Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Tips For Faster Payment Your Student Loan

Student loans are a common debt for anyone who has graduated from university or college recently. It can put a great deal of financial pressure on people, particularly if they have other debts to manage as well (which is often the case shortly after graduating). If a number of debts is causing financial pressure for you, debt consolidation may be the solution you need.
Whether or not you qualify for consolidation assistance will depend on a number of factors. The first is the type of student loan you have.

There are essentially two types of student loans - government loans and private loans. Government loans are offered by the Department of Education's Federal Student Aid program. These types of student loans tend to be the easier of the two to qualify for consolidation assistance.

Private loans are usually used when a person doesn't qualify for government assistance, and as a result they tend to have higher interest rates and less favorable terms. These loans can be more difficult to qualify for debt consolidation, and you may end up paying a higher interest rate in order to do so.

Debt consolidation is basically the process of totalling up all your outstanding debt and getting a new loan for the total. This money is then used to pay off the existing debt and you are left with a single payment, usually with a lower interest rate.

To find a qualified and reliable debt consolidation specialist, you have several options. One of the best choices is to contact your school and find out if they recommend someone. They will have had many students go through the process and will be able to recommend someone who those other students have had good results with.

Another option is to contact your local government offices. They will also have dealt with many people who are looking for this type of service and should have some information on reliable services.

There is also a great deal of information available on the internet and many debt consolidation companies have websites where they outline their services. If you are researching them on the internet, be sure to do your due diligence. It's much harder to separate the good from the not-so-good online - anyone can put up a nice looking website.

Are you Lookin for Free Debt ?

Have you ever considered how hard it is to become Debt Free? The perception is that debt is like weight, easy to put on hard to get off! Becoming debt free is not as hard as it may first seem, as long as you are earning of course. Drawing up a plan and staying focused is the start of becoming debt free. For instance you could follow a few simple rules, just remember the word DEBT:

1) Don’t using your credit cards routinely, this does not mean cutting them up, it just means only use if absolutely necessary. Try leaving them at home for a change.

2) Every week try and only use a set amount of cash, this will help you focus your spending and not overspend.

3) By using a debit card instead of a credit card you will save on some unwanted charges and as it is real cash you are using, it will help you stay focused on what you can spend.

4) Try and keep some unused credit available. If you have a history with a company and it is a good history, then you will protect a hard earned credit rating by owing a little rather than a lot.

When looking for other ways to become debt free you will need to consider other factors that make up that debt. So for this, remember the word FREE:

1) Find loans or cards with low interest rates. Do not just study the headline rate; look at it as a whole. How much will you repay over the whole period of the loan? Sometimes taking a higher initial rate can be cheaper in the long term when striving to become debt free.

2) Recycle all those leaflets, flyers and unwanted junk mail. You will be helping yourself and the environment at the same time.

3) Evaluate your own level of debt and stay in control. Do not listen to someone telling you that taking on more debt will be beneficial to you in the long run; you are the one who has to live with the consequences, not them!

4) Evaluate your debt free plan regularly, keep it up to date and make changes when needed. It will evolve as you do and soon you will see benefits.

Don’t get put off if it takes a little time to start seeing any benefit from your debt free plan, it is like a steep hill, climbing to the top is hard, but when over the top it becomes far easier. I hope this little guide is a help in your quest to become Debt Free.

Some Alternatife for College Education

If you hadn't noticed College Education is expensive! Causing a massive rise in the Student Loans industry. The thought of their offspring going to college causes many a parent heartache at the thought of the costs involved. Not only is there the tuition fees, other things that need to be thought about are everyday items including food, travel costs, rent (housing), spending money, and miscellaneous fees which when added up can create a significant amount, just to finance a college education. Often College grants and scholarships are the only way of getting financial assistance, unless the student or their family qualifies for student loans.

Grant and scholarship programs are advantageous over student loans as they do not need to be paid back. There are two kinds of scholarship programs, based on the inability of the family to pay for a college education or based on the students academic or sporting ability. However with the rising numbers of students and the limitations of budget, these grants may start to be harder to find.
So what are the available grants?

Well the names of grants and scholarships, vary, depending on where you live, as does the amount you may receive in a grant. One of these is a Federal or National Pell Grant. This is a program funded nationwide and intended to assist qualified undergraduates who have not finished a baccalaureate degree. This grant can vary year on year and is funded by the national government.

The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) is a program for ongoing undergraduate students. Not available to all and based on need, this grant can be restricted by the availability of finances of the school.

The third and now most common form of financing a college education is through a student loan. These need to be paid back and as there is an interest charge, they can be expensive in the long term.

One thing is for sure and that is that going to college is expensive and sorting out the financing for your college education whether by sponsorship, grant or student loans is paramount.