wanted to help you pay for your tuition and college expenses but were unable to do so at the time, perhaps they'd be willing to help now by matching your payments.

Ask them. Having your monthly payments double will cut the time to pay off the debt by more than 50% because you will be reducing the interest portion of each payment as the principal drops more quickly. Good luck!

I suggest these things to manage student loan debt: 1) get good terms to start with. Government student loans have reasonable interest and terms, payments can be deferred while you are in school (even if you go on to graduate school). Interest rates are at an all-time low so lock it in now.2) always put money into the highest interest rate first.

If you have a credit card and a student loan, pay as much as you can afford against the credit card first, pay just the minimum on the student loan. Same goes for car loans, mortgage etc for any loan with higher interest rates. Even putting the money into savings is better if you earn more interest in savings than you pay against the loan.(that won't happen now, but it may later, when interest rates have risen but your student loan is still at today's low rate.) 3) make a budget and stick to it.

Of course the regular bills, books, food, rent, and the like -- but also include money to go out sometimes, save for unexpected problems, holiday spending, etc. If you are living off of loans, be LEAN now (a $10 dinner out on borrowed money may be twice as much or more once you pay it back with interest). If you are just borrowing for tuition and working for the rest, be reasonable. Once you are budgeting for "the real world" any paying off your debt, plan to pay more than the minimums (again on the highest interest rate first).4) borrow what you need, but not more.

I know students that work jobs, go to school and still borrow more than they need for tuition and live it up with the "windfall" each semester when the check arrives. This doesn't sound like you, though. If you don't want to live under the shadow of debt, be frugal.

5) enjoy life. Too many people get tied into knots about money. It is a leading cause of divorce (and choosing a spouse), suicide, crime, depression and is rumored to be the root of all evil.

Don't take the job that pays the most -- take the job that you will enjoy doing. That may mean that you live with debt longer but you really have to keep the money concern from taking too much control of your life and decisions. Avoid debt and live reasonably, but don't let money loom too large in your mind.

Hope this helps!

Get a second job and put that money towards your loan.

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