Posted on April 4, 2009 at 12:57 am Are you sick of paying interest on your monthly student loans with no end in sight? Afraid of cash-flow problems that may prevent you from paying your student loans on time? I know I was and there is a solution to this problem. It is called student loan consolidation.What is Student Loan Consolidation?Student loan consolidation simply means consolidating all your student loans into a single loan with a monthly payment plan. Effectively, all your previous student loans are written off and a new student loan is created which you have to pay off monthly.Benefits of Student Loan ConsolidationHere are some of the benefits of student loan consolidation1. Lower monthly paymentsBy consolidating all your student loans into one loan, you only need to pay off one loan monthly instead of several student loans monthly. Thus, your monthly payment is lower2. Pay only one loan monthly instead of several student loans monthlyIt is a lot easier if you have to manage only one student loan instead of several student loans with different payment deadlines. Also, sometimes with many student loans, you may ended up forgetting to pay one student loan.3. Low, fixed interest rateBy consolidating your student loans, you will be able to take advantages of low, fixed interest rates. Currently, by law, student loan consolidation rates cannot exceed 8.25%. Furthermore, national interest rates are at a 40-year low therefore this is a good time to get one.4. No credit card check or processing feesNo credit card check is required during the application of a student loan consolidation. The payment plans and terms are usually quite flexible in that they can customize it according to your financial standing.5. Make monthly student loan payment electronicallyWhile it is not necessary to make payment electronically, most lenders will knock 0.25% off your student loan rates if you make payment electronically. Also, using direct debit from your bank account will prevent you from forgetting to make a payment.Sometimes it can get quite confusing as to the qualification of applying for a student loan consolidation. The official stand from the government is that students who are still in their grace period or who are still studying in school may qualify for government student loan consolidationThe government student loan consolidation nowadays are quite competitive compared to private sector, therefore I would recommend going for a government student loan consolidation. With so many benefits of getting a student loan consolidation, it is quite obvious to save money in the long run is to get one.

Posted on February 10, 2010 at 4:47 am Thanks for sharing that! To add my own 4 Debt Reduction Tips -unsecured debt (credit card) ----1) Cut the number of your cards to 3 max, if you can survive with just 1..the better (you can close the relatively new accounts & do a balance transfer) ------ 2) Find another sourceof income & use those to pay down the cards with the highest interest rates ----3) Ask for your creditors hardship proram ---- 4) Settle your debt.

Posted on February 10, 2010 at 4:54 am Speaking of settling your debt 1) there's a do it yourself debt settlement (you can ask for your creditors hardship program) 2) & there's professional debt settlement - in which one must have accounts that are past due or almost past due...and a relatively high debt amount $10,000 or above. The settlement company would usually charge 15% of the debt amount (spread over 18 months) or 20-25% of the settlement amount *just dont forget to ask about the other fee structure

Posted on February 10, 2010 at 5:11 am If however, your debt is lower than $10,000 and ur accounts are still current - you may opt forthe debt management plan offered by credit counseling agencies. It would cost you $25/moto have your interest rates negotiated.

Posted on February 10, 2010 at 9:50 am Okay - I draw the line in paying someone for something I can do myself.  I have called several card companies and due to the recent credit laws, they are very reluctant to lower their interest rate.  I was advised to call back again every 3 months.  Eventually, they will work with you.