Hi everyone! I was looking at my credit report and realized that my sallie mae original loans grew anywhere from $1k – to almost $10k due to interest. My parents didn’t want me to worry about loans while in school, but I also shouldn’t have really trusted them to help me because they also had no idea what they were doing, but you live and you learn and here i am.
I have 133k in student loans with sallie mae, which i always wondered how they got that big because I swore i was at like 90-100k, which is still a lot but not 133k after paying some down!
I went through a lot of missed payment because I couldn’t afford $1,700 monthly payment and I was working with yrefy who eventually denied me for whatever reason. I was basically very close to default. Then sallie mae finally worked me with me and gave me their step up plan which i am so thankful for. Now that I know my loans have grown this huge amount i guess due to compound interest at 12.75% (accruing daily) is there a way to get some of it removed? Even a few hundred? I’ve been consistently paying on time and more than my payment since november since I can actually afford it now.
For example my one loan for 22k is now at 30k… i can’t believe it is legal, but I guess it is.
Any advice would be so helpful! I am also rebuilding my credit and it’s just under the mid 600s and I want to refinance away from Sallie Mae before my interest shoots back up to 12.75% in 2-3 years.
EDIT: For reference, I’m in my first few months working at a nonprofit making only 42k. It took me over a year to find a job out of school so I was working at a grocery store and doing internships throughout that time. I do have my family’s support in other ways as I don’t pay rent and live at home. I only pay for my loans, my car, and my credit cards or anything else I want.
Sallie Mae Loans Grew A Huge Amount Due To Interest
byu/lreagan2024 inStudentLoans
Posted by lreagan2024
6 Comments
It’s amazing the school system can have someone rack up 90k worth of college loans and have no idea how interest works.
Without giving any information on your finances or income there isn’t much people can give advice on.
This is how loans work. If you ever buy a house it’ll feel the same. You can get a 400k home loan at 30y 6% and make every minimum payment you will have paid over $800,000 for your home. It certainly feels like it should be illegal when you watch the numbers.
Now add the ability to defer and lower payments, and it’s that much worse for student loans.
These sound like private loans. If I were in your shoes I would find a bankruptcy lawyer and figure out my options. Working for a non profit you will never get out from under these. Take the credit hit now and by the time you are in your 30s you can buy a house.
Was with Sallie Mae and they are the damn devil🥲 I refinanced through a credit union and it cut my monthly payment down by $500
Student loans, even private loans I believe, are simple interest – not compounding. Meaning that interest accrues based on the principal amount and not the principal + previously accrued interest.
There is no way they will remove the interest from you balance. Private loans have no protections unlike federal loans. Your only option is to try to refinance at lower interest rates and to make more money to pay them off.
You do not need to refinance your loans all at once. You can do it in smaller chunks as you’re unlikely to get approved for 133k in a new loan, unless you have a co-signer with great credit and income.
You’ll need to learn how to bedazzle your basic life. Find cheap or even free means of entertainment and pare down on unnecessary spending to be able to afford your minimum payments.
I’m not trying to be harsh – just direct. Your options are very limited but they do exist. I’m glad you have familial support. Best of luck, friend.
You might have to get a second job and/or stop putting anything on those credit cards and stop “wanting” other things besides paying these down. Do you have federal loans as well?