Student Loans and How To Start Paying Them Off

Kick off your payments with honesty and responsibility.

During college, myself, like many other students who needed to take loans did not give much thought to the accumulating financial burden that comes along with it. I practically forgot about just how much I took out: with no bills for months after graduation, preparing for repayment did not take immediate priority. 

Up until the final moments, graduating and looking for a job was prioritized- I  put off the idea of what I'm going to owe... Until very recently. As the six-month grace period my loans offer is inching nearer and nearer it became vital to kick off a repayment plan. Lucky for me, I have a godfather who's a financial advisor, and an extremely close older cousin who's went through the process and they gave me some tips on how to get started that I am going to share with you. Hopefully you find them as helpful as I did.

• Face your debt: If your loans have been building, a crucial first step is to know what you're working with. On the National Student Loan Data System, students can locate all their federal loans and find debt totals, including accumulated interest.

Before I looked online, I wasn't even sure how much my loans were, and I completely forgot about the interest. It was really scary to face the numbers, but it's even more helpful to know exactly what you're dealing with.

• Contact your loan servicer: Once you know how much you owe, find out exactly who you'll be sending checks to—your student loan servicer. Whether you have federal or private loans, your loan servicer is your first point of contact for any questions and address updates, so don't hesitate to reach out!

Building a successful repayment strategy for student loan debt is essential in learning about and shaping your financial future.

• Pick a repayment plan: The standard repayment plan for student loans is 10 years, but that doesn't necessarily make it the right option for every student.

Some borrowers of federal student loans, for example, may be better off opting into Income-Based Repayment or Income-Contingent Repayment plans, which adjust monthly bills according to pay. For help finding the right plan, online tools such as PayBackSmarter.com allow students to experiment with payment options.

• Stick to a budget: Once you determine a monthly obligation, keep track of other spending to ensure you can pay all your bills. Websites such as Mint.com which I wrote about in a previous post: here helps  prepares you to begin repaying your loans.

Creating a budget, sticking to it, and keeping it visual is great, because when you can actually see your budget on a website or on your phone, you don't want to go over it. It almost turns into a game of sorts where you want to win.

• Prioritize your loan payments: As you budget, you may find yourself forgoing activities or events to pay off your debt. You have to get used to your upcoming loan payments taking precedence over major decisions..

Your loan payments will affect your life, and may put other things on a slight hold. The move you want to make out west might not yet be feasible, no matter how daunting it may be, commit to your payments and make it priority number one. It will benefit you greatly in the long run. Further, prioritizing may also mean minimizing other forms of debt or, if possible, chipping away at student loans before tackling other types of debt.

• Focus on the future: If you find you're scrimping or sacrificing to make your monthly student loan payments, it may help to remind yourself what you're paying for.

That being said, It helps me to reflect on my college career and keep fresh in mind the value of the education I got, and the great job offering that came along with it--It definitely paid off. Remember: even though right now it may seem like a lot, in 10 or 15 years it will be well worth it and behind you.


I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to ask your elders for advice, most of them have been where you are right now!

Prevail!

10 Tips For Moving Back In With Your Parents

If you're a post-grad and anything like me, moving back in with your parents was not your first choice. To me, the idea of moving back in with my dad was both daunting, nerve wracking, unattractive and irritating. (that makes him sound like a monster, he's a great dad, but c'mon...) Not to mention, I was moving back to a legit man cave that my dad and younger/annoying brother fully occupy/dictate. (I'm like the lone black sheep)

Reassuring enough, watching  a lot of my college and high school friends move back home permanently made me realize I wasn't alone. When I was able to finally put my emotions aside I realized: hey! as a matter of fact, a lot of people I know decided to move back home after graduation. 

So it cant really be that bad, can it? The more important question is, how can you stay sane when facing financial issues, family drama, and all the potential pitfalls of returning home after school? Lucky for you readers, I'm here to show you how, and hopefully you might find that it’s not as bad as it sounds.

First, lets list some pros: 

Rent is cheap (like the cost of an electricity bill), or if you're lucky, free!
One of the major benefits of heading home after school is that unlike living in a dorm or an apartment, staying in your childhood bedroom is free of charge! You might want to take down those embarrassing N’SYNC posters, but otherwise, living at home comes with this notable, wallet-friendly perk. Unless your parents have asked you to chip in monetarily, moving back home will give you the unique opportunity to save money while planning your next move, before your student loans start coming due

You have time to make a plan:
One of the major benefits of not rushing into a job or internship right after graduation is that if you’re like millions of other grads and don’t know exactly what you want to do with your freshly minted college education yet, you’ll have plenty of time to figure it out in the comfort of your own home.

Reuniting with old friends:
Even though you and your best girlfriend from high school pinky-promised you’d be best friends forever, many changes take place between high school and college. The good news is she’s back home for the summer, too, and after attending school on opposite ends of the country, you’ll finally be able to reconnect! You can visit all your old high school haunts and catch up on everything that’s happened over the past few years, and if it’s as good a friendship as you think it is, you two probably won’t miss a beat when you meet up again.


Andddd... OF COURSE THERE'S CONS!:

Less privacy and less independence:
Remember your high school days, when mom and dad wanted to know where you were going, who you were going with, what you were doing and when you’d be back? Now you’re in your early 20s, and they still want to know all of that information. Just because you have a car (if you’re lucky) and a college degree doesn't mean they’re any less curious about your life and who’s in it and when it’s taking place. It can be challenging to keep your cool while maintaining the hard-won independence you found while away at school, and throwing a good old-fashioned teenage tantrum can become oh-so-tempting. Resist the urge to lash out at your parents, who are not only giving their college grad a free place to stay but are also coming from a place of parental concern, not nosiness.

Falling into a rut:
Keep in mind that you’re officially a college-educated adult now, do not revert back into old teenage habits. Your parents are nice enough to let you move home after school and provide for you, so show them your appreciation by being responsible. Clean up after yourself, do your own laundry and make your own meals. If you’re clueless in the kitchen, ask your parents! They’ll probably be pleased by your initiative and it’ll make for a great bonding moment.

Readjusting to a quieter social life:
Whether you lived in a dorm or in an apartment for most of your college life, you know how easy it was to find someone who wanted to hang out. After simply walking down the hall and knocking on a few doors or sending out a text or two, you had plans for the night and could successfully procrastinate on your term paper. But now, your friends are all over the place and it will take a bit more effort to get together.


And last but not least, here are some survival tips:

1. Expect them to treat you like an adult. You don't need a curfew anymore. Have that discussion before you move in. Some parents may have been in the habit of waiting up for you, so talking about it upfront relieves them from that responsibility. Also, before college mom may have done your laundry and prepared your meals. If you allow her to continue to do that for you, you're subliminally telling her that you're still a child. Don't be surprised if she treats you like one.
2. Expect your parents to supply a pathway, not a destination. Their job is to help you become a fully functional, self-reliant adult—not someone who's dependent upon them forever.
3. Be willing to help with routine family chores. If you're not working, it makes sense that you should help with the family grocery shopping or vacuuming.
4. Offer to pay part of the utility and grocery bills. You'll be using electricity and hitting the fridge; it’s only fair that you should pay for it. Also, knowing you have bills to pay will force you to look diligently for work, and when you move out and start getting your own utility bills, it won't be such a shock.
5. Have a plan to get back on track. Create a detailed plan of what you'll need to do to get your career started and branch out on your own. Make sure the plan contains specific things that will move you closer to your goal. Then, work on at least one item on the list every day.
6. Be willing to take a job that's "beneath" you. You could wait years to find a job that exactly matches your education and training. You need money now. Take a fair job today, then look for a better one tomorrow.
7. Don't ask your parents for money. When you were a child, you might have gotten an allowance. As an adult, you don't get one.
8. Set a target date for moving out. To assume that you can stay as long as you like is to assume that you'll never grow up. Part of your goal should be to have a target of when you'll be able to afford an apartment. Your plan should keep that target date in mind.
9. Don't get too comfortable. Comfort is your enemy! You shouldn't be comfortable until you've reached your goals. To get comfortable now is to accept that you'll always be dependent on your parents and will always need to hold their hand when you cross the street.
10. Last but not least enjoy yourself! This may seem completely unthinkable if moving back in with your folks was the last thing you wanted to do. However, living at home can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally learn your mom's secret recipes and your dad's amazing way with woodworking tools. Live it up and take in as much as you can, focus on the positive aspects rather than the negative!

I hope this post has prepared you to handle moving back home after college! Have you already moved home after college? What was it like? Are you still living at home? Let me know below!

Good luck!

Mint.com A MUST USE TOOL For Recent Graduates

If you have been out of the loop and haven’t heard of Mint, or if you haven’t bothered setting up an account, this Mint.com review is for you! (especially as a recent graduate) Mint is a free service that helps manage your finances, aggregates your assets, creates a budget, and categorically sees how and where you spend your money so that you can make changes and/or save more money if you wish to. Mint is my favorite tool for managing my finances and I have been happily using it for about a year.  An added bonus: it's free!, it's a breeze to set up and offers tons of excellent features.

Mint.com at a Glance

Mint.com is one of the best ways to to view and manage your personal finances and investments in one place. It automatically pulls data from your bank, credit card and other financial accounts and allows you to manage your money from its website or mobile app. With just one login you can get an overview of your entire financial situation.

While you can’t transfer money, pay your bills or make stock trades through Mint, you can create and track your budget, look over your spending trends, set alerts and reminders and track your financial goals. You can also view available balances across all accounts, search through previous transactions and track your investment portfolio’s performance.

Setting Up Your Account

Mint is absolutely free. When you open an account at Mint.com. there are no "upgrades" or "premium subscriptions," so you have instant access to all of Mint.com features with no extra cost upon creating your account.

After logging in, the first thing you will want to do is connect your existing accounts to Mint. The process is simple – just type in the name of your financial institution, enter your login details and Mint will automatically download data from that account. Virtually every type of account is supported and Mint guarantees the privacy and safety of your information. You can even add your other assets, such as your car or rental properties.

Mint Dashboard

The dashboard gives you an overview of your finances. You can view account balances, asset values, net worth and a snapshot of your investment portfolio. The dashboard also displays the current month’s budget, your financial goals and spending trends.

The alerts section is a great addition to your Mint.com homepage. It displays important reminders, upcoming bills and notifies you of potential problems (such as overdue credit card payments). You can sign up to receive email reminders as well.

Your Budget

One of the best features of Mint is the ability to set and track your budget. You can set a monthly spending limit for each of the many categories and track your spending for each month. Mint automatically categorizes your account transactions and lets you know if you are under or over your budget in each category.

Financial Goals

Another great feature of Mint is setting and tracking your financial goals. Your goals can be anything related to saving, investing or paying off debt. You create a new goal by choosing a goal type, setting a deadline and picking one or more appropriate accounts to track it. Mint will suggest a monthly contribution and will let you know if you are on track to completing your goals on time.

For example, you can use the goal feature to save for emergencies. When you pick a corresponding goal template, Mint suggests how much you should save, based on your average monthly expenses. You can then pick an account to serve as your emergency fund and set a deadline. Mint will suggest a monthly savings plan, which you can accept or adjust.

Spending Trends and Transactions

Since Mint can access and automatically categorize your transactions (you sometimes have to help it a little), it makes it very easy to study your financial trends. You can look at your spending, income, debt, assets and net worth over a variety of time periods and using different filters.

Mint can also be helpful if you’re trying to look up a particular transaction. Even if you don’t remember when it actually happened or which account you used, a quick search of your entire account history will help you quickly find it.

                                                                      Mobile Apps

Yet another great feature of Mint is its mobile apps. You can get Mint for your iPhone, iPad, Android phone or an Android tablet. Just like the desktop version, all Mint apps are free.

The mobile app gives you the same control over your budget, goals and spending trends, as offered by the Mint.com website. It is a great way to keep track of your money on the go. For example, you can get a quick idea about available account balances before making a purchase.

Mint.com Review Final Thoughts

Mint.com is one of the pioneers in the online money management industry, and from experience I cannot  express enough that it is a great and easy option, especially for managing your personal finances. It’s hard to beat so many great features offered for free. As a recent grad, the importance of weighing your finances is new to many of us, and is weighed heavy between rent payments, bills and paying off loans. In order to do so, one of the first steps to making smarter financial decisions is to organize your finances and Mint.com is an excellent way to do just that!

Test it out for yourself and let me know what you think!

Furnishing Your First Apartment On A Budget: 10 Items You CANNOT Live Without

You've saved and saved and finally got your own place. Then the sad reality hits.  After you pay your first month’s rent, security deposit and moving costs there is no money left to furnish your new place. Are you doomed to sleep on the floor of an empty apartment?  I would argue no. In this post, I am going to provide a few creative ways to stretch your dollar, even if your furnishing budget is, well, zero dollars. If you can manage to scrounge up an extra $500 dollars, you’ll have plenty of places to get exactly what you need to make your new apartment comfortable.

FURNISHING BUDGET $0
If you have absolutely no money to spend on furnishing, there's many places where even an empty wallet goes a long way.

• Castaways from family, friends, coworkers: Check out grandma’s basement; find out who among your co-workers is redecorating or moving; ask your super to let you know when your neighbors throw out furniture. Get the word out as widely as you can that you’ll take anything they don’t need.
• Street finds: Walk or drive around nice neighborhoods the night before garbage pick-up.  You may need to do this with a friend, so that you have help hauling your goodies home.
• Craigslist Free: Everyday hundreds of people post furniture/appliance giveaways that they do not want to take with them on their own moves. You should know that there will be a lot of competition for good stuff on Craigslist Free so be friendly and punctual!
• Freecycle is another great, less known website where users post what they are looking for, and users post what they are offering. The larger the city/area you are moving into the more that is usually offered

FURNISHING BUDGET UP TO $500

As your furnishing budget hits the big double and triple digits, many new places become affordable.

• Stoop sales and yard sales: Great sources for small decorative items and sometimes even smaller pieces of furniture, such as chairs or side tables. Yard sales are often loaded with dishes and kitchen implements so you can use them to equip your kitchen. Now is a great time to scout for stoop and yard sales, because people use them to get rid of the assorted and sundry that turn up in spring cleaning.
• Thrift shops: Most cities have a number of thrift shop options, running from national (Salvation Army, Goodwill) to ones kept by local charities (for example, Housing Works in NYC). With stoop sale and thrift shop bargains, adding a few dollars of paint or a fabric remnant, can turn them into a treasures.  
• Online deal sites: A relatively new budget furnishing resource. These sites are for a knowledgeable shopper who knows what comparable items sell for in retail stores. It's important to watch out for the shipping cost that can make a bargain not so, particularly for lower priced items. Look on sites such as Overstock.com  for everything from furniture to bedding. Plus, unlike many deal sites, they have free shipping for purchases over $50!
• Big Box stores: As your budget gets closer to $500, you can start checking out your local Ikea, Target, Walmart, Ollies and other large chain stores. They may not be affordable all the time, but when they run sales, bargains can be had.

Further as the post title suggests, I’ve selected 10 items you shouldn't live without, as well as how much estimated you'd spend on them–minimally. Let me know what you think–and if there any must have items I missed!

1. Bed/Couch–$200. The first item on the list has to be a bed. Without a bed, you’re just going to feel like you’re couchsurfing and won’t feel settled.   But, yikes, a bed is probably the most expensive item in any first apartment. What can you do to avoid spending your entire budget? First, do some futon research. My cousin actually preferred sleeping on his futon even though he had the cash to get a bed. They can be truly great, especially for those living in studios–as they will, of course, double as a couch.  Try to find one from a friend or check Craigslist–but beware bed bugs. Plenty of people need to sell furniture and are bed bug free–but just FYI.
2. Dining Table, chairs–$100. Try finding larger items either at Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  You can find a total gem for very little $.  The trick here, though is time–as it will likely take longer as every item is unique. Also give freecycle ago!
3.  Dresser/Hangers for Closet–$50. Depending on the apartment you find, you may not need a dresser as you have enough closet space. But, if you do, dressers go for pretty cheap on Craigslist–and can also be found easily in resale shops. I got mine 4 years ago for $50–an Ikea model already put together by a neighborhood friend moving away. Their loss–totally my gain... As for hangers–see if your local dry cleaner would have any extra to spare. Or, see if you can bring some from home.
4. Silverware/Dishes–$0-50. See if your family has any older dishes that they have stored in the basement. I was surprised that my mom had two sets from my childhood that they never got rid of, that I quickly claimed. If you aren't so lucky–WalMart and Ikea have some pretty reasonably priced cutlery that doesn't look worse for the wear after use.
5. Bedding–$0. Additional items to see if you can borrow from your parents. While it’d be great to get a new comforter, that’s an item that can wait for the holiday gift list. Especially if you’re coming from college, you should already have bedding that you can re-purpose. If not, try a site like overstock.com that often has bedding sales. Also check discount stores like TJ Maxx Marshall or Ross stores.
6. Shower Curtain–$20. Water on the bathroom floor is slippery and not ideal. Spend the twenty bucks.
7. Trash cans–$20. Find the cheapest ones you can for the moment. You can always upgrade later. Don't underestimate local dollar stores for these types of purchases!
8. Laundry hamper–$0. Again, just bring whatever one you stuck in the closet after the last time you lived in a dorm. Or, spring for a small basket that can serve as a laundry hamper for the moment.
9. Towels–$0. Another item you should already have access to. If not, go to Target and get some cheap towels.
10. Pots/Pans–$40. If you must–you can get buy on one cheap frying pan and one cheap pot to boil water. You’ll replace when you can.

Just in case you have a little extra:

ETC Items $20-70 - When you’re at Walmart or IKEA getting dishes, see what else you’d want to spruce up your apt, mixing fun with necessity. They have all   sorts of little fun items like $2 candles and $5 mirrors. Also, see if they have extension cords--which are always needed. Also, try to find a cheap lamp, as light’s always important.  Another item to consider are bedroom curtains, to keep out that always pesky morning light.

Hope you found the bare bones list above helpful. You’ll note I didn't include a TV (as streaming computer content can suffice) or some typical items like coffee tables/nightstands.  If you can spring for these items, by all means–you will enjoy them.

Also, I *did* assume that you would have a few items to start out with, which hopefully isn't an unfair assumption. If that’s not true, use the tips I listed above and don't forget to utilize your networks! Using Facebook, for instance, would be super easy to ask friends to contribute their slightly used furniture items to your new pad. Someone else’s castoffs could totally be your treasure!

Happy shopping!

So Now What? Life After College: An Introduction

College can be some of the best years of your life, but what happens after graduation? With the tough economy, increased costs of living and outsourcing of jobs, what’s a recent graduate to do?

The plan seemed straightforward: graduate from college, land a job and then breeze through work like it’s the first day of school. Only you’re no longer a student and there aren't any teachers or a syllabus to follow. Heck, some of your office peers have children your age...

You had no idea how drastically different the professional world would be from college life. Nine-to-five workdays, unfamiliar faces, rent to pay, no more summer vacation (ugh)… It’s enough to make you curl up into a teary-eyed ball beneath your cubicle...

But then you remembered that saying your mom, pastor, rabbi, wise old neighbor, grandpa, overly compassionate friend etc. always used to say, that you always never listened to: "It could always be worse." And for once, you know its true, because you could have been in this situation...

Imagine: Graduation season has come and gone, and as you watch all your peers begin to land those finance and accounting jobs, you begin to seriously wonder why you thought it would be a good idea to save the world or become a journalist...

Even sitting at your computer to get your daily dose of Facebook becomes a self depreciating task. As all the business school kids make status updates about signing the lease to their new NYC apartments, you are sulking and packing your clothes into large garbage bags to move back in with your parents. (Because really, whats worse than having a home to come back to!?!)

Your job search is going just as bad as your attitude. You've updated, revised and edited your resume a near 20 times and you just can't seem to land an interview, or even hear back from an employer. You're stuck, and with each failed effort the idea of throwing in the towel and moving somewhere pretty like Colorado to become a career Starbucks Barista is looking better and better.

BUT THEN THE STORM CALMED AND THE SKY OPENED UP, ALL BECAUSE YOU FOUND THIS BLOG!