How to Get More Money to Pay Your Student Loans

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There are all kinds of articles on strategies for paying off your student loan debt, but the bottom line is that you need money in order to do that. But how do you get more money? The strategies below can help.

Look at Refinancing

Your first step should be to try to get the total amount that you owe reduced. This may be possible if you can refinance your loan at a lower interest rate. Interest can substantially increase the total amount that you end up paying. This is a real danger at present if you have variable loan rates, meaning that your interest rate is climbing. Look into your options for refinancing. With a new refinanced loan, you could end up paying substantially less than you did at your old rate.

Budget

It isn’t exciting, but your next step needs to be looking at where your money is going so that you can figure out where you can reduce your spending. If you don’t already keep track of your spending or you’re not very good at doing it, you might want to consider getting an app that will help you with tracking for a few months. You may be surprised at how much you are spending on clothing, games, meals out or other luxuries, and it might be possible to set aside a significant amount of money to put toward your student loans simply by cutting back in some of these areas.

Your Job

In addition to reducing your spending, you could also look at ways to bring more money in, and of course, the first place to look for this is from your job. Your strategy here will vary widely depending on your position and the industry that you are in, but you could try asking for a raise or looking for a promotion. The other option is to look for a higher-paying job. These aren’t always tactics that will work, but because it is an employee’s market at present, with employers struggling to hire and retain good workers, you may be in a good bargaining position for any of these options.

Side Gigs

Another way to bring more money is with an extra job on the side, and this can take a vast number of forms. The traditional way is to pick up a part-time job, and this is always an option. You could put all the money that you make from this toward your student loan debt. However, the drawback of a part-time job is that it can be a strain on top of your full-time work. Fortunately, there are an increasing number of side hustle ideas that allow you to work as you have time. These range from being a delivery driver to teaching English online, writing or doing any number of other tasks from yard work to pet sitting and much more. There are a number of different sites that allow you to connect to potential clients online. Another potentially lucrative option is selling possessions online that you no longer need.