Student loan taking forever to pay off... - Page 3

I graduated from my second-degree program owing around $55,000 total in loans (with my first and second degrees' loans combined, mind you) . It's not something that I'm proud of. It caused me some stress at first, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I took on the responsibility, and getting my BSN was important to me. I immediately started paying down my loans when I got my first pay check about one year ago (even though my loans weren't in repayment). I now owe around $43,000, and I make extra payments more often than not. At the pace I'm going, I could finish paying off my highest interest (and also biggest) loan within the next two years .

When I had to take that step and look into student loans when my parents couldn't afford my schooling (yet they made too much for me to qualify for any grants), I kept hearing about how low interest they are. After reality hit and I had to start paying back the loans, I realized that was the biggest joke I had ever heard. I still owe $15K on my loans and it'll take forever to pay off. The only reason I won't put extra money toward them right now is because it's more beneficial to put extra money on my credit card bill since student loan interest is deducted on taxes. Once I have no car or credit card payment, those student loans will be the next thing to go. It sickens me every month that I log on to make that payment to see how much I've been robbed over the past 4 years on a "low" interest loan.

i remember hearing other students complaining that it really wasn't fair that my nursing school was paid for by the gi bill. "just cause you were in the army you get your school paid for?! that's hardly fair when i have to barrow all this money" my comment that the same option was available to her went right over her head

After reading all of the other posts, I'm feeling blessed that my school has been giving me grants through all of my pre-req's(except for my first semester which is about $1500), and they just gave me another grant which will pay for my first year of nursing school

Ughhh. I think the one thing about these loans I never understood when I borrowed is how long they take to.pay off! It really is a mortgage.

Kmillersocal - exactly what I do. Old car = save $ for house & pay off loan of 65,000. I am down to 23,000 since graduating 2008! I usually pay 300 a month, but when working alot I add to it as much as I can. And when I have an extra thousand from tax return or something, I send in payment towards loan with most expensive interest. We want to pay those off first if we can. Check your statements folks....they save the highest interest for last.

I was fortuante enough to have my undergrad nursing program paid for through a state scholarship I qualified for....so very grateful....but now here comes grad school! I am hoping to attend U Penn's ACNP this coming year and after doing some multiplication, it's looking like $60,000 ish! YIKES! Right now my husband and I are working on paying down his student loans, $40,000 ish, and so far we've been making some progress. No car payment, no kids. Just us and 2 paychecks. We are able to allocate ~$800 a month to his loans, so sloooooowly but surely it's getting lower. Seems painfully slow though. And to think I'm about to more than double it! Kind of terrifying, but what other options do we have? Just hoping for an NP position after graduation with a higher salary than I'm making now so we can keep doing what we have to do. Anyways, that's my story. Bottom line, loans suck.

This is so true. I was looking over my last statement earlier wondering why I had been making payments in the past but one of my loans was not decreasing in the amount owed. Turns out it's the loan with the highest interest rate. There's a portion of the statement that says "your payment has been applied to the following loans" and they were dividing my payments between all the loans I owe on except the one with the super high 6.3% interest rate. While the other loans have decreased in amount, that one is actually higher than the original amount I borrowed.

Sometimes I feel like I sold my soul to try to make a better life for myself and my daughter but I have to work more and harder than I ever had to before. With nothing to show for it but debt. I will be 59 when I have my loans paid off. My daughter goes to college in four years.

I never even considered taking out a student loan. Unfortunately for me, that meant that I didn't get to go to college until I was 41. Now, I can pay for my education. Heck, now I even qualified for a full scholarship that is merit based, and am getting a free education. But, not everyone has that option.

I think it's sad how much debt some of you have. I really feel for you all, having to start off your professional lives with so much to owe. It's unfortunate that it has to be this way. I agree with everyone who recommended paying as much extra as you can. Drive an older car, don't get your nails done, do without whenever possible. If you can over pay every month, you can get out of it. Good luck to all of you.