What You Could Afford With an Extra $309/Month By Refinancing Your Student Loans

One of the best ways to lower your monthly student loan payments is by refinancing your existing loans at a lower interest rate, a longer term, or a combination of both. You can refinance just one loan or consolidate a bunch of loans into one single payment plan. Here’s an important statistic you should know: ELFI student loan refinancing customers have reported that they save an average of $309 per month1. Just imagine what you could do with an extra $309 every month. 

The Fun Stuff

While refinancing your student loans is normally a decision you make to propel yourself toward financial freedom, you might want to use your extra cash on the little things that make life fun. Here are some ideas:

• Indulge your coffee fix – A Grande Latte before work every day will run you around $76 each month. If you absolutely need to have a Caramel Macchiato, you can splurge to about $93 per month.

• Take your significant other to a movie every weekend – Movies are expensive, especially if you live in a big city. Movies for two will cost you upwards of $100 per month, not including dinner before or after the show.

Upgrade Your Lifestyle

An extra $309 per month saved by refinancing your student loans is a nice chunk of change, so maybe you should use it more wisely to really improve your lifestyle. Here are some suggestions:

• New Apartment – Are you fed up with living in a tiny studio apartment where you have to maneuver your Murphy bed into the wall to free up space when you have friends over? An extra $300+ every month could go towards a nice one-bedroom apartment with plenty of room for a dog.

• Transportation – Are you still driving around in that used car your parents bought for you when you went to college? Is it on its last leg? Are you wondering what on earth you’re going to do when it finally gives out? You could use this extra cash on car payments for that new vehicle you’ve had your eye on. 

Empower Your Financial Future

Let’s suppose you choose not to spend the money you saved by refinancing your student loans, but instead use it to enhance your financial future. What might this involve? Here are three ideas.

• An Emergency Fund – No one is immune to financial emergencies. You never know when your company might have layoffs, and you suddenly find yourself out of a job. Knowing that you have some cash laid aside for such a possibility will make you feel more secure. A good rule of thumb is to have enough money put aside in a savings account to cover anywhere from three to six months of living expenses. An emergency fund can also come in handy when you find yourself with an unplanned burden, such as your car breaking down or your beloved pet needing to see the vet. If you don’t have savings to tap into, you’ll likely have no choice but to ask friends and family for cash or resort to credit card debt.

• Invest for Your Retirement – Ok, this doesn’t sound very exciting, and you’re only in your twenties, so you may ask, “Why should I be thinking about retirement?” However, the earlier you begin to save for retirement, the more your money will grow thanks to the magic of compounding interest. Here’s an example demonstrating how someone who begins to set aside funds at age twenty-five has more money at retirement compared to someone starting at age thirty-five who contributes three times as much. Think about setting up automatic contributions so that a portion of every paycheck goes into your 401(K) or similar retirement account.

• Pay Off Your Student Loans Quicker – Many college graduates expect to be paying off their student loans well into their 40s. If you find this prospect alarming, you should consider putting the $309 you save every month with ELFI toward paying off your loans. Paying off your student loans early can save you a significant amount of money, as you will be cutting your interest costs. You’ll also avoid the stress that often comes with being in debt.

How to Have an Extra $309 in Your Pocket Every Month

Having read this far, you are probably intrigued and excited at the prospect of refinancing your student loans and saving money on your monthly student loan payments. You probably also have your own ideas of how you might choose to spend the extra cash. However, the first step is to get in touch with ELFI to explore the various refinancing options available to you.* Talk to us today and start saving!

*Subject to credit approval. Terms and conditions apply.

1Average savings calculations are based on information provided by SouthEast Bank/ Education Loan Finance customers who refinanced their student loans between 8/16/2016 and 10/25/2018. While these amounts represent reported average amounts saved, actual amounts saved will vary depending upon a number of factors.

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