Student Loans
A proposed new rule that would give the Education Department the power to cut off employers from being eligible for student loan forgiveness under the PSLF program is facing multiple legal challenges. And those challenges are about to come to a head. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) offers borrowers a...
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Published on: 2026-04-09
Source:
Student Loan Planner
The Department of Education's first batch of One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) regulations clarifies some borrower questions and creates new ones. Parent PLUS borrowers only need to consolidate before July 1, 2026, not make a payment, as previously directed. Any new student loan after that date locks you out...
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Published on: 2026-04-08
Source:
Student Loan Planner
Editor's note: This testimonial was originally published in 2018. Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans have changed since then, and borrower circumstances may have as well. Current options include IBR, PAYE, and ICR, though PAYE and ICR are scheduled to be eliminated by June 30, 2028. A new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) is...
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Published on: 2026-04-08
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Student Loan Planner
Medical school costs a pretty penny, and let’s face it, you’ll be in school for a while. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average cost of tuition, fees, and insurance for the academic year 2025-26 for first-year, public, non-resident students was $68,032 — not counting living expenses....
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Published on: 2026-04-08
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Student Loan Planner
What you need to know: Funding U solely focuses on providing non-cosigned student loans for undergraduates. Rather than using traditional approval models for lending decisions, it uses the borrower’s academic performance, degree program, projected earnings, credit history, and financial aid received. Loan eligibility might be limited by the borrower’s GPA and...
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Published on: 2026-04-08
Source:
Student Loan Planner
It’s no secret that medical school can be expensive. According to 2025-2026 data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average cost of medical school per year is $43,016 for residents and $68,032 for non-residents at public universities. But medical school doesn’t necessarily have to result in six-figure debt (although...
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Published on: 2026-04-08
Source:
Student Loan Planner
The decision to pursue a medical degree is certainly not one to take lightly. After all, the median amount of debt for medical school students was $220,000 total, according to a 2025 report by the American Association of Medical Colleges. That's a huge financial hit that could serve as a real...
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Published on: 2026-04-07
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Student Loan Planner
Medical school is expensive — and it costs more than ever before. According to data published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the average cost of medical school for a resident in 2013-2014 was $31,619 and $54,549 for a non-resident. But the average medical school cost for 2025-2026...
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Published on: 2026-04-07
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Student Loan Planner
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), the average first-year cost of dental school is $46,865 for residents, $76,060 for non-residents and $87,078 for private school. And those averages don't include living expenses. The American Dental Education Association estimates the average indebted dental student in 2025 graduated with $297,800 in...
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Published on: 2026-04-07
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Student Loan Planner
Most of the content about refinancing dental school loans talks about how much interest dental graduates could save and how fast they can pay down your debt. Although that’s true, if you focus on only your dental student loans, you’re missing the forest for the trees. To get the best...
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Published on: 2026-04-06
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Student Loan Planner
If you're married and filing separately for student loan purposes, you already know the playbook. Filing separately can keep your income-driven repayment payment a lot lower because it's based on just the borrower's income. That's a big deal when you're going toward loan forgiveness. But this isn't something you set...
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Published on: 2026-04-06
Source:
Student Loan Planner
Most aspiring physicians begin their educational journey knowing full well that medical school will be expensive. But what some medical students might not realize is that the costs of becoming a doctor don’t end at graduation. Medical school grads have to complete residencies, which often means moving to a different...
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Published on: 2026-04-06
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Student Loan Planner
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
The next step on our investment property journey was to make an RV pad on the property so we could rent the space to someone who needs somewhere to park their RV. Renting space for parking an RV sounds pretty basic, but there’s a little more to it. These costs...
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Published on: 2026-01-12
Source:
Six Figures Under
It’s that time of year when people decide to give budgeting another try! A fresh start at improving your finances is a popular plan for the new year. And I wholly approve! Of all the goals you could make at the new year, budgeting is one of the best! So many...
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Published on: 2026-01-05
Source:
Six Figures Under