Free Debt Management Advice for Future Starving College Students (cont.)
Contributed by Lisa Marie
Have you ever thought of a community college for the first two years? Community colleges have a lot of the same courses as the higher priced higher learning institutions out there, only at a fraction of the cost. Here's a fact for you: The first two years of college are to get your basics down. So getting your prerequisites at a community college can definitely be a cost effective alternative. If you do this and this only, you will cut your student loan debt from $100,000 down to $50,000. That's half. If everyone in the world could cut their largest bill cut in half, believe me, they would!
More free debt management advice if you're already in debt.
This is a little trickier. It's much tougher to get rid of this extreme debt now. To those who fall into this category, might I recommend staying on top of your loans. Government loans have the lowest interest rate, and generally allow you to consolidate many small loans into one larger one. Might I remind you that the interest in which you pay is completely tax deductible, even if you don't itemize your deductions.
Taking some time off before getting your master's is a good idea, as well. This will give you some time to pay off a bit of your loans before getting some new ones. Taking night classes can be very beneficial because they allow you to work during the day and get your education at night. Also note that tax laws do change every year, and there are more and more deductions for college courses taken as the cost of higher education rises.
