Will I be able to live a half way decent life having to pay $500 dollars month on student loans for 25 years ?

Question

I am a student that accrued alot of loan debt and based on payments i will have to pay $500 a month for 25 years, i am very scared and am worried if i will be able to live a half way decent life. I dont expect to have expensive cars or anyting like that but want to be able to have a halfway decent life. I prob will be startign out at $40,000 but with tenure as a teacher my pay will increase. Do you think i will be able to live a decent life?

Answer 1

you are going to have to live in a place with a low cost of living.

you can try out a few states below

http://www.cityrating.com/costofliving.asp

Answer 2

You will be fine. Double check your math. 500 a month at 7% interest, 300 payments means your debt is around $70,000. Is that right? I have no idea how how much you can borrow these days.

What ever the math is you will just have to limit your spending until you can work down the debt. May I suggest you set some aggressive payment goals for the first two years. It is important you get the balance down early. I would say you should shoot for $800 to $1000 per month. Also you might consider a part time job. Do not accumulate any additional debt.
Good luck
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It looks like consolidation worked for another poster, but my experience is that consolidation ends up with a higher rate, or the rate can increase more than the original loan, or they put fees onto the balance of the loan. Also consolidation usually extends the term, so your payment is lower but you would end up paying for extra years.

Answer 3

You really ought to look into consolidating your loans to get a lower interest rate. That, in turn, will lower your payments. I used to fork $280 dollars a month for my federal and private student loans, but I reconsolidated them and lowered my payments down to more manageable $120. There are tons of consolidation companies on the internet and you should shop around for the best interest rates. Try to get something lower than 4 or 5%.

Answer 4

$500 a month for Student Loans is a lot in the short term.

However, it is so worth it in the long run to pay for an education.

You will struggle the 1st couple of years, and then you will be fine.

I went through the same thing.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

I have provided a url of a site that has a page on student loans and how to work with them. There is also a free shareware download that helps you with your debt management. Maybe it could help you.

Answer 6

Of course !

Ok, it's not going to be easy. But life can bring much more than money.

Good luck !