Struggling With Student Loans? 5 Quick Steps To Consolidate Your Debt And Save Money
Did you know that you're wasting money on your student loan payments
?What if I told you that you could consolidate your student loans to save tons of money AND make your monthly payments more affordable?
What if I told you that I could get your a better interest rate on ALL of your loans?
As you read this article you'll learn:
1. How to Get a Better Interest Rate on Your Loans
2. Exactly How to Consolidate Your Loans to Get Out of Debt
3. What You Can do to Make Sure You Get the Best Deal on a Loan
I'm sure that at least one of those sounds appealing...So let's get to work!
How to Consolidate Your Student Loans in 5 Easy Steps
Each of these 5 steps is designed to help you get the best deal possible on a brand new student loan...Don't wait another moment to look into student loan consolidation as a way to get out of debt!
- #1) Find Your Weighted Average Interest Rate -
Does that sound like gibberish to you? Don't worry, it's supposed to sound that way, after all if finances weren't extremely confusing then it might be EASY to get out of debt! And we wouldn't want that, would we?
Please note the sarcasm dripping from my voice.
Basically what you're gonna be doing here is finding out your average interest rate across all of your current loans. This will enable you to know what to look for when you're shopping for a new private or fixed rate loan.
Here's how to find your average interest rate:
1. Multiply Each Loan By its Interest Rate to Find Interest Owed (Example: $15,000 x.09 = $1,350)
2. Find Your Total Debt Owed, as well as the Total Interest Owed, the Sum of Each Loan's Interest Owed
3. Divide Your Total Interest Owed by Your Total Debt Owed and Multiply by 100
If you do all that right you should end up with your weighted average interest rate, or in other words the average interest across all of your current student loans. Keep this number in mind as you're looking for new loans.
- #2) What do You Want to Pay? -
This is where you're going to have to figure out exactly what type of loan will work best for you...
Do you want to make sure that you have a consistent interest rate so your monthly payment are always the same? Go with a Fixed Rate Loan.
Do you want a lower interest rate or longer repayment period than you can get with a Federal Loan? Look for a Private lender.
Basically, figure out what you can afford right now, and how long you want to be in debt, and then structure your search around that.
- #3) Find at Least 5 Unique Lenders -
This is where you'll do your shopping around. You've already decided what type of loan you're looking for so it shouldn't be too hard to find a few lenders.
I strongly encourage you to look into at least a few private lenders...You can probably find a much better deal privately than federally, so keep that in mind.
I also encourage you to contact each lender you find to make sure that they can offer you what you want.
- #4) Apply For Each of the 5 Loans -
Pretty self explanatory I think...
Basically just fill out all the paperwork either online or actually on paper. Answer each question as best you can and contact the lender with any questions you have.
While you're applying, keep in mind that it's easiest to compare loans when they're all for the same repayment period, which will help you a lot down the road.
- #5) Compare Each Loan and Make a Decision -
After you've been applied to all 5 lenders, make sure you take at least a day to sit and come to a decision about which loan you want to actually take out. Look at what each loan can do for you, and make sure that you're satisfied with the interest rate, the amount of the loan, and the repayment period that you're agreeing to.
How to Make Sure You Get the Best Rate
Now listen, I'm sure that you've still got a question or two about student loan consolidation and what it can do for you. I'm sure you'd at LEAST like to know how you can make sure you get the best interest rate possible.
by: Steven Odwal