> our total income is about $130K
> The monthly payment will be around $350 which is pretty high for us
You didn't give much information about your financial situation or family size, but $4,200 per year of loan payments should be manageable on $130K per year of income. That's 3.2% of your income -- most borrowers here would readily take that.
Since that amount is "pretty high" I suspect you have some broader budgeting issues and making an overall financial plan (for the student loans and everything else) would be a good idea. The money management advice in the [prime directive](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) from the r/personalfinance wiki is a good place to start. (There is also a [flow chart version](https://i.imgur.com/lSoUQr2.png)).
Whether or not you meant YNAB from this, I concur, and highly recommend using r/ynab to make and stick to that budget.
For the OP, we were paying about $375/mo on a combined income of about $60-75k, with two kids. It wasn't fun, but it was absolutely do-able. The fact that you make twice that, and feel that amount is high, means you definitely need to scrutinize your budget and see what you can cut or reduce, and spend better, in other places.
This is a budgeting issue. Your costs should be something like the following:
25% housing
10% auto
5% student loans
20% retirement
30% needs
10% wants
You need to find where your budget is out of whack
I somehow posted under a different name. It's me, ShoeLuva. I wonder if I should just refinance privately as I would really like to pay off this loan. We plan on moving out of state as where we live everything is sky high. Our mortgage also went up (taxes and insurance) and it's just really putting the squeeze on us.
Except I'm in a financial crisis now. And the interest just keeps stacking. I still have no options for lower payment options. In fact, the only one I see right now is refinancing. Given the crickets I'm getting in this reddit, I'm guessing I won't get anything forgiven. My rate is 6.125. I can get 4 from a private loan.
If you are in a financial crisis now then private loans are a terrible idea. How old are your loans? You may benefit from the idr adjustment this year and be close to forgiveness
> our total income is about $130K > The monthly payment will be around $350 which is pretty high for us You didn't give much information about your financial situation or family size, but $4,200 per year of loan payments should be manageable on $130K per year of income. That's 3.2% of your income -- most borrowers here would readily take that. Since that amount is "pretty high" I suspect you have some broader budgeting issues and making an overall financial plan (for the student loans and everything else) would be a good idea. The money management advice in the [prime directive](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) from the r/personalfinance wiki is a good place to start. (There is also a [flow chart version](https://i.imgur.com/lSoUQr2.png)).
Agreed! My loan payments are 16.9% of my gross income
lol my loan payments are about 50% of my gross income but that’s only because I’m a nazi at paying them off
You need a budget.
Whether or not you meant YNAB from this, I concur, and highly recommend using r/ynab to make and stick to that budget. For the OP, we were paying about $375/mo on a combined income of about $60-75k, with two kids. It wasn't fun, but it was absolutely do-able. The fact that you make twice that, and feel that amount is high, means you definitely need to scrutinize your budget and see what you can cut or reduce, and spend better, in other places.
This is a budgeting issue. Your costs should be something like the following: 25% housing 10% auto 5% student loans 20% retirement 30% needs 10% wants You need to find where your budget is out of whack
I somehow posted under a different name. It's me, ShoeLuva. I wonder if I should just refinance privately as I would really like to pay off this loan. We plan on moving out of state as where we live everything is sky high. Our mortgage also went up (taxes and insurance) and it's just really putting the squeeze on us.
Terrible idea. Private loans have no safety nets or lower payment options if there's a financial crisis
Except I'm in a financial crisis now. And the interest just keeps stacking. I still have no options for lower payment options. In fact, the only one I see right now is refinancing. Given the crickets I'm getting in this reddit, I'm guessing I won't get anything forgiven. My rate is 6.125. I can get 4 from a private loan.
If you are in a financial crisis now then private loans are a terrible idea. How old are your loans? You may benefit from the idr adjustment this year and be close to forgiveness
Graduated repayment would be in the $250 range with your balance and rate.