Student Debt Woes—Managing Finances and Curing Debt in the "Real World"

By Aniya Wells

There are few things more terrifying than entering the world of financial responsibility for the first time. Many of us truly enter this adult world after graduating college and earning a degree towards our career. Of course, upon graduating from college and entering the world of financial responsibility, we are also faced with paying off student loan debt and landing a job in the most challenging job market in decades. It can be an extremely overwhelming time for any individual. While debt is always a stressful thing to cope with, it can be especially so for those who are completely new to the process. Use these tips and guidelines to better manage your student debt right out of college and become a fully functioning "real world" citizen.

Do Your Research

Before you can fully tackle difficult student debt it is essential that you educate yourself on your debt situation and how student loan repayment works. Yes, this may mean spending sometime outside of your college campus looking through documents and studying papers, but it's well worth it. Do your research some. Figure out what the terms of your student loan or loans are. When is the grace period of your loan over? Just how much are you going to have to pay each month? What do your interest rates look like? These are all essential questions that you need to be able to answer before you start paying off your loan. Take the time to look through your loan agreement. There may be some things in the print that surprise you and most loan agreements work to provide a general explanation of how loan repayment works.

Meet that Minimum

Once you've done your research on when you need to start paying your loan and what your minimum balance should be, the next step is actually making the payments. You should be sure to always meet that minimum balance. While this can feel completely impossible at times, try to take a close look at your finances and see where you can improve your budgeting. Many people put loan repayment as a last factor in their budgeting plans—this is the wrong way to go about things. Try to get yourself out of debt first, spend and get where you want to be in other financial matters later. It is recommended to try to meet that minimum payment amount each month along with as much extra as you're willing to spare. Even just five or ten dollars more a payment can make a huge difference in the long run.

Stay Current

Be sure that you are staying up to date and current with the news and policies concerning student loan debt. With so many young Americans finding themselves head under water the day after graduation, the government and many loan agencies are working to help the young generation. There are new government pardons and subsidies that are put in place to help out current "real world" adults dealing with student loan debt. Things can change in legislation that may affect your payments, so try to stay up to date on all things student debt.

Author Bio:
Aniya Wells particularly loves reading and writing about online education, although her interests span different niches as well, including personal finance, parenting, sustainable living, and more. Accredited online degree programs are hard to find in the online morass of scams, so Aniya's ultimate goal is to help her readers figure out the maze of online education. She can be reached for questions or comments at aniyawells@gmail.com.