#debtmanagement

This is worth looking into if you have the time to do it. Drafting the letter only takes a half hour or so and it can be very brief.

The problem is that student loan companies *hold onto the debt.* It took 14 years for Navient to finally release my private student loan to a debt collector. They’ll hold on to federal loans for as long as they can because even if you continuously defer payment, or continuously default on payments, *they still make money.*

I’m not saying people shouldn’t dispute their debt once it goes to a collector. Like, everyone should legitimately do that because you WILL catch collectors. But here are some tips:

Hello Friends! I am starting a journey to pay off my student debt! This blog will still include book reviews, don't you worry! However I will also be discussing my debt journey and how I plan to pay off my debt. One way I am trying is through Amazon affiliate marketing, meaning if you like the things I will be reviewing, please click on the link and if you buy the book or whatever it is I post, then I will get a commission and that will help me toward my debt repayment journey! I am also thinking about starting a YouTube channel but I am unsure if anybody would have any interest in that.

That being said! I want to discuss one way I am saving money this year is by using websites such as bookbub, and freebooksy to invest only in free kindle books to use on my kindle paperwhite! I highly recommend buying a kindle if you have not already and looking into similar websites as well as Libby, an app that connects to libraries and allows you to borrow books for free! My goal for this year is to not spend any money purchasing books!

If you are interested in a kindle here is a handy link to purchase one!

I recently read someone’s post touting the fact that they were living on $10/hr minimum wage while managing to save money and everyone else should be able to as well. Their math, knowledge of minimum wage and the actual percentage rate was highly flawed to top it off. It always makes me angry to read those posts because they don’t seem to have a concept that their reality isn’t the majority. The post made me remember how bad I’ve had it in the past and so I wrote it all down.

First, Federal minimum wage, last I checked was $7.25/hr while Ohio minimum wage (where I live) is barely more at $8.25/hr. This fluctuates from state to state, but is far from a living wage.

Second, the taxes taken out of each paycheck vary from state to state as well. In my state it is closer to 20% taken out once all is said and done.

I chose to be conservative with all of my estimates for the various costs of living, but even then I found that once everything was paid you’d not only run out of money but were in debt. This is why that post made me angry.

A lot of these costs fluctuate - gas, utilities, food. etc. And it fails to account for prescriptions, student loan payments, emergencies, co-pays, because there isn’t any money to plan for last minute expenses with such a low wage.

Then there is the issue of rent. If you live close to the jobs that pay more, you’ll pay more rent. If you live farther so that rent is cheaper then you have to have transportation and pay those costs. In Ohio there are lots of rural areas that don’t have access to public transit, but where the rents are affordable.

This is why there were periods where I chose not to pay for car insurance and why I didn’t have health insurance until I was twenty-eight years old. And even now I have some of the lowest payments for health insurance because my company isn’t based in the U.S. My car insurance is also particularly low because I’ve been with them for about a decade now and haven’t been in a wreck bigger than a tap ever.