Question

Just got my 1098-E and I’m shocked. Out of the over $4000 I’ve paid in student loan payments in 2019, $2656 was paid in interest alone  WHAT THE HECK! How am I ever going to make a dent in the principal amount when more than half of everything I’m paying it going to interest?!?! *I can’t refinance due to my really terrible credit that I’m working on. So that is not an option until 2021.  

Answer 1

I'm in the same boat! I hope to see my loan balances dropping at some point.  

Answer 2

We eventually paid our student loans off by doing the snowball method. It suuuuucks taking your time with it, but the process works. When we'd get our tax refund or a bonus at work, it would all go toward student loans. It took a couple of years to pay $50k by throwing literally everything extra at it.  

Answer 3

I paid off half my student loans in 2019 using my inheritance from my dad's estate and my 1098-E said I paid over $23, 000 in interest doing that. I was like  I still have like $118k in student loans left and the interest makes me want to puke.  

Comments

@unintentional97177 Law school, I'm an attorney!  

Answer 4

I paid over 10k in interest this year

Answer 5

Cut take out money and other categories so you can put more to debt . Sell things you don't want or need anymore, and call bill companies to try and lower . like phones, cable, internet, car insurance . Then throw all of it to the loan. It will suck for a while and it will be hard but once it's paid off . it's totally worth it ! If you don't make a change . Its always going to be there

Answer 6

I didn't read over all the other comments - but when you make your payment apply it to a specific loan. I obviously started with my highest interest rate and worked down like that.  

Comments

@appropriation yes I do this with all my extra payments!  

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@galven76 myfedloan does let you target specific loans! it’s just not on the main payment page.  

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@galven76 ah see I just did my loans one at a time vs a blanket payment but mine were all with navient

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@galven76 ah yes that would make sense then!  

Answer 7

If it's your only debt left then what you can do is find out how much is paid on the principle every month and send that amount and it will go down twice as fast. (So say you pay 300 and only 60 a month is going to the principle if you pay 360 then you have 120 going to it and lets face it most of us can find the extra few dollars in our budget. )

Answer 8

Im in the same boat. I just found out that only about 2 bucks is going to my each of my 4 student loans and the rest is all for interest. ugh

Answer 9

I’m not even able to make payments because my income is so low as a single mom with two kids. It’s just not in my budget. I’ve watched $68K or so go to almost $74K because interest just keeps accruing. It sucks. So unlike you, I’m actually not even paying on mine. I’m in an income based repayment plan and my monthly amount to pay is $0 because my income is so low.  

Comments

@aragon Volheim same here. It really sucks.  

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@catenane yeah it does. But I know I’ll pay them when I am able. That’s all I can do!  

Answer 10

Last year we paid 12000  

Answer 11

This is exactly me. $4000 paid. $2900 in interest  

Answer 12

Same boat. It’s disheartening

Answer 13

I pay $205/month. My tax statement said I paid $2021 in interest! That means only $300 went to principal.  

Answer 14

If you do file bankruptcy your check will stop getting garnished. I was able to consolidate my loans before I was discharged from bankruptcy.  

Comments

@khartoum was this on federal loans? You were able to declare bankruptcy?  

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Yes on federal loans. My checks were getting garnished because of my federal loans. The bankruptcy stopped the garnishing of paycheck at work.  

Answer 15

The more frustrating part is that only a small portion is tax deductible. I think 100% should be tax deductible, regardless of income. I have accepted that I have that payment like a mortgage and unroll everything else is taken care of. Budgets and other debt, I think of it like my mortgage at the moment. So depressing though, I get it.  

Answer 16

You can only claim $2, 500 on your tax return.  

Answer 17

If you want help then Show me the numbers ! I need to see how many loans you are currently paying and APR %, how much accrued interest is in each loan and do you have capitalized interest accruing? What kind of loans are they? Private or federal? EDIT: I know a lot about student loans and what you can do to help yourself out! So if your interest in learning message me

Comments

@seals6045 Oliva definitely going to message you.  

Answer 18

I paid $4, 800 on my loans, $3, 956 was to interest. and I'm 5 years in on my payment plan  And we've completley phased out of any credits related to the interest.  

Comments

@scheelite Maurizi I’m in my 4th year and I hate it  I’m not even using my degree. I think that’s why it hurts more lol.  

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@technology362 yeah that would hurt! Luckily I'm using mine and it pays for itself but still. It stings!  

Answer 19

If you pay more than your minimum amount, the extra you put towards the loans will all go towards your principal amount and help that go down quicker. But you have to be paying more than the minimums.  

Comments

@decline they will for sure apply that to the principal is I pay more than the minimum?  

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@technology362 yes. Interest accrues by day on student loans, so they can’t apply it to interest that hasn’t accrued yet. If you want to see the most possible put towards principal, pay the extra amount the same day that your normal payment comes out. If you were to pay half way through the month, you’d see half the months interest come out of the payment. However, it would also mean the next time your normal payment came out, it would also only be half a months interest because the other half had already been paid. But I recommend just paying it the same day as your other payment and then that whole amount will go towards principle. With my student loans, any extra I paid they would automatically apply towards the highest interest loan out of all of my loans. I don’t know if yours automatically does that too, but you could call and find out. If not, each time you make the extra payment, call them and tell them you want the extra payment applied towards your highest interest loan. I cut my interest in half doing that!  

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@decline such good information! Thank you so much!  

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@technology362 yep! Good luck! You can do it!  

Answer 20

I hear you. It is so sad to make payments and it doesnt even dent the amount :( feels like my amount keeps increasing everytime i make a payment

Answer 21

I dont have any advice for you, but if it makes you feel any better all of my payments go toward interest. Zero of my payment goes toward principal. I feel your frustration.  

Comments

@eal160 that’s insane  

Answer 22

Figure out how many small loans make up that big number. You have to send your extra payments to ONE loan to make a dent. Good luck. You can do it!  

Comments

@dichlorodiphenyltri Johnson my smallest one right now is the one that’s actually going to principal, which is only $66 a month. The other 2 that are over $100 are mainly interest.  

Answer 23

I’ve noticed a few people saying to refinance them. Just remember when you do that, you lose the benefits of it being a federal loan. Say you lose your job, well you get 36 months of forbearance over the life of your loan. That means you don’t have to pay during times of hardship. The same thing is not said for personal loans. You can also defer if you ever go back to school, again a benefit you lose. There is income based repayment, as well as other repayment options, which you lose as a personal loan. Id just do the snowball method and throw money at it. Do not refinance even if you improve your credit later on and can!  

Comments

@technology362 Jo This loan is through discover so it’s technically a personal/student loan. Discover doesn’t do income driven repayment unfortunately.  

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@technology362 Jo yeah I know all that, which is why i also haven’t consolidated. To my understanding, that all holds true when you do that as well. Could be wrong. But I’m just going to wait to start paying until I can afford it in my budget. Then use the avalanche method so that I’m paying the highest interest rate loans first. Regardless of the amount of the loan.  

Answer 24

People are predicting student loans will cripple the economy just as the sub prime mortgages did in 2008. Also the student loan debt is compounded daily so it’s really hard to get ahead of it. You can do it though!  

Comments

@ahq9 thank you. I know eventually it’ll get better but it’s just shocking sometimes to realize how much debt I’m actually in and the payments that are draining my account aren’t really helping.  

Answer 25

If you can’t pay more than the minimum, trying splitting the payment in half and making two separate payments each month. I called a credit card company once and the rep told me if you make two payments instead of one, than more should go toward the debt than the interest.