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How Refinancing Your Student Loans Can Save You Thousands

Finance

Students who graduated college in 2015 were said to have graduated with an estimated $35,000 in student loan debt. Of course, some students will have less and some more depending on what you did throughout your time in college. Either way, it is a lot of money and money that must be paid back whether you want to or not.

Student loan refinancing is an available option for many students and it will provide them with some of the relief they need financially. Did you know that refinancing your student loans can save you thousands of dollars? It’s okay if you didn’t – I will show you just how it can save you money and ease the strain on your budget.

Student Loan Refinancing: What the Heck Is It?

Before you can apply for refinancing, you need to understand what it is. When you refinance your student loan, your new lender will pay off your old loans and gives you a new loan with updated terms and rates.

Most student loan refinancing is done through a private lender, which means that there may be eligibility requirements that need to be met before you can actually go through with the refinancing.

How Can Refinancing Save Me Thousands?

There are a couple of different ways that refinancing can help save you thousands. First and foremost, you will receive a new interest rate. The rate itself will often vary depending on your situation, but usually falls somewhere between 2-5% for most students. The jump from a 6-8% interest rate to a 2-5% interest rate it immense. Let’s take a look.

For example, if you have a student loan balance of $25,000 at a 6.5% interest rate and your term is 10 years, you will pay a total of $9,065 in interest over the course of the term. Now, if we change the interest rate down to 3.5%, you will only pay $4,665 in interest payments over the course of the 10 years. That is a savings of $4,400!

The second way that you can save thousands is by adjusting the length of your payback period. Often times, the default is set at 10 years, but students often extend it out to 20 or 25 years. This will increase the amount you pay in the long run because you now need to pay interest over that extended period.

When you refinance your student loans, you are able to shorten the term of your loan, which means you pay thousands less because you do not have to continue to pay interest over the extended length of the loan.

Final Thoughts on Student Loan Refinancing

Student loan refinancing is a great option for students looking to destroy their debt, but it is not always an option for everyone. You do need to qualify, which means you need a good credit score or a cosigner with a good credit score. Refinancing your student loans can help save you thousands of dollars over time, so if you do have the option to do it, you should.

Carnivals

Finance

I’ve been a bit of a slacker when it comes to posting the carnivals I’ve been included in.   This is me playing catch-up.

Live Real, Now was included in five carnivals last week:

Prior to last week, I was included in:
Thanks to all of the hosts for including my posts and my apologies for not posting the links sooner.  If I missed you, please let me know.

Get More Out of Live Real, Now

There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.

You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader.  I prefer Google Reader.

You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.

You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook.   Facebook gets more use than Google.  It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.

You can follow LRN on Twitter.   This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.

You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of.   I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.

Have a great week!

How to Cut Costs on Legal Fees

Finance

Bern Lady Justice
Image via Wikipedia

Occasionally, life goes truly pear-shaped and you’re forced to enter the legal system.

Even if you’re not embroiled in a tawdry, tabloid-fodder divorce, there are still legal issues that everyone needs to address, without exception.

The problem?  Or rather, one of many, if you’re having legal problems?

Lawyers are expensive.

Before I go any further:

  1. If you are having criminal court issues, get a lawyer.  Get the best possible lawyer.  Really.   The cost does not compare to a lifetime in jail, or even 10 years.    If you’re facing jail, get the best dang attorney you can find.
  2. I am not only not an attorney, but I’ve never even played one on TV.  I have driven past a law school a couple of times, but never stopped in.   I do know several attorney, carry the business cards of a couple and have a couple on my speed dial, just in case.  If any of them thought I was giving legal advice, I’d be in trouble.  To reiterate: I am not an attorney.  This is not legal advice.  
  3. Don’t do a prenuptual agreement at home.  A prenup will almost always be found unenforceable if both parties don’t have an attorney.

Where was I?   Ah, yes.  Lawyers are expensive, but there are ways to mitigate that.

There a couple of things you can handle yourself.

Small claims court, also known as conciliation court.   Typical cases in conciliation court include cases involving sums under $7500(varies by state) that involve  unpaid debts or wages, claims by tenants to get a security deposit, claims by landlords for property damage, or claims about possession or ownership of property.  Fees and procedures vary by state, but generally cost less than $100 to file.   The procedures for your state can be found by googling “small claims court” and the name of your state.

Small worker’s compensation cases can be handled yourself, if they don’t involve a demotion or termination related to the injury.

Apartment and car leases are usually simple and straightforward.  Read them carefully, but you probably won’t need a lawyer.

You can probably  handle your own estate planning and will writing with some decent software.   I love Quicken Willmaker.  It walked me through a detailed will that takes care of my kids, and gave me advice on financing their futures in the horrible event that I am tragically killed before my wonderousness can fully permeate the world.   It also contains forms for promissory notes, bills of sale, health care directives and more.  If you have extensive property, I’d still seek an attorney’s advice, but I’d bring the Willmaker will with me to save some time and money.

Purchase agreements.    A few years ago, I sold a truck to a friend and accepted payments.    I made a promissory note and payment schedule.   When he quit paying or calling me, that paperwork was enough to get the state to accept the repossession when I took the truck back.

A simple no-fault divorce is actually pretty painless, on the scale of divorce pain.    Again, the procedures vary heavily by state.

Other resources for finding legal information free or cheap include www.legalzoom.com and www.nolo.com.

Have you had to do any of your own legal work?  How did it work out?

Negotiating 101

Finance

In the US, haggling is something that makes a lot of people twitch and wet their pants.  It’s too hard/scary/intimidating, so most of us just take whatever price is offered, with a smile.

A Chinese gilt bronze stand and statuette of t...
A Chinese gilt bronze stand and statuette of the historical buddha on a lion throne, from Northern China, dated to the Northern Wei Dynasty, c. 480 AD. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The truth is, you can negotiate in almost any situation.   Sure, big-box retailers with low-price goods–like Walmart or a grocery store–aren’t going to go for it, but a lot of other businesses will.  Did you know you can haggle at Best Buy?  It’s true, but only on the bigger ticket items.

You can also easily negotiate at place like these:

  • Credit card interest rates and annual fees
  • Luxury utilities like cable
  • Rent
  • Hotel rates
  • Airline tickets
  • Gym memberships

“Great”, you say.  “Anyone can do it?”, you say.  “But how, jerk?”

No need to call names, I’m getting to that part.

I am about to share the First Secret Lesson of Negotiating.   This secret has been passed down from father to son among the celibate Shaolin monks for generations.   Breaking the code of secrecy may be putting my life in danger, but I’m willing to do that for you, no matter the risk.

I rock like that.

Are you ready to be initiated into the secrets of the Ancient Masters?  When our first abbot, Buddhabhadra, first wandered into the Northern Wei Dynasty branch of Best Buy in 477 A.D., he discovered the phrase most likely to break price barriers.

Are you ready, Grasshopper?  This is the “Wax on, wax off” of effective negotiation.

When you are given a price, no matter what it is, say “Is that the best you can do?”

“This T.V. costs $7495.” “Is that the best you can do?”

“That comes to $56.95.” “Is that the best you can do?”

“$149,499 for the Ferrari.” “Is that the best you can do?”

“$12,000 for the kidney.” “Is that the best you can do?”

“Only $8.50 for this set of 10 tupperware lids that have been warped in the dishwasher.” “Is that the best you can do?”

“$50 an hour, honey.” “Is that the best you can do?”

“The salary for this position is $50,000 per year.” “Is that the best you can do?”

It is magical, it’s easy to remember, and it’s low stress.  This is a non-combative question.  The worst possible scenario involves the other side saying, “Yes, that is the best I can do.”  No sweat.

Negotiating Lesson 101.2:

After saying  “Is that the best you can do?”, shut up.   The other party gets to be the next person to say something.

Go out and practice this over the weekend.   Master the First Secret Lesson of Negotiating.  I’ll be fighting off Shaolin ninjas for sharing the ancient secrets.

 

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Sunday Roundup: Yep, It’s Saturday

Misc

funny road sign
Image by Sree_ via Flickr

Yes, it’s Saturday.  Tomorrow, I’m hosting the Yakezie Carnival, so I bumped this up a day.

This week has been super relaxing.  Wrestling season is over.  We’re done with activities for a while.

30 Day Project Update

Last month, I was trying to do 100 perfect push-ups in a single set.  I recorded each session in a spreadsheet.  I hit my goal on the 28th, 3 days early.  Since then, I’ve cut down to just one session per day.  I’m now doing 35 slow, deep push-ups every morning.  It’s not a goal, or a challenge, just part of a general effort to be healthier.

Weight Loss Update

I am on the Slow Carb Diet.   At the end of the month, I’ll see what the results were and decide if it’s worth continuing.   For those who don’t know, the Slow Carb Diet involves cutting out potatoes, rice, flour, sugar, and dairy in all their forms.   My meals consist of 40% proteins, 30% vegetables, and 30% legumes(beans or lentils).    There is no calorie counting, just some specific rules, accompanied by a timed supplement regimen and some timed exercises to manipulate my metabolism.   The supplements are NOT effedrin-based diet pills, or, in fact, uppers of any kind.  There is also a weekly cheat day, to cut the impulse to cheat and to avoid letting my body go into famine mode.

I’m measuring two metrics, my weight and the total inches of my waist , hips, biceps, and thighs.   Between the two, I should have an accurate assessment of my progress.

Weight: I have lost 41 pounds since January 2nd.   That’s 1 pound since last week and 8 pounds in March, while doing an insane amount of push-ups and packing on a few pounds of muscle.  Seriously, for the last couple of weeks, on the days I haven’t totally slacked off, I’ve been doing 500+ push-ups a day.  That’s a lot.

Total Inches: I have lost  23 inches in the same time frame, up 1 inch since last week.   That makes me sad, but it seems to be muscle growth, so it’s not too bad.

Best Posts

Mint shows how lazy employees are, on average.  Surprisingly, only 2.09 hours are wasted in the average 8 hour day.   The rule I’d heard before is that employers expect 2-3 good, solid hours of work our of their employees every day.

Money Crasher has some cheap appetizer recipes.   I can’t wait to make the biscuit meatballs.

The Mars Rover died.  Tragic.

Get Rich Slowly has a post on emergency preparedness.  If I mentioned that I keep enough supplies in my car to live for a week, would that make me a survivalist or just a fun guy?

LRN Timewarp

This is where I review the posts I wrote a year ago.  Did you miss them then?

First, I examined the value of exchanging your time to save a bit of money.

Then, I talked about the futility of trying to force your spouse into frugality.

Carnivals I’ve Rocked and Guest Posts I’ve Rolled

Filing Bankruptcy: Pride or Shame? was an Editor’s Pick in the Totally Money Blog Carnival at Debt Free Divas.  Thank you!

Budgeting tips – sticking to your budget was included in the Festival of Frugality.

Saving Money: The Warranty Fund was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.

Thank you! If I missed anyone, please let me know.

Get More Out of Live Real, Now

There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.

You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader.  I prefer Google Reader.

You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.

You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook.   Facebook gets more use than Google.  It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.

You can follow LRN on Twitter.   This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.

You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of.   I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.

Have a great week!

 

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Sunday Roundup

Misc

Today, I have a favor to ask.   I want to get to know you better because  I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.  With that in mind, would you take a moment to complete a short survey?

Click here to take the survey.

Thank you!

Best Posts

All of us make assumptions.  Without doing so, we wouldn’t be able to function.   We assume the sky will stay up, the sidewalk will support our weight, and the other cars on the road aren’t going to turn into homicidal maniacs and attempt to kill us at the expense of their own lives.   Generally, those are safe assumptions.   Other assumptions can cripple us, keeping us from attempting to reach our full potential.  Challenge your assumptions.

At the same time, fear keeps us back.  Are you afraid others won’t like what you say, what you do, who your are?   Let your fear fuel you.

I get a kick out of whiny little entitlement kids running around wearing sweatshop-produced “viva la revolucion” shirts.   Similarly, capitalism-haters organizing their protests using mass-produced gadgets invented, funded, and created by successful capitalism, or Jobs-haters announcing their funeral protesting BS over the iPhone also makes me giggle.

Carnivals I’ve Rocked

Time vs Money was included in the Best of Money Carnival.

Beauty School: Cutting Costs While Cutting Hair was included in the Totally Money Carnival.

Discount Gift Cards: How Much Can You Save? was included in the Festival of Frugality.

The Happy Butt was included in another Totally Money Carnival.
Thank you! If I missed anyone, please let me know.

Get More Out of Live Real, Now

There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.

You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader.  I prefer Google Reader.

You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.

You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook.   Facebook gets more use than Google.  It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.

You can follow LRN on Twitter.   This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.

You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of.   I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.

Have a great week!