3 Easy Tips to Decreasing Student Loan Debt

When we talk about millennials and debt we’re often referring to student debt. Typically, we talk about how large our student debt problem is in America, how ridiculous we are as Americans for letting this happen, and usually we talk about it a lot on Facebook.

Once these conversations get started, one of the worldly commentators of the thread will cite the fact that in European countries like Sweden, students don’t have to pay for college level education, because the colleges and universities are federally funded.

And then we’ll go on to say that it’s outrageous that America, the most powerful country in the world, refuses to pay for its citizens to go to university.

Rarely though, do we, on these Facebook threads, speak about how to get out of debt.

So in spite of that, here’s Self Lender’s step-by-step guide to significantly decreasing your student debt.

1) Budget Accordingly

Luckily for millennials like you and me, the world has adapted to our needs. We thought making our own budgets was lame, and boring, so people like Aaron Patzer and his team created apps such as Mint.com so we can create budgets on our phones. Level Money , another budgeting app, goes as far to say “never worry about budgeting again!”

2) Pay More Than Your Minimum!

Don’t just pay the minimum. Reason is that if you do, then you’ll be paying off your debt for a lot longer than you have to. Just an extra $50 to $100 every month that you’ve budgeted ( because you followed Step 1) will dramatically help pay down your debt faster.

3) Figure out if you’re Eligible for Loan Forgiveness Programs

There are Public Service Loan Forgiveness Programs that allow you to skip paying off some of your debt by working or participating in nonprofits, and other public service opportunities for a specific amount of time. There are also benefits that can be set up by your employer that will help you pay off your loans.

Whether you’re one of the average recent college graduates in America with around $26,600 worth of student loan debt or you were lucky enough to only have to take out a few thousands dollars for school, just remember that you can manage it.

If you spend more time:

• Budgeting your money
• Paying more than the minimum
• Seeking out programs to help you

and less time commenting on Facebook about how you wish you had gone to school in Sweden (even though that would have been completely awesome), then you can can reduce the total amount of time and cost of your student debt.