Student Loans
Federal student loan default rates are skyrocketing, according to recent reports. And the consequences could be dire for borrowers. Approximately 9.5 million Americans (the equivalent of 1 in every 5 borrowers) are in default on their federal student loans. The numbers skyrocketed during the last year after Republican lawmakers in...
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Published on: 2026-08-13
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Student Loan Planner
Student loan borrowers celebrated a historic milestone in July 2026 after a federal appeals court rejected the Education Department’s latest efforts to delay settlement relief under the Sweet v. McMahon case. Following the court’s ruling, more than 170,000 additional borrowers are expected to get their student loans discharged, bringing the...
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Published on: 2026-08-12
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Student Loan Planner
Lender and Bonus disclosure SoFi®: Fixed rates range from 3.99% APR to 9.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Variable rates range from 5.74% APR to 9.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Unless required to be lower to comply with...
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Published on: 2026-08-03
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Student Loan Planner
If you've been relying on Parent PLUS loans to help fund your child's education, the rules have changed in a major way. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) introduces strict new borrowing limits that will fundamentally reshape how families pay for college — and those changes could have lasting...
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Published on: 2026-08-02
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Student Loan Planner
[embedded content] Federal student loan servicers sometimes place borrowers into administrative forbearance when they need additional time to process paperwork, correct account errors or implement changes to repayment plans. For example, during the rollout of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, administrative forbearance became especially common as servicers...
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Published on: 2026-08-02
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Student Loan Planner
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program offers borrowers a repayment relief option in exchange for service in the public sector. After 10 years of working for a qualifying employer, borrowers get a nice “thank you” from the federal government in the form of student loan forgiveness. Your remaining loan...
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Published on: 2026-07-31
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Student Loan Planner
If you’ve committed your life to public service and have federal student loans, you might be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF). This loan forgiveness program lets you wipe out your debt after 10 years of payments while working for a qualifying employer. You also must meet...
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Published on: 2026-07-31
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Student Loan Planner
If you're on an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan for your student loans, you might benefit from using alternative documentation of your income when it’s time to recertify. IDR plans require you to update your income and family size yearly, usually using your most recent federal income tax return. But life...
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Published on: 2026-07-31
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Student Loan Planner
You helped your child pay for their college education by taking out Parent PLUS Loans with the U.S. Department of Education. As a Parent PLUS borrower, these student loans are your responsibility, even if they went to your child’s education. Parent PLUS Loans have limited loan repayment plan options, and...
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Published on: 2026-07-31
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Student Loan Planner
Editor's note: The U.S. Department of Education took over direct management of the PSLF program in May 2024. In addition, the PSLF Waiver and the one-time IDR Account Adjustment corrected payment counts for millions of borrowers. If you believe your PSLF qualifying payment count is still inaccurate, the escalation strategies...
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Published on: 2026-07-30
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Student Loan Planner
Parent PLUS Loans are education loans that help you pay for your child’s school costs. When you get a Parent PLUS Loan, you’re assigned a loan servicer and must start making monthly payments immediately. Even though the loan is for your child’s education, you’re taking on the debt as your...
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Published on: 2026-07-30
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Student Loan Planner
Federal student loan borrowers have a silver lining amidst the burden of their debt: student loan forgiveness. You might wonder, “Are student loans forgiven after 20 years?” The answer? It depends. There are some student loan forgiveness options available after 20 years, whereas others can take a longer or shorter...
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Published on: 2026-07-30
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Student Loan Planner
I’m still doing some catching up with sharing budget updates. Thankfully, I keep our budget pretty well up-to-date in YNAB even if I’m slow to post the updates on my website. We’ve had some financial challenges recently (with more on the horizon) that have had me feeling stressed. Still, the...
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Published on: 2026-06-10
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Six Figures Under
I used to think that the purpose of budgeting was to get your spending as close as possible to what you predicted you would spend when you set your budget amounts at some earlier point, maybe a month, or even a year, in advance. No wonder so many people hate...
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Published on: 2026-05-13
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Six Figures Under
I’ve been sharing our personal finances online since 2013. For those who haven’t been along for that whole ride, I will let you know that there have been very few times that we have used our emergency fund for anything. Using the emergency fund is the last option. Usually we...
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Published on: 2026-05-06
Source:
Six Figures Under
I’m always eager to wrap up the month’s budget and move on to budgeting for the next month. The eagerness most often comes because we have a financial goal that we’re working on. Having a goal brings greater purpose to things that might feel mundane or tedious (apparently not everyone...
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Published on: 2026-03-18
Source:
Six Figures Under
Last year I shared how my husband and I planned our budget for our first trip to Cuba. We followed up with our actual spending and how it compared with what we had planned. Here’s the next chapter: we’re planning to bring the whole family (including all six kids) for...
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Published on: 2026-03-10
Source:
Six Figures Under
Curious to see what a family of 8 in California spends on groceries for a whole year? I’m pretty sure we’re not your average family, but I’m happy to share our family’s annual spending on groceries last year. One of the side benefits of keeping meticulous financial records is all...
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Published on: 2026-03-03
Source:
Six Figures Under
Here’s to another year of sharing our family’s budget details with the world in hopes of helping as you work on getting a handle on your own family finances. I had planned on making changes to the way we share our budget with you, but when it came down to...
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Published on: 2026-02-27
Source:
Six Figures Under
Some people are shocked to hear that, even after paying off six figures of debt, we still use credit cards. For us, credit cards were never the problem. Our debt was law school student loans. But credit cards are so often misused, causing debt problems or making them worse, that...
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Published on: 2026-02-18
Source:
Six Figures Under