My total payments increased by 152%!! From $778.00 to $1,967.91. That is another mortgage and since I already have one mortgage (and daycare which is like a mortgage) it is clear to me that I will be in default very soon (or putting my child on the black market).
What's sad is that I actually have to call my parents to discuss a plan of attack because they were helping me pay Sallie Mae 2 and they can no longer afford to help with the increased payment. And if I default on the loan then their credit will be adversely affected. Now, I could care less about my credit being screwed up because thanks to the teachings of Dave Ramsey, Christian Finacial Counselor, I have freed myself from the mentality that I am my credit score and pay for everything in cash now anyway. My parents however, live and die by their credit score since they are on a fixed income (which I don't understand because if you are on a fixed income then you don't have any new income coming in therefore you shouldn't be incurring any additional debt since you have no new income to pay for it; hence why does your credit score matter?).
Seriously, do you think millionaires worry about their credit score? Nope, they have something called a Positive Net Worth. The rest of us underlings, I mean everyday people, scurry back and forth frantic over our credit score instead of worrying about our net worth. As the Bible says, the borrower is slave to the lender and as you can see I'm clearly Sallie Mae's Bitch.
What's pathetic is that after speaking to Sallie Mae I may have more options if I actually go into default! Hello!!! Does anyone see the issue with that besides me?? I mean isn't that EXACTLY what the issue is in the mortgage lending industry???? Help me out BEFORE I go into default!! Hell, I'm trying to pay you, I may even want to pay you (well, that's just a blantant lie, but you get my point) so why won't you help me out before I stop paying you?? Forget logic, Sallie Mae just doesn't have common sense.
It is indeed a mad world when you have more options in default than before.
ReplyDeleteYours is a story increasingly common as professional school costs have ballooned in the past 10 years and student loan debt became nondischargeable in bankruptcy.
You were happy enough to borrow the money, but are not now in a position to pay it back, the interest mounts (and is capitalized) and you just get in deeper and deeper.
Your personal approach - paying cash ala Dave Ramsey - makes sense, but it sounds like your real issue is potential damage to your parents from a default -- surely, you do have a moral obligation not to cause them to suffer for having helped you, and indeed for having continued to help you as an adult when it was probably not comfortable - though possible - to do so.
I have great empathy for you, but really don't have any good solutions - yours is a cautionary tail I will point out to my daughters now considering business school.
I'm sure you will find a moral way to deal with this and will follow your efforts.
Thank you Cato for seeing the dilemma here. While I don't have a solution (yet) for my own problem I certainly have advice for you & your daughter - do not take out ANY student loans. Work your way through business school (like I did through undergrad) and you will come out all the better. Better yet, work for a company who will pay for B-school. And for you, don't co-sign ANY loans - student or otherwise. We just don't know what life has in store for us.
ReplyDeleteAs for my parents, I would never do anything to intentionally hurt them in anyway whatsoever. I love and cherish them deeply. This is just a bad situation all the way around. In any event, I will be having a talk with my parents so that we can develop a strategy and so we are all on the same page on this issue. I'll blog about that when it happens. Stay tuned.