It’s not uncommon to take out student loans for college. In fact, according to Student Loan Hero, 69% of the class of 2019 reported paying for college with student loans.
That said, the cost of college is significant, and many people graduate without a repayment plan in place. If you’re struggling to make your monthly student loan payment, here are a few options to consider.
How to Lower Your Student Loan Payment
Depending on the types of loans you have, you may be able to lower your payment in a few ways.
Federal Student Loans
Most federal student loans offer certain borrower protections and perks. For example, if your monthly student loan payment is too much to pay, an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan may help. These types of plans adjust your monthly payment relative to your income, so while you may pay more in interest over time, your loan payments will fit into your current budget.
Private Student Loans
While private student loans don’t offer the same borrower protections as federal loans, student loan refinancing may be an option to help you lower your monthly payment.
When you refinance, you choose a new lender to pay off your original student loan balance and receive an updated interest rate and repayment term. Once your original loan is paid off, you’ll begin paying the new lender under your updated terms.
If you can lock in a lower interest rate or extend your repayment term, you can often lower your monthly student loan payment by refinancing.
Keep in mind that you can refinance both federal and private student loans, but if you’re taking advantage of federal borrower perks like income-driven repayment, then refinancing only your private loans may be a better option.
Student Loan Side Hustles to Increase Your Income
Alternatively, if you’ve already exhausted your options in terms of lowering your monthly student loan payment, you may be able to take on a side hustle to increase your income.
Here are a few common side hustles to help pay student loans:
Sell Your Unwanted Items
A simple way to bring in some extra cash is selling unwanted items, like clothing. This income boost can not only help you to declutter your home or apartment but can also be a great way to speed up your student loan repayment.
Transportation Services
If you enjoy driving, signing up to drive for a transportation service like Uber or Lyft may be a good choice. Just be sure to do some research ahead of time to make sure you’re recording expenses like fuel properly, so you’re prepared when the time comes to file taxes for your student loan side hustle.
Food Delivery Services
This is a popular and often easy way to make some extra cash to pay down your student loans. Plus, you can choose from a wide variety of delivery services, whether you’re interested in shopping for groceries or picking up meal orders.
House Cleaning
If you’re the type of person who likes to clean and organize, consider advertising for house cleaning services. Many people need help with housework, from busy parents to elderly adults who may not be able to take care of the cleaning themselves.
Lawn Care and Landscaping
As the seasons change, lawn care is a major concern for many people. From mowing in the spring and summer to raking leaves or shoveling snow in the fall and winter, landscaping services can be a very profitable student loan side hustle.
Offer Childcare or Animal Care
Especially during the summer when families are vacationing and kids are home from school, you can often find major demand for childcare and pet sitting services. Or, if taking care of children or animals doesn’t sound appealing to you, you can also advertise as a house-sitter during heavy travel months.
Bottom Line
If you’re having trouble making your student loan payments, don’t panic. You can explore several different options, whether you need to lower your payments or make some extra income with a student loan side hustle.
To see how much you could save by refinancing your student loans, try ELFI’s Student Loan Refinancing Calculator.*
