Postponing payments - Reducing monthly costs - salliemae

Postponing payments

Reducing monthly costs

You may be having trouble balancing your income and expenses. How you handle daily life—and your student loans—makes a big difference.

See about smaller loan payments

You may find that you have several student loans to repay. Here are two simple ways to lower your monthly loan payments:

• If you consolidate those loans, you can pay off your original loans and get one with lower interest.
• Consider changing your payment plan to one that lowers your payments.

Be smart about credit and debt

• Live within your means and keep your debt level as low as possible.
• Be savvy with your credit card: Don't use it as a source of spending money. Pay in cash whenever you can.
• See our 10 rules of smart credit management.

Sallie Mae's be debt savvy materials are a wealth of solid money-saving advice.

Plan your new budget

Use College Answer^®’s Monthly Budget Calculator to get the facts about your bottom line.

Think of your budget as a personal spending plan. It's a great way to understand where your money goes and to make sure you don’t buy things you don’t really need.