Student Loans
I want to be really intentional with our grocery budget in September. We have a lot going on financially, so I want to keep our grocery spending to a minimum this month. Planning out a menu is a great way to minimize spending because you can control the cost of...
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Published on: 2026-09-05
Source:
Six Figures Under
Law enforcement officers at the local, state, tribal and federal level commit to serving in capacities that most of the public will never fully comprehend. Considering the risk and trauma that most officers encounter, student loans shouldn’t be a factor to worry about, but it’s often high on the list. Fortunately,...
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Published on: 2026-09-04
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Student Loan Planner
Borrowers hoping to have their student loans forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program are facing a growing pile of barriers that may make it harder to get relief. And things may get worse before they get better. PSLF allows borrowers to get student loan forgiveness after 10...
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Published on: 2026-09-04
Source:
Student Loan Planner
Employer-provided long-term disability (LTD) insurance can be a valuable benefit, but it’s easy to overestimate what it actually protects. Most people don’t spend much time reviewing disability insurance through work. They see it listed in the benefits summary, recognize that it replaces part of their income and move on. For...
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Published on: 2026-09-02
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Student Loan Planner
After a rough summer, I’m glad to be back to sharing our budget updates. I’m also proud of getting August’s budget update posted so promptly!;) If you’re new here, I have been sharing our family’s transparent finances since 2013 when we were in six figures of student loan debt. I...
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Published on: 2026-09-02
Source:
Six Figures Under
The U.S. Department of Education has updated its online guidance to reflect sweeping new changes that went into effect for federal student loan programs on July 1, 2026. While these reforms broadly impact borrowers across a wide range of demographics and circumstances, perhaps no group of borrowers is more widely...
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Published on: 2026-09-01
Source:
Student Loan Planner
Lots is changing at our house this week! We just drove our oldest child seven hundred miles away to attend college. While she was packing up all of her possessions either to store at home or to take with her, all five of her siblings started making plans to takeover...
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Published on: 2026-08-29
Source:
Six Figures Under
Lender and Bonus disclosure SoFi®: Fixed rates range from 3.99% APR to 10.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Variable rates range from 5.74% APR to 10.99% 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: 2026-08-28
Source:
Student Loan Planner
At Student Loan Planner, we’re committed to helping student loan borrowers find the right path toward repayment. We know that each borrower has a unique situation and we need to look at the big picture to create a custom plan. Aside from what we do, there are also other student loan...
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Published on: 2026-08-28
Source:
Student Loan Planner
If Nelnet is your federal student loan servicer, believe it or not, you might have lucked out. The company, which is based in Lincoln, Nebraska, services over $684.4 billion of student loans for more than 12 million Americans, according to the most recent portfolio data (March 2026). It doesn’t have...
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Published on: 2026-08-28
Source:
Student Loan Planner
Student loan forgiveness scams have been a problem for many years. In 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an initiative called “Operation Game of Loans” to combat scammers in the United States. The Biden administration also expanded efforts to prevent scammers from taking advantage of borrowers trying to access...
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Published on: 2026-08-26
Source:
Student Loan Planner
In our last budget update, I mentioned that we’ve had some financial challenges that have been stressful for me. I am a list maker, so I like to write things down as I try to work through them. I made a list of everything that was adding to the financial...
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Published on: 2026-08-22
Source:
Six Figures Under
A new bill spearheaded by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) would permanently stop the federal government from garnishing borrowers’ Social Security checks to satisfy defaulted student loans. “As a result of Trump’s disastrous cuts to education, an increasing number of seniors are in danger of having their Social Security checks garnished...
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Published on: 2026-08-19
Source:
Student Loan Planner
Taking out a new loan after July 2026 is now quite dangerous if you have loans from before July 2026. Why? If you take out a new student loan after July 2026 for any reason, even if it's a tiny loan, it could force you to move all of your...
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Published on: 2026-08-18
Source:
Student Loan Planner
Refinancing is a common strategy for paying off medical school debt. Whether you’re a doctor in residency, an attending physician or a fellow, you need to know your medical school loan refinance options and how they affect your finances. When refinancing student loans, a new loan is created with a private...
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Published on: 2026-08-18
Source:
Student Loan Planner
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
Source:
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
Source:
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
Source:
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