How can I lower my payments with Sallie Mae?

[HigherFico]

How can I lower my student loans? My interest rate is already at 4.5 ...they said quite some time ago that my disposable income was too little but what does my disposable  income have to be in order to qualify for a lower payment? They told me I don't qualify for any other programs...hello! They are driving he craaaazzyyy!!

[tonyjones]

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@HigherFico wrote:

Hiw can I lower my student loans? My interest rate is already at 4.5 ...they said quite some time ago that my disposable income was too little but what does my disposable  income have to be in order to qualify for a lower payment? They told me I don't qualify for any other programs...hello! They are driving he craaaazzyyy!!

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Depends on what plan you are on with them. If you have a low income then your monthly payments can be lower via Income Based Repayment plan. etc etc.

[HigherFico]

I am on a standard plan. They took my financial information and after all my expenses they said it was too low to change the plan. My income isn't necessarily low but after expenses there isn't much left over. 

[Simply827]

Have you tried Income Sensitive Repayment? ( not IBR) That allows you to put as little as 4% of your gross income toward your Federal loans.

[HighGoals]

My loan with Sallie is a private loan

[SCF]

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@HighGoals wrote:
My loan with Sallie is a private loan

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Private loans are not eligible for the income-based payment plans like IBR, PAYE and ICR that federal loans are required to offer.  It is one of the downsides to borrowing private loans for your education.

To the OP, it sounds like you income is high enough that your payment on the standard plan is lower than what it would be on IBR.  Have you asked if you qualify for income-contingent repayment, or Pay As You Earn?  They each use different formulas, and may benefit you.  Studentloans.gov has a Repayment Estimator that you can use to see what your payment might be with each of the plans.

What is your income and what is your current loan payment amount?

[HighGoals]

I owe $30,000 total, my income after taxes us 3,000 a month. I have about 600 dollars a month remaining after all expenses including utilities, mortgage, daycare etc

[SCF]

In the case of income-based payment plans, discretionary income is a figure that's defined by a formula that involves your adjusted gross income, the poverty income level, and your family size - it doesn't take into account the specifics of your situation.

On a 10 year plan, I'm guessing you would owe a little more than $300/month, which is about 10% of your NET income, and these payment plans look at your adjusted gross.  That's why you don't qualify for IBR.  I would look at your other expenses - if you basic requirements like rent, utilities and childcare are taking up 65% of your takehome, you're not going to have enough left for things like debt repayment and savings and that's going to hurt you in more ways that making your student loan difficult to repay.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried consolidating them?

[Anonymous]

Have you made cut backs in other areas?