I have a family and we are barely scraping by. Seriously, are there no other options? 😭
My payment is gonna be $1300, i can’t afford that. What is going to happen? Anything i can do? Just discouraging.
byu/skzzzzzzy0801 inStudentLoans
Posted by skzzzzzzy0801
9 Comments
1300 is crazy. at that point look into filling MFS for taxes, and have you claim the kids instead of ur spouse. Oh and get on an IDR plan.
Private or federal loans? What IDR plan are you pursuing?
Federal or private loans? Which plan are you looking at? You’ll need to add at least that much info to know what options you have. If you want specific advice, your loan total, interest rate, and annual income numbers would be helpful too.
For federal loans if you do an IDR plan it can be a good plan for you since it runs off income but do be careful of the interest capitalization part if you decide to switch later.
Also for federal loans the upcoming RAP plan (July 2026) may also be a good fit as it does a sliding scale to determine the payment you make with the min of $10 a month. It will cap the interest so it will prevent the balance from going up.
You can also lower your tax liability for that year by contributing to a retirement account assuming you are in the income thresholds to claim the deduction on your tax return. It reduces your income so when you submit the info for a payment plan amount it could lower that.
Without more information nobody can tell you for sure if there’s anything else you can do.
Are your loans federal or private?
If you have federal loans, there are a number of income based plans. Assuming you are married, you should look into how much each will cost if you are married filing joint or married filing separate separately. I assume you are aware that RAP is starting up in July?
For your payment to be $1300 on RAP, assuming you have 2 kids, it would mean that your income would need to be somewhere around $162,000 a year. If you can’t make ends meet on that, you might look into moving to a lower cost of living area or cutting your lifestyle down where possible. If you are married filing joint, your loan payment is going to be higher than if you are filing separately, although you would lose certain tax benefit benefits from filing jointly.
If they are private, you can look into having the loan term extended. Some lenders might go all the way to 20 or 30 years (although the latter is very uncommon). That would lower your payment, but you would end up spending far more due to interest at the end of the term. You could also look into having your loans refinanced at a lower rate. If you do end up going that route I would recommend paying as much as you can above and beyond the minimum payment to try to clear the loans sooner.
So, feel free to provide more information and you’ll get better answers.
Not dischargable by bankruptcy. I think you have to pay. Check out Dave Ramsey baby steps. My wife and I paid off 120k in student loans in 7 years. It is doable.
What’s your household size, income, and debt amount? Below is a calculator that estimate repayment amounts under various plans.
[https://www.studentloanplanner.com/income-based-repayment-calculator/](https://www.studentloanplanner.com/income-based-repayment-calculator/)
Take 6 credit hours per semester at your local community college and kick the can down the road. You’ll accrue interest but won’t owe payments.
Encourage your friends and family to vote better