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Top Strategies for Keeping Down Student Loan Debt

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Education can be an expensive affair. At times, even joint incomes are not sufficient to support children education. This is when student loans play an important role to fund one’s studies. You can take out a loan when you are entering college. Once you finish your graduation and find a job, you need to start paying off that loan.

But student loan can become a burden, especially when you do not find an ideal job quickly. Sometimes, even when you pass your exam  with flying colours and find a job that pays well, a loan could still loom over your head causing unnecessary stress.

In order for your student loan not to be a burden, you need to plan it and settle it efficiently. Check here for top tips on how to plan your student loan to keep your debt low.

1. Choose Your College Wisely

Do not go for an expensive college just because you can get a loan to afford the fees. Keep in mind your financial situation. Research on various colleges and find out how much they cost. Keeping the total expenses in mind, choose a college with reasonable fees that suit your family’s budget and savings.

2. Choose a Loan Scheme That Suits Your Budget

Student loans are offered by private institutions and well as the government. The interest rates differ on these loans. Loans offered by private financial institutions are generally more with high interest rates and compounded charges. So, get quotes from various financial institutions and compare them before taking up a loan.

3. Plan Your Expenses

Though it may seem tempting to spend money during your college days, think twice. Do not pile up unnecessary debt to support an unreasonable lifestyle. Plan all expenses properly. Budget your finances and spend carefully. Do not spend money on things that are not necessary.

4. Start to Save Money

Start saving from the time you start college, even if it is not a huge amount. This will help you become responsible in the future. The savings you accumulate during your college years can be used to repay your student loan once you graduate. Savings would help to lessen the burden of repaying a loan as soon as you are out of college.

5. Take a Part-time Job

There are various part-time jobs available for students. These jobs help you manage your day-to-day expenses as well as save money. Your education is quite important, so do not ruin your health or your studies with a part-time job. Get a job that allows you to study, sleep, and eat properly.

6. Pay During the Grace Period

Most student loans allow a grace period of 6 months, so that you have time to find a job after finishing college. If you have saved during your college years, then start to pay immediately once you finish college. Even though it is grace period, your loan will collect interest during this period. You will find yourself stuck with payable interest accumulated for 6 months when you start to repay our loan. Avoid this extra charges by starting your repayments right out of college.

7. Reduce Your Living Expenses

Settling a student loan can take years, hence, try to reduce unnecessary expenses as much as you can. Plan out your monthly expenses carefully. Do not spend much for an extravagant lifestyle even if you have a well-paying job. Sudden expenses can crop up and you can find funds lacking to pay your loan. So, do spend your money wisely.

8. Take Your Education Seriously

Most student loan defaulters are those who do not complete their college education. Without sufficient education, it is hard to find well-paying jobs. Working for a low-income job will definitely not help repay your loan. Remember, the money being spent on your education is your responsibility.

Make Best Use of Your Student Loan

Consider these tips to keep your student loan debt low. Student loans are a great tool to finance your education. So, get a loan that suits your needs and settle it as quickly as you can.

 

Freight Factoring Gives You Working Capital

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Growing companies in the trucking industry need consistent cash flow in order to meet their operational needs, take on new business, invest in new equipment, and make important repairs to keep their fleet on the road. Anyone who runs a trucking business knows that slow paying customers or customers with extended terms are one of the reasons why keeping positive cash flow can be a challenge. This is why a truck factoring company can eliminate cash flow freezes and improve overall business.

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Freight factoring — also known as transport factoring — refers to the process of selling customer accounts receivable to a third-party factoring company at a discount. This type of factoring for trucking companies helps carriers keep a steady amount of cash on hand to reinvest in their business.Different from a bank loan, which carries with it a hefty interest rate, invoice factoring is a one-time financial transactionthat involves selling accounts receivable invoices for cash upfront.

Unlike banks, which actually profit from nonpayment of loans, a third-party factoring company like Accutrac Capital wants to see your trucking business succeed, because the more you grow your business, the more invoices you can continue to factor. Transportation factoring is a tool particularly well-suited to the transportation and trucking industry because the cash on hand it provides allows carriers to take on larger loads or contracts with slower paying customers. And of course, when slow paying customers or customers with extended terms no longer affect cash flow negatively, carriers are more eager to bring them on.

Trucking companies who regularly factor their invoices have instant access to the working capital they need — money that might otherwise be locked down for weeks or even months while waiting for customers to pay. Furthermore, factoring gives you the ability to attract potential customers, as it allows you to leverage and negotiate with suppliers and vendors. With valuable working capital on hand (instead of locked down as an unpaid invoice), you are able to negotiate more favourable terms, as well. In a nutshell, transportation factoring means improved probability for your trucking business overall.

Working with a reputable factoring company such as Accutrac Capital means access to favorable terms such as:

  • Some of the most competitive transportation factoring fees in the industry
  • Favorable advance rates up to 97%
  • Zero application or due diligence fees
  • Available same day funding
  • Free AR management, as factoring companies collect unpaid invoices on your behalf
  • Free risk management in the form of credit checks to vet prospective new customers and set limits
  • Factoring for trucking companies comes with considerable perks including fleet fuel cards

Freight factoring is a mainstream financial tactic that can help carriers with cash flow problems. For many carrier fleets, the costs of daily operations can really add up. Because many fleets can’t afford to wait three months to receive payment on deliveries already made, more and more owners are relying on invoice factoring to bolster their available cash on hand. By working with a reliable factoring company, fleets can get money upfront and continue operations without a hitch.

How to save big on Amazon automatically

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Around here, we often talk about how being frugal does not necessarily mean not spending any money, but rather getting the best value for your hard earned cash. Frugality is not self deprivation and misery, it is spending money on what makes you happier, more comfortable, and generally improves your quality of life.

For example, here are a few items I never cut corners with: a mattress, kitchenware, and anything else I use on a daily basis. What is the point of life if you wake up sore and tired after a sleepless night in a terrible bed? Life is too short for that. You spend over a third of your day in your bed, your body deserves some serious rest. The same goes for kitchenware. Cooking every day with useless knives and sticky pans? No, thanks. The first thing I would do if I had such bad equipment would be to order take out, which completely ruins the frugality mindset.

So while this is technically not an investment, I consider spending extra on quality and durability a kind of investment. I want a low cost per use, not a  low cost period. Using $5 bath towels for a month and throwing them away is way more wasteful than buying a fabulously comfortable $20 towel that will last you years, and be a source of joy every time you step out of the shower.

Still, while spending on quality is not an issue, a true frugalist will look for the best bargain while on the hunt for the perfect durable item. I used to google “coupon XYZ” every single time upon checkout, but thanks to technology, this is not something you need to do anymore. There are apps that will do all the hard work for you, scout the web for discounts and coupon codes, and automatically apply them for you at checkout.

Dealgogogo is one of them. This is a Chrome extension that is free to download, and focuses on Amazon coupons. The link will take you over to their landing page, where you can download the Chrome extension and start saving big on Amazon.

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You can shop the deals on their own website, by category or by entering a particular brand in their search bar. For example, I went searching for kitchen utensils and it gave me a list of knife sets and other kitchen sets with a 10 to 50 per cent discount.

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You can filter the deals by date, popularity, percentage discounted or find the ones offering free shipping.

But mostly, you can just make your life simple, add the extension and enjoy your savings. Why would you use the search feature? Well, if you are not set on a particular brand for an item you need, you may find that presenting the options in order of higher discount might bring to your attention a brand that may not have been featured like that in your Amazon search results.

Nevertheless, I’m all about automation and ease of use. Looking for coupons online can get tiresome. Especially when you are on Amazon already, and your cart is all full, and you really want to call it a day and proceed to payment. Having an extension doing all the hard work in the background takes away the frustration of expired coupons, or spending an hour to find a $0.50 off coupon.

You keep going with your life, and they tell you if you can save something or not. Easy.

The coupons in Dealgogogo’s database are all current, and they are directly approved by the sellers, so you know they will work.  The deals are applied while you browse around on Amazon, without any work required on your side.

In order to start saving on Amazon, click here to install the Dealgogogo Chrome extension. Then sign up for a Dealgogogo account, and resume your Amazon shopping as usual.

 

Are you planning for your financial future? And a Wealthsimple UK review

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They say the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the next best time is now. The same goes with investing. It is sometimes disheartening to see how other people are much further along on their path to financial independence, but if you don’t get started, you’ll never get there. The good news is, getting started is not that complicated, and even little amounts will add up over the years to a substantial nest egg.

For example, if you were to start today by investing just £100 a month, and do so religiously for the next 30 years, at 8% interest you would have about £150,000 for retirement. £100 a month is £25 a week, under £4 a day. If you think you have nothing left in your monthly budget to afford investing, think again. There may be a few ways to cut back on your expenses so you can plan for your financial future.

It can be as simple as doing an online search and getting a better deal on your utilities and broadband. Or packing your lunch to work. Or getting rid of that magazine subscription you never read. If you get started, and manage to save on these little things, chances are you will gain momentum and will find even more ways to save on daily items. Or tackle the big expenses, such as refinancing your mortgage for a lower rates. Rates are pretty low these days, and even a drop of a quarter of a point in interest can save you thousands of pounds, which you can in turn use to invest.

If you are able to increase your same £100 monthly contribution just 10% per year (£110 a month the next year, £121 the following year, etc.), you would retire with a nest egg of nearly half a million pounds! £480,223 to be exact. Now we’re talking.

Invest your raises and bonuses, and keep living on last year’s salary, and you could realistically save over a million pounds. A one time £5,000 raise or bonus invested in year one alone would turn into an extra £54,000 for retirement! And with pensions being pretty uncertain 30 years from now, no one but you can make sure you have the golden years you worked so hard for and deserve.

Now that we have covered ways to find extra money to invest, let’s talk about the investing part. A few years back, in order to invest, you had to really know what you were doing. Spend hours researching stocks, calling your bank to place a trade… this is all much easier nowadays. Robo advisors offer smart algorithms that will allocate your money based on your risk profile, and pretty much manage it automatically for you.

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One such provider is Wealthsimple. Wealthsimple started up in Canada and in three years grew a client base of over 50,000 investors. They now manage over £1Billion of assets worldwide. As the name states, Wealthsimple makes investing straightforward and transparent.

They charge a flat 0.7% fee, down to 0.5% if you invest over £100,000 with them. And readers get their first £10,000 managed for free for the first year. All you have to do is click the link at the end of this article to enjoy this offer.

The Wealthsimple Black tier for six figure investors comes complete with a private session with an advisor, and free VIP airport lounge access worldwide.

All Wealthsimple investors enjoy a diversified portfolio of low cost funds that match their investor profile, automatic rebalancing of their portfolio, and dividend reinvesting for further compounding.
You can also set up a direct debit and pretty much forget about it. As Warren Buffet says, you should spend what is left after saving, and not save what is left after spending, so ideally your direct debit would be set up at the beginning of the month when you get paid, and you would get used to living on what is left on your account.
With Wealthsimple, your cash is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000. Your financial information is encrypted and kept secure.

For further growth of your nest egg, you should consider investing through and ISA, or Individual Savings Account. ISAs allow you to invest up to £20,000 this tax year, and your money will grow tax free for as long as you keep it there. So don’t overdo it at first, because if you withdraw money from your ISA, you can’t put it back in. Say you invest £15,000 and take out £5,000 to cover an emergency, then grow your savings back to £10,000, you would only be able to invest another £5,000 in your ISA until next April.

The same way, only invest money you can afford to leave through market ups and downs, so you do not need to withdraw it at a loss.

Once you have defined how much you are ready to invest as a lump sum and every month, simply sign up for an account, and answer a few questions to determine your ideal asset allocation. A conservative asset allocation will be mostly in bonds, while a growth allocation will focus on equities. The socially responsible investing option allows you to invest in companies that have stronger corporate governance, are committed to fair labour standards, or innovating in cleantech. You can rebalance at any time, and usually the more years you have before retirement, the more aggressive you can afford to be with your investments.

Ready? Click here to start investing with Wealthsimple and get your first £10,000 managed for free the first year.

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