Student Loans
Military servicemember borrowers account for nearly $3 billion in student loan debt, according to the most recent data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. These borrowers aren’t the only ones dealing with student loan repayment while making sacrifices for our country as part of the Department of Defense (DoD). Military spouses...
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Published on: 2026-05-27
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Student Loan Planner
Aidvantage services loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education that were previously serviced by Navient. This change happened after Navient exited the federal loan servicing business for Direct Loans and government-owned Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) Loans. In previous Student Loan Planner reader surveys, Navient was one of...
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Published on: 2026-05-27
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Student Loan Planner
Student loan debt is at the top of everyone's mind as higher education costs rise. As a teacher, reducing federal student loan debt eases financial stress. If you have federal student loan debt and work as a teacher in the state of California, you have options for managing it. The...
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Published on: 2026-05-27
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Student Loan Planner
Key takeaways: A PhD mortgage is a low down payment solution for non-medical doctorate degree holders looking to purchase or refinance a home. Most physician mortgage programs are designed for medical doctors and dentists, but some lenders provide PhDs with special home financing options. PhD mortgages have no private mortgage...
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Published on: 2026-05-27
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Student Loan Planner
Working in the nonprofit sector can offer purpose and passion for your job. But it can also mean long hours and low pay that makes managing student loan payments difficult. However, there are various student loan forgiveness and repayment assistance programs that can help borrowers manage their federal student loans. Read...
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Published on: 2026-05-27
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Student Loan Planner
More than two dozen states filed a legal challenge last week against the Education Department over new regulations that will impose severe limits on new student loan disbursements going forward. “You should not have to be wealthy to serve your community as a nurse, physical therapist, or physician assistant,” said New...
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Published on: 2026-05-27
Source:
Student Loan Planner
Managing your finances in a marriage takes work. Add student loans to the mix and there’s a whole new level of complexity and considerations, especially if you want lower monthly payments. To reduce payments, federal student loan borrowers can enroll in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan. However, your tax filing...
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Published on: 2026-05-27
Source:
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: 2026-05-22
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Student Loan Planner
If you want to make sure that your educational investment pays off, consider a skills-based, in-demand profession, like working as a dental hygienist. Dental hygienists help clean patients’ teeth, take X-rays, and promote overall oral health. They play an important role in public health and are the backbone of dental offices. According to...
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Published on: 2026-05-21
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Student Loan Planner
A 529 savings plan can be used to pay for certain education-related costs, including K-12 tuition and college expenses. But can you use a 529 for medical school and other graduate or professional programs? Most of the discussions around saving for college center on paying for an undergrad degree. If you’re headed...
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Published on: 2026-05-21
Source:
Student Loan Planner
If you’re thinking about becoming a nurse, you’ve picked a great time to enter the field. Demand for nurses remains strong, and the profession can offer meaningful work along with opportunities for advancement and specialization. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the nursing field will grow by 5% over...
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Published on: 2026-05-21
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Student Loan Planner
The majority of people in law school take out student loans to pay for their cost of attendance, including tuition and other living expenses. But borrowing isn't the only way to think about paying for law school. The smartest strategy is usually to combine scholarships, financial aid, savings, work opportunities...
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Published on: 2026-05-21
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Student Loan Planner
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
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
Maybe this isn’t normal, but I really enjoy going through our spending after a trip and seeing how it compares to our plan (and yes, “plan” is just a nice word for “budget”!). For some people this post-trip reckoning is the worst, most-stressful part of travel. “How much damage did...
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Published on: 2026-01-19
Source:
Six Figures Under