how are you repaying your student loans?

Fiona59 · Oct 7, 2013

Tuition tax credits help a lot.
I know someone who paid down 55k in student loans on a new grad salary in a year. It can be done.

Yup, dump those tax refunds right onto the loan.

Trauma Columnist · Oct 7, 2013

Let's keep it civil. I guess I must admit to ignorance because other than sending them money every month am not sure of other options unless you get some kind of loan forgiveness

joanna73, BSN, RN · Nov 13, 2013

I paid my 37,000 loan in 2 years, 3 months, working full time and not doing anything else. Living way below my means just to make those payments and get rid of the government. The sacrifice was well worth it.

lemur00, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2013

I worked the minimum amount that I could (which turned out to be 2/3 time during school, picking up in summer) throughout school and paid for my education out of pocket. Since I made too much as an aide (and in the first year, had savings) I wasn't eligible for loans of any kind, so I worked nights and budgeted insanely. All my tax rebates for education went directly to school. I also fast tracked to complete in three years, which I found over all cheaper (making RN wage sooner and able to work FT). I wouldn't recommend it if there are better options, but it's not a bad idea to at least not have to lean entirely on loans.

However there are scholarships and bursaries, as well as grants which often accompany loans. Additionally you can have the loans forgiven if you do a return for service in a rural hard-to-recruit area. These are usually FT jobs--even without any forgiveness one would be able to pay off a good chunk of a loan with that and careful budgeting. Had the option been open to me, I would have taken forgiveness for the first two years (more expensive) and paid the last half off myself at the same time.

CGstudent nurse · Mar 10, 2014

- Provincial and Federal Student Loan forgiveness programs, for underserved areas. You have to use your Google-Fu a bit.

PM me if you want the links, am happy to help.

- National Bank of Canada has preferential rates for Line of Credit for nursing or medical students. I will be paying prime + 0.75% for one full year after graduation. That's absurdly low..... just like my level of OSAP funding. Ha ha

- Last, if you're not married, DON'T get married before graduation. Your spouse's income and vehicle (this may change for 2014) gets figured into your student loan eligibility. I made this mistake. I get it, love rules all, but to the government marriage is just another way to tax and collect.

lathyrus · Mar 10, 2014

Hopefully by the time I graduate, there will be full time jobs *fingers crossed*!!! I hope to work full time to pay off my loans. I'm just praying that everything would work out for the best!!!

Also, I'll probably get a minimum wage paying job to pay off some of my loans...

joanna73, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2014

Before I returned to school, I made a financial plan based on 5 years. I worked through school and sometimes 6 days a week in the summer months to save whatever I could.

I also got rid of my cable, since I was rarely home anyway and bought cheaper food. I ate many stir frys, but they were healthy and fast.

My loan interest was around 5.10 per day at the start. I did without, picked up extra shifts and like Fiona, dumped my tax refunds on the loan. I was paying 1700 per month some months.

I would always advocate for paying any loans as quickly as you can comfortably manage. On a 40,000 loan paying the minimum payment roughly equals an additional 15,000 dollars in interest over a 10 year period.

That's hardly worthwhile when you consider the high cost of borrowing.

There are few full time jobs, HOWEVER, you can often pick up full time hours with a combination of part time and casual jobs, particularly in smaller communities where the need for nurses is greater. Certain areas willl offer loan repayment for return of service.

Insomniac-88 · Mar 11, 2014

OSAP has RAP. Look into it. Your monthly payments will never be more than 20% of your income AFTER $1600 (what they expect you need to live off). Government kicks in the rest.