Law Schools

Your Student Loan 'To Do' List For The Holiday Season

Take these steps over the holidays to ensure that you are in the best position to conquer your student loans in the new year.

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The holiday season is the perfect time for us to take stock of our lives and contemplate personal changes.  Workloads slow down at the end of the year, and many people take time off around the holidays to relax, reflect, and enjoy outings with family and friends.  I am sure that many of you out there have already come up with New Year’s resolutions, and the holiday season is a great period to set time aside to think about personal goals.

The end of the year is also the perfect time to take stock of your student loan situation.  Although there are many things to consider when assessing your student debt, there are a few critical issues to evaluate in order to set yourself up for success with your student loans.

Many attorneys take time off around the holidays.  Indeed, very few hearings and trials are scheduled around the end of the year, and the entire legal community seems to recognize that attorneys take vacations during the holiday season.  If you have days off around the holidays, you could spend this time working side-hustles so that you are able to devote additional money to your student debt.

During my own student debt repayment saga, I worked several side-hustles to help pay off my student loans.  I oftentimes worked these side-hustles on days I had off from main job, since I could devote the most time possible to working side-hustles on days I did not have to work my primary gig at a law firm.   Although there are a number of side-hustles that anyone can work to devote more money to student loans, there are two gigs I want to highlight, since anyone with an internet connection can work these side-hustles.

As discussed in more detail on my own website, InboxDollars is an online platform through which users can make money taking surveys, completing offers, and fulfilling other tasks.  If you download the InboxDollars mobile app, or access the platform through your phone, you can work this side-hustle from almost everywhere.  InboxDollars makes it really easy and fun to earn money, and after learning how to use the platform, you can begin making money through InboxDollars almost immediately.  If you have time off this holiday season, you should definitely check out this platform, since InboxDollars is a simple way to make extra money to pay off student debt.

Another side-hustle that everyone can work, which I also discussed in detail on my own website, is Mechanical Turk.  This platform is run by Amazon, and Mechanical Turk allows users to make money completing tasks that computers are not yet capable of doing.  Some of the jobs you can complete on this website involving photo moderation for dating websites, dictation, and other tasks.  If you have time off this holiday season, you should definitely sign up for Mechanical Turk, since this platform allows anyone to monetize free time.  Any extra money you make can be used to pay down student debt.

Over the holiday season, you can also set personal budgets for the new year.  Numerous attorneys receive salary raises at the start of the year, and as Above the Law has covered at length over the last several weeks, many attorneys have received or will soon be paid sizable bonuses.  It is important over the holidays to contemplate how you will spend any additional income you receive so that you make the biggest impact on your student debt.

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One of the best strategies for paying off your student loans is to not alter your lifestyle when you get a raise.  Rather, you can simply devote any additional money to paying off student debt.  Of course, this strategy is not for everyone, but it is important to plan out your budget now so that you can implement your plan once you receive a raise or bonus from your employer.

While you have time over the holidays, you can also research some other strategies to tackle your student loans while paying as little interest on this debt as possible.  If you are like me, you have probably seen many advertisements on the internet and elsewhere about refinancing your student loans.  I am sure you have many friends who themselves have refinanced their student loans, and are now paying a significantly smaller amount in interest because of more favorable interest rates.  You might have held off on researching refinancing options, since this is a huge decision that has many considerations.  Indeed, refinancing student loans can affect your ability to take advantage of income-driven student loan programs, and could also have tax consequences.

The holiday season is the perfect time to look into refinancing options.  At the end of the year, you have extra time to review literature, research options, and make a choice that is best for your own personal situation.  It is easy to find information about refinancing on the internet or by talking with friends who have already refinanced their debt.  All told, you should take advantage of any free time to obtain the most information about refinancing as possible, since this is a popular method of taking control of student debt.

In the end, rather than spending time off around the holidays binge-watching Netflix or pursuing other diversions, it might be worthwhile to take some steps to set yourself up for student loan success.  You can use any time off to work side-hustles, prepare a budget to devote more cash to student loans, or research ways to refinance student debt.  If you take these steps over the holidays, you will ensure that you are in the best position to conquer your student loans in the new year.

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Jordan Rothman is the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a personal finance website discussing how he paid off all $197,890.20 of his college and law school student loans over 46 months of his late 20s. You can reach him at Jordan@studentdebtdiaries.com.

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