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Student loans…those two words strike fear in me like no
horror movie ever could. I am drowning in student loan debt, and the good thing
is, there is no way out and no one wants to help you.
Let me start by saying
that no one did this to me but me. Ok, got that out of the way. I think it
should be required that all students in high school take a class on money,
loans, college etc. Call it “Get your butt ready for the real world”.
I wish
that someone would have told me as an 18 year old just exactly how harmful
credit cards and racking up excessive amounts of loan debt would be to my
future. At 31 I am still suffering from mistakes I made at 18. 13 years later,
I am now $30,000+ in student loan debt and cannot get help because I don’t
qualify. And folks, if you are ever in this position let me just give you a
heads up, the government does not care one bit about the cost of living or that
I am the only income my family of 5 has. Nope, it is make an unreasonable
monthly payment, when I called today the payment option they gave me was
$3100/month. I told the woman I was talking to, “Gee, I have that buried in
cans in my back yard let me just go dig it up for you”.
She didn't appreciate
my sarcasm. $3100, ARE YOU SERIOUS? I don't know of anyone who can afford that
kind of a payment. While I am on the phone, I inquire about my balance because
it just isn't adding up correctly. I had an offset in 2010. For those of you
who don't know what an offset is let me educate you. If you owe the government
money, i.e student loans, and don’t make the payments and they go into default
they can and WILL take your tax return.
And let me tell you, us poor folks depend on that tax return like it is
nobody’s business. I use mine to catch up on all the payments I have been behind
on for the past 12 months. Back to my phone conversation, I ask her why my
balance does not reflect the tax offset from 2010. She tells me that I didn't
have a credit to my account during that time. EXCUSE ME??? WHERE DID IT GO THEN?
At this point I am in
tears and am getting nowhere. My next plan of action is to contact the IRS and
get proof that my return was offset so that I can send a copy to the loan
company, aka THE DEVIL. So, 2 hours later I have learned that I need to rob a
bank once a week in order to comply with their repayment option and now I have
to prove that money was taken and should have been applied to my loan and
wasn’t. This week is turning out to be such a great one!! I will say this to
anyone going to/ thinking of going to college, borrow responsibly. Realize that
one day you are going to have to pay it back.
Don’t borrow above your budget!!
Things I wish someone would have said to me. Until next time, gonna keep my
chin up and keep praying that a few million dollars will fall out of the sky.
~Meghan
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