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It is amazing how much faster time seems to travel now. I've been home 3 months now, and it still feels like it can't be over a month. Next month, I'll have been back almost the entire time I was away. Days used to seem to last much longer than they do now.
I have some updates on my current goal of being more of an adult and doing all the super fun awesome stuff adults do, like buy a new car. I still haven't bought one yet, but I'm going to within the next month or so. I would really like to drive my own car to Comic Con and buy tons of nerdy stuff to put on it. I can resist as much as I want, but you know what having a car that I don't feel guilty about putting miles on means? It means beach time in Michigan, day trips to wherever is drive able from here, It may make me feel less trapped, because that option to just drive in one direction and go will be there. I can't exactly do that with my dad's car. Well, I could, but he'd probably come hunt me down. I could drive to California, if I wanted. I could drive into Canada or go to Vegas. I did say I wanted to see more of home, and there the option is.
I also might have what sounds like an awesome option for my student loans. Talking to Aussies on my travels about how awful student loans are was actually a pretty common topic, just because one of the questions everyone you meet asks you after you tell them you quit your job to travel is "What are you going to do when you go home?" and my answer was always "Work a lot and pay off my loans so next time I don't have to leave after a few months." Student loans just didn't seem like as big of a deal to most non-Americans. Which is odd, seeing as most of my friends are in the same sinking boat I am. I will always be grateful for community college because my debts are much lower than most of my friends. I can't even imagine having 80k+ in loans, but I have friends that do.
In Australia (and correct me if I'm wrong, just going off of what people I've met have said), I guess repayment is based off of income. If you don't make enough, you don't have to pay right then and you don't start paying until you are making enough that you can pay them off. How smart is that? I'm sure there are downsides of it too, but that would really help the people that do struggle with finding a job after college. I guess there is something like that now here too. Maybe it has always been there, but I don't remember anyone ever telling me about it and that is pretty important information. There are so many people that struggle right out of college and then to be drowned in student loans makes it even worse.
Right now, I'm in the process of seeing if that would be a good option for me and bring my monthly payments down. I can pay the monthly payment, but ideally, I'd like to get my PLUS loan completely gone by the end of the year. Once that is out of there, I can put that monthly payment into my bigger loan or not have to pay as much on the slow months at work. I think the biggest issue with it is in the long run you do pay more interest, but I still plan on paying it off in less than the 10 years. It would just ease of some of my financial woes if I only had that one student loan to worry about.
k, boring loan stuff gotten out. You know what is in like 20 days? CHICAGO COMIC CON, SO PSYCHED.
I have some updates on my current goal of being more of an adult and doing all the super fun awesome stuff adults do, like buy a new car. I still haven't bought one yet, but I'm going to within the next month or so. I would really like to drive my own car to Comic Con and buy tons of nerdy stuff to put on it. I can resist as much as I want, but you know what having a car that I don't feel guilty about putting miles on means? It means beach time in Michigan, day trips to wherever is drive able from here, It may make me feel less trapped, because that option to just drive in one direction and go will be there. I can't exactly do that with my dad's car. Well, I could, but he'd probably come hunt me down. I could drive to California, if I wanted. I could drive into Canada or go to Vegas. I did say I wanted to see more of home, and there the option is.
I also might have what sounds like an awesome option for my student loans. Talking to Aussies on my travels about how awful student loans are was actually a pretty common topic, just because one of the questions everyone you meet asks you after you tell them you quit your job to travel is "What are you going to do when you go home?" and my answer was always "Work a lot and pay off my loans so next time I don't have to leave after a few months." Student loans just didn't seem like as big of a deal to most non-Americans. Which is odd, seeing as most of my friends are in the same sinking boat I am. I will always be grateful for community college because my debts are much lower than most of my friends. I can't even imagine having 80k+ in loans, but I have friends that do.
In Australia (and correct me if I'm wrong, just going off of what people I've met have said), I guess repayment is based off of income. If you don't make enough, you don't have to pay right then and you don't start paying until you are making enough that you can pay them off. How smart is that? I'm sure there are downsides of it too, but that would really help the people that do struggle with finding a job after college. I guess there is something like that now here too. Maybe it has always been there, but I don't remember anyone ever telling me about it and that is pretty important information. There are so many people that struggle right out of college and then to be drowned in student loans makes it even worse.
Right now, I'm in the process of seeing if that would be a good option for me and bring my monthly payments down. I can pay the monthly payment, but ideally, I'd like to get my PLUS loan completely gone by the end of the year. Once that is out of there, I can put that monthly payment into my bigger loan or not have to pay as much on the slow months at work. I think the biggest issue with it is in the long run you do pay more interest, but I still plan on paying it off in less than the 10 years. It would just ease of some of my financial woes if I only had that one student loan to worry about.
k, boring loan stuff gotten out. You know what is in like 20 days? CHICAGO COMIC CON, SO PSYCHED.
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Date: 2014-08-04 05:21 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-08-08 01:44 am (UTC)From: