Here's one person's experience. There's some good advice on college in general in the article.
http://www.vox.com/2015/7/14/8912981/student-debt





Here's one person's experience. There's some good advice on college in general in the article.
http://www.vox.com/2015/7/14/8912981/student-debt
Well, I'm almost done and I've paid for it all exclusively with my income from dancing. (30k/year) I don't think I would want to do it if I couldn't pay for it cash. Student loans I hear are the devil.



They are. I went to school before I started dancing, and my student loans right now are just shy of 40k. I'm paying them off now that I no longer need to crawl to my family for help just to pay my bills, and it feels so wonderful to see those thousands melt away just a little more every month, half a grand at a time... but yeesh. I could be putting those hundreds into a savings account, or be putting them towards my HELOC. Or even using them to get my masters. A few months of those payments, and I could have a new car.
Oh well. I'm getting rid of them now, so that's good at least. And I'm making enough money now that I should hopefully be able to pay them down pretty fast. Hopefully in a few years, I'll be debt free. Which is amazing compared to pretty much everyone else I know, who're all looking at a couple decades of payments, at least. Reading Walden on Wheels definitely inspired me to get my butt into action when it came to paying them off though. If you already have debt and want to pay it off ASAP, that book's a good one.




Uh .. I have so much student debt and even though I make enough to pay it off, I can't be bothered. I don't plan on living in Canada again so I just ignore it.
This isn't advice I would give to anyone else cause it's sketchy as fuck but it works for me, especially since I've got myself sorted out in terms of housing and savings. Maybe future me will be mad at me but whatever.
I'm always happy to hear when dancers graduate debt free. University is so expensive these days and that's nearly impossible to do with any other job available to a young person.
I am so grateful I had generous people to help me financially during college and had no debt. This is why I like to donate money back into the schools.
“Cook for him like a housewife, fuck him good like a nympho….pay the rent and the car note, he invests in me like crypto”



Lol Layla, yeah. Before I started dancing, I figured my only hope was to stay in poverty for 20-25 years and make the income based monthly payments ($0) and hope they'd be forgiven after that. In the US, some loans are automatically forgiven after 20-25 years of payments, depending on your payment plan, so that was p. Much my "get out of debt" plan.
That was actually my biggest concern when I started dancing, lol. "Yay, actual money! ...But crap, student loans payments." I was p. spooked.
The forgiven amount is usually considered taxable income and after 20 years of zero payments with interest accruing people who rely on this are dumb af honestly. It is good you started dancing.
I graduated with a 'worse case scenario' student loan debt and I'll likely pay it off next year totalling ~8 year repayment.
"There are different kinds of darkness. There is darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes, the darkness that is restful. There is the darkness of lovers, and the darkness of assassins. It becomes what the bearer wishes it to be, needs it to be. It is not wholly bad or good."
- The Court of Mist and Fury




I don't think people rely on this .. or plan on going this route .. It just sort of happens and ends up being a shitty best case scenario. Due to the fact that the majority of graduates can barely find employment, let alone long term employment in their fields and end up working precarious low waged work, there's a whole bunch of people who barely make the cut for repayment.
When I started earning an income from my vanilla job my repayment plan was spread over like 30 years lol. Based on what I was earning (not enough) I had to pay like 75-100 a month. Now 100 a month seems so little but at that time my rent was 600, public transportation costs to and from work were 120 and that barely left any money for meals, let alone student loan payments. I tried for a bit and then said fuck it. Now I earn enough to pay it back slowly but I honestly can't be bothered because I don't plan on ever living in Canada again and I don't rely on having a good credit score.
Like I said .. it's not for everyone.



Lol, yeah. Turns out, not paying back a penny and letting the interest grow and grow *typically* isn't the best "repayment" plan. Who'da thunk?
But at the time, crossing my fingers and hoping was the best I had. Maybe I'd've been promoted a few times and could earn enough to start paying it down a little by then. At the time, though, I was either making just enough or just under what I needed to cover rent and basic bills. My boyfriend at the time was approved for food stamps, which more often than not was the only reason we ate anything other than rice, potatoes, peanut butter, or recently expired TV Dinners from the discount liquidators store. I had zero money available for payments, and it honestly didn't feel like I ever would. I hoped I would. I tried for a good while to get my feet under me in the field I got the education for in the first place, and recently I've actually managed to do that a little. But only because I've had dancing to give me the income *and* the time to make it possible.
If I hadn't started dancing, I really do not want to think about where I'd be right now. Definitely no where near as financially secure, confident, and happy as I am right now with it. Plus, this way I'm actually repaying my student loans, so I don't have to worry and wonder about what'll happen in 25 years and if I'll be able to handle it when it comes. If all goes well, in 25 years, my student debt will be ancient history. Fingers crossed, anyway.





That was kind of my stance on the matter when I started college at 19... it was like "I INTEND to pay them off, I AM planning on having a 6-figure salary, BUT if worst came to worst I wouldn't be starving because of payments". That's the reason I never, ever touched the private loans, because there is no income-based payment plan for those. There was also the knowledge that I could go into some kind of public service job (even teaching, which pays a livable salary for a single gal) and get around $17k forgiven. They're not IDEAL plans, but they are supposed to be backup, not primary.
And then again, worst case scenario, if that did happen the IRS is generally willing to work with you if you owe them money. As much as people like to hate them, they seem pretty reasonable, from watching my mom deal with them... as long as they get a monthly check, they'll compromise. There was one tax year they allowed her to pay it off with like $50/month. VERY reasonable, IMO.
And further more, someone more educated in finance may tell me I'm an idiot, but from watching the interest rates go down, the % of your income considered for repayment decreasing, etc... I would not be at all surprised if they have to make federal loans (or at least portions of them) non-taxable when forgiven. The government seems to be trying to figure out how the hell to get out of the mess that student loans have turned into. But I may be totally wrong.
"People jack off with the left hand and point with the right."
"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
It probably needs to be pointed out that, under a number of Gov't backed student loan repayment plans, it is now possible to borrow a huge amount of student loan money while only being required to actually repay a small fraction of that money. See details at . The feature of these repayment plans is that they limit the 'necessary' repayments to 20 years worth of monthly payments which are tied to REPORTED income levels - typically 10% or less of those reported income levels. After the 20 years worth of payments have been made, even if the remaining loan balance and accrued interest are still a huge amount, that remaining loan balance and accrued interest owed are 'forgiven' - with US taxpayers picking up the leftovers. If well managed, this can work out to be $50,000+ worth of 'free' money.




Totally possible. Do 2 years at a community college (literally take all undergrad courses needed) and then transfer to a state school. Work full time because you can take half your classes online. Have classes 2 days per week and work the other 5. Get roommates. Live cheaply. Cook your own healthy food. It's not impossible. And there are also full time jobs you can get where you may not even need to work more than 3 days per week (health care, adult industry, bar tending at a good bar, etc) while still making full time money.
All those things are exactly what I did^^^. This is exactly why I don't understand why people are so anti-school sometimes. Just because there's an extra night or two per week that you can't go out doesn't mean school is a waste of time lol.





Warning! Warning! Warning! The number of types student loans for which forgiveness is not taxable is very limited. Think U.S. Public Health Service, law school loan repayment programs, teacher loan forgiveness programs for teaching in certain schools and some public interest loan forgiveness programs. Very few dollars concerned in these programs and very few people. For all the big income based 20 and 25 year repayment plans tied to a percentage of income, the forgiveness is considered cancellation of indebtedness income and the amount is all taxable in the year it happens. YIKES! So, using the example of paying your student loans for 20 years and then asking for forgiveness of $50,000, the tax would probably $5,000 if you were in the lowest tax bracket. That tax would go up to $10,000 if you are in the 20% bracket. Fail to pay the tax and you can really watch your interest and penalties add up. If you are not paying your student loans in full, it is quite plausible that you can't afford a $5,000 tax bill in a year either. Bad strategy, very bad strategy.





That's the smart way to do it. You can save lots of money by going to a community college for two years, and then a state school for another two, and end up with just as good of a job as someone who took on a lot of debt to go to an expensive private school. I went to a state-supported university, and I've had co-workers in the same level positions that went to expensive private schools.
Sometimes I wish that I went to college instead of the prestigious university that I did. I feel like the curriculum was the same and the costs way lower. I will say however, that the competition in my program was INTENSE. I feel like I have a great skill set and am very qualified to work in my field. My first job was working for a start up where the designer was educated at a college program and its only been since working with people in the industry outside of my program that I've realised how much that intense competition boosted the quality of the work I produce. I mean its still kind of a moot point though, since because I did take on some student loans (30k over 5 years), I basically can't afford to take an entry-level job and am stuck dancing. In Canada if you make over the poverty line (about 24k) they scale your payments to 20% of your income...this is also the point where you need to start paying taxes...20% is the lowest bracket I believe, 25% around 40k, etc. I don't know how the eff the government expects someone to be able to just HAND OVER 40-45% of their income when it is that small. That and the interest rate on those loans is insanity. Before I started fibbing I was paying $5 A DAY IN INTEREST on the damn thing. I'm so stuck. I can pay taxes or my loan, but not both. But I can't actually pay either because if I pay my taxes OSAP will come after me for $, none of which I will have for them and then my credit will be fucked too so I just fib on my taxes and put as much on my loan as I can hoping I won't get caught and can stop this bullshit one day and actually afford to be able to do a regular job. It's friggin sad how they trap people. If I think about it too much it makes me really depressed.
"We can't expect you to just know all the secrets of our top-secret-titty-club!" --Jenna Marbles
^This! Yes please please please take the advice and do as much undergrad work as possible at your community college. Then, after that, attend public university. Private is extremely expensive and most jobs won't care that you didn't go to a prestigious school. For example I am going to nursing school at the public university. It's about 3k for tuition and books a semester. Or I could go to Baylor and pay 20k a semester.
A lot of people think expensive schools have better education but this just isn't the case. By law all schools must meet certain standards.



Finishing my masters this semester and paid for the whole she-bang... 5600/year for undergrad + books (come to Canada y'all it's cheaper)... and more for grad school... with my feet(and tits and ass and face).





Public college or university tuitions are not high in the U.S. It's the other costs that are so high. Living expenses, transportation, that sort of thing. For example, At the University of North Carolina for an in state resident, tuition is $8,834, books (average) $1,442, room $6,292, and board $4,926 for a total of $21,494.
In Canada, McGill University estimates the costs of attendance for Quebec students is a total of C$18,870 living on campus. Convert that to USD and it's $13,893. A significant savings for the Quebec student. But, not for a North Carolinian traveling to McGill. International tuition will more than consume the savings. The difference? Probably that McGill is somewhat better run than UNC and has much lower cost sports programs.
So what to do? I have been saving money for my daughter's college tuition since she was born. In addition, I have made some investments in her name. When she graduates from high school in six years, she should have enough to pay for the cost of attending the college of her choice. If you are poor, your kids will attend college for free. There are so many need based scholarships no poor person ever has to worry about college. It's just the middle class that can't save and can't qualify as poor that has to worry. Unfortunately with incomes being essentially stagnant since 2000, the middle class has had a tough time saving for college, or much of anything else.
If you are a student, or nearly a student and your parents can't help, and you're not poor, then you have a dilemma. I was in that boat when I went to college. I, obviously, made the choice to work my way through college. I worked hard at a job that is not at all easy and I paid attention to the wealthy men who frequented the clubs. I learned a lot about the auto and truck industries. I learned a lot about agriculture. I learned a lot about insurance and finance. I applied what I learned both through and by work to save a little of what I earned and invest it. I kept an eye on costs. My first two years of college, I went to the I.U. extension in Indianapolis where I could live relatively cheap and close to the clubs. For my last two years, I sprung for the main campus but I lived in an apartment with a couple of other people. Spring break, six people in a condo is cheaper than renting a hotel room. We even made our own meals most nights. For that matter, making your own meals is a great way to save money no matter where you are in life.





Some US states have special grants & scholarship programs with occasional catches ( like through religious schools or colleges geared towards certain industries.) If you can deal with that there are some bargain educations out there.




And many scholarships. It just takes a lot of time. I'm thinking of going to get my second Masters. And I think I could possibly get awarded some scholarships. However, the thought of a 3 rd loan. I already had two from two other degrees is stressful. Especially, the fact that this biz is so up and down. And mostly down throughout the entire country.
You can't reason with stupid!
It's a night of clowns and buffoons! - Maitre de in NYC



CONGRATS on your hard work and success in securing your daughter's future!
I of course agree cost of living and time off work to study are the biggest expenses, which is why I lived off campus and worked double shifts two days a week (12hrs) to make sure I had money and time to dedicate to my homework. Sounds like we were in the same boat! I still make all my own food except for pizza every other month when I just need cheeseThose lessons in how to save money you learn when you're a poor student are invaluable in keeping costs down your whole life.
Canadian universities are not cheaper than Public universities for in state students pursuing bachelor's degrees... but they are cheaper for Masters students and waaaaay cheaper than private universities. Montreal is also a good option for people who want to strip their way through school b/c the industry is still pretty vibrant here. Toronto was harder b/c of all the extras girls but people are still rich and eccentric there so I was able to pay my way on 2 shifts per week during the school year and full time schedule in the summer. One year I got a tuition waiver for my grades.


I got a Bachelors and Masters degree and graduated college with 0$ in college Debt! Also got a dozen different computer certifications that I got paid for from other peoples moneyI got great grades in school, scored well on my ACT and graduated from one of the top rated high schools in the nation rated in top 3% of all high schools nationally. Everything was paid for because I was a good student and because I have a disability. I had no problem getting the government, my employer, and charitable organizations who help students with disabilities all to pitch in and pay for everything. The really nice thing too is I still have like 20+ credits at the graduate level the government will pay for if I want, so if I wanted to go back to school for a 2nd masters degree like an MBA I wouldn't have to fork over that much money to get that MBA
More and more I been thinking the club just leads to short term happiness with all the money I have thrown away at club, I been thinking more and more ditching the clubs and instead spending money on that MBA instead I always wanted. A Law Degree would be even nicer, having a JD after my name or maybe spending a shitload of money on classes, books, videos to get a very prestigious computer certification like a CCNP. The CCNP would lead for sure to higher income jobs vs the MBA or JD would just be bragging rights.
Last edited by November_Scorpio; 10-26-2016 at 07:41 AM.



Wait, huh? Can you break this down? Are you saying that the principle will be forgiven but not the interest? Cause I said fuck my payments a few months ago when I was told they would be forgiven in 20 years lol. I also plan to leave the country at some point. Yes, I know if I have assets still in the US that could hurt me but mine aren't that bad





I can not speak specifically of Lynn2009's situation but I did "sell" student loan consolidation at one of my call centers. There are "income based" repayment plans as well as specific programs depending what field you are in (usually nursing and teaching) that will forgive a portion of your balance, sometimes up to 20 years. I would not recommend blowing off the payments- if you do not have the money contact the servicer and try to get some type of forbearance. Letting the loans go will ruin your credit.
As an aside, if you leave the US for 7 years your bad credit marks will leave your report but you would still owe the debt if it is federal.
XoXo Gia
Danielle Fishell (the Dish): "If the Super-Star thing doesn't work out, Gia makes a great stripper name"
I paid off my student loans.
Deferments, income based repayments are meant to be temporary, to make payments manageable until someone gets metaphorically back on their feet. Some people rely on IBR forever because the total amount, principal and interest is forgiven but the forgiven amount is taxable income. Also IBR and forgiveness only applies to federal loans. And if you have no income your IBR payment will be zero but you need to prove you are unemployed and apply for it. If you stopped paying your loans months ago they've already torched your credit.
Sometimes employers offer forgiveness also which Gia mentioned - but having your employer pay student debt for so many years of service isn't the same thing as your debtor forgiving the balance.
Last edited by lynn2009; 12-18-2016 at 09:54 PM.
"There are different kinds of darkness. There is darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes, the darkness that is restful. There is the darkness of lovers, and the darkness of assassins. It becomes what the bearer wishes it to be, needs it to be. It is not wholly bad or good."
- The Court of Mist and Fury
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