Student Loan Debt Paydown Ideas

Are you looking for creative ways to pay down your student loan debt? I’ve been focusing on paying off my dreaded student loan this year, and I’ve been trying to put as much extra cash towards the debt as possible.

 

Over the holidays, I kind of let my student loan debt repayment go on autopilot. We spent a lot of time traveling with family, and it was just a crazy fun time of year.

Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to focus on that student loan debt again.Here are some things I’m doing to continue to pay down the debt faster:

Student Loan Debt Paydown Ideas

• Put massive windfall towards student loan debt. I was in a pretty nasty car accident in 2013, and we received a settlement from the insurance company in December. I had to use a lot of this money to pay for medical bills associated with the accident, but I was able to put $10,000 towards my student loan. While I’m grateful for this huge windfall, I would trade it back if I could make the accident not have happened. It was terrifying, and I’ll probably have medical issues associated with the accident for the rest of my life. But, at least I can make lemonade out of those lemons, eh?
• Put a small windfall towards student loan debt. After the big insurance settlement windfall, getting $200 for Christmas didn’t seem like a big deal. I had to remind myself that yes, it is a big deal, and it will save me cash on interest if I use it to pay down more of my student loan debt. Trying not to get too big for my britches.
• Keep selling my stuff on Amazon. I’m going to be honest here, most of my good stuff that I was selling has sold. The selling stuff income has slowed down quite a bit. I’ve been focusing on decluttering my home, and looking for more delights I can sell online and at our neighborhood’s spring yard sale.
• Selling “Do Not Disturb” signs. Because sometimes we just want to be left alone. I’m not making too much of a profit off of these, but I think I’ll at least make enough this year to cover my PicMonkey Royale membership. I usePicMonkey to make graphics and free printables for this site, Christmas cards, and the aforementioned “Do Not Disturb” signs.
• Try out Smarterbucks. Smarterbucks is a lot like Ebates, but the money you earn with it goes towards your student loan debt. I’m in the early stages of trying this out (and I’m completely ticked I didn’t know about this earlier!), and plan on writing a review about it later.
• Keep rockin’ the Swagbucks. I use Swagbucks to get Amazon gift cards, which I then use to buy Pull-Ups and coffee. Everytime I use an Amazon gift card I earned from Swagbucks, I put that same amount towards my student loan.
• Sell some purses on eBay. I have a few fancy-schmancy purses that I never use. I’m going to try to sell those bad boys on eBay and use the proceeds for the student loan.

Are you trying to pay off your student loans? You might want to check out the post about my student loan mistakes. Because, seriously, I’ve made a TON of mistakes.

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