Paying off student loans can financially strain even the most frugal and cost-conscious of borrowers. Indeed, making monthly student debt payments can drain a borrower’s financial resources so that individuals cannot save money or devote funds to purposes other than debt repayment. This financial rigidity can also make it difficulty to deal with a life emergency or to purchase major items that all of us need to buy at some point or another. However, making big purchases while paying off student loans can be simple if you keep a few things in mind.
Although I tried to stick to my budgets during my student debt repayment saga, at times, I was forced into making big purchases while paying off student loans. Right after beginning my first job, for instance, my old computer that had gotten me through law school completely died. I tried to make do with an even older laptop that I used years prior, but I needed a reliable computer in order to work my main job and some of my side-hustles.
Although I had very little financial flexibility, I knew that I had to shell out several hundred dollars to buy a new computer. I understood that it would be tough to spend all of this money at once, since I was devoting as much money as possible to my high-interest student loans. Eventually, I was able to find a plan which allowed me to pay for my computer in installments at no interest. This allowed me to purchase the computer while devoting the most money possible to my student debt that accrued interest each day.
As my story demonstrates, if you need to make a big purchase while paying off student loans, it is best to see if you can pay in installments. I would not recommend paying interest under any installment plan, but many companies allow individuals to pay for products under an installment plan without paying interest. If you can find such a deal, making big purchases while paying off student loans is not such a difficult process.
Another way to approach making big purchases while paying off student loans is to plan as far as possible in advance. During my student debt repayment saga, I was invited to a number of weddings and other events. As many people are intimately aware, weddings can cost guests several hundred dollars or more, depending on whether guests need to travel for the event. Once you reach a certain point in life, it seems like everyone is getting married, and the costs can definitely add up.
However, most brides and grooms give guests months of advance notice in the form of a save-the-date, and send out invitations a few months before a wedding. As a result, people usually have ample time to save up money for a wedding gift and travel arrangements. During my student debt repayment saga, I gradually saved up money, so that I could have the funds available to attend a number of weddings. By holing away even $50 to $100 a month, it was possible to save enough funds to attend a wedding without affecting my lifestyle or student loan repayment efforts.
Sometimes, one of the best ways to approach making big purchases while paying off student loans is to try and split costs with other people. During my student debt repayment saga, I needed to spend a substantial amount of money moving into an apartment. Moving costs, furniture, electronics, and other expenses can add up, and most of these costs need to be paid all at once.
As previously mentioned in a few prior articles, my triplet brother (not the one I have convinced to write guest articles for this website!) was my roommate while I paid off my student loans. My roommate brother was paying off student debt himself, and he was just as financially constrained as I was. However, we split most of the major costs, excluding some instances when I cheaped out and made him bear the burden of a few expenses around our apartment.
In any case, if making big purchases while paying off student loans is unavoidable, you should try and see if you can split the cost with someone else. In this way, each individual is not overly burdened by expenses.
Of course, if making big purchases while paying off student loans is necessary, you can temporarily devote resources from a variety of different sources. For instance, during my student debt repayment saga, I realized with only a few months of notice that I would have to pay more taxes than I previously anticipated. I hadn’t withheld enough money for taxes throughout the year, and my side-hustles netted more cash than I expected.
To have sufficient funds to pay taxes, I stopped devoting money to my 401(k) for a few months, and set this cash aside for my tax payment. While it is not recommended that individuals stop saving for retirement for too long, briefly interrupting savings plans to pay for big expenditures in the short term should not keep you from meeting your long-term financial goals.
In the end, even if you have the best strategy to pay off student loans, life will get in the way of your plans. Making big purchases while paying off student loans is unavoidable, since different situations in life require people to shell out significant sums of money on short notice. However, if you keep a few things in mind, making big purchases while paying off student loans can be a much easier process.