Student Loans
Two federal courts ruled against the Education Department this week and struck down controversial new regulations that could have limited student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The rules, which were set to go into effect on July 1, 2026, have now been vacated. “This was...
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Published on: 2026-07-02
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Student Loan Planner
Grad PLUS loans end for new borrowers on July 1, 2026, replaced by hard federal caps: $20,500 per year for graduate programs and $50,000 per year for professional programs. Borrowers already enrolled may keep access to Grad PLUS for up to three more years under the legacy rules, but only...
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Published on: 2026-06-30
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Student Loan Planner
The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) brings a new payment plan to the student loan landscape. We’ll cover how to calculate the payment and how to get it down to the lowest possible amount. How is RAP calculated? The minimum payment is $10 per month, and there’s a very odd stepwise...
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Published on: 2026-06-26
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Student Loan Planner
A degree can open doors to new job opportunities and higher salaries. But even with the best intentions, life can simply get in the way of achieving your education goals. According to the Education Data Initiative, 39% of first-time bachelor's degree seeking students don't complete their program within eight years....
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
The United States is a popular college destination for students all over the world. However, paying for college in the United States can feel like a daunting task if you’re not a U.S. citizen. It’s still possible to find international student loans if you’re not from the U.S., but it can...
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
You’ve seen the ads and they make a compelling promise: “Refinance your federal student loans and save thousands of dollars in interest payments.” But are these ads telling the truth? Can you really refinance a federal student loan to a lower interest rate? And, if so, is it worth it?...
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
There’s no doubt that student loans can be costly. Interest accrues daily and it can feel like most of your payment goes to interest instead of your principal balance. If you want to save money on your student loans, you might consider refinancing your loan. Student loan refinancing makes it...
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
Not all parents can help their children pay for college, while some students simply prefer to keep their parents out of their student loans. The good news is that you can still take out student loans without help from your parents. Whether they are unable or unwilling to help, you...
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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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: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
You’re done with nursing school and survived graduation! Time to don scrubs and care for others' health as a nurse practitioner. But your financial health will also need some attention after grad school. Nursing student loan debt can be overwhelming and raise your blood pressure. The good news is that you...
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
The Education Department announced last week a new incentive program that can lower your student loan interest rates. To qualify, borrowers would need to enroll their federal student loans in automatic payments (“autopay”) by the end of September 2026. “The Trump Administration is making student loan repayment easier than ever,...
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
Whether you’ve already refinanced your student loans to save money on interest or you’re thinking about it, you might wonder — “How often can you refinance student loans?” The answer is as many times as you want. You can continue your quest to score the lowest rate possible until all of...
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Published on: 2026-06-24
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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
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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
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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
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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
For over thirteen years I have shared our family finances with you. That’s a long time to be transparent and consistent with budgeting! So much has changed since I first started sharing our income and spending publicly. We have twice as many kids as we did back then. Our income...
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Published on: 2026-01-26
Source:
Six Figures Under