Student Loans are Consolidated

Last month, when I reviewed our net worth I mentioned that I would stop procrastinating and get my student loans consolidated. I’m happy to say I got it done. It’s not dramatic goal, but I achieved it. Having small goals can actually  increase your chance of reaching them.

It was easier than I thought and filling out my application was a piece of cake.  If you’re interested in consolidating your federal student loans, there are 3 ways to do it:

• Online: You quickly and easily file and submit your application online with Direct Loan Servicing.
• Phone: You can also call Direct Loan Servicing and have someone walk you through the process at 1-800-557-7392.
• Paper: The slowest to complete if you’re a procrastinator like me.

I’m really happy to get this out of the way because it’s taking us one step closer to our goals. We want to reduce our debts and only have the mortgage to worry about.

Consolidating Student Loans Isn’t For Everyone

While consolidating is going to lower the required payments from $206 to around $150, it’s not a solution for everyone. For example, you can not consolidate federal loans with private student loans. If you have private student loans, you should check with your particular lender to see if there is a minimum required to consolidate them.

Trent from The Simple Dollar points out there are two reasons you’d want to consolidate your loans

Now, about the things they’ll tell you if you’re thinking about consolidating: in truth, there are really only two benefits to consolidation: it can lower your monthly payments (as well aspotentially lower the overall amount you’ll have to pay if you’ve just started repayment) and it also means that you’ll only have to deal with one loan company for all of your student loans – no more multiple payments.

Make sure you run the numbers when getting your student loans consolidated.

Working on 2010 Financial Goals

Now I’m working on my other goal, which is contributing a bit more to my Roth IRA. I feel like I can do better with that since I’ve been reducing some expenses such as eating out. How about you? What’s still on your financial to do list for 2010?

Photo Credit: alamosbasement

About Elle

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Tagged as: student loans