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Your Two Cents: Do You Have Student Loans?

Fri, 07/18/2008 - 7:04am by SavvySugar
1,055 Views - 50 comments

Soaring college tuition means it's difficult to get a degree these days without taking out student loans, and monthly payments mean less money available for saving. How many of you can't wait until those loans are paid off?

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50 Comments Add a Comment

  • Lovely_1's picture
    Lovely_1
    1

    None for me.
    I have my parents haha. They want an educated daughter, so they will pay for me. The catch is I have to help my dad's company out whenever he needs it Smiling

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Marni7's picture
    Marni7
    2

    Do I ever! My parents helped when they could, but we were never that wealthy that they could just pay everything off..so in order to go to college I had no choice but to take some out..I seriously would be able to save sooooooooooooo much more if I didnt have to pay them each month Sad

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Shopaholichunny's picture
    Shopaholichunny
    5

    None for me (yet). LOL I have parents too who are very strict about education and I also have 2 major scholarships helping me out with my tuition and books. I have been lucky so far. Laughing out loud

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Frenched's picture
    Frenched
    6

    No student loans but too much CC debt which is WAY worse, I think...as it is basically unnecessary debt.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • cmd0610's picture
    cmd0610
    7

    Med school does force huge loans . . . but it's hard for me to pity people that are going to make like at least 400/500K a year evetually . . and I bet dr's normally make waaaaaaaaaaaaayyy more than that.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • imLissy's picture
    imLissy
    8

    My mom saved for college for me since I was a baby, so we had plenty to pay for it. I still have a good chunk left over that I'll probably use towards my wedding. I know, I'm very lucky.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Lindira's picture
    Lindira
    9

    Yup, still paying off around $11,000 from undergrad. Though, I'll have to defer payment AND take out another $30,000 a year for grad school. (Starting in the Fall! Woo!) I hate all these loans, but my parents are struggling to pay their own bills nowadays.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • tee0206's picture
    tee0206
    10

    I think I had about $25,000 total in student loans. I'm not sure how much of it has been paid off, but I should probably check.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • mini_pixie's picture
    mini_pixie
    11

    I don't but my hubby does, and that amounts to the same thing. Thankfully it's down to under $3k remaining, and at $50 a month and low interest it's been very affordable. But neither of us is done with school, so we'll see what happens in the future...

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • zabrow's picture
    zabrow
    14

    i had a chunk of savings before i went into college from social security after my dad died, so i used that money to pay for most of my BA, but i still came out with $8k in loans. now i'm back in school for nursing, but before i started my program, i worked full time & saved another good chunk of money so that i won't (hopefully) have to take out loans. right now i'm halfway done & haven't even used half of my savings yet, but i'm working full time during breaks & part-time during school to supplement my savings.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • valancyjane's picture
    valancyjane
    15

    My loans were pretty small; I had some scholarship and grants, and my parents contributed a LOT. I was very lucky. It's been in the $60-$70 range a month (I took a few grad classes, and loan payments are suspended during that period, so your payments are higher afterward). I believe I'm on a 10-year payment schedule, so I should be all done in January '10. Woo hoo!

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    17

    none.

    my state pays for college tuition if you made good enough grades/act scores in high school.

    And then grad school was paid for by my university in the form of a research assistantship.

    I know that I have been blessed.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • megln1022's picture
    megln1022
    18

    i'm lucky- my parents covered undergrad and they are picking up what my company doesn't cover for grad school. i need to go thank them again.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • ilanac13's picture
    ilanac13
    19

    i actually didn't atke out any loans for school but i ahd to work my butt off to pay for it all. it was certainly tough with a full time schedule of classes and a full time job. (thank god for commission jobs - that's all i can say)

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • javsmav's picture
    javsmav
    20

    I think I'm finally under $100K with my law school loans. Add that to my boyfriend's $200K for med school loans and we'll be in debt forever.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • supercoolnat's picture
    supercoolnat
    21

    I had around $25k, all paid off just a few months ago! Now it's time to start tackling the $160k in my husband's med school loans. Although the ~$200-300k salary he (hopefully) will eventually make will help, I'm all about at least keeping up with the interest during his residency, and paying off the principal as much as possible.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • ashlee70's picture
    ashlee70
    22

    I have insane amounts of student loans. My parents said they are going to help me out big time...but it still always worries me!

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • bellaressa's picture
    bellaressa
    23

    I have student loans, working full time and going to school was great but I still needed the assistance of a scholarship and loans. I don't even want to think how long it will take to pay off.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • bigestivediscuit's picture
    bigestivediscuit
    24

    Yes, for graduate school. Like Syako, my state also offered full-ride merit scholarships to state schools, but I chose to go to a private school on the opposite side of the country - luckily my parents paid for all of that plus my year spent abroad. But when it came to graduate school (I didn't do my graduate degree in the US), my parents said it was my choice and they had to put my brother through undergrad - fair enough - and so I took out loans in my name for that. Boo to student loans. My advice is to never go through Bank of America.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • rannew's picture
    rannew
    26

    I have one that I never should have gotten...for about $3500 so that I didn't have to work as much during my final semester where I took 18 credits...silly me its still around but with plans for an early payoff after our CC debt.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • uptown_girl's picture
    uptown_girl
    28

    My parents paid for my IN-STATE public tuition. For that I am very fortunate. But I also knew they would ONLY pay for four years, so anything after that was mine to pay for. I am very thankful for that, but I also know they could only afford it because I went in-state. They didn't pay my living expenses, I had a job to cover those. And I wasn't in a sorority either. (I had friends whose parents paid for tuition, living expenses, car, AND their sorority "fees").

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Martini Rossi's picture
    Martini Rossi
    29

    Yes I have student loans and lots of it. I wish a generous rich person would just pay them off for me already! Oprah!? Please!?

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Martini Rossi's picture
    Martini Rossi
    30

    Yes I have student loans and lots of it. I wish a generous rich person would just pay them off for me already! Oprah!? Please!?

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • brielleblonde's picture
    brielleblonde
    31

    i have about 20K in loans. boo! but im co-oping a year with an oil company, which for two months of working will easily pay off my loans.. i pay for everything though (tuition, rent, utilities, etc) which sucks when my two roommates are studying abroad and won't let me sublet their room, but don't want to pay for anything! must be nice to have ur parents pay to go to italy and leave me to pay for everything at school!

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • carhornsinapril's picture
    carhornsinapril
    32

    oh yeah. my parents didn't contribute to my education... i think my debt totaled about $60K when i graduated (though that's about 1/3 of the cost for all 4 years--i received a ton in scholarships and aid).

    i have a minimum payment of $620 every month, though i shoot for $700.

    note to all future parents: save for college so your kids can actually afford food when they're adults!

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • fleurfairy's picture
    fleurfairy
    33

    My parents always paid my tuition on time. I was very lucky. But I also went to a public university as opposed to an expensive private college.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • LadyAngel89's picture
    LadyAngel89
    34

    Nope none for me. I got lucky and fell into the "everything" financial aid category. I actually got a little money back to pay for my expenses while in school, I didn't have to work my first year of school. If it wasn't for financial aid I would have never gotten to go to college Sad

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • Megatron's picture
    Megatron
    35

    Yep.I went to a community college first so I would only have to take out loans for my upper division courses. I have a year left and at the end will have about $10k in loans to pay back.

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • lizs's picture
    lizs
    36

    I've been paying for four years and still about about 20k left from undergrad + grad school. I'll get there...I'm not rushing, because I feel like it's "good" debt. I'm so thankful for the scholarships, grants, and loans I got along the way...can't imagine how long I'd be paying without them!

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • sweetpeabrina's picture
    sweetpeabrina
    37

    I have about $70K. My dad is helping me pay it off which has been super nice. Mom says I should marry a rich guy. Eye-wink

    24 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • hithatsmybike's picture
    hithatsmybike
    38

    I'm working my butt off to graduate from my BSc with none -- and so far so good! I'm definitely going to make it: no loans, no parental help, no nothing, just a good work ethic.

    If I choose grad school, I'll be paid to attend at my university, so that'd be free + about $30 000 a year... but if I choose med, I'm expecting to finish with anywhere from $30 000 to $300 000 in debt, depending where I go.

    24 weeks 4 days ago Report Comment
  • GlowingMoon's picture
    GlowingMoon
    39

    Nope. We paid off our educational loans several years ago. We're completely debt-free.

    24 weeks 4 days ago Report Comment
  • Lilavati's picture
    Lilavati
    40

    Yay Poland! My school is free.

    Life isn't, but I'm living with my parents and they support me.

    And oh yeah, I started working two weeks ago!

    24 weeks 4 days ago Report Comment
  • anakiya's picture
    anakiya
    41

    I had student loans but I paid them off. However, my husband still has student loans from chiropractic college. We can't wait to pay them off but we are very far from being able to do that. I think these days they are a necessary evil.

    24 weeks 4 days ago Report Comment
  • GeriAnne1932's picture
    GeriAnne1932
    42

    I know it's important to invest in ourselves and our educations and the pay-off will be great...but what a sad nation we are when so many of us have to take on so much debt to improve our lives. Even at state schools which were intended to be reasonably priced for the masses has gotten out of hand. While I was in college, tuition doubled over 5 years at a state school in Wisconsin. I just think that's insane because it is rare to find a job without a degree or to move up quickly into management and yet it is such a heavy cost.

    24 weeks 4 days ago Report Comment
  • caligirl101's picture
    caligirl101
    43

    YEP. My parents didn't help at all. I did it on my own and had to take out loans.

    24 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • porkypocky's picture
    porkypocky
    44

    none because my parents were awesome enough to save up since i was born. talk about planning ahead. i have my own CC debt to pay off though because i'm not as smart as my parents Sad

    24 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • elliedee's picture
    elliedee
    45

    My father has been a professor at a private university since I was born so as long as I busted my tail to get in, 95% of my tuition was covered. That still left me with room & board, which was equal to in state tuition + room & board at many universities. My parent's covered that for two years but I decided to commute from their home towards the