FAQ: Living on Student Loans

Hi again-


National boards are over, so it's back to the blog! The topic of this blog: living on student loans.

It's a question I'm often asked, but never by students. It's always the parents of the students that are concerned about the finances. They want to know if their child will be able to live on the student loans available from financial aide so they don't have to tap into their 401K to make Palmer a reality. The answer is simple as long as you're willing to keep it simple. YES YOU CAN!!! Without a doubt you can live on student loans as you're willing to live like a student. That means you won't be able to out and get that new Audi you know you'll be able to afford eventually. You won't be able to go out and buy that big screen TV for football season, and you probably won't be able to even go out to eat every meal with your student loans. BUT, what you will be able to do is- afford groceries, pay your rent, keep your electiricty flowing and your water turned on.

Get it in your head that you're a student and not a doctor (yet) and spend your money accordingly. Student loans are dispersed once every trimester. That menas you'll know exactly how much money you can spend every 4 months. Create a budget and know what your necessary expenses will be and know how much you can spend on "extra" things. If, at the end of the trimester you have enough "extra" money to spend - get it. But, always keep in mind that whatever think you MUST HAVE now and buy with your student lons- with interest rates on loans you'll be paying 3x as much.

I'm not going to harp on the subject, but take it from me- you don't need 1/2 the stuff you think you do! Eventually you're going to graduate from Palmer and chances are you'll be moving to a new state/city for your career. The less junk you have- the easier it will be!!!