Posted on: August 31, 2008 by Matt
In addition to discussing my student loans in collection we also looked at other aspects of my finances. The advise that I was given can be summed up as follows:
- Keep A Budget: I try to keep a budget running in an Excel spreadsheet. I keep track of all income and categorize expenses / savings. At the end of the month I have $0 left unallocated.
- Increase Income And Reduce Expenses: I have already been trying to cut back on expenses but had not been actively trying to increase my income. I had considered trying to gather a couple of extra consulting jobs in the area but had not moved forward yet. We will see how this goes.
Tags: Debt, Debt Reduction, Future, Planning, Savings, Student Loans Filed Under: Budget, Debt, Debt Reduction, Expenses, Savings, Student Loans
Posted on: August 30, 2008 by Matt
As stated in a post earlier in the week, I met with a credit counselor on Wednesday evening. I did not use a consumer credit counseling service but rather an individual that provides financial consulting catered to my needs. I plan to write more about the entire conversation but wanted to post some ideas he provided for dealing with the student loans in collection.
Posted on: August 28, 2008 by Matt
Over the course of the past three years I have been slowly digging my way out of the student loan debt that I have accumulated. As of today I am down to having the final three big creditors to pay off, two of which are in good standing and the last is in collection. I have been unable to work out a rehabilitation agreement with the collection agency.
Posted on: August 28, 2008 by Matt
In addition to having a set of student loans in collections I also had several lenders holding my student loans in default. In order to start cleaning up the defaulted loans I contacted the lending institutions to work out payment plans. I discovered that several federal and state lenders offered rehabilitation programs. By making on time monthly payments for twelve months the loans would be placed back in good standing and the default removed from my credit report. This applied to the Federal Direct Loans as well as state based loans from VSAC (other states may have similar programs).
Posted on: August 28, 2008 by Matt
My struggle to get my finances back in line began with a scary phone call from a debt collector. I was verbally attacked and bullied by the agent (I was not aware of it at the time but he was clearly in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) and he ended the conversation stating that I had to pay $20,000 now or the company was going to take me to court. I panicked. I did not have $1,000 to my name much less the other $19,000 and told them there was no way I could pay that. They suggested that I call friends and family and ask them for the money. My family did not have the money and I was not comfortable asking. At the end of the conversation the collector offered to pay 10% down and then arrange monthly payments. I told him that I would see what I could do and would call him back the next day.
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