real life with (very) real debt
Paying off our debt is our main financial goal and documenting that journey is a key focus of this site. The journey is not always easy and rarely fun, but we are excited to one day reach a point where we're living in the green.
Key topics: the debt-free journey, student loans, debt repayment strategies, tips for paying back debt
This is the story about the time we noticed our Canada student loan interest rate was wrong.
Do you check your Canada student loan account regularly?
I check ours almost daily. I’m a visual learner, so seeing the account helps me feel on top of things.
Most of the time, it’s totally unnecessary. It’s not like the account changes all that much day to day.
But sometimes, checking in every day pays off.
Literally.
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Paying back debt isn’t fun.
Sending a big chunk of your hard earned cash toward debt every time you get paid…well, it sucks. It really is that simple.
I feel qualified to make that assessment, too: after all, over the last two years, we have sent about $35K toward reducing our debt — and we’ve still got $30K to go.
It’s certainly been a journey — and as is the case with most journeys, we have learned a lot of lessons along the way.
Two years in with at least a couple more to go, here’s a look at some of those lessons.
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Starting your debt-free journey can be overwhelming.
Even when you know it’s the right thing to do, it’s still not necessarily easy — especially living at a time when having debt is considered the norm.
So what do you do? How do you move from wanting to pay off your debt to actually making it happen?
Unfortunately, as with most things in life, there isn’t one set of hard and fast rules for getting debt-free. What works for one person might not work for another.
But there are a few things that tend to be helpful for most people starting the debt-free journey.
Here are a few of those tips.
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For many, government student loans is the first thing that comes to mind when considering the question of how to go about paying for post-secondary education in Canada.
It’s the default answer to the question of how to make something that is (increasingly) unaffordable accessible.
For many, government student loans are what made university or college possible.
But what if you aren’t eligible for a Canada Student Loan?
An educational line of credit is another option to consider when it comes to paying for post-secondary education. But as with a government loan, there are some things you should know before heading to the bank.
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It’s pitched as an investment in your future — debt you take on now that will result in opportunities down the road, including higher earnings.
I’m talking, of course, about student loans.
This infographic from the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations provides a snapshot of post-secondary education in Canada. Of note: 489,000 students have federal student loans, together worth more than $2.7 billion.
And in 2014-2015, at least 256,000 borrowers were struggling to pay back those loans.
I wish I could say these statistics surprise me, but they don’t. For better or worse, student loans are a fact of life for many in 2019. Whether your’e considering a loan to pay for post-secondary education or you’re in the process of repayment, there are a few things you should know about how these loans work.
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