The following is a guest post
According to research, 85% of students in England will never pay off their student debt. Many are burdened by excessive student loan debt and if you are one of them it can hurt you in more than one way. Here are some ways you can be negatively affected by student loans:
Business Loans
Your degree is supposed to help you in your efforts to achieve your goals and ideally student loans should help you receive that education. However, debt from student loans can put a hamper on your potential entrepreneurship. It can be difficult to get a loan to start a small business if you already have student debt piled up from your years in university.
Homeownership
Student loans can also hurt your chances of getting a mortgage and owning your own home. In fact, student debt, in some cases, can hinder your ability to even move out of your parent’s home.
Since student debt has the potential to do so much damage how can you get rid of it? The good news is that the steps to eliminate student debts are the same as they are for any debts. Take action, be informed, and stay positive.
Get Organized
The first thing you need to do is to gain an exact understanding of the amount that you owe. People are sometimes afraid to know exactly how much they owe for fear of the number itself. However, it is much worse to work in the dark with an unknown debt hanging over you than it is to just do the math.
Budget Your Payment Plan
Sit down and work out a plan to pay off your debt. Here is a helpful tool to get you started. Look at your income and outgoings and try to free up some money to put aside to for your repayments. Come up with an amount you can commit to every month to put towards paying off your debts.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask
You can sometimes ask your creditors to give you forbearance, which is a period of time that you don’t have to make payments. You can even ask creditors to give you better interest rates if you let them know you are going to have trouble making payments ahead of time. However, you will never be offered either of these things, so you will have to ask for them yourself.
Stick to the Plan
On the road to debt freedom your resolve will be tested, most likely more than once. Make sure you stay strong and stick to your budget. Don’t let your debt discourage you from staying on your path. Maintaining a positive attitude is an essential step in this process.
If you find that you still are having trouble making payments or you still can’t see a way out of your debt try contacting some experts at organisations like Consolidated Credit. There is a chance that they can help make your debt more manageable.
