Ten Crafty Ways to Pay Off Your Student Loans
The average college graduate leaves college $20,000 in debt, and some have debts up to six-figures. With inflation knocking, high unemployment and sky high consumer debt interest rates, paying off your student loans is easier said than done. Here are some crafty ways to pay them off.
Get a high paying job
The best and fastest way to pay off student loans is working. If you’re lucky enough to work a high paying job, so much the better. By living under your means, making more money than you spend, you can make double payments and reduce your loan balance in no time.
Live Like a Student
If you can live the way you did while you attended college – staying away from shopping malls, reading books in the library, eating cheap meals (Yes, that includes Ramen noodles), you’ll have that much more money to use to pay down your debt.
Be a Paid Designated Driver
Raymer McGuire, a deep in debt Boston college student, tapped into his entrepreneurial side and charged drunken students to drive them safely home in their own cars. Less than a year after starting this business, McGuire sold 41% of it for $85,000.
Party! Party! Party!
With the kids that is. If you’re not afraid of losing some of your dignity, or a few kicks in the groin from five-year-olds, then entertaining kids at home parties is one way to pay down a student loan. Some clowns and magicians at home parties earn $50 for two hour’s work while popular balloon-animal clowns can make $0-$300 a day.
Clean Houses
Distribute flyers offering your services as a once-a-week house cleaner. Use a couple of free hours on a Saturday to thoroughly clean someone’s house. Depending on the area, you can earn anywhere from $10 to $25 an hour. With regular customers and word of mouth referrals, you’ll pay down your debt sooner than you think.
Sell Garbage
The saying that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is true. Take a drive through rich neighborhoods on garbage day. Pick up usable “garbage” to sell online, through the classifieds, to your friends or at a garage sale. Quite often you’ll find items that are in excellent condition that you can sell at rock bottom prices since you paid nothing up front.
Stick to Your Knitting
If you can crochet, knit or sew, then upload photos of your talent online to sell your items for some extra cash. A variety of websites exist that allow you to set up your own craft store online. It may not be enough to live on, but it will be a way to pay down your debt while doing something you enjoy.
Teaching/Tutoring
No matter what your area of expertise, someone out there wants to learn more about what you know. Earn enough to pay off your student loans by sharing your knowledge through tutoring or teaching. If you were an English major, you can tutor high school students on their English essays. You can teach immigrants how to speak English. If you are a fantastic test taker, you can train people about standardized test preparation.
Student Loan Forgiveness
With loan forgiveness, some or all of your loans are erased after you work or volunteer under a particular organization’s specific terms. Keep good records of your student loan payment history as most loan forgiveness programs won’t consider you if you haven’t made a payment in over 180 days. Here is a list of loan forgiveness programs:
Americorps., Peace Corps., VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), Military Service, Teach for America, National Defense Education Act, Social Work, National Health Service Corps., Equal Justice Works, and Occupational or Physical Therapy Education Loan Forgiveness
Participate in Market Research Surveys
Get paid to voice your opinion. Can it get any better than that? Contact a local market research company; provide them with your name and contact information and report to their place of business when called upon. Many of these surveys are done after business hours – evenings and weekends and pay quite well. One survey the writer of this article participated in paid $75 for 3 hours of listening to the first 5 seconds of a song, and asked her to rate whether or not it was played too often or not often enough on local radio stations.
Paying off hefty student loans may seem like an impossible task. But remember, you didn’t spend the entire balance in one day. Paying them down takes time. With perseverance and using some of these ideas, you’ll eventually reach your goal.
