<p>I don't know what to do. I've done the calculators and, with income contingent repayment on my federal loans and extended repayment on private loans, my total loan payment is about 720 a month for 20 years. I have no math skills. No resume worth a darn. Just menial labor. </p>
<p>I have no kids and no felonies. Those are the only two positive life choices I've made, it seems. I understand there is legislation in the works that allows for private loans to be heard in bankruptcy, but apparently if you have a co-signer on your loans (I do), both parties have to file, therefore this is useless to me.</p>
<p>My parents told me that they made a mistake in not saving up for college funds, but begged me to go to college and just take out loans. They said they'd help pay them back. They said just pick any major, that any old degree will get your foot in the door, and that this was "good debt." So I did. Fast forward five years, dad loses his 150K a year job, now makes 70 with bad benefits. Every time I bring up my loans he acts like he doesn't remember making such a promise, and I don't have it in me to push it and ask him to fulfill his word. It's not as if he's a wealthy man. Ultimately it's my debt, even if I took his dumb advice.</p>
<p>I'm open to any possible suggestions you have to allow myself to live without screwing over my cosigners (poor mother and middle class, divorced father) and defaulting. If you're thinking suicide, I wish I could believe me, but unfortunately I have siblings whom would be devastated if I ended it. I currently work two jobs, 60 hours a week total, both in fast food (all I can get with this degree in my area). I can live fine, but the loans haven't started rolling in yet, as I'm in a grace period. Soon I will be living out of my car, as I cannot afford to pay my rent and also pay my loans on minimum wage. I have two months before the loan payments begin. I asked my landlord to negotiate something. He refused.</p>
<p>Anything you can throw at me would be appreciated sincerely. Thank you.</p>
<p>Do you live in a rural area or are you near a large city? Even in the fast food industry there is a decent wage to be made by moving up into the management ranks. When did you graduate from college?</p>
<p>I graduated a few weeks ago. I live in a suburb of a medium-sized city. Not rural necessarily but not the city either. Unfortunately there are no available store management slots at this time, however a shift manager may be open soon. Unfortunately, that is merely a 75 cent an hour increase.</p>
<p>Do you like working in the hospitality industry? If you do, work as quickly as you can to move up as positions do become available - wherever they may be. If you needed to relocate but you suddenly had a living wage, would you like your job?</p>
<p>Your degree is non-specific. You need to immediately begin finding a path of advancement through your work experience.</p>
<p>If you hate what you do, get a job with a large company that does something that is of interest to you and use your skills to earn promotion. It is far too early in the game for the level of dejection in your original post, hopefully this will pass quickly as you adjust to life without a class schedule.</p>
<p>Yes good advice, get into a management program somewhere, a store chain, a restaurant chain…anywhere. We have a friend whose daughter married someone in a position similar to yours. All these types of organizations move people through very quickly if they express desire and effort to stick with it and move up. Most have “formal programs” for these sorts of things. The boy we know chose Hertz and after a very short period of time which started with parking cars at the airport is now a district manager and continuing to move up, building a resume and experience in different areas as he goes. It can be daunting, but life tends to move fast.</p>
<p>Do your parents live in the same area? Is it possible for them to make room for you? It does seem they might be willing to help in some way and you need a free room and board deal until you get your feet planted in a career path! Are you eligible for IBR? I believe that often works out to a lower payment than ICR.</p>
<p>I think you need to move in with a parent or grandparent and work in a nearby area. There’s no point in paying for rent when that money can be going towards your loans.</p>
<p>I hope others who are contemplating big loans for undergrad read your thread.</p>
<p>Wait, what is your level of commitment to the area where you’re living in. If career options are scarce where you are, you might be able to seek loan forgiveness opportunities with organizations such as AmeriCorps or other non-profits. With AmeriCorps, I know that a few years ago they gave you about $4000k a year towards your loans as well as as stipend. This might be penny-ante, but there are other, similar opportunities, which will not only help pay down your loan but (more importantly) give you work experience for your resume. I’m not sure that you will be able to get a management job without a resume, especially now when there are so many overqualified applicants chasing after jobs.</p>
<p>With AmeriCorps, you are also able to put loans in forbearance while serving, and any accrued interest will be paid off along with your educational benefit. The current benefit is $5,550 (equal to a Pell Grant) for a year of service, prorated down for shorter programs. AmeriCorps payments also count as public service employment under the PSLRP.</p>
<p>If you are interested, PM or e-mail me, as I’m in an AmeriCorps internship right now, that may track into a permanent federal job. They can be great opportunities.</p>
<p>Would getting a teaching credential be an option for you? Check your closest state college teaching programs. In Calif. it can be done in a yr @ CSU’s. I believe you are able have a good chunk of undergrad loans forgiven if you agree to teach for a few yrs. in an under-served region or teach Math/Science. Ultimately, after 10 yrs of making payments on federal loans based on a % of your teaching income, the balance is completely forgiven. While getting teaching credential, you are also able to put loans in forbearance. However, these conditions wouldn’t apply to your private loans I fear.</p>
<p>why don’t you go to the career services office at the college you just graduated from and ask for help building a resume and getting a better job?</p>
<p>There are a number of suggestions that have been made that you can research. I do have some questions.</p>
<p>Are you employed? What do you make? You can talk to the lenders about what you can do about the loans if you are not making enough to repay them. Can’t squeeze water out of stone.</p>
<p>If you cannot pay them; the money is simply not there, the lenders wil go to your cosigner. When that happens, you need to sit down and have a discussion about these things. Maybe your father doesn’t remember what he said, but if he signed for the loans, that means he is on the hook for them just as you are and the two of you need to work together on them. If you cannot pay a penny towards them, then he needs to work out what they will take as a minimum from him until you are in position to start repaying them. This is no different than any other loan the two of you would have taken.</p>
<p>My very dear friend has a daughter who took out $90K in various loans. She works in a coffee shop now after graduation and barely brings home $1200 a month. Her mother cosigned a number of the loans and is now paying $300 a month towards them and the daughter is paying a little more. It is hurting them terribly, and they are behind in payments. It is a terrible situation and one that man kids are in after taking loans without a thought about repaying them.</p>
<p>Get the Chronicle of Higher Education and look for entry level jobs at colleges and universities. Believe it or not, admissions counselors are entry level jobs. Be willing to move. Colleges are pretty good places to work.</p>